General Chat

Frank,are we going to able to water all our veg this year???? what with the hose pipe ban!!!!!!

I think it will be watering cans this year for your watering !!

And no swimming pools !!! :-S :-S

Oh Mandy ,you might just have to make do with a paddling pool this year :-S :-S.Unless you fill your pool up before the ban and keep it chlorinated .
I WILL NOT be traipsing lord knows how many yards down the garden with the odd watering can or two.We will have to see if we can fix up a Butt or two.
I think it is going to be a difficult time :-S

I stopped the traffic today.A little Moorhen suddenly crossed the main Road (Barton Rd )Frank.I put my hazard warning lights on to let the little darling cross the road in safety.I think it must have been a bit lost :-S :-S

Well the rate we're going i'll be lucky if i get my feet in a bowl of water never mind a paddling pool :-S
I did say to hubby i bet this summer will be a scorcher if we don't have the pool up, we did wonder if we might fill the spa before the ban .

I use the hose to clean down the slabs after Toby !! we thought we might buy one of those pressure sprayers that you pump by hand .

Could you have a water butt on the green house ? dad rigid up some guttering on his green house and filled a butt,it worked a treat .

We got an extra butt last year, 2 behind the greenhouse and 3 behind the shed now. I wish we could use the bath water, but the drain from that goes below ground, suppose we could siphon it through the window though if the butts empty. :-D

Oh is off to Colwyn Bay to a match on Saturday and I was wishing I was going :-(....then I saw the weather forecast....rain!! :-D

Mandy ,I'm sure we will fix something.I will leave that to Chris to sort lol
Well I think i will be off to bed now.I don't feel like playing gooseberry .James and Jess all snuggled up on the settee ;-) :-D
I will go and snuggle up with my book .Hopefully Chris won't want a snuggle too.He will be out of luck :-DI am more interested in this dead body buried on Dartmoor(in my book)
See you all in the morning xx

Morning All
I see I am first here today.It is a cloudy grey day .Have been for walkies.Chester is snoring away on the floor beside me.Unusual for him as he normally is a pest as soon as I sit down here.
I think I will have some toast now and a cuppa.Toodlepip .

Haven't heard anything from Denise or Flowers for some time have we?

I'm SECOND again. Story of my life :-D :-D

I have FIVE water butts, two off the greenhouse one of the shed, and two off the garage. I started to use some water from one yesterday, surprising how much you use, and OMG the watering can gets heavy !!!!

Well tomorrow is the 17th. The day I was draged off to do my National Service. Went of to Cardington in Bedfordshire, Where they kept the big air ships. One of the hangers was used for kitting out, and medical examinations Lines and lines of tables with everything you were getting. First the KIT BAG then everything down to underpants, socks, cuttlery and plates. and your PINT MUG all piled into the kitbag then, they had to be stamped with your service no. (5058700) LAC Bedford FC. You were trhen given big sheets of BROWN PAPER to wrap all your own cloths up and sent back to home.It was there that we had all our injections. Stiff arms and sore bums was the norm.

Not a very nice day here, cold and windy. We are off to Rutland at lunchtime, so will turn off, and pack computer now.

Had to get on here via GOOGLE again this morning.

Morning All,

Dull again today. I did'nt do any gardening yesterday as it was so cold outside and my wrist was playing up after all the weeding I have been doing. Those Buttercups take some pulling out! :-|

Frank you really are starting early with your veg patch. I hope you manage to water it all ok through the year. We are lucky in the repect that we have a well and my water for the tunnel comes from there. I did have a water butt at the back of my old shed but the back of the shed is falling apart where the butt overflowed and now has a big hole where it stood against the wood. I think I am in for a new shed maybe later this year, I hope ;-)

Fiona that sound good about your results of blood tests.

Kim you sound as though you get an awful lot of spiders out there.

Jane after you saying about your kettle, mine has been playing up! Makes a funny fizzley noise when I push the button to switch it on and sometimes it dos'nt come on at all. Could'nt turn it on this morning and had to boil a drop of water in a sauspan for my cuppa. I think a trip to Holsworthy is in order. Nuisance as I don't like a lot of the kettles that are on the market at the moment. Most are so big and ugly. This one I have is from Morr*sons and it is the second one of these I have had. Masy wait till monday and get another then but have to go and get chicken food today.

