General Chat

We went fir a walk this morning round Lodge Lakes. I have been there before and it is a pleasant one mile walk. We saw a heron, a woodpecker, swans and cygnets and moorhens and babies. We then went to a cafe called Lilly on one of the estates and the meals even breakfasts were all foreign we think maybe Turkish or Moroccan. Son and I had Musahan (or something like that. It was minced chicken and caramelised onion with warm spices in a flatbread. DiL had Humus with something and flatbread. Only comeback was we waited about a hour for the meal. Drinks were nice I had a cocoPiñata which was pineapple and coconut milk whisked with ice.

I am sure he's with you Anng on his special day. I shall be thinking o fyou too and sending love. <3

Good morning

Dry and bright today. I think it’s going to be a hot one and hotter tomorrow. I’m not sure what I'll be doing today.

Remember the happy times AnnG . Thinking of you <3

Good morning all, dry and sunny here.
An emotive day for me as it is/was my beloved T’s birthday he would have been 84.

Morning all,

Cloudy this morning and 15 degrees pc says sunny so we will see what happens later on.

I must check the asda order today as oh has been fiddlig with it and I need to know everything is on there and not just what he wants.

No I decided zi wouldn’t show so. Up by going down the slide. Joking apart it is very fast.

Sorry a Island I don’t know how that happened. Thinking about it I have to add you on the iPad group for some reason and after deleting Gill and Frank I forgot. I shall remedy that now.

My runners have plenty of flowers and I did spot one half inch bean yesterday.

Vera poor you two water does such damage but you were lucky to have a friend in the close to give you a helping hand with the plumbing.

I have had a little fiddle with my craft today and been out in the garden and done some dead heading and picking up bits off the box hedge which keep falling out. I did my little trough with 4 bracycombe (sp) in it as there were so many dead heads on those plants it took me ages.

Pasta for dinner tonight so nice and easy and I had the sauce in the freezer too.

It sounds as though some of you have had worse floods than me and at least mine was downstairs so I didn't have to worry about water coming through the ceiling. The isolator valves are a good idea if you can see them and reach them. We wouldn't have been able to get to the one on the toilet pipes/hoses without the tool that our plumber neighbour was able to produce.

You're absolutely right AnnG. I was really looking forward to whizzing down the slide ;-)

The sun has come out now so I might be closing the blinds again before it gets too hot in here.

Afternoon All,

A nice cool night so slept well and woke to see we'd had rain! I don't think it was much but the car was well wet.

Oh what a nightmare Vera. It was a good job your OH spotted it before it got worse and over more of the floors. Lucky you having such a handy plumber in your close and that you have those valves on your pipes. We had them fitted here once we redid the kitchen and bathroom as first OH had fitted them at my old house and we are on water meter here. You can just switch water off to where the problem is till you get it fixed then. I bet you feel worn out now after all the cleaning up to do.

Get some insect repellant to dab on Mel before they eat you alive! You are all making me wonder whether to try another blueberry now!

Did you go down the slide AnnG? :-) It was a shame you never got to see your grandson and lucky he took a test before coming home.

I've done lunch, picked more cobra beans and a few toms at last. They are the new variety, not cherry ones like I thought when I got the plants, more golf ball size with trusses far and few between. :-( On the other hand, the 1 gardeners delight plant has more trusses with strings of toms. I shall try and stick with those next year. The runners are pathetic.

Nightmare Vera! I feel for you, having been flooded from above three times when I lived in a flat - all different occupiers, twice due to lack of awareness and the third, ongoing because them upstairs poo pooed my assertion that they must have had a leaky fitting under their bath. They couldn't possibly remove the bath panel to check because, well, it was 'an expensive panel'! The managing agent (equally stupid) eventually conceded to make them remove the bath panel - I was right from the start! Livid!
The one that soaked the hall and living room caused the most damage though. Silly old begga upstairs started to run a bath and fell asleep in his chair - at least he got some flooding too.

Superbloom pics Anng? They don't seem to have come my way :-D Got the kitten and lavender though.

