General Chat

Yes, we've had a lovely afternoon Jane, again lots of chat about our times in Oxford. I'm sure we had better summers then as I can remember going punting and swimming in the river and sitting outside the pubs we frequented!!
Nothing else to look forward to this week unless M comes, but I think that'll be in a week or two The weather doesn't look very good but hopefully we can get on the garden and the unending weeding!
Hope you have a good time away Jane.

good evening all

Not so warm here today but still no rain.

Managed to get Ruby's tablets down her today. The first two I hid in her first meal which took her a while she didn't trust me and was inspecting every bit but after quite a while it was all eaten. We had Coq au vin for dinner so I wrapped both tablets in the skin , Richard gave them to her as she trusts him. She has also done a pooh so I am a happy bunny now,

Nigel who lives opposite us and his wife Helen have just returned home after a month's holiday in Turkey at he end of this week they are off to Cyprus for another month, He works for Waitrose like Paul and is part of the transport team, because he has worked there for 25 years they have given him a six month sabbatical fully paid. John Lewis staff also get this benefit

Liz we aren't going until next Monday ,so I have a few days yet toy see what the forecast is and decide what kind of clothes to pack :-D No doubt far more than I need though :-D
Reminiscing with your friends would have been so nice .All those memories from younger days :-D :-D

Mandy don't mention Pigeons . Dirty devils, they poop everywhere here :-S The patio is splattered :-| :-|.We have to tiptoe and make sure nothing comes in on the bottom of shoes !!! I think tomorow the patio will have to be hosed down.They make such a mess and the bird bath has been used as a toilet again :-S We could do with Max here :-D :-D
The Blackbird is kicking off again which means Thomas is around somewhere.

Dinner tonight is Chicken Breasts with a Chorizo and Rosti topping and lots of veg.If anyone wants anything extra there is a French Stick . I don't actually feel very hungry at the moment so might just dish Chris and James's plates up first.
I just want my bed LOL ... After a cloudy day we now have clear skies.

Oh I see Jane I thought you were off again tomorrow!!
Our roses are coming out and they are looking a 'proper picture'!! the veg are doing well too, so all the hard work should have been worth it!
Glad Ruby is better Anne.
Time for the Chateau now!

Anne I am so pleased tht Ruby has had her pills today and has been. It will put your mind at rest now she has.

Its been really hot here again today with plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze.

We get our Frank back and then lose our Jane again. Its not fair......... Jane take your password with you this time and then you can pop in.

I have to clean our bird bath out nearly every day as you say they poo in it. Dirty little beggers then you see another one come along and have a drink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Car goes in tomorrow for the cam belt to be done and then I shall feel safe again. Poor old girl is getting old like her owner.

I am home. Speak later in the morning

Nice to see you back safely Frank. Hope you had a lovely holiday. :-D
Early birds again today as we are busy tidying up the big barn while the weather is still good.
Here's Cas and I can smell toast and coffee!!

Morning All,

O good our boyfriend is back safe and sound. Welcome home Frank we all missed you so much.

I expect you have lots of news to tell us about your holiday.

Nice day here once again and I have to get my car in the garage today to have its cam belt done. Its a big job as the water pump has to come out so its going to take a while to do.

O I said its a nice ay and now its clouded over a bit.

Must rush so speak later too.

Morning all

I'm finally back on here, my Internet has been down and it feel like forever so I'm pleased I can join in again. OH and I have been so busy over the past week. The front fence is in and painted and now we've decided to come down the side between us and Mr Grumpy next door. You could of knocked me down with a feather the other day. There was a gap between the front fence and his hedge so when I saw him in his front garden I politely asked him what he wanted us to do about it. I thought I'd ask rather than just go ahead filling it in with it being on his side. Anyway he was very nice about it and after a bit of a chat he agreed to go halves on the side fence. Of course OH and I are doing the work which obviously he isn't paying for so I suppose that's why he agreed. He even said we could go onto this garden for access and even put our rubbish on his front garden until OH can take it down the tip. It's made it so much easier for us to do the job so no complaints there.

