General Chat

It was a bit cool and overcast this morning but it’s lovely this afternoon.

I changed bedding this morning and did 3 loads of washing, though I still have the sheets to wash tomorrow.

Then I went online to renew my rail card. Because of the pandemic and not going out my old one wasn’t used. But I decided to get a new 3 year one in the hope of using it more (if the trains are running!). This was where I had a problem yesterday. I went through the whole process online till I got to a page asking me to upload a photo. The cards never used to carry a photograph but now they do. You are told you can upload your favourite snap and then they list the conditions which are basically the same as a passport photo. You mustn’t even crop a head and shoulders from a bigger picture. I had to leave it yesterday. Today I went through all the fairly recent pictures on our computer and couldn’t find anything suitable but in our filing cabinet I found a passport photo from 10 years ago so I scanned that in to the computer and uploaded it to the railcard site. My skin might have been a bit firmer 10 years ago but otherwise there was hardly any difference between then and now. What a palaver.

AnnG, we are like you and keep a check on what we are spending and getting in. OH has spreadsheets set up on his computer for bank accounts and credit cards but if he buys online so he hasn’t got a paper receipt he sometimes forgets to note it down. A friend of ours never checked her bills but one day she just happened to notice a charge of £7.99 to Amazon. She was sure she hadn’t bought anything. Although she never checked she did keep her credit card statements for quite a while so looked back and found this amount had been taken out monthly for the previous 18 months. She hadn’t noticed the small print when she had purchased something and was paying for Amazon Prime. She was very upset but I suggested she got in touch with them and they were very good. They could see she had never used Prime and they refunded all her money, but it taught her a lesson. She checks each month now.

I haven’t got into the garden today, apart from watering a few pots for next door who are away till tomorrow. OH did some deadheading for me. I’ve got 3 clumps of pink scabious. As long as you keep deadheading they keep blooming but it can be a bit of a long winded job. I want to keep them going as the bees and butterflies, particularly the tortoiseshells, love them.

Better get on I suppose. The rest of the washing needs to come in and I could do with a shower. Then it will be time to think about tonight’s meal.

PS. I spoke too soon - the sun has gone in, the breeze has got up and it’s cooling right down.

Gosh its hot out there. I am indoors as its nice and cool in here.

Morning anng and all,

Nice bright morning here so far today but I hav'nt seen the weather forcast yet. Last night the sky to the north west was orange right the way over till very late. It was a bit errie really as it was still like it at 10pm But I suppose we are only two days off of the longest day. Who can believe it? This year has flown by to me as it dos'nt seem long since Christmas.

I need to do some H W too Anng as when I get lost in my miniatures nothing get done except the washing as that more or less does itself. I suppose making the miniatures is just a way of prooving to myself I can still do it but the old hands often drop them on the floor! Oh said to me yesterday that he is surprised that I can still do them as good as when he first met me 25 years ago. I used to make for a friend who had an antique shop in Sudbury.

Vera you really had a day of it yesterday and I hope things are calmer for you today and you are able to get out in the garden and have a potter. Pc says 15 degrees and sunny and top temp of 20 so it shoudl be a lovely day and I may even get up the border who knows?

Good morning all, bright and sunny out there at the moment, nothing planned for today although a bit of H/W might come into it. Bedroom need dusting so that will probably get done before I go out in the garden, although the first job will be to water the baskets in the two gardens as I didn't do them yesterday. (having been soaked with rain on Saturday).

I hope you slept well Vera having written down most of your frustrations from the day. Those odd credit card payments are annoying aren't they, when the name of the company is not the same as where good are bought from. I check my CC against my own accounts every month and it is sometimes frustrating and time consuming. However I can't be like those people who spend the money and don't take a receipt. How can you keep track of spendings without a receipt? 'Look after the pennies and.....' is very much my mantra.

It’s been a slightly grey day here with only an occasional sight of the sun and a bit of a breeze. At the moment there is a beautiful pink striped sky.

