General Chat

Suppose you're all busy doing gardening if its as nice where you are. I am just going down the shed.

Good morning all sunny here and 14 degrees. I checked our 14 day forecast and there was no sign of rain at all. I hope they are wrong as it will be never ennding watering for me, especially this week with cynth away.
Nothing planned for today so will just see what occurs.

Well done on the raffle prizes Vera, the port was a good win. )well for your OH anyway. Maybe the book can return for another raffle until it finds a home with somebody still walking.

Morning all,

Well it was nice and sunny when I woke and I had a little lie in . Now theres a big grey cloud out the front which dos'nt look good for the rest of the day.Pc says mostly sunny and 14 degrees. Not sure what I am doing today so will take it as it comes. I bought a Courgette down the hsop yesterday as there's a new lady from the village doing plants down there and I have to find a big pot for that and I need to dead head the plants on the patio.

Hope you all slept well last night.

Seems like everyone has been dead heading roses today. I did the Albertine at the end of the decking by my little greenhouse and have to stretch for that as its in the ground and there's a steep step down and if I go down there I can't get back up without something to pull myself up with. Its also above the top of the fence so I can't reach all of it.

Aches wore off during the day thank goodness. I also did both pond filter this afternoon and the swallows have moved around in the shed to other nests and the ledge. There were five in there today but I think one was out with the parents.

Annx its not the trailer that has a flat tyre its the wheelbarrow ( not my best one) and its full of road sweepings and dirt plus it had loads of water in it. I have managed to move it a bit nearer where I want to dump it by pushing the handles down to let most of the water out.

Glad you had a good day out and won prizes Vera. The Port would have been very welcome here too. Hope the post-op tests go ok for oh next Saturday.

Like Mandy we had a heck of a storm in the early hours. It started with rain at about 11 pm, that eased off a bit and then the storm proper started just after midnight and seemed to go on forever. I suppose the worst of it lasted about an hour but we were still getting odd little rumbles of thunder at 3 am. I thought it would clear the air a bit but it seemed as hot and sticky as ever so, needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep and got up at 7.30 am feeling very grumpy.

The coffee morning went well. This group is like any group of people AnnG; there are some who will always help and make an effort and others who just come along and don’t do anything, but that’s OK as long as they spend some money and swell our funds for speakers etc. Whoever hosts it usually provides the tea, coffee, milk etc though they can be reimbursed if they wish. This time plenty of people took cakes, plants, books and raffle prizes. It would be easier to just put our fees up but then some people would probably drop out whereas they will happily spend their money if they are getting a nice few hours out. As well as Club members the hostess invited several of her neighbours who were happy to come and swell our coffers as well. We got there at 10.30 and left at 2 pm and there were still a few people there. We got 2 prizes in the raffle – a very good bottle of port which pleased OH and a small book of country and coastal walks in Norfolk. It’s a nice little book but I think our days of going to another county and walking for several miles are over now.

I was quite tired when we got back so I haven’t done much this afternoon apart from preparing and cooking our evening meal. It has been very hot again and at the moment my bedroom is like an oven so I think it will be a restless night. I just walked around outside and it’s a comfortable temperature in the garden. I could do with a bed out there.

I see that some of you have been busy in the garden. Mandy I hope you haven’t strained anything in your side. It’s so easy to do when you’re stretching. It’s good that your knee is a bit easier. Do you think your aches and pains are down to the strawberries Mel or perhaps you have been doing a bit too much in your garden? I hope you both recover from all the aches very soon.

Fingers crossed that it is third time lucky with the medicine cabinet Annx. I hope the physio is helping OH with his neck pain. I moan and grumble about my aches and pains but it must be awful to be in so much pain all the time. My OH finishes using the cataract drops tonight and next Saturday he has his post-op tests at Specsavers. His distance sight is so much better that I think he may only need to have some reading glasses.

I am now going to make some overnight oats for my breakfast and then have a quick read of the paper before taking my book to bed. Stay cool and sleep well everyone.

Mel hope your aches and pains are better now ,oh to many strawberries can upset your tummy .

Ann Max really doesn't take any notice of thunder and lightning which is good ,our dog Bonnie really hated a storm and would hide in the corner and shake bless her .
Well I got some cutting back done and cut the grass ,the roses are really turning brown I cut as many as I could but it's such a job you think you've cut most out but when you stand back there's loads more you've missed.,the bin is three quarters filled now and it goes out tomorrow for Monday emptying.

