General Chat

Morning All,

I went off to sleep quite early then woke at 2.00am. I could see round the edge of the curtains and blinds that a light was going on and off every few minutes. I thought it must be a cat or fox triggering a security light so got up to have a look. It turned out to be a street light at this end of the old close before our little road and bungalows. It kept happening so the light unit must be on the blink! I couldn't get back to sleep for a while then as it was a bit like the belisha beacon in that episode of 'One Foot in the Grave'. :-D

It's 15 degrees here and the sun has gone in, but the wash we put out earlier is all dry and fetched in. OH came with me to do a 1 lap usual walk and we saw the 2 ducklings that are left, then a few minutes later another brood of 4 appeared with mum. They are much smaller but could dive well and popped back up again like corks!

No rain here, but the sun has gone in now Mel. I have so many jobs today I don't know where to start, maybe a wipe of the new freezer so it's ready first and then do more of the food order.

You are getting on well with planting up AnnG and I must really get more of my pots planted up now. The geraniums that I managed to keep over winter are huge now and will fill some of the pots on their own I think. The garden centre should have lots of temptation with plants now!

16 degrees here and sunny and warm. I have just filled two troughs and planted two bedding Zonal geraniums in each. In June they will go out into the front garden to replace the two with pansies in them.

Morning all,

Not very nice here today and it keeps trying to rain a little. Pc says partly sunny and 16 degrees.

Nothing planned for today so see how the day takes me.

Enjoy your trip out Anng and hope you find things to buy in the garden centre.

Slept like a log lst night and hope you lot did too.

Good morning all sunny here so far and 9 degrees. Hope it will be as nice as yesterday was. Not got anything planned for this morning but going out with my friend this afternoon to a garden centre.

Not done much today we just sat in the garden this afternoon and we're having bacon egg and mushroom sandwiches tonight after oh comes out of the shower.

I did start to tidy the spare room as I have just chucked my coats in there on the bed and jumpers on the chair then oh said he wanted help with something so thats why we were in the garden. He's cleared all behind my pond which was a bit of a dumping ground and as the gunnera died he's dug the hole out and put fresh dirt in it and leveled it and now I have to find the grass seed.

Dear olld dog looking for the ducks bread the saucey fello.

Afternoon All,

It was dull here earlier but bright sunshine and dry here. I did the walk first and OH came with me. No mummy duck again and we only saw one duckling today with the 4 drakes. A lovely young black Lab in smart black harness and collar came rushing up to us while we were looking at the pond. His owner said he'd learned that people feeding the ducks have bread so always checks out if people have any now and will snatch it if he can, He was very gentle and just sniffed our hands before checking the ground around us.

The new freezer arrived 10 minutes early yesterday and the 2 men had the old one out and new one in place in no time at all. I'll wipe it out and switch it on tomorrow night and it will be all ready for the Sunday delivery then. It is the same as the one we got last year, so is a bit taller than the old one and the drawers are deeper so easier to pack.

Vera the Dowton Abbey film sounds good and the wild flower meadow in London sounds as if it will be lovely to see. Even before the pandemic I used to wear a fleece and scarf at our Vue cinema, even on hot days. I don't know whether they didn't put heat on during the day, but there were some awful draughts!! Oh lovely lemon drizzle cake! I could just fancy a slice now! That's reassuring to know your OH's next scan was all in hand. That scan is the noisy one I think. OH still hasn't been given an appointment at the hospital for having the tooth out. It will be 2 and a half years soon since the dentist and hospital started passing him back and forth. So it was ham, egg and chips all round for your meal! Still very nice but meals are getting expensive now.

I'd forgotten that tune Mel and now I can't get it out of my head either! That was lovely seeing the Hares and a bonus of living where you do with all the wildlife.

No the traveller site application doesn't include the old Hall AnnG. That belongs to a company now and is very well kept. I can think of 5 other traveller sites within 1-3 miles of here. One has travelling showmen on it as you can see the fairground rides there in the winter. I bet your hair feels nice now it is trimmed.

