General Chat

The dishes were so convoluted Ann, that you would never find them on a menu.

As my daughter was working today, I bit the bullet and took Esme to Lightwater Valley again. She had a great day, but I am absolutely shattered.

Tomorrow, I said that I would take both girls into town to do the bunny hunt then take them out for lunch, but Esme doesn’t want to go, so I will just take Eve. You buy a map and have to follow the clues to find model bunnies in various shop windows. Once you have them all, you hand the map in and get a small chocolate egg. Then all the maps handed in that day go into a draw to win large eggs. The money goes to charity. They have about three trails in the year, Eve enjoys doing them, so we just have some time together without having to bother about Esme.

Sounds really nice for a treat Linda. pleased that you enjoyed it. Any of the dishes that you would definitely order again, if on the menu? Or vice Versa?

Sunny here this morning and 5 degrees, no frost. Looks like it is another gardening day. although I think it is due to change during the day.

Well lunch was excellent. We went to Goldsborough Hall which is a very nice typical country house hotel, known for its fine dining. We had a six course tasting menu, well seven if you count the coffee and petit fours afterwards. It is the sort of place where they explain to you what each course is using very poncey words which mean nothing to you at all. It was very different, lots of things which we would not normally have tried from a menu, mainly because we don’t know what they are :-D
Despite the fact that the courses don’t look that big, I am absolutely full now. It is the same as when you go for one of those tiered afternoon teas and think, that doesn’t look much, then realise that it is !

Belated happy birthday Linda. Wonderful that someone handed the locket in. cloudy here today and 15 degrees but a chilly wind.

Grandson and his two boys have just left to go home to Portsmouth, lovely to see them but a bit of getting straight work ahead of me now. :-)

Belated Happy Birthday Linda, enjoy lunch.

Glad you enjoyed your trip Florence. I think you're a closet rock chick!

Happy birthday Linda for yesterday. Hope you enjoy your lunch out today.

So amazing someone handed in your locket, you must have been so very pleased for that.

Its showery here today and breezy, a right mixture really but none too warm.

Catching up on some laundry and maybe a spin later this after noon if the weather holds out.

Busy week coming with lots of appointments including daughter getting out some troublesome wisdom teeth on Tuesday but being diabetic she is going in tom afternoon and staying in for a night making sure her blood sugars are stable after surgery.

I now have a lovely display of tulips in the tubs outside assuming the wind doesn't blow them all to bits!

Happy Sunday everyone looking in.

Florence in the hebrides

It has expanded quite a lot since then AG.
I went a couple of times with my own children when they were young, but that was also a long time ago. I did take Eve a few years ago, she could remember visiting. It has expanded a fair amount since then with quite a lot of extra buildings, gardens and animal paddocks.
It is a good job we went yesterday as it is an open air museum, it is cloudy and cold this morning.
OH and I are going out for a swish three course Sunday lunch at a very nice country house hotel. We are using a voucher our daughter gave us for Xmas.

Happy birthday, Linda!
It sounds as if you had a lovely day, in all sorts of ways.

How lucky that someone handed in your locket!

Your mention of the Ryedale Museum brought back memories of my visit there with my children, about forty years ago!

Amazingly, someone dud find my locket and handed it in, so I will be ab,e to collect it the next time we go.
It was another lovely day here, but tomorrow is going to be cold, only twelve degrees. It was my birthday today , so we went out for the day with my daughter and the girls. We went to Rydale folk museum which is an outdoor museum, they have cottages and agricultural buildings which have been brought to the museum and rebuilt . They had a nice children’s trail, so that kept Esme happy. We had lunch in a pub before we went in.
Afterwards we went back to their house for the “surprise“ birthday cake. They were just going to light it when my watch told me that there was someone ringing my doorbell. So I looked on my phone and was very surprised to see that it was my son clutching a bunch of flowers. It was a good job we hadn’t gone away as we had no idea that he was coming. So he came to my daughter’s house and we held of the cake until he arrived. Apparently he is staying until Friday, he will work remotely on Monday and Tuesday and have the rest of the week off. He has come up because he has to go in person to see the solicitors who are dealing with his house move and they are based up here. He is going to try to arrange to have another look at the house he is buying while he is here. Luckily we don’t have much in this week, but I will have to go to the supermarket tomorrow morning to top up the food.

Good morning all, so far bright and 6 degrees. I think this will be the last nice day for a while.
Florence, welcome back. I am pleased that you enjoyed your break, sounds as if you were spoilt. I too love Alfie and Michael, although I have not seen either of them live. Have loads of their CDs.
Linda, I am pleased that Esme had a nice day and that you were not 'forced' to go on the bigger rides. I bet it was hot there though. What a shame about your locket. Could have come off during one of the rides I suppose so would be hard to find. Let's hope for a miracle and that somebody has picked it up who will hand it in.

I have my eldest Grandson coming for the night today, bringing my two great grandsons (9 and 11).

Oh dear Linda, hope someone finds the locket and hands it in so you will get it back.

Sunscreen eh lol damp, windy and cold here and nooo sun!

It is good to have you back Florence, I am glad that you enjoyed yourself.

