General Chat

Morning all,

It's 20 degrees here and we should get to 27 later so it's a day of keeping in near the fan I think , I have emptied the bin hung out more washing and got breakfast so I've done a bit , oh and opened up the greenhouse.

good morning all, I think I had at least 7 hours sleep last night with just a sheet over me. It is 13 degrees here at the moment which is nice for 8am, hope it is not going to be a sticky one today.

sorry it was another hot one for you Vera.

Good morning
It was a very hot and sticky night and it looks like another hot day. It’s 19 degrees already. I don’t think I’ll be doing very much today. Have a good day whatever you’re doing.

We also sometimes called them snapdragons. Annx, I had a mad moment earlier when I said argyranthemum was a Madeira Daisy. I meant Marguerite Daisy. I'd been talking on the phone earlier with someone who had mentioned Madeira and I think it lodged in my brain. AnnG is right, the garlic spray is meant to deter slugs and snails, particularly on hostas. Some of our hostas are hardly touched but others now have more hole than leaf. I thought it was worth a try. If we don't like it we'll get rid of it. It didn't cost me much, just 2 large bulbs of garlic and a bit of effort.

I'm now going to read Thursday's local paper online and then maybe have a nice wash before getting ready for bed

Evening all,
Phew it's been a scorcher today and it's going to get hotter , I've just had a nice shower to try and cool down but I feel hot again now .
Will go out later to water so hopefully we can cool off a bit .

We call them Snap dragons and I have a yellow one that has appeared in the half round garden ,there's another in one of the pots and it's looking like it might be a reddy orange colour .

I was looking at the norfolk Web cams and the one at Wells ,the people walking down the bank going to the beach they were like flies I have never seen so many people ,just hope on one gets cuts off when the tide turns .

I sat in crocheting this afternoon but Colin did sit out in the shade ,it was to hot for me, Max has been in too he doesn't like the heat .

Well better get this watering done ,i did get my tom plants all in the pots and dome ofcthe cue plants will soon want tying up .
.

I think the garlic spray is for slugs and snails. I did make it once before but after a while it smelt horrible.

Vera that is a long living plant that is great to have kept them going that long. I suppose you just have to wait now until your OH is ready to build the wall. Pity he has waited until late spring to do it.

We always called the snapdragons but I was aware they are often referred to as bunny rabbits.

Thank you Mel. We always called them Snapdragons as they would snap open and closed if you pinched the sides.I must look for the rabbit teeth this year. Also easier to type than Antirrhinums. I noticed some self set ones in the gravel at the side of the greenhouse I want to transplant and keep. I had a lovely orange one near the greenhouse and they might be from that or may be red looking at the foliage and which I also like. I know Argyranthemums as Marguerite daisies and they are lovely and longlasting in some lovely colours too. I haven't seen any lately where I've been. I've never heard the Grandfather/grandmother rhyme so perhaps it was more south of me.

My back, hip and knee have been playing up today. Someone parked close to me yesterday, so I had a struggle to get in my car. I had to twist half sideways, then duck my head low and to the left to clear the low roof and lay across towards the passenger seat, shuffling and trying to get my legs to follow me into the car while they were trapped between the door sill and door. I think I pulled muscles I didn't know I had and twisted joints too. Some enforced rest due to the heat might actually help.

What is your garlic spray good for Vera?

Better finish the food order next.

Still 18 here.

Our temperature has just dropped as well from 28 to 27!

Yes I think I mention once before about "Grandfather, grandfather, jump out of bed. We said Grandfather instead of your grandmother Vera. I shall have to show the little girl next door about these things and perhaps she'll carry them on.

Its just dropped from 20 degrees to 18 here as I have been typing. Sorry we've had a comfortable day again just right for working outside. I'll try and send some cooler air up to you lot. :-D

I still have all my agapanthus AnnG but I keep them in the back garden. They must be 20 years old now. If you don’t know argyranthemum it’s a sort of Madeira daisy and we put a couple of pots by the front door with a tallish grass in a pot. They just keep blooming till the first heavy frost. Usually I have 2 yellow ones out the front but this year I’ve got a yellow and a pinky red. Cuttings root fairly easily so you don’t have to keep buying new plants.

