General Chat

Gill, Everything was good yesterday, and they stayed until nearly 10.00 pm. It is nice to have a BIG LINE. Ours goes from the Garage to the Victorian Lamp Post at the bottom of the garden. It's retractable so nobody can walk into it. If it was up all the time I guarantee I would catch it across my face/throat.

I have been down the garden working. I have planted two more bags with potato's and put in three rows of spuds in the veg patch. There is still room to plant a row of Parsnip, Spring onions and Celery. Lettuce will be grown in big pots and a few between the potato's when they show above ground. Dos is planting her pansies in the display in the middle of the stones down the garden by the pond.

I have had to come indoors as I am struggling to bend and walk around. I don't want to collapse and have Ros to have to try to get me up. If that happened I can see her lying the side of me until someone found us :-D :-D :-D :-D

Still sunny here, but a lot more cloud than earlier. If we get some rain it will water in my potato's.

Frank I never do my runners till the end of May. Put them out I mean. We do sometimes get late frost here and then if you have to sow more it delays the pickings.

I'd love a Victorian Lamp Post Frank, I have a miniature one of sorts that I made out of the solar light mum gave me a couple of weeks ago that we have in the greenhouse, but I'd prefer a real one in the garden. I put my prop at the end of the line near the hedge when I've finished using it and it makes the line go about 8 foot in the air so we don't have problems getting underneath it.

Well, the big prickly bushes are out of the front garden now and OH is just cutting the grass, it's gone really hot so we're calling it a day. We'll do a bit more tomorrow morning and then the next morning until it's finished as it's to hot to work out there in the afternoons.

It sounds like you've been busy too today Frank, good idea to stop though as like you said you wouldn't want to collapse and need Ros's help. You did make me laugh when you said you'd both we lying there waiting for someone to find you. You are funny. LOL

We have noticed that the hedge needs taking out as it's leaning halfway over the path and if we cut it straight we'll cut all the live stuff off leaving just the dead stuff, so we'll need to put a new fence in there at some point. If we leave it as it is and just tidy it up the council will cut it right back and charge us for it as it's stopping people walking by properly at the moment. The council sent us a letter a few years ago telling us to cut the hedge back or they'd do it and charge us, so we don't really have a choice.

Going to run a bath now then I need to catch up with all the soaps I've recorded before they're back on tonight and sort out dinner. It's gone 3pm already, where has the day gone??? :-S

Afternoon All
Lots of full tummies at yours last night Frank :-D.What a cracking meal.

Crikey Ann,that was a close shave with that tractor :-0 :-0. How reckless of the stupid man driving like that.It doesn't bare thinking about what might have happened if that track wasn't just there for OH to run off into.

Busy gardeners today I see.Chris has trimmed off the sides of a load of conifers down the bottom of the garden.

I won't stay now as I have had to wear cotton gloves all day as I have a few new patches breaking out on my fingers and palm.I can't type with gloves on.
I am a bit concerened as to how painful it will be when I have to pull my suitcase along when we go to France a week on Friday.I think even though it is going to look ridiculous I might have to just use these gloves :-S :-S(just on the one hand) .I am finding it so awkward sometimes to get certain jobs done......Chris says" Oh yes any excuse to get out of things" LOL. I don't really think he means it. He better not :-S

That man seems to be going way OTT Ann what with hoovering the drive etc !!!!! Although I am sure the new owners will be pleased to probably not have to do any cleaning etc when they move in.

My Sister was having to take Oscar (dog) to the vet today. His hair is coming out in great clumps leaving big bald patches and he is shaking his head a lot and coughing .
His ears were checked the other week and all good there so it is a bit worrying.He is a Spanish Waterdog and they don't moult

Must slather more emollient cream on my hands and get these gloves back on. Hopefully will BBL

Oh Jane I'm so sorry to hear about your hands it must be getting on your nerves by now. I know I shouldn't but I had a bit of a giggle when you said you were only going to wear one glove, all I could think about was Michael Jackson. Sorry I know it's not funny, but it did make me smile. I hope they start feeling better soon <3

Hope Oscar doesn't have anything nasty wrong with him, it must be a worry for your sister, does she know how long she'll have to wait to know what's wrong with him?

