General Chat

I have no subs on my delivery later but one item unavailable. Luckily ordered in anticipation of daughter being here. She doesn't like the more expensive tonic I drink and she prefers the Tesco low caloeie which in unavailable.

I have done a load of washing and early on I watered Cynth's pots and all my pots as well.
18 degrees here. We are forecast rain on Monday, I would not be surprised if it missed us.

Morning AnnG, Mel and all

It's a lovely, warm, sunny day here. We could really do with some rain but there isn't any forecast for the foreseeable future.

I have said where plants are to go and OH is busy planting. The trouble is we have a long dreary sort of alleyway that goes from the garage, past our back door, and up to a garden gate. I hated it when we moved in so I put a lot of troughs (19) along one side to brighten it up. I have a few with evergreen or perennial plants and fill the rest with colourful annuals. 2 each have 2 Christmas Box shrubs, 2 have mini hostas and 1 has oreganum, 1 currently has alliums just coming out to bloom, 1 has nemesia that I've kept going for the last 3 years and last week I filled 2 with geraniums I had overwintered. This morning OH has planted 1 with more nemesia and 3 with begonias. That still leaves 7 to fill before I think about the 2 bigger troughs and the pots in the garden, though they don't all have to be used. A half barrel will have marigolds in and I will still have enough of those for a couple of pots or troughs The 2 yellow argyranthemum are now in pots by the front door with a potted grass. I also have a red one but I will probably put that in the garden when the daffodil leaves all die down and I can see how much space I have.

So we're getting there but the things that really aren't doing well are the tomatoes. They are just so small and undeveloped though they look healthy. Mel's seeds are doing best.

I've got a Sainsbury delivery this afternoon - 1 sub and 1 thing not available but otherwise no plans for the afternoon, unless I can summon the energy to wash or steam clean the conservatory floor. It needs it but I really don't feel like doing it. Now I had better go and make my Mr Gardener a coffee and check he isn't planting things in the wrong place.

Morning Anng and all,

Lovely bright sunny morning here and its 13 degrees but pc is telling me to expect two rainy days starting tomorrow. OP its gon e up a degree since I posted and now its 14 degrees.

Just the shop to do today and BIL said he has the weekend to himself now so it looks lkike I may too. It puts me right out till I know he has come or is coming.

Good morning all. A bright sunny morning here and 6 degrees. Feels chilly to me as I am not dressed. Woke early before 6am and knew I was not going to get back to sleep so came in to my office and checked emails etc. Nothing planned for today except Tesco order 4-5pm.

Vera that was a lovely big selection of plants. I envy you the show they will make but not the planting. I dare not buy any more plants until I come back from daughter;s early June. Baskets will have to be done then so I hope there are emough plants left for me.

Just strimmed all round the bungalow. BIL left but put my chickens food in the bins for me and two sacks of compost in my shed. Iv'e not seen this compost before I think its Rock or some such name, I 'll have a look when I go back down the shed. Just come in for a drink and then I am going to tackle the rest of my strawberry plants as I stlill have a few to tidy up and dress the top with gravel. I also have to feed the ones I have done as its feeding Friday. :-D

Plants you bought sound nice Vera. How are your tom plants doing?

It’s a bit breezy but otherwise it’s a lovely day. We went to our local garden centre just after 2 pm and have just got back, £100 poorer. At least it would have been just over £100 but my loyalty card gave me £15 off so it cost me about £85. It’s strange how I can spend money on plants without thinking twice but can’t put my hand in my pocket to get myself some much needed clothes.

We got mostly annuals to fill troughs and pots. I’m not sure now that I’ve got enough. We got the little begonia plants, small marigolds, nemesia, coleus and argyranthemum. I usually have cuttings from the previous year’s argyranthemum but I didn’t do well with the last cuttings I took. We did get another bird feeder as well.

Next job will be to get planting but that can wait for a day or two.

Ah before anyone says. Yes there are a lot on line looking at amazon but I rarely buy clothes on line I need to feel the material fiest.

