General Chat

Just seen the forecast until next Tuesday sunny tomorrow and #1 then Saturday until Tuesday full sun every day, no rain, 23, 24, 27, 27. Poor garden

I know squirrels are considered to be vermin, I still think they are cute. I couldn’t kill one.

Ann you asked if Skinny has been in, he hasn’t actually for a while. He is regularly treated for worms and flees though. But they are midge if mossie bites I get, they must be sneaky, probably lurk around where I fill the watering cans.

VERA, NO - you aren't stupid at all.
The species which causes the most damage is homo sapiens :-|

Guess what? I had two eggs this morning and a broken one and I have just corned the big girls and there was another egg in the nest box so I would have had full production today. That the first time for years. Still three replaces what I used today in our sandwiches lunch time.

See they can do it.

I don't remember either Vera. I was born in 1949 so I think thye may be a bit before my time of knowing things like that.

We used to go to a coffee bar in Wanstead and I can't even remember the name of that!! I think it may have began with an E. I was 16 then and just left school but most of my time was spent down the stables from 13 had my own pont by 16 as when I left school I saved my £1.50 a week and gave mum the other £1.50 for my keep. I managed to save up £18.10s and found the pony I wanted down the stables and he was for sale for £100. Mum told me she would buy me a pony when I was 16 but when asked what I wnated for my 16th birthday and I said a pony she told me She had'nt said she would buy me one. Anyway I told her and dad I had found the pony I wanted and she asked me how much I had saved and I told her The £18.10s and she said she would make it up to £50, still £50 short.....Dad said he would give me the £50 so I bought Little Red a red roan cob type pony.

I do remember the Golden egg cafes, not sure about the other one. I remember the Cadena cafes where they sold beautiful cream cakes especially meringues. I think the cafes and coffee shops in my home town were all independents. We did have a Wimpy in the late 50s.

You’ve been busy AnnG moving stuff around and sorting out your drawers.

Mel, you’re braver than I am. I wouldn’t trust myself with a gun. I’d probably accidentally shoot a neighbour’s cat or something. Tbh I don’t think I could kill anything even though I understand about them being vermin and causing damage. I have to steel myself to even use a fly spray or bug killer on plants. Stupid aren’t I?

While we were waiting for the plumber I did some deadheading and a bit more garden tidying and OH cleaned and refilled the bird bath but half an hour outside was enough. It felt so hot. There does seem to be a bit more breeze now so it feels very slightly cooler.

Plumber came and seems to have fixed things, so everything is back in place and finished off. He’s told us not to use it for a couple of days and then to check that things are OK. OH has said if it is all OK then we will pay the bill. We usually make it a policy not to use anyone we mix with socially to do paid work for us because if we have a complaint about the work or a quibble about the bill a good friendship could be ruined. But as it was a middle of the night emergency and we were grateful to him for helping us it would have seemed mean not to give him the job. So we are treading a fine line between insisting the job is completed properly and staying on good terms with a neighbour.

Going back to the title of this thread, does anyone remember the Golden Egg cafes? I think they were a franchise and there were several around. How about Kardomah coffee shops? Not sure if they were national or just in London. Both the Golden Egg and the Kardomah would have been around in the 1950s and 1960s. We were talking about them over lunch yesterday, discussing our “courting” days with our friends.

You've been busy Anng sorting out your draws!

I did my front door before lunch and then did eggy and mato sandwishes (fishing sandwiches) which are one of my favorites and we had our tomatoes in them. I have two huge cues on the plants in the greenhouse so one for me and one for Em again this week.

Doing chinese chicken thighs for tonight and I will make mixed veg in a sause and have noodles with it.

Oh made a gun stand out of his camera tripod this morning and I have just had a go at the target with it. Not bad at least I got it in the center black bit after the first shot went in the white. We are getting ready for the squirrels which have all the nuts on the hazel trees down by banty. They also have all the walnuts off the tree up the drive and theres lots on it this year but oh has cut a lot of the bottom branches off cos he could'nt get under it with the mower so anything I could have reached has now gone.

