General Chat

Vera our surgery has its own dispensary so you would think they could get it right as they only have to walk about 6 steps from the pc to the pharmacy which is on the same floor in reception. When I did my pills this morning and needed my asprin they have sent me AGAIN disperable asprin instead of the gastro ones. I now have four unopened pack of these asprin and they won't take them back because they have left the surgery.

Did the hsop and took Em round plums and two cues. They wre in today as I had'nt seen them for about four weeks so we had a good chat.

The deer are in the orchard at the mo munching away on the fallen apples.

Oh is watching the qualifying for the grand prix tomorrow and I am about to do Asda's order.

Our script system is the same as your Vera. We do have to have an annual blood test then the prescriptions are activated every time I go in at about four weekly intervals.

I will try and remember to send out photos of the gravelled area when done Vera.

It sounds as if you had a really relaxing afternoon yesterday. Nice to sit and chat.

I went round to my friend who lives just round the corner. She has a very small back garden which she has filled with pots and the whole lot look beautiful. We then went to the local garden centre where we had coffee and cake, we got there around 1050 and left at 1250. then walked round the garden centre looking at plants they had some really lovely ones all looking very healthy.

For the pots to put on the gravel I need to find plants that are drought tolerant. Any ideas? :-) :-)

Good afternoon

Nice photos Mel; thank you. Lovely to have the swallows nesting again. Baby deer do look funny don’t they. You wonder how those long spindly legs can hold their bodies up. I’m partial to plum pie or crumble as well so I’m coming to tea the day you make some. I’m sorry to hear your OH is still not feeling good. Has he spoken to the doc? You do seem to have such a palaver with your scripts. It must be so frustrating but I am sure it shouldn’t be so difficult. It just needs the doctor and the dispensing chemist to get their act together a bit. Even when we lived in the middle of nowhere I could order our meds online and pick them up locally 48 hours later. Where we are now the system is superb, which I’ve probably said before. Everything is done electronically between the doctor and the pharmacist that the patient has designated. I go in to the pharmacy every four weeks and pick up my meds and tell them what I will want next month and that’s it done. I don’t have to handle my script, go online or anything.

Your driveway and paved areas must look lovely and clean now Ann. It will give the whole area a lift and make everything look brighter. The same goes for your gravel garden AnnG. Will we see some photos?

Your coffee and lemon drizzle cake sounded good AnnG and you are supporting a worthy cause. We have something similar round here called the Bridge Project. It’s a scheme for adults with learning difficulties and they have lots going on. They also run a little café and when the WI stopped doing Meals on Wheels around here they took over with a lunch delivery service for those who need it.

I’ve just had a walk round the garden and some things are really suffering. The hostas are terrible. We had some in the garden that we were thinking of taking out and this has decided us. They are definitely going and we’ll just keep the ones in pots. I’m also very disappointed with the penstemon this year. I have a lot and they are usually full of flowers but this year there’s just an odd flower spike here and there, although the plants look green and healthy. The funny thing is that my rudbeckias are doing really well and Mel says hers aren’t so good. In fact we are thinking of getting more of the same variety and putting them in where some of the hostas are coming out.

We had a very nice lunch with our friends yesterday. I had F & C which isn’t normally my first choice but I just fancied it and it was very nice. It came with mushy peas and I told the waiter not to put any on my plate because I wouldn’t eat them and they would just be wasted. A minute or two later he was back and the chef had told him to ask if I would like some side salad instead which I thought was nice of him. We ate in the restaurant inside but then sat outside with our coffee. It looks out over arable farmland and fields and is close to a gliding club airfield so we could watch the gliders riding the thermals. It was a really pleasant afternoon.

While we were there we bumped into someone from the village where we used to live. He’s 92 and lost his wife 7 years ago. He was with a lady he introduced as his “younger girlfriend”. She looked about 65 and is obviously keeping him young as he was full of life. Good luck to him.


It's very warm and muggy again, 24 degrees but not much of a breeze. It was a hot night as well so I didn’t sleep much. It doesn’t sound as though it is going to be any cooler tonight but I’d be moaning if it was cold. Never happy am I?

Morning Anng and all,

I used to make jam with them but we like them in a crumble with a little cream.

19 degrees here and cloudy and still dry. I had a walk up the border yesterday and my rudbeccia are wilting. The clematis up there is still in flower and looks fine and thats the thing I thought would suffer in the heat and dryness. The roses badly need dead heading and one has shot a branch right up to the top of the wall which I shall have to pull down. Its gone into the ivy on the otherside of the wall.

