General Chat

Good morning all. up at 0630 ready to wave off daughter and son in law as they head home. Hope the traffic is not too bad for them. They left just before 0730.
I have a load of washing in and next will be their bedding. House is not really untidy as they have not spent too much time here. so good to have their company and daughter did a couple of good jobs for me, fixed the sun umbrella and put in a stretch of log roll.

Now I have the hedgehog house there is no sign of the hog that was here so either it met a sticky end or has found other accommodation.

I will be back later to answer posts and to tell of the wedding.

Ann I did notice that you said you left stuff outside the charity shop. we are not allowed to do that in this area as it is classed as fly tipping.

BBL :-)

Afternoon All,

Bright and sunny here. I started off with centigrade this morning and it's back to fahrenheit again now. It's started happening on OH's PC as well.

Have you finished sorting the study yet Mel? I expect it is a big job.

OH has gone to a match and I have been catching up with emails. We decided we would take some of the other books to the other charity shop on Tuesday instead of this morning and both see what other things could go as well. More tidying of the garden is on the cards too as it is garden bin day next week.

I'm thinking about making a roman blind for the smallish window in here to fit over the opening rather than within it as the vertical blinds fit within it. I spend a lot of time in here and although we have the vertical blinds, it would help make it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer and would take less space than ordinary curtains would and with less gaps round it. I might have a look at some of the online instructions.

I've just filled a 2 litre jug with blitzed tomatoes for sauces etc but only found just enough containers to freeze them in. I have plenty of saved containers and plenty of lids, but do any fit together......no!

I've also managed to sell one of my sets of pastels on ebay, so that is good. It was the biggest set of 30 and the most expensive one. The other 2 small sets were cheapies from The works.

I look forward to hearing about the Viking wedding AnnG.

Nice to see you pop in Anng. Enjoy your day whatever you are doing.

Good morning all. I have been reading but not had much time for commenting. Then, this morning I was up early while the others were still asleep, so decided to come on here and comment of the posts. However Firefox had other ideas as it was off line for well over an hour. Just as I was beginning to think it was my PC it came back on. And now I don't have time to write much as daughter will be wanting to start jobs.

I will tell you all about the viking wedding when I have more time it was great and went well. More later. Only 16 degrees here so far. BBL :-)

Morning all,

Sunny and blue sky pc says humid and 18 degrees for here and 13 partly sunny. I wonder which one is going to be right for today?

Went round Em's with her eggs yesterday evening and stayed a while and had a chat and she asked me to stay to dinner but I had cooked chicken in the fridge that needed my attention so I came home and had a huge chicken and salad sarny with lots of tomatoes on the side.

Need to go to the shop today for the paper and some bits then its back to sorting.

No, he loves his books Mel and I don't mind him getting new ones as long as the bungalow walls aren't all covered in them before he throws some out. lol He likes to buy books for me, but I'm running out of space too as I don't seem to have time to do as much reading as he does.

The rain seems to have made the Cobra beans pick up and I can see new green shoots, but it's goodbye runners and the courgettes will soon follow I think.

Another noisy week here with the mixer going over the road and banging. This is the seond week there. That sets the noisy dog next door off barking.

That was some good news about your OH's scan Vera. It is always a concern as you say. You got yourself a bargain with the present! I noticed the garden centre we went to today had a 'reduced counter' and I had a browse but nothing took my fancy . Just keep an eye on your shrubs!! My OH has recently taken to trimming some of ours alongside the garden path, but in the past to do it quickly his idea was to cut through thick stems at the bottom which then removes half the shrub!! All I asked him to do was trim back like a hedge as well so we could walk by. He's done a good job tidying up out there this afternoon and cut all the foxgloves down and taken the runners and their supports out and weeded so I'd better go out and do some dead heading now.

My computer seems to have gone back to Centigrade again and it says it's 22 degrees. It feels warmer indoors at the moment but we have been out most of the day so the house has all been shut up.

I don't believe it.....I just glanced again and now it says 72 F. What on earth is happening :-S

I'm sorry to hear that Colin's got eye problems as well Mandy. It is a worry for you but hopefully his September appointment will go well and it won't turn out to be too serious.