It was a glorious day here and I was outside all day long. I put sunscreen on twice, but the back of my neck feels red. Esme had a great day, but I am shattered now. We went on quite a lot of rides, but not the worst ones. The theme park used to be an adult one, but it has been changed to focus on under twelves and the adult rides have been removed. There are still some rides such as the large pirate swing and the chairs which swing around high up which are really adult ones, but some of the so called children’s rides are too extreme for me. I went on the Caterpillar rollercoaster and Esme was so funny, she said Grandma just close your eyes and it will soon be over :- The ones I hate are the things which spin you round Waltzer style, they always made me feel sick even when I was young.
One annoying thing was that I lost my gold locket while we were out. I have had it about thirty five years and it opens, so it has photos of my children when they were teenagers inside. I have emailed the theme park, but it would be a miracle if they have found it.

I'm so glad you had such a great time, Florence!
I'm quite jealous!
How lovey to be wined and dined, taken on holiday, and generally cared for!

Similar weather here. Still sunny and dry, but slightly cloudy, and quite a chilly wind.
I must bash on with the gardening this afternoon before the good spell breaks.
I hope the rain remembers to stop again, and doesn't keep raining all "summer" like last year.

Nothing would ever tempt me to go on one of those big rides, Linda!

Sounds like you had a lovely time Florence. I love Michael and Alfie and have all their CDs and loads of Michael on his own. Many years ago my daughter and I went to see him for the 1st time and were in the 2nd row and it was fantastic. Have seen him live several times now but have not seen Alfie live but love seeing him on tv and listening to him sing. They seem to have such a great friendship.

Linda yes sounds like OH and your OH are the same. All the things like fencing and laying paths are things that my Oh does and I have to stop him sometimes because he still thinks he can do heavy work and cleaning the guttering out like he did when younger but having medical issues it is not safe plus being a old bloke now. :-D
I think most of us have a head age and a real age. I find my head says 30s/40s but body tell me 70s. :-D :-D

I'm not a great gardener but I do manage to prune stuff in a OK way and not kill it .
I do like my veg & flower planters which I can look after without bending down.

Must go and do some H/W the sun is showing me where the dust is.

Hope everyone is ok and enjoying some sunshine.

Morning all, Im back!

Got back last night after a fantastic break away. The show on Monday was just amazing and was a sell out of 10,000 seats!!

I managed to get some pics of Michael & Alfie as we were at the front which was brilliant.

We toured down the east coast stopping to see a very old castle and the scenery there was breath-taking. Plenty of shopping in so many interesting shops and bought home a huge variety of souvenirs, goodies and some clothes of course.

Hotel was clean and staff more than happy to do anything for you .

So now back home with a load of washing which has already been done, cases all unpacked and.....already back to the usual chores lol

Was well & truly spoilt by all means <3

I had a quick read to see what has been going on on here so Im up to date now.

Whilst we had back to back sunshine from Sunday until we left yesterday morning, it is overcast here and def a change on the way but the good weather was lovely whilst it lasted.

Have a good day to everyone looking in :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Thankfully my late OH was ok with secateurs. Better than me probably. Or more knowledgeable.
Enjoy the theme park Linda. I wouldn’t like the big rides either.

Is it a man thing? A few years back on the old gardening thread my OH was known as Mr Crewcut because of the way he and his secateurs or shears would attack a plant. He also does a good job of drowning them. His answer to any plant problem is to give it more water.

Ginnie, I think that your OH and mine are from the same stock, mine is a nightmare with a pair of secateurs as well. He is only happy if he chops things back to within an inch of the ground :-|
It has been a lovely day here as well, much better than yesterday when it was cloudy and really cold. It is supposed to be very warm tomorrow, I am taking Esme to her beloved theme park, Lightwater Valley, so I had better put sun cream on. I bought her another seasons pass. It opened last weekend , but her mum took her for the first day. They usually have lots of shows, which she loves, we see all of them even if they are on two or three times, I am happy with that as I get to sit down. Unfortunately the shows haven’t started yet, there is only one disco session, so her mum took her on lots of rides. Apparently, she likes the big rides this year :-( That is bad news as I don’t like them, she will be cross when I won’t go on them.

Good afternoon all,

Another bright sunny day ,washing on the line and OH sorting out the fish pond . Not sure what he does out there but it keeps him out of mischief for a while. He is under strict orders to not cut anything back in the flower beds or planters, he is a nightmare when he has pruners in his hands.

Well hope everyone is enjoying the good weather it seems it may change at the weekend but we have had a good run of dry weather over the last couple of weeks.

Soon be Easter. This year is definitely flying by.

Anyone been watching anything good on TV recently. We have watched the 1st episode of Grace . Just doesn't seem to be much on at the moment.

Aging rocker, I don’t have anything interesting to say either, but that doesn’t stop me posting :-D It is nice to chat, so please keep posting.

Ann, I think a lot of people are going to be caught out because they have planted out too early. Some of the papers are full of threats of a snow bomb over the country . That probably won’t happen, but it probably is going to be much colder. We could do with some rain, I watered all the large troughs around my decking yesterday.
I ordered some plug plants for the hanging baskets and troughs, but I have them growing on in the greenhouse . We need to go out and buy some shrubs for the new beds OH has made in the front garden, but without the car, we can’t.
He has started rotavating all of the grass in the back garden. It is very hard work, so he is just doing an hour or so a day. We need to find a landscaper to build some steps into the slope in the lawn. The garden is a rectangle which is sideways rather than the usual long thin shape. From the bottom of these new steps, we are going to have a path going in to the right to the greenhouse and new vegetable plot. Another branch will go to the left through new flower beds . We bought a lot of second hand flag stones, so OH says he is going to make these paths himself, but I am hoping to persuade him to let the landscaper do it. I suppose it will depend upon the cost