General Chat

Good morning all. 5 degrees here so chilly but bright and still dry. I don't think that, unfortuantely, there is no rain in the forecast.
Good to see that you had a good safe journey home Vera. and also that you had an enjoyable time with your son and daughter and son's family. Try not to overdo it today as you said you had a busy one. Hope you managed to sleep OK last night.
All being well I am off to Dobbies this afternoon with my friend who had a knee op about 9 weeks ago and is happy to be driving around again.
Have to water Cynth's potatoes first which are much larger than mine, because she planted them a lot earlier.

Evening ladies

We are home safe and sound and had a good journey back. Daughter is a very competent driver and the traffic wasn't too bad at all. She came back by a slightly different route which avoided the roadworks we encountered on the way there on Friday.

Annx, son and dil were supposed to move at the end of October but there was one delay after another and they eventually moved from Yorkshire Christmas week. They come under Warwickshire but are right on the edge of the Cotswolds. It is a lovely area. I was a bit puzzled and wondered what I had managed to miss with talk about cows but then someone mentioned a photo so I checked Spam and there it was. I like cows and your pictures are lovely. They seem to have plenty of lush grass to keep them going. For a few months over the summer we usually have Highland cattle in the water meadows by the river, so I shall have to check if they are around.

I haven't had much sleep for the last 3 nights as I've been sharing a room with a very loudly snoring OH. It's made worse because a leg problem means he has started sleeping most of the time on his back which is bad for snoring. So I am feeling quite tired and am going to try for an early night. I'll try to post tomorrow but I do have a full day including a Ladies Club meeting in the evening so you might not hear from me.

Sleep well tonight.

EDIT I meant to say Well Done your grandson AnnG. That's a good time for a marathon. Also my tomato seedlings seem to have survived OK while we've been away though I wish they would grow a bit quicker. They seem to be developing much more slowly than usual.

Afternoon All,

Chillier here today, so I had a coat on when we went to the bigger Co-op shop. We were the only ones there at the self service tills and OH couldn't get it to produce a receipt. The lady in the kiosk shouted across that that till isn't producing receipts. I said why not put a label on it to say so and she just said people would take it off. I didn't believe her, but why not cover the till or switch it off? How would we know we hadn't been overcharged or we might have needed a receipt if we were shopping for someone else? The new battery I got for my bedside clock soon got it going. OH said the old battery I took out had an expiry date of 2017 so it did well to last so long.

We never go anywhere on Bank Holidays either because of crowds, traffic and queues. In the past we might have gone for a walk along a canal, somewhere without many people.

While we were having lunch in the conservatory se saw two Buzzards high in the sky. One came down lower a distance away and was flapping around the top of the tall hedge as if he'd seen something, up he flew again without landing and the next thing he swooped down above the tree over our fence where the Magpie's nest is and flapped a minute before taking off again. He came back again after a few minutes and was trying to land but gave up and flew off again. I bet he'll be back again if he heard the chicks so I must keep my camera with me when we have lunch in there again just in case. It made me wonder if that's why Magpies have a twig roof on their nests.

OH has topped up the garden bin with more weeds and put it out for the morning and I have some chicken and veg in the slow cooker with a chicken tonight sauce and low salt stock cube.

I've just been amusing myself checking on line if any of my old cars in the past are still on the road or when their last MOT was and mileage! I need to search for of a photo of my last car though as I can't remember the Reg. It shows the last service and mileage of cars and I discovered my current diesel is ULEZ compliant so I can drive into London free of charge if I wish and being a diesel I didn't expect it to be.

Louis looked quite grown up in his birthday photo AnnG so he is probably not so cheeky now.........he probably had a talking to beforehand as well!

Yes the grass in the field is really long as nothing has been grazing there since the old farmer passed away last year Mel. It sounds like you have a bigger bramble problem than us, but OH was getting lots of small ones up here today to go in the garden bin. I prefer the small chunk Brantson too and their caramelised onion chutney is really nice on a cheese sandwich.

It's nice and cosy in a greenhouse when it's chilly Mandy so it's a good idea to do a job in there today.

I hope Vera has or had a good journey and that her OH's eye is doing well.

My youngest grandson ran the Milton Keynes marathon today in 4 hours fifteen.

Been up the border cutting out brimbles there's so many sowed theirselves up there. The wind had blown the Clematis on the iron thing down and the bearded iris had flowered through it all and I knocked a bud off trying to set it free and stand up the pinicle thing. Hav'nt picked everything up as Em came down for eggs and she had my Branston small chunk I could'nt get in Asda so we did a bit of bartering money wise for the eggs. If I can get some bits cleared up there I can put cardboard down and I have all that stuff from the shredder I can put on top.

Really enjoyed that this morning so colourful. Watched the fly past as well. Young Louis was very well behaved today, he must be getting better as he gets older.

I have sowed some seeds and had a tidy up in the shed. It dos'nt look much better yet I need to chuck a lot of stuff out.

Certainly a sight to see they must practice so hard , waiting for the fly past now

Wow we do this pageantry so well.

Wow we do this pageantry so well.

I have watered the potatoes an 2 toms and am now sitting with a coffee watching the VE celebrations in London.

Morning girls,

nice bright morning here and its 8 degrees. It was quite chilly yesterday and into the evening with a chilly breeze. We have huge white clouds in a beautifu blue sky. Hope it stays that way so I can get more gardening done.

We never went out on a bank holiday either as you all said too much traffic and people about.

Lovely photos of the cows Ann and hav'nt they got a lovely lot of grass in the field to keep them well fed.

Morning Anng, morning all,

Suns shining but it's very chilly I can see blue sky and fluffy clouds.

