General Chat

Evening All,

It's been sunny here today but quite chilly. This morning I met up with an old work friend I hadn't seen since the pandemic. Her husband sadly passed away last year and she is steadily doing the inevitable sorting of everything and disposing of things, including her horse saddle and rugs etc as she had a 17 hands high beautiful, jet black, thoroughbred horse for years who sadly had to be put down a few years ago. We met up at Tropical Birdland near her and is where I have visited in the past, but never the cafe before. It was a good choice as the carpark is next to it and is unmarked so I could park with plenty of space to get in and out of my car and the cafe was quite spacious and not busy so we were there having a good chat and something to eat for about three hours. Some of the Parrots and Cockatiels there fly free and my friend said she's had them in her garden about a mile away in the past. She said there were two African Grey Parrots in one of her trees once and when she contacted them they knew which birds they were and when they came to fetch them, they just called their names and they flew straight down onto their arms. I called at the shop for a few bits coming home and have done little else. OH has gone to a match with his friend tonight.

Did you manage to find the miniature that had vanished Mel? It's so annoying when that happens. I never seem to be able to get on with anything when I am waiting for someone to come either. As soon as you start it's guaranteed they will arrive!

You are finding some nice places AnnG and that house sounds as if it's in a lovely setting with great views and how nice to see it on a lovely day too.

I hope you've had a bit of a rest today after your busy days Mandy. I need to clear some of the marigolds now as they are past their best and the Magpies were having a tug of war with one plant yesterday. The geraniums are still flowering away in pots but the other plants in the pots can come out now. The garden bin will be about full then as I cut a lot of the Golden Lanterns down yesterday.

That was nice to catch up with your ex neighbours Vera. I hope that shop won't encourage any nuisance and noise. We have found that even if councils themselves turn things down there is often an appeal and the District Inspectors allow things. So much for the Localism Act brought in a few years ago that is supposed to consider the views of local people!

Better empty the washer now and then I'm off to bed. :-)

You can keep your prawns and crab as I don't like either. Oh would have liked them. Like Annx I don't eat any shell fish. I have tried one of oh's mussles once.

Done some varnishing today and not much else apart fromm doing dinner of meat pie, swede, sprouts and new pots.

It has been a lovely day today sunny and quite warm. We drove to Coleton Fishacre this morning. This is a small house built for the D’Oyly Cartes in the Art Devobstyle. Apparently in the early 1920s they were yachting out in the bay and passed the valley and hills on land and decided that was where they wanted a house and it was built C1926. From the end of the plot which is large there are lovely views out to see.
I have been there once before but it was good to have a reminder. Some of the ornaments and jewellery on display are beautiful. From there we drove to Brixham had a short walk around and a visit to a cafe for sandwiches for lunch. Yesterday we bought crab sandwiches and brought them back here to eat for lunch. Sadly today, this place didn’t have any crab so I had prawns still nice.

Good afternoon people

It’s not a bad day; mostly cloudy but quite warm and with just a slight breeze. Like Mandy I hung some washing out. I’ve just brought it in and all the lighter stuff is dry and I’ll finish off the heavier stuff indoors.

You have some nice places lined up for a visit AnnG, though sometimes it’s good not to do anything special but just relax. I haven’t been to that area of Devon for years. My daughter, then aged 4, learnt to swim in a heated seawater swimming pool in Torquay. I wonder if it’s still there. That happened when we were staying near Torquay during a particularly cold and wet week and had to find something to do with the children. We tried it the first day and they both loved it so we went back every morning and then had a hot lunch in a nearby café afterwards. I hope you have a nice day with your friends tomorrow.

Your cold carvery doesn’t sound very nice at all Annx. I wouldn’t fancy that.

Mandy, you and Mel have both been busy with the hanging baskets and veg plants and getting everything cut down. Our poor garden has been very neglected. Neither OH nor I have had the time or energy to do much over the last 3 or 4 months. There are a lot of low growing spreading weeds that we ought to get out before they seed everywhere and lots of dead and dying annuals to remove and other plants to be cut down for the winter. How’s Colin getting on with his jigsaw?

Have you found your tiny cow creamer yet Mel? It’s strange how these things disappear.

I’ve just sorted out a Sainsbury order for delivery on Thursday, done a couple of emails and done a bit of online banking. The window cleaners came while we were out yesterday and I like to pay them quickly or I forget. We had a nice lunch with our ex-neighbours yesterday and exchanged all the news of our families. Like us, they moved away from where we both used to live but they moved back a couple of years ago so we got all the latest village gossip as well.

I had an email from the local council responding to my concerns about the alcohol license for the shop opening at the end of the road. Basically it was saying, in a very nice polite way, that I didn’t stand a chance against them. They sent me a note of the conditions agreed to by the applicant such as not to sell alcohol to anyone under age and to provide CCTV recordings to the police if required etc. and asking if I would confirm I accept the application or if I wanted to “raise a representation”. I don’t want to go down that route so have had to say I accept the application. I still can’t get anyone to confirm whether this shop is going to be an off-licence or a general store that sells the occasional bottle of wine or can of beer. There’s quite a difference between the two.

