General Chat

We lost the sunshine at lunchtime. Did the lunch and watched the grand prix and then oh went back out in the garden and is hoovering out my pond now. I did fish a lot of leaves out this morning with the net and there is a lot of blanket weed in there. The filter has'nt been on since the leccy went out months ago but oh could'nt find anything wrong with the pump filter or the scimmer and when he turned it all back on it went ok.

So two chops each for dinner then Frank? you will both be very full.

I am rather cross as I found my great grans picture on Ancestry today for all to see. My pics were supposed to be private but it seems someone has got hold of it and shared it with others and their trees are a real mes with having two marriages recorded for the same people which mucks everything up with the children as they are all double too.

Frank,did you scroll right down to the bottom of the pic with the Daffs? That is where the bit is to start the video.. All gone quiet now except for the traffic.But even that is less .I think the wind had dropped a little or changed course. Maybe the people over in Burton Latimer will now be getting the traffic sounds.

Sun still shining here Mel.That is lucky the filter pump is still working ok. No need for any more expense :-D

So Chops then Frank !..We have chops too tonight.Pork with Sage Butter.Doing my Hassleback Potatoes brushed with oil,fresh Thyme and other dried herbs. Runner Beans ,baby Carrots and French Beans... James is home from Jess now and starving ,so I reckon I will be dishing his up first.Chris says he isn't at all hungry yet .
James brought home a Rhubarb Cake that Jess's Mum made today.It was still warm when he got in. I had a little taste and it is delicious. I think that will be our pudding tonight as I have a pot of custard which will go nicely with it. I have a feeling the Rhubarb is from the allotment that Jess's Stepdad has.

Chris is out with the hosepipe watering everything now. Blasted Squirrel has caused havoc with pots .Everything turfed out :-S :-S. Even my Parsley in the Herb trough :-S..Little Blighter :-| :-| :-|..Soil all over the blooming place.

My next door neighbours do work all week ,(or mostly) I would love to know what all that machinery noise is all about .I do know that he has fitted a new kitchen (maybe still in the process ) .The bungalow is actually due to be demolished when the building work gets going behind us. So I can't quite get my head around it .I think he is just tarting the place up on the cheap so that it will look good and they will get more from the developer (if that makes any sense)The mind boggles :-S

Evening All,

It sounds like you have your travel arrangements well sorted with Janice coming to stay Jane. I bet the neighbour may have been cutting wall tiles for the kitchen. That made an awful din when they did our bathroom!! :-S We find the M1 can be noisier here depending how the wind blows!! Apart from the dog when he's in the garden it's people mowing their lawns that disturbs us when we sit in the garden!! :-0 Sorry folks, but when you don't do mowing yourself you really notice the din and it usually starts just when you get settled to sit and read or snooze!! lol

What a shame about your sister Frank. As if she doesn't have enough on her plate. You are right to chivvy her to see the doc. We suspect some of FIL's falls he had he couldn't explain may have been mini strokes. She needs a checkup as you say.

Anne I had a look at that lovely big house too and it is fabulous isn't it and in such a great location. The indoor swimming pool looked very inviting.....they should have a great time there.

Mel when we were aged about 10 my friend's dad let us put an old army type tent he had up in their garden and we played in it for hours so I bet the boys were loving the tent they played in too. They could try rubbing a candle on the zip.

I'm glad you explained about Binky Jane! I was wondering who fed him if no-one was staying on the boat.

After lunch we went to an open garden at Gaddesby which has huge houses with huge gardens and is quite a posh area. The garden we saw even had it's own arboretum that the Woodland Trust planted and maintained for quite a few years. The garden had loads of bulbs, a pond and some 'different' statues. They had 2 black Labs like Max and an older German Shepherd, all flopped in the shade. After, we found a garden centre and antiques place we didn't know so had a good potter round there.

I have just topped up my washer bottle on the car. It's the first time I have had the bonnet up and I've had the car 16 months!! I was surprised to find the bonnet holds itself up without needing a prop. It all looked nice and clean and dry under there which is good. :-) We have to be up with the lark in the morning to take OH's car in for a service. I expect we will be stuck in a jam due to the main road junction alteration they have been doing for many months now, You either sit in the half mile plus jam or go another way which lots of other people do and end up in another jam! :-S I think it will be an early night for me tonight.