All our neighbours have helped with various things like wood and tools and we have had so much advice on how to get all the levels from people passing by. There was even one older man who lent us a few things and apparently he lives in my late aunt's house (small world isn't it) so all in all although it's been hard going it's not been to bad.

OH is out today so no gardening for me as it took us almost all day to cut down a 50 foot tree yesterday and I'm a bit sore today. The tree was blowing into our phone line, so we had to be careful when we cut the top it didn't fall straight onto it and break it. One of our neighbours had a very long cutting device (sorry don't know the name of it) which, although quite hard to use, did the job nicely. We've left quite a bit of trunk at the bottom for now as I'm using it to keep my large plants out of the way so we can put the side fence in, then once that's done we can take the remaining part of the tree away. The same neighbour is bringing his chain saw around on Friday to cut away what's left of another tree trunk as it's right on the boundary line so we can't put a fence panel there, so all in all we're getting there, but I think it's going to be quite a while yet before the fence is up, then of course I'll have to start from scratch making a nice front garden as we've had to take all the plants out away from the boundary so we can put the fence in. So that's my news so far.

I see you're back on the thread Ann, I'm so pleased I've really missed you.

I haven't read any posts yet apart from Jane's first one the day she came home, the hotel sounded a right place Jane, but what good luck not having to pay for the drinks, that was quite a substantial amount of money you saved there. Love the photo, what a wonderful view.

I'm going to catch up with a few programmes with Sandra as she is waiting for me, then I'll read all the posts properly later and post again. I see Frank is home safe and sound. Looking forward to hearing all about his holiday.

See you all later.

I am pleased your all ok Gill. I did wonder why we had'nt heard from you but I thought you must have been busy doing the garden.

Good afternoon my lovely ladies xxx

To say the least, we had a fabulous holiday. The villa Conrad rented was great. The only drawback was that behind us they were building another six villa's So when we were home we had to contend with the builders working through the day.

The weather was beautiful with the exception of one evening when the heavens opened and we had flooded roads. It happened to be the night that Conrad and I went to lock up a show house, and get an Indian Takeaway. As I got out of the car I trod in 6" of water, good job I had sandles on and not shoes.

On the first evening there, I bit into a piece of meat and my bottom plate broke, so I was without me teeth for the whole holiday. Ros will take them to be repaired tomorrow when she goes for her appointment. Talking of which, she has her hospital appointment for her operation. She has to ring at 6.00 am Friday to confirm a bed is available. Then she will have to be on the ward by 7.30 am. Carolyn will take her in. We are not sure how long she will be in hospital, if it's longer than a day, I will get someone to take me in to visit. When she comes home the fun will begin. She has to do NOTHING for SIX WEEKS. The heaviest thing she can lift is half a kettle of water. I can't think for one minute she will be the ideal patient, but I will just have to wait and see. I'M IN CHARGE !!!

Conrad gave us a bit of a scare, he won't have a wallet, so his cash and credit cards are secured by an elastic band, and in his rear pocket. He had drawn out 600 euros from the bank, and that evening we went out to eat. The next morning he said he thinks he had lost them, only to find two days later, Jan went to a bag for something and there laid his Credt cards and euro. He had thrown them on the bed, where this bag happened to be, and his cards and money must have gone into the bag.

This morning I managed to cut both lawns, and hang out a line of washing. The Bl@@dy line came away from the hook, and the whole line of washing ended up on the lawn. I found strength I didn't know I had, and pulled the line of washing up and managed to hook the line back in place. To say the least I ache all over now.

I trust you are all keeping well and healthy, I haven't read your postings, but will try to read the last couple of pages later.

Time for a bit of lunch. Ros has gone to have her nail varnish and whatever the girl uses taken off, as she has to have it all off before she goes into hospital.

Roast pork for dinner tonight, first for two weeks. !!!!

Good afternoon my lovely ladies xxx

To say the least, we had a fabulous holiday. The villa Conrad rented was great. The only drawback was that behind us they were building another six villa's So when we were home we had to contend with the builders working through the day.

The weather was beautiful with the exception of one evening when the heavens opened and we had flooded roads. It happened to be the night that Conrad and I went to lock up a show house, and get an Indian Takeaway. As I got out of the car I trod in 6" of water, good job I had sandles on and not shoes.

