General Chat

good morning all the sun is shining and it is 12 degrees so better get dressed and do another round of watering. I have found that a few of the plants I put in pots are surviving well so are ok for dry conditions, but one or two don't like it too dry. Of the Osteospernums I have put in pots two are fine the third is not happy so maybe it is just that particular plant. I am going with a friend to the local garden centre today but not until this afternoon. Have a few things for the charity lady so may walk down there later.
Vera I hope that the pain in your face has eased this morning and that you managed to sleep ok.

Not done much today did a bit of casting and went in the garden and picked up the sticks off the big ash tree as its windy here today and they always come down in the wind. BIL should be here tomorrow but the grass is'nt growing much so I want to ask him if he will come up with me to cut some of the stuff down by my gateway as it very over grwon there and he dos'nt cut down the side past our gateway and thats now about a foot tall.

I hope the pillows work for you tonight Vera and you get some sleep and the pain eases for you.

Still got the pain in my shoulder but I can't take Ibuprofen only paracetamol because I am on BP pills.

I got distracted and missed the post :-( We only have one collection a day and the time keeps changing. It was 4.15, then it was 4.30, then 5.30, now it's apparently 5.15 pm. I got distracted and didn't get to the box till about 5.10 and it had already been emptied so I wasn't very pleased as it won't go now till tomorrow evening. With luck E will still get it on Monday but I will text her Monday morning anyway.

Yes, the migraine pain always affects the left hand side of my head and the centre of the pain is always above my left eye but it usually goes once I am up and about again. This time I'm up and functioning but the pain is still there which is why I think it's being affected by my eye problems at the moment. I normally sleep with one flattish pillow but I can sometimes ease it if I have my head higher up so I am going to try extra pillows tonight.

It sounds as though your meeting went well. In every group there is always one person who dominates the conversation. My sister in law is like that, you can't get a word in edgewise but she is a lovely woman in every other way. I'm sure those plants will strengthen up and flourish for you. You seem to do well with plants - you must have green fingers :-)

You are lucky to have a post collection at that time. Last collection time around here is 9am so it has to be posted the day before.

That face/head pain sounds nasty, Is it associated with the migraine? and have you had it before? I hope it eased quickly for you.

the meeting went well. they do all tend to talk at once and we have one dominant lady who likes to hold forth and it is difficult to get a word in sometimes. she also 'knows' everything. other than that she is a kind person. Not that it makes any difference but she is South African. there were lots of free plants up for taking I had to take a few that were left over so I will see what happens with them none of them are very strong.

My goodness, there's a change in the weather today. There's still a nip in the breeze but otherwise it's sunny and warm

I had quite a good night last night. I still got up with severe pain over all the left side of my head and face but it does ease up a bit once I'm up and about. I'm sure it will be fine once I can get my eyes sorted. Today, I had a message on the answering machine from the eye treatment centre at the hospital.. My heart sank as I thought they were going to cancel my appointment on Monday but thankfully they were ringing to confirm it.

I hope your garden group meeting went well Ann. If your weather is anything like ours you have a good day for it.

I'm sorry your shoulder is still painful Mel but now you know how you did it you will be able to avoid doing it in the future. Do you have any anti-inflammatory pills like Ibuprofen or something like Voltarol Gel? (Don't use these without speaking to your doctor first if you take pills for high bp.) I hope you feel better soon.

I'm just going to walk down the road to post a birthday card to another granddaughter. Her birthday is Monday but these days I never know when to post cards or what stamps to put on them. Put a 2nd class stamp on and it arrives the other end of the country the next day, put on a 1st class and it takes a week to be delivered 10 miles away! Better get this one written quickly or I shall miss today's post.

I know where I did it now. There was lots of green blobs floating on the big pond yeserday and I was fishing them out with my long handled net and it got dso heavy and I emptied it three times the first time I did it. Just had some leaves out with it and realalised how I had done it so giving that a miss today.

Have you got anything to rub on it or take to ease the pain Mel. you have probably pulled something with all the gardening and cleaning the pond. try to not do anything to strain it more today. what about a heat pack or ice pack?

Morning Anng and all,

I went to bed with a dreadful shoulder ache and thought it would be gone by this morning but it has'nt. It hurts when I lift it up and not easy when I have to get my hair up and I was going to wahs it today too.

