General Chat

Good morning all

Couldn't get on here yesterday morning as the Genes .seem to be having a problem coming up with something like Gateway blocked.

Jane that was a lovely idea with the candle being lit when someone had lost a pet but like you I would feel like shedding a few tears. I always feel so sad when someone goes in with a pet and comes out crying. You are going to be popular with the lovely Thomas when he has his flea treatment.

This is the best time for me now as Ruby goes to her cage for a sleep after her food. On Sunday she went up to it and tried to get in there herself. she goes in there when we eat but she can still see us. She likes my lap when she is sleepy the rest of the time tries to jump up but can't quite make it yet. Still very good at night, we are very lucky with her, fingers crossed it lasts. Only a week now and she can go walkies

Frank, my Auntie who had a very poor appetite use to have those big soups with a few boiled potatoes, Abbie and Becky like those J20 drinks Sainsbury had them on offer last month so I got several packs .My Mother use to drink Sanatogen tonic wine when she felt under the weather.

Sorry to hear you are still itching Mel but it does sound as though it is easing off a little if the spots are getting smaller.

Watched Broadchurch last night but I did find it a bit slow at the moment, looking forward to seeing Line of Duty when it returns shortly.

Gill your neighbour sounds a right miserable old Bu**er you would think he would cooperate when it is in his own interest that you need access to his garden.

Ann your knees do sound very painful, I hope they stop aching soon, I am lucky the only discomfort I get is in my thumb joints but I put that down to using a key board at work for years. Having to walk up two flights of stairs to the office must have helped me keep fit, as we were up in the old servants quarters the 2nd flight was steep and narrow, there is a lift but not 100% reliable and being claustrophobic there was no way I would go in it.

Richard has gone back to work today, I reminded him when he was eating his breakfast to take his antibiotics with him, did he eck as like !! Head like a sieve :-( :-(

Morning all

Dry here this morning, for a change. It rained really hard through the night, so now the garden is wetter than ever. We have decided to lay some more flags where we were hoping to make a border and just put the pots on there. I moved a lot of pots yesterday and popped them over there and they look really good grouped together, so can be put in the same arrangement on flags. It means some more hard work but at least it won't flood anymore.

We've had a thought about the fence/screening between us and next door and have decided to screw the wood we put up on our side to our bungalow. He'll probably complain about the noise of the drill but can't stop us drilling into our own properly, at least it'll stop it moving and be an end to it. The only thing is, we'd have to take the first panel of screening down and some of the backing plastic we put up to get to the wood which isn't going to be easy as we have a massive plant growing nearby which I've had to tie up onto the screening, so some of that will need to be untied and gently laid on the ground. Everything is doable but is far more work than just putting a piece of wood on his side.........never mind it has to be done and at least this way we can just get on with it and he can't stop us. He's such a rude neighbour.

I don't think he has any friends Jane. When we called round there yesterday his bungalow reminded me of the programme hoarders buried alive, His place is full of junk in every room I could see and don't get me started on his garden.....what a mess. I'm glad we have a high fence between us as I wouldn't want to see all the junk every day. He smelt like he hadn't had a wash in weeks and so did his bungalow, I couldn't wait to get away and come home.

What a lovely idea with the candle at the vets Jane, such a sad time. Our vets if an animal needs to be put to sleep try and do it as the last one of the day so it's quiet, but that can't always happen I suppose, so the candle is a nice way of letting people in the waiting room know. The vet sounds a lovely man.

Hope your knees are still improving Ann, it must be difficult as like you said you use your knees for everything. What a day you had with the car and the email scam, pleased to hear both have been sorted now. I've had a few emails apparently from Amazon, which is strange as I've never used that site. I just send them to spam without opening them. When Michelle ordered things to be sent here I remember her telling them my email address so I assume that's where these scammers have got my address from.

Thanks for the advice on how to put fence posts in, but we have decided not to bother now. We worked so hard on all the screening last year and love the effect it has that we're going to fix it in place from our side and leave it be. It's solid everywhere else so won't go anywhere once we secured it at the end. Mr Grumpy will have to realise it's up to us what we do not him and if we want to drill into our own property then that's our business.....he does annoy me sometimes, but I suppose there are lots of people like that around, who have nothing better to do than upset their neighbours with their moods. The lady on the other side of us is so lovely and the complete opposite to him. Funny how people can be so different isn't it?

