General Chat

Morning all,

Cloudy here this morning but the temp is still up to 17 degrees and pc says cloudy. I suppose we can't always have the sunshine but its a disappointment when it dos'nt come out after a good few days. No rain here in the night and also the other night , must be two nights ago I got up at 4.30am for the loo and wehn back to bed and thought I saw lightening and then heard thunder nd a couple more times but we had no rain. When BIL came yesterday he said threy had thunder and rain in the week. Just goes to show you 25 miles apart has different weather.

Yes I like the way we share tips and recipes and anything else htats going on. We missed our 15 year anniversary on the 25th April.

Morning All,

Sunny here and cooler at 15 degrees, but I was so hot in the night I ended up with just a sheet over me. OH told me it was raining at a match in Nottingham last night and I checked and we should have had rain in the night but we didn't. I've watered my plants that aren't planted yet and put a starppy top and shorts on as I want to sort the bottom of that last wardrobe before it gets too hot in there. OH has a seminar to watch to do with HMRC going digital for customers. He's not impressed!

I agree it is a lovely thread we have for friendship and for helping each other and for sharing ideas and tips etc. which reminds me I forgot to thank Vera for telling me what drops she uses for dry eyes. Yesterday I put the 159 phone number in my contacts on my mobile under the name Banks. I know if we suspect a fraud when we get a call supposedly from our bank, we shouldn't let them put us through to anyone to confirm it, as it will still be the scammer and that we should use a different phone to check with our bank if we are unsure or worried. Ringing the 159 number will enable you to be put through to your bank and can't be hacked by scammers. I thought it might be useful to have on my mobile if I was out for the day or away. I know banks aren't supposed to phone you, but mine did once from a mobile and I refused to talk to him and I phoned my bank instead. He was genuine as well.

Good luck with the stockings if it's hot where you are. I'm thinking of getting some leg wraps instead that are easier to deal with.

I hope Jake gets the work finished for you AnnG. Is it all done then or do you have more plans?

Thanks for mentioning how you do your leeks Mel. I can do a version of it to suit OH's diet by using cornflour, skimmed milk and grated low fat cheese. It will make a change from just steaming them too and would go nicely with fish as well. Our car got covered with what looked like big cream coloured hairy caterpillars 2-3 inches long while we were in the Polling Station yesterday that were falling from a tree.

I've left greenhouse tomato plants for a week when we've been away. After a good soaking I've covered the surface of the pots up to the plant stems with old plastic bags. I've done it with baskets and wall pots too. The idea is that as the water evaporates and condenses on the plastic it drips back into the soil.

Well I'll make a COT to take into the bedroom and get cracking while it's cool.

Well there's a surprise. Jake says he is till not well as he has a virus and all the kids have it too. I am just waiting to hear if his Dad is going to come on his own, if he doesn't I will scrap the job that is remaining and do it myself.

Morning Anng ,morning all,

Cloudy here this morning and I think we might have had a tiny drop if rain as the ground looks damp in places .

I want to get some more plants in the pots and baskets if I can and cut the grass as the garden bin is emptied next week .

Hope Jake can get your last few jobs done today Anng .
This is a lovely thread for tips on all sorts of things ,we help each other out if we can don't we.

Good morning all, 12 degrees here but dull, cloudy and no sun. I think there was a very short light shower yesterday evening. Not sure that will have been enough for the garden but it might have helped.

Hopefully Jake will come today and finish the job.

I was just reading mandy and Mel's last replies yesterday and I thought. What a geat thread this is. Not only for the friendship but we get: gardening advice and thoughts, knitting and crochet, cooking (maybe recipes) and photos to look at., and model making and even, if we are lucky, art.

Oh thanks Mel I'll give that a go next time we have leeks

Mandy you don't need a cheese sauce just fry the leeks off a bit in some olive oil and then put them in an oven dish with the oil and pour double cream over them and grated cheese on top and pop them back in the oven for a while. They are lovely and go with so many things.

Vera could you leave the tomato pots on some old newspapers that you could really soak with water it would help to keep them damp .
The wild Tulips are pretty ,can't wait to see what next year brings .

Anng that was good you managed to get to your tomato plants in time ,they dry out so quickly I've watered mine twice today .

Oh Gwyn you poor thing having to wear the stockings in this heat ,and your right not to wear them on the beach though , years ago when we use to go on the beach for the day there would be a crowd of us ,several cars, one young one decided he would go in the sea with jeans on ,well he got sand in them and had a heck of a job to get them off while wet ,as they tried to help get them off he yelled in pain as the sand was scraping his legs ,we laugh about it now but at the time it was very painful.

Mel enjoy your sausage and mash and veg I like the sound of the creamy leeks ,I usually cover mine with a cheese sauce .