Well, so much for me watching all my soaps before they are back on again tonight. I managed most of them but fell asleep during Eastenders so will have to record tonight's and watch them both tomorrow. I've been so busy and didn't have a lot of sleep last night so felt quite sleepy after my bath and dinner and fell asleep on the sofa. Now I know how babies feel after their baths :-)

Talking of babies, Sandra's friend had her baby on Sunday morning so Sandra has been busy wrapping up the present she's bought and writing out the card. Her friend lost a baby last year so Sandra didn't want to wrap the present up until she knew her friends baby was okay. Thankfully she was and there is a lovely picture on Facebook. Her friend is still in hospital as she had to have a caesarean, but mother and baby are doing well. She called her Ella Joy. Sandra gave my mum the present and card to pass onto her friends dad who lives next door to mum, we will go and see them as soon as she is up to visitors. Mum said she might be coming home from hospital today.

I found some info for my family tree online last night so I'd better go and add it to my tree before I forget, then I'll watch a bit of TV and have an early night.

LOL Gill. I look just like Michael Jackson now with one glove on :-D.I had forgotten he wore a white glove.Yes it is getting to me a bit now.But then it is nothing compared to what other people have to deal with. I did see on google that it is a good idea to put clear varnish on affected nails to protect them .

I bet Sandra can't wait to visit her friend and little Ella Joy.It is so lovely when you hear of a new arrival :-D .I think Ella is a very pretty name.

My BIL Larry has had quite a distressing day.. Travellers have broken in and set up camp on his Nature Reserve :-S :-S.. Horses and carts have been seen racing around ,signs have been pulled down and children have been catapulting stones at people.
Larry went down to he reserve earlier to have a peaceful word and was told to F**k off.He hasn't heard anything back from the police :-S...I just hope that all the lovely swans and other wildlife there will be ok.

Dinner up now for us .Meatballs,Spag and Garlic Bread.

My shopping seemed to take me ages today when I went to Lidl. I know I have a good look around but I did'nt get home till past 5 o'clock. Then I needed a drink and we had a doughnut and then I unpacked.

We've not eaten yet!! He has his usual curry ready meal and I shall have a nice couple of boiled eggs. Suits me fine.

Anyone watching The Island with Bear Grills? They all seem a useless lot on there this time oldies and youngsters.

Gill you be carefull there is'nt any birds nests in your hedge. It is really the wrong time to cut hedges back. What kind of hedge is it?

I had to smile at Lewis Frank. :-) He might be 18 and want to go out with his mates, but he still doesn't want to miss out on Pappy's dinners does he!! lol. Fancy him working out that you could plate up a dinner for Harvey to bring home for him to have. :-) We often wish we had an extra room in our bungalow so we could both have a den/study each, but to be honest it could be more than we need in the future. Why have somewhere bigger to clean and look after and pay extra council tax for, when a he or she shed would be a better solution as they could always be removed once you no longer need them.

I know I used to plant runners in April years ago, but where we live now they are better being a bit later like Mel says. In our case it's so the bulk of the flowers come after the rapeseed black beetles have gone as they chew the flowers off. :-S

Gill, our back garden faces southwest and gets very hot in the afternoons like your front garden does. I have always tried to do a bit in the mornings while there is a bit of shade and before the sun comes over the roof of the bungalow. I can get so hot, even with a hat on, and start to feel ill. You get more done that way than soldiering on. I shouldn't feel guilty if I were you as you do lots indoors anyway. I am like you and feel really happy if I make an improvement like you have making all your big washing line available!! I felt like that with my rotary line when I used 2 old stone squirrels from a seat where the top had broken in two. I stuck a matching oval stepping stone slab on top of them and used it to put the laundry basket on to save my back bending down to peg the washing out! lol. :-D Such a simple thing makes a big difference.

