General Chat

Evening all,

Phew it's been really muggy here today now it's all clouded over with really black clouds and looks more like rain .

Oh Mel poor little chicks i wonder what happened to them ,you could understand if one had been pushed out by the others but to lose all four is such a shame .
Good job you spotted the hornet it could have given you a nasty sting ,you'll have to keep an eye out in case there's any more come in .

Sounds as if you've been busy in the garden Frank ,hope the doctor has fitted you in with an appointment and can give you some thing to ease the pain in your neck and shoulder.

So you've been busy in the garden today to Gill , how is mum now ?
That was nice of OH to sit with your neighbour the other day ,have you heard how she is ? she's a good age to still be in her own house but it does make you wonder if she will be able to carry on like that after this fall.

Hope Jane has had a nice day with her friend .

Nice to see you back with us Liz ,how is little Cas ?

I see you got the other vase then Ann , the grasses with the pearls sound nice

Colin has been renewing some of panels on the wood shed so we emptied all the logs out so he could work on it ,when little Lewis came he looked in and said " Grandad who's nicked all the wood " :-D

Good to see you back Liz :-D :-D

How lovely our Liz is back with us. I must say I have missed her posting.

Well I went shopping late and got stuck in Monkleigh through the narrow bit of road as there was one car in front of me and a big Spar lorry in front of that and a huge tractor and trailer coming the other way. I had pulled in tight to the bank and left a bit of room for the car behind be to back up but it did'nt. The lorry went back and forth and in the end reversed and the car in front then decided to back up too. I was so tight in the hedge I could'nt back any more so had to go forward a little but there was'nt enough space really and the 4 x 4 behind me was right up my tail. I managed in the end to back a bit more and so did the car in front of me and then the lorry came shooting back past the one in front and me and the ones behind me. This was all happening on a very tight bend, not the place you want to stop at all as its completely blind till you start to turn the bend. Well the cars that were in front of the lorry shot off at an alarming rate and when we got to the next village the car in front of me was way up the other side. As I came down the hill a little white and tortoishell cat draagged its self further across the road and under a 4 x 4 I am sure the car in front of me must have hit it. I could'nt stop because the lorry was right behind me so I just had to carry on. It has been on my mind ever since and I looked on the way home but the 4 x 4 was not parked in the road anymore.

Looked at little hoglet when I arrived home and it has eaten all the tin food I put in but left most of the biscuits. When I went out it was in the food bowl.

Oh dear Mel, what with a horrid journey and then seeing that little cat, you must have felt shattered when you got home. Let's hope that the poor little thing managed to get home to some help and comfort. That would have really upset me so I know how you must feel.
Supper was delicious! We've cleared up and are about to take Cas for a run in the paddock. She's fine!! Lively and full of naughtyness! OH is still very fierce with her at times as she does push her luck!!! but she is such a sweet little soul it's difficult to be cross for long!!??
We are on the bed hunt again!!! We want a king size ottoman bed, but they are a bit pricey, so we'll have to see what we can run to earth.

Evening All

What a great day I had with my old friend . I am absolutely exhausted now and am going to put my feet up to watch the last of Broken and then it is a shower and bed.

Hi Liz I see you are back :-D :-D

See you all tomorrow .

I,m pleased you had a great day Jane and hope tomorrow is just as good if not better. <3.

Pleased to see you back Liz <3 You have been missed.

Yes, we've been very busy in the garden today Mandy, all the weeding in the front is done and it looks much better now. Mum is much better, we're going to hers tomorrow to paint her fence if it doesn't rain. I had to laugh when you told us what Lewis said.....bless him. Our neighbour is going to have to go into a nursing home until her shoulder is better, but after that, we don't know yet weather she'll return to her bungalow or have to stay in the home.

It sounds like you've been busy in your garden Frank, good idea to tie up the branches rather than cutting them down.

Nice to hear you had a great day out Jane. Hope it wasn't to hot for you.

I'm not sure if I'll be online tomorrow with going to mum's, shall see what time we are back home. Off to bed now
Night NIght

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JANE" Good morning to all and evening Kim,

Well that all over. !! Nice to see you back Liz, I did reply to your email, but as you know I have having trouble with mine both sending and receiving. :-| :-| :-|

So young Jane had a nice day yesterday, and I am sure she will have another today. xxx

Mel, Is that a bit early for baby hedgehogs.?? With your love and attention, I am sure it will be fine and ready to hibernate when the time comes. That was one hell of a trip yesterday. I don't know how these lorries get through these Country Lanes, but I expect they have deliveries to do in some of the villages. We get them through the village, as it's a well known "RAT RUN" from the Motorway to the A 43 South West.