Right, I am now going to have a fight with modern technology and I think technology might win. Granddaughter sent me a photo and a couple of videos by a method I have never seen before. I tried to sort it on my iPad yesterday and saw the photo and her message but they wouldn’t download for me to keep. I couldn’t see the videos at all. I’m now going to have a go on the main computer. Wish me luck!

Suns out here now and its 15 degrees the same as you Mandy.

I can't get on with things I want to do till the shopping arrives. I want to do some varnishing but dare not as the moment I get some stuff on the brush or on part of the miniature he will arrive.

Morning all,a


Sunny first thing but now it's clouded over not cold though its 15 degrees ,I hung washing out and it's moving in the breeze.

Feel tired today after all the sorting in the greenhouse the last two days ,I got the four hanging baskets down off the gazebo too so they can go away ,lots of other pots to sort but some have lots of flowers on them still so I'll leave them till the frosts are forecast before I get them out .

Coffee time now .

Morning Anng and all,

It may be sunny where you are but its cloudy here 11 degrees and pc says mostly cloudy.

No subs on the shopping today as far as I can see so thats good.

I have to get my library books back this week as I have been renewing them on the phone being without a car but I have now listened t them all so its time for a visit when they are open and they are closed today.

Good morning all, sunny here but a lot of low misty clouds around, hopefully that will clear away.

Feels a bit chill but still quite early. Might be going to the NT house today, depends on the decision when the others get up.

I have painted some miniatures today did a wash and drilled out some of the things I made the other day Two cow creamer and a tiny one, a stoneware bottle with a handle. In the time I was drilling it looks like the mower came back but I did'nt hear them come as when I went to corn the chickens the mower was in the garage with the chain saw. Put my mini's in the kitchen and when I went to get them to paint them I can't find the tiny cow creamer for the life of me. I found the broken one but I'm sure I pout the good one on the plate with the other things. It is not to be found anywhere and thats the one I really wanted to do as I sold one last week and it had 7 watchers.

I get so cross with myself sometimes.

I am now going to do myself ham egg and chips.

When you only have a week you have to cram it all in Mel. Wednesday we are meeting one of my friends in a local garden centre, she was the wife of one of the members of our Royal Navy group. She is also a widow and might have her daughter with her who used to be friend of my daughter when we visited. There used to be a group of us three families, each having two children all staying with the friend we are going to meet who now lives in Newton Abbot. When we visited them they lived in Cornwall. All of the men joined the RN together. Not many of the original group of 12 left now.

When you only have a week you have to cram it all in Mel. Wednesday we are meeting one of my friends in a local garden centre, she was the wife of one of the members of our Royal Navy group. She is also a widow and might have her daughter with her who used to be friend of my daughter when we visited. There used to be a group of us three families, each having two children all staying with the friend we are going to meet who now lives in Newton Abbot. When we visited them they lived in Cornwall. All of the men joined the RN together. Not many of the original group of 12 left now.

Sounds like your having a great time out and about Anng and lots of nice places to visit.

We decided one place was enough today so will go to Brixham another time. We didn’t go up the road where the antique shops are as we ran out of time. Three hours in the car park cost £6. And they didn’t take a card so that was a lot of cash. We spent a lot of time just sitting by the Dart estuary in the sun watching the boats. We did walk round the lanes and I bought a top in Cotton Traders.
We took the car across the car ferry to Kinswear as that made our journey back to Paignton a lot shorter.

We hope to go to Coleton Fishacres (NT) the home of the D’oyly Cartes one day and May get to Brixham after that. That is the one NT place I have already been to but it is worth another look. I have not been to Greenways (home of A Christie) so we might get there. Can’t do it all

Afternoon All,

Slept well too and we had coffee and a cob first thing before we went to the nearby Curry's so I could chat to someone very helpful and knowledgable about a possible replacement for my laptop! It seems the one I have is a 'top end' one with a much higher spec than I need. It seems I might save a few bob on a replacement which is good to hear. However, the one I would like out of those he selected isn't in stock anywhere, so I have come home to decide from all the others he suggested. There's no rush, but using the second keyboard with mine will take more space if I do the painting course and the teacher is suggesting a bigger painting pad than I normally use which will take more room and I don't have a lot anyway!

AnnG I fancy a roast chicken now! I haven't done a whole chicken for ages. I remember liking the little antique shops at Dartmouth that has the steep hill down to it if I remember right. I remember Brixham being interesting with fishing boats too so it should be a nice trip for you today and better weather if it is sunny like here.

I remember you meeting up with those old friends before Vera, so enjoy your meal and catchup after your good sleep at last.

