General Chat

Morning all,
Lovely sunny morning here ,I nipped out to get the bin in as they are always here about half six to empty it and it was very chilly .

Yes Anng we've done well getting the garden tidy this year ,I stil need to get all the dead leaves off the hostas in the pots out in the front garden but they look like they need a few more days they are not quite dead enough to just pull off easily.
I have stripped the bed and thats just finished in the machine so I might hang it out although there's no wind so it might come in as wet as it went out .

Oh Mel thats good you've caught the mouse let's hope it's only the one :-0 if the plastic bag has all gone it does sound like they might have used it for a nest so i hope you can find it ,we had an old tilt in the wood shed a few years ago and a mouse shredded it and used it for a nest .

Fingers crossed you get your tablets today Vera.

Morning all,

8 degrees here and once again bright and blue sky with clouds but a bit of rain also. Just had a lovely rainbow out the front. I was up at 7.24am and it was a bit chilly so I turned the heating on and went back to bed for half an hour.

Mandy yes I remeber Weekend chocs. I liked the marzpan and the jelly and the nutty almonds and there was a fudge and I think a nouget. You had such a nice selection for all the family. I wonder when they stopped making them and why not bring them back now?

Shopping comes today and then the rest ofthe day is mine to get on with some ironing and HW. I need to hoover.

I caught my mouse in the spare bedroom wardrobe so now I have to get all the stuff out to see if it made a nest in there. Its oh's wardrobe and lots of thing on the floor. When I went in there the other day on the carpet in front of the door there was lots of plastic carrier bag bits so I opened the door and I had a fan in there covered in a polythene bag. The fan was bare so the mouse must have eaten it and left just crumbs of it. It must have been one of these starch bags the bio degradable ones. I put the superdooper mouse trap in there on the side cupboard that in there and popped some sunflower seeds in it. Then I looked once and nothing in it and forgot for a day or so and when I ooked yesterday there was the mouse in it but it had died. That needs a good wash now and I shall reset it incase he had a friend.

good morning all clear and cold here this morning. I slept very well last night and was up just after 7 and put the bedding in to wash. 7 degrees here so chilly but at least it is dry. I hope to get a bit more cleared from the shed today. I am almost down to the rubbish now. At least I don't have to clean it out when empty. Still have things in the greenhouse and bits on walls , hooks etc I might try and keep so will have to remove them.

Vera, you really couldn't make it up about the trials of getting a prescription from your surgery. It is beginning to look/sound like a Two Ronnies sketch. It is certainly a farce. But it is no laughing matter now is it? The real trouble is that none of us have a problem believing it. Who would have thought it could happen if we had red about it 10 years ago?

Mandy you are well ahead with your garden by the sound of it well done.

Evening all,

We've had a nice sunny day it was really warm in the conservatory with the sunshine ,we took son his presents and came home and did a bit in the garden ,just pulling out the last of bizzie lizzies and Colin got some wood in .

Oh Vera I hope when you go tomorrow your tablets are all sorted for you what a palaver ,my sister had that problem she went into the surgery and was told she needed to go home and ring up ,when she did that she spoke to the same lady receptionist who said oh yes I remember you've just been in haven't you I can sort that for you , now why couldn't she do that when sister was there in front of her and they wonder why people are short with them.

I saw on fb the other day a photo of Weekend Chocolates, who can remember them, I like the round one in the little red paper case and the marzipan one.

O Vera I did laugh when she told you to ring the surgery the silly woman culd'nt she see that you were there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am being to think that all the surgeries are getting a bit like that at the moment. I seem to slways have trouble with mine too. Today I had a thing come through the door with the post saying that your postman can now deliver prescriptions. I pick mine up at the local shop in Shebbear but they are not always there when they should be and the drive to Black Torrington is a bit hairy if you meet tractors coming over a very narrow bridge on the way there.

I hav'nt done much today but I have painted a couple of miniatures and fed the chickens, fish and wild birds who are eating me out of house and home at present and the Long Tailed Tits have been today again on the feeders.

It’s been quite a nice day here; no rain, a slight breeze and sunshine on and off. It was a bit chilly but not bad for November. I did 3 loads of washing. It was still quite damp when I brought it in but some is hanging on a clothes airer and some got a short spell in the dryer.

I didn’t know about cauliflower and broccoli being diuretic. I have a lot of both but it doesn’t seem to affect me, at least not so far.