Simon and Sally are on the phone, We are meeting up at 9.30 am Friday at the local Garden Centre, for coffee, and they will look to see if there is anything they would like for their anniversary. So things are progressing in the right way, Thank goodness. I won't be "living in their pockets" but it will be nice to meet up every couple of months. Who knows he might invite us on his narrow boat for a weekend before the summer ends.

Madam HAS to go out with Carolyn again this morning as they didn't get everything done yesterday. ;-) ;-) ;-) ANY EXCUSE !!!

I will be sitting in the garden later, with my book. I might clean the windows on the conservatory. They look like they could do with it.

Have a` wonderful BIRTHDAY JANE. and enjoy your lunch. Have you had some nice presents ??

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY JANE. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Have a wonderful day whatever you are doing.




Morning All,

Lovely morning here wth blue sky as far as the eye can see.

Di is coming at 11ish to watch Outlander as she was out when the first episode started last Thursday and she wants to see it as the second one is tomorrow.

I have seen it on the Amazon firestick and I think its her kind of thing. I am waiting for the third series to come on the telly as I find it very gripping.

Morning FRank and All
FRank my Birthday is tomorrow :-D :-D We will go to the Pheasant at Keyston .
It is going to be a really hot one today. I was going to go to the Cinema with Chris later in Northampton but I have decided it is going to be too hot.I would rather be home near the fan LOL .

It was very humid yesterday but wher Gill and I were by that canal was lovely and much cooler.I had no idea that there was somewhere like that in Kings Cross. A place to definitely go back to.Just watching all the Narrow Boats puttering along was lovely and relaxing.

Off out now . BBL

Oh dear Jane, I thought that it was your birthday today!! The e card is now for tomorrow!!
So glad you had good day yesterday. I haven't been to London for years but L and family went a couple of weeks ago and spent the day in Hyde Park and had a fab time by all accounts.
Yes Frank, I got your e mail, (thanks) and have replied! I do hope all goes well on Friday. Once every now and again is how much we see both of our two, it can be enough! ;-)
I've done two loads of washing, so better get it all on the line. Thank goodness I don't do any ironing except the bare minimum and that's not very often!!!

Sorry Jane I was sure it was TODAY.

Glad you received my reply Liz, as you say once in a while is enough. Simon is such an odd ball. If I don't keep in touch he will swear I m snoring him, as it was before. But his wife Sally is so level headed, I think she will keep him in order. LOL LOL

A couple of weeks ago ROS knocked the waterfall into the pond. As I was down the garden this morning I thought I will get it out. I got the rake and managed to hook it, bought it to the surface, and that's when the fun began. I had to lean over the pond and grab the edge of the waterfall Fine, but as it was full of water, I had to turn it on it's side and pull it out. Twice I nearly went A over H into the pond, but managed to get my balance.. It now sits against the shed. I will have to try to get it back into position another day.

The pond is choked up with "DUCK WEED" is there anything on the market that kills the stuff off.?? Everything I have tried over the years hasn't worked. We net loads of it out regularly, but still it keeps coming back. I can see us ending up draining the pond completely and having it cleaned out by a professional company.

It is so hot out there now, I have come into the lounge to read my book.

Poor Valerie next door is trying to hang a sheet on her rotary line. It's dragging all over the grass. She said it will have to do. I don't know why Tony is not there to help her.

Don't get sunburnt today girls, cover up and use plenty of sun lotion. ;-) ;-) ;-)

Frank, Would duck weed be the same as Blanket Weed if so I bought from Amazon
A Which best buy called Nishikoi Clear Waters a biological solution It works really well and does what it says on the tub which is Quick Action.

Lovely photo of you and your friend Jane you certainly picked a good spot to sit and watch the canal boats, glad you had a good time I'm glad your birthday is tomorrow which was what I had in my birthday book but I thought I must have got it wrong and was worried your card might arrive late

Afternoon All,

Oh dear Jane they are making you old before your time!!!! lol. You found a lovely spot to sit with your friend. I like pottering along canal banks when it's hot. Being near water is supposed to be good for you I think.....something to do with negative ions!

Hi to Liz and nice to see you return!