We keep having Mrs Doe and Doelet in th eorchard and doelet skips about sometimes, its so funny with its great long spinderly legs.

Good morning all 16 degrees here at 0730 and bright. I didn't sleep that well last night, well I slept but kept waking.

Pleased it is all finished for you and looking good. A few years back we had our patio professionally done and it was far better than T could even get it, even though he had a very powerful pressure washer. One of those things still lurking in the garage with a split hose.

Mel the gladi is a beautiful colour I love them but we were never successful with them, probably didn't give them enough attention. And a nice lot of plums, do you make jam with them?

I agree AnnG and it's incompetence usually without any consequence these days as well. There were random checks on all we did and mistakes could affect any pay increases as was probably the same with yourself, but today mistakes seem to have become acceptable. Not everyone has a car or can drive, especially the elderly and many are on a limited income, so how do they expect them to keep making repeat trips or afford them because of their mistakes. We often say they should never have closed convalescent homes. What did they think would happen to all the people that weren't well enough to go home, but still needed care. Now they are being cared for with expertise they don't need while their beds are taken preventing others getting a bed. It is all so shortsighted. I wonder what happened to all those volunteers the hospitals recruited before the pandemic. I haven't heard what happened about those.

Well, with the help of a spanner OH found for him, the generator was back in action and they carried on till it was all done and it looks far better than we would have got it as their pressure washer was more powerful. Two others in the close came and asked for leaflets from them so they will probably be back before long.

I don't seem to have done much at all today other than lunch and file a few papers away.

Just sent four pics.

So many times we are hearing about what is actually total incompetence by these people. I wonder if they still have performance records and how good they are. I know the NHS is pushed, beds are blocked and nowhere to put people going in to A&E in ambulances, causing long waiting times for ambulances. But I do wonder if anyone has really looked at the system right from the start and traced through where the real problems are. It is so easy to blame too many people blocking beds when I could be something further back in the system that needs sorting. Maybe they should look at why and when care homes closed and would funding have sorted that? If people could be moved to re-habilitation nursing homes the main hospital could free up beds. Sorry but I get so cross as T was virtually bed blocking in the three weeks before he died.

Mel I am sorry that your OH is still not well. Has he seen his GP\/ \maybe I have missed it but it seems it has gone on too long now and needs sorting.

Ann I bet you will soon be sparkly clean. :-) :-)

Mandy, sneezing!! Cold or hay fever?

Lemon drizzle cake tastes yummy doesn't it. When I did the power washing I used to wash the mess off the doors and windows as I went as I knew it would only be another job for me if I didn't. I thought things were going too well, the generator they use has a faulty connection and it kept stopping. The 2nd man came back and has gone to get a new connector for it while the man who has been pressure washing is brushing sand between the blocks. There is still all the back to do yet so goodness knows when they will finish. Without the power washer working everywhere is still caked in dirt. Oops I hear water running.

Sorry your OH is off colour Mel and I hope he soon feels better. What a palaver with your scripts again. It's a good idea to check they have been sent to the shop in future, but it isn't your job to do that really, it's theirs. I just rang to arrange my blood test which should be done first thing in the morning when I have it and the earliest they could give me was the 18th August. The form from the Thyroid Register I have to take said it should be done after 1st July, but I had to chase that up or still wouldn't have even had the form yet.

The lemon drizzle sounded nice Anng.

The other day I was thinking about when we were in lock down and was wondering how the homeless got on?

Well I have had theusual mix up with our scripts again this time. I ordered them online on Monday last week so they should have been at Shebbear shop on tuesday this week, no not tere. Thoguht I would wait till Thusday and see what happened then and then I forgot so I went to the shop today and they only had mine and no sign of oh's so off I set for Black Torrington. Give his name and they don't know why they did'nt go to Sheb Shop with mine but the person who did them could'nt have seen deliver to Sheb Shop........ Told me to ring up next time and make sure they are marked to go to Shebbear Shop. They have now changed the amount of days you order from 3 days to 5 days working which is pest as I have to remember a good week in advance. and I had this time and still they get it wrong.

Right moan over, hows the paving looking Ann? I do hope he washes the door down for you whne he is finished. I know when oh does ours the doors adn windows are filthy.

Oh is still off colour and not his normal self at all.

