General Chat

Good morning all. 0 degree here but clear and sunny. I can't see any signs of a frost but I guess there might have been one earlier. The only young plants I have out are half a dozen lettuce and I did cover them last night so hopefully will be ok.

Linda that sounds an expensive leak. fingers crossed it doesn't mean a new gear box is required. and that whatever it is, it doesn't take too long. that could cause problems with daughter and family.

Yes Florence did say she was going away but didn't say when. Hopefully it is that, and it is somewhere nice and she is enjoying it.

Looks like another day for gardening. Or in my case, garden pottering. I did half an hour weding yesterday but gave up when my back started to complain.

Florence hasn't posted for a few days, but she said she was going away to a concert, probably with her new fancy man, so that's probably why. Hope you're enjoying yourself Florence.

I would post but I haven't got anything interesting to say! Hope everyone's well and enjoying the sunshine.

The car is only seven years old AG, so it really shouldn’t have developed such a problem yet. No doubt it will be expensive to repair. I hope they can sort it out quickly

Ooh, all that oil sounds nasty, Linda.
I dread anything going wrong with the car, as it's almost essential here - seven miles from the nearest shop, and only two buses per day.

Thank goodness my car passed its MOT with no problem this week. Last year it needed over £2000 worth of repairs, and I was without it for five weeks.

I know I'll have to replace it one day (it's 14 years old), but when I do, I want one with buttons and knobs, not a touch screen!

It's beautiful weather here too, and likely to last another week.
There's a coolish breeze, but just having dry weather is wonderful, and the sunshine and blue sky are a double bonus.

I have looked in every day Ann, but no one had posted since I had. It will be a shame if the thread dies.
My daughter came back on Friday evening thank goodness. Needless to say Esme was very happy.
We had a problem on Friday morning, OH took Eve to school in the morning and all was fine, then mid morning I went out in the car. He called me to say that there was a large patch of oil on the drive where the car had been, plus a very large trail where I had backed out and driven down the road. When I got back he looked underneath and could see oil, but there are plastic covers so he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. The oil level in the engine seems fine, so it possibly is from the gear box. We aren’t driving it, but the first garage appointment we can get is for Wednesday.
We had to go to the doctors yesterday for our Covid jabs, so we got the bus into the centre, then walked. It was only about twenty minutes, so that was fine. We walked back to the centre and I had my hair cut while OH mooched about. We had lunch in our favourite cafe, then got the bus back.

It is very nice again, so we have been pottering in the garden. I needed a new much bigger plant pot for the Peace Lilly I have in the house. OH said that he had seen a very nice one in a charity shop yesterday, but he hadn’t told me, so I walked in ( just twenty minutes) and bought it . I got a few groceries, then got the bus back.

Thank goodness we have a bus every half hour, so we can cope without the car, I can’t get to my daughters though

4 days since anybody posted. I expect we are all busy in the garden or at least out enjoying the sun. Hope everyone is OK anyway. :-)

I have not done a lot today, changed the bed and washed the bedding, did half an hour weeding and tooks some stuff down the road to the lady who collects stuff for charity and who also runs a free book swop once a month.

It is definitely migraine Ann, because as well as the sickness, she has a headache and can’t stand any lights on.
She was sick every ten to twenty minutes from 4 pm to 2 am on the first night. We hoped that would be it, but when she woke up yesterday morning she was sick another three times. The second type of medicine we tried helped. She moved into mummy’s bed to make it easier for us during the day, so I spent most of the day on the bed next to her. We were trying to get her to have small sips of apple juice and yogurt. She perked up a bit during the day, but didn’t want to get up. I managed to get a bit more yogurt and some ice cream into her, so by last night, she was sounding a bit better. She decided that she would sleep in mummy’s bed with daddy, which was better for him. It is a super king size, so they have plenty of room. He had spent the previous night on a very uncomfortable fold out foam bed on her bedroom floor.
This morning, she had her monthly hard skin appointment, where they shave the hard skin from her feet. Daddy reserved judgement about school until they had been to that , but she wanted to go to school, so she has. That means that I have the day off, well until 3.30 when she gets home.