I have had a much better day today. It was the hospital again this morning for OH to have yet another bit of his body scanned. This scan was done by a doctor and she said the full report will go to our GP in a week or so but she did tell OH that she didn't detect any sign of cancer which had been one worry. So that was good news.

From there we went to Dobbies Garden Centre. I didn't manage to get the bits I went for but I did pick up a birthday present for a friend. Our group of friends try to limit our presents to each other to £10 or it becomes too expensive. This had originally been £17.99 but was reduced to £8.99. I think they were clearing some unsold stock to make room for Christmas lines.

While we were there we decided to have a bit of lunch. The cafe was quite busy but it is a fair size and we managed to get a table by the open door to an outside seating area so we were a bit tucked away and had plenty of fresh air. OH suggested a hot meal to save cooking tonight. He had f & c and I had ham, egg and chips, not the most exciting meal in the world but it was quite tasty..

On the way back we went to B & Q just to get some light bulbs for a couple of bedside lamps and OH managed to buy an electric hedge trimmer. We don't have a hedge!! When I asked him why he wanted it the answer was that it is such a pain trimming and shaping some of our shrubs with clippers and shears. We don't have many and I help too so it's not as though he is spending days at it. I rather fear Mr Crewcut, my very own cut-it-all-down king, who was fairly well known a few years ago on the Hobbies Board gardening thread, may be coming back to life. I was very restrained, bit my tongue and didn't point out that we had a very good hedge trimmer which he had given to the buyers of our old house as we wouldn't need one in this house.

Something is telling me it's time for an afternoon cuppa so I'm going to put the kettle on, make a pot of tea, and, while it's brewing, pop down to the corner to post a card, though goodness knows when it will arrive with the Royal Mail people now striking as well.

So he's not ready to give up getting new ones then Ann.

Sun came out this morning hwich was nice but its seems to have just gone in and its 18 degrees here now and pc says cloudy.

Morning All,

It's 66 F here. :-D. A nice sunny day and not too hot. We skidaddled early to the charity shop and left a big cardboard box and 3 black sacks of books outside. We then carried on and had brekkie at a garden centre and OH got some diaries he wanted at The Works in there. We wanted a small humper for weeding, but no luck. I think they have started making space for Christmas stock instead of restocking now.

I expect there are always some surprise finds that can bring a tear to your eye Mel, but it's a nice one and nice he had kept it all this time. I hope that fox keeps away from your girls. The young cubs are out and about now. Thanks for mentioning thos progs which I have recorded now. I thought I'd already recorded the first farming one, but found I hadn't. I liked seeing the old combine harvester in action as I remember seeing one like it being used at the farm opposite where we lived when I was a little girl in the early 1950s. I remember the flat belts and wheels driving the different parts and tray bits that shook but didn't know what it was all doing then. They had 2 retired Shire horses and a dock tailed cob, but as a child I assumed they had always had a tractor. I remember helping at harvest by putting the sheaves of corn in stooks too. I also used to climb the bales of straw in the open sided barn to look for eggs that the hens would often lay in there. It was fun sliding down the bales.

Oh Vera what a day you had! OH and I have 2 big brollies we got free from a garage in the past and I have a small one I keep in his car and a smaller one still in my own. I've not had one stick in the open position yet and doubt I could get one in the back of my 2 door car so it would have to go in the front somehow!! I hope you get your eye seen soon and then getting your hair soaked into the bargain as well after coming out of the hairdressers. The carpark charge had gone up a lot hadn't it and then to see your car telling you the battery was low. What a stressful day!! Good news from your youngest granddaughter though. She did well with her results!

More worry as you say Mandy, but at least having regular eye tests means any problem gets picked up early and any treatment started if Colin needs it. All these bargain haircuts! I used to cut my own when it was long till I was age 40 and had a mobile lady come to the house for a few years when we moved here. It is the colour (about 5 different shades) that is most of the cost but isn't every time, just 2-3 times a year. Yes, a pile of books are gone and we are taking a pile of the paperbacks to the dogs home shop in the morning. I think he is on a roll now as he said he wants to go through some more and sort which can go. He also added (with a twinkle in his eye) 'it will make room for some Christmas present ones!!' :-S

its 18 degrees here

Morning all,

Dull and grey here this morning and it looks like there rain in the air but I hav'nt been ouit there yet.