I think they said it was a bad year for us having wasps last year Mel and we haven't had a bad winter so I expect there will be a lot this year. I've been surprised to see quite a few already. Have you seen Phil again with his poorly toe? I hope the fox isn't about.

Jane, could you tape a short length of that foam pipe lagging from B & Q on your trolley case handle? It would be softer to hold then or even fix a car seatbelt protector around the handle. I would wear a glove as you say as it will keep the cream from rubbing off. It might be worth looking in the chemist/supermarket and see if any of those gel pads you slip under the ball of your foot in shoes would work slipped in the palm of your glove. You don't want sore hands on your holiday. It seems to have come round quickly, mind you we would have been in Cornwall 2 weeks ago if things had gone to plan.

That's a shame about your sister's dog, but hopefully the vet will know what's wrong and be able to sort him out.

I confess to a chuckle when I read Gill's post and the mention of Michael Jackson and his 'glove'. As she says, it isn't funny and I can imagine what a nuisance it is having your hand and nails in such a mess, but this image flashed across my mind of you performing 'Billie Jean' with the glove thrust above your head!! :-)

Evening all,

Been a bit on the cloudy side today which has made it feel quite chilly .

That was nice that Lewis wanted a plated up meal Frank ,it's nice to see people tuck in makes all the hard work of getting it ready worth while and no leftovers to go to waste .

Oh Jane that awful your poor BIL lets hope the police can soon get them moved off ,the trouble is they leave all their rubbish behind when they go ,i hope they don't hurt any of the wild life there .
I hope the vet can find out whats wrong with your sisters dog .

Max went for his check up this afternoon and all is fine with the wound ,we have to take him back next week and carry on with the painkiller and anti-inflammatory drugs ,still short walks and no ball games which he is missing as he loves his ball.

We're watching The Island Mel , what a lot !!! first time i have seen them vote some one off !!

Evening all, Good night to Jane no doubt !!!.

We had Cold Pork Chips and beans tonight. Nice and easy and one of my favourites.

I forgot to mention I set some Courgette seeds also this morning. Dos loves them but I'm not bothered.

Poor you Jane, It must be very difficult doing things. I hope you can find something to help you with your holiday case.

What a Bu@@er with these people breaking into the Nature Reserve. That won't give a toss about the wildlife, and will kill anything and everything that is edible. I expect he might have to get a COURT ORDER to get them moved on. I'm sorry but these people are the scum of the earth and have no respect for MAN OR BEAST. !!!

I expected to hear from Lewis tonight to thank me for his meal. Perhaps he's too full and gone to bed early.

Thanks for the info regarding my runners, I aught to know I have been growing them for years. It must be my age !!!

Ros has Paul Grady on, I will watch a bit before going "Up the hill to Bedfordshire" That's an old one Mum and Dad use to say.But of course I can't go up the hill (STAIRS) I just go into the other room.

Good night God bless to you all, sleep tight. See you in th morning. (another of M & Ds)

What a stress for Larry Jane. It's disappointing when they are approached in a civil manner and are abusive back. There are good and bad in all folk but these sound like a right wild lot!! I hope the animals will be ok, but as Frank says, they may just see them as food. The trouble is I think they have to follow procedures to move them on and it takes a while. Then they are so resentful they leave a load of mess.

Forgot to say yesterday that we had just turned onto a busy main road when we noticed a half grown cow standing at the side of the road between trees near a field gate. There was only a narrow verge but traffic was whizzing past it and it was trying to find it's way back into the field. I wanted OH to stop so I could open the gate as it would probably have been only too glad to go back. When I looked closer I saw the chain on the gate was padlocked so gave up on that idea. To think when I had my ponies years ago most gates were left unlocked with the chain just hooked over the gatepost. How times have changed. :-S In the end we had to leave it as OH said there was nowhere to safely put the car and it was doing the right thing and wandering along the hedge looking for a way back in and not panicking. I worried about it but OH said someone else was bound to ring the police.

