General Chat

Evening All,

I slept little last night so haven't done much today. I was cross for myself with not doing the weedkilling with the new sprayer, but then it rained this afternoon so I was glad I hadn't.
I tend to agree with you AnnG! I never bothered about cows when I played in their fields opposite when I was aged 8-9 and even helped get them in for milking. OH went for his regular walk this morning and turned off the track that was the old Fosse way through a small gap and into the corner of the field and saw 2 of the cows close by and staring at him. Next thing the others appeared and were staring too, so seeing there was no fence he could get behind if needs be he went back instead and walked a different way. Once years ago when we went for a walk on a public footpath it took us across a stile into a field of young bullocks. Before we had climbed over they were charging towards us, so we stayed with the stile between us and them. They were pushing and jostling to try and get close to us and shouting and waving our arms would make them jump back a few feet and then they came straight back . I don't know whether they'd just been let out and were used to people bringing them food but we abandoned our walk. They certainly weren't scared and were bumping into each other roughly so would have knocked me over easily. It may have just been curiosity, but you don't know for sure. These have horns like spikes about 8 inches long that could do some damage! I'll send a photo.

I would have enjoyed your lunch Mandy and I use the sugarfree jelly but we haven't had one for ages. I like orange jelly and lime jelly, but my favourite is blackcurrant, but I don't think I've seen that in the sugarfree ones. I'm not keen on strawberry jelly though.

My nails are always flaking, but the worst is when the thumbnail splits across part way up the side going across. Sometimes I try and trim it up the side and sometimes I file it and sometimes I put clear varnish over it to try and hold it together.

BIL came a little while ago just as I was finishing my piece of fratarta so he had some too. Still got a load over.

I love raspberry jelly and I do put raspberries in it but I am not keen on orange jelly as it makes my tongue sting as do orange jelly sweet. I'm ok with manderin oranges and they are lovely in a lime jelly. Keep putitng the vasaline on each time you wash your hands if you're anything like me I am always washing my hands. Iv'e showed you before how in cold weather my hands will split open in different places on the corner of thumbs and across knuckles and anywhere they think they will and yes its always very sore.

I think I am going to make a bif fritarta (sp) and it will do me two days with salad.

Its come over cloudy here now and it feels quite chilly. I even put my coat on when I went and fed the birds and chickens this morning.

Mel I'll give the vasaline a try anythings worth a go rather than all these splits that are so sore .
Odd light showers here during the morning ,not done a lot this morning just got a honey mustard chicken going in the slow cooker with lots of peppers and mushrooms, we'll have that with some boiled rice.
I made an orange jelly yesterday with some frozen mango in it ,I did a raspberry jelly with frozen raspberries in the other week that was lovely ,sugar free jelly so not to fattening either.

Morning girls late on parade again.

Up at before 7am for the loo and wen t back to sleep till 10am. Must be the gardening.

I managed to cut my nail off yesterday and I did file it afterwards but it is so low it has'nt been like that for years. I knew it had gone on the side and was waiting for it to grow up a bit before cutting it off. It was'nt to be I pulled a bit of ivy off the wall and snap it went right across and very low onthe left side. Its my left thumbnail the one I open my pills with from their foil so its seems funny to be doing it with my right hand and takes so much longer.

Sound like you're having a lovely time away Vera and I do hope the jpourney home is not quite so long for you all. The village and house sound lovely I wish them well in their venture to rebuild the house the way they want it.

Mandy its the earth that dries our hands out whilst gardening whether you where gloves or not. If you have a split the best thing to put on it is Vasaline as that soon heals it quicker than anything else. You can put a bit of something over it to stop getting grease everywhere like miplex or a hin plaster or even a small bandage of a cotton gloves. Mum told be in the war grandad would plant all the potato peeling with eyes in and they would get potatoes for free. I tried it once here when I first moved and made a small veg patch up the garden and it does work
.

Anng the only time I had tulips come back year after year is when I put some lovely mauve ones up the border. They liked to be baked in the sun but the only thing was I had lovely buds one time and the next day every bud was eaten off by the deer.