Your pretend ivy should look attractive Mandy round your gazebo and lantern. Have you managed to watch lots of programmes today?

You sound as though you have been really busy today Ann. I feel worn out just reading about all the jobs you have been doing. Have you decided which of your 52 doorbell sounds you are going to have? Our neighbours have got theirs set to play a horrid melody and it’s a long one as well so they have usually walked through the house and got the door open before it stops.

We had a lot of quite heavy rain yesterday afternoon with a thunderstorm and a cloudburst at about 10 pm last night so the garden got a good soaking and no need to water today.

It’s been one of those days today. This morning OH was doing the monthly accounts tying up credit card and bank statements with his own records and kept calling me with questions about incomings and outgoings so I couldn’t get on with anything. I won’t go into details as I had already had a rant in the post I lost but one payment of £90 had us both puzzled and took me a long while to work out. It almost looked like someone had hacked in and bought something on our account. I ended up doing quite a lot of googling and eventually found it was a genuine payment but had been put under a very strange name that turned out to be an umbrella name for a whole raft of businesses and we had purchased something from one of those firms. If only they had put on the payment page something like “This will appear on your statement as…” it would have saved a lot of wasted time.

Then I got a text from my daughter asking if I had any photos of her with someone called S.C. I had no recollection of who S.C. was though the name sounded familiar. It turned out she had been at junior school with my daughter. They hadn’t seen each other for 45 years but this week found themselves playing in the same orchestra for a show. Daughter thought it might be fun to look at some old photos and reminisce with S.C. I knew I had some class photos but had no idea where they might be so I have been through just about every cardboard box in every cupboard. Eventually I found them in an old suitcase right at the back of a cupboard under the stairs. OH had to lay on his stomach to haul it out for me.

By this time our roast was cooked and I needed to get the veg on, so we had dinner and I went up to the study to scan the pictures into the computer and email them to daughter. I wasted more time trying to get the scanner part of the printer to operate. After cursing a lot I decided to use our old scanner only to find that OH hadn’t installed it when he bought new computers about a year ago. Up he came and spent ages trying to get the printer scanner to work with no success, so he ended up reinstalling the old scanner which worked fine and daughter now has class photos from 1973, 74, 75 and 76 and a photo of the school netball team in 1975/6.

During all this we had several phone calls, one of which took nearly an hour. Then I had another problem. No, you’ve had enough of my irritations for one day. I’ll save the next bit for tomorrow. Here’s hoping we all have a good night’s sleep and wake up raring to go tomorrow. Night, night and sweet dreams.

I don't know if any of you watched the first series of McDonnel and Dodds but there is a new one on tonight on ITV. I like it so shall be watching later on.

You have had a busy day Ann and I have done nothing again. I have played with my miniatures though.

You might have square eyes by tomorrow then Mandy! I must admit with series I quite like to watch one episode after another, so I don't forget what was happening. By tomorrow night you can start filling the planner again. :-) I bet the ivy looks quite effective wound around like that. I remember sitting at the table under Jane's gazebo years ago and thinking how much shadier it seemed than our parasol that always seems to shade everything but us.

Well there were a few subs with the delivery in the end like extra broccoli to what I had already ordered. Why do they do that I wonder? Maybe they think you must like it so would like even more of it. The driver thought he could just dump the crates and go, so I reminded him of the note on the order and he rather grudgingly packed it in our bags. One yoghurt was split all down the side and half the contents gone so I will ask for a refund on that.

I managed to sort the new doorbell and put it up, but will need to sort the tunes and volume another day. It has 52 tunes and who on earth needs that many? A plain ding dong will do for us. At the moment each of the 2 ringers (we put 1 in the conservatory where it can be heard in the back garden) has a different tune so it is a bit of a cacophony!

I've sketched my painting, a very simple mountain, but have no energy left to start painting so will make a start on that tomorrow. I've filled the waste paper bin again with some sorting out I've been doing and it looks a bit tidier now. An early night tonight I think.

Afternoon all,
Lovely sunny day here and nice and warm after yesterday's chilly day .