I went into town and got some bits for my holiday. I looked in all the usual shops, M&S, Bonmarche and Peacocks for a top to match the light weight trousers I bought on Tuesday. I want a bright royal blue but there were no blue tops at all in any of the shops, every other colour under the sun but no blue. I have found a top in a light blue that will go at a push.

BIL has been here since my last post. I have strimmed the back garden down to Prickerly Bottom and a bit round the box hedge the mower won't reach and then start on the big west lawn edge and the strimmer ran out. I am now going to do us some lunch. Eggy and tomato sandwiches (fishing sandwiches).

Just seen this on facebook. I was surprised to note the Lancaster doing a fly over and round the concert last night but assumed it must have been planned, although the King looked surprised. It was lovely to see as it flew into pink tinged clouds. Just read that it was a surprise visit by the RAF.

I went to the lighting of one of the beacons yesterday evening. Gosh it was cold there, as we were literally yards fro the sea itself, so no shelter from the cold wind that had blown all day. There was a band and a Military Wives choir performing and we were all requested to sing 'I vow to thee my country' at one point, but the response was rather mixed, as many people didn't know the words without a strong lead.

Earlier in the day, I had walked through a churchyard in another town and you should have seen the amount of three-cornered leeks growing there. It really looked quite pretty and like a white meadow.
Plenty to make soup for the whole town, Annx ;-)
I have tried using some in cooking, but not in the quantity that it grows in our patch.
Wild garlic has more of a star-like flower, whereas the leeks have more bell shaped. Goodness knows where they came from in the first place in our garden, but then I could say the same for a very mini oak sapling. I don't know of any oak trees nearby, so I think that a squirrel planted that.
In past years, I have sat on the ground and dug up dozens and dozens of the tiny leek bulbs, but the following year brings another unwanted crop :-|

I hope all your heath checks for yourselves and OHs go well.
I am looking forward to my next ENT nurse appointment next week, which had to be postponed so is well over the usual 3 month mark now. I do realise that I am very fortunate to get this regular service on NHS at no cost, but it was someting the department suggested might help my hearing and it certainly does.
School is OK, as a child sit's right next to me to read in a corner of the classroom, but I have sometimes had to avoid going to meetings to listen to a speaker, when I get near appointment time, as I just can't follow them properly.

Morning all,

Another nice bright sunny morning here with a bit of a breezey wind. The sky is clear blue and not a cloud in sight. Its 14 degrees already so may be a really warm one later on.

Hips still a bit niggerly but I think I am going to strim some things today and not sure if BIL is coming to mow so need to pick up what I left on the top lawn by my border.

Pleased you all enoyed the VE day celebrations on the telly. I was'nt born so have no recollection of anything like that. My earliest memory is that of the Coranation of our lovely Queen Elizabeth. I was three and we went up to London with aunty Iris and uncle Len in dads car and I can remember lying across aunty and mum onthe back seat of the car and being woken to see the car go past with the Queen and Duke waving to people but can't remember if they were in the coasch or not. Of course no parking restricsion then. I also remember having a little coach and horses toy.

Well better get on as I have a little parcel to do up too.

Morning Anng ,morning all,

Much brighter this morning so hope we can do a bit in ths garden .
We watched the concert too ,I thought the same Anng having The Darkness on was really out of place they didn't really fit in with all the other performers who were very good but those people sitting in ths audience must have been chilly ,I expect those in the royal box had blankets and hot water bottles provided like they had for the parade the other day , I did notice some had blankets round their shoulders.

Ann it sounds as if OH is really doing well now , hope your knee is better .
I am hobbling about a bit as I pulled the back of my right knee ths day before yesterday and it seems to have stiffened up ,I just reached in for something in the greenhouse and I felt something pull behind my knee .
I had a really good night's sleep last night ,I can't remember the last time I didn't get out for the loo in the night and was really surprised when I woke this morning about six ,Max was barking and I came down and the carbon monoxide monitor was pipping so it needs new batteries but looking on the back it says to change them every seven years so we must get a new one as the date was 2014 .