I better get on as Iv'e not fed the girls yet.

Morning all,

There's a few spots of rain on the window but its a bright morning a bit of rain would be good for the garden its so dry .

Vera it sounds as if your having a good time with the family , hope your journey home is better there's always road works now where ever you go and they always seem to do things on a holiday weekend.

Anng I had my tumbling toms in a hanging basket but last year I put them in a planter and they were better ,I saw a tip the other day where a gardener was potting up his hanging basket and he put a small plastic container in the basket and then planted it up he said the water holds in the container and stops the basket from drying out so quickly ,he used the containers from a Chinese meal ,might be worth a try.
I suppose if there was a bit of potato peeling with a shoot on when you shoot the water on the garden you might get a potato plant :-D

Good morning all 8 degrees here now and dull but still dry :-( so I will still have to water Cynth's potatoes and mine too. And the two tomatoes, although the tumbler in the basket is not doing very well, not dying but not putting on any growth.
I missed the last posts yesterday evening, not sure why, I thought I checked in but I was on the Ipad perhaps they took a while to post on there for some reason, my Wifi downstairs is very slow.

Vera, your son's house sounds as though it will be worth it in the end. Are he and your DiL gardeners? I hope so if it is a big garden. The village sounds lovely I suppose going north the weather would be cooler, they don't seem to have actually had it so hot up there as we have further south. Although today is forecast to be much cooler, much more normal. I have just been looking at a 'memory' on facebook of my garden 2 years ago. It was all lush, green with lots and lots of tulips. Most of which didn't appear this year which is sad. And the ones that did appear were very tired looking, obviously the lack of water as that 2 year ago post apologises for the long lawn (pre gravel) because I was not able to cut it because of the amount of rain we had had.
Lovely to also see the step grandchildren and step great grandchild, it doesn't seem possible the baby is 6 months old.
Not sure when you are going home but have a safe and hopefully shorter journey when you do.

Ann, no way would I go across that field when the cows were in it, even with no calves, they are big hefty animals and faster than they look.

Mandy, many times I have put water from washing up on the garden. And also water from cleaning and peeling potatoes (minus peel of course. :-D
Mel, I hate it when a nail breaks, My nails seem to grow quickly so I need to cut them sometimes and then I hate it when I am left with a jagged nail, seems to take for ever to file it.
I thought you said the water bottle was plastic. Why did it break?

Mel the brambles seem to be growing like mad now. With them hanging over the bottom fence last year we have loads of seedlings growing fast from them and the roots are hard to pull up once they get going. Like Mandy says, I use a nail file more these days as my nails seem more brittle than they were. If you still have your OH's sandpaper, start with the rough sort and hold it down on a table and rub your nail across it to qiuickly get it level before smoothing with a nail file.

I hadfn't realised or had forgotten your son had another house Vera. It sounds like there is plenty to be done but worth it to end up with a nice house and garden. It sounds like a nice village too. Enjoy the rest of your stay and hopefully your journey home will be much less busy than a Friday.

Mandy I have put washing up water on the garden before with no ill effects as long as it has cooled first. I have a cardi on now too! lol.

Your girls are laying well then Mel , have you got a nail file so you could file your nail ,I hate it when I have a rough nail and I'm always filing mine as they are so weak ,at the moment I have a nasty split in the skin on the side of my thumb ,it was healing but I find wearing the garden gloves seem to dry my fingers even though I use hand cream .

Lovely sunny evening but a lot cooler with the wind , I have a cardi on tonight .

Hello everyone

The journey to son’s took a bit longer than expected but Friday is always a bad day for travelling and, of course, it was a bank holiday weekend as well and there were 2 lots of extensive roadworks. After a cuppa and a tour of the house we popped to the nearby pub for a drink. Son and dil are clearly already a part of the community and Buster, the elderly dog, gets a lot of fuss. Then it was back to the house for a latish dinner and lots of chat.