Vera it sounds like you had very good coffee morning and raised lots of money, you were lucky with the weather at least you had a dry first part of the day .

Gosh Ann you've got lots done today you'll meet yourself coming back :-D doesn't it feel good though when you can see what you've done .

We had family here this morning so I haven't done very much ,I did go out and twist some fake ivy that I got from Amazon around the gazebo columns and round the top too ,I had some over so I twisted it round one of my lanterns .

We want to watch a few more things on the planner before we lose sky tomorrow with the change over to BT ,hoofully it will all go OK and I'll be able to get on here but if I do vanish for a day or two you'll know why .

I ended up getting lunch so still have to do the freezers Mel. We had a few small strawberries but they are first year plants so should hopefully be better next year. I need to pot some of the runners off them next to increase the numbers as I only have 3 plants. Yours sound really nice.....yum yum!

I cleaned the window and the glass in the door in the UTI while lunch was cooking and am going to see if I can unpack and set up the new doorbell next while OH does the washing up of the pans and fetches the washing in. I must get my painting sketched out if I can today. We are using different materials to get effects this time, crumpled paper, tinfoil, old credit cards etc so I need to practice a bit on some scrap paper first.

Just lost a long post, my own fault this time. Don’t have time to redo it now. Might bbl

Gosh you popped in before me Ann and you've done loads this morning. Mind you I did pop to the loo inbetween posting.

Morning Anng and all,

Not raining at the mo but its cloudy and not very bright. Pc says rain coming.

I have one job to do today thats urgent and thats to cover up the strawberries with some polythene as they don't like the rain and theres a nice lot of berries ready for picking. I shall do it if it rains or not as I have been looking forward to the nice big juicy berries I have seen on them and the rain spoiled them one year. I may even have to pick some.

Morning AnnG and All,

I slept well and was up early this morning and in the garden watering the greenhouse and feeding the toms and cues. I pulled some weeds out as I walked around the garden and deadheaded the pots of Violas and the Geraniums. Then I cleaned the bath and tiles and cleaned the ensuite and hoovered in there and the lounge and porch and hall. Next I put washing on and cleaned the gas hob in the kitchen. Next I will wipe the fridge out and sort the freezers ready for our food delivery later. Just the teabags I want are out of stock and no subs this time. OH found me another cane or two I need for the tomatoes and has sorted the conservatory better as it has become a storeroom for cardboard boxes since the pandemic. He is doing some of his work now.

We have only ever had a 2 week order since the pandemic AnnG. We find the Bob or Cravendale milk will last that long although more expensive. I find things like frozen mushrooms good as you can just use what you need. If any veg are not lasting the time I either freeze them or cook and freeze them to use with mince and rice. We do use the farm shop in the week inbetween deliveries to stock up on eggs and fresh stuff now though.

Well better get on........BBL.

I don't mind having the Tesco delivery but do hate the waiting around. It is due between 11 and 12 but I know from experience that it can be any time from 1015 to 1215. Although to be fair if it is really early he usually phones.

Good morning all. another quite good sleep last night but I didn't wake as late as yesterday. rained over night but sunny so far this morning.

did everyone else have that very weird but beautiful orange/red sky. Pouring with rain here but the sky lit up red all over.

Vera, strangely, even though I had seemed to do a lot of jobs I didn't feel that tired in the evening, I did take good breaks between jobs though and luckily didn't need to water the two gardens because of the rain. I did need to give my tomatoes some water though as they are against the house wall and a bit sheltered from the rain.

Tesco due today. trying an experiment by having a big order and hoping it will last me two weeks. But 6 subs (at a push acceptable although not sure salmon fillets for sea bass would be OK for everyone.) and one unavailable which is a certain brand of Greek yoghurt which I had ticked no sub.

Not sure I will get out in the garden as it will be very wet but will have to check the baskets are watered enough in both gardens.
Only other job is some ironing. I found and washed several pairs of crops that I didn't find last year so they need ironing.