On the first evening there, I bit into a piece of meat and my bottom plate broke, so I was without me teeth for the whole holiday. Ros will take them to be repaired tomorrow when she goes for her appointment. Talking of which, she has her hospital appointment for her operation. She has to ring at 6.00 am Friday to confirm a bed is available. Then she will have to be on the ward by 7.30 am. Carolyn will take her in. We are not sure how long she will be in hospital, if it's longer than a day, I will get someone to take me in to visit. When she comes home the fun will begin. She has to do NOTHING for SIX WEEKS. The heaviest thing she can lift is half a kettle of water. I can't think for one minute she will be the ideal patient, but I will just have to wait and see. I'M IN CHARGE !!!

Conrad gave us a bit of a scare, he won't have a wallet, so his cash and credit cards are secured by an elastic band, and in his rear pocket. He had drawn out 600 euros from the bank, and that evening we went out to eat. The next morning he said he thinks he had lost them, only to find two days later, Jan went to a bag for something and there laid his Credt cards and euro. He had thrown them on the bed, where this bag happened to be, and his cards and money must have gone into the bag.

This morning I managed to cut both lawns, and hang out a line of washing. The Bl@@dy line came away from the hook, and the whole line of washing ended up on the lawn. I found strength I didn't know I had, and pulled the line of washing up and managed to hook the line back in place. To say the least I ache all over now.

I trust you are all keeping well and healthy, I haven't read your postings, but will try to read the last couple of pages later.

Time for a bit of lunch. Ros has gone to have her nail varnish and whatever the girl uses taken off, as she has to have it all off before she goes into hospital.

Roast pork for dinner tonight, first for two weeks. !!!!

Afternoon Everyone
and Hello Stranger :-D :-D.. It s good to have you back again Frank.It has been soooooo quiet without you for a fortnight !!!!
I am glad you had a smashing time ,just a bit of a shame about the building going on behind the appartment .Was it very noisy? and Dusty? Fancy Conrad just using a band to keep his money and bank cards wrapped !!!.Good job it wasn't really lost. Does he not like wallets because they are bulky? You can get super slim ones now mainly for cards and just a few notes. I bought James one for his Birthday and it takes no room in a pocket. Much safer than having an eastic band !!!.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for Ros when she rings the hospital on Friday and that there is a bed available for her.It will be awful if it has to be cancelled.She will find it so hard to not do anything much for 6 weeks.I can see her dishing out the orders Frank :-D :-D.She will have you on garden duty :-D
She isn't going to like having no nailvarnish on for a while LOL .I bet that will be her first appointment for when she gets out of hospital :-D :-D

Crumbs Gill a 50 foot tree !!!!!!! How on earth did OH ?you manage to get that down??? That is high!!!!!. So Victor Meldrew has offered to pay for half and allow you to put the rubbish in his garden :-D :-D. I bet you almost keeled over with shock LOL
Had been on the happy pills :-D

I had noticed you werent on the thread but remembered that you did say you might not be around for a fews days because of doign things in hte garden. But thinking about it now that must have been a while ago you said that. Honestly time these days gets so mixed up. Larry asked me the other day how long ago did I think it was he had a mini stroke. I said 3 or 4 years. It was 11 !!!!!!! :-0 :-0
Hope your router doesnt play up again . Saying that this storm that is on its way could well play havoc with electrics. Storm Hector (I think) .It is looking much worse further West and North than here although it is still forecast not great over night .It seems somehing is beginning to blow up a bit now and its been horribly sticky and humid.

Mel you better make sure your girls are well shut in tonight :-D You wont want them blowing away in storm.