I do hope Vera is better this morning or at least an improvement on the last few days.

Hope all goes well with your meeting today Anng you have been working hard in the garden to make it look nice.

Good morning all 10 degrees but cloudy so far. hopefully the forecast will be right and the sun will make an appearance later. I have a garden interests meeting this afternoon. There will be 9 of us so three fewer than usual. At least the garden is relatively tidy.
Vera, nice to be able to show off your garden to your neighbour and to see hers as well. your day yesterday seemed a mix of good and not so good. sorry about the ill health of your friends, and also that you had a bit of a relapse yourself. Hope that you feel better today.

Night all.

I think we all lose our motivation from time to time for all sorts of reasons, sometimes minor and sometimes major issues. Sometimes we bounce back quite quickly but sometimes it can take quite a long while. I know my late brother's partner is still finding it difficult two and a half years after his death.

I haven't felt as well today as I did yesterday though I have managed to do a few jobs. On the plus side, we have seen a bit of sun at last and it got quite warm this afternoon o that's something to smile about. Also the part for my cordless vac arrived today so I didn't have to wait too long for it. The downside is that I now have no excuse not to hoover through. The house does need a bit of tlc.

We had a bit of stress and worry over a family problem but that's now been resolved so that's another good thing that's happened in the last day or two, but yesterday I heard that the husband of a family member is not in a good way. He has a serious physical problem but his wife in her mid-80s was coping OK as his carer until he was also diagnosed with vascular dementia and has had to go into a home. Then today we heard that a very dear friend has been diagnosed with a serious illness on top of the heart condition he already has.

This is not a very cheerful post is it? What happier things can I tell you about? Ah yes, I had a nice couple of hours this afternoon. My neighbour saw me walking into our garage so called out to me and we got chatting about plants, so she came in and had a walk around our garden and saw what we'd planted to replace some plants we lost in the winter and then I went and inspected her garden. She was very pleased with a couple of plants OH had given her and in return gave me 2 little plants that she had grown from seed. The only problem was she couldn't remember what the plants were. However she described them as "like blue thistles" so I guess they are eryngium (sp?). I think their other name is sea holly. I've got just the spot for them so I'm looking forward to seeing how they come up.

I'm still struggling with my eyes so I am going to say goodnight and turn the computer off. Sleep well everyone, sweet dreams.

Good to see you on here Island. Yes it is hard to get excited or motivated about things we enjoyed when we had somebody to share them with. I have moments now when I feel I am coping, enjoying, for example, the garden for me and being proud of it. But always in the background are memories of how things were. Maybe things will get better. I can only hope. But, as I said, chatting to people on here, helps a lot <3

My motivation took a hike 12 months ago. It's very very hard - as some will know.

often mel and end up doing nothing at all

I have had lunch and my shoulder hurt!! Don't think it was lifting a sandwich but probably from yesterdays cutting the edge of the border with the edging shears.

Can't get motivated now and am just drifting about think ing of all the things I should be doing. Do you ever get like that?

So far today I have given the cloakroom a good clean, filled all the cans etc ready to water the flowers later in pots. Then I walked round to the chemist for my prescription, I wanted to check how many more I had on the annual pathway. I asked the girl at the counter, she wandered off with the prescription and came back muttered something about. 'She's doing it.' waited a bit longer as no mention of how many more when she checked the computer. Asked the girl at the counter (every time I go in it is a different one) what I was waiting for. She just said 'she is doing it', so I waited a bit more and she asked my name and presented me with the prescription. I asked again how many were left Her reply 'Oh did you want to know how many are left?' (sigh). she goes round the back to ask somebody and at the actual pharmacy I can see a lady must be late 50s early 60s who has worked there at ;east 25 years but I had not seen her recently and thought she must have retired. she must have been listening as, without asking my name she quietly said (she was in front of the PC) you have had 4 of 6 you have 2 remaining. And that is the difference between many young people and some older people. Anyway, had my hair cut and walked back. When I got back I got the mower out ready for after lunch then cut back a lot of long grass growing in awkward places and pulled up some straggly geraniums and lemon balm. It smells lovely down the end of the garden with lemon balm and honeysuckle and roses. Came in for a rest and to have lunch and check on here.