Knee hasn't been to bad today I do think the ice pack has helped but tonight the muscles in my side feels a bit tender with all the stretching to cut the bits back so Colin rubbed some volterol on for me so I hope we can nip it in the bud before it gets bad .
Suns shining now its a lovely evening .

Oh I meant to say Jake managed to book his driving test for....... ...... November !! They said there was a long wait and they were right .

I spent half an hour cutting off all the now dead rambling roses clusters
And then cutting back a honey suckle that Jake had reduced to a trunk in the spring it seems determined to grow but I would rather it didn’t

Still a lot to do out there but the bin is three quarters full and it is another week before it is emptied.

Afternoon All,

Mixed weather here with a very overcast sky and breeze, but now it is blue sky mainly and still some breeze which is very welcome even though it is warm breeze. We popped to the shop after I had watered the pots and grabbed a few more handfuls of weeds, particularly with any showing a flower to turn to seed. With the neglect it got last year the garden is full of weed seeds waiting to sprout so I don't want there to be more still next year.

I have now ordered medical cabinet No. 3 and this will match the mirrored cabinet being all stainless steel. As this one is taller, I could get a narrower one and it will leave some extra leeway in the space behind the door. It is a little deeper which means my meds/paracetomol/antihistamines etc will fit with the ends and expiry dates showing which I like to do. Fingers crossed it will be ok! :-S We decided to leave going to the Post Office with the parcel till Monday as we realised Saturday is not good for parking. OH has sorted some books for the charity shop and I have some things to take as well and we can drop those off at the same time. OH has been for his physio session on his neck.

Mel I always leave a few of the self set Foxgloves. We seem to have a few white ones as well as the mauve. They are such unusual flowers aren't they and it's lovely to watch the bees scrambling inside. That's a nuisance the trailer is stuck and needs clearing out. I was stupid yesterday and left the garden bin lid open, so we were lucky we avoided the rain last night, although it would have helped the garden.

AnnG I spoke too soon about the slugs and Hostas as I notice one of the potted ones has some holes in the leaves this morning. Speaking of which I wonder if anyone saw the fascinating bit about snails that Chris packham was telling us and showing a video of a few nights ago. I remembered they were hermaphrodite so each being male and female, but apparently they have sword darts they use to fight each other with to decide which would be the male and which would be the female when they mate. Afterwards the sword darts are lost being no more use. I see you are on watering duty too now. OH never thought to ask our neighbour how long she was away for, so we'll just have to keep an eye on the cars in her drive till they move.

I hope Vera managed to find some cake at Sainsbury's to take today. I hope they do well with what they sell as well. The orange cake should be nice in a trifle and a useful standby.

Mandy you had quite a downpour last night. I thought it might miss you being as it missed us. I hate the thunder and lightning when it's bad. Does it bother Max? I remember Jane used to go downstairs and sit with Chester. It's good the garden got watered and that your baby runners weren't knocked off the plants. Good luck with the deadheading of the rose. It sounds like a big job with all the lovely flowers it has.

Morning girls,

Dull and rainy here this morning and its 15 degrees and pc says partly sunny so lets hope its right.

For some unknown reason I have woken up with aches and pains. I suppose it could have been the BIG bowl of Strawberries last night. I did'nt save any I was a pig and ate the lot all 4 oz of them.

Did you all sleep well?

Just the shop to do this morning then perhaps if it dries up a bit I can do a little fiddleing in the hsed. I have some repotting to do and a wheelbarrow full of road sweepings that also full of ater and has a flat tyre so I can't move it. It will have to be dug ou9t quite a bit beforehand. I was going to dump it along the side of the sunflower workshop and plant more things there. The foxgloves have been good planted along there and the bees love them. Wherever a foxglove comes up I leave them, I even have them in the road down to my shed.

Hope you find a nice cake for the do today Vera andI wish you many raffle prizes. Have a great day.

Morning Anng ,morning all,

Very overcast this morning and we had quite a storm in the early hours ,some very loud claps of thunder and the lightning seemed to be all round ,it lasted a good three quarter of an hour ,heavy rain too so that will fill the water butts .

Ann I'm glad OH got home OK it must have been a worry ,he won't do that again ,years ago you never bothered about going out and not having a phone you relied on the phone boxes .

Vera it's disappointing when the cake doesn't turn out as you hoped and after spending time doing it too ,hope you can find something in the shop to take ,you have a nice selection of things to take with you.

Anng you have a lot to water with cynths then as well as your own so you could do with some nice rain .