God morning all it is nice and bright here this morning and 7 degrees with clear pale blue sky and sunshine. there was a lovely clear moon last night but I don't think it went cold enough for frost.

we had a very good lively meeting yesterday, there were seven of us so plenty of chat, and most of it garden related. although there was quite a bit related to VE day as three of us could remember 1945, but all could remember post war.
As far as I know there were no street parties in my area but there were one or two in the town.

I recorded and watched the VE performance on Horse Guards parade. I think they said there were 10000 people seated there. The atmosphere looked to be great. I am not sure what I think of the actual show. Loved the dancing by the Strictly professionals and the military bands, especially the royal Marine drummers. Can't imagine what made them have The Darkness, a very loud rock band as it seemed totally out of place and I actually didn't recognise the names of some of the soloists. I think most of the usual acts would be already performing in their own shows elsewhere. Pity they could not have got Michael Ball or alfie boe. I suspect they will either have not been paid or a very low fee. A couple of the singers had good voices and it was good to hear the old songs. The young female singing We'' meet again is apparently almost 9 months pregnant. I think it must have over ran its time though as my recording stopped just short of the end.

One thing that I found amazing was the number of Veterans there and also there on Monday, who were 100 or over and still very alert and active. And it can't have been warm there, although in a shelter with the royal Family it was a cold night.
I thought the King gave a very good speech as well.

It’s been a can’t-make-up-its-mind day, sunny one minute, cloudy the next and with a wind that went from a gentle breeze to a gusty wind and back again. Now it’s a lovely calm evening with a clear sky and the sun just dipping behind the trees. We often get lovely evenings here.

I hope your meeting this afternoon went well AnnG. Fancy little Cassian having his first dental appointment. That made me smile but it is a good idea to get little ones used to visiting the dentist so it becomes nothing out of the ordinary. I bet you made a lovely little fairy at the street party. I was 3 years and 3 months at VE day and can’t remember it. I don’t even know whether we were still in Oxfordshire as we had been evacuated there or whether we had moved back to London. I know that just before the end of the war my mother found a flat in South London where we came from but I can’t remember whether we had actually moved into it at that stage.

OH’s eye seems to be doing well, thank you Mandy. He was told he could drive as soon as he was sure he would pass the test of reading a number plate at a certain distance (I’ve forgotten how far). Yesterday he walked way back in the field at the bottom of our Close and could clearly see the number plate on a neighbour’s car. We have to go next Wednesday for his post-op check up.

It sounds as though you did well with your shopping in Holsworthy Mel and got lots of bits and pieces. I’m glad your hip was feeling a little better this morning but take it easy and if you are gardening try and have plenty of breaks.

It seems as though OH is getting along better without the statins, Annx, and it sounds as though he is doing very well, which will be reassuring for both of you. I am sure the liver cysts are nothing to worry about. 5 or 6 years ago it was discovered that OH has a cyst on his pancreas but it has never given him any bother and the hospital don’t even monitor it now. Re: 3 cornered leek – it is confusing as in some parts of the country it is known as wild garlic but I think they are different plants. Wild garlic has a much stronger smell. We’re only a few miles from Arger Fen and occasionally have a walk through there and the wild garlic smell can be overwhelming. I believe both plants are edible.

I did a couple of small jobs first thing and then went to our Thursday coffee meet. I knew neither of the other 2 men would be there so gave OH the choice of sitting with the ladies or staying home and he thought his book would be more fascinating than the ladies’ conversation so I left him behind. After lunch I potted up another 8 tomatoes and also potted the 5 biggest seedlings of dwarf antirrhinum from the seed tray into one pot to grow on a bit before planting them out. The other seedlings aren’t big enough yet. Everything seems very slow growing this year.

I’m now going to have a read of the local paper which I pay to read online as it’s only about a quarter of the price of buying a paper copy. I slept fairly well last night so I’m hoping tonight will be the same.