Both her parents do work full time at home Florence, but her mum has to go to London for two nights once a month. This trip for five nights away apparently happens every two years when all, five hundred people who work for the company all over the world meet up. She does have a few other short trips to Europe as well, but she holds a very senior position, so it can’t be helped.

Morning all
Sunny day here but a breezy wind to go with it!

Oh Linda, poor Esme, she suffers so much doesnt she? i know this is a daft question but does her mum need to work away? Can she not work from home permanently especially given Esme's needs?

I mean if you were not there to assist, then how would daddy manage i wonder?

I noticed yesterday my hollyhock as grown to about 6ft tall!!! Cant believe how it grew so big and there are new buds and leaves already growing.

Anyone having a flutter on Saturday for the Grand national?

Well hope everyone else looking in is ok today and hope you have some sunshine to brighten your day.

Florence in the hebrides

good morning all. OH dear Linda. Poor Esme, that is a horrible thing that Esme suffers from, she must feel so poorly. So hard for you too and a worry for Mummy. But at least Daddy did step up this time. I hope Esme is feeling better this morning. It must hurt her poor tummy when it goes on so long. How can you tell when it is her normal migraine sickness or a tummy bug like Norovirus which is still doing the rounds?

Pleased that you enjoyed your mothers' day treats Florence. It all sounded lovely.

Oh Linda how awful for poor Esme and you. I expect your daughter just wants to jump on a plane but at least she knows you are there. I hope Esme is feeling much better now. Daddy needs to step up as well. I hope you and your OH feel appreciated by him.

What a lovely treat for you on Mothers day Florence. Lots of flowers and a card from the doggie.as well :-D :-D

I had a card and visit from one daughter and messages from family abroad. They celebrate Mothers day in May and fathers day in September.
It sounds like your fruit and veg are coming on well in the polytunnel.

Joan did you manage to get yourself a mobile phone ?

Hope everyone is keeping well.

I am glad that you enjoyed your day Florence.

Disaster has struck here. Mummy is in Spain for five days at a conference. Yesterday afternoon when Esme came home, we played football in the garden and she asked for something to eat and all was well, when suddenly , she said that she didn’t feel well. Her tummy was hurting and her head. She walked into the kitchen and threw up in the sink, which was very thoughtful of her.
My heart sank because I knew that it was the start of one of her stomach migraines which often put her in hospital. From then on, she was sick every ten minutes. Obviously , she was desperate for mummy, but daddy had to step up to the mark. She has some special tablets which she has to take as soon as she starts being sick. I gave her one, but it came straight back, so it was an hour before she could have the second one. That didn’t work and she continued being sick until 2 am.
Daddy slept in a fold out chair in her bedroom, so he didn’t get much sleep. I stayed in the spare room, so was fine. I hoped that she would be over it this morning, but she has been sick three more times. We have given her a different medicine which the hospital uses. It has been an hour now, so fingers crossed she will get better soon. Poor thing is so poorly and she is just asking non stop for mummy. My poor daughter looked devastated last night as she was so far away .

Daddy has managed to go for a nap and I am sitting in with her. She is watching her iPad now which is a good sign, but she is just moaning and groaning all the time because because she is feeling so ill. It is awful when you can’t do any for them

Morning all
I enjoyed my first ever mothers day out to a restaurant/hotel. Got treated to a lovely meal, then a visit elsewhere for coffee later on.

2 bespoke bouquets and several cards including one from the wee poochie bless her.

So def a day to remember, well & truly spoilt.

oh dear Linda. you do seem to have to deal with an awful lot more then the girl's daddy dont you. Hope you are not tearing your hair out before their mummy comes back!

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday but today the rain and mist came back but not as windy. Forecast is promising the rest of the week to be rain free, warmish around 13-14 degrees and no wind! But we shall see.

Everything coming along nicely in me tunnel and especially the rhubarb and carrots which are doing exceptionally well.

Hope everyone else looking in today is well.

Florence in the hebrides

Oh dear Linda it is going to be so tiring for you. 'Daddy' does seem to have an easy life. Hopefully Esme will choose some less active games than football.

