General Chat

Yes Mandy thats right I remember now. We had Sausage fried mash leeks carrots celery and red onion tonight. He mashes his tato with the skins on and then frys it. It had no nice crispy bits but it was tasty.

I could'nt open the back door when I came home so its just as well Stu had freed the front door up for me so I used the front door key to get in. Thinking I have to get a new lock I tried it once I was in and it did open. I think I may have ocked it from the inside and it did'nt like it but I must remember to keep a key somewhere or with Em for the front door incase it happens again.

On the way there Ruth up the road to Stu sells plants and she has'nt had anything out the last few times I have been past but tonight she had so I had a look on the way back and she had a Nemisia that I hav'nt got in a pretty pale lilac and white so I went down the parking money purse and bought it. Its called Wisley Vanilla and it smells of vanilla. Must remember to put more change in my parking money purse I keep in the car. She had petunias too and bizzy lizzis and lot more and herbs so I will be back. Her prices have gone up though.

Morning all,

Well we've had a little rain ,only enough to wet the ground but it's a start .

I expect Anng is on her way so hope they have a safe journey with no hold ups ,I expect the traffic will be heavier tomorrow and over the weekend with it being a Bank holiday and the schools breaking up for half term ,not sure if they still call it Whitson holiday.

Not doing a lot today just going to rest my leg it's still painful when it's bent so I must sit with it up ,oh well good excuse to knit or crochet :-D

Morning Mandy and all,

Another lovely bright sunny mornn ing here and its 17 degrees.

I plan to do some cutting down of brimbles today where I don't know yet but that the theory whether they get done or not is another matter. I shall probably get sidetracked.

I have three or four gnat bites which are driving me crazy and ones on the back of my hand.

Safe journey Anng hope theres no hold ups.

Just having my COC and then I will get on.

Morning ladies

No rain expected today but it is cold and grey and the temperature isn’t expected to get above 13 all day. I hope AnnG and family have a good journey.

Sorry to hear your knee is still painful Mandy. I hope some rest will improve things for you. I’m still stiff and sore and I’ve had a couple of new bruises come out since yesterday.

I’m just going out for our Thursday coffee but I don’t think there will be many there today. OH isn’t going and I know of 3 others who won’t be there. I could be sitting there like Billy-no-mates.

Hello all. We got here at 1pm, left home at 0740. Traffic was heavy but all moving. Not like the M6 south up near Lancaster (ish). There was a large container that had been moved off its lorry base on the hard shoulder on fire. Five or six fire engines, lots of police, traffic down to one lane that was heavy traffic anyway and they eee held up for miles goodness knows how long they were going to be there.

Good to be up here and to sit chatting to daughter while SiL watches the cricket in another room.

The sun is shing, scenery through the mountains. Area on the A66 was glorious. They need rain here too. It is forecast for the coming week.

Glad your there safely even if it was a hard journey. Enjoy your stay.

I have been pottering in the shed and outside it sorting plants from weed and chucking some stuff out. I found a whole pot of Frittilaria covered in weed so that got sorted with a bit of new soil mixed in it. There's some big corms in there as well as tiny ones. Orchids in everything. The ones I have sorted I have put in pots together.

Had to come in for a drink of water. PC is telling me to expect 5 days of rain in a row.

Pleased you arrived safely AnnG. Enjoy your stay and I hope the weather is kind to you. It's not been very kind here today :-( It's been really cold and grey all day though it has stayed dry. The forecast is for the temp. to go down to 1 degree tonight. I've just moved a load of seedlings into my little plastic greenhouse in case we end up with a frost I think I'll get a spare blanket out again and just put it at the bottom of the bed in case I feel cold during the night.

I got to our coffee meet this morning and there was no-one there so I got myself a coffee and sat drinking it hoping someone else would turn up. Sure enough after a few minutes one person came, then another and we ended up with 5 ladies and 1 man, so it was a nice little group.

This afternoon I managed to do a bit more in the garden but it was so cold I had to wear my old gardening anorak. Tonight I had an exploding fish!! I had a couple of thick pieces of salmon and put them in to cook by my usual method. I lay them in a rectangular glass dish, cover the top with cling film and just lift an edge or corner enough to let the steam escape and then I microwave them for 2-3 minutes. I did that tonight but after about 1 minute 20 seconds there was a very loud bang. When I checked I discovered that the inside of the microwave was covered in fish and the pieces of salmon were much the worse for wear. There was still enough in the dish for us to eat and it tasted fine but why did it explode like that? I wasn’t happy at having to thoroughly clean the microwave.