Afternoon All,

The sun has stayed in here today and the sky has been cloudy but no rain. This morning OH saw the diabetic nurse first thing who asked him a lot of questions and told him he is certainly a success story with his last blood test result and said to carry on with the same diet and exercise. We popped to Morrisons for their poached eggs on toast after which are really good with deep yellow runny yolks and much cheaper than the garden centre. Would you believe it they offered us a free donut each and we turned them down! lol. :-0 This afternoon he saw the GP about his liver scan results and he has some cysts but nothing sinister, but he has to have yet more blood tests to send off for advice. I remembered his mother saying she had them as well and was told they were nothing to worry about, so I checked online too and it said much the same with just a few rare causes that need treatment, so hopefully he will be ok. Since stopping the statins his blood results have returned to what they were before he started them. She didn't say they were the cause but did tell him not to start them again! It was a nurse practitioner who said they wouldn't be the cause when OH asked if they might be at his last appointment, then after discussing later with a colleague sent a text telling him to stop them!

The Buzzard has been back sitting in the same tree for ages. I think he is waiting his chance with the poor baby Magpies, probably when they leave the nest. The parents have been whizzing in and out of the nest with food all day and we can hear the chicks now.

Mandy got me checking out the three cornered leeks too and I don't think I would be able to tell them from wild garlic or are they the same? I think I would add them to stews or try them in a salad. Our thug plants are the grape hyacinths and lilies of the valley coming under the fence from next door. I've tried a bit of weedkiller on the virginia creeper growing up our back fence this morning, also originating from nextdoor when they grew it up their side of our fence. It's also growing up the tree with the Magpie nest. Barbed wire keeps the cows well away the other side of the ditch so they can't reach it.

Yes I just about managed with my knee by being careful yesterday Mandy and Vera so didn't have to cancel the appointment. I did take my pole with me after testing it in the porch and finding it helped leaning on it a bit, but didn't need it in the end. They had a few high seats in the waiting room so that was a help too. I've got a few more pots to plant up but still need some compost, but don't know what to buy??

Vera it sounds like you had a lovely time with the family and your outings. Thank you for giving me the name of your plant I liked. It sounds like something that might go well in my garden especially as it doesn't sound too hard to control!

I'm glad your hip is a bit better today Mel and I was surprised how much better my knee was today after resting it. Those plastic baskets in different sizes are handy aren't they and easy to pick up. I keep my beads in some of them on shelves and they look nice too. I'm guessing your flower pallette is for mixing paints and I find I often use more than one at once. It was a bargain at that price.

AnnG I bet you were an excited little girl to have been dressed as a fairy for the celebrations! The earliest celebration party I went to was a coronation party but we just had fancy hats. I hope you had a nice meeting with the group today and that they liked your garden.

Annx another thing I bought in the factory shop was a plastic flower pallet. I have a porcelain one and use it a lot so thought I would treat myself to another. It was only £1.60 which I thought was very good.

Shoulr mention VE day really. Although I think I am the only one on this thread that can remember it (just). I do remember the large street party. I was dressed as a fairy so I guess it was fancy dress for children. I was 4 years and nine months.

Have a lovely time at your meeting today Anng lots to see in your garden now things are growing well. Lots of interesting chat and good company.

Vera your little visit sounds like you both had a great time and plenty of laughter which is alway good and lifts the spirts no end. I will have a go at my account and see if I can change the time of my deliveries in there. I was thinking it may have been because of the bank holiday weekends we've had lately they've been so close together.

Mandy how's the bunny coming along? We'd love to see a pic when its finished please.

Annx hope the knee is better today. My hip seems to be a bit better today so will see how it goes if I do do a bit in the garden today. I think it could be pushing the wheelbarrow that affects it.

Morning girls,

Just had to read all te post from yesterday afternoon.

Its 11 degrees here and sunny with big white clouds again.

I took a day off gardening yesterday and went into Holsworthy for my chicken food and a litt retail therapy for some bits to take some orchid cuttings if I can. I bought two nice plastic baskets in the facory shop in a lovely soft green which will be handy for putting my things in I am working on at the time instead of leaving them on trays etc. Like the little figures I do and the leatherwork for the tudor figures. The factory shop did'nt have the plastic drinks tumblers I wanted but sent me across the road to the newish hardware shop I have never been in before. It was like an Aladins cave. So many products and I bought two sizes of the plastic throw away beakers, two key fobs, and my oasis I wanted too. When I got to Mole Valley their oasis was a lot dearer than what I paid in town.

BBL