How is the itching today Mel, hope the spots have carried on healing then hopefully the itching will stop for you. I haven't seen Broadchurch yet or last weeks, I've been so busy that I've had to record them. I might catch up with them this afternoon.

Nothing much planned for today, I finished all the housework yesterday, although the beds need changing again which the washing machine will kindly do for me today LOL. How is your washing machine now Mel, hope it's working okay for you?

What is everyone else up to today?

Morning Anne and all, Evening Kim.

So pleased that RUBY is getting into her own little routine. Knowing where she must go for a sleep is very good. BLESS HER. xxx

Came straight to the latest page 2660 so didn't read yesterday evenings postings, I will do that when I have finished here.

Mel, I did notice Mandy was missing yesterday, Did she have a hospital appointment with her OH ??

Calm sort of morning here, I haven't seen the forecast yet, but hope we are going to get a dry day.

Got the car back yesterday afternoon. £128.00 including MOT. so I can't grumble over that. The spring last year was over £80.00 some where else.

My West Ham lost 2-1 last night. So Lewis will be pleased his Chelsea won. !!

Dos says the Robin has built two nests one and the top out of sight and another on a shelf between the tins. I will have a little nose later.

I will check how wet/dry the lawns are this morning, and try to get them done. I will shower and shave after doing that job. Then I can feel nice and clean and fresh like the man called "DAVID" kleenex advert. ;-) ;-) ;-)

Walking down to the pub last night the blooming torch packed up. I will have to put a new battery in before I use it again.

What are you all up to today. I expect Madam will be behind me doing the lawn edges and tidying up behind me. !!!

Little Ruby sounds like she's knows what her cage is for, bless her. I wonder how she'll be when you take her for her first walk. I love watching animals when they do things for the first time, the look of wonder and sometimes confusion on their faces is certainly a sight to see.

Oh dear fancy Richard forgetting his tablets, mind you that's men all over isn't it LOL? Pleased to hear he's fit enough to go back to work now.

Frank that wasn't a bad price for the car. Ours is due in a about 10 days, hopefully it won't cost to much. How lovely two nests, she must like it in your garage and will probably stay. They do make more than one. I wonder which one she'll use? Has Ros finished all the painting now. I bet it looks lovely. Hope the grass is dry enough to cut.

Just had a better thought about the screening and how to secure it without all the hassle of taking some of it down. We could put some brackets on the wood on our side and then screw it to our bungalow, the bracket would easily slip behind the screening out of sight and we can screw through the screening in the gaps to secure it. I'll mention it to OH when he gets in from work around 3pm, if it's still dry he can do it then, it won't take long to do and I've already moved all the plants out of the way so he's got the access too.

Going to grab a cuppa then strip my bed, I'll have to do Sandra's later as she's still asleep. She's more of a night owl than an early bird. :-) :-)

Missed you Gill we both posted at the same time.

SNAP Ros has stripped our bed and it's in the W/M. NOT THE BED LOL LOL. With a bit of luck it can have a blow in the breeze, while it's dry.

I also forgot my tablets last night, who I got this mornings out, there they were. Naughty boy. ;-) ;-)

See you later.

Like I said Frank typical man ;-) ;-) ;-) Good job you have us women to look after you :-D :-D

I remember years ago when we had our cats, OH would say, when I was in a washing mood (everything done in one day) "Cats keep out of the way, or you'll end up in the washing machine too LOL" :-D :-D

Morning you two and all,

Dry here this morning but still a bit dull with grey skies. Not much breeze to speak of.

Still itching but I don't think it was so bad this morning as it has been others. Have taken my tablet so hope it starts to work soon.

Shopping day today.........

Gill there's just no pleasing some people and I think if you do as you say he can't do anything about it if it goes on your bungalow wall.

Little Ruby is truely a model puppy going in her crate on her own. Sounds a lot like Cas when she was small.

I think my birthday roses are looking a little sad now and I shall have to soon throw them away. Their leaves are starting to drop but most of the flowers are still fine. One or two dropped their heads and have gone brown but I don't want to take them out as it will spoil the arrangement.

