General Chat

Evening All,

I slept well last night and we were up early again to be at the factory shop 17 miles away for opening time. I got some trainer socks as long jeans on my walks will soon be too hot for me and I needed some socks that don't show. I use those gel heels in my trainers to save jarring on my knees and socks keep them in place. I got a couple of non stick baking trays and 5 Finish dishwasher cleaners that were £1.50 cheaper so that was good. They had some nice tops in too but I resisted, as I have plenty and have only recently had a clearout and found breathing space in the wardrobes.

It has been cold here too today Mel. We both agree with you about the TV progs. OH always complains about them doing it with sports too. Some on SKY, some on BT Sports, that sort of thing. I like those 2 progs too and I expect Mandy is watching the Great British Sewing Bee as well.

What kind of vaccine did you have for the 4th one Vera? Was it different to the others you had? It's a nuisance your arm is so sore this time, but as you say, best to be protected. It sounds like your chiropodist is busy now with people like yourself having had to wait while she got sorted out with premises. At least you have an appointment now. I hope you don't have to wear open toed sandals nearer the time! Yes I was worried about the results, as there was a risk it was something serious and also might have been something that had spread from elsewhere. I feel much less worried now and able to get on with other things.

It was the first painting session this afternoon and I didn't recognise any of the other 11 people. We have a set of coastal photos to choose from for our homework, so I've started sketching one. The teacher isn't too fussed about them being accurate replicas as he wants us to concentrate more on blending the paint and really looking at the colours. I need to get used to looking for the hints of colour he seems to find!

That's a nuisance you have covid now AnnG. Maybe you were positive a few days ago as you didn't need to test with staying away from people? If you remember I had cold symptoms and didn't test positive till about 3 days after OH. Despite being so careful once I new he had it I expect I'd already caught it from him a day or two before he tested positive and was just incubating it. I just had a cold, sore throat, aches and tiredness, but OH had a headache and cough mostly. A friend and her OH who are just back from a holiday have it now and she was poorly enough to spend a day in bed. It sounds like you are getting a bit better now, but we were really tired for a while so don't try to do too much. My Cobra beans are about 6 inches tall now and have much smaller leaves than the runners. I just planted mine in one of those 6 section plant trays about 3 inches high. They could probably do with potting on or planting out if I protect against frost. It was a nice idea to have the memorial pot for T in your happy place.

When we called at the chemist for our prescriptions yesterday, there were some items missing for both of us, so we have another trip there tomorrow. I'm thinking they don't hold much stock these days and just order it in when they get the prescriptions.

I bet your Clematis from Aldi was a good price Mandy and the purply red will give a nice splash of colour. Do they have many plants for sale yet? You are right about lists of jobs......but I still do it from force of habit! lol. :-D

I'm off to bed now and will leave OH to watch the Leicester City match........I think it is them. Hope you all sleep well.

Yes Mel I knew it was not to prevent it but it is still a surprise when it doesn’t, it must make you feel really rough if you have not been vaccinated this cold has been nasty.

That'll be nice to have the memorial pot in your happy place Anng. Sorry you have caught covid after all the precausions you took to stay safe. We were always told the vaccine would'nt stop us getting it only to not get it so badly.

It was too cold togo outside this morning but the sun is out now and pc says 15 degrees but the winds still very cold. Not sure if I shall go out or go back to my crafts. I had a little go this morning after feeding the chickens and bantam.

Not sure if I told you this but I now have two bantam eggs a few days apart so the old girl can still deliver the goods. She must be at least 12 years old as I had her before mum died and that was 12 years ago this October.

