General Chat

I haven;t done as much gardening as I expected to but I have cut back a bit more of one of the Buddleijas. this is a very tall one so needs cutting back quite a lot before winter so I have just done the lower branches. I also staked a japanese anenome.

But I had a bit of an emergency, my fault I guess. I was eating lunch when I heard an alarm. Luckily I was in the lounge with the door open as I realised quickly it was my freezer. It took ages to stop the alarm from going which has made me realise that I cannot reach the plug to switch it off if I want to. Anyway I couldn't work out why the alarm was going but eventually managed to stop it (still don't know how). I realised it was probably because the door had not been shut after I put something in when Tesco came. So I pushed and shoved all the drawers, and switched the freezer off and on again inside and the alarm stopped. It was obviously starting to thaw, like yours, the fronts of the drawers were wet. (one way to de-ice it I suppose.). I couldn't keep opening the door to check as the sun was shining and the conservatory hot but I had a quick peep at 4pm and it was showing 16, Best temp is 18 so I am hoping it will soon come back up to that but won't check until the sun moves away. It was a worrying ten minutes as it is full.

I am pleased that you have come up with an answer to the plant I did send the photo to my son who has a programme on his phone that tells you what plants are but I have not heard from him so he must be busy.

Re. my mystery plant: I've had a couple of suggestions of Campanula and Mandy suggested Ladybell. I hadn't heard of that so looked it up and it turns out that is known as False Campanula, so you are all thinking along the same lines. Once I had an idea of what to look for I did a bit of googling and I think it is most likely to be Campanula Latifolia. Our plant fits Beth Chatto's description of it quite well. I'm not sure whether we will bin it when it's finished flowering or whether I will try to lift it and put it somewhere else. Thank you for the suggestions ladies. They were very helpful.

I've been quite busy this morning. I cleaned out a kitchen cupboard and washed down some window sills and the back door. I also cooked a full roast dinner with all the trimmings. It was a bit hot for that sort of meal but OH does love his Sunday dinner and he didn't get one last weekend so I thought I would spoil him. There's plenty of pork left so he can have cold pork and salad tomorrow when I am out for a birthday lunch.

My next job is to wrap a present for the birthday girl so I'd better get on with that

PS I meant to say earlier that when we were in Dobbies Garden Centre on Friday I saw they had Christmas cards for sale. That's the first I've seen this year.

Morning all,

I did wake up till 10.40am and its a beautiful sunny day here and 17 degrees so far.

I too have nothing planned for today except get rid of some of these plums to neighbours.

Must dp some washing and ironing. Thats the trouble when we get nice days the washing machine does overtime and then your left with a ton of ironing.

Glad you had a better night Vera as it makes all the difference to the next day but take it easy and don't rush anything.

Mandy too, relax after your busy day with Lewis. They keep you on the go don't they.

Morning all,

Nice and sunny here this morning and it's 16 degrees it should get to 24 today.

We had Lewis here yesterday and by the time we took him home we were worn out and were in bed by just after nine but we had a lovely day with him

Today will be a relaxing day I think ,Colins waiting for the football to start and I might do some crafting of some sort .

good morning all. 15 degrees and sunny. just the Tesco shop planned otherwise like Vera, take it as it comes.
Glad you slept better last night Vera.

Good morning all

I slept a bit better last night but was awake well before 6 am. It looks as though it is going to be another hot day. I don’t have anything planned. It’ll be a take it as it comes sort of day. Enjoy your day whatever you are doing.

I wish I lived near you Mel. I’d happily buy your plums.

You’ve done a lot in your garden today AnnG. I did manage to give the two birdbaths a really good scrub out but I was glad to come in out of the heat. Also someone local is having a lot of work done in their large garden and there was a chainsaw going for over 3 hours which did my headache no good at all. This is a headache as opposed to a migraine which is quite different but I guess they’re connected and yes, I am prone to them. There seems to be a genetic link on my paternal side. My father’s two sisters had them. In the next generation there was my brother, my cousin (son of one of the sisters) and myself with them and then my son was diagnosed with migraine at the age of 5. Thankfully it seems to have missed my daughter and none of the grandchildren get it.