Evening all

We've had a lovely sunny day, but now it's gone cloudy and windy.

It must of been awful listening to all that noise Jane, but like you said if they work in the week then they only have the weekend. I don't understand why they are bothering though if the bungalow is going to be demolished, I doubt the developer will pay anymore if he's not going to benefit more from it.

Sorry to hear about your sister Frank, you are right she does need to see a doctor, sooner rather than later to explain why she had the blackout. Have you spotted any baby Robin's yet? The blackbird sounds friendly and like you said a bit of company for Ros. I find the Robin come closer to me if I'm digging and one even sat on the handle of the spade when I left it in the ground when I went in for a cuppa.

So someone has made a mess of their tree with your family on Mel, I hate that as it's so easy to sort it out isn't it? Not very nice to add the photo's without letting you know, I assume they are the ones you passed onto them. Sorry if I have that wrong. I haven't done any of my tree for a while as I've been busy out and about, which makes a nice change as OH works so much Sandra and I don't go out very often.

Sandra wants to go to the zoo again for her birthday as it rained last year and most of the animals were indoors where she couldn't see them, so I'm hoping the weather will be better this time round. I've said to her if the weather isn't very nice then we'll take her as soon as the weather improves and do something else on her special day instead. Not sure what yet though. She does like shopping so we may do that as she normally has some money for her birthday so she'll have fun spending it.

We took Sandra out today to a place called Water World, it's like a garden centre but also has water features. Inside the shop area they have rabbits and birds plus lots of fish to look at, she absolutely loved it. We then went to the garden centre next door, the one we go to that has the Christmas event on in November and bought some tomato plants. Mum came round with four free pots yesterday and left them by our front door as we were out, they are to small for me to use to re-pot any of my plants so I've used them for the tomatoes. It took me about an hour this morning to sort the greenhouse out ready to plant them when we came back, we also bought another strawberry plant for Sandra as the ones we have for her are starting to get old now. I thought once the new one starts producing suckers I'd make more new ones for her.....she like her strawberries.

So the flowers are out of the greenhouse now and the tomatoes and strawberries are in. I forgot to buy the potatoes so will have to get them another day to plant out I sometimes use potatoes I have in the bungalow if they have shoots on them, but I don't have any at the moment, so will have to buy them this year instead. I have a large bag and noticed that Monty Don planted potatoes in a bag so I'm going to try it that way in the greenhouse with everything else. I noticed that the Cana Lilly has new shoots on it so that's gone in the greenhouse too as it did well in there last year.

Morning all,

We have sun this morning but its a bit hazy.

Been and taken oh's car in for its MOT and brought him back. Been up the shop and called in the docs for the scripts.

Nothing planned for today after that lot so may go up the border. Oh is still hoovering uot my pond.

Good morning my lovelies, evening Kim,

Dull old morning here, looks like it will be as forecast. CLOUD AND RAIN SHOWERS.

Ros has gone to have her nails done, and get me more beers. She worked her "cotton socks" off yesterday. She dug out the roots of a bush she has taken down. It took her most of the day sitting on her stool and digging round the roots with her little trowel. She managed to saw through the roots at a reasonable depth, and refilled the hole, ready for replanting. No doubt if the weather stays dry, she will be out there this afternoon.

I rang and cancelled my eye appointment this morning. My new glass's are fine, and I can see T.V. without any glass's. My old glass's are a back up if I need them.

Ann thanks for reminding me to check Ros's water bottle. I can't remember the last time I did. I know it's very large and sits down the side of the inner wing.

Tony came out and cut a quarter of his lawn yesterday afternoon, then put his mower away. It looks a right mess. He never cuts the edges, and the grass must be a foot high. Lazy bu@@er. !!! He must be envious when he looks over the fence and sees how nice ours looks, but it doesn't JOG him to do anything with his.

It will be nice for Sandra to have another visit to the Zoo. in better weather. Nothing worse than trying to see round in the rain. Not having any youngsters, we don't go there any more. :-( :-(

I replied to Liz's Email yesterday and got a little THANK YOU this morning. How nice was that. <3 <3 <3

Haven't been able to get to the Robin's nest sit would mean disturbing the shelf, and I would hate to do that. So will observe from a distance ;-) ;-)

Time for a shower and shave, and get on with a couple of jobs.