Chris has not had the day he expected . The shower in the ensuite has been leaking(again :-S)It just just the sealant (?sp) but it was beginning to come through in the garage.Luckily I noticed the day before yesterday . So Chris did the patch up job and it hasnt worked so he had to go off ot B&Q this morning to get more and do the whole shower tray.(he is not good at doing this sealant stuff :-S) Makes a right blooming mess too :-S. Not that I could do any better.
So it is done again now . The shower doors are in the bath and I have given them a real good clean. Then this afternoon he managed to knocka bottle of tonic water off the welsh dresser as he was reaching into the cupboard above. It smashed on the slate floor and went everywhere :-S :-S.. So he had had enough today. I better watch my tongue tonight and not say anything to upset him :-D :-D

Easy meals tonight :-D. Tomorrow I will do a slow cooker Beef dish .I got some lovely Shin in Morrisons today .I thought that Jess was going to be here tomorrow evening in time to eat but James says she wont get here until well after 10.30 as she has a yearly review at Uni. Then on Friday they will be off to Durham for 9 nights.

It seems to be getting a bit dark here . Chris is going to pot up the Cucumbers . Lets hope he doesn't smash anything in the greenhouse :-D

How wonderful to be able to see around your old place Ann and to have a look around the house to, that must of been a pleasant surprise. What else have they done to the garden since you were there?

Good luck to Ros for Friday Frank, hope everything goes to plan and there is a bed available for her. Six weeks is a long time......brace yourself ;-) Sorry to hear your washing line came down, that happened to me once just after OH had cut the lawn so needless to say the washing needed doing again as it was full of grass bits. Have you sorted your teeth out now, I hope it didn't spoil your holiday? Conrad was lucky finding his cards and money, maybe a slim line wallet would be a good idea like Jane said.

Yes, both of us cut down the tree Jane, it was quite a long job as it was not only over hanging the phone line but only a few feet away from ours and Victor Meldrew's bungalows. I was being very careful where about we made the cuts which OH wasn't happy about as that was taking the time, he said I was being to fussy, but I thought if the phone line came down or the roof got damaged it would be such an expense, so taking our time would be better in the long run. I positioned the cutting device while OH pulled on the cord to make the blades cut, there was no way any of us could of done it on our own so we had to work as a team, the sun kept going into my eyes so it was difficult to find the right position on some of the cuts. Anyway it's done now. Our front garden looks such a mess at the moment and I think it's going to take a few months to make it right again, we need to dig out all the roots from the plants I cut down and we have clay soil, so fun and games.......NOT.
I didn't realise there was a storm on the way, I just thought it was going to be heavy rain for a day and we had plans to clear the way in the garden tomorrow ready for our neighbour to use his chain saw on Friday to take out the bigger roots we can't manage ourselves. Not sure we'll be able to do it now, at least the rain will soften the ground so it's easier for when we can do it and I'm sure our neighbour will help us on Saturday instead of Friday if needs be, providing it's dry on Friday for us to do the ground work first.

Pleased to see Ruby has had her tablets Anne and has had a bowel movement. How many tablets does she need to take?

Is your car all fix now Mel, it sounds quite awkward to do?

Going to dish up now and then it's an early night, I've had so many late nights and early morning's lately, I think it's all caught up with me now and I'm shattered.

An early night sounds just the right thing for you tonight Gill.You must be shattered .
James has just told me he has to leave here at 5am tomorrow as he is going to some meeting/seminar in Lincoln !!!! So he will be up about 4am. What with Thomas at 3 /3.30 and then James at 4 I will be wide awake :-S
Gareth is doing a 100K bike ride tomorrow for Cancer research. I hope it this wind is still blowing it will be behind him :-D :-D
Chris has bought himself a new set of headphones to listen to music . I was shocked at the price but have to say they are brilliant.He can listen to music on Blue Tooth through his mobile phone (I think that is right ).I had them on and could not hear any outside noise.Chris kept playing me different music . One of the best was by someone called Dave Kos Together Again..It is a Jazz kind of music and just brilliant .

Good morning all, I had a terrible nights rest. I would guess I was awake for 3/4 of an hour every hour. It started with the trotts,then cramp and the shivers. I put my winter dressing gown on during the night, and still shook and shivered. Dear old Ros slept through the lot. !!!

I got up at 6.30 made a COT and it went straight through me. So nothing for me today.

Simon has been on the phone again this morning, checking we are alright .

Martine rang last night with some very sad news. Brian took Uncle George for a haircut yesterday. When they got back to George's house he collapsed in Brian's arms and PASSED AWAY. I think it was so nice for him. He was born in the house and died in it as well. As you know, it was only a short time ago that we celebrated his 100th Birthday.