All I have done today is go up the shop and deliver Em's eggs and then played with my moulds. I have taken out the other smaller jug thing and its got plaster in it now.

Afternoon All,

We ended yesterday with a cool shower and hairwash and slept really well last night. We woke to rain this morning and had a nice lie in and relax after the busy week. It's been 12 degrees all day here, so much cooler and more pleasant. It's stopped raining now but has been showery all day and given the garden a reasonable soak. With it being cooler I have had a good tie up of the cues and tomatoes as It's boiling doing it in the greenhouse on the hot days. I've cut 3 small cues now, but 2 seem to be a different variety and more knobbly like the ones that are pickled! :-0 I've done the extra veg ready to go with our cod mornay tomorrow and OH is preparing a talk he's been asked to do by a new consultancy firm after being recommended to them. We are venturing out to and having a carvery at a pub we used to go to before the pandemic on Monday. Mondays are usually quiet anyway, as most go out over the weekend. Mind you we have a 30% off coupon which may make it busier but there are places to sit almost like little cubicles.

It's good when you can get absorbed in doing craft Mel and jobs can usually wait. I keep meaning to do some resin jewellery at some point, but the moulds for that are usually plastic.

You have had a busy day and got lots done AnnG. I want some of your energy!

I'm glad your coffee morning went well and you sold plenty Vera and that you made a fair bit of money towards the speakers. Yes put your feet up and do the floors tomorrow! :-)

I have gone through a stack of papers and magazines and chucked plenty out. OH has a little moan about them not all going in the bin that's full, but he never squashes the recycling down like I do! I will put them in a bag next to the bin if needs be and am sure the binmen will still take them. I've sorted out the tablets for the week and need to change the bed next as that is best done on a cool day. I've sorted the fridge ready for tomorrow's food delivery and need to complete the order and that's me done then. :-)

Much cooler than yesterday when it got to 33 degrees but still quite warm. It stayed dry till about midday and has been showers on and off since then, some of them quite heavy.

The coffee morning went well. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and nearly everyone brought a cake or scones with them. I provided as much tea/coffee/cold drinks as people wanted. People paid £2 for as much cake and drink as they could manage. We had loads and loads of books which we sold for 50p a time and plants going for a similar amount. There was a raffle and folk were very generous with donating prizes and we also did “ pound in a bucket”. We made almost £100 profit which will go towards paying for speakers.

It started to rain quite heavily about midday so everyone grabbed indoor chairs and cushions from the garden furniture and the trolley with books and dashed indoors. They spread out between the conservatory, kitchen and lounge and stayed till about 1.15. I persuaded most people to take their own left over cake back with them though 2 nice packs of scones have made their way into my freezer lol. All the plants were sold and left over books and bric-a-brac will go to charity shops and two of the ladies volunteered to take those for me.

We soon got straight again but you should just see the state of my floors where everyone ran in from the rain with wet shoes. Luckily the lounge is wood and the rest is tiled so they just need washing and it won’t get done today ‘cos I’m shattered now.

I should think you feel shattered too AnnG as you seem to have been busy today.

Mel, it’s good to have a hobby and it is so easy to lose track of time when you are absorbed in something. You clearly love your miniatures so let the other jobs wait. They’ll still be there tomorrow. I’m the same with a book. I say I’ll just read a chapter and a couple of hours later find I’ve read half the book.

It’s going to be an easy meal tonight, probably egg and chips, so I’m now going to spend an hour on the iPlayer watching the Matt Lucas episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

rained a bit here not heavy very light in fact but better than nothing. I did plant out some Rudbeckia that were in the greenhouse and cut the lawn. then I did two loads of washing, including bedding and remade the bed and cleaned the bathroom including washing the floor and also the kitchen floor. Just having a rest after putting away clothes from the airing cupboard.

Been raining here on and off but mostly on.

I lost the morning on my miniatures and did'nt realise what the time was and I had'nt fed the chickens or got dressed! All done now and I am getting ready to go up the shop just have to finish writing the list.