Whenever T used to power wash the drive paths and patio it always made a mess on windows, doors etc and I would wonder if it was worth it.

Just back from town Other than going to the chiropodist in a couple of weeks time (when I remember to make an appointment), I won't be going in too often before September. It was OK on the buses but there were a lot of young teenagers roaming around bored in the shops. I didn't even venture in to Primark.
Still I did get a few bits I wanted a couple more Tee shirts in Klass all the same (that is five I think ) but all different colours good value at £10. A bit sparkly. some shower Gell in TKMax, base and top coat for nail varnish. Some Naan bread fro m&S to go with my curry for tonight and some mini sausage rolls from M&S for my lunch.
I did stop for coffee but M&S was heaving as was another cafe in the centre. Then I found a community cafe run by Mission to Gloucester for and by the homeless and vulnerable. It was doing well but it had empty tables and was nice and cool (it is 25 here), I had a filter coffee and a large piece of lemon drizzle cake for just over £4. And it was really nice. I will certainly support them again.

I hate it too Mel and it does throw the day all out as you say. They turned up about 20 minutes late and we think they must have thought we'd gone out as they got cracking and didn't ring the doorbell, so I left them to it for a while. It is quite a big company looking at the jobs they've done online. Once everything was set up, one went elsewhere and left the other to it. It's beginning to look so much better, but the windows and the door I cleaned yesterday are waist high in the muck from the drive. The chap was quick to assure me he would clean up after so that is good. There's just the back garden patios, paths and path down the side to do now and the chap hasn't even had a break yet. Oh to be young and fit! It's 23 degrees here now.

Morning all,

Hope you man has turned up by now Ann after all the moving about you've both been doing. I hate it when you have to wait for someone to come, you cna't get on with other thigns and it throws our whole day out.

Sunny here this morning and I hope it dos'nt get too hot. Pc says partly cloudy and a high of 24 degrees I wonder how right thats going to be? Its 19 now .

Having a sneezing fit so have to go...

Morning All,

Just waiting for the men to arrive now. Everywhere is clear for them and that took a while to move bins, cars, even the outside doormat! I didn't sleep well which is always the same when someone is coming early in the morning.

That's a good idea having a kettle and ginger teabags in the bedroom AnnG. When are they coming to put your gravel down? Those biters are a nuisance and I never seem to feel them either. A break from the garden sounds like a good idea.

They've just started harvesting the corn in some fields here Mandy and I think the huge vehicles were to do with it. They looked new and shiny and not often used! They couldn't have got down the road with the big combines with all the cars parked each side. They are enormous close up aren't they. Yes it's overcast here but doesn't look like rain, at least not yet! That was handy being able to have the wood from the school. It would be nice and dry as well, even if it had been outside.

Vera I've noticed the shelves are a bit thin in the co-op I go to. It seems that every food delivery I get now, they advise of price increases on some things before they get delivered. It's not a few pence either, some increases have been 50%, but might be because an offer has ended. I envy your young folk living in Yorkshire as it is an area where we have spent many lovely holidays and has lovely scenery.

Well no sign of the men yet, but when they last rang they said between 8.30am and 9.00am so they aren't late yet but with the children off school now the roads shouldn't be busy.

good morning all bright and 13 degrees. I have two more bites this morning. I expect them when working in the garden, I never see the little blighters and how do I get bites behind my knees and on the back of my thighs when I am wearing trousers? and covered at night. I didn't get any at night when it was hot and I was throwing the sheet back.
Toying with the idea of going into town, mainly to make sure I don't start doing things in the garden again which I will do if I stay home. The gravel bit is as much done as I can do I think anything else is too hard for me to shift but that doesn't stop me trying. I think I need a break away from the house but inertia is much easier to follow. :-D

Mandy I looked into the compost bin from the toP and it looks like there is a pile of leaves heaped up there could be a hog under it. I don’t like to disturb the pile, it could be sleeping in the day there.

Vera the plan is pots on the gravel I hope to find drought tolerant plants.

Ann I am not touching the lawn. The gravel is for the large patch of ground that was where T had his dahlias. The lawn is basically two 3 foot strips either side if a trellis and small gravel patch with pots on.

Evening all,

It's been nice here today quire warm and we've had a busy day ,son had some wood at the school that Colin could have for the fire it will make some good sticks , so we went and collected that then we took some garden rubbish to the tip, I came home and walked to town to get a few bits and called to get some F&C so no cooking tonight ,then zfter lunch I gave the car a good hoover out because putting the wood in the back it left a lot of bits .