Oh that's good the itching is starting to subside now Mel, sounds like the tablets are doing the trick. It is sad when such lovely flowers start to fade, especially when they don't all fade at the same time. Like you said it spoils the arrangement. At least it's only one or two at the moment so you still have plenty left to enjoy :-) :-)

The puzzle regarding the nests is sorted. I knew as soon as I opened the conservatory door this morning that a Blackbird was nesting nearby, The earth in the pots was all over the patio. He was after wet soil for his nest. When I opened the GARAGE DOOR all was revealed. Under the ROBINS NEST on the shelf was the blackbirds nest. Straw and leaves everywhere. Mucky little Bu@@er. It was identical to when we lived at GAYTON. Robin and Blackbird nesting side by side in the shed.

I have moved the feeding station to the top of the lawn and refilled all the pots, fat blocks, fat balls, Coconut shell full of seed and fat. Meal worms, wild bird food and those little fat sticks. So none will go hungry. The Robin was sitting on a branch above my head, singing away, as though thanking me for doing it. I have also filled the dish in the garage with meal worms.

Both the lawns have been cut. Not looking too bad for the first cut. Dos is in the front garden now doing the lawn edges and pulling out dead plants, that of course will be replaced this weekend <3 <3 <3

Gill Paddy is just a chap in the village who does gardening, block paving, in fact anything you want doing. He cut down my cherry tree.

No breakfast this morning, so will get myself some lunch, after my shower and shave.

See you later, the sun is out here and nice and warm.

Oh how wonderful Frank, two different birds to watch now. Isn't it lovely how mother nature works? You seem to be on top of the café duties for the little ones, they are definitely being fed well. You'll have all sorts of birds to watch now.

Paddy sounds a great help for everyone. My OH is help enough for me, he's very good and I help him too, so between us most of the jobs are taken care of. Sometimes we need outside help, but not very often only for the larger jobs we can't handle ourselves, like taking the garage down, but apart from that we're okay.

The sun is still shinning, it went a bit dull an hour ago and I thought it was going to rain, hopefully the sun will still be out when OH gets home from work, then he can sort out the fencing once and for all. He has to nip to the garage first to book the car in for a pre MOT. He likes to do it about a week before it's due then he can take care of anything that needs doing, so we're not without a car.

Pleased to hear your lawns are done now Frank, the first cut is always the worse I think. It'll soon start to look lovey though.

What a chatty lot you have been this morning ! I couldn't believe how far i had to scroll back to get to the first post of th day.

Ruby is sounding very settled Anne.The fact she goes into her crate on her own shows she is happy to be in there,but still love a little snuggle up when she is tired :-D.She is a good little Pup :-D :-D .I can't say I am surprised about Richard forgetting to take his tablets to work.James is the same in the mornings.I sometimes buy him a big Chilli Sausage Roll from the deli in Tesco to take for lunch and 9 times out of 10 it will still be in the fridge :-S (even 2 days later)..I don't know why I bother lol He is not a morning person ,the same as Chris.I just get grunts from them and anything I say never goes in.Si I just talk to Thomas :-D.I get more reaction from him :-D

Two nests now then Frank :-D.It is going to be an interesting time watching all the progress with the nesting and then seeing the babies.

Gill ,it sounds as though your Mr Meldrew has 'issues' with his mental health .It can't be easy for you with him being so difficult .I noticed a house up on the main road being emptied and the garden cleared the other day.It belonged to a very strange man .I think he was a hoarder .I haven't seen him around now for ages so he has either passed away or is in a home .He was a local character for a very long time.

Mel it does sound like things are getting a bit better now with the itching.What a relief that must be.

I am just about to make a start on cleaning the shower and ensuite as the Plumber is coming tomorrow to have a look at the shower. Everytime a tap is turned on or a toilet flushed the shower runs and makes a horrible screeching sound.I need to do it this afternoon as I have an appointment at Specsavers in the morning.

Ann,Fitz has booked lunch .Has requested if possible to eat upstairs rather than down stairs because of the stairs :-D..What with all our knees etc LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SHIRL <3 <3

Jane do you mean DOWNSTAIRS and NOT UPSTAIRS. You don't know whether you are coming or going. lol lol

I did mention our Shirl on FB this morning.