After doing the birdbaths I decided to cook something easy and have our main meal at lunchtime, so we had eggs, chips and beans. OH will make a sandwich or snack for us later.

I’m upstairs in the bedroom with the blinds drawn against the sun and was just thinking how nice and quiet it is when, would you believe it, the chain saw started up again. Grrr! No peace for the wicked.

Been up the shop and on the way back I stopped up the top field and picked a huge back of plums and there's still loads on the tree but I could'nt carry the bag well with my arm so I shall have to go up again maybe tomorrow.

Just going to have something to eat as I have only had a few blackberries and a plum so far and a coffee.

Hope that you can get rid of that headache, you must be prone to headaches going by the migraines as I rarely have one if I don't get any sleep thank goodness. I just feel like a zombie.

Just did an hour and a half gardening. cut back a lot more jasmine and some Buddleija, then pulled out a lot of the quick spreading (but very pretty) geraniums, cut off a lot of the old Helebore leaves and trimmed back two of the large hardy fuchsia bushes. Oh and took some of the peony growth down. Not quite sure what I need to do with that so need to look it up. then spent half an hour weeding, I have loads of a quick growing and deep rooting weed that is like a wild geum so I was pulling them all up. loads of brown slugs in the garden today I suppose after yesterday's rain. I left them alone, well except for one I inadvertently flattened with my foot.

Morning everyone

It’s 23 degrees at the moment and the thermometer is still rising. Looks like summer is back.

It wasn’t a good night again and my head is aching. Mel, I don’t like talking books but do use talk on the radio. It’s usually the World Service at the time I am listening. I don’t usually have trouble going to sleep but I wake after an hour or so and then I am awake for several hours before dropping off for a little while. Not sleeping much doesn’t bother me as I’m presumably getting enough sleep to function. It’s the terrible headaches that go with lack of sleep that make life difficult at times. Over the years I’ve tried everything from hot milk and lavender sprays to strong sleeping pills that I had to sign for as they were a controlled drug. Anyway, that’s quite enough about my boring sleep patterns. I’m still here to tell the tale and that’s what matters.

What a shame one of your parcels has gone missing Mel and you have to make the piece all over again.

Have you done any gardening today AnnG? I am trying to shake myself out of my lethargy and get out there. The bird baths could both do with a clean. I’m sitting in the conservatory with most of the blinds down and the door open and it looks quite breezy outside so that might make it feel a bit more comfortable.

Door bell’s just rung....

Morning all,

Forgot to come on here first thing.

Its 17 degrees and partly sunny as per the pc but the skies are grey at the mo.

I have had a parcel go astray on Ebay so have to replace it but it means starting from scratch as I hav'nt got one made let alone painted etc. It is one I have to drill out if I get it out of the mould whole. Very fragile. So that is what I will be doing today after going to the shop.

Glad you slept well Anng. Hope Vera got some sleep in the end and feels refreshed today. Vera have you tried the talking books? I used to get them for mum because she could'nt sleep.

good morning all sunny here and 17 degrees. I think a bit of gardening is on the menu if it stays dry.
Vera, a long way to go for a blood test but at least you were able to make a nice outing of it. I hope that you had a better night's sleep last night. I actually slept well so the walk to the hairdresser did me good I think. :-D

I'm late on parade today. I've been busy all day but don't really seem to have done much. I did manage to do a little bit in the garden and a bit of gentle dusting.

I was hot and fidgety and just couldn't seem to settle last night. My leg kept jumping as well and sometimes the only way to stop it is to get up and walk around. I did that 3 times last night In the end I gave up trying to sleep and got my book out again. I think I eventually fell asleep around 4.30 am but I was still awake before 7.30. I'm not feeling very optimistic about tonight as it is apparently still going to be 20 degrees in the early hours - too hot to sleep comfortably. There's also a yellow warning for thunderstorms but they do sometimes seem to miss us.