Why are they putting all the programs I like on netflix and other channels you have to pay for? If I paid all the subs for them I would be paying out a fortune. They don't seem to be putting on anything of the kind of things I watch lately. The only thing I look forward to at the mo is the great Tiny miniature challenge and Gentleman Jack. They have put Sanderton's second series on Netflix so I cna't see that nd other things I would like to see too. I watched the Outlander up to season 5 and now season 6 is on Starz at £5.99 a month. It all adds up but our pensions don't go up by the cost of living.

that last sentence made me smile Vera.

cough has almost completely gone and sneezes and blocked nose not so bad. Feel wiped out because of lack od sleep but also I have discovered today, despite testing negative twice, today I did a test (bearing in mind it is about 8 days since I first had the cough and cold,) and believe it or not I tested positive. I have cancelled my hair appointment on Saturday, even though by government advice I would be ok to go as not so infectious as long as I wore a mask. I will hope to get another appointment for next week. The moral of my tale is obviously that the vaccination is not a preventative. and despite all the precautions we took, if living in the same house it is highly likely you will get it.

This morning I planted 6 Cobra climbing French beans in pots in the conservatory. Planted two strawberry plants in a large container on the patio , potted on a few Rudbeckia and planted up a fuschia I bought into the pot that had some of T's ashes in the base, his memorial pot for my happy place. It is a new one to me and it is called 'Vera'. But it is really cold out there so I am not doing any more today. ooh the sun has just popped out.

It's good to see you are OK Ann. It's always worrying when you are waiting for results and appointments but it sounds as though the results you have so far are encouraging. I am looking forward to seeing your paintings again. I always enjoy getting them.

I hope your cough/cold clears up soon AnnG and you start to sleep a bit better. I didn't sleep well either as every time I turned over in my sleep my sore arm woke me. I do still have a lump and a large bruise which I never had with previous jabs and I also had quite a bad headache last night but, as I get headaches anyway, I don't know if it was a side effect of the jab or just coincidence. Still, a bruise and a headache are a small price to pay for the protection.

I just rang the chiropodist in her new premises to make an appointment for next week but she is so busy that the earliest I can get is 17th May. I'll be growing talons by then.

It's just brightened up a little bit and there is a gleam of sun but I don't think it's going to last. It's supposed to be 11 degrees but it feels much colder. I'm just going to have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch and then I'm not sure what I am going to do this afternoon. There are plenty of things I could do but nothing that I have to do. That's a good position to be in but I shall probably spend so long deciding what to do that I'll end up doing nothing much.

Gosh its really cold out there today and the winds coming from the east and its like a wind tunnel out the front so I shan't be going out there today.

Morning Anng and all,

Bit of a grey day here this morning and its 7 degrees and pc says sunny but I don't know hwere thats come from cos its definately not.

I forgot it was Wednesday yeterday and after I posted about dinner oh came out and said you know its 20 past 6. It was time for me to go and collect the F & C so I did'nt have to cook yesterday but must remember to get some thing this morning for tonight dinner. Think I am going up the wall at times.

Nothing planned for the day except I do have to go and get deisel at some point.

Good morning all. 5 degrees out there apparently, sort of misty bright. My garden could do with a shower.

I didn't sleep well last night, laid awake for ages then when I went to sleep woke up coughing, even though I didn't cough much at all yesterday. Then I ciykdn't breath because my nose was blocked.

I will try and pace myself like I did yesterday, do some potting on and potting up plants bought and leave the heavier gardening/weeding until this cold is better.

Those of you who have planted the cobra beans. Do they roott deeply? I am trying to decide how many I need to plant and in what container.

gosh Ann you have been a busy girl.We thought you must be busy as its not like you not posting. We were worried you were not well but I thought you said you had tests and things to get done.

Were you pleased with your results or disappointed?

