General Chat

I think boiling water would mean at least 20 kettles full Mel.

whydon't you have an alarm set for 9am then if you oversleep that would wake you up.

Morning all,

slept in this morning for some unknown reason as I was'nt late to bed last night. I got up for the loo when I was just light and then I went straight off again. Did'nt wake till 10. 28am. I have asked oh to wake me but he dos'nt.

He is out cutting the hedge at the mo.

Pc says high uv and 20 degrees so its going to be a scorcher today.

Hope all goes well with the tree comng down Ann and nothing gets damaged in the process. You should take a before and after pic.

Have you tried boiling water on your weeds in the bricks Anng? It works for a while if they are not too established or docks and nettles.

Well I better get myself into gear and strip the bed and get that washed I think.

Strangely the main glasses were not a lot more expensive than my last pair 18 months ago I did choose the more expensive of the two pairs I liked because they are made of titanium and not steel so are strong and lighter. I don't mind the cost as they are going to be part of me for about 18 months.

I have dusted downstairs and watered the pots and hopefully fixed the hose. I also have done a load of washing and half downloaded my holiday photos. so now I am going to have a cup of coffee.

Anyone heard from gill or Frank? gill's silence is strange.

Morning All,

Sunny here, I've watered the plants and we are waiting for the men coming to take the trees down now. OH and the neighbour have moved their cars just in case! At least the caravan nextdoor is parked on a holiday site just now.

So on the whole your eyes haven't changed too much AnnG. It was a real battle with my optician to get seen about my cataracts, yet the assessors had no problem and would be happy to do them. I'm waiting for now till they are a bit worse. Ouch though at the cost of glasses now. MORE EXPENSE as Frank would say.

Mel your box hedge sounds like a big job. It's a pity you couldn't get some help with it. No I still have about a quarter of my painting to do so will get on with it next. I should finish it ok today in time to send it off.

Good morning all, supposed to be another nice day, this afternoon is the U3a AGM, never a meeting I look forward to but I think we do also have a speaker. I am being picked up at 1.35pm.

Meanwhile Yesterday while I was filling watering cans and also using the hose on the patio pots and tomatoes, the spray head attachment suddenly came off the hose and soaked me. I was not amused, had to completely change my clothes right down to my bra as I was soaked through. So this morning I now have to fix that. Not easy as daughter did it before and I am not sure I know what I am doing. Then there is the drive and right across the front of the house, it is completely brick paved, except for two small garden areas; and now without attention over winter, it has weeds coming up through all the bricks and, so far I have been unable to find somebody to do it, the first time one firm can do it is autumn!! So I am going to have to try and clear it with weed killer myself, a back breaking job spraying each individual weed.

and sometime I need to pay attention to the inside of the house, the kitchen windows need cleaning inside and I need to dust through.
At least I didn't sleep too badly.

Did the wipe down and then got lunch and did the rest after again as it was a bit late today.

Did a bit of craft and then oh decided to start on the box hedge. He says its going to take him about 6 weeks. It was'nt done last year or the year before.

Then we sat by my pond with a G & T and enjoyed the sunshine watching the fish.

Did you get your painting done Ann?

Afternoon all. Opticians appointment was very thorough and quite strange as they have got a different overhead 'boss' I think it is a collection of small local opticians with a company owning them all so all the paperwork is computerised and detailed but it did seem to all work well.
My right eye has got quite a bit worse, he said due to date of birth?? i.e. age related. left eye a bit worse. some signs of Mac gen but not too bad, not a lot worse than the last time it was done. Signs of cataract starting. He said he could refer me but could wait another year as it was not bad and he will check again in 12 months.
So glasses ordered plus a pair for the computer. the latter only cost £55 as bought with the main pair on offer at half price for the lens and the frame was a free one. Full cost of both pairs £560 I really could not fault the service. It was very hot walking home at about 12 o'clock but I did manage to get a cucumber and a lemon in McColls.