I am now ging to look at my new moulds and see if they have worked. Some need more coats but two have had enough I think.

I walked down to post a couple of letters and as I was almost at the post box a post van stopped and the driver said 'are you going to post those?' when I said I was he said he had just emptied the box (this was 11.15 and the the last post is 0900!!) and he offered to take my letters and he put them in with the ones he had just collected. So that was good. And he was obviously not sticking to the collecting time.

I did some bank work and some Tescos order work and emails, then I had a bit of a tidy up round the gravel bit that is the small patch outside the framed patch, I needed to get some pebbles back off the lawn. I need to get a small log roll to put round that piece. I am pleased with it but, as you say Ann, it does need washing down, I am not going to use the hose on it for obvious reasons so am hoping for a shower or two of rain. I still have a large amount of gravel left in the garage but I am sure to be able to find a use for it.

After a coffee I moved an old small chest of drawers that held bird feed out to the garage. It is falling apart so needs breaking up. then moved in a plastic set of deep drawers that was T's and I had put in the garage until I could find a use for it. So now I am in the middle of sorting part of the conservatory to accommodate it as it is taller than the wooden one. But it is very hot in there so I took a break. It is 21 degrees here now.

vera your lunch yesterday sounded lovely, I am envious of you going out for lunch I do miss that. Sorry you had another bad night though. I went to bed just after 11 and then woke coughing with a tickle at 12 o'clock back to sleep and woke at 6am so not too bad.

I hav'nt heard anything from the garage yet but he did say if it was what he thought it would take time to get the part from hte surpliers. I may give him a ring to see whats happening as we try to stay by the phone incase he rings.

Well I have done one wash and had my shower and thats about all this morning.

The front door next I think.

Morning All,

Sorry you didn't get much sleep Vera. We haven't had rain to speak of for weeks now and everyone is losing garden plants despite trying to do some watering. Even the leaves of an acer that is in almost complete shade has scorched leaves and the ferns in the shade have flopped. You have every right to have a moan as the temp is even higher where you are. We have woken up to a deliciously cool 19 degrees this morning, so I'm off for a walk before I think of doing anything else. Most days it's just been too hot. It makes you feel like doing nothing and it makes me irritable too as I have trouble with temperature control with thyroid issues at the best of times. What a job your leak is turning into as often happens with something that starts small. I hope it doesn't mean a new toilet, although a replacement of that doesn't usually cause too much disruption. I would have loved the meal you had yesterday too.

I've noticed a lot of those tiny quarter inch long black narrow insects on the window sills this week AnnG and I think they may bite. I just hope the spiders like them! I found a bite under my sandal strap yesterday so must remember to put repellant on when I go out. Has Skinny been inside lately? I hope he hasn't brought friends with him if so as I expect they pick fleas up from what they find. How is the gravel area looking now? It needs some rain next to wash the dust off it.

I love getting new drawers or storage boxes Mel so I can organise and tidy things away where I can find them. I keep eyeing up the wall in front of me for an extra shelf! lol. It's good you are unearthing some projects to finish too. I did our white front door just before the drive was done and the men gave it a wash down too, but they soon look mucky don't they, even the letterbox from the papers being pushed through. How did the car get on..........did it pass the MOT?

Better get my skates on now as our Jane would have said!

Morning all,

Blue skies with lts of thin white clouds here today and sunshine too. Its 17 degrees here and is supposed to be mostly sunny so we will see what transpires later in the day.

One job I must do today is wash the front door mainly outside but the inside needs a clean too. Its one of those thing I walk past every day seveal times but don't look at. It is so dusty outside you can hardly see through it!!! and the frame being white attracts the midges too and moths and they mess on it.

Sorry you had another bad night Vera lets hope you get some rain soon to cool everything down a bit. I know you live in the dryest part of the country as does Mandy but you need some respite.