Oh goodness Vera what a horrible end to the night/start to the day. I sympathise having woken up to a soggy floor in 1994 but this was on the landing from the bathroom and through a small hole in the ceiling to the dining area. My fault as I inadvertently left the bathroom tsp running, something soaking in the sink so plug was in and we discovered the sink had been put in slightly sloping so the overflow didn’t get the water before it ran over the front edge of the sink. Insurance paid out for all new carpets even though my fault and let us choose the carpet shop.
Hope it can all be fixed with no further problems.

Yes it was lovely to see the flowers. And, sad person that I am, great to be by the Thames and see Tower Bridge again after many years. Last time I was in London was for our golden wedding. I was also impressed to use the ticket for the train on my phone and for the tube by using ny contactless credit card. (See easily impressed, I need to get a life.

Yes the cream tea was a lovely treat as well and that bit was a surprise.

One thing about the flowers Vera I am sure your biggest disappointment was to miss going down the slide. :-(

Morning all

Thanks for the Superbloom pictures AnnG. The flowers look pretty and colourful and it must have been nice to finish with a cream tea. It’s a shame you won’t see your grandson.

It’s dull and a bit cooler here and we had a couple of showers in the early hours but the rain barely wetted the garden.

We haven’t had a good start to the day. I couldn’t settle to sleep and tossed about from 11 pm to 1 am when I got up. I stayed up reading through various supplements in last weekend’s paper and went back up about 2. I dozed fitfully and around 4.30 thought I could hear OH moving about a lot. Then he appeared at the bedroom door to tell me that there was water all over the downstairs cloakroom and the hall. He had turned the water off at the stopcock under the sink but it was still pouring in the cloakroom and he couldn’t see where the problem was. Luckily the neighbour at the bottom of the Close is semi retired from his own plumbing business which is now mostly run by his son so the poor man had OH knocking on his door at 5 am.

He found the problem, a flexible hose behind the WC which had worn and split but he had to go back home to get a special tool to reach behind and feel for a valve that could be turned off. That stopped the water running. Now it has all got to be fixed.

The biggest worry is how much water has got under the floor. Some will certainly have got through the tiles in the cloakroom and hall but it was pooling by the lounge door and if it has got under the sill then we could have a problem with our wooden floor in the lounge. It may be quite a while before any damage there is noticeable.
The underfloor heating worried me but OH assures me it’s well sealed and the insurance company seem happy about it as it is gas and not electric.

OH took some photos before we did any clearing up and managed to squeeze his phone round the back and get a picture of the broken flexible pipe. He has spoken to the insurance company. They accept it was an emergency and we had to get someone in without contacting them and said to get back to them when the plumbing job is done. As for the floor it’s been left open ended. If damage from the water appears at a later date they will cover it minus an excess.

Sorry to bore you with the saga in detail but I was feeling a bit het up and it helps to get it off my chest. I can’t believe I have been up 6.5 hours and it’s still only 11 o’clock.

Enjoy your day. I hope you are having a better one than me.

Good morning all, dry here and sunny but cooler.

Not sure if we are doing anything today as the electrician is here fixing extractor fans. Daughter in law needs to rest as she has fibromyalgia and yesterday was tiring for her.

Just heard that heavy rain is expected at home, good for the garden but Andy was due to finish the drive. He has messaged to say he will do it tomorrow.

Morning all,

Dull and overcast here today but more comfortable pc says 16 degree and mostly sunny so I expect it will get hotter later in the day.

Another Friday has come around so thats another week gone by quickly.

Slept like a log last night the minuet my head hit the pillow.

Sounds like you had a nice day in London with a surprise cream tea too, how nice. The pics were lovely with all the flowers. Thanks Ann for forwarding them to me.

Been busy wtering today. Yesterday I pick a huge bunch of sweet peas and they have been smelling the kitchen out.

Oh fitted his new pump but has to fine tune it tomorrow as he had had enough today.

I have spotted one bean on my runners. The flowers keep falling off but they are right inthe sun. I gave them a good soak late afternoon so they should be ok tomorrow. I also gave them a handful of lime as that helps set the flowers. Mine have been very slow growing this year up till now.