Today we have had a walk round the village. It is quite small, just houses, a church and 1 pub but such a lovely, peaceful place. Then we had a lunchtime barbecue where we were joined by dil’s son, wife and 6 month old baby. Her other son, who lives there some of the time, had arrived very early in the morning. Later in the afternoon we drove to the larger village 2 miles away where there are a few shops and had a walk around before a drink in an interesting micro brewery.

The weather has been disappointing today; dry but with lower temperatures, not much sun and a cold wind but we’ve enjoyed looking around. The house is a bit of a project but has a lot of potential and son has already submitted plans for extending it and changing the layout. The council people have looked at the trees and he has permission to take down several and is waiting to hear whether he can take several lower branches off a big old beech and reshape it. He also has to have a couple of bat surveys done in May and June. It’s a lovely big garden but has been completely neglected for the last 10 years.

I’m not sure of the plans for tomorrow.

Your mention of Cragside brought back a few memories. We have certainly been there once but I have a feeling we have been twice. We found it such an interesting place and we were there.when the rhododendrons were all in bloom and it was beautiful.

I can hear lots of chatting from downstairs so I think I should go and join in. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

They won't die with washing up water as long as its not too greasy.

I have been up the border this afternoon cutting down brimbles again. Two wheelbarrow loads have gone over the bonfire. Took a drink up with me in a nice tight plastic drinking bottle. On the way down from the border I had it on the walker chair and it fell off and smashed on the road right on the corner and I think I gave all the other three away. Anyway that will go in the recycling on Tuesday.

Broke my left thumbnail right down really low and it feel so strange now and coming down the garden I realised I have broken one on my right hand so thats going to be a job to cut as I can't do my right hand and not sure if I can do it with the super duper clkippers.

I'm lucky with rainwater as I have a dustbin and three dumpy trug things behind my shed and a big tub from the fish food which I have been using for the strawberries and plants.

Right what am I going to have for dinner tonight??????? Omelet I think as I have eggs overflowing the tray.

I had a good morning in the garden ,got my marigolds planted ,I planted some peas and did some weeding as the brown bin goes out on Tuesday instead of Monday as its a bank holiday again .
It clouded up after lunch and turned really chilly as the wind got up so I didn't go out again but I wouldn't have done much as I was waiting for an iceland delivery which came about half two .

I'm not keen on watercress as it's a bit to peppery for me ,my mum use to love it .

I've been filling a bucket with water ,when I wash up and run the tap it takes a while to turn hot so the first lot of water I tip in the bucket to use for watering and I have tipped the washing up water in too but I don't know if the soapy water will hurt the plants ,if it kills them at least they will die clean :-D

That's the place AnnG. I was lucky it was sunny when I went and I never attempted to find the restaurant and could just manage the stairs, but it would certqainly have finished my knees off if I had by the sound of it. I wished I had been more mobile then as I would like to have seen the pool that fed the hydroelectrics. Also some of the walks. It is a place really in a time warp isn't it. I found the kitchen with even the cutlery they used fascinating. At the same time the faded glory was a bit depressing too. I have only watered the potted plants up to now too, also having a water meter and the water went up in price last month too didn't it. If it's a dry summer I can see me filling a bucket from the shower in the bathroom as for some reason it takes ages to warm up and wastes a lot of water. I'll be glad when we do the bathroom later this year and change it.

All I've done this afternoon is look at shoe racks! Hundreds of them and most too wide and some expensive. I found one that I think will be ok in the end though so have sent off for it.

The wind has got up here too so I abandoned the idea of spraying the weeds.

Ann Cragside house, I think that was the one we visited in pouring rain which finished my leg off with the distance to walk from the restaurant to the house. Northumbria? All very narrow stairs and really crowded because it was a wet day last May.
Yes It is good to get the garden a bit more under control although it is beginning to suffer lack of water. I don't want to start using the hose, with a water meter a hose becomes expensive to use. Riley already used a load of water washing off where they had made a mess on the drive when they came before. I am trying to use as little water as possible, just really watering the pots with new plants in.

It has clouded over now and is very windy so, as a lot of the rambler roses are flowering the smell is lovely.