Evening All,

Here I am! I have just been very busy and had sleepless nights worrying about the results of the tests and scans. Monday I had the eye assessment about my cataracts and a few people were late due to an accident on the M1 that had caused a 9 mile backlog. They wouldn't see us out of order so we had to wait till they arrived and they were seen first. It was freezing there and where we sat between the tests the aircon was blowing down on us. It was a private hospital, but mine was an NHS referral and it was top notch there on covid protection. We were even told to keep the pen we used to sign with and there were reminders on the double doors not to try and pass anyone in the doorways. My optician was doubtful they would even consider doing them for me as she doubted they were bad enough, but nothing could be further from the truth. They consider the effect on your quality of life, not on how bad the cataracts are! They did say my eyesight is good though, well within driving limits and as good as the the ophthalmologist's who was testing it as she said she could only see 3 rows on the eye chart like me! I think my eyesight must have been particularly good once though as I used to be able to reel off all 6 lines of the chart, so I'm bound to notice a big difference. We both agreed that my hobbies like photography, painting and fine beadwork have made it much more noticeable for me. They are still more than willing to do them for me, but there are risks and you can end up with sight no better or not as good, so I am thinking about it for a few days. Even if change my mind in 6 months or a year, they said they would still do them with a referral again so that was good.

Yesterday I saw an endocrinologist at a city hospital. It was like the Marie Celeste in this part of the old hospital, not a soul about till I found the place I needed to be. The upshot is that the small mass on an adrenal gland doesn't look worrying, hormone levels and blood tests were normal. They haven't had the more detailed second scan results yet though and I have to have more blood tests and another 24 hour urine collection to test, so another big bottle! She will see me again in another 2-3 months and if there are no changes, they will just do another scan in 6 or 12 months to be sure. Apparently with doing more scans these days they are finding more people have them.

We decided to pop to the quiet garden centre at opening time this morning and I got some million bells and some leek plants and a Rhododendron that won't be too big according to the label and size of it's leaves. It has cream edged green leaves and red flowers so is quite pretty. Now I need to decide where to put it. As there was no-one in the cafe, we decided to have a 6 item breakfast, but just like everything else, the price had gone up a few pounds.

I ordered the new freezer when we got home. I wanted one the same as the previous one we got, but they were sold out at quite a few places. (people buying them because of expected food shortages I wonder?) Anyway I did find one in stock and it's being delivered next Wednesday. I then spent an hour on the phone hanging on and then sorting out why I couldn't get into one of my accounts online. Now I have to use a different browser for the site! We went for the usual walk then and saw a squirrel that seemed very tame along the Long Walk and there is a sweet family of ducklings now in the pond behind the ice house. I heard them chirping before I noticed them down the bottom end of the pond and they all came up to us with their parents. I must take my camera next time and get a snap.

Then I had to sort out getting the longer sticks to slide the new blinds with as we haven't heard from the fitter who is supposed to have ordered them a month ago. They should arrive within a week.

Painting starts tomorrow but the teacher won't release the choice of pictures till midnight tonight. The subject appears to be 'the coast' so it could be more practice doing water. I wonder if I will see anyone from last time?

I'll catch up tomorrow as I'm off to bed now.......OH went a while ago.

Evening all,

It's been 11 degrees here today but it feels a lot colder ,we planted the runners this morning and had quite a few over so I bagged them up and hung them out the front at a pound a bag and two bags went quite quickly .
I went shopping after lunch and Aldi had some lovely Clematis so I came home with one ,a nice purpley red , I had to wedge it in the front footwell in the car and had my handbag at the side of it to stop it going over .

Perhaps Ann has Internet trouble as it seems very odd that she hasn't posted since about the 22nd so I do hope that's what it is .

Anng we use to have a running list of jobs to do but it was never ending as no sooner had we ticked some off more got added to the bottom lol so now we just decide what we're going to try and do each day .

Mel I take it your OH is feeling better now as he's back to doing some jobs again ,you'll have to get some photo's of your fish we haven't seen them for a while I expect they have grown quite a bit since we last saw them.

Vera hope you enjoyed your little trip out to have a cuppa and chat with your friend today, i expect it was to cold to sit out though.

Been out in the garden all afternoon and have tied up the clematis in the big tubs out the front and pulled all the old leaves off the wild ferns out there and its taken me all afternoon I have a huge barrow load to tke over the bonfire but its starting to look tidyier out there. Next thing is to sweep it all and get up the rest of the old leaves off the achemilla mollis which grows right along the front of the bungalow.