The saga of the script goes on. I rang the pharmacist again this morning - still no script sent through so this afternoon I went to the surgery dispensary. I explained the situation as best I could and the lady there said they couldn’t deal with prescription queries, I had to phone the surgery, press option 2 from the recorded menu and speak to the dispensary clerks. She looked a bit bemused when I pointed out, again, that I had done that last Wednesday and got a promise that my script would be at the pharmacy that afternoon, a promise that wasn’t kept. Also why did I need to go away and phone the surgery when I was at the surgery right there and then. I still got a lot of muttering about one sent 18th October and next one not due to be signed off till 15th November. When we left the house I had grabbed the box of tablets that are about to run out. I suddenly had an inspiration and showed her the box and the label which clearly said 4th October. My goodness, once she saw that she was like a whirlwind, dashing to speak to this person and that person. Eventually she came back and said there had been some sort of glitch though they still had to work out what had gone wrong. The doctors were all in surgery but as soon as surgery was finished my script would be signed off and sent to the pharmacy for collection tomorrow morning. So that means another trip to town. If it isn’t there I will have the screaming abdabs.

I think everyone at this practice is so overworked that, to ease the situation, they have made a load of staff regulations about who does what and when. Unfortunately these rules don’t allow for any flexibility or allow anyone to use a bit of initiative or even use a pinch of common sense.

All this dashing about hasn’t done my back any good and the stress has given me a headache but I suppose it’s all part of life’s rich pattern. I’m hoping for a nice relaxing evening.

I suppose it could depend on what else you ate with it. Suns out here but had heavy showers too. Its raining now! with the sun out round the back and I have a rianbow to the north over the wall.

Mel it has never affected me before to my knowledge but I was up 4 times last night instead of the usual 1-2.

Some sun sime rain and 11 degrees now. Been up the post van with a little parcel.

Now I am hungry.

Morning all,

Happy birthday to Mandy's son and hope its a good one.

Yes Anng bth will make yu go to the loo a lot I would have thought you would have known that by now.

Its 10 degrees here and a nice bright morning but pc says rain starting soon. Hope it stays nice for most of the day.

I heard fireworks going off last night and the night before but did'nt see any and last night I heard the bells ringing in Shebbear for the turning of The Devil Stone outside the church hall on the tiny bit of grass under the Shebbear oak.

Strange. I just thought I would check if Cauliflower and broccoli were diuretic as I had quite a large amount (for me) with my lamb shank last night. And it seems they are. cauli for its water content and broccoli is a natural diuretic.

Good morning all, lovely morning but cold blue and pink sky first thing was very pretty. 6 degrees now. funny enough at 3.45 it was 7 degrees and a really clear sky with so many stars it was beautiful. I didn't sleep well, for some reason I kept waking and needed the loo 3 times goodness knows why, I had the same amount to drink through the day/evening as usual.
Not planned anything for this morning but might be going with a friend to one of the shopping areas outside Cheltenham this afternoon.

Thats nice Ann for your daughter to send you lots of pics of the places they have been.

I am going to make myself a mug of coco and watch my lovely little coupole on youtube who moved to Skye earier in the year. I used to watch Willie bottle digging when he lived in Scotland. They are a nice couple with thier dog Jack Spaniels. She paints beautiful pictures of things she see when out walking with the dog. You should take a look at She Walks She Paints on youtube. Her Highland cow head she has put a santa hat on and made cards. Their channel is Living the Skye Life.

Sending you a hug Mel, these days will go on happening but you will come out the other side. tears are healing, hopefully you can find something to do or something to watch on TV to give you a bit of a lift. <3 <3 <3 And I do know it is easier said than done.

Vera goodness that surgery can't have sent the email to the right place, or do you think the chemist is telling porkies? have yo thought to check with the pharmacy you used to go to? Is there any chance they might have sent it there?

Thanks for all the garden tips at the moment they are in compost in the conservatory I have tried in water before with no luck I wonder if it makes a difference what is in your water.

I am very envious of my daughter at the moment. They are on a river cruise on the Rhine and she is sending me photos of all the beautiful towns and buildings they are visiting. They have gone into Germany now and will soon be at Neurenberg. I have actually been there but we didn't get a chance to look around as t was there on business and we just met up with somebody for a meal. So I am seeing it all second hand.

