General Chat

Genes has got the gremlins again and has lost a post from me. Twice it told me I had to sign in even though I was already signed in and then I kept getting the error message. No time to post again now. May be back later.

Morning Ann and all,

Overcast here this morning and my car windscreen has water on it so it must have rained.

Was up at 7am and went back to bed as oh was still asleep and woke again with the crows making a row. When I got up and looked out the window they have a rabbit of someting round byhe old chicken house. I shall have to throw it over the back field when I do the chickens as its going to smell in this heat if they don't take it away.

Dinner was lovely last night and I shall do it again.

Thanks for the pic of Ernie now all we need is this new kitten.

Morning All,

What a hot night last night was! Despite mopping down and the cold hot water bottle I still slept fitfully and we went outside in our birthday suits at about 1.00am. It was still almost as hot in the back garden, but the air was moving a bit which was nice. As I edged nearer the patio OH said to mind I didn't trigger the neighbour's new security light. I had forgotten all about that! This morning at 7.00am it was much cooler and, after we opened everywhere up to let the breeze inside, we watered the pots and GH and then sat out on the patio in the cool breeze with the first COT for 2 days. It was lovely in the cool breeze. Still no rain though.

OH is working and I haven't decided what to do yet or what to have for lunch so I'd better get my thinking cap on.

Your meal yesterday sounded really nice Mel.

Yes I did Mel (edit) and thought I'd mentioned it in my last post, but no, the heat has got to my brain and I hadn't. lol. The seller has let me know she will post them off to me tomorrow. She's only about 30 miles away! It's still 30 here and when we stuck our heads out of the back door just it was still hotter than inside.

I will forward AnnG's email now.

Sent it Mel , still hot here I can see its going to be another restless night .

Can someone please send me the pics of Ernie please?

Did you get the paints Ann?

Weather app is playing up but the suns been out all afternoon. We sat by my pond with a G & T late afternoon and there was a lovely strong breeze.

I picked my blueberries but not as many as you Vera. Mind you the blackbird had a lot of mine before I got the net on them and they've been blown over umpteen times this year. (oz and they are lovely and sweet this year.

I have made potato salad with chives and mint and cooked mini chicken fillets in oil and butter with lemon wedges between them. Mixed herbs on the top and salt and pepper.Now I just have to get the salad together.

Oh AnnG that is very hot! :-0 They said they thought the city here may reach 40, but where we are it has dropped another degree to 36 now. I wish the rain would come. We haven't ventured outside since OH fetched the bins in this morning. As soon as OH saw Ernie he said 'what a lovely cat!' :-)

I bid on ebay today for a small unused tin of my favourite brand of watercolour paints. I got identical ones free with a magazine sub when I started watercolour painting and have used over half of some of the 8 colours. These were half the new price so that pleased me.

40 degrees here right now and humid.

Thank you for showing us Ernie Anng. He is a beauty isn't he and has lovely golden eyes. I'll show him to OH when he comes through.

I think the rain might miss us as well Vera. The sun is shining brightly now. The temp went to 38 but has dropped back to 37 and the. PC says ' rain off and on'.

Thanks for the rain pictures Mel. They reminded me what the wet stuff looks like :-). I feel like paddling in a puddle now. Hopefully we’ll get some tomorrow afternoon though “they” say ir is going to be patchy so it could miss us altogether. Today it’s only a degree hotter than yesterday at this time but it’s more humid so feels hotter and stickier.

I’ve taken on board your orchid advice Mel. When it was given to me there was a peel off label on the pot that just said Orchid, but I am fairly confident it’s a moth orchid. I’ve been OK with watering and feeding but needed to know about cutting back the flower stems and whether I should move it somewhere else for a dormant period. At the moment it’s on a sideboard in the hall. It gets plenty of diffused light through the glass in our front door but is out of direct sunlight. If I ought to move it I can’t think where to put it. Most of our windows get direct sun for much of the day and a lot of our ledges are narrow. I do have a wide surface in front of the bathroom window but it can get quite hot in there. All advice welcome.

AnnG, could you pack Ernie up and mail him to me please. He is gorgeous. I love cats and miss having one around but OH doesn’t want another one now.

Your photos are lovely and cooling Mel, hurry and send your rain up here like often happens! I love the circles the rain made on OH's pond.Your grass is so green and the huge box hedge is looking good.

I feel ok again today Vera thanks. We are at 37 now so creeping up too. I would think Kindles are really great for travel and save taking much needed space up. OH even gets hardbacks of books he already has sometimes. He just loves his books. I'm in no position to say anything though with all my craft materials. :-) I can't help with your orchid as I've never had one.

Sounds like a healthy kitten AnnG! They must all get on well together and give the kitten plenty of play. OH likes ginger cats and used to have one years ago. He's not keen on having a cat now though and says he would worry too much about it with the roads.


I bet Max was enjoying his ice cubes!

And now its hot cos the suns back out or perhaps because I have been washing and feeding the chickens and had to put their shade back up as the wind had blown on bit off.

Going to get some lnch now. Done all the wipe down and put that lot away.

Pill time, well past it really and I have the washing on the line so time to sit down for a bit.

Vera it depends on what kind of orchid it is. If it a Phalaenopsis or moth orchid its quite simple.

Has it got a see through pot? if so and you can see its roots it needs water (only rain water) if the roots are green. If they are silver then it dos'nt need and watering. It will need a feed evry so often about once a month.

If it is a Moth Orchid and the stems have a sort of leaf bit showing only cut them down to just above one of these as it could flower again from here.

Sent a couple of cooling pics to you.

Good to see you Island. I envy you your veg. I’ve only got herbs and 4 cherry tomato plants in outside pots. They’re looking healthy and got lots of tomatoes coming but they are very slow ripening. I’ll have a look at that app later. We’ve just had a warning of possible storms and heavy rain tomorrow afternoon.

I’m sorry you felt badly last night Ann. I hope you are OK today. I didn’t sleep much and got up very early to do some ironing and a couple of other jobs but that’s it for the day. Since 9 am I’ve just been blobbing. As far as getting your OH interested in a kindle is concerned, it may be a good idea but don’t expect him to give up “real” books. I’ve had a kindle for years and they are a boon, perfect for travelling and holidays as they take up no space but I still can’t walk past a charity shop or second hand book stall without checking out the books.. You find you end up buying physical and e-books and spending even more.

I can see some of my indoor plants looking droopy so I’d better get watering. Can anyone advise me about an orchid? I was given.one in February with 3 flower stems, one in bloom and the other two about to open. The flowers have now finished with only a couple now left to drop. What do I do with it now to keep it alive and encourage it to bloom again in the future?

Good morning all. Well two minutes left then good afternoon.

36 degrees here at the moment, in front of the fan now so ok we went fairly early to a garden centre which had good air con. And had coffee and toasted tea cake. This weatherveat little and often. Walking to the car from the GC it was really hot, reminded me of Florida in August.

Hi Island I bet the veg are needing a lot of water in this heat. Poor Cynth is having to cope with two gardens. I moved my toms I. Pots out of the greenhouse.
I am envious of son’s automatic watering system all his pots and huge baskets look great.

Ann you said to get a photo of the kitten I will if I get the chance but she is either flat out asleep or zooming around.
The other cats are, senior cat, Ernie a large and beautiful and very nervous ginger. Ivy a small about 2/3 year old black very friendly girl and Misty a slightly scatty two year old tortoise shell.

I'll take a look.

Veg is good. Enjoy the lightning app, it's quite fascinating if you like to weather watch

Hello I sland nice to see you. Hows the veg this year?