Mandy those Owl doorstops are lovely and so useful too! Did you fill them with rice?

I'm have trouble with the pc this morning.

Morning all,

Sunny here now and pc says 16 degrees and mostly sunny so I think its a day in the garden.

First I have to hoover up some cobwebs in the corner above my desk as they are so long I could knit a pair of socks with them. Its a place I can't reach very well and if I ask oh to do it he will knock my plates off the shelf. Might try the broom or the feather duster first.

I have now lost all the bits round the edge of the page.

Just lost my post...........

Morning everyone,

Some watery sun this morning and

Morning all,

Sunny day here and looks like its going to warm up tomorrow ,we have a load of logs coming tomorrow and son and dil will barrow them round for us and then we can stack them in the shed after they have gone .

Yesterday we had a few showers but only enough to wet the ground and leave a few small puddles.
Sister and bil called in late morning it was so nice to sit and have a chat and put the world to rights .
This morning I need to go shopping and we need to get eggs from the farm too so a busy morning .

good morning so far it is bright with high cloud and part sun day and 9 degrees. Not sure what I am doing yet as only just got up. Didn't sleep that well at first but on from 2am onwards.

Good morning

We had a lot of heavy rain yesterday. Today looks as though it’s going to be another grey, dry day but it is supposed to be quite warm. I’ve no particular plans so we might try to get to Arger Fen today.

Vera no nobody answered me about the flowers in the moat so thanks for that Vera. I bet they are going to look lovely. How nice.

It’s lovely hearing about your swan and cygnets Gwyn. I still haven’t managed to get down to the river to see if our swan is still sitting or if she now has babies.

Ah, we are going on 13th July AnnG. Funnily enough I looked at 20th or 21st but OH said he would rather go the previous week.

Well, yesterday……I think I said there were 3 of us going; the birthday girl M, myself and friend J. J was driving. She is invariably late and yesterday was no exception, arriving to pick me up at 11.20 am instead of 11. This made us a bit tight on time as we had a 20 mile journey and a table booked for lunch at 12 noon so J, a 75 year old spinster lady, did her well-known imitation of a boy racer. Why pay for a white-knuckle fairground ride when you can get the same effect by travelling with J? However, we arrived safely, parked and hurried through the shopping area to the restaurant we were using. M & I both chose salmon fishcakes and J picked ham, egg and chips and pots of tea all round. The waitress returned with the tea and told us that they were out of fishcakes. M decided on the ham, egg and chips and I asked if there was any shellfish in the fish pie as I am allergic to shellfish. Off went the waitress to ask the chef, eventually returning to say that there was no shellfish in the fish pie as such but there was in the kitchen so he couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be just a trace. I couldn’t take a chance so guess what – yes, I had ham, egg and chips! We were all a bit disappointed as this had been a really good, if pricey, restaurant. The food we had was fine but really was overpriced.

Anyway we had our meal and then a slow wander to the cinema for the 2 pm showing of the film. This cinema is quite strange. There are 2 small rooms upstairs called screen 1 and screen 2 and these rooms have seating like armchairs and 2-seater sofas. Yesterday we were in the ground-floor “Premium Screen”. This is a much bigger room with more conventional, but very comfortable, seating and lots of room between rows so you don’t feel people are crowding round you. J had booked our seats and had got 3 on the end of a row, so M sat at the end, with me in the middle and J next to me being the only one who might have to sit next to a stranger. We couldn’t believe it when 2 ladies we know quite well had the seats next to J. The cinema was only half full anyway so we all felt comfortable and reasonably safe.

The cinema had the air conditioning really blasting out to keep the air circulating I suppose, but after a while everyone ended up putting their coats and jackets round them. It got so chilly but better to keep the air moving I suppose.

We all enjoyed the film and all thought it was better than the first Downton Abbey one. On the way back to the car park we stopped at a Café Nero and had a cup of tea, finding ourselves a table tucked away in a corner. While we were there J had a text come through and we all whooped and cheered and then got the giggles when we realized everyone had turned to look at the 3 mad old biddies in the corner. J has been in the throes of moving for over 6 months and has had one setback after another and had got very depressed about it. The text was to tell her that contracts had at last been exchanged and she could move in 2 weeks’ time.

