General Chat

That is some story Florence. I am surprised that it grew at all, it must have been really pot bound.

We ordered a hundred Hawthorn whips for the new hedge which were supposed to be delivered today by 8 pm. They were ordered through Amazon, but from a small seller. They were still in the depot this afternoon, but then out for delivery about 4 pm. There is no sign of them and it is now 9.30 pm. Normally you can see where Amazon is on a map, but this is VOC which apparently stands for vendors on carrier. It is worrying as they are bare routed plants and have been in transit for a few days.

Well I had a very busy day.

Firstly at 20 degrees, blue skies and sunshine all day. think our summer has arrived yay. my cheeks have gone red with sunburn eeek!

So to the plant. Bit of a story behind it but here goes.
Over 20 years ago, I bought 2 Rhodendron plants and they were £8 each. For some reason we planted them straight into the ground without taking them out of the pots???

The day after I had planted them, my ex who was strimming, came in to say, he wasn't sure what he strimmed but I had better come and see. As you can imagine, I was fuming as he had strimmed both of the new plants!!! they were in bits and nothing to salvage.

He didn't care really as was only interested in mowing and strimming, never took an interest in my plants.

So one did survive but even after 5 years hadn't grown much and produced 1 white flower. So fast forward to recently when he said to my daughter, if i wanted the plant back, i could have it back. he has since moved away anyway and only my son lives there now.

So yesterday daughter and a friend drove over to the house with a spade etc and after 2 hard hours managed to dig it out of the ground. But its over 2 ft high and like a small tree now! Anyway today, we set about trying to get the pot off but crikey it was hard word. We tried to smash it to crack it with my hammer and also used my small drill until daughter broke the bit!!

So she then decided to go off elsewhere until Friday leaving me to cope grrrr

Eventually, I went to my next door neighbour chappie and asked for help and he said no bother. Long story short, bigger hammer, bigger drill, he cracked it. Got it off then trimmed away all the straggly bits and I managed to lift it into its new home.

It weighed a ton but it fitted well and I added lots of soil. i shall go out shortly when the sun goes down a bit and water it in gently.

Needless to say my left hip and feet plus my finger joints are all very sore but,.... a very productive day and so glad we cracked it....literally :-D :-D

I was so surprised at going straight in I neglected to ask the question. I will have to find out.

It was Moderna for us this time

We were. Not told which vaccine we had so had no chance off reading side effects. Was not tired this morning so went into town . I am tired again now but that is probably all the walking round town.

I made the mistake of reading the side effects Ann. It does say that tiredness is a side effect. OH can hardly keep his eyes open today.

He has taken all the brass handles and fittings off all the doors as they are all coated in paint from over the years. It has taken him ages, but they are all nice and shiny now. The painter got on well again today, but not as fast as yesterday. He painted the last ceiling, put the second coat on the landing, stairs and hall walls. He also painted the walls in the under stairs cupboard. He has also done some of the gloss upstairs. For some reason, he thought that he was only painting one side of the doors. OH had to point out that he couldn’t put the handles back on unless he does both sides.

The plumbing in the bathroom is all done now. We just need to find some tiles, flooring and decorate it. That will have to wait until the painter has finished so we can go out together

My arm was a bit sore for 24 hours otherwise it is fine. on day 3 though I felt really really tired, no energy at all. Don't know if that was anything to do with it or nor It was just one day and was odd because I had actually had a good nights sleep the night before.

Good morning Ann, it is cloudy and overcast here. After the lovely day yesterday I was hoping the weather had changed for the better, but it seems not.
I am sorry about your aunt Florence, even after such a long life, it is still sad to lose someone.

The plumber turned up at 8.30 and the painter at 9.30, both half an hour after they said they would be here, but at least they are here.

I have a very large lump on the top of my arm after the injection yesterday and a headache. OH says his arm is very stiff and sore as well.

Morning all. 8 degrees sunny bright, some white cloud but early yet. 1st May a new month hope it brings better weather.

Sorry to hear about your aunt Florence, always sad even after a good long life.

Good that your daughter has got the plant you wanted I don't think you have said exactly what plant it is have you? Hope is 'takes' when you plant it after all that effort.

Linda, you obviously have sorted the painter out and brought him into line. Bet he slept well last night after all that work. wonder why he was going so slow before as he seems fully capable of doing it properly. was he trying it on?

Evening all.

Yes my daughter and her friend had a hard job but they got it out the ground. Its outside and staying there until tomorrow when we will decide what to plant it in. I have one very large pot in the back garden nicknamed the cauldron which i think will be just right.

I had just received the sad news that my aunty passed away this afternoon peacefully, she was 89. Was expected and she hung on fighting for a week!

I shall not be going down as too far to travel but i have 2 siblings who will attend the funeral whenever that will be,

Still haven't had food and Im really starving so my yoghurt has gone to pot tonight but back on it tomorrow

Hope you both will be ok after your boosters Linda.