Mel that was good of bil to stock you up with bits for the birds and if Robbie has more young you'll need it .

I noticed we have quite a few tiny runners appearing I was hoping the heavy rain wouldn't knock them or the flowers off but I looked this morning and they seem OK.
Really need to do a bit in the front garden a bit of dead heading on the white rose which is hard as there's so many flowers on a stem and the grass needs cutting but it's a bit wet to do that until later , really looks like it could rain now its gone very dark.

Good morning all, a few spots of rain but I don't think it will come to anything. Pity as i now have cynths pots and baskets to water for 8 days.

Pleased OH got home with no problems Ann. When I am going somewhere the following day, I always sort my stuff ready to take, the previus day/evening. As we get older ourmemory takes a bit longer to 'kick in'.

Vera I am sure the orange flavoured cake will be very nice as a base for a trifle. Does everyone take as much as you do for the various stalls? Hope it goes well anyway.

Nothing at all planned for today so a bit of gardening if dry and a bit of working through 'the list' if indoors.

Feeling a bit vulnerable now with Mac's house now empty and Cynths now empty for eight days. It used to be great from the time we moved here until a couple of years ago. that was when the ones who had young families when we moved in, one by one decided to downsize and move. Now all the 'new' people have young families or no families and are of a generation who seem intent on keeping themselves to themselves. Very pleasant if you come face to face but otherwise not seen. Sixteen houses in this cul de sac and only nine occupied by people who have lived here 30 years.

I'm please oh got home safely Annx we rely on our phones so much now and I always feel lost without mine if I forget it or panic if I can't find it. Its a good idea to lay all the things he needs out before a trip even to footy.

Not done much this afternoon just watched a bit of you tube. It has rained all afternoon so I did'nt feel like doing anything after being out all day yesterday and the house needs a clean and the spiders need sucking up with their webs. The only good thing about a rainy day is you don't get the flies about.

I think Robby is feeding another nest of chicks as I see him go to the Acers over by my pond and today two robins flew from there both with poo sacks which they wiped on the big Ash tree. Iv'e not seen any of the young Robins from the first brood about in the garden though.

Hope you all have a good night sleep tonight and sending wishes to Gwyn.

I'm glad OH arrived safely home Annx. The cake is now in the freezer and will end up as the basis of a trifle at some time. It's orange flavoured so should be OK in a trifle. I think I've found out why it didn't rise properly. It's made with SR Flour and a couple of spoons of baking powder. It suddenly occurred to me to look at the baking powder and sure enough it was well out of date. I suppose it's like yeast and, once out of date, loses its oomph. I had a look at cakes in my freezer and I could take a box of jam tarts and a swiss roll but they don't look very special so I'll pick something up at Sainsbury's on the way.

I've found a couple of books that can go on the book stall. I've only got one plant for the plant stall - a nice viburnum - and I felt bad about that so had a think. I've got more daffodil bulbs than I want now as they have expanded a lot over the last few years so I have made up some packs of bulbs. I'm giving them Dutch Master and Silver Standard as I have plenty of them. I've also got a nice solar wall light to donate as a raffle prize and a neighbour who is unable to go has given me a bottle of fizz to put in as a raffle prize as well..

No thunderstorms so far but the air is "heavy" and it's still very hot. I think I'll have a cool wash and sit up in bed with the fan blowing on me. I'll read or watch something on iPlayer.

Yes he's home now AnnG and really annoyed with himself as it's so important to have his mobile with him now. He usually switches his mobile on as soon as he gets in his car to go, so would have realised, but in case this meeting was cancelled he switched it on when he got up and left his phone on the bedside drawers. I didn't say much other than suggest that he lays out on the table all he needs to take with him each time before he goes out as he needs his spray and painkillers with him now. He did take water with him and he managed to buy a chicken sandwich to eat in a break they had. He said it was an absolutely awful journey back with the traffic, jams everywhere. He said the meeting could have been dealt with in a third of the time.

Yes it is hot now and looking at the forecast for next week it still looks hot round these parts. I have done a bit of watering of the other pots from the water butts and will do those that are in the sun now later on. I find the heat very tiring and slept with just a sheet over me last night. I think I will get up early again tomorrow and do a bit out there again before it gets hot.

Just seen your post Vera and 27 degrees is very hot, let alone feeling even hotter, I would be wilting! What a shame about your cake. Will you be able to have it as a pudding with custard or maybe use it in a trifle? I have lots of Antirrhinum seedlings in the gravel I've not got round to planting yet, but I think some will have rooted too strongly to get them out without losing their roots now. The self set ones can turn out to be some horrid colours too! I see the horse is a youngster then so she's going to have fun training unless it has already been got used to most things including traffic.