I have washing out too Mandy and we have sunshine to help it dry. What a lot of tomatoes you have. They should ripen well in the conservatory. I think your TLC has helped everything to do well too.

Those pond filters keep you busy Mel. You seem to have done well with your beans, but the wind does tend to topple them eventually no matter how well you tie the poles. I think we all seem to have sunshine today.

Good morning all, brilliant sun here looking to Dartmoor in the distance and no wind.

I think we are going to Dartmouth and maybe Brixham today so hope it stays dry.

That cold carvery doesn’t sound nice Ann so a good idea to try and find somewhere else. Daughter did a lovely roast chicken for our meal last night with cauli cheese and roast pots.

Morning Mel,morning all,

Sunny morning with just a little wind so I hope my washing will dry ,yesterday I picked all the green tomatoes and I have four trays of them in the conservatory ,today I want to cut all the stalks and get them in the bin and leave ths pits in ths greenhouse for the compost to dry out a bit before we bag it up for next year , I don't think I've ever had such a big crop of cues and toms ,it must have been the good sunny summer that helped them .

Morning girls,

Nice morning here and I think the wind has dropped pc says 12 degrees and mostly sunny.

I took most of the long beans down yesterday the ones in a big pot on the patio as they were getting blown about in the wind. I thi8nk its pond filters today as Iv'e not done them for a week.

Slept well and hope you all did.

I am definitely going bonkers. I was quite sure I had posted this morning. I definitely meant to but I must have got distracted and forgotten to do it. I haven't done much of anything today. It's been dry and at times sunny but there has still been a bitter cold wind so I haven't felt like doing anything outside and I haven't been in the mood for indoor jobs either.

I'm going to start sorting myself out for bed as I feel very tired. Tomorrow we are meeting our neighbours from a village we left in 1986. We try and meet about once a year for lunch. We usually meet in the same place each time as it is conveniently placed on a good road about half way between us. It's usually a long lunch as there is always a lot of catching up to do.

Night night everyone. Sleep tight.

Evening All,

Well I succumbed to the vanishing post earlier and lost the will to do it again, so have saved you all a few yawns!!

We ordered a carvery today with being up late, but it was cold and not that nice, so we'll give it a miss for a few months now. A garden centre a few miles away has been taken over and opened a couple of months ago by the garden centre we see the big Christmas displays at that has the log fires in Rutland and I've noticed they do carveries in the week so we'll give them a try soon. I've slow cooked the lamb steaks and root veg we were going to have today and we can have that tomorrow. I've done a wash to put out tomorrow, made a couple of phone calls and sorted our broadband contract to remove unlimited phone calls and save £10 a month as we rarely use the landline now. I had an email with the quote for the cupboards to be fitted which was eyewatering, but it will only get more so if we don't do them now. The bathroom fitter is booked up till next March, so it will be good to get the bedroom finished first now as it will need new flooring once the cupboards are fitted as there will be a gap.

Mandy that's a good idea to look in the Range for curtains. I hadn't thought of trying them and when I popped in ours recently, I was wandering around the Homebase bit at first which seems to still be there and never got to the top end of the store where the curtains might be. I did see they had a huge range of doormats and tea towels though. It will be good for you to have a look in the new food store at the same time. I'm sure your toms will ripen ok as I have had them almost till Christmas by ripening them with a red one with them. What great success you have had growing things this year. :-D Yes the curtains seems to easily whizz round the corners with the new metal rail and less light comes in at the top and sides with fitting closer to the wall. Lucky Colin getting a few jigsaws. I find there is more satisfaction sorting through the pieces and fitting them than doing them online.

AnnG I don't think I have visited Torquay for about 35 years and expect it must have changed a lot since then. I think it was the first time I ever saw palm trees in the UK and I felt like I was abroad. I would have liked the trip to the Butterfly Farm, but they are hard to photograph and on the move a lot. I can imagine how it must have seem strange to be in the area again and probably brought back memories comparing then with now. Still enjoying times with your daughter though which is nice.

Mel it sounds odd it was an indicator light as you'd think you would have heard the noise from that and it would flash and be noticeable. It's good you spotted it as you don't want a flat battery. You seem to miss a few meals till late in the day lately, so have you lost some weight? We have some of those Granny Bonnet seedlings between our slabs this year and they soon get too hard to pull out. I can get them out in the gravel when they are small, but I have to brush through them to get in the greenhouse now. I might pour some salt on them and see if that kills them.

I hope everyone has a good sleep, especially Vera. I look forward to hearing about the little rescue dogs.

Hi all, it has stayed dry and a mixture of sun and cloud and a light wind. We have been to a butterfly and order place. It is really difficult to photograph butterflies and it was a bit busy being a Sunday. It was nice though and from there we went to Buckfast Abbey. Mixed feeling there as T’ father lived just round the corner from the abbey and I spent a lot of time there with just daughter when T was based in Plymouth on HMS Eagle. It felt very strange to be back in the area.