General Chat

Morning Anng ,morning all,

Lovely and sunny here but quite windy ,yesterday was really gusty the poor runners look quite windswept ,we have a few runners that are ready to pick but not enough for two of us but I could make it up with some of the Cobra beans .
I don't think I sent a photo of the cues and beans I picked last week will have to send it
Hope everyone's aches and pains are easier I need to read through the posts as the weekend just seemed to fly by ,Saturday was Laceys birthday so we popped to see her and we've been busy ,this morning I need to get in the front garden and do a lot of dead heading the white rose is looking a bit sorry for its self such a shame it only flowers once .
Better get on BBL

Good morning all, drizzly rain at the moment should be clearing but I still don't think the garden will have had enough. Never mind better than nothing.
After friend had gone yesterday and I'd had lunch I cleaned all the inside windows, not sure how long it was since they were all cleaned, although I had done a couple of rooms.I have just stripped the bed and put bedding in the wash. I will re-make the bed later after I have showered and had breakfast.

Very warm and windy again today. There's no sign of rain so I'll have to go and check the pots again.

Your hedge will look different with the tree gone Mel

I don't seem to have done anything very much today apart from wash a load of towels and cook a roast dinner. It was a bit hot for that sort of meal but OH does enjoy his roast. We cooled down with a choc ice for afters. Yes, my Mum and Dad said afters as well, though if she was talking to anyone other than family my Mum would call it a sweet.

I've spent a lot of time on the phone today. First a friend rang for a long chat, then OH's sister, than our son was on the phone for an hour, bringing me up to date with family news. Youngest granddaughter got Covid just as she was doing GCSEs so missed some. She was panicking because she thought she wouldn't have enough marks to do the A Levels she wants but the school have reassured her.. I think that so many youngsters missed some of their exams that they are taking all sorts of factors into account.

I've just remembered I was supposed to take some scones out of the freezer for us to have this evening and I forgot to do it so I'd better do that now. Probably be back tomorrow.

Trees gne now and he is now digging out the stump. Its been in there over 25 years as it was put in before I was with oh.

Climbing up anything in the wind wouldn't be good Mel so it's good he's found something else to do that sounds as if you wanted it doing as well. I hope you hadn't changed your mind.

The wind's dropped here now and the sun is out. I've just fed the toms and cues in the greenhouse and picked more of the cobra beans. They seem to produce beans earlier than the runners which now have a few tiny 1 inch beans at the moment. There will be some courgettes for a meal this week too.

I'm painting next Mel and cottages are more my thing. These are very dark though as we are supposed to be adding atmosphere and depth, but I am brightening up a bit of the foreground if I can to make it less gloomy.

Looking forward to the new painting Ann as we love the cottage s you paint and its more your thing.

I happened to say I hated the tree at the end of the box hedge and should have kept my mouth shut as the digger is up there and I see he has taken a huge branch off of it and is dragging it to the bonfire with the digger. It very windy here today so I don't think he want to go up the scaffold.

Morning All,

It's mostly cloudy here and quite windy. It got the washing dry this morning though so that is good. I was going for a walk but felt so comfy in bed I got up late! Lunch is in the oven, veggies done and I have cut OH's hair. It grows up and down his neck, everywhere except the top of his head! He's trimming his beard now as he needs to be tidy and smart for doing his speech on Wednesday.

Things took a battering here with the wind too. My tall poppies have no petals now and the foxgloves are all taking a bow. At least the alpines don't mind the wind with where they are from. Looking forward to seeing your 2 teds and the other makes once you have finished them all Mel.

Roses do make a mess once the petals fall don't they AnnG. We dharder hon't have any, but still get the mess from nextdoor's as they poke above our fence and guess which way the wind blows. Still they do look nice when they are in flower.

OH is writing up notes today and I have no plans other than starting to put paint on paper. This one has cottages and is one of the harder ones to sketch, but that bit's done now. I know I will make it too detailed for the teacher's liking but am doing a few tweaks to change it a bit which I think he will like if it all turns out how I want that is!

Morning all,

Sunny here but still windy too c says 16 degrees and mostly sunny so lets hope the wind drops a bit. The rain and wind has'nt done much for the flowers inthe garden has it Anng? Its ruined a lot of my roses too and my big white daisies have a big hole in the middle up the border. Looks like a huge cat has slept in the middle of them. The first rain ruined the peonies too.

Good morning all 15 degrees here and sunny, I hope the wind is going to drop today, yesterday the roses that were in full bloom took a beating and those tiny white ones in particular shed petals everywhere. They are pretty and smell lovely but make such a mess when over. I managed to cut some down but there are too many to get them all.
And most of the wild flowers and poppies are/were tall so a lot have now been beaten down.

