General Chat

I bet that bluetit will think twice before investigating a drainpipe again. Poor little thing.

The painter left about 4.30 and has got on well today. All the ceilings have had 2 coats and he'll start on the walls tomorrow. He said it had been a great help that we had cleared so much out of the rooms as he could just sheet up what was left and get straight on and he had plenty of room to work. OH is not easily impressed but has said he is pleased with the chap's work.

Your OH sounds like mine Ann. I've always said that he breaks things because he's not thinking about what he is doing but his mind is running ahead to the next thing.

Yes, as I got a bit older I had Little Women, What Katy Did and Heidi. Books were always Christmas or birthday presents. There wasn't a lot of money for books otherwise, but I always belonged to the library and loved the Pony Club books and books like the Mallory Towers series. The only trouble with school stories was that the horrid prefect that no-one liked was so often called Vera :-(

EDIT The computer is telling me it's 10 degrees and cloudy. It's actually pouring with rain and has been falling down for some time.

poor little blue tit Mel

No I don't think the flame thrower would work against any weed like that Ann. it is mainly the little seedlings they work well on.

I spent about half an hour outside when I got back from the blood test cutting down more stuff. Gosh it is very windy but it is a warm wind. the bin is half full again now not due emptying for another week yet. stuff is growing very fast at the moment, as fast as I cut back the jasmine it grows again.

They have had that trouble with both oh and I and said we have deep seated veins. Rubbish I could always see where oh's vein is and the same with me. I have even had to have it taken from my left hand with what they call a butterfly. Whole back of hand goes bluey black after that.

Just been outside to put something in the dustbin and heard this strange noise and though I had a mouse in the paper recykling bag. Took that from behind the box and nothing there so listened and heard it again. Thinking it was a mouse in the weed bucket I gave it a kick and nothing!! I have put a six foot pipe against the wasll as it was onm the decking and I kept kicking it in the dark. Listened again and there is was so thought there must be a mouse in the pipe. Moved it along a bit with its end close to the ground and a feather came out!!!! lifted the pipe and out flew a very bedrangled blue tit. It must have been after spiders and fell down the pipe so its a warning to you lot don't leave a drain pipe with its opening free, cover it up.

My dad always read to me as a child and he also read a lot to my son. He said his gran read to him as a child so thats why he did it.

Morning All,

A bit showery here and 12c now. I can hear the binmen coming, but the window cleaner hasn't turned up. :-( OH is still out at a meeting, they seem to get longer what with extra traffic, roadworks and people turning up late. He'll be keen to be home soon as it's nearly lunchtime! lol

It's good the painters were on time Vera. OH has always been a bit clumsy and breaks far more mugs and glasses than me. In his case it's his lack of patience as his mind seems to always be running on to the next thing to be done instead of looking what he's doing. I've noticed a few chips on the new plates I got as he rams them into place in the cupboards when he unloads the dishwasher. I tell him to be careful but just get brushed aside and it goes in one ear and out of the other. I've even told him I'm going to get all melamine plastic picnic plates but he just laughs and never takes me seriously.

I looked and some of those flame guns online are quite cheap AnnG and I was surprised. I'm not sure they would be as effective against this creeping stuff that puts runners underground though, especially where it creeps under the block paving on the drive. The systemic weedkiller I used years ago stopped it in it's tracks. I hope your checkup and blood tests went well.

I don't remember those books either Mel. All I seemed to get at first were the Ladybird books, then Cinderella and Nicholas Thomas books and I had Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales too. I still have The Wise Robin, Nicholas Thomas and Cinderella. One book that scared me when I was a bit older was The Adventures of Toby Twirl. He sought his fortune in Giantland. The pictures of the Giants were horrid and one was Uncle Twoheads!!

Finishing my drawing/ sketch for class next.

Vera, yes for me it was in the forties probably 1946/7.

I can't remember what daughter and son read as little ones although they always had books. And still read a lot both kindle and proper books.
I was surprised yesterday as daughter emailed and said when I am down the free book stall could I look out for more books like the one I gave her to read to Inara. That was Amelia Jane is naughty again by Enid Blyton apparently Inara, who is six and two months read it herself and really loved it. I asked daughter if she could read the long words and apparently she would try and spell the words out and if she couldn't get it she would ask daughter.
Daughter thinks she has a reading age of 7 to 8.

