General Chat

Mandy no bake cookies sound a good idea. have you tasted them? are they nice?

So Jake's hours are very reasonable then Mandy. 7 until 4 is 9 hours minus an hour for lunch five days a week is a 40 hour week. Can he get home for lunch?

Sounds like we have all been busy in the garden then. It is 21 degrees here breezy but not a strong wind and quite a warm one too. I have done over two hours in the garden, two this morning then about half an hour this afternoon. I cut the lawn, emptied a pot and refilled it and planted it with a fern I bought. Weeded odd parts of the garden and cut back a lot of Ivy, honeysuckle and variagated holly. there is still a lot to do out there and I have 6 pansies to put in but can't make up my mind where to plant them. I came in as my back was complaining. Hopefully I can do a bit more tomorrow.

Vera hopefully they are taking extra care of your car so it will be worth the wait. Although it sounds as if they are dragging theeir feet a bit.

Mmmm those cakes sound rather good.

Warm and sunny here today. I think it's about 23 degrees at the moment which must be some sort of record for 7th October. It was chilly first thing and there is a breeze but it really is a beautiful day.

I got out to do some gardening early this morning and stayed out there for about an hour and a half, deadheading and weeding and clearing a couple of troughs. Our garden and all the pots seem to be moss magnets. It grows and spreads everywhere. All the garden books say you must improve the drainage but our soil is already fairly free draining and I always use crocks in the bottom of pots and mix the compost with plenty of grit.

I don't feel as though I have done much else today but I have spent quite a while doing those silly odd little jobs like paying a couple of bills online, shredding some papers, filing various bits and pieces and so on.

OH rang the car company yesterday morning and was told the car is now in for spraying and they would ring back later. They rang about 6 pm and told us the car won't be ready till Tuesday or Wednesday. I am not impressed. I had an appointment early on Wednesday that I have had to cancel in case I can't get there. Friends have said to ring them if we need lifts anywhere but I don't want to take advantage so will only ask if it's for something more important like a hospital appointment. I am sure the car people will do an excellent job, they have a very good reputation, but they could certainly do with some training in time management.

Someone asked me a while ago if our neighbour was still giving us his home cooked cakes. Yes, he is but not on a regular weekly basis anymore. We hadn't had anything for 2 or 3 weeks but this week we have had 2 lots. On Monday we got Mocha Choc Chip Cookies and yesterday we got a large chunk of Guinness Gingerbread. They all went down a treat.

Well, I suppose I had better get on with something though I don't feel inclined to do anything much. I think I am getting very lazy in my old age. I look at jobs to be done and think "I'll do that tomorrow" but tomorrow never seems to come ;-)

Afternoon all,

Little bit of sun here but also lots of cloud with a good breeze and not cold .
We've had another morning out in the garden bagging up the compost from the cucumber pots ,Colin did the bagging up while I washed the pots.

You asked if Jake had Sundays off Anng yes he does and he gets an hour for lunch .

Vera that sounds like a lovely trip out yesterday shame you got held up coming home but it was better than getting held up on the way there and shortening the day out .
I've seen a picture of Prince Phillip's and the Queens burial place when they showed the funeral flowers placed on it and I thought it looked like it was in a smal room with people walking past the doorway .

Mel do you think the needles are helping your arm ,it sounds as if it was a bit painful last time ,does she put the needles in the same place each time .
I can remember Colin having acupuncture when his hip was painful but it didn't really help as he needed a new hip .

I have just made some no bake cookies for the family ,I saw it on line and thought they might like them ,I might make them a sponge too ,they are both busy at work and they do like homemade cakes .

good morning all 17 degrees but I just went outside and it feels a bit nippy to me. Nothing planned for today but a few smallish jobs around the house to do. Still the sun is shining so that makes it feel better.

Morning all,

Its a bit cloudy this morning and 15 degrees but it looks like it may brighten up later on. Had a biit of a lie in this morning was up at 7.15am for the loo and went back to bed and slept again till 9.15am. I dreamt I was driving an electric scooter and going over South Woodford bridge to the shops in the high street and then on to Buckhurst Hill and Woodford Wells trying to find a house my aunt used to live in. Frank would know all these places bless him. Strange I have not been there for over 38 years.

Pc is now telling me the temp will break a record high today of 21 degrees,.

Neither do I Vera you explained everything beautifully and I could just imagine you going around and seeing all the lovely things on show. Shame the ride home was long and you must have been tired out by the time you arrived home but it sounds like you really enjoyed your trip.

I hav'nt felt like doing much today and its been so lovely and sunny here with a gentle breeze. BIL mowed all the lawns but did'nt get the UV light fitted so he may come to morrow and do that. We had homemade soup for lunch and he had two large bowls and two harvest crunch baps so that kept him going for the rest of the afternoon. I still have a huge potful left so may take some to Em tomorrow.

Well I think now I am going to cosy in and watch a little tv before going to bed so will now say night night and speak to you all in the morning. Sleep tight. :-D

Still awake Vera and thoroughly enjoyed reading about your day in Windsor. Sounds as if you saw as much as you possibly could. I never find your epistles too long. :-)

To continue:

About 1.15 we found the visitor entrance to the castle and were ushered straight in past all the people queueing for tickets and to the airport style security. That didn't seem particularly thorough and we only had to queue for five minutes or so and we were in.

Once inside you can get one of these multi-media sets where you can punch in the number of the room you are in or item you are looking at and get a commentary through headphones. It would have been useful but there was a long, very slow moving queue so we decided not to bother.