It came over grey this afternoon and the wind is really very chilly so I had my fleece hat on and a big old coat with pockets for my scecs, scissors and gloves. I now have a nice backache so I am sitting here with a hto cuppa.

Its good you have had your fourth jab Vera but not nice to have that lump and bruise but you'll feel safer when you go out now.

Now I have to find something for dinner tonight as I forgot to get something out of the freezer this morning.

We’ve both had our fourth jab now and I have a lump and a blue bruise to prove it.

It’s still very grey here and I’ve just looked on the iPad at the forecast for the next few days. Apparently we might get a few sunny intervals next Monday! At least it’s dry, though the farmers round here are desperate for rain.

it is saying ot is 10 degrees here but it is very dull with a cold breeze and doesn't feel like ten. I have just done another three quarters of an hour out there and it is quite cold. I have 'found' the sweet peas I planted before we went away and sorted them out and weeded around that part bu the fence but one of the penalties of growing wild flowers is you can't weed until the seeds grow. Next job is to sow my Cobra bean seeds. I think I might have them in the conservatory.

Oh yes I remember that Vera. I don't think anyone reads that board now.

So now not only gill and Frank missing but Annx too.

You are right about the thread being slow AnnG, but it's not just this one. Do you remember when you, me, Jane and Gill among others were regularly posting on the gardening and the wildlife threads. They have pretty much ground to a halt now. I wouldn't like to see this one go the same way. When my OH was taken ill abroad and I had to try to get help for him and get him flown home everyone on here was so supportive and it was such a help to me to be able to offload some of the problems on here. I think the pandemic has not helped. At times there hasn't been much to write about.

I hope Ann is OK. It's not like her to be missing for so long.

How lovely to see the wagtails Mel. It was sensible for us to move near town when we did but I do miss the birds and other wildlife we used to see in the very rural little hamlet where we used to live.

After lunch we are going to a friend's for an afternoon cuppa. I hoped we could sit in her garden this afternoon but it is another grey day here and not all that warm. We have to leave her about 4 pm and go straight to the surgery for our 4th Covid jabs.

Enjoy the rest of your day whatever you are doing.

How lovely Mel. What a lovely place you live in you see so many lovely things.

I have just spent an hour and a half re-oganising the greenhouse and put a small occasional (very rough) table out there from the conservatory that gives me a bit more room on the bench. So later on I will go and prick out some rudbeckia seedlings,

I have bought two strawberry plants. Can they go outside now or should they be protected?

this thread is very slow these days. I was just thinking back to when I joined and there was Gill with all her tales of Sandra, Frank with his stories of his family and Ros, lovely much missed Jane who made us all laugh with her sense of humour as well as Vera, Mandy Annx, Mel and myself. Now sometimes there are only four of us on here, sometimes five. I have to say that the thread played a huge part in keeping me going the last 18 month (thanks Mel), I would hate to see it disappear. We have lost so many people on Genes, I have been on here 19 years now (joined 2003) it has been a big part of my internet life.

I was just dusting the spare room and glanced out as I saw a flash. It was Willy wagtail and the Mrs. who was presenting herself to him with her tail right up in the air. He fluffed himself up and put his wings down and did a little dance around her three times and then mounted her. I have never seen that before and it was so lovely to watch I could go and get the camera incase I missed it.

No plants in the conservatory now Mel so that may be the answer but it does get really hot in there, unlike the greenhouse which is shaded by the shed. I will have to have a sort out and a think.

Morning Anng and all,

Nice and sunny here this morning and its 8 degrees at the moment.

Went off to sleep the moment my head hit the pillow last night and have just got up and made my coffee.

Anng do you have plants in your conservatory too? Perhaps a little space on the windowsill for your plants?

I have nothing planned for today but oh may have something planned for me!! to do with the pond perhaps. He's gone back to bed for a while as he was up very early this morning as usual.