Iv'e had to have the scimmer on the big pond all day as the husks are coming off the red tree by the filter shed. I have had to empty the net over it five times . Perhaps I should have let him cut it down when he wanted to. He did hack it back a few years ago but its grown so much over the last couple of years.

Yes Ann at least he came down first to tell me he was here. He's sorting out his petrol at the mo. He is mixing last years with some super stuff so he can use it up. He only uses the super stuff in the new mower I think.

Vera, Thank you for the photos of your pretty flowers.
How strange they are with such long thin leaves. I too hadn't seen or heard of anything like them, but would be interested to see how they progress in other years.
Enjoy your special time with your family.

Yesterday, grandson took me to a clinic appointment to be fitted for compression hosiery. Just what I need in this heat, - long black stockings :-|
I will persevere, but gosh what a struggle trying to take them off again yesterday evening. I am supposed to wear them every day, so I guess I will get used to the fight and anyway, they will slacken slightly through wear. There might be the odd day that I leave them off eg. If I go to the beach at all. Can't be doing with getting sand into the mix too!

Voting day for us here. Daughter and I usually walk to the polling station once she has finished work for the day. It's only a week or two since we last voted and that was a very low turnout, so I wonder how this one will go.It will be a hot walk.

It's been a scorcher all day. I always put suncream on my face,whatever the weather, but smothered my arms in it too to walk the short distance to school today. I wore my sunglasses too, as it was so bright. The children are lucky that they have such a lovely big outside area to play in, so it really comes in useful in summer time. So many playing fields have been sold off and built on over the years, including my old home area Grammar school, so they are very fortunate.

The PC is saying 25 degrees now, but when I popped out to get an icecream the car was saying 29 degrees.

Mel I didn't send my post straightaway and that's why I missed yours! The creamy leeks sound nice as I just tend to do them steamed. Oh dear, BIL has thrown you out again. Let's hope he gets the deck fixed. It's a busy time now with mowing.

Vera I never thought to look in spam, but I will try to remember to from now on. Yes it was there and so were other emails that I didn't expect too. Those Tulips are unusual aren't they, but still attractive. I also liked the plant with the pale green and pinky red leaves near to it. I'm not sure I've seen one of those before.

Mandy I often drift from one thing to another! I like those small begonias and the stand the dry weather well too so maybe I'll pop top our Aldi tomorrow and see if they have any and look at what else they have. That prog sounds interesting so I'll look it up. I enjoyed the first one of the Owen family, especially the horse ride.....it took me back!

Oh goodness AnnG I have just corrected my typo in my earlier post. We can't have you meeting up with 'fiends' can we! I agree about sourdough bread. Sometimes it is so hard you fear for your fillings!

OH is at cardiac rehab now. Sooner him than me but hopefully they have aircon. I need a COT now, then might make a small start on the bottom of the last wardrobe.

Doh! Why on earth didn’t I think of that AnnG? Our bigger pots get stood in a saucer of water and indoor plants go in the shady utility in a tray of wet sand when we’re away for a week or more. Never crossed my mind with the toms. Some are still in seed trays but 18 are in square pots. We’re not tomato addicts; I do them for sale at a couple of fundraisers. They go first to a club coffee morning which helps raise money to pay for speakers. Anything not sold there goes to the plant stall at the village fete which is 2 weeks later.

Vera could you leave the tomatoes with water under their pots they will then take up what they need.
Have a lovely bank holiday weekend with the family.

I feel guilty complaining about such beautiful weather but it would be good if it were a little cooler. It’s 25 degrees and there is not even the beginnings of a breeze. I haven’t been able to stay in the garden at all.

I’m not sure what to do with my tomato seedlings over the next few days. They look healthy but are still very tiny and the last few days I have been putting them outside in the shade during the day and bringing them in at night. They’ll shrivel outdoors or in without water and if I drench them before we go, as we will with the big potted plants, their tiny little roots will drown. I’m thinking the best thing might be to water them gently and put them in my little plastic greenhouse. It’s totally in the shade and I can leave the front rolled up so they can get air and light. I’ll just have to hope they don’t dry out too much.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your lunch with friends AnnG and that Mel enjoys her sausage and mash with Stu later.

I wish we had a Factory Shop near us Annx. In fact I wish we had any decent shops near us, particularly clothes shops. There’s a New Look and a Peacocks but nothing like M & S or Bon Marche. Another coffee shop has recently opened. We must be the coffee capital of Europe! Annx, I sent the email with a couple of photos of the wild tulips yesterday. If you haven’t seen it check your Spam folder. All your messages to me are now going into my Spam though everyone else’s go straight into my Inbox. It’s very weird.

I’d better get on. I only want to leave showering and hair washing till the morning. I’ll have my iPad with me but in case I don’t manage to post I’ll wish you all a lovely bank holiday weekend now.