When I got home OH said our neighbour had been cooking again and had brought us in a huge chunk of lemon drizzle cake. That’s the third thing in less than 2 weeks. Isn’t he kind?

Anyway that was yesterday. We haven’t been to Arger Fen today as we have had some heavy rain on and off.

I really have rambled on again. I’d better post this and go and sort out some veg for dinner tonight

It would be strange Vera I don’t know exactly what elements he has booked for but it is the 21 July.

Lovely pictures Mel, especially the hares. Thank you for sharing them.

I like your owl doorstops too Mandy, and that card holder is a brilliant idea. I could have done with some of those when our grandchildren were little.

Mel, I think it’s dreadful that your OH was left without some of his tablets for a few days. If the doctor prescribed them he must need them and shouldn’t be left without. If you can do it I should try to build up just a small stock to use if this happens again. I hope your painful knees are easing up now. I remember that song and it’s a jolly little tune but I’ve had the dratted thing going round and round my brain today. I’ll be singing it in my sleep.I

I’m glad you got your eyes and your sample jar sorted out Ann. If they had only told you about the sample in the first place you wouldn’t have had to wait in a phone queue and take up phone time that someone else could have used. Never mind, these things happen and at least you know what’s what now. I hope your freezer has arrived and fitted the space.

People round here moan about our medical teams but I don’t think they realise how good ours are. OH had some investigations and a scan at the end of October and the doctor said they would do another scan in 6 months time. We thought we’d leave it another month or so and then remind them but today he got a phone call from the hospital to tell him that the doctor wanted blood tests and an MRI scan this time. He hasn’t got dates yet but the wheels have been set in motion with no prompting from us.

I bet you feel good after your haircut AnnG. You must try not to overdo it as I believe Covid does leave people feeling very tired. It can take quite a while to recover fully. My neighbour had it some weeks ago and, although she is fine now, she still has to pace herself a bit. By the way, we are also going to see the flowers at the Tower in July. It would be funny if we were there the same day. We could pass each other amongst the flowers and never know.

Mel, did anyone answer you when you asked if it was poppies in the moat? It’s an event called Superbloom to celebrate the Queen’s jubilee. In March 20 million wildflower seeds were sown in the moat and they are planned to come into bloom in waves of colour. It’s open to the public from June to September and I believe when we go in July it will be mostly blues and mauves with other colours amongst them. You have to pre-book tickets and it’s free to see the flowers from the Tower walkway above or you can pay to go into the moat and walk amongst them. There are other installations, soundscapes etc. down there so we have paid for tickets to do this. You can even go down from the top by slide into the flowers but I think we’ll be going in by the main visitor entrance. My sliding days are over lol.

This is getting quite long so I’ll post this and then do another one about my trip out yesterday.

Beautiful blossom Mel and so much of it. I hope there's a bumper crop.

Love the pictures of the hares.
I've never seen any close up, but have seen them out on The Marsh from across the fields.

It's stayed dry all day, but not much proper sunshine.... I think there was about 10 minutes about 1.25 p.m. !
Wonder what tomorrow's forecast will be?
I have to be outside and won't know whether to have suncream or a raincoat :-S

Quite a lot of veg. here. I must make some soup to use some of it.

Yes does feel so much better.
Love the photos Mel, the ones of the Hares are great.

did'nt get the washing up done as oh called me to see something and bring my camera.

Sent pics.

Bet it feels nice now you've had your hair cut Anng.

Ann why do they always pick places wiuth houses around them you would think they could find somewhere more out of the way for a new site.

Washing is on the line now I am having a little sit down before washing up. I have filled the dustbin ready for tonight and put lots of ironing away, fed the chickens and some other bits. Why do the little bits take so long?

Glad you have the song on the brain now too Anng. Our apple blossom is all out today and I think thats what made me think of it.