How is your sister Mandy? I hope she is feeling much better.

I don’t think we’ve seen Annx for a couple of days. I hope she is OK and her OH too, of course. Perhaps she is just busy at the moment.

I’m now going to have a quick read of our local paper online and then shut the computer down for the night. Sleep well everyone.

The last time Annx was on was 20th. Not sure but I might have seen her on Facebook but hope she is ok.

Good morning all definitely colder up here than at home but so far still sunny. Hoping to drive to Holehird gardens near Ambleside/Bowness today so if it stays clear there will be nice views on the way.

Hope you all slept better than me. And hope Ann is OK

Sorry you didn’t sleep well AnnG. I was reading in the night and got up for some milk but I did sleep from about 3 am to 7.30. I hope it warms up for you and you can enjoy the gardens today. The last 2 days have been quite cold here. It feels as though we have left summer and moved into autumn.

Our tradesman said he would try and start today but there’s no sign of him yet and I suspect we won’t see him till Monday. Because he was ill and couldn’t work he’s got a backlog of jobs to catch up on first. Not knowing when he will be here makes it difficult to plan anything. I guess it had better be a h/w day.

Morning girls,

Nice morning here 16 degrees and sunny theres a pale blue sky with net curtain like clouds so I hope the weathers not breaking as its been so nice.

Not sure if BIL is coming today will just have to wait and see if he arrives and starts mowing. Iv'e a lot of strimming to do today so shall have arm ache tonight. I need to do the bit round the chcikens run and the trees in the orchard and round the caravan.

Yes I hope our Ann is ok and lets hope we hear from her today.

Morning All,

Yes we are fine and it's nice to know when we are missed. I've just got my PC working again and will catch up with you all after lunch which is ready to serve now.

Glad you're ok we were all worried ewhen you had'nt posted.

Afternoon all,

Nice sunny day with fluffy clouds ,got a load of washing dry and did a few jobs in the garden .

Vera my sister had her appointment for the stroke clinic on Wednesday and it was a stroke she had so they have given her some medication to help .
Hope your tradesman has arrived ,Monday is a bank holiday so it might be Tuesday before he starts .

Glad your OK Ann well done getting your PC working I wouldn't know where to start with it .

Son just messaged to say Jake has passed his theory test this morning ,I told him third time lucky ,son said he rang and told him he'd failed again and then when he got in he showed him his pass paper :-D

That was a bit wicked Mandy but I bet he was delighted. Well done Jake.

Strimmer line ran out just as I was trying to finish the side of the orchard where BIL dos'nt mow and the weeds were creeping out onto the lawn. There is a cement wall along the side of the orchard where they used to plant things against the east hedge.

Anyway come in now to cool off and get us both something to eat, cheese sandwich with a bit of coleslaw in it. some grapes and pineapple and tomatoes. Followed by a nice cold orange juice.

There’s been a few gleams of sun this afternoon but not much, it’s mostly cloudy. It has got to 16 degrees but there’s a cool wind making it feel colder. I washed a duvet cover that I changed a few days ago and that blew dry. I also had a good dust and hoover upstairs. Our workman didn’t arrive. I had forgotten it’s a holiday weekend so I suppose it will be at least Tuesday before we see him. A gardener we had approached did pop round to look at a crab apple and a hawthorn tree in the garden. We want a bit taken out of the top of each of them and have them reshaped a bit. They are getting a bit big now and it’s only a small garden. He’s going to do them sometime in the next couple of weeks. I bet the handyman and the gardener will be here at the same time. I hope they don’t get in each other’s way.

Well done Jake. There will be no stopping him now. I bet he enjoyed winding his Dad up. It made me smile. I’m glad your sister is getting some treatment Mandy and seems to be getting on well.

How are you now Gwyn? Illnesses like that can leave you feeling quite debilitated so make sure you take things easy for a while yet.

I’m relieved you and OH are OK Annx.

Tomorrow OH is having his second cataract done so I shall have to drive him. The weather is forecast to be awful - lots of heavy rain. I won’t much enjoy driving through that and hope there is no flooding on the roads.