What a gloriously sunny day we have had. Just as well as all the doors and wind have been wide open.
We did give the painter a rocket and he has worked his socks off today. He has given two coats of paint to the ceilings in the main bedroom, en-suite, study , kitchen and utility room. He also gave two coats to the second bedroom ceiling and given a coat of white emulsion to two of the walls in that bedroom. The previous people had painted deep blue paint on two opposite walls, it just made the room look dark and narrow. Even with just one coat of blotchy white emulsion, it looks so much better. OH is going to paint all of the bedrooms when he has time to do it, but we thought while the decorator was doing the ceiling, he might as well put a coat of white on the walls to prime it before we use a more expensive coloured paint.

The painter has promised to turn up at nine again tomorrow , he has one more bedroom ceiling to do, then hopefully he can get on with the hall and landing. He has already put one coat of colour on the walls, but as the plumber is also here, he hasn’t been able to do the second coat yet

The bathroom now has a working sink and loo. The bath is fitted in, but the waste isn’t connected yet, the plumber will be back in the morning to do that.

Oh and we had our Covid boosters this morning. OH says his arm is stiffening up, but mine is OK so far. I do have a headache, but that might just be coincidental

I hope your daughter does manage to dig the plant up Florence and that it takes in your new garden.

I hadn't heard of those, Names - must look out for them.

I know Edinburgh well, and love books set there, often reading them with Edinburgh A-Z to hand!
Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series; any Rebus book; "The Fair Botanists" by Sara Sheridan (set in 1820s Edinburgh) - and many more.

We really like the Bob Skinner books by Quintin Jardine, he’s been writing them since 1993.

Bob is a copper based in Edinburgh, and unlike so many, he, his family and friends are all allowed to age and climb their various ladders. Bob has now retired as a very senior policeman but still keeps his hand in. Hopefully there will be a new one soon.

Good morning all

Started off rainy and is still a bit overcast but the sun is shining through the clouds.

Lots of paperwork to do today as its the end of the month so kitchen table is covered in paper just now!

Daughter and a friend have gone to a previous house I lived in to dig up a plant that I thought had been "strimmed to death" many years ago. However, it regrew and was told, If I want it, I can get someone to dig it up and take it.

So they set off 1/2 hr ago. There is a spade and plenty heavy duty black bags over there to cover the roots once dug up. I just hope they can manage to get it out the ground, might take awhile!

Linda, your painter needs a rocket! I bet you will be so glad once all the painting has been finished and make a note not to ever use him again!

Ann as much as I enjoy watching the Grace series and the latest one is due soon, I do prefer the books as the way PJ describes a scene or the background on someone is far better. The episodes on tv are obviously condensed down and compared to the books, somethings have been left out or changed. Still a good adaptation though and I enjoy spotting all the streets that I know so well and the beaches,

Well have a good day all. off to be busy but shall look in later on.

Florence in the hebrides

ARocker yes that is a lot of books to have written. I prefer the Alex Cross books as those are the ones he has written on his own I think, some of the others I have liked, some not so much. It depends on the co-writers style of writing.

I've read a few James Patterson books too, and enjoyed them. It baffles me how he can write so many, I know he writes a lot jointly with other well known people (Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton amongst others) but he writes a book faster than I can read it. I've just looked at his bibliography, 209 full length novels, plus countless short stories and childrens books too.

That’s a blast from the past. Must see if I’ve got any knocking about. Mind you, lots of my books are in the loft as it is never my books that get unpacked and out on the shelves.

How frustrating, Linda - I feel your pain!

Re books -
I've always got at least two on the go at the same time - one in the bedroom and one in the living room.
Recently I've been re-reading some of those which I first read many years ago, and which have been sitting untouched on my shelves ever since - mostly for so long that I can't remember the plots.
At the moment the bedroom one is Mary Stewart's "The Ivy Tree".

I seem to be reading a lot of murder mysteries these days, maybe that is why I am imagining what I would like to do with the painter :-D

This morning we were up early because the plumber was coming at eight, he actually turned up at eight fifteen, so that was fine. The downstairs cloakroom now has a new vanity unit and toilet . OH has some boxing in of pipes to do and we need to choose some tiles, although there won’t be many. The plumber then moved onto the bathroom and has the new toilet in and the pipe work for the sink. He had to leave at four to do another job, so is coming back in the morning to finish the sink and put the bath in.

We had arranged with the useless painter that he would do the first coat of watered down paint on our bedroom and en-suite ceilings , then while that dried do the same in the kitchen and utility, then go back to the bedroom and put the second coat on. That way the bedroom would be done in one day.

So this morning, we moved all the furniture in the bedroom into the middle and covered everything with a huge polythene sheet. What could possibly go wrong?
His car wouldn’t start -a flat battery apparently :-| So his mate was coming to sort it out. I then got a message to say he was on the way and wouldn’t be long. But then I got a message to say, no he wasn’t, his mate had taken the car to a garage who had fitted him in. He would come about 3.30 to 4 pm to paint the bedroom so we wouldn’t have to put everything back and then do it again in the morning. That was crackers as he probably wouldn’t turn up, or if he did, he wouldn’t be finished until very late. So we told him not to come today, but he had to come much earlier than he has been and not disappear mid afternoon. He has promised to be there at nine o’clock in the morning, so we shall see. We feel like sending him packing, but the OH would have to finish it and he already has a lot of work on in the bathrooms and the garden.

No he definitely wasn't.