OH had a doctor's appointment this morning and came back with forms for various blood tests. They used to be done straightaway at the surgery but we now have to ring a number and book an appointment either at our local health centre, about 2 miles away, or the hospital which is about 20 miles. When OH rang the earliest appointment at the health centre was 11th September and we are away then so he was offered the 19th!! He asked about appointments at the hospital and was given one for this afternoon. It does seem stupid to have to do a 40 mile round trip to get a blood test.

I went with him and we went on to Dobbies as that's near the hospital I managed to find a small gift to give to a friend at her birthday lunch on Monday and we had a pot of tea in the cafe. I didn't want anything sweet or creamy but there were just 2 fruit scones left in the dish on the counter and I fancied one of those I was out of luck there. The man in front of me in the queue bought them both :-|

I'm going to close the computer down now and maybe go to bed early with the radio or my book. If I'm already in bed it won't matter if I doze off. Night, night all. Sleep tight.

Fortunately it stopped raining in time for me to walk round in the dry. And was dry to walk home too so that was good. It was dry most of the afternoon but is raining again now. Goog to get my hair cut anyway.

Rang about the car and it was done but Stuart was out so I had to wait for him to come back. He did and rang me on the landline but I was in the garden!!! Must give him my mobile number. Anyway I eventually got it back and then his wife brought the car back to me and I drove her back to pay. It did'nt cost as much as I thought it was going to as I had had a new tyre a new bit on the exhaust and a few other bits. He forgot the back screen wiper but I don't use that much. I took them 4 cans of lager as a thank you and now I am £260 odd pound lighter.

Rang the docs and the doc is going to ring me on Monday morning. I need to look up now when I hurt my arm so I can then tell her how long thats been.

Done a lot of waiting around today and not got anything much done. I have some ironing to do but don't want to do it. Now I have to feed the girls and sort something for dinner, think it will be salad again as I have a couple of new pots cooked and a nice tin of boneless salmon so nice and quick. OR it could be beans on toast with an egg on top and strawberries for sweet.

Get your hair done ok Anng. I bet it feels nice now.

Morning all,

Dyull and miserable here this mroning and I have a wether alert on the pc. Better see what it says. O it says thunderstorm warning its 17 degrees and cloudy.

My car could be done today and if it is I can get an appointment with the docs this afternoon. While the backs not too bad I am going to wash my hair.

BBL.

Good morning all. been up an hour, couldn't sleep. Washing in at 0715. raining and 16 degrees, it was 17 earlier. I am hoping the rain eases off as I have a hair appointment at 12.30, a good 20 minute walk with all the roadworks so I will get wet.

Just back now. Had a really nice lunch, Stilton and red onion quiche with a few cut up new potatoes, green salad,cucumber tomatoes celery and apple and coleslaw.
the photography exhibition was very good, some beautiful wild life photos. And, of course we could also look at the more permanent exhibits in the art gallery, Afterwards as it was a lovely afternoon we walked round the gardens.

Had lunch and watched the news and had a look round the garden. I did think of cleaning the bird baths and doing a bit more tidying up but it is so hot out there now. It's apparently 22 degrees but it feels a lot hotter than that to me. Maybe I'll see if it's any cooler late afternoon/early evening and do a bit then before we have our dinner.

Our car came back around midday. It's had a complete overhaul and service and has been MOT'd so that's all done for another year, and OH's pocket is a bit emptier now. So all that's left to do now is the external damage. The new doors and side panel are on order but I think it'll be the end of September before the work is done.

Think I'm going to find the coolest spot in the house and read for a while. Hope you are all enjoying the good weather and not getting overheated.

Thanks for the email Mel. I have replied.

I often keep the little baby potatoes in the fridge and some of them do say to refrigerate for freshness, but I've never kept main crop spuds in there. Like Mandy I keep them in a dark cupboard. They go in a basket with a bit of black plastic over the top.

I hope AnnG is enjoying her lunch and then the photography exhibition.

My headache eased off yesterday but I seem to have brought it back with another long walk in the sun. I had to deliver something to a house a short distance away and the car still wasn't back so I walked there and back. It's only about 1.5 miles but it was so hot and sunny and I am out of practice with walking. Still, I must try and do a bit every day now I've made a start on getting more exercise.

OH has just yelled lunch is ready so I'll bbl