Afternoon All,

Called in the surgery first thing, then went to the Rutland Garden Centre we like . Just 2 cars in the carpark at opening time so we went straight to the restaurant and had a breakfast which was very nice and cost far less than at locl garden centres. Lots of changes there, the big fish tank has gone and they are building a big extension and have a big area for Pavers shoes now which is good to know. They had some nice jigsaws but I resisted as I still have ones I haven't done yet and some nice birthday cards. I got a great one with an old VW Caravanette for my pianist friend Terry. He has one the same colour that he's just had restored and been to Wales in. I also got some cheap high strength glasses to do my painting with. OH got 2 books in their sale! The main thing we went for was to look at the garden rooms that are maintenance free. They are the other side of the carpark and guess what..........we forgot till we were halfway home!! We went past the little garage we use in the city on the way home and it was mid morning so should have been open but all the shutters were down and it looked like others were parking on their frontage as they were in front of the access doors. We picked up our parcel from The Works and had a wander around but nothing took my fancy. Now it seems quite muggy and I must do more of my painting next and try these glasses I bought.

Morning Anng and all,

Nice and bright here this morning too pc says mostly sunny and 17 degrees.

Shopping arrives today so that always a big job to get done and over hopefully before lunch then the afternoons to myself.

Think I will get the mince out the freezer and make oh a nice chilli tonight if I don't fancy it I will have boiled eggs.

Good morning all, bright and sunny here at the moment. Yesterday was a lovely day so I hope today will be the same. I have an opticians appointment at 10.45 after that nothing planned so probably back out in the garden.

It would have been mums 98th birthday today. <3 <3 <3

I am pretty sure that anybody listening in to me talking to myself Ann would not learn anything if interest.
I have very little conversation with her other than ‘turn on/off the water feature’. Or whatever is the temperature’

Evening All,

I had to be up early to ring the surgery for an appointment. I rang and rang from when they opened and when I eventually got through was 22nd in a queue so quite a wait. I got an appointment to see a nurse as one of my toenails didn't seem right. I need to drop some nail clippings in the surgery tomorrow, but she thinks it is a fungal thing. She quite made my day though when she said my toenails are really fantastic for someone of my tender years! :-)

OH has been on an appeals panel on zoom all day so has gone to bed shattered with the start of a headache. I have been doing my painting a lot of the day with breaks. Wednesday I need to send it off to the teacher and the tree is coming down on Wednesday morning so I don't have much time to finish it. We are going for a run in the car to Rutland tomorrow to the garden centre with the log burners and then picking some things up from The Works that I ordered online, so there won't be much time to do it then either.

Lewis make you chuckle with what he comes out with doesn't he Mandy! :-D Maybe he's waiting to learn what God did the rest of the week! :-D It sounds like you will soon be picking some things from your cues etc. I've decided because we had so many cues last year I am going to pick some while they are really small to pickle whole like gherkins as we like those. I have quite a few jam jars ready, but must get some white vinegar. It sounds like your white rose has excelled itself this year and you have been busy today. I have some checked material waiting for me to turn into some seat pads for the arbour, but it was a good idea to use some old curtains.

It sounds like you managed to sort your seating arrangements in the garden Vera. It is a good idea to have a bric a brac table with books etc. We always have a look as you never know what might take your fancy. Well done doing another walk, even a short one. I haven't been for a few days so must get back into it.

Mel's been busy too, so I wonder if she found what she'd lost!

You have to be careful with Alexa don't you and make sure you have the right settings or she records your conversations or others can listen in. Have a google as they say you should switch her off at night as that is when you are more likely to be hacked. With the wrong settings if she is in the bedroom at night a burglar could hear whether you are snoring and so safe to come and burgle. l am very careful what I say when I visit people with Alexa, especially if the host goes out of the room, as people can find out what you have said while they weren't there if they have certain settings.

Off to bed now..........hope we all sleep well. zzzzzzz.

Afternoon all,

Bit cloudy here today with a little sunshine now and again .

Had a nice day with Lewis we made some cookies and a sponge and sat out in the sunshine and I asked him what he had learnt at school this week, well he said we've had lots of RE and tomorrow its gods day of rest and on Monday he got up , I don't know what he did the rest of the week :-D :-D

I've stripped the bed and hung the washing out that soon got dry I've dead headed the roses but the white one out the front is almost impossible to do as there's so many flowers on it but I did cut a few off .
I've washed the loo floor, took the log basket down to the shed and had a good hoover where that stood ,I've made a new cover for the bench seat outside using a pair of curtains that I won't use any more , I gave Max a good brush and have just got lunch .