The fox is sitting up the top of the orchard in the sun again.

Ann get those books into the charity shop before he changes his mind lol
A lot of our charity shops here are crying out for stuff ,there's notices on the windows asking for new stock seems as if they'll now take anything again .
That's good you've got booked in for your booster and flue jabs .

Well the prices of your cuts and blow drys makes mine seem so cheap ,I have a cut and blow dry and she cuts Colins too and we pay 30 pound .

Oh dear Vera it all seems to happen to you ,I take it the brolly is now in the bin lol
I had one of those big golfing brollys and that would not close as when it shot up it had gone past the catch bit that closes it ,I had to bend it all down in the end to close it up.
You know why your batteries low because they probably left the doors open on the car while in the garage and the interior lights would have been on and it soon drains the battery .
Colin had his eyes tested the other week and he should have gone for a hospital referral appointment yesterday but it was cancelled , he had a field test in the optician's and they didn't like the results ,this appointment which us now in September is for a Glucoma test ,its not at the Norwich hospital but a clinic in Fakenham, more worry .

Rain has stopped and its not cold out its still quite muggy .

Gosh what a day you had Vera. I bet you won't want another brolly like that. I can't be bothered with a brolly and the only ones I have are those big ones from the national trust. The first one oh bought when we first went to Rosemore and it started to rain. That one lets a bit of rain through it. Then when we went with his sister it started to rain a bit so he bought another one. They are both in my car.

The new jewelry program starts tonight if any of you lot are intersted and the second one of A Farm Through Time with Dave and Rob Nicholson. I am finding it very strange to be able to watch programs when they come on and not have to wait till later. Another thing the changer is always my side of the table.

I hope AnnG is enjoying the wedding celebrations today.

It sounds as though the colouring/low lights is what is putting your hairdressing cost up so high Ann and you will pay top dollar for her expertise.

I’m sure you shed a tear or two over the Easter card you found Mel but what a lovely memento of OH’s young days.

Oh my, we’re going from one extreme to the other. It’s either no rain or a real deluge. Like Mandy we had some heavy overnight rain, though I didn’t hear any thunder, and then lots of real downpours this morning. And what a morning I have had! (My old English teacher would be turning in her grave at a sentence started with And!)

I had a 9.15 appointment at the hairdressers so had to be out well before 9 and because I knew I had another appointment and some shopping to do as well I had to park in the long stay paid car park rather than the short stay free one. That’s when I found it had gone up from £2 to £3 and I had carefully put 2 £1 coins aside. After a lot of scrabbling around I managed to find a pounds worth of silver and got my ticket. The hairdresser was ready for me so I was cut and blow dried and relieved of £45 quite quickly. As I came out the heavens opened but I had my automatic umbrella with me, pressed the button and it shot up and kept me reasonably dry. All went well till I got back to the car to pick up a shopping bag to go to Waitrose next to the car park. I couldn’t close the umbrella down. I think a tiny bit of plastic has broken off and that’s an important bit to make it close. I wrestled with this thing for several minutes getting wetter and wetter till I decided it would have to go back in the car open. Shifted the parcel rack and tried the boot – boot lid wouldn’t close properly. Took it out and tried the back seat of the car with the handle on the floor. If I slid it to the middle I couldn’t see anything but umbrella in the rear view mirror, if I left it to one side I couldn’t close the car door. Then it was a fight to get it out of the car again. Eventually I got it with the handle on a rear seat and the brolly part wedged behind the front passenger seat. That worked. By now I was pretty wet but I shoved on a cagoule that was in the car and went to Waitrose.

Having got my shopping I still had about 40 minutes to wait before my optician’s appointment so thought I would sit in the car and listen to the radio. I switched it on and up flashed a message “low battery”. The car was only serviced yesterday for goodness sake. Terrified the car wouldn’t start if I let the battery run down more I switched the radio off and just waited till it was time for the opticians.