Did you get the shopping all done Mel, was it a nice day down your way after all. We have had sunshine all day.

Ros has done three parts of the front garden. Just the front bed by the footpath to do, and the stone chipping's out the front, where various seedlings appear every year. She has to move a "CHRISTMAS ROSE" as it's getting so large it needs a new position. I will see if I can lift it when she's ready for it to be moved.

Yes I will have baby birds all over the place, if they decide to stay with me. The blackbird has certainly spread his nesting material far and wide over the garage floor. I'll give him a broom to sweep up after him. :-| :-| :-|

Just got the washing in, it smells so nice when it's dried in the fresh air. SNIFF SNIFF. <3 <3 <3

Sounds like a washer needs replacing Jane should only take a couple of minutes. !! Dos is not a morning person, she always has to sit a while to WAKE UP. I go and get her a CUP of TEA, once she's had that half cold she comes round. !!

Going over to our little pub later. I don't feel like cooking, being on my feet for so long today. So we can come home and relax for the evening. Plus it's nice for Ros to have a break after all her hard work. Bless her. <3 <3 <3

LOL Frank....Yes I do know what I mean . The restaraunt has seating on the ground floor ,but also has another big room down stairs .Even Fitz calls the ground floor of the place upstairs. Ann will know what I mean :-D :-D

That will be nice to go off to the pub for your meal tonight.which Pub is it?. Is it the one where you go to watch the footie?

I have booked The Pheasant at Keyston for Saturday night for Hannah's Birthday meal.Her Birthday is on Friday (same as Ann's Gordon),but she is having a bit of a Birthday bash at a pub in Angel (Islington) on Friday night so she and Gareth won't be here until the Saturday.Then they are out seeing friends and Hannah's friends new baby boy.So we will probably just have time with them for the meal in the evening and then they will be on the way back to London early Sunday morning as she has lots of work to get done (for her studies).I have just stripped and washed her bedding so I won't be back in her bed for a while.I was there again last night to watch Broadchurch.Thomas joined me and was a very good boy. He only woke me once to have a rub and fuss and then settled down again .It was gone 7.30 before I got up and then he just got up and followed me downstairs.He will be back in his usual place on the settee at night now .

Chris is having a bonfire at the moment.I can see great puffs of smoke billowing up.
He will stink when he comes in :-S
Fish and Chips (from the freezer) tonight with peas and Green Beans. Thats the best I can come up with. James will have meatballs,sauce and rice.
Fitz dropped in earlier as he wanted my stain removal stuff again to get blood out of a shirt.We were just about to have lunch .Chris had made himself a Salmon salad and I was doing a boiled egg for me.So I popped another egg in for Fitz.
His youngest son Ollie and wife are off to the Himalayas to do trecking next week.Fitz is not sure if Ollie is going to be up to it as he has had a problem with his hip or back (or somewhere).They have bought all sorts of special things for this expediton and have a Sherpa hired. So I just hope that it goes well for them and that Ollie has taken out proper/enough Medical Insurance !!

Just had a courtesy call from Specsavers to remind me of my appointment tomorrow.
11.20.

Yes I wonder where our Mandy is?? Nothing yesterday and nothing so far today :-S

It sounds like we're all changing our bedding today, me, Ros and now you Jane. Must be the good weather LOL ;-) Sounds like you've had a busy day today Jane. Hope the shower problem is sorted soon, you don't have much luck with your plumbing do you? The holiday in the Himalayas sounds interesting, lets hope Ollie will be able to get the right insurance and can cope with his bad back, hip. That was nice of you to pop in another egg for Fitz, it must be the mum in us as I'm the same, always wanting to feed people. OH is having fish and chips tonight too, I'm making mince and onions over chips for Sandra and I. I was wondering what you meant when you said upstairs to avoid stairs it didn't make sense until you've just explained it, now I see what you meant ;-) ;-)

That's nice going out for a meal tonight Frank, it'll save cooking and be a nice treat for you both.