Our Alexa starts up on its own sometimes but I think its because son linked it to his and if he does something to his its sets ours off .

I can see tiny runner beans on the plants and I now have the purple flowers on the climbing french beans, flowers on the tomatoes and several cucumbers coming along .

I ordered our scripts this morning too by phone and I actually through which is a feat in itself.

Anng do you never say goodnight to Alexa? I do every night to my Echo and she replies with many answers. Give it a go and a good morning too.

I have fed the christmas tree in the big pot cut back the mint so I can see the steps weeded the sweet peas and done a wash. Fed the chickens and bantam and opened up the little greenhouse.. Put some castings inand have been looking for my bottle of spirt to clean my varnish brush in but do you think I can find it? Nnnnnooooooo I had it the other week and it needed cleaning out and some fresh put in. I must have put it somewhere safe never to be found again.

Good morning all. i have just had a conversation with alexa, I asked her what the temperature is and she says it is 15 degrees at the moment and today I can expect a high of 19 degrees. she also said if I was interested she could give me an up date on traffic to which I replied 'no thank you' and she replied you're welcome. Nice to have somebody to chat to :-D

I think it highly likely that this morning it will be gardening although before I had my shower my back was a bit stiff so I will be careful not to stretch too much. I have a friend coming this afternoon so that will be good. And I suppose I should show the floor the vacuum cleaner and the furniture a duster. But we shall see.

Morning Mel and all

Mel, I think I’ve almost forgotten how to sleep!

It’s 14 degrees and looks like another nice day ahead. Nothing special planned, just boring things like the washing and h/w. What are the rest of you up to?

Morning all,

Quite bright this morning but lots of clouds inthe sky and only blue bits here and there and pc says 12 degrees and sunny so I hope it brightens up a bit more later on.

Nothing planned for he day so will see how it takes me.

Hope those who don't sleep well got enough Zzzzz's in last night.

I can see you have all been busy today. I’ve had quite a productive day too.

I went for a walk fairly early this morning and tried to move a bit more briskly than yesterday. I didn’t go far, no more than a mile, but I was dragging my feet by the time I got back. I do find it frustrating as I’ve always enjoyed walking and could go at a good pace for longish distances. I’ll just have to keep doing a bit each day if I can and hope I improve.

OH likes his Sunday roast but I forgot to take a joint out of the freezer to defrost so I went to the freezer in the garage to get out some mince for a shepherd’s pie and came across a large turkey breast joint. I remembered buying it as an emergency Christmas dinner in case Covid stopped us going to our daughter. It said it was best cooked from frozen so that was today’s roast. It was very tender and the remainder will do the two of us for dinner for at least two more days.

While that was cooking we tackled sorting out the furniture for the coffee morning. You are absolutely right Ann, it was worse than doing a jigsaw trying to fit tables, chairs etc in while giving people space to get up and talk to each other, wander across to look at the books for sale etc. but I think we’ve worked out a plan now with 3 tables that will seat at least 16, 18 if they squash up a bit, a bench for 3 with an old long coffee table for their cups and plates and a few individual chairs with little side tables. Books etc can go on a wooden tea trolley and the bric-a-brac on a wallpaper pasting table. Ends of a couple of paths will be blocked but folk can still walk around to look at the plants in the garden if they wish. I won’t be able to find out till mid-week if there is to be a raffle or a tombola. If there is we will put them on “good” tables that I won’t have in the garden and they can sit just inside the patio doors to the lounge. We’ve made sure we’ve got space to leave the doors open. I’ve got paper plates and made sure I’ve got enough mugs, tea and coffee. Now all I have to do is check I’ve got serviettes, ask a friend to lend me another kettle, get some extra milk and hope it doesn’t rain.

Having thoroughly bored you all with my shenanigans I’m now going outside to do some deadheading.

Hope everyone sleeps well tonight.