Hope you are all well, and enjoy whatever you are doing today xxx

Just a little report on Sunday before I trot off again to see what's going on today at Linden Grange and see if Grace has left Carmel exhausted with all her questions.
Very pleasant day yesterday, we had a lovely Sunday lunch together in the dining area of the lounge, just the two of us. Roast turkey, stuffing, roast pots, cauliflower and sprouts with a very nice gravy. To follow we had rice pudding and I love the way they do it there, just like my Mum used to make, minus the nutmeg on top!
We did go down into the garden but took our hats with us as they are needed in the seclusion there. The pot plants on the tables had all dried out so I made it my business to give them all a good watering.
This morning I've been to the osteopath and after a work out given an 'improvement' class, maybe because I'm not sitting in the danged hospital chairs anymore and that we are both a bit more mobile! The chap will be here tomorrow afternoon to spend three hours on the garden but now he knows the garden (I tell him it's HIS garden now!) I'll leave him to it and just get him to shut up the gate etc when he goes. I've been out there for half an hour this morning (who ordered that cold wind?) and was amazed how a lot of planters etc have dried out.
I can't believe it's almost Easter, I guess we feel that we are not living in the 'real world'. Mel, there is some post on the way to you and no doubt you'll let me know when it arrives. More again soon - have a nice day all.

Good afternoon all

I still haven't got round to reading all the posts yet but hopefully will get the chance late.r

The girls have left now, Abbie is staying with Shanie, the friend who she is going to be a birthing partner to and Becky has gone home so I have changed their beds until they stay again. Ruby went to the vets this morning to see the nurse for a tic and flea treatment plus she had her very sharp nails cut.

William the Grange sounds ideal where Carmel is staying at the moment, how nice that you are able to have a well cooked meal together and enjoy the garden as well.

It's still sunny here but a lot cooler with a breeze.

Gill lets hope Sandra gets a better day this time when you visit the zoo, is it
Chester zoo you go to? We use to take the boys there when visiting Peter's brother when he was an RSPCA inspector and lived near there in Ellesmere Port with his wife and three children.He use to monitor the Grand National as part of his job.

This is taking me a while to type as Ruby is lying on my right arm so I can only type left handed

Just done some ironing and now having a little sit down before going back to it.
I was going up the border but we have the same cold breezey wind as William and it cuts right through you.

Still waiting to hear how oh's car got on with its MOT.

Wrote this over an hour ago but Graham and Gerry called in and talked and talked. We had'nt seen them since before Christmas when Graham gave me that cold that lasted for ages.

Evening All

Love your pics Anne. Richard and friends look to be having a great time 'at the big house ' :-D,and Ruby's face is a picture LOL !!!!
Frank,I am glad you are happy with your new specs now and don't need to go back to the Opticians :-D

William ,what a lovely day you had yesterday with Carmel. Glad to see you are looking after the plants too i nhe garden. I bet with it being such a suntrap they would have dried out really quickly.

Ann I must check my window water in the car too now.The car is covered every day in a thick reddish dust from all the ground works going on over the other side of the A14.
My window sills (indoors ) too are plastered in the stuff after having them open in the hot weather :-S..I keep thinking we are also breathing this all in everyday :-S :-S
It can't be doing any one any good.

Dinner is in and needs attention .

Nice pics Anne. They all look very happy.

Evening all,

Much cooler here today even with the little bit of sun we've had ,i did get all my washing dry as there has been a good blow today.

Nice to hear from Liz it sounds as if she is coming along nicely now .

Oh Jane that was a row yesterday to have to listen to on a nice sunny day and just when you want to sit out and enjoy the sun .
Yes if your car is covered in the dust you must be breathing it in when you go outside ,that's not good is it .

William you sound as if you had a lovely day yesterday ,a nice sunday lunch with Carmel and then a sit in the sun ,i bet the plants liked the drink you gave them ,that was your good deed for the day .