I hope that everyone has had a nice Mothers Day. We went to my daughter’s house first thing, so we only had coffee before we went. We then went into Harrogate for breakfast at 10.30. They did English breakfast, but I had a very fancy Mediterranean one. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping because my daughter wanted to buy a new jacket Esme of course had to buy some clothes from Primark, thankfully they cost very little. She was very cross all morning because mummy was going away at 1.15 pm.,Of course as soon as mummy did go, the whinging stopped and she was fine. Daddy of course decided that his gall bladder was playing up, so took himself off to lie down all afternoon :-( I spent most of the afternoon playing football in the garden with Esme, then we made dinner . After dinner she spent a long time cutting up paper to make confetti. She then had me taking slo mo videos of her throwing it up into the air. What a mess it made, but to be fair, she did a very good job of sweeping it up. She did it three times in all. As soon as I got her in bed, we could go off duty until tomorrow. Her mum isn’t back until Friday night, so it is going to be a long week. :-(

That's helpful, Linda - thanks!

AG, Esme’s pill cutter is an expensive one from this website
https://pillcut.com/

She has so many tablets which need to be chopped up, so they got a good one, they have had it for years.
The lid lifts off and the blade is hidden in the top. To use it you put the pills in, put the top on and press down. Looking at some of the cheaper ones on Amazon, they are just for small pills. Esme’s is adjustable, so it grips all sizes. This one on Amazon looks fairly similar
f
Fullicon Multiple Pill Cutter, Adjustable Pill Cutter for Small Pills with Accurate Pill Alignment, Stainless Steel Cutting Blade & Blade Guard, Pill Splitter with Free Brush & Pill Box (Black). It was £8.99
It was reasonably well reviewed, apart from that I can’t help

It is great news that the house sale is going ahead Sylvia. I never look back at houses either, when I walk out, I just look forwards . Normally, I wouldn’t go back, but with being such good friends with the next door neighbour , I often go to see her. The two houses shared the first part of the drive, so I can see what they gave done outside. Apparently, they are digging out lots of my garden plants at the moment. I only saw the inside once, just after we moved and I had to go to collect some blinds which had been sent there by mistake. We had put an Oak floor downstairs which was oiled. They had got someone to come in and seal it with a high gloss finish, so instead of looking like expensive oak, it looked like cheap laminate :-(

We were having a lie in this morning, when the doorbell rang at 8.30, so OH leapt out of bed to answer it. It was the roofing company we had accepted an invoice from yesterday to redo all of the ridge tiles. They said they would come sometime in the next week, but were a bit quick off the mark. It sounds like a herd of elephants are on the roof. I need to go in the shower, so I hope that they can’t see through the blinds :-D

AG, I will have a look at Esme’s pill cutter over the weekend

Oops - I spoke too soon. It's suddenly started hailing heavily!

That is good Sylvia that it will soon all be completed and you can forget about it.
Lovely sunny morning here in gloucestershire and 9 degrees at 0815. No wind to speak of at the moment either.

Florence, that will be good to get the second eye done quickly and get that out of the way.
Linda another tiring week for you to look forward to. Is daughter going away more often at the moment?

What a relief for you, Sylvia, to have the house sold at last! A big weight off your shoulders.

There's no lily-of-the-valley, but otherwise my garden has the same plants as your old one.
But my rhododendron is a deep red, and the crocuses aren't what I would call a patch, but more scattered.

There was a big patch of lily-of-the-valley in a shady corner of my childhood garden, and their perfume takes me right back there.

Good news about your cataract, Florence . You had such a long wait for the first one.

I hope your new Hoover arrives as expected today, Joan.
You're certainly going to be busy with medical things - will your daughter be able to take you to all these appointments?

Linda - what make is Esme's pill cutter? Amazon has lots of different makes, with varying reviews.
What really worries me is the possible future necessity of the kind of pill which has a coating on it and which is supposed to be swallowed whole, so that it doesn't start dissolving until it's in the stomach.
In that case I would just have to do without, unless they were really tiny.

The rain was torrential and horizontal here yesterday - horrible!
Today seems a lot better so far, or at least it's not raining, although dull and overcast. Thank goodness - as I need to head to town for groceries.