Mel, we always called antirrhinums bunny rabbits as well. Did you also squeeze the bottom of a convolvulus flower while saying “Grandmother, grandmother, jump out of bed”.? I wonder if modern kids still play those simple games.

At the moment we have quite a lot of bare earth in our couple of flower beds. I discovered today that OH wants to re-lay the 2 brick high little wall along them and doesn’t want to plant anything he’ll have to dig up. So we compromised and he has scattered wild flower seeds over the patches in the hope of getting a bit of colour there till he’s ready to do the bricks.

I made my garlic spray and ended up with 2 full pints. As you only dilute 2 tbsp in 5 litres of water it should last a while. Making it with all the downstairs doors and windows open means the house doesn’t smell much at all. I just hope it works.

It is very difficult trying to work out what to pack when it is 23 degrees here and 9 degrees there. :-D

It was argyranthemum by Vera's door not Agapanthus Anng.

Annx Bunny Rabbits are Antirrhinums we always called them that because if you squeeze the flowers sides it looks like a bunny rabbit with teeth showing. Its also easier to type than Antirrhinums.

I too am fogetting to copy and paste sometimes and it is so annoying is'nt it?

Well BIL came just as I was going round to the girls and also trying to mend the bird feeder the Woodpecker made a nbig hole in so the fat sticks kept falling out and it emptied in about haldf an hour. He gacve me some stainless steel wire he had given oh and I had cut round the other feeder it had destroyed and put that bit round the one I am useing. After that we had a walk through the orchard to look and see what daffs and places where the snowdrops had been to see if he could mow it all down and I said he could but not where the white bluebells are as he cut them last year too soon. I stood over them and he cut a circle round me so they are safe till next time he mows.

C & P

After all that mending the feeder and doing the girls I had missed the shop, it was 2.35pm and it closes at 2pm. So I hav'nt got my v paper either. I hope they save it for me as the new people are in the shop now.

I'm posting this before it disappears.

After all that he pumped the gun up for me.

Ice cream van had a long queue. Strange that people will still buy, paying a lot when they probably have ice cream in the freezer. I guess paying by card it doesn’t seem expensive.
Cheeky magpies Ann. Clever birds.

Afternoon All,

What a pain it is when you forget to C & P and then lose your post! I never learn!

It's 24 degrees here now, so noticeably cooler than where Vera is. We were up and at the shop before 9.00am before it got too hot and others obviously had the same idea. Sensible dog walkers were out as well before the pavements were burning hot for little paws.

That's a nuisance and not helpful you not being given any idea what the appointment for your OH is for Vera and why at Saffron Walden. Having to leave messages on answerphones seems to be the thing now, so I hope it is picked up and they phone you back on Tuesday.

When we got back I did poached eggs on toast with the last big tomato between us microwaved with pepper and garlic paste and mushrooms with the same browned in olive oil. Then I cut OH's hair for him and watered some of the plants I got yesterday. I noticed there is plenty of weeding needed from where we did it before and there's plenty more where we hadn't got round to yet. More of that nasty weed that fires it's seeds too, so I might spray that later when it's hopefully cooler. I've noticed it growing in several gardens on our side of the close, so it will probably be an ongoing battle with it now.

That's annoying when supplements go missing AnnG and I'm sure you are right about some people just taking the TV Guide out. That was good Cynth gave you one.

Mel what are bunny rabbits? I don't know how you manage to stay in the garden for hours as my back and knees won't let me. Did you just forget you were being phoned? I've never tried to set the alarm on my mobile yet, so set and keep my small alarm clock with me if I'm expecting a call or delivery. I'm more forgetful these days.

It's good you got something done moving your pots Vera. I have a feeling we may have a sackbarrow from clearing MIL's house buried somewhere in the rest of the garage to be sorted and cleared. I get what you mean about your OH getting in the way! Mine never looks behind him before he steps backwards and if he's in the kitchen doing something on the sink draining board, he stands covering the whole area so I can't get to the taps to rinse something as well.