My friend who lives just round the corner is coming for coffee this morning so I had better get dressed and get a move on to have some breakfast. No tesco today as this is the one I dropped when experimenting with the two weekly shops. :-)

Afters I like it my dad always called it afters.

I have done a little painting of my miniatures, two tiny teds and cast a couple more other things. Fed the toms and cue and thats about it really. O I did go and water the shed plants and the blueberries as they had been blown over. It has rained today but not enough to wet the ground for the plants. OUr hose reel is broken and I really need to use it so I may have to get another one out.

There's a great thing to make in Landscape this month. Its a cushion you can take out with you with a handle on it and it has pockets in it for a note book or phone and pens etc. Good if you go for walks and want to sit down somewhere be it a bench or a rock or even the ground if you cna get there and get up again.

OH had a lay down and I found him asleep this afternoon Vera! I left him as he's had a busy week of work and was up so early this morning.

I've finished sketching my picture at last and will start painting tomorrow now as my eyes have had enough and are a bit blurry. I had a break and went up the garden, more tieing up of toms and cues. The toms are a strange lot this year. Three are a small variety I haven't had before, but one is tall and weedy with few toms on and the other 2 are really bushy with very thick stems and look completely different. The 4th one that I bought as a plant was a gardener's delight and I've had those for years, but it doesn't have the big strings of toms they usually have and I have a feeling it has been labelled wrongly! Oh well, as long as they are all edible and can be used.

Better get something to eat now and some of the strawberries for 'afters'.

It was another hot, muggy night and it's still very warm here but overcast and windy. There's no sign of any rain yet so we're watering the pots and troughs at least once a day and using the hose on the rest of the garden every couple of days. I wonder how Gill manages when there is a prolonged dry spell. I seem to remember she had 400-500 pots. Perhaps she is getting her new garden set up with more beds and fewer pots.

I bet the chap who forgot to pick you up was embarrassed AnnG. Annoying for you after sending a reminder but these things happen.

You were out and about early this morning Ann. I wish we had a decent farm shop near here. There is a very good veg and fruit stall in the market but I stopped going there during the pandemic. Although it was in the open air and people were wearing masks they crowded round the stalls too much for my liking. I think I would feel more comfortable now so I shall have to start shopping there again.

I seem to have had another day of not getting much done. I think I must be getting lazy. and need to buck my ideas up a bit.

OH has just called up the stairs that he has made us a sandwich so I had better go.

Morning All,

Slept well again and OH shocked me by being up before 7.00am and was out sorting some the sawdust mess from the tree being felled and roughly replacing some of the edging rocks although a few were smashed. A lot have split with frost damage anyway so we hadn't bothered to move them.

It was quite cool and still breezy here but lots of sunshine, so we went early to the farm shop as we had run out of eggs. I got some strawberries and nice big black cherries, a couple of nectarines and some radishes and mushrooms and a few of their nice yoghurts. I tried a pineapple and ginger one just now and it was really nice. We were passing the chemist on the way back so OH was able to pick up the rest of his prescription. I don't know if any of you are finding the same, but more and more we are getting 1 packet one make and one another make of the same tablets. It means they are different size tablets and I find it confusing with taking another tablet as well.

Vera I would have enjoyed your lunch I think. Pesto, the Italian restuarant we went to for OH's birthday, operate in a similar way where you order several dishes each for your meal and can share some. That was a lot of olives and I try to force just a couple down even though I don't like them as I know they are good for you! What I can't tackle though is anchovies!! We always have small plates at carveries and at least with serving yourself you can pile it up a bit to be sure you have enough. :-)
I hope those scan results for your OH come through soon now. Hopefully they will be chasing them up now.

I bet the man felt bad about forgetting the meeting with saying he would pick you up AnnG and after you emailing a reminder too! Not everyone was a civil servant or worked in an office so has kept up with keeping a diary though. My sister didn't and was always forgetting arrangements or getting the wrong day.

Watering duty is nearly done for your neighbour now. There hasn't been much rain to give you a break either. No-one here seems to do it for each other, although I used to go over the road to water baskets for Alice when she went away. She lived there before Mrs O. Her husband died in a motorbike accident after they signed up for the bungalow opposite but before they moved in, which was shocking and sad. One of her children lived in Australia and the other spent most time abroad. She worked part time for the council at first and sang in a choir, then bumped into a chap she used to know from work and they hit it off and eventually bought another bungalow together. I do miss her but am glad she found happiness again.

Well I seem to be adding more to my jobs list than I am ticking them off so I'd better get onto doing something.

Yes not wise to use electric in the rain. I was going to cut the lawn, mainly to pick up all the fallen leaves and petals from the wind but reason tells me that if I do the wind will bring down more.

I buy the Saturday paper for the tv programs too Anng.

Its been raining here so it stopped play on thehedge. He's just gone out again but using leccy tools he has to keep bringing them in.