I feel like a coffee now so I’m off to put the kettle on. By the time we’ve had our coffee it’ll be time to start getting dinner ready. Tonight it’s sausage and mash with onion gravy and some green veg.

They like winding each other up but I think son wondered if he had passed this time .

Maybe the Strimmer was saying thats enough for today Mel to much and you'll suffer the effects tomorrow.

Vera hope all goes well tomorrow for OH's next cataract op ,they told Colin it only takes about twenty minutes for the op ,I was quite surprised so will you wait for him or pop back later to pick him up
Yes tomorrow should be a rainy day so I hope your drive there is OK.
We had sausages tonight with new potatoes,carrots,peas and cauliflower and we were going to have gravy but I did a cheese sauce instead .

Hope all goes well with the op on oh tomorrow Vera, we'll all be thinking about him.

I hav'nt even thought of dinner for tonight so I shall have to dive down the freezer and see whats there.

Clouded over a bit here now and I must go and corn the chickens as I had'nt realised what the time is.

It was a lovely bright sunny day and we enjoyed our visit to Holehird gardens. The alliums were looking good as were the hostas which showed very little of slug or snail problems. They have examples of Pots of very tiny hostas called I think, mouse ear hostas. They also have the National collection of Astilbes and must have close on. Thousand. They don’t flower until June so we were too early for them but T and I did see them in flower once before. We then went to a garden centre in Am leside. It was one of the few independents but has been sold to The British Garden Crntre company.. such a shame. But probably the owners are too old to carry on trading now.
As it was sunny the views of the hills and mountains like Wetherlam, Old man Coniston and even Great Gable in the distance behind the beautiful Langdales were very clear. And the journey home past Windermere (the lake,) DoveCottage in Grasmere and Grasmere (the lake).itself were beautiful. I did note that small streams we passed that were usually bubbling away we’re completely dry.

Well done to Jake Mandy. I bet he was chuffed and enjoyed teasing your son about his result! Sorry to hear you hurt your knee and I hope it's getting better now. I see it was a stroke your sister had, but I hope she gets back to her old self before long with the treatment.

It's a shame your tradesman hasn't shown up Vera, but you don't want him turning up while he's ill. That's quick your OH is getting his second cataract done tomorrow. I hope it all goes well again, then he will be able to sort some new glasses in a few weeks.

I'm glad you had a not too bad journey AnnG and are enjoying the scenery, which must look great this time of year with all the fresh greenery. The garden you visited sounded nice too and I must look up that small Hosta. Mine haven't been bothered by slugs or snails yet either. They are probably waiting for some rain!

That's annoying when you are nearly at the end of a job and just can't get to finish it Mel. I like a cheese and coleslaw sandwich too! :-)

My car window has started to creep down again, so OH isn't coming with me in the car now so the passenger door doesn't have to be being shut which may make it worse. I must ask them after the Bank Holiday when the part from France is likely to arrive. I don't fancy it raining in if we get a storm or it being obviously not shut with it not being garaged at night. His car has been serviced and MOT'd today and they'd made a mess of the booking with several mechanics being off today, so they haven't managed to look at the aircon that isn't working on the passenger side yet.

I've been busy making phone calls to the electrician to arrange fitting a new fan in the ensuite and to liaise with the fitter. I had to sort the delivery of the the goods as the bathroom people stipulate a kerbside drop, but then said they would put things in a garage. Then at the last minute I learned the long wall boards have to be laid flat, so that will take up all the space that's available in the one clear side of the garage. Luckily the fitter has stepped in and said he will cover the lounge floor with protective sheeting he has and help the driver put things in the lounge if needs be. I might be able to make a little space the other side of the garage, but all those footie programmes are stacked higher than me along with other stuff that was MIL's and our bikes and other stuff. OH's back and neck are too bad for him to even carry a small bag of shopping now so he can't move things and not that we've anywhere else to put it just now anyway!

The trouble with my PC was that the mouse cursor disappeared so I couldn't even close the PC down. I tried several new batteries that didn't make any difference, but I thought it might be that they were all old! Then I spent ages going through two cupboards till I found another mouse, put batteries in that but still no joy. I then thought it must be the little USB thingy that connects the mouse wirelessly, but decided to switch everything off with the off switch first and start the PC up again......it worked, so the screen must just have frozen. The time you waste on these IT things though!!