Afternoon All,

Sunny again after another hot night and flinging everything off except the sheet. I was woken at about 3.00am by an alarm going off. I decided it wasn't loud enough to be our cars or house alarm and was debating whether to check when it suddenly stopped.

I like small amounts of watercress in a salad too and they were selling bunches of it at the farm shop last time I went, but didn't get any as I end up wasting a lot of it. I keep meaning to look up some watercress soup recipes to save waste as it is good for you like Mel said.

A pair of Pigeons have been feeding each other on our fence and seem to be spending most of the day in our garden. The lily in my big pot of water is going to be trampled I think like it usually is and the thin twiggy bits of the potentilla seem to be the preferred nest material this year. at least they are leaving the plant alone that they decimated last year. We think the Magpies have hatched eggs now as they are flying in and out of the tree regularly, but we haven't heard any noises from chicks yet. OH has been for his usual walk and is picking his pal up soon to go to a local match. After wearing shorts to travel to the gym yesterday, his knees are bright red now where the sun has caught them. He has what I think is called photosensitivity and it happens every year if he bares any of his legs or feet. His head and arms are fine.

AnnG it might be worth spraying the other Buddlias as well to put the aphids off going on them. I have been surprised that the Hostas have no holes in them yet, but I expect the slithery pests will be out once we have rain. That was disappointing Jake was out of action again, but at least Rory has finished the job for you now. I bet you are pleased how things have come on with your garden and garage with the improvements you've made.

It's good to give yourself a rest and recharge your batteries Mel as you do so much work in your large garden. A bit of work on your miniatures would be good to do. I have actually almost sketched out a painting and am pleased with it up to now.

That was nice of you to visit a friend in the care home Gwyn. I bet she was glad to see you and have a bit of different company. Hopefully she will be able to go home soon and enjoy her familiar surroundings again.

I finished clothes sorting yesterday and am now going through shoes in the bottom of the wardrobe and two shelves in a cupboard. I have a hanging wire shoe rack on the back of the wardrobe door and there is room to hook another to it below, so I'm going to look for one on ebay. It will clear more shoes from the floor and be visible for me to see more shoes. I've already found some every day shoes that are more comfortable than ones I'm using. I've found several pairs of lovely new sandals too so won't need to buy any this year.

I watched the first episode of Millionaire Hoarders I'd recorded and it was really good and partly about Bamborough castle that was restored by the very clever William Armstrong who I remembered lived at one time at NT Cragside House I went to see when OH was at a footie match years ago. He installed his inventions which were way ahead of the times and the house was the first in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power. It's well worth a visit if in the area.

Anng you could try garlic spray o the aphids. could also use it on your hostas.

No not that watercress ham and tomato sandwich.

Washing is on the line but I am waiting for the postman to come before I go down the hsop.
Just had two slices of bread and marmalade as I was so hungry. Now I am going to do a bit in the garden and hope the posty comes soon.

I have a horrid dozy fly in here that must have come in when I put the washing out. It keeps landing on my head. Must like my shampoo and conditioner! :-D

I like watercress ham and cheese sandwich or it just on a salad. its ful of iron and minerals so is very good for you. You don't see it much down here in the bunch anymore. I remember seeing it in a cardboard punnet thing with a handle like the mushrooms used to come in at the greengrocers. When you got it home you had to wash it well as little creatures were in it like fresh water pupar.

My parternal nan would have been 130 today.

Yes, I saw the Countryfile programme, which featured the watercress beds.It was interesting.
It is rather peppery, but is very nutricious so if I get some, I will share with my daughter, a neighbour and friend so that we can all enjoy just a small amount, while it is really fresh.
I like it with cheese, - another thing which I try to limit, although I do so like. I tried the low-fat versions and didn't really like them, so I've lately been buying the packs of ready sliced normal Cheddar or whatever variety I like and limiting myself to a small amount once or twice a week. I don't think I could slice cheese so thinly, but this way I can enjoy it without too much problem. I've always managed to keep cholesterol levels under control without medication, so this way seems to work for me.