Morning Anng,

I know just what you mean about Its been a great comfort to me too but I seem to be losing you all. There used to be so many post and some that upset other and had to be delt with. We now seem a happy gathering of three or four of us. Its nice when Gwyn drops in but she will n ow be busy withthe children again now they are back at school.It was so nice to sxee Frank pop in the other week and I thought for a time he would post more often than just the once but it must be difficult th e way he is.

I have done nothing but scratch since I got up, late again just after 10am. It seems I am waking longer for a trip to the bathroom and then I sleep in which is a nuisance cos I lose most of my morning.

I had a busy day yesterday, I hoover right through, did the pond filter ion the big pond wich took me ages without the air pump and I got covered in black muck. Then I did some gardening and some painting and varnishing and moulding. So you can see I was ready for bed quite early and fell asleep watching telly.

Not too achey this morning and I have to go up the post just to the post box as the van is in for service all this week. My hair needs washing too and thats a feat in itself. I think I may cut some off as when it get longer than your arm with a long handled comb in your hand its a bit awkward to comb to the end.

Must dash will see you all later on.

Love to Vera and I hope she continues to improve. <3

good morning all. 8 degrees here fairly bright slight breeze and the sky is not so heavy looking so I hope it will be sunny later.
Vera I hope that you have continued to feel better and have improved. Don't be tempted to do too much although it is very hard this time of year as the garden needs constant attention. Wise not to go to your meeting as the noise might have been too much I would think.
Yes, it would be great if Gill made another post to let us know how things are and if they have managed to get anything done in the garden.
It is a shame that Ann has not returned to the thread as, as you say, her posts were always interesting and she had been a member of this thread way before me. Sadly I have a feeling that once you stop posting, it is unlikely that you will return as other things take over in your life.
Personally GR and in particular, this thread, has been a really big help to me since T died. To know that I could come on here and chat was a great comfort to me when I was feeling lost and lonely.

Mandy, that is good that nothing has been taken, good idea to take photos though. You must live in a very honest area which is great

Mel, I don't mind dividing up meat but liver is another things. I do it but it is so slippery!!

Hairdresser today at 11.30, so much harder these days to walk there as they are making a huge cycle path right through the area from Gloucester to Cheltenham. roadworks all along the main road I have to cross and who knows where the temporary pedestrian lights are at the moment. For motorists they have removed a lot of the lights along the route and substituted with small double mini roundabouts.

Well, I'm not totally back in the land of the living but I think I'm half alive today. I'm managing to do a few jobs with a rest in between but I still feel completely drained. Never mind, I think I'm on the mend now. I'm hoping to get my glasses sorted out soon as I have an appointment with the eye doctor on Monday. Life would be easier if I could see properly.

OH has spent all day pressure washing the patio and paving round the house. It's not perfect because it had been left far too long but is a hundred times better than it was. He's worked really hard, bless him. I've managed to do the ironing and scrub out the two birdbaths and I also made pea and ham soup for our lunch and some for the freezer, but I feel very tired now.

I've been catching up with the posts. Your trips to Gloucester Cathedral and Highnam Garden, AnnG, both sound interesting. I would have enjoyed those.

You and your bil are working hard in your garden Mel. Don't overdo it. It's so easy to think I'll just do a little bit more and then pay the price the next day.

I'm not at all surprised your toys and scrunchies are selling Mandy. They are so good.

Wouldn't it be nice if Annx started posting again? I always enjoyed her posts. I expect she is busy with her artwork. And what has happened to our Gill again? It would be good if she managed an occasional post. I'd love to hear what she is doing with her garden now.

There is a Ladies Club meeting tonight. There's no speaker. Instead it is going to be a quiz and social evening. We have an evening like that about once a year and they are good fun but I have decided not to go. At the moment I am fit for nothing by the evening and it is likely to get very noisy so I am giving it a miss.

It has been so grey and cold the last few days. At the moment it is 14 degrees which is the warmest it has been today but we haven't seen the sun. He definitely hasn't had his hat on the last few days. It's supposed to gradually improve over the rest of the week and be quite hot from Sunday on.

I've been on the computer for long enough; I need to rest my eyes again. I'm going to ring my cousin now. We only keep in touch occasionally but today is her 86th birthday so I thought I would give her a call.

No sun here very grey and quite cold indoors. Still got cloud cover.
Just jumped out of my skin the window cleaner just hit this window with his pole thigs.