Blood test done. that is the second time that they have been unable to get blood out of my left arm. All the years I have had it done (regularly until Covid then a 2 year break) I never had any trouble. But no trouble with the right arm. How strange.

The sun must have gone along to you Vera cos its gone here for the moment.

Yes Hans Christian Andersen and Grimes I had and of course Winnie The Poo and Alice in wonderland also Little Women when I was a bit older. I have a Winnie The Poo calender from years ago its still in its envelope which is a bit tatty now.

Waiting for a phone call and I hate that as you never know when its coming.

I had the man from Western Power Distribution call this morning and ask if he could walk down the side of our property and he said he would come back but he did'nt. He said they had sent helicopters over and wanted to check the power lines as I have a big box thing on our property which they have just cut our trees down round it.I had wondered what the helicopter had been flying around for as I had seen it twice. Anyway it must have been ok as he did'nt come back. It was probably to do with the trees out the back. I know Ralph had to clear a lot of his trees where the lines went from here over to the properties along the lane from the cross roads.

The computer is telling me that it is 13 degrees and mostly sunny. I haven't seen any sun so far this morning and at the moment it is raining. I think I'll stick to looking out of the window to find out what the weather is doing.

I loved the Mary Mouse books as well AnnG. You missed a treat Mel. I associate them with the 1940s as I would probably have been reading them between the ages of about 4 and 7, but I was surprised to learn that the last one wasn't published till 1964. I wonder what it was about Enid Blyton that made children love her books so much. Perhaps it was the simple language making them easy to read. Other favouriite books were Rupert Bear, Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Andersen stories. I also loved the Grimm's fairy tales although they could be a bit gruesome.

By my kid's day, things had changed though they enjoyed fairy stories, particularly my daughter. Son's favourites as a child were Where The Wild Things Are and anything by Dr Seuss. In my day it was always the printed word but the children had stories on records and tapes. A great favourite of both of them was The Whistly Hedgehog about a hedgehog who lost a tooth when eating some toffee and could only speak with a whistle through the gap where his tooth had been. My daughter also loved the music and the narration of Peter and the Wolf and I think we borrowed every version of that record from the library. I particularly remember the ones by Bea Lillie and Peter Ustinov but there were lots of others.

As you can see Mary Mouse has sent me off down memory lane. I blame Mandy ;-) If she hadn't sent the picture of Maisie Mouse I wouldn't have started thinking about the Mouse books.

It is so quiet here at the moment. We told the painter to put a radio on if he wanted but he seems happy working without any background noise. Both of us are upstairs on the computers at the moment. I'm trying to think of things I can do which won't interfere with Mr Painter, I don't want to hold him up at all by getting in his way. I've changed the bedding but it will have to wait till the end of the week to be washed. OH made us a cup of tea and now I'm twiddling my thumbs. I haven't seen the last episode of Shetland yet so I could catch up with that on my iPad and I'm halfway through one book and have several others waiting but I think I am programmed to do tasks in the morning and it always seems wrong to be doing other things before lunch.

Ooh, I've just seen a gleam of sun. Perhaps I'll go and wander round the garden and see where plants OH has just ordered will go.

Forgot to say it rained over night here and we have a north westerly wind this morning and pc says 15 degrees with a pic of the sun with a cloud over it. Local says about the same with a high of 15 degrees.

I have been outside fishing leaves out the big pond for half an hour.

Mary mouse books I don't remember but my dad would read me a book that was printed in line drawing and only red as a colour. I don't know what it was called but I can remember one line that went " Up and up drove the big red lorry, off fell the pots and pans". I can see the picture in my minds eye now of a flat backed truck and all these sausepans and thing dropping of the back. It always made me laugh when we got to that bit. The other books he would buy me were the Noddy books by Enid Blyton and Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales.

I have a little flame gun oh bought me and its great, so light to use and it takes those cans of gas but the only thing is it dos'nt like it if its a windy day. In fact he bought me two as I had trouble starting the first one so he bought another and that was great.