OH noticed a pack of out of date nuts he left in the conservatory ready to put in the food waste yesterday were lying on the patio later in the day and had what looked like chew holes. I wondered rats and OH wondered Magpies? Today after lunch he heard rustling while he was watching TV and a Magpie was in the conservatory pecking at the birdfood bags in a box with our hats and gloves for the garden. It flew off, but a couple of hours later it was back and standing on the table in the conservatory. I've put the food in a carrier bag and inside the kitchen caddy we aren't needing to use yet and don't know where to keep it for now. Another was sitting on the fence, so I'm pretty sure they are the last year chicks that spent a lot of time in our garden.

The Red Kites seem to be thriving around here as we saw 6-7 on the way to the shop. Imagine the thermals lifting you to such great heights and being able to see as far as they can. I think maybe they were two families.

Vera, Cynth had forgotten to get her milk so she went back to a different shop (she said she had checked before and several papers didn't have the TV book. ayway she bought another paper for herself and has passed the TV paper on to me.

No more work today Vera you have done enough out there. I am supposed to be starting on the packing but I have no energy with the heat (23 now) so not a lot is getting done. There is always tomorrow and Monday.
Those agapanthus will be lovely by your door.

I wish it was that temperature here Ann. It’s 26 degrees and still expected to go up another degree or two. I also did an hour in the garden, smothered in sun cream and with a very unflattering hat jammed on my head. An hour was enough. I had to get our small sack barrow out to move some pots around and it was heavy work. One that is by the front door in the winter is now down the side of the house and two that were in the back with daffodils in are now by the front door with argyranthemum in. While I was doing this OH managed to plant 3 antirrhinums and get in my way ;-)

I managed to get another big duvet cover washed and that’s on the line now.

How annoying not to get your TV supplement with the DM AnnG.

What a performance your poor OH is having with the hospital Annx. How on earth would anyone less able than you two manage? I am concerned that we might be at the start of a saga after a phone call OH had yesterday. It was a man telling him that an appointment had been made for him in June at Saffron Walden. OH did get the chap’s name and phone number but that was all. We have no idea what the appointment is for and why Saffron Walden? I’ve never heard of anyone from this area going there before. OH rang back for more information but got an answering machine, he left a message but no-one has rung back. I hope someone rings on Tuesday or there is a letter in the post. OH had a brain scan about 6 months ago at our local hospital and we know it was sent on to a consultant at Addenbrookes. We think it might be about that. I suppose we will find out in due course.

I’m sitting in front of a fan while typing this and I don’t want to move but I suppose I had better go and see what’s happening about lunch. Getting our snack at lunchtime is OH’s regular job but it is so quiet that I think he might have dozed off.

18 degrees nw so not as hot as yesterday but still warm. I did an hour in the garden, finished off planting up the plants I bought but I got too hot so came in.

Aggravated now, I only get the actual daily mail on Saturdays and that is for the TV paper. Cynth picks it up with her shopping. today there is no TV paper. she said she thought the paper was lighter than usual. I can't moan as I could walk and get it myself but She knows I only have it for the TV paper. I guess people take the TV paper out.

Morning girls,

Its a bit grey here at the moment but its 16 degrees and pc says cloudy but temps to rise.

Just the usual this morning up the shop for the paper and then may do a bit in the garden and I need to water in the shed and on the patio. have veryy strong bunny rabbits come up on the patio in places I don't really want them but I hav'nt the heart to cut them off as they have flower spikes of two foot tall and will make lovely cut flowers. I think they will be yellow but I am hoping for a white one too. They are like the one in the pic Vera sent about what flower was it and said its too woody for an antirrhinum well mine are the same.

Good morning Ann, morning all
A hot, sticky night even with a fan going. My room is the warmest in the house. It’s 19 degrees already so it may be even hotter than yesterday. OH is out for a walk and I’m just going to put another big duvet cover in the wash. Stay cool and enjoy your day.