Mel I hate it too when you think an animal has been hit. It preys on my mind for ages after. Some drivers just don't seem to anticipate and get in the right place when there's a tight squeeze on corners or narrow roads and we find most drive too fast and don't keep well to their side of the road either. The other day we had an ambulance well behind us but bearing down on us at speed with lights flashing. OH indicated and pulled over to the left and stopped to let the ambulance know he had seen him so it could overtake as it was a fairly narrow road. The road ahead was completely straight and cars were coming towards us in the distance and could easily see the ambulance. Did they slow down or even stop so the ambulance could overtake us easily...... NO! They made the ambulance have to slow down behind us instead. :-S I would make a law that anyone who causes an ambulance to have to stop when they could avoid it was fined!! I know as the law stands you can be fined if you cross a red light or go into a bus lane to get out of the way of an ambulance, but I think it is wrong if you can do so safely.

I wonder if the little hog is an offspring of one you overwintered before? What a shame about the Swallow chicks and odd that all four fell out of the nest. I wonder if a rat or something got up there and scared them out of the nest?

Frank , blanket weed and duckweed are two different things. Duckweed is the pale green round stuff that floats on the water. It is a problem to get rid of and even if you empty your pond and clear it, it is likely to come back as birds bring it back on their feet and beaks. :-S You just have to keep on top of it by fishing it out all the time. I think it only likes still water though so perhaps keeping the waterfall going or having a fountain may help?

Off to the shops now. It's supposed to be 27 degrees round here tomorrow so I'd rather do the shopping today. We need salad stuff and milk for starters.

We're both sitting on our veranda, OH in the shade, asleep,!! Cas is in her crate, me? I'm in the sun for a while, then back into the shade to read and cool down! What a lazy life!!
OH got the washing in, and helped me to shake, fold, and put away! It's all tidyed up now till the next time!
The only way to solve your weed problem Frank, apart from chemicals, is to keep the water oxygenated through planting appropriate water plants and running a pump to create a fountain or waterfall. You can get info on line as to exactly what to do, but both these weeds love still water and will take over if you're not careful.
Merlin is back in his yard/stable. No matter how much OH sprays him with citronella, the flies are horrid and don't give him any peace, so it's out for him from 8am, back by 12, then back out again at 6, getting him in just before we go to bed at about 10pm! Good job it's all on hand!
Off to get a bit more sun!

Well I have a pump going which oxygenates the water and keeps it moving and I have loads of water plants in my pond and still I have duck weed. I even have a thing that scims the water which does take a lot of it away but it hangs around the marginal plants. I did see I have blanket weed back too so oh will have to give it another treatment with the Clover stuff he has.

The only thing to do is take it out daily to keep it down. Mine came from the plants we bought in the nursery.

Di enjoyed Outlander and now can't wait for tomorrow to see the next episode.

Liz have you seen it?

To hot for me out there. I have been sitting in the lounge with doors and windows all open, reading my book.

I will have to do some watering tonight. I did get some duck weed out of the pond this morning. We have loads of water lilies in the pond, so makes it difficult to get the net in between the pads to remove the blooming stuff. We have five little goldfish in the pond, they don't see much light, even though they do pop up when we feed them.

Still no sign of my dear wife, two days on the trot, I am beginning to think she is trying to tell me something. LOL. at least we don't argue LOL

Easy meals tonight, I can't be bothered cooking, we are having Tesco finest ready meals instead. I have chicken fillets out of the freezer for tomorrow. Not sure yet what I will do with them yet. But no doubt I will create something.

You can control it Mel if you get the balance right, but I agree it is performance and some years the problem is worse than others. As I'm sure I've told you we had a Watergarden Nursery many moons ago and this was one of the things we were always being asked about.
No we haven't been watching Outlander. Tbh we're not really watching much TV at the moment apart from Poldark!! After supper what with fiddling about with Merlin, walking Cas, watering the garden and clearing up :-| Its usually time for bed!!
We have a very tame Robin which is a bit worrying as Cas takes more than a passing interest in it. Must make sure she doesn't catch it unawares.

Liz I too had a pet shop doing pond fish plants and pools and liners and tropical fish and birds. Mines not really a problem as if I want to get rid of a bit I put the hose on it and guide it towards the scimmer.

I think you would like Outlander Liz. There are 16 episodes in the first series and 19 I think in the second. Clair travels in time from 1945 to 1745.

Yes it does sound like our sort of thing Mel, we'll keep a look out for it. Thanks for mentioning it.
Salad for us this evening as it is 'hot'!!