Jane poor old Chris. leaking shower and broken Tonic bottle, good job it wasn't a bottle of GIN. ;-) ;-) ;-) There were s lot of people on the plane with these earphones. They looked a bit big to me, but I expect you get use to them.

Gill we have a big pine tree in our front garden, that needs to come down. I will have a word with "RINGO" and "PADDY" and see what it will cost me, Th big Cherry tree cost £200, so I expect it will be similar.

Ros has a nurse appointment later, then the dentist. She has made me an appointment for 4,10 this afternoon to see the Doctor about me Shoulder and Neck. it's giving me a lot of agro. I am wearing one of these neck braces, to try to give me a bit of support. I know I did too much yesterday, but it needed doing.

It looks like we are going to get a good down pour. The clouds are building. and that wind is getting up. Batten down the hatches. lol lol.

I will see if I can get a little sleep, while Ros is out. See you all later.

Morning all,

Have heard from the garage and I have to go and pick my car up and drop Stewart back then its all done. Don't know the cost yet but it has to be £300 plus.

He did'nt ring yesterday or if he did we were out in the garden. Oh put a new ariel cable along the bungalow to the bedroom telly which should give us a better signal. I pulled up and cut off some more weeds up the border and tied a few things up as the wind was expected and oh tied a big climbing rose to the top wall. It looks much better now and is in full flower. It was hanging right forward over the border.

Must go and get the car. Speak later.

The ear phones sound just the job Jane!! We're great ear phoners (!) both for TV and music, they work a treat!!
Sorry to hear that you don't feel well Frank! Could be the shock of this horrid weather! hope you feel better! :-)
Not wishing to be rude, but tbh Gill, your account of felling such a tall tree, without proper safety equipment/insurance made me have kittens!! (OH professionally worked with timber all his civilian life!) It might, with hindsight, have been better to have got BT to inspect the tree and advise you accordingly, as, depending on the tree, it's usually better to fell them in the autumn after the leaves have fallen.(less mess among other things!) All I can say is that when you clear the tree up, Please wear some protective goggles for your eyes as dust, splinters and resin can cause serious eye problems!!.
Weather a bit iffy, but the suns out, and at least we don't have to water!!

Have felt totally under the weather today. I made myself a mug of Bovril and a slice of dry toast. Which I have kept inside of me. lol lol.

Off to th Drs now.

Afternoon all

Sunny here after a blistery start to the day, it's been very windy but kept me cool when I was gardening. I only did a bit today as I'm really sore but every little helps. OH is taking some rubbish down to the tip then we will settle down for the rest of the day.

It's my cousin's wedding day today and we haven't been invited, I don't know why. My sister and mum and my other cousin's and the rest of the family have had an invite but not us. Sandra is very upset about it and to tell you the truth so am I. Never mind there's nothing we can do about it is there?

Were you awake early like you said you might be Jane? You'll be shattered now if you were. How did Gareth get on with his 100k bike ride? Those headphones sound great, are you thinking of getting yourself some? Hope Chris has had a better day than yesterday with nothing else going wrong. I think we all have days like those don't we?

Sorry to hear of your sad news Frank. 100 years old, was a good age and nice that he wasn't on his own at the end. Hope all goes well at the doctors.

We were very careful Liz taking the tree down and made sure we were well out of the way of any falling branches. We've left some of the trunk so I could tuck my plants behind it out of the way of the boundary where the fence is going, then it can be sawn down in sections afterwards. There's only about 4 to 5 foot left to cut, so a safe height . I always wear gloves as sap isn't very nice and safety glasses to protect my eyes. I was more concerned about the branches hitting next door's roof as he's just had a new one put on six months ago, luckily we didn't hit anything, so it was all good in the end. I must admit my Internet and phone is a lot better now there's no interference with the phone line.

Hope your car didn't cost you to much Mel and it's all sorted now for you. It sounds like you and your OH have been busy, like me and my OH. It's nice when the weather is sunny and dry, although it's been very windy here today, but thankfully no rain.