General Chat

Its 22 here and still raining very lightly. There are a lot of birds on the feeder this morning mainly blue tits and sparrows and the woodpecker.

Morning all,

We have rain it rained overnight and filled the water butts and the old dustbin we have as an over flow was full too , now it's really heavy drizzle but nice and bright and really muggy .
Vera I'll see if I can blow some your way.

Mel those Gladioli are so pretty were they the 50p ones they were a bargain.

Anng I looked at the firework Agapanthus that's a pretty one ,I suppose the best thing with trying to find draught tolerant plants is to ask in the garden centres ,I expect there will be lots of people asking after all the heat we've had and lots will have lost plants in the heatwave.

Ann I expect your busy getting your things back in place after the clean ,did they manage to get the oil off .
Sounds as they will get more work from your neighbours after doing z good job on yours .

Family came this morning first Sunday for several weeks as they have both been so busy at work , we got son to adjust our front door as it had dropped a little and was getting hard to lock ,few minutes and he had done it so that was a good job done .

Oh Suns out now and I'd better soon think about what to have for lunch ,bbl

No rain to speak of yet Mel. We have had a couple of very light showers but we wouldn't have known if OH hadn't been outside and felt a few drops. The farmers are getting desperate now.. It was a very hot and uncomfortable night, even OH didn't sleep well, but it seems a bit cooler now. It's very grey out and quite a strong breeze has got up so I've opened some windows to try and cool the house down a bit.

I've just got a Tesco order ready for delivery tomorrow so I'll be interested to see hw many subs I get.

AnnG, I love agapanthus as you can see from my avatar photo. I've got 6 pots of them grouped together along the front of the conservatory. Mostly they are blue but I do have one white one. I'll look out for the one you mentioned. It sounds pretty. OH has just picked more blueberries. We left them for the birds but they haven't touched them which is unusual so OH decided to pick them for us. I don't suppose there are many.

I can't believe your surgery won't take back your tablets Mel. I know they cannot reissue them to anyone else but pharmacies are supposed to take back unwanted medicines for safe disposal. If I have anything I can't use or something I've bought over the counter and it's got out of date I always take them to any pharmacy and they always take them back. I'd be inclined to politely ask them how you are supposed to dispose of them if they can't take them. I hope your OH is feeling a bit better today.

I'd better get on with a few jobs before sorting out Sunday dinner. Have a nice day everyone.

No rain here, quite bright and 21 degrees. waiting for Tesco, two subs one of which S Sk milk instead of skimmed will go back.

Still raining. I wonder if our Vera has had any rain yet?

Morning all,

Been raining most of the night here. It started yesterday very very fine rain that hardly wet the ground but it started to really rain last night. Everywhere looks wet this morning but how far it goes down I don't know yet as Iv'e not been out yet.

Well one thigns for sure no gardening is getting done today and its windy here too.

Good morning all. grey here this morning but dry. Yesterday evening we had a shower that lasted about half an hour maybe even to an hour but I doubt it really did much good. Better than nothing though and maybe it did top up the water barrel.

When i went to my friends yesterday to see her garden full of containers, I loved the four containers she had with Agapanthus. The blue is lovely but my favourite was called firework. so pretty mottled blue and white.

Thanks Ann for your suggestions, I will bear those in mind. I will actually copy them onto a list I am keeping. I do have some large sedums in the garden.

Evening All,

It's been a bit muggy here today so I've stayed inside sorting through papers and doing the food order for tomorrow. OH went to a match at Retford which he really enjoyed.

As regards your pots AnnG, it depends on whether they will be in shade or not and how big the pots are I think. I have 3 pots with Hostas in that are near a north facing fence and apart from a little watering they have kept going strong for years. I have planted up shallower pots with a mix of different coloured house leeks (sempervivums) and slate or rocks and that looks effective. I put slate chips between the plants and that helps stop the moisture evaporating. I do it with my wall pots too. Lavender Hidcote would be a nice choice as it doesn't get too tall or some of the other Lavenders and would smell nice. The fleshy sedums would be good and have a lot of varieties flowering at different times. The butterflies love those. Mrs O has some of the taller ones in her front garden and they are still looking good. You could pop a few annuals like Mesembryanthemums between plants to give some temporary colour too. I'll see if I can take a few photos of my short alpine sedums tomorrow to send you. They are growing among the slate chippings and some have planted themselves in the gravel.

Mel that Gladdy is beautiful and I love the colour. You are lucky to have the deer and fawn visit you. Those apples are obviously a tasty treat for them but I hope they don't want too much in the way of a starter!!

There's not really any excuse for your scripts to be wrong is there. We have to request our scripts, but we can do it online now, although we have carried on dropping them at the surgery for now as I just feel something will go wrong. I think we have to allow 3 working days then before we pick our meds up from our chosen pharmacy.

Yes, everywhere does look brighter now it's clean Vera and I think nextdoor are going to get theirs done as they said they were impressed what care they took. they shovelled all the mess up and hosed down all the road so no-one would be taking the dirt up their own drives. I still need to wipe down some bits of the garage doorframe which is brown like the mud on it, but it's good the window cleaner is due next week as the windows could do with a better clean. I am wondering now whether it would be worth getting the drive sealed? Has anyone else done this and did it help keep it clean for longer? That was a nice lunch with your friends and good that the chef offered some salad to go with your F&C. I prefer garden peas to mushy ones given a choice but OH always goes for mushy ones.

It is actually raining hope it lasts a while

I don’t think you realise how large my compost bin is Mel. Imagine reaching into a large chest freezer it is about the same or ebp en deeper.. I will actually leave it for now they can live there I just will continue to make compost for next year in the other one. I don’t have the energy or strength to move it. I have probably used most of the compost in the one the hogs are in.

It may be a young one Anng although hogs noses are small on an adult hog. Can you not get an old big bucket and cut a hole in it and put that over hoggy and then move your compost bin somewhere else? You need a hog box!!! Think of all the slug and snails and beetles it will eat in your garden. Resident slug patrol..........

Just opened the top of the compost bin ans I am almost 100% sure I saw a tiny pointed nose in amongst the leaves so looks like there is a baby hog in there, no sign of Mum though I don't think we have any rates but I hope little one is safe. Mum is probably out somewhere eating.

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.