I shan't ask him again. I have had another offer to pick me up if the usual person is away so no problem. Just one of the disadvantages of not having a car.

Still windy here. Experiment today, I needed a few bits from Tesco and Cynth is not back yet. so I walked round with my rucsac. Made sure I didn't get carried away but managed to get everything I needed/wanted, Just over £10 worth but almost £2 of that is the Saturday paper, bought for the TV paper really.

Morning All,

Bright and breezy here too today and yesterday it was really windy inthe afternoon. we have blue, grey and white clouds inthe sky and pc says rain on and off and 13 degrees in Broad Clyst and not the Buckland Filleigh one.

Just the ususal today shop for the paper and Em's with her eggs.

Fancy him forgetting the group meeting and to pick you up Anng. I thought it would be something like that but its so annoying waiting only to be left standing there for ages. Its bad enough waiting for someone to arrive witha delivery and it being late but at least you are at home then.

Good morning all. Bright and sunny and breezy here this morning. Yesterday evening it was blowing a gale out there so I took two hanging baskets into the conservatory. I can't remember ever having to do that before in June. Strange weather.

Nothing planned for today. Cynth should be back later on So a last check of the garden later. Lunch time I have a man coming to help me with getting my emailed photos onto my photo editing programme. Since google did an up date that is not happening as it did before. He thinks he knows why so we shall see. No problem with getting photos into the programme from my SD card (camera(.

couldn't sleep so came in here and had a read of posts.
He actually forgot all about the meeting. He was very apologetic at letting me down and I suppose these things happen but I was annoyed as I sent out a reminder email last weekend.

Vera your meal sounds very nice. We did visit a restaurant that had the small plates menu for lunch after one of our garden visits outings. As far as I can tell it seemed a way of making it look like a cheap meal, which it was if you only chose say two plates, but then was not enough. And three plates were quite expensive for lunch. Also it would work if with your partner or friends you knew well but not, as I was, in a group of friends who prefer a snack type lunch or basic food like fish and chips.
still you enjoyed it and I think I would (I like olives but not that many which suggests the slads could be shared.

Oh dear AnnG, that must have been so frustrating for you. I wonder if he simply forgot or if there was another reason he didn’t turn up. Have you heard from him yet?

You must let us know what your nurse says about the polio vaccine Ann. I had been wondering about it as I never had any vaccinations. I suspect I wouldn’t be given it now at my age but it’s as well to find out. There is a bit of scare mongering going on. Read some reports and you would think the country was in the middle of a polio epidemic with people dropping like flies which is utter nonsense of course.

I’ve also had a day of not doing very much. OH ran the vacuum round downstairs while I did the ironing and that was all I did this morning and the only thing I have done this afternoon is get a Sainsbury’s delivery set up for Monday. We did go out for lunch between those 2 jobs. We decided on a pub in a village about 5 miles away. We hadn’t been there since before Covid and knew it had changed hands so thought we would give it a go. Well, it certainly has changed and seems much bigger and rather more upmarket (and expensive!). There were 2 bars with tables for meals, a restaurant area and an outdoor eating area and the tables were well spaced throughout. We sat in the restaurant bit and had it to ourselves though there was a sliding glass door open between us and the outside area where more tables were occupied so we didn’t feel completely isolated.

The menu informed us that they operate a small plate system, the idea being either to have lots of plates between everyone on the table or each person pick two or three from the menu. We each chose 3. I played fairly safe with lamb meatballs in a tomato and rosemary sauce, French fries and a side salad. OH had fillet steak in a sauce of some sort which he said was very tasty, wild mushroom and parmesan bruschetta and he also ordered a side salad but the waitress must have written the wrong menu number on her pad as he got smoked chicken on some sort of couscous mixture. It looked so nice that he decided to keep it and forgo the salad. My salad was much larger than I expected and had at least 20 olives in it which got left as I dislike olives. OH helped me get through the French fries. It was all beautifully cooked and nicely presented and the staff were very pleasant. We would go again but it wouldn’t suit everyone.

When we got back there was a letter for OH from the medical secretary at the GP surgery saying that their diary showed he was due for more blood tests and enclosing the form saying what tests were needed. The problem is OH had them 3 weeks ago and has been told the results were normal. He rang and the secretary checked. Apparently the doc told OH to get tested again after 2 months but put it down as 3 months in the computer. So we have to wait now to see if the doctor wants him tested again or not. Doc will phone OH but it probably won’t be till Monday at the earliest. While on the phone he asked again about his MRI scan results and the surgery still haven’t heard but the secretary said they are often very slow with scan results. As it is 5 weeks now we are hoping that is a good sign. Hopefully the consultant would have got in touch quicker if he had seen anything to really worry him.

It looks as though it is going to be another hot, sticky night. Fingers crossed we all sleep well.