Mum always made lavender bags and so did I when I was young. I still have a nice tin of lavender that I have added to over the years. We used to make them for fetes and guide dogs for the blind. I still have some she made and they still smell ok.

Morning all,

I have to read yesterdays post first!!!. You've all been busy posting .

First though Little Maisie is adorable you clever girl Mandy. You are such a neat knitter.

Morning AnnG and all

It’s much the same weather here. Looks like it’s going to be showery/drizzly all morning.

The day didn’t start well. OH dropped a glass which shattered and went everywhere. That’s the third glass he’s broken recently, along with a couple of mugs. He’s becoming very clumsy. The painter arrived at 8.30 this morning, dead on time, so I’m pleased that he was punctual. He said he would need 3 days so I won’t be able to do much for a while.

I hope your annual check and bloods are all good AnnG.

good morning all. rained overnight a bit and still drizzling now. But 11 degrees so warmer than it has been. Annual checkup and blood test this morning.

Oh I used to have the Mary Mouse books for Christmas, I loved them.

Mary Mouse - that was her name. Thank you Gwyn :-D

That's a good idea too Mandy and I think we have a couple of blowlamps somewhere in the garage. I'm not keen on using things like that though since I had trouble lighting a Tilley lamp years ago and it became engulfed with flames after pumping it up. I sold it at a car boot sale in the end.

I was thinking of you moving your furniture around today Vera. It's emptying and moving all the bookcases here that would be a nuisance. I dread what I will find too when I move my lounge cupboards and they will be much the same with webs and dead things. Nothing got moved or cleaned properly during the heatwave but I like to clean under everything in the lounge before Christmas. At least you are all ready now and have got your washing done. Is the painter coming early?

A few subs I didn't want in the order like fishcakes with salmon that is smoked so I'll get a refund for those and will manage with the other things. The drivers seem to get worse and today's who I have never seen before.

Looking forward to Frozen Earth again tonight.

Vera, Your post stirred a distant memory about children's books.
Was the mouse perhaps called Mary?

I don't usually go for Wiki sites, but may be something here will help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mouse

Bread and pullit was on the menu in our house too ;-)

Sometimes an alternative was bread and cheese and an onion.
"A hot dinner with no cooking ".

Maisie is a real cutie Mandy and I just love the little sneakers. You are so clever. You’ve reminded me of some books I had as a child. They were very small. My memory may be at fault a bit but I think they were only about 4” x 2”. Each page had a couple of pictures with a few words underneath and they were about a mouse. I think she was called Maisie as well. Does anyone remember them? I’ve googled but haven’t come up with anything.

Bread and pullit, Mel, that’s another blast from the past. It was my Mum’s stock answer whenever we asked “What’s for dinner?”.

Two loads of washing done, dried and put away. There’s only a couple of bits that need ironing. The house is all ready for the painter now, though I may never find anything again. OH moved the grandfather clock in the hall and a corner unit in the kitchen by himself and we moved the big, heavy sideboard between us. You should have seen the number of dead flies and all the muck underneath them. I felt quite ashamed but they all fit close to the floor and you can’t get anything underneath them to clean.

It’s not been a bad day but it’s cooling down now . The forecast for the next few days looks quite autumnal. Perhaps we’ll have a lovely Indian Summer in October.

If we have some weeds come through the brickweave or slabs Colin uses his paint blow torch to burn them which works just the same as a flame thrower :-D

We're catching up with some Chateau diy and I'm doing my knitting I have to keep saying pattern row don't talk to me .

Mandy she is so cute and her clothes are great. and the shoes too, thanks for the photo.

Talking of Photos, that was a good idea of Vera's about cancelling me from your contacts. Wait a day or so then try re-adding you could try using a different name for me (make one up).

Ann Those flame throwers are quite efficient, I only had a short try when Andy was here and they dealt with some weeds better than others. they are really like a much larger and more powerful version of the type you can buy to light a gas hob or barbecue (or candle). you can apparently buy them on line.

Mandy she's fantastic! I love her patterned dress and all the shoes. Can't wait to see the mouse if you do that next. :-D