Hello everyone,
What a week !! Hope your all well & enjoying the lovely weather, it's glorious hear today. I haven't had time to come on this all week, been so hectic.
Last Sunday my BIL was rushed into hospital with severe headaches, after countless tests he had a scan & it showed he had a brain bleed :-( , he was rushed into intensive care & we were told by the surgeon he might not survive the surgery. The bleed was all down the right side of his brain.Anyway after a 7 hour operation he pulled through, he is doing fantastic, already back to his old self, it's a miracle he must have a guardian angel :-D.
On a much brighter note it's my daughter Charlotte's birthday today, she said the other day she doesn't want any presents only her uncle to get better,& it's looking like she's got that ( & plenty of cards & presents too ! )
Hope you all enjoy your weekend. BBL

Afternoon All

Not very nice weather wise today, rain & cold,

Babysitting this afternoon, so just tidying up before the family arrive,

Looks like we will be making another trip down to see MIL tomorrow she still is in hospital, Was very sick yesterday, can't keep down any food, doctors are now thinking they will have to change her medication, as it may be one reason she is being sick and not wanting to eat.

FLOWERS so glad your BIL is recovering from his operation, I hope he continues to mend

Happy birthday to Charlotte, hope she has a lovely day. and enjoys all her cards & gifts.

Better get on with the washing and ironing, not much chance of getting it done over the weekend
SIL traveling back down to London so we will have daughter no 1 & Sofia staying with us again this Saturday night.

Must have been a scary time for the family Flowers, but good to hear BIL is on the mend. Happy birthday to your Charlotte, I have a Charlotte too, granddaughter, but she's Lotte to her friends.

You must have a pretty big garden Frank, with all those veggies you are planting and still have room for flowers.

I'm nearly at the end of my 1000 page book called The Passage, have really enjoyed it. Will close my eyes and pick another from the bookcase tomorrow.

Must get son to sort the water butt out for me, he can run some guttering off the new shed. Gardeners World on tonight and one of the gardeners will be talking about plants that don't need a lot of water ...handy .....

Afternoon everyone.
Brrr! I have just put the heating on 'tis feeling a tad chilly now :-S :-S

Flowers.What a dreadful time for your family :- Thank goodness your BIL survived the surgery and is now on the road to recovery.
Poor Sheila(on here) sadly lost her Son in Law with the same thing,and he was so young.
Happy Birthday to your Charlotte.Knowing her Uncle is on the mend now will make her day a lot happier.Is she 14 today?

Oh dear Fiona ,things don't seem to be getting ant better for your MIL does it :-S.How far do you have to travel to see her?

Mel have you got your new kettle ????? As soon as I think anything electrical is sounding or looking a bit off I just turn it off and not use it again.It put's the wind up me :-S

I expect Frank is over at Rutland now.Did he say he is going for the weekend?
I think a warm drink is due.
I took a couple of photos of some lovely Blossom on the trees on the main rd.I'll see if they are worth sending.

Afternoon All,

Very dull and dismal here today and rain forecast for the weekend, so the washing machine won't be whirring till Sunday I think. :-(

It's just gone quiet here for the first time today........OH says next door's dog has been barking almost non stop since about 10.00am..........must be exhausted now. He comes down the side to within about 10 feet of this room and the bedroom. The neighbour is out at work and usually the dog is inside when she's at work, but she had all new carpets last week so maybe he is unreliable and had ruined all the old carpets and she doesn't want accidents on the new ones. OH has gone to bed with a migraine and I can't concentrate on anything once the barking starts. I hope she isn't going to leave him out every day now. :-)

When went to beading class earlier they had put us a new big table in the middle of the room. Fine, except there was hardly room for chairs around it, let alone us!! Some even had to crawl under it to get to the end seats......luckily I sit next to the teacher at the door end of the room. :-D Usually the council are paranoid about H&S as well.

Sorry to hear about your BIL Flowers, but it is good news he is doing well. What a lovely girl your daughter is to say she'd rather have her BIL than have presents. I hope she has a happy birthday and enjoys her presents now she knows he is recovering.

Mandy, you will be lost without your spa! Will it stay fresh with the chemicals if you fill it before the ban?

We'll all have bad backs in no time if we have to keep lugging watering cans about. I have got a piece of hose from 1 butt into the greenhouse, which is a boon, but need lengths of hose (I haven't got yet!)t to clip on the other butt taps to reach the flower beds. Luckily we are still constructing so there aren't many plants to water yet. I think you can still use dripper systems........but I never have got round to rigging that up on the raised beds as I need a hose reducer in a size I can't find. :-S

Mel, it sounds like the element has gone in your kettle with the sizzling. In the old days it would be likely to be a loose wire in the plug, but those are fsealed on these days. Might be worth checking the fuse is in tight.

I noticed a lot of blossom this morning Jane. It seems to be coming on really quickly now, shades of pink and of white.

Hi everyone,

What's happened to the weather? I'm back to wearing a scarf and gloves today - and that's only indoors LOL.

Thought I'd start off with a bit of humour as we are still sorting things out after Carmel had her purse stolen. Above all things she really misses THAT purse, it was her favourite. But as I say to her, at least you weren't mugged.
This afternoon we have had to go and get her bus pass renewed then get her library ticket re-issued. The problem is that somethings, like the bus pass and Tesco card can take up to 10 working days to come through.
Worst of all, it has really upset her and she is not thinking straight. It was like when we parked outside our council offices today. I said to her "Pass me your disabled badge please", she replied, "What do we need that for?" Of course I had to tell her that we were parked in the disabled zone, bless her. Normally she would automatically hand it me out of the glove box.