Good morning AnnG and all

I think that was almost the worst night yet. There wasn’t a breath of air anywhere and all the fan seemed to be doing was blowing the heat around. It’s 19 degrees at the moment. Today is supposed to be cooler and only reach 24 or 25 degrees. We used to think of 24 degrees as hot, now it’s considered cool. Sorry for going on about it. I’m grumpy from lack of sleep and fed up with the heat and lack of rain.

We had a nice lunch out with friends yesterday. I had a vegan Mediterranean vegetable tart with green salad and it was delicious and not too heavy.

Plumber should be back today. OH now thinks we might have to have a new toilet completely. If that’s the case why couldn’t that have been done to start with?

Better get moving and try to cheer up and enjoy the bright sunshine instead of moaning about it. Have a nice day folks.

Good morning all, it is 13 degrees here but doesn't, at the moment feel quite so muggy.

I keep finding tiny little bites that itch like mad. I am not sure if they are from little midges in the garden or when I am in bed at night. I have not seen any indoors so they must be a bit sneaky.

Island :-D :-D I really should not have looked at that before going to bed, now it is stuck in my brain for the night. and i never liked the song either. :-D :-D

Ha ha

same here Mel, steep hill. An electric bike would be ok for going up but I'd bottle it going down. Although I rode my motorbike both ways a few years back on steeper hills but m/c's are easier to control than push bikes - and closer to the ground.
But hey.... I was alluding to >

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCTMTflcuug

This morning we decided on a chest of 5 draws which match myk tables so I cleared a spot for it next to my bookcase with all te plastic boxes and other bits on. Its inline with my tables too and infront of the rad we don't have on so will be ok there. I hoovered the kitchen work room bedroom and what I could get of his study floor. Then did a little ironing and then cleared the old chest of draws top and got my other miniture shop on the top of that. It will be my next project started years ago and never finished. It was going to be an Antique shop to display all the things I have made in miniture over the years. I also told him about the fishermans cottage up in the potting sheds which needs a roof. so that may come down as well, fingers crossed. We had a late breakfast so did'nt need much lunch, he had jelly and icecream and I had a bowl of cornflakes for quickness.

I also put a couple of layers on some new moulds so all in all a good days work. He was mowing but got hot and complained about doing two stips of the lawn and then having to go and empty the grass box.

No I hav'nt got a byke and don't think I would have the energy to get it up the hill to the crossroads now I am an old lady. I do have my sons racing byke though, hardly used when he lost his driving licience it has lots of gears and I have never riden a geared byke before. I wonder what I'd get for it if I sold it?

Vera, sorry about the abrupt end to my email - the doorbell was being demanding so I hit 'send' rather than lose it :-D

Mel.... no bicycle? ;-) :-D

Afternoon All,

25 degrees here but it feels hotter and is humid despite a slight breeze. We aren't doing much better than you Vera, We had a few drips of rain in the night again that barely wet the ground, but have been teased all morning with really heavy black clouds but they have been taking the rain elsewhere. :-( That's a nuisance finding another potential leak, but good it has been brought to light now so you can sort it if needs be. Hope you enjoy your outing today.

Good luck with the MOT Mel and I hope it won't be too expensive. My MOT is next month and we'll be using a different garage now the other has closed, so I will be keeping fingers crossed. I get attached to my cars too as you get used to their foibles.

OH managed to get his watch battery changed ok this morning and I got some stretch dark grey trousers from the factory shop and a new baking tin. They still didn't have any slow cookers. We called at the garden centre, which only had 2 other people in the cafe so we had a 6 item breakfast plus toast. We looked around The Works and OH found 2 nice shirts in the Edinborough Mill sale and got those and we bought weedkiller and ant killer. Then we popped in the co-op for few bits on the way back.

AnnG it was a good job you were up early wasn't it. It sounds like the work will soon be done though and you will soon have your gravel garden area ready for some pots.

Now I'm ready for a COT and will decide what to do next.