Your poor BIL Jane, I hope the police can do something to help him, travellers can make such a mess can't they and they have no respect for the owners of the land. Let's hope the wildlife are okay. I liked the picture you sent of the one white glove, with "Just call me Michael" as the subject title. I think I've heard of putting on clear nail varnish to. You could try it as it wouldn't do them any harm and like you said it would protect them.
I'm glad you liked the email I sent you, I thought it would give you a laugh. :-D :-D

That was a good idea Ann, now you have something higher to put your washing basket on. It does sound like you're inventive like me. I'm always looking at ways I can re-use things rather than throwing them away if they break. I hope the young cow managed to find his way back, at least he wasn't panicking which was good and like your OH said, someone would of informed the police at some point.

Pleased to hear Max is healing well Mandy, he'll be glad when it's all better then he can go back to playing again.

My mum used to say up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire too Frank. We're the same as you and don't have a wooden hill to climb anymore. Hope you have a good nights sleep.

I was thinking the same thing Mel about possible birds nests. I know we have a couple in the hedge at the back but I'm not sure about the one in the front with it being so dead and bare in the middle. It's in such a bad way and doesn't really hold it's own weight properly even though it's only about 4 foot high. We had to put a wooden frame inside the garden to stop the hedge from leaning onto the grass. I will check the hedge before we do anything as it's very easy to see inside. But it's so old and weak now that it does need to be taken out. If there are any birds nests in there then we'll leave it for a while until the babies have flown their nests.

Off to bed now, feeling really tired.
See you all tomorrow
Night NIght

I hope the cow was alright Ann and got back in her field safely. I would worry about that.

Lewis dos'nt change does he. Still knows his Pappy makes a great meal and was'nt going to lose out. I bet he really enjoyed it when he got it.

I saw th ebarn owl tonight when I shut the chickens in. They are so silient you don't hear them coming and then they are there flying past you. It was very near me and they have quite a wing span.

I hope the travellers don't do too much damage on the reserve and that the police can move them on quickly.Its ssuch a worry though with what they will leave behind when you get a rough lot.

Frank will remember when we used to get the caravans parked along the Eastern Avenue with their pponies tethered at the side. They were real gypsies though.

Morning all,

Not been up long again but I expected that as I watched Swallows and Amazons on the telly last night. I was only going to watch the begining and save the rest for tonight but I got into it and watched the blimmin lot.

Suns shining here and I think its going to be another lovely day. May clean some windows today as I can hardly see out the kitchen ones. I think they could have salt spray on them even though we are 13 miles from the sea. It looks like that anyway. Just like when we had the caravan on the beach at St Osyths.

Good morning my little Rose petals, Evening Kim,

Yes Mel, the old GYPSIES were the "gentlemen of the road" Mum always bought her PEGS from them when they came round.They held the washing on the line much better than the modern ones. I use to love to see the Caravans and the fire on the verge cooking their meals. When they moved on you didn't know they had been there.

I bet that was a surprise to see the cow in that situation. It must have got through a hedge somewhere near by.

9.15 this morning the door bell rang. When I opened it there was a youngish woman trying to make contact with our old neighbours Barry and Brenda. She married their eldest son four year ago. He is a complete mental wreck, believing he was in the Falklands war, and was stabbed and set alight by the enemy. One time he is as sweet as can be, next he hates every body in his sight. Ros rang Brenda to see if she wanted to speak with her, she did, and was on the phone for almost an hour. Good job I have a scheme with BT that I can call as many numbers I like for up to an hour, and just pay a monthly fee. It's very handy with me ringing my sister every other day.

I have final got showered and shaved (we were in our dressing gowns) when she came. Dos is getting ready now. We will then go ff to B & Q and after go and find somewhere for lunch. It will save me cooking tonight.

I hope the police managed to move those travellers on.

Ros is ready so I had better get dressed. !!!

Afternoon all

Lovely and sunny here today, it's supposed to be hotter than yesterday but thankfully there was a lovely breeze this morning while we were gardening to keep us cool.