Anyway, enough of all our problems. If I don't get on tomorrow, I wish all our Mums A VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. If I do get on tomorrow, I'll wish it all over again!

Take care of each other all of you.

Must be rubbing off on you too William, mothers day is Sunday, tomorrow is St. Patricks day so Happy Day for all those with Irish connections, should include just about all of us ..... ;-)

Ann ,are you on friendly terms with your neighbour?Could you not have a little word or two .That is not acceptable to leave a dog outside barking all day.It is obviously feeling stressed .Does she know it barks?
My next door had a beautiful dog (rough coated retriever).It was always left outside.It didn't bark but got so lonely it would somehow get through or over the fence and come to us.One year I had him here all Christmas day until I saw lights on ,and took him back about 10pm!!!!!.I made it quite clear I thought it was not on to leave him like that.Sadly some time later he was killed just outside our house by car :-( :-( :-( :-(.People should NOT have pets if they are not prepared or able to look after them properly.
There ....that is my little soap box speech done(phew) chill now Jane.

Frank ,naughty boy sending that doggy email......it made me cry :-( :-(
It was lovely though.

Hi all,

We arrived about 3.45pm As we crossed the M1 the traffic was at a standstill due to an accident.Loads of BIG lorries were comming of the northbound lane, and going through to the A14 at Kettering, the only trouble was, the A14 that joins the M6 also had an accident. s that was jamed also. We only spend a few moments on the A14. we then turn off to go to Corby, Uppingham then Edith Weston. So didn't bother us too much.

Great idea for the water butt Ann, I will have to get some attachments to fit my butt taps. The only trouble is it will soon use up your water supply.

Maureen, My garden is not that big, but I do make use of all of it. My Veg patch is only about 18 foot long by 9 foot. I have put 2 rows of Potatos 2 rows of onion sets, Runner bean canes ready for when I plant my beans, I have also planted 20 broard beans. Which still leaves me enougth room for some peas. The greenhouse will have Tomato's, cuecumbers,peppers, and any other bits we can fit in. The salad stuff (THIS YEAR) is being grown in big pots, I put various things in yesterday, which will be easier to keep watered during our hose pipe ban.

I have been reading today on Google about using washing up water on the plants. You can do use it, so will put that water in a spare barrel for use as and when we need it.

Flowers, Your BIL was very lucky to come out of that bleed so well. Good for him. Hope he continues to improve. Where are you getting all this lovely weather. we only had yesterday with sunshine, the rest has been overcast and cold with it. The other day, the mist didn't burn off till after three in the afternoon, the sun came out for an hour or so and then started to go down. !!!

William I am pleased you are getting things sorted out. It is a saving grace, that Carmel was not attached in the robbery. So many people are thrown to the ground and everything is stolen. An elderly woman of 92 was draged along when she tried to hold onto her bag.

I am sitting in the conservatory at the moment, but the light is beginning to fail, but it is almost 6.00pm.

Still had to go around the houses, to get on here today. I must send them a complaint, see if that will do any good.

Hi back home now and had a cuppa made with boiled water from my new kettle. I could'nt put up with the saucpan any longer. I only bought a cheap one, a Russell Ho**s for £16. I shall probably get another one like I had before as this one is not a fast boiler, it has a curly element in it.

Lovely pic of those trees in blossom Jane!! Makes you feel good to see the blossom again.

Ann another masterpiece and what pretty colours of blue.

Flowers what a shock about your BIL but I am so glad he came through ok. Hope Charlotte had a lovely day and wish her a Happy Birthday from Aunty Mel x.

Evening all,

Cloudy here today and not very warm .

Flowers ,what an awful thing to happen to your BIL, glad to hear he now on the mend ,hope Charlotte has enjoyed her birthday .

Fiona, sorry to hear your MIL is still feeling so sick and poorly, lets hope the change of medication will improve things for her .

Ann, if we fill the spa and pool the chemicals will keep them clean, it's just that they will stand there a while before we get weather warm enough to use them .
Another pretty necklace ,i love the blue leaves ,is this one a bit longer in length ?
It won't be very pleasant to be in the garden with a dog barking all day , i think i'd have a word with her about it .

Lovely photo of the trees with the blossom Jane, was that taken on the dog walk ?
You can really see the buds on the trees turning slightly green now

I've got some plants in the garden i'am not sure what they are !! they might even be weeds !! lol if i think of it tomorrow i'll take a photo and perhaps some one might be able to tell me what they are .

Tummy's been a bit gripey today ,had a few trips to the loo :-S :-S