Anng the next bank holiday is the 26th we were only saying yesterday how we would never go out on a bank holiday, to much traffic and trouble parking if you didn't go early enough .
Nothing planned for today ,might fill a few pots ready for the toms and cucumbers in the greenhouse at least I'll be out of the wind in there .

Vera I hope there isn't to much traffic and road works for your journey home yoday .

Might have a look at the VE day celebrations and the fly past in London later

Good morning all quite bright with a light cloud sky and patches of blue only 4 degrees though so a bit chilly, such a change from the temps of last week. I do wish we didn't have such extremes. Bank holiday Monday. Not going anywhere. T and I rarely went out on bank holidays because of the traffic. So many roadworks in the area I hope people travelling don't have too many hold ups. I think it looks like, if I have the date right, I will be at daughters for the next bank holiday.

Evening All,

I slept little last night so haven't done much today. I was cross for myself with not doing the weedkilling with the new sprayer, but then it rained this afternoon so I was glad I hadn't.
I tend to agree with you AnnG! I never bothered about cows when I played in their fields opposite when I was aged 8-9 and even helped get them in for milking. OH went for his regular walk this morning and turned off the track that was the old Fosse way through a small gap and into the corner of the field and saw 2 of the cows close by and staring at him. Next thing the others appeared and were staring too, so seeing there was no fence he could get behind if needs be he went back instead and walked a different way. Once years ago when we went for a walk on a public footpath it took us across a stile into a field of young bullocks. Before we had climbed over they were charging towards us, so we stayed with the stile between us and them. They were pushing and jostling to try and get close to us and shouting and waving our arms would make them jump back a few feet and then they came straight back . I don't know whether they'd just been let out and were used to people bringing them food but we abandoned our walk. They certainly weren't scared and were bumping into each other roughly so would have knocked me over easily. It may have just been curiosity, but you don't know for sure. These have horns like spikes about 8 inches long that could do some damage! I'll send a photo.

I would have enjoyed your lunch Mandy and I use the sugarfree jelly but we haven't had one for ages. I like orange jelly and lime jelly, but my favourite is blackcurrant, but I don't think I've seen that in the sugarfree ones. I'm not keen on strawberry jelly though.

My nails are always flaking, but the worst is when the thumbnail splits across part way up the side going across. Sometimes I try and trim it up the side and sometimes I file it and sometimes I put clear varnish over it to try and hold it together.

BIL came a little while ago just as I was finishing my piece of fratarta so he had some too. Still got a load over.

I love raspberry jelly and I do put raspberries in it but I am not keen on orange jelly as it makes my tongue sting as do orange jelly sweet. I'm ok with manderin oranges and they are lovely in a lime jelly. Keep putitng the vasaline on each time you wash your hands if you're anything like me I am always washing my hands. Iv'e showed you before how in cold weather my hands will split open in different places on the corner of thumbs and across knuckles and anywhere they think they will and yes its always very sore.

I think I am going to make a bif fritarta (sp) and it will do me two days with salad.

Its come over cloudy here now and it feels quite chilly. I even put my coat on when I went and fed the birds and chickens this morning.

Mel I'll give the vasaline a try anythings worth a go rather than all these splits that are so sore .
Odd light showers here during the morning ,not done a lot this morning just got a honey mustard chicken going in the slow cooker with lots of peppers and mushrooms, we'll have that with some boiled rice.
I made an orange jelly yesterday with some frozen mango in it ,I did a raspberry jelly with frozen raspberries in the other week that was lovely ,sugar free jelly so not to fattening either.

Morning girls late on parade again.

Up at before 7am for the loo and wen t back to sleep till 10am. Must be the gardening.

I managed to cut my nail off yesterday and I did file it afterwards but it is so low it has'nt been like that for years. I knew it had gone on the side and was waiting for it to grow up a bit before cutting it off. It was'nt to be I pulled a bit of ivy off the wall and snap it went right across and very low onthe left side. Its my left thumbnail the one I open my pills with from their foil so its seems funny to be doing it with my right hand and takes so much longer.

Sound like you're having a lovely time away Vera and I do hope the jpourney home is not quite so long for you all. The village and house sound lovely I wish them well in their venture to rebuild the house the way they want it.

Mandy its the earth that dries our hands out whilst gardening whether you where gloves or not. If you have a split the best thing to put on it is Vasaline as that soon heals it quicker than anything else. You can put a bit of something over it to stop getting grease everywhere like miplex or a hin plaster or even a small bandage of a cotton gloves. Mum told be in the war grandad would plant all the potato peeling with eyes in and they would get potatoes for free. I tried it once here when I first moved and made a small veg patch up the garden and it does work
.

Anng the only time I had tulips come back year after year is when I put some lovely mauve ones up the border. They liked to be baked in the sun but the only thing was I had lovely buds one time and the next day every bud was eaten off by the deer.

I better get on as Iv'e not fed the girls yet.

Morning all,

There's a few spots of rain on the window but its a bright morning a bit of rain would be good for the garden its so dry .

Vera it sounds as if your having a good time with the family , hope your journey home is better there's always road works now where ever you go and they always seem to do things on a holiday weekend.

Anng I had my tumbling toms in a hanging basket but last year I put them in a planter and they were better ,I saw a tip the other day where a gardener was potting up his hanging basket and he put a small plastic container in the basket and then planted it up he said the water holds in the container and stops the basket from drying out so quickly ,he used the containers from a Chinese meal ,might be worth a try.
I suppose if there was a bit of potato peeling with a shoot on when you shoot the water on the garden you might get a potato plant :-D