It’s 27 degs and feeling like 32 and we are on an amber warning for storms from 7 pm on. I did an hour in the garden this morning but was back indoors by 11 am as it was getting too hot for me. OH planted out some seedlings of antirrhinums that I had grown but they are still tiny so they probably won’t come to much. I’ve made a cake but still have to ice it but I am wondering whether to bother as it’s not risen much. I have only made it once before and that was years ago so I made sure I weighed and double checked the ingredients and I measured the cake tin to make sure it was the right size but something seems to have gone wrong. I think I’ll be making a quick trip to Sainsbury’s in the morning to buy a cake.

It is annoying when our men leave their phones behind but try not to worry Annx. I know that’s easier said than done but people are generally kind and if OH is in trouble someone will lend him a phone and will help him. I haven’t seen many ladybirds so far this year, or aphids, but there seem to be plenty of snails around.

Granddaughter has promised to send a picture of her horse. All I know is that she is 3 years old and has never been ridden.

I am feeling very tired. At the moment I am sitting on the bed with a fan in front of me and could happily stay here but I had better go and prepare some dinner. Sleep well tonight everyone.

It is 25 degrees here now and I went out to tie something up and decided not to stay out there as it is too hot. I slept really well last night but this heat makes me feel tired.
That is a worry ann, your OH forgetting his phone, hard to imagine how he managed to do that when goig somewhere on business. Hope he gets home safely and sooner than you think.

I have not seen many ladybirds at all so that could explain the aphids. It is the first time for ages that I have seen so much destruction by aphids. My hostas are ok so far too, all in pots.

It's strange how things are in different places as I haven't seen any aphids here yet this year. Our Hostas haven't been touched by slugs and snails yet either, which must be a first. I have seen more Ladybirds and also their larvae though, so maybe they ate them all. A lot of Buddleias are very vigorous and we had to cut one right back that OH had in his previous garden. It was planted by the builder in such poor soil, but soon outgrew it's space and was huge as OH had never cut it back and it took us all morning to cut it down to a maneagable size again.

It's feeling hot here and says 24 degrees so I'd better get a cold drink from the fridge. I haven't been able to settle to anything much today as OH contacted me from the meeting he's gone to 30 miles away on an ipad of someone else's to say he'd forgot his mobile!! I'm not very pleased as he can't contact me or ring 999 if he needed to or the breakdown people if anything happened with his car. He also said before he went that he had no idea when he would be back and is likely to be delayed with traffic with it being a Friday, so I don't even know roughly when to expect him. I doubt he's eaten anything either and didn't take anything with him like we decided he should when he's out for hours.

BIL has gone as he has broken the handle on the collecter after I asked him to drop me a bit for the chickens. I meant for him to empty it on the side over the nettles but he did'nt understand what I meant. Its raining now anyway so he has gone off to do his washing and get everything ready to go to a wedding tomorrow in Birmingham which he is not looking forward too.

I had strimmed the back garden down to Prickerly Bottom so he could pick it all up when he mowed but he did'nt get that far.

Gosh Vera I laughed at your granddaughter saying she had had a “quarter life crisis”.
Bless her. Does that mean I have a three quarter life crisis and one year??

BIL did'nt even notice the trees down at the front or that I had washed the patio and decking. He did bring me 4 boxes of fat balls, a small bag of peanutes and seed and sunflower seed all of which I did'nt need and he bought me a fat ball holder that takes about 4 balls but its squirrel proof. I thought I was getting some room back in the lounge where I keep the fat balls and birds seed which is'nt as far away as the uti room for a quick pick up as I feed the chickens but now I am back to a huge pile of boxes of fat balls. Never mind I am now well equiped to keep them all well fed.

Could morning all. I seem to have wasted away the morning so far reading theMail on line and neglrcting all the jobs inside and out that need doing. And now it is coffee time so I shall get going after that.

Vera that was a lovely long read. A pity about the traffic, on days out you can well do without being stuck in the coach extra time.Still it was good to have lunch organised and waiting for you when you got there.
I am cutting the Buddleijas down and then will cut them right down as usual next spring. If they then have the same problem they can all come out. I think it might have been the weather pattern that caused it with no rain to wash off the aphids when we didn't have any real rain for about 6 weeks. Several people at the garden meeting have had similar problems with other shrubs and apple trees.