The hedge has had a good cut and is looking much better so we've decided to leave it in as there seems to be enough room for people to walk along the path even with the hedge leaning over it a bit. I checked the hedge for birds nests and there isn't any. The hedge is wide but in some places quite see through so I could see our car parked outside on the road from my seat in the front garden. OH has painted the wooden frame we put up against the hedge so that looks better and now he's taking all the rubbish down the tip.

Tomorrow we are going to dig over the border in front of the hedge ready to move some of the larger plants from the side of the garden and along to the front door over. The plants are getting so big it's difficult to get out of the car when it's parked on the drive and it's also difficult to walk to the front door, so moving them will get rid of those two problems. I also need to cut back a large bush leading to the front door so plenty to keep us busy for a few days yet. We are still only working in the mornings as it's to hot in the afternoons.

Just catching up with our soaps now while OH is out, then I'll think about what to do for dinner.

OH has just got back looking shattered after all the gardening and two trips to the tip so I've run him a cool bath as he's very hot. He didn't need telling twice when I said to stop, he was going to do another load but when I mentioned running a bath he agreed. I think he'll sleep well tonight :-)

Just home, after going to Tesco, B & Q, Homebase and our little pub/restaurant for lunch. We bough a 50 metre hose on a wind up reel. We will be able to connect to the tap and run it down the garden. It was half the price of the one that retracts.

What a cold, horrible day we have here. Cloudy, windy and as cold as a winters day. Was glad to get home. The heating is now on, and I will settle down for a few zzzz. The beer was on offer today £2.67 a pint. I can't remember when I last had a pint at that price. The food was as good as ever.

We also went to another bargain place to buy a greenhouse shelving unit. FOUR TIERS in a solid plastic for under £16.00. So were very pleased.

Afternoon all,

Cold here too so we have lit the fire and the heating has just clicked on , i got frozen walking Max after lunch ,when i take him later i will make sure put my scarf on .

What a difference in the temperature here and where you are Gill your getting so hot and we're so cold ,sounds as if you have had a really good day in the gsrden and got rid of all your rubbish to the tip too.

So you got your new hose then Frank had a nice meal out and a bargain price for you pint so you've had a good day .

We've been shopping and i took back some little solar lights i bought in Homebase ,they were little white watering cans but when i took them out of the box they were on such a short wire ,the little cans were so close together the whole wire was only about two foot long .

Lovely photos of Ruby Anne , she has that look as if to say how can i get the other side of this fence :-D

Evening All
I am keeping my typing short again today.Fingers and Hands a nightmare today :-S

Ann,your idea of using my seatbelt cover thing for my suitcase is a brilliant idea :-D :-D
I will be doing that. I hope the little cow found its way back into the field .I hate it when I see animals that have got out .On the way back from Hay we saw 3 sheep on the roadside munching away on the verges.It gives me the willies.

What great pics of Ruby !! :-D :-D.She looks a real character .

I hope OH has enjoyed his nice cool bath Gill after all the work he did this morning.
It certainly hasn't been hot here today.The wind has been really strong and chilly with it.

Frank the Gypsies are still there ,but it has gone to the courts.I expect the police are waiting to get the go ahead to get them removed from the Nature Reserve.

My friend (my odd friend) sent me a pic today of her House Hen ,PollyMarie sitting on her legs on the bed!! I just can't get my head around her having the chicken living permanently in the bungalow and with all the cats too !!!!

Chris has been to the cinema in Northampton this afternoon and has come home with a really painful shoulder.He hasn't had that for a while now and he is in agony. He is out for lunch with Sue tomorrow his old work colleague . I am taking a pot of Pea and Mint soup and some nice bread down to Fitz .He can't come up here as he has to stay in for some chap coming to give a quote on some work.
Thomas didn't come in last night,so I went to bed just after 11 .Then woke at 1.30 so came down and had a look in the summerhouse where he was just settling down.I carried him in and plopped him down on the settee then went back to bed .

The smell of Rapeseed here is almost unbearable :-S :-S It is so strong.

Can't type any more.