I see you were going to have F&C to Ann and they were closed good old freezers what would we do without them .
Hope the chap turns up tomorrow to do the drive ,don't think there's rain forecast is there so you should be OK.
Not good those tractors driving like that they could have had your wing mirror off , I suppose they will soon be cutting the corn then it will be those big combines on the road .

Enjoy your lunch tomorrow Vera .

Anng is there any sign of the hedgehog about perhaps its left the compost bin now the summers here and you could use some compost from it now ,it might have just used it to hibernate for the winter.

Right going to put the kettle on now I'm really thirsty .

Are you replacing all the lawn AnnG? I must admit we have never regretted it and gravel is easier to keep looking good all year round. I still think a well kept lawn is lovely and restful to look at though, but it does take a lot of work to keep it looking good.

I saw a farmer with a tractor cutting cutting a roadside hedge today. There was a green verge by the roadside and it wasn't growing into the road. I thought they weren't allowed to cut them when birds might be nesting. While I was parked outside the co-op 3 massive farm vehicles drove through (cars parked both sides of the road). They came through at speed with wheels higher than my car. The noise as they drove past me was deafening and they were so close to the car. How stupid, as there would be no way they could stop if child ran out between the cars and they would have terrified a horse!

I had a call from a building society this morning to discuss a request they said I'd made. I was about to eat lunch, couldn't remember any request that needed an answer and when they started asking me for bits of my password before they could discuss anything at all with me, I felt uneasy and refused! I said I would ring them later because 'how do I know who you are?' When I rang after I'd been out, they had a note of the call and the lady I spoke to agreed with me that there had been no need for a phone call at all. I only wanted to transfer something to a better paying account with them, had given them all the information they needed to do it and their own website said it could only be done in writing!! She did it there and then. If these banks and building societies wanting to talk to us just left us a message to phone them and told people to put the phone down on anyone trying to discuss anything about their accounts I think it would stop a lot of people getting scammed.

It sounds as though you have been busy getting prepared for your gravel garden AnnG. Will you have plants in it or pots on it? You'll be able to choose drought resistant plants that will be able to withstand the heat of future summers.

I didn't get out till 2.30 and changed my mind about going into town. Instead I just went to Sainsbury's. They usually have a reasonable selection of cards and I decided on restaurant vouchers from Red Letter Days for the couple of pressies I needed. I've bought that sort of thing before and they usually go down well and they also offered me 20% off, so that was a bit of easy online shopping.

There weren't many customers in Sainsbury's which pleased me but unfortunately there wasn't a lot on the shelves either, and what was available was very expensive. There was very little veg which I needed. I managed to get a head of broccoli but they only had a few organic ones which are usually dearer and I got a pack of runner beans that will barely do 2 small helpings and that was £1.50. I really don't know how people on a low income and with a family to feed manage.

Our friends M & V rang to ask if we fancy going out for lunch tomorrow. There's a nice pub about 15 minutes drive from here and it has a good outdoor dining area and lovely views. I expect they will have raised their prices quite a bit as well.

My grandson moved up to Yorkshire at the weekend so that's another of the family moved up North. He loves the area so wanted to move up that way. He's found himself a job, which turned out to be in the same area my granddaughter (his cousin) works. They're the same age and have always got on well together so they've found themselves a nice flat to share.

Plumber has just been to tighten up a connection which was just weeping a tiny bit so fingers crossed everything will be OK now. We were also supposed to be having a painter coming in August to repaint the kitchen, lounge, hall, stairs and landing. He's just emailed to say a brush with Covid has put him all behind. We can't have him early September so it looks as though it will be mid-late September before that gets done now.

Sun's out at the moment though it has been cloudy for most of the day. Still no sign of rain :-( I'm hoping for another coolish night.

I have a kettle in my bedroom and just take up a cup and a ginger tea bag at night so have a cup of ginger tea made by me.

I have almost finished clearing the piece of garden rady for the gravel bed. Just a couple of bits I am not strong enough to dig up. I have tried transplanting a couple of things but with this very dry weather I don't hold out much hope.

I have two compost bins in the garden supposedly one for currently putting in stuff to compost, the other to use the made compost. Luckily I had used most of the compost when I think I told you it seems that a hedgehog has made a nest in there so I can't use it. I love hedgehogs but I am annoyed to have a whole bin taken out of use. :-(