Annx I put what I am going to cook in my previous post you must have missed it.Its 25 degrees here and Iv'e just had lunch and took a pic nic out to BIL. We had salmon and cue sandwishes with tomatoes and pineapple for dessert. He also had a fresh orange drink with a big ice ball in it/ He must have eaten the ice as there was nothing in the drink thing when it came back to me.

Iv'e done a little weeding out the front but not much. I have that horric walt plant in the bed there and it runs like crazy and its all round a miniature rose and a peony I got rid of it on the patio with boiling water but there were no plants around it then. Iv'e also got it infront of the patio between the decking planks round the big pond, a place thats hard t o reach for me. If I put boiling water down there I will lose a load of orchids growing there.

Hope you have a good journey for the weekend with your family Orchid Compost 500g Miracle Gro Orchid Compost Substrate Soil Compostera and yes don't forget the eye drops.

This is what it shoud have said

Hope you have a good journey for the weekend with your family Vera and yes don't forget the eye drops.

Where on earth did that come from????????????????? I have ordered some of that but not while I have been typing this.

it is 27 degrees here and was really hot in town in Cheltenham. I had a wander round M&S and Primark and a few more shops but didn't buy anything except itchy eye drops and lockets. Lunch was ok not brilliant as the toasties were a bit hard to chew, I wish they didn't all feel they have to use sourdough bread. it can be so hard. Still we had a good chat.

When I got home at about 2.15 I was just able to save most of my tomato seedlings in the conservatory, 4 are looking a bit poorly but I will see if they tecover.

I don't think I will do anything out there now though as it is really too hot to venture outside.

Afternoon all,

Phew hot today and it was shopping day but it's all done ,prescriptions in ,money from the atm and main shopping done ,I got some plants from Aldi ,bizzie lizzies, petunias and the little begonias.
I also called into Bon Marche as today was the last day of 20% off but there wasn't one pair of crops in the style and size I wanted so I'll have another look next week .

Ann ,no I haven't finished the rabbit as I've been naughty and started on one of the crochet kits I bought last week .
I noticed there's a new lot of Narrow escapes on the canal on channel 4 next week its on at four o'clock, we enjoyed the last lot so I must remember to record them .

Vera it sounds as if OH's getting on ok after his op ,I hope you both have a lovely weekend with your family ,safe journey.

Afternoon All,

Sunny again but only 23 degrees, so not 26 degrees that was forecast yet.

I got really hot in the night too AnnG and had to throw the duvet down for a while. Enjoy your meetup with your friends.

We went and voted after OH had his online meeting. I thought the woman was going to refuse my driving licence as proof of my ID as she kept looking ant me and my photo a lot before giving it back to me. I don't know why, but they often seem to pick someone slow and unsure to find you on the list of names and addresses to cross you off. I glanced at a man at the end who seemed to be overseeing things and he rolled his eyes at me in sympathy I think. After that we went to the Factory shop. I was going on my own to give my car a bit of a longer run, but OH invited himself and drove us there in his car. It was perhaps as well as going later than usual there was only one tiny space to park, too small to open my wide car doors. They had re-organised it in there so things weren't in places we'd got used to, but OH found some trainers and decided to have them in addition to the ones he got online recently. They were only £20 and fit well, so were a bargain. He also got some socks.

When we got home I noticed more shoots of the nasty weed appearing in other places on the front so I zapped them all before I went inside. The ones I've already done were shrivelling nicely so it seems to be doing the trick. I also snapped off the dandelion heads. They will all be tackled once the back garden is more straight.

I've had a bought tuna pasta salad and added tomatoes, lettuce, spring onion and avocado for lunch and emailed Fitz to see how he is since his replacement hip operation. My next job is to finish a good clean of the kitchen wall and skirting board.

I look forward to seeing photos of your strange Tulips Vera. It is strange that they seem to have reverted back to their wild ancestry. It looks like you have discovered another good place to eat too and good value. I hope your OH's eye is settling nicely so don't forget his eyedrops when you set off for a nice weekend get together with your son and daughter tomorrow.

I hope you know now how many you will be feeding tonight Mel. What are you going to cook?

BIL is here he took a day off!

Its just Stu tonight so that means I don't have to do extra food just enough for the two of us. I'm doing sausage and mash with creamy leeks, carrots and brocc and onions.

Not getting on very well today its thrown me that BIL has arrived. He's trying to level the mowing deck on the new mower.

Pc is telling me there is going to be a cooling trend ove the next few days and its now 24 degrees here now but it feels warmer. :-S

Morning girls,

Bit cloudy this morning, white ones and a weak sun at the mo but its 17 degrees already. Goodness knows what its going up to today.

Stu is coming tonight and may bring his son and I need to know because I have to cook extra.