My two blueberry bushes are in big pots too but I think one of them could do with a bigger pot than the one its in. I forgot to top them up this year too as thats what I usually do too still its not too late to do it. I think I am going to give them a little prune this year too.

I have been bitten again between my fingers on my left hand between the little finger and the next one. It dos'nt half itch and I also have a new one on my upper chest near my neck.

With the flowers, The first part was a bit disappointing as the flowers were scorched but apparently there are several micro climates and further in the flowers were the later flowering ones and they looked much fresher. This is now going to be permanent so I think the flowers sill be left to reseed, it will be worth going back next year to see how they have progressed. Some of them were being watered.

. Coming back train had four instead of nine carriages and even standing In First class, and back to the driver on that one too but at least all three of us had seats.

Couldn’t believe the number of people at Euston, worse than the airports. Tube was busy but not really crowded Still it was a good day, really enjoyed it, the flowers were lovely, it was very warm because the walls trap the heat but not unbearable. We didn’t go In The tower in the end just walked along the embankment a bit. Then Stephen had booked a cream tea as a surprise which was really nice Including Prosecco. We then walked a bit and caught a taxi back to Euston.

Unfortunately had a message from Grandson who lives in London. he was due to come home this evenI got but has tested positive fir Covid. So I won’t be seeing him.

I am sooo jealous AnnG but I hope you have a lovely day out. Looking at London temperatures it might be quite pleasant. Even if we had been prepared to brave the heat on Tuesday, which we weren’t, most of the trains on our line were cancelled anyway so we wouldn’t have been able to get there and back. I emailed HRP on Monday to ask if they would consider exchanging our tickets for another day as we had no control over the rail cancellations which had only just been announced. I was pretty sure the answer would be ‘no’ but if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I have had no response at all not even an automated “we’ll respond in due course”.

It’s very overcast today with a slight breeze from the North so it feels much cooler. I’ve got some windows open now as it seems cooler out than in. I’ve done a couple of loads of washing and finished the ironing from last week and OH has run the vac around. If it stays dull and not too hot I might try and do a bit of gardening this afternoon. No rain yet and none forecast so we are having to water all the time. We’re trying to be careful and only water where needed but I think our direct debit to the water company will be going up at the next review.

I hadn’t thought of doing a few little blueberry pies Ann. That’s a good idea. I’ve got some packs frozen with the right amount to make a dozen big muffins. I might try some little pies with one of those packs. My bushes are in pots and must be 15 years old. I had 3 and brought them with me from our old house. One died shortly after the move but the other 2 are going strong. They like the soil to be acidic so I use ericaceous compost. Each year I top the pots up with a couple of inches of fresh compost and that’s pretty much all I do. They seem to thrive on neglect.

OH has just called out that he has made me a banana sandwich for lunch so I’d better go and eat it. I hope he’s made a cup of tea as well.

Scrubbed the bird bath and swept up another barrow load of the bits that fall out of the hedge after its been cut.

I am now going to have a hoover before getting lunch.

Morning all,

A lot cooler here today ,I think the heat got to me yesterday as I felt quite light headed when I got to bed last night and don't feel right this morning either so no going shopping today ,I must have extra water today I thought we had been drinking extra but maybe not enough and I feel tired too .

Anng lovely little kitten looks like sons two new ones , the Lavender fields reminded me of the Lavender fields near Hunstanton all you can see are rows and rows of Lavender and if tyhe car window is open you can smell it too especially when they are cutting .
Enjoy your day in London hope its a nice cool day there .

You were brave Ann going out in the nuddie :-D you need to check that security light doesn't have a camera on it :-D

That will be better Mel if this new pump doesn't keep throwing the leccie off it must be annoying when your cooking or doing something and it just goes off .

When we looked at the news and they showed the cottages in Ashill that had gone up in the fire we realised that the one near the post office which also caught it was where my niece used to live ,thank goodness she had moved, we've sat in her garden there and had some lovely bbq's with the family.