Well, OH has fixed the fence, although I'm a bit concerned that if the winds picks up badly that it may push the wood away from the screws as they are going in the same direction the fence keeps leaning to. It really needs supporting from next door's side but with him being so awkward it can't be done. OH said if he falls his way again, then he'll put in fresh holes on his side as we can see it and he can't once the fencing leans over, then when he goes round to push it back again he can just put some screws in from his side without him knowing. A bit mean but we can't keep pushing it back every other day and this way it stops him moaning and the job will definitely be sorted........the things we have to do just to fix things and keep the peace. I think you might be right about his mental state Jane. OH was saying that he could hear him going to his garage when he was drilling the holes, but thankfully next door didn't say anything. He couldn't see what OH was doing so he could of been drilling any part of our bungalow, which is probably why nothing was said this time.

It sounds like the last lot of washing has just finished so I'd better go and see to it.......what's that saying, A WOMANS WORK IS NEVER DONE lol :-D :-D

Evening all,

I'm about i had a dicky tummy Sunday night ,seven times in and out of bed so yesterday i was so tired i never came on here ,feel much better now though.

It's been a really lovely day here ,so nice to see the sun ,we were out in the garden throwing a ball for Max and we had our cup of tea out there .

Glad you managed to sort out your fence Gill what an old so and so your neighbour is ,he wants the fence right but he's not willing to let you on to his property to sort it out ,that's good you've got it sorted now .

When you said two nests Frank i wondered if it was another bird in there with the robin , it will be lovely to see the babies when they hatch , they will be the best fed babies about with all the treats your putting out :-D

Treking with a bad back or hip doesn't sound much of a holiday lets hope he's up to it and as you say the insurance needs to be sorted to make sure he's covered ok .
I think these courtesy calls are a good idea our dentist does it ,it must help to remind some people who forget ,i usually look at the calender a week ahead to see whats coming up.

I need to rest up tomorrow we have a load of logs being delivered on thursday so i shall be on the wheel barrow ,DIL and son will help too ,Colin will load the barrows as he just carn't push a barrow with his hip ,he's still using a stick .

<3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday Shirl hope you've had a lovely day <3 <3 <3

Sorry to hear you had a tummy upset Mandy, do you know what caused it? I expect Max enjoyed his game of ball in the garden as it was such a nice day.

I must take it all back what I said about Richard and his tablets he had left the box and taken just one with him.

That chat about the upstairs or downstairs reminded of me of a film in the late 60's called Up the Down Staircase.

We had lasagne and green beans for our evening meal and Ruby is asleep in her cage at the moment

I think it might have been some beetroot i had Anne , i carn't eat fresh beetroot but i can eat the pickled beetroot in the jars ,this jar i bought said sweet beetroot but didn't taste of vinegar very much so it might have been that , i carn't think what else it could have been as i ate the same as Colin plus the beetroot and he was fine .

Not long now before you can take Ruby out ,i bet you carn't wait :-)

Oh dear Mandy, that must of been awful for you, 7 times is a lot. Drink plenty to stop dehydration, you don't want to have problems in that department. Pleased to hear you're feeling better now. So you've had fun with Max in the garden today, it's so nice when the sun is here and you can get outside.

So Richard did take his tablet to work then Anne, at least that's something. Is Ruby still taking herself off to her cage when she wants a nap? She's ever so good isn't she, you're very lucky.

Just finished clearing up after dinner, we had it a bit earlier today as everyone was hungry, so now we're settling down for the evening.

Did'nt go shopping till late and got back about just after 5pm. Unloaded and had a drink and choc eclair did the chickens and read the posts. Gosh you have all been busy.

I meant to say the other day Jane that if you get blood on your clothes just put some cold water on it and plenty of salt and let it soak a bit and it will come out. You don't need these expensive stain removers for blood. The only time it won't come out is if you use hot water on iron a blood stain.

<3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday to our Shirl <3 <3 <3

Hope you had a great day.


You all seem to have had good weather today with sunshine. We have had a miserable day with mizzle and a very cold breeze. I have been cold all day except when I was in the car with the heater on full blast. Well not full blast but I got the car nice and warm and when I got home the heating was'nt on and I could feel cold on my face so I turned it on.

Frank don't put the bird feeder too near where they are nesting as it will upset them with all the birds feeding there.

Pleased we have heard from our Mandy. We all worry when someone dos'nt post! It just goes to show how close we have all become. Nice is'nt it........ :-)