Good luck with your geranium cuttings AnnG. I laughed at your comment about me being good with them. I used to be quite successful but mine weren’t very good last year and most of them just didn’t root. I’ve taken a few this year but I am not optimistic. I’m not very good at deciding what shoots to use as cuttings so I just take a few healthy looking bits off the main plants and just stick them in some compost. I don’t usually use rooting powder but I have used it this year in the hope that I’ll have better luck than last year. You can put a few cuttings in one pot but it’s best if the leaves don’t touch. You can also try rooting them in water and then potting them up when they’ve got good roots. My cuttings are in the conservatory. It does get cold in there but the plants seem generally to be OK. I’ve potted up a few of the mother plants and they are in there but I haven’t got time to do them all so I’ve used Mandy’s method and shoved the rest bare rooted into troughs and put them in our little plastic greenhouse. I can put a bit of bubble wrap over if it gets really cold but I am not sure if they will get enough light. If I lose them, I lose them but at least I will have tried a new method.

On the subject of gardening I did take 7 small cuttings of Argyranthemum (Marguerite (sp?) Daisy). They all rooted in water and OH has now potted them up for me. They still might not survive but I’m quite hopeful. These are yellow ones and I have 2 big pots by the front door which, as long as you deadhead them, just keep on blooming all summer. They’ve still got blooms on them now. I’ve managed to clear some pots but I haven’t got any of my bulbs planted yet and not much time this week and I’m away much of next week. At this rate, my spring bulbs won’t be blooming till late summer!

Your pink top should look good with black trousers and jacket AnnG. It’s quite a good colour with white or grey hair. I’ve worn a lot more pink and lavender since my hair turned grey.

After I sent the last couple of photos round Mandy said she had imagined me with chubbier cheeks and darker hair. I wish I were like that, lol. I haven’t had chubby cheeks since I was a baby though I did have very dark hair but, alas, the beautiful brunette look has long gone. Happy birthday tomorrow for your son Mandy. I’m sure they’ll enjoy the tea bread. Could they invite me to tea please?

Mel, special days are very hard when you’ve lost a loved one and I’ll be thinking of you this week. Remember the happy times you shared.

I still haven’t got my scripts sorted. The system seems to have gone completely to pot. Yesterday morning I rang the pharmacy to check and they told me they still haven’t received the script from the doctors’ surgery, in spite of 2 emails from them and a phone call from me on Wednesday when I was told it would be signed off that day. The main surgery which is the one to phone usually has a non-appointment walk-in clinic on Saturday mornings so I gave them a call only to get an answering machine telling me they were closed and to ring 999 for a life threatening emergency and 111 for other medical queries. So tomorrow I’ll have to go into town, check again at the pharmacy and if this dratted script still isn’t there I’ll have to go to the main surgery with the dispensary and try and sort it out person to person with the dispenser. I am going to run out of one of my tablets on Tuesday and if they can’t get my script sorted by then I shall have to demand an emergency supply. I’ve really got my dander up now! If I have to do that tomorrow getting some tablets that I need will have taken 3 phone calls and 3 trips to town for me and 2 emails from the pharmacist to the surgery. You can probably tell that I am not happy. Moan over.

I’m going to cheer myself up by downloading 3 books to my kindle. One is a freebie and the other 2 are only 99p each so it won’t break the bank

I hope you have all had a good day. For the first time in several days it’s been dry all day here and we even had a bit of sun on and off. Enjoy what’s left of the day and sleep well tonight.

EDIT: You beat me to it with the bit about rooting cuttings in water Mel

Streptocarpus

I will share a secret with you........... I put mine in little bottles of water and put them on the kitchen windowsill. Keep the water clean and they root on there. At the moment I pulled a dead flower stalk off one of my (lost the name!!!) plants on the window sill and stuck it in one of my tiny bottles and its rooted lovely. I can see the roots in the clear glass and I think its nw ready to be potted up.

I am having a bad day today, keep getting upset.

I will watch them closely Mandy and, if they look as if they are taking I will use something to protect them. I got one out of four that I took last year. I think Vera is good at it so hopefully she will share her secret.

Suns out now .
Anng I've tried taking Geranium cuttings but they never seem to do any good I end up with dry sticks sticking out of the soil and when you pull them out there's no roots , I've tried fuchsia cuttings too and they do just the same ,I dip them in rooting powder too.
Hope you have some luck with yours ,could you wrap them up a bit with some plastic bags or bubble wrap to protect them from frost .

It is 11 degrees now and sunny but cold. I have just been out in the garden to take cuttings of my bedding geraniums which are now in the conservatory. I am not good at taking cuttings so I will see how many of them take. I don't want to have too many plants in the conservatory over winter if it is going to be as cold as last year as even in there they died from the frost.