Nice photo of the dinner table Anne ,they look as if they are enjoying them selves ,love the photo of Ruby she has a look on her face as if to say " take my photo then " LOL she likes the camera :-D

Went to see little Molly this afternoon ,she had just been for a walk and was tired so she just curled up in her bed all the time i was there ,sister said she is really good if the back door is open she will take herself out to wee and over night she uses the puppy pad ,i could see she had grown and she has huge paws now i think she's going to be a big girl.

Anne ,that is nice Abby will be a Birth Partner for her friend. Hannah did the same for one of her friends.She went to anti natal classes with 'Sarah' and then the Birth.The staff thought they were a couple LOL.Sarah had no other support from family or the father of the baby. When is Abbies friends baby due? It is a big thing for Abby to do at her age. I remember Hannah saying she stayed at the top end LOL

How did OH's car do Mel? I think I heard that Chickens are allowed out again now.So if that is rght your girls will be able to roam again .

I think we will all be keeping fingers crossed for good weather so Sandra can get to the Zoo for her Birthday Gill :-D. She will be so looking forward to going.

Just sent a pic of a Baby Bluetit sitting in the window feeder

Oh wow Jane that was a close up of the Blue tit ,they love those pellets as soon as i fill my feeder the Blue tits and Robins are on it and send them flying every where and then the old Pigeons come down and they make a heck of a mess ,we've also had an old Crow come into the garden too .
The Seagulls have been making a noise today they land on the top of the church bell tower with the pigeons ,they all sit in a line i counted twenty pigeons the other day all sat in a row but there are loads of them in the town now ,they really need to cull some of them as the mess in the town is getting so bad .

Evening All,

What a cute little Blue Tit Jane and you were lucky he stayed still long enough to get a pic! :-)

Anne, little Ruby looks as bright as a button and I bet she misses nothing! That's quite a table full all looking as if they are enjoying themselves. I think Abbie is very brave being her friend's birthing partner. There's no way I could have done that. When my baby brother was born when I was aged 15 I went out to see my friend rather than be there!! Mind you, that was in the early 60s and I doubt many mothers would want their 15 year old daughter seeing their nether regions then!! lol. :-0

When we went to the garage to drop OH's car in this morning we expected delays due to the roadworks and rush hour, BUT we sailed in and had forgotten the schools round here had broken up for Easter!! I would say there were two thirds less cars. It just shows that ferrying children around to schools, childminders and nurseries is clogging up the roads. I suppose some parents would be off work with their children too. We then went to Nuneaton, dropping our shredded paper off at the small holding and I had a look at Specsavers. Sadly they did not have the specs I saw online and I didn't stop to ask as there was such a din from children in there shouting and running about. I'll check the reference for them online next and ring the store in the city to see if they have them. Then I drove us to Lutterworth for lunch and after that OH got a call to say his car was ready so we went straight there. On the way home I filled my car up and had a mooch around M&S down the road and got 2 black lacy bras and 2 tops. Then I thought I would go home the slightly longer way, about 2 miles to see how far they had got with the huge development they are building the other end of the village. I took the ring road and just as I'd got past the last place were I could get off it, I saw standing traffic and ambulances way ahead. From there, the 2 miles home took me just under 2 hours!!!!! It would have taken even longer had I not turned off when I could and come home a longer way. I was starting to have to cross my legs and was glad I'd filled the car up!!! :-0 I could see the driver behind me was getting wound up as he was thumping the top of his steering wheel.

I hope the car passed the MOT ok Mel

I had to top up my 9 year old PAYG mobile today and what a palaver it was because I needed to register a new payment card with them. My phone's keyboard is a digital one and disappears when you have dialled and is impossible to get back up if you haven't done things in the right sequence and you need it to follow the automated instructions. I finally cracked it today, but was looking all through the little instruction book last night. It's amazing how we have things and don't know what we can do with them! I discovered I can do conference calls and display my screen on the telly amongst other things I haven't missed! :-)

Little Molly sounds like she is settling in nicely Mandy and has got the right idea about where to wee. :-D

You have reminded me Gill, I must get some tomato plants soon from the village nursery.

Evening all, Broadchurch on again, as I said I haven't seen it this time round.

Dos came back from having her nails done and said how cold it was outside. I got her a COT and beans on toast with two rashers of bacon. She sat on the sofa all afternoon totally worn out. I think she over did it in the garden yesterday. She even asked for the hating to go on, which is unlike her.