Are you all keeping up or have you dozed off out of sheer boredom? I had all the pre-tests and then saw the optician himself. Well, I think he did every test known to man. The upshot was that the cataract that they have kept saying was a baby one and slow growing is suddenly growing fast but there is something on the photograph of my left eye and he can’t make out what it is. Might be something, might be nothing but it needs investigating. Had I not been driving he would have put drops in my eye to have a c loser look. Instead he had more photographs taken and is referring me to hospital. He asked which hospital I would prefer to go to and I opted for the West Suffolk at Bury St Edmunds. When I got home I got a text from him saying the West Suffolk are contracting out a lot of their optical work to a private clinic at Ipswich so my appointment would be there and to wait till I hear from them.

By the time I came out it was bucketing down again. I got back to the car having paid £45 to start a new trend – the drowned rat look. Thankfully the car started first time, no sign of a low battery and I got home feeling very fed up.

One nice thing happened today. Youngest granddaughter rang with her GCSE results. I know that for the last couple of years they have been given a number grade but she “translated” them into the old alphabetic equivalent. She probably thought this poor old girl wouldn’t understand the new system, lol. She missed 2 of the exam papers because she had Covid but still managed to achieve a B, 3 As and 3 A*s. I’m very proud of her.

I’ve just seen the time and I have 2 birthday cards to take to the postbox before the collection so I must dash off. I bet you’re thinking “Thank goodness she’s going at last”.

Enjoy what’s left of your day.

We,ve still got sunshine and its been a beautiful day all day.

I was just looking in a big bag for oh's at painting he must have bought at some time before we were together and found in the bottom a hand made card for Easter. He must have done it at school when he was very small as its signed by him. He must have made it for his mum and dad. It brought me to tears.

Afternoon All,

I didn't sleep well last night but was up quite early and did a lap of the little park and was back before OH went to his first meeting which meant he didn't have to close all the windows before he left. He has a follow on meeting so is out all day today.

Glad your tum is feeling better Mel and I hope the deer will leave you some plants.

You put the wind up me Vera saying that about the books! lol. I've rung round and found 2 charity shops that are taking books although one just said paperbacks. The Air Ambulance said they still weren't taking them. I'll suggest we drop the first load off tomorrow........strike while the iron's hot!

Yes I was shocked how much my hair cost and I must check back but I think it was about half as much before the pandemic. She's the manageress and the owner wins lots of awards and sends her and his staff at his other salons for all kinds of training, even abroad and she does the hair for London Fashion shoots and she travels to do wedding hair up and down the country. Her expertise and interest is in colouring, but even so it was a bit steep! Everything is going to start costing much more as fuel cost and energy rising cost will affect most businesses. At least there's no cost with OH's haircuts as I do what bit he has. :-D

I started with centigrade this morning and it's changed to fahrenheit now. At least it seems it's not just me!

I had a text from our surgery today about flu and hopefully covid vaccine to be done at the same time if available then. I have booked us both in for 22nd September.

I need to make another necklace with some green in it! I never wear green, but seem to have a top with quite a bit of green in, so I've had to root round to find some suitable beads. It's not going to be one with fancy stitchwork, just a simple throw over your neck one again that's quickt o do as I need it for next week..

It's raining steadily now after just spitting a lot of the morning.

Oh yes you can't beat a nice rain for bringing the plants on and the weeds but it was just so heavy when it came down that its bound to have knocked some flowers off .

Still raining and a very grey sky .

Glad the tums better Mel.

Tums much better today and I am just have a bowl of musili before carrying on with the chickens.

Dusted and hoovered the bedroom and sorted somethings out.

The rain will do the runner good Mandy as theres nothing quite like rain water to give plants a lift even if they are battered down by it.

Morning Mel, morning all,

Well we got the thunder and lightning they said ,I first heard it thunder and saw a flash about five this morning and then it got more over head and finally eased up about eight o'clock, very heavy rain at times which has battered the poor runners just as they were getting more flowers too .
Stopped now but the sky still looks very grey .

My goodness Ann that was a price for a hair cut and what not ,good thing your on their getting OH to pay :-D

How's the tummy this morning Mel hope it's feeling better .

We both feel tired today so I don't think we'll be doing very much .