I got a HOCK out of the freezer this morning. Boiled it for three hours this afternoon and had it with MASH and MUSHY PEAS. One of Ros's favourites. It was a regular Saturday lunch at her Mum and Dad's.

I was going to the pub tonight, but felt tired out, so didn't bother, with all the looking after Ros all afternoon and evening, which was a change for me, but my leg aches and the old arthritis in my hands is playing up.

We get a lot of wood pigeons in the garden after the bread that Ros puts out for the birds. The Blackbird and Robin have been on the front lawn and the patio, looking as though to say "WHERE ARE YOU TODAY"

I rang my sister this afternoon. She has company one of her SIL (oh side) So I will ring tomorrow to see if she contacted the Dr. and Age Concern as I told her to. If she hasn't I will have strong words with her.

I am in my dressing gown but with the heating on, I have removed it. !! far too hot for me. :-P :-P

Did the car pass the MOT Mel ??

Jane, it sounds that you are going to get a lot of dust and muck, for some time to come with all this work going on. How many houses are they building ??

Almost 10.00 pm. I can then see what is on T.V. for the next hour before I drift of to bed.

Have a good night everyone, see you in the morning.

Morning all,

Sunshine again at the moment. Oh's car passed its MOT with nothing to be done so that was good and while he was there picking it up he bought some diesel for the big mower and the digger. He owes for that!

I had another look at my family tree yesterday and others who have the same family members. Some people have them so wrong it really gets my goat. I know the name is hard to follow as people spell it so different but one person has my great great grandmother with parents that are her gt grandparents I think. At least the supposed mother would have been 50 when she had her. I know it can happen but this is stupid. If I get in touch with people they seem to get shirty with me.

Shopping today and I am going to Torrington to Lidl.

Smahing pictures of Ruby and I like the box of toys!

Once again a lovely garden to see Ann and what a journey home you had. I would'nt have liked that.

Good Morning Ladies and Will, evening Kim,

Nice bright morning wee but with that COLD breeze. I have a job to do outside this morning so will need a coat on.

Mel, I know when you and Ann helped with my tree I had made a few mistakes, but if these people are experienced at what they are doing, they should be more careful.

I have been to the freezer to get something for the evening meal. I have got myself a very large Wing of Skate, and Ros a Rib eyed Steak. I have made pepper sauce, done the mushrooms and onions and a jug of home made chips. So nothing to do until I cook this evening.Ros has made herself some coleslaw.

Have a good "DONKEY" day Mel, hope you don't forget anything !!

Had quite a good night with the exception of my right hand side, from shoulder down to my hip. It's my Stroke side, so I expect it's the nerves telling me something. ;-) ;-)

Ros will be out later with Carolyn, but she is waiting a call from the Doctor. That can be anytime up to 1.00 pm. So a late afternoon out me thinks. :-D :-D :-D

I have invited Harvey and Family up for Easter Sunday Dinner. BUT. he has so much to do at home, he doesn't think they will be able to come. If that's the case I will take Ros out to the Cromwell Cottage. This time without the blow out of the tyre. I HOPE !!!!

Well must get on with my little jobs, then I can read my book without feeling guilty.

See you all later. Have a NICE DAY.

Good morning all

Sunny and chilly again, Ruby is fast asleep so peace reigns.

Mandy your sisters puppy,Molly is so good going outside for a pee, Ruby doesn't get it right all the time but will use the puppy pads.

Ann the garden you visited looks amazing, loved the wooden sculptures, they have similar ones at the Crich tram museum on one of their walks.

Jane that baby blue tit chick is so pretty, I expect Mum was close by keeping an eye on it.
Shanie's baby is due in August hopefully it arrives before our holiday later that month. My MIL was at the birth of Richard and gave him his name, it wasn't planned for her to be there but they visited us when I was in labour, both him and Paul were born at home.

Mel good news that your OH's car passed it's MOT. I have found on my family tree that some people do get things wrong but sometimes when a child is given as an older mother's there is more often an elder unmarried daughter still living at home who is quite likely the real mother.

Little madam is now waking up so the toy box is about to be raided but first a visit to the garden.