We started off at St George's Chapel which was beautiful, or at least I thought so. I could just imagine royal christenings and the weddings of minor royals taking place there. At one point I looked down at the floor and found I was standing above the burial place of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII, Charles I and an infant daughter of Queen Anne.

We then toured the State Apartments and there was a lot open to the public and plenty of knowledgable staff around to answer any questions. There was so much to see that I wondered if we would find our way out by the time we had to get back to the coach at 4.45 pm Some of the state apartments were the ones ravished by fire in 1992. I was amazed that they were rebuilt as they were in just 5 years with all the amazing ceilings and gold leaf gilding. They say there are no craftsmen left nowadays but these remade rooms prove that's not really true.

We also walked past the burial place of the late Queen and Prince Philip. Here we were asked to keep walking slowly past and not stop.

There are also notices up everywhere saying no photography but loads of people were taking no notice of that at all. If a staff member saw them they were firmly told it wasn't allowed.

We didn't linger in some of the rooms or really look at some of the items on display because of the time factor and we didn't see Queen Mary's Doll's House as the queue was so long. We could have had our tickets validated for a full year but the distance is too far for us to go back.

We finished around 4 pm which just gave us time for a quick cup of tea and a scone in the cafe there before finding our way back to the coach park.

The coach left the parking place just before 5 pm but unfortunately the journey back took three and a half hours as we spent an hour at a near complete standstill on the M25. Our driver said we were only about half a mile from a junction where he could take us off on a different route and it took an hour to do that half mile. About 20 minutes before we arrived back OH rang for a taxi to come to the bus station to pick us up. We got off the coach, sat down on a bench to wait and within 2 minutes the taxi had arrived. We eventually got home about 8.45 pm.

I bet you have all nodded off by now. Enjoy the rest of your day and sleep well tonight everyone.

It was a grey chilly start to the day but the sun eventually came out and it's lovely and warm now. I washed a king size duvet cover this morning and have managed an hour in the garden this afternoon to make the most of the good weather.

Well done Jake on getting that job. It's not easy for youngsters to find employment these days but once you get that first foot on the ladder you never know what it might lead to. Many years ago when we lived in a small village the local butcher took on a young apprentice. That apprentice now owns the butcher's shop in the village and runs a meat delivery service that covers a wide area. Jake could go a long way too.

Sorry your treatment hurt today Mel but, as AnnG says, perhaps it means the doctor is really hitting the spot and it will do some good.

We had a good day at Windsor yesterday though it was very tiring. Our taxi turned up in time and the coach left promptly at 8.30 am. We arrived about 11 am which was much as expected. We had timed tickets to go in the castle at 1.30 so we had plenty of spare time. From the coach park there was just a short walk to an area where there was supposed to be a lift to take you up to the castle and High Street. Lift was out of order! The choice was to climb several flights of steps or take a sign posted alternative route that started via the road and then went through a grotty area between backs of buildings. That's what most people did, us included.

Once we got there we had a wander around the area generally and went into the parish church. There was an amazing large sculpture of The Last Supper. It looked as though it was done with tiles but they were the keys from recycled computer keyboards. Google "The Last Supper sculpture by Peter Barnes" if you want to see it.

After that we found a pub for lunch. I had ham, egg and chips and then a bit more wandering till it was time to go in the castle.

I think I'll post this in case I lose it and then continue in another post.

Mandy does he get Sundays off as well? And does he get adequate breaks for lunch etc?

Mel, as it hurt maybe it will work. Hope so anyway.

Gosh Mandy thats long hours I hope the pay is good. Bless him being put with people he could'nt understand in the bakery.

I hope he gets on ok with the butchers and it will give him confidence.

Back and it hurt today. BIL is here and mowing and then he is going to fit the new UV light.

Afternoon all,

Sun keeps trying to peep through the cloud and I think it will be really warm out if it does ,there's quite a breeze today so thats keeping it a bit cooler.
I've spent the morning clearing the cucumber plants out of the green house and I picked ten more mini cues ,I didn't realise there was that many .
I've also started to get the little garden lights put away while they are nice and dry rather than hold on and we have rain and I have to dry them out .

I don't think Jake wanted to be a butcher Mel it was a job he sent his cv in and they gave him an interview, he had applied for all sorts of jobs .
One was in a sour dough bread making factory and they gave him a trial but when he got there for a night shift they were all foreign workers and he couldn't understand a word they said so he rang his dad to pick him up ,they were English who interviewed him but then they put him with all these foreigners .
He's been upset at times as he's a really kindhearted boy and he didn't do very well at school ,he was home schooled the last year or so of school because he was being bullied so son and dil had enough and took him out , he's 18 and for the last couple of years he's done lots of on line courses .

Anng its a full time job 7 till 4 each day with Tuesday off .

Morning Anng and all,

Beautiful morning here with plenty of the yellow stuff pc is saying 13 degrees and partly sunny.

BIL may come today and I have the docs at 1pm so thats mucked up my day. Iv'e not done any minitures this week and I am cross about that.

Well done Jake Mandy. Is this a full time job or part time?

Good morning all, very grey again today, quite a bit to do, I ought to get out and finish tidying the garden first. Then I want to walk down as it is the book stall this weekend and I have some more books to take down.

But first I must shower and wash my hair.

Do hope all went well for Vera and OH yesterday with their outing.

And hope all is ok with the Drs today Mel.

O Mandy thats lovely. Was he lookinng for a butchers job?? Perhaps he will get a reduction on the meat he buys???? Well done Jake. :-D :-D :-D

Anng no we haven't got a garden bin as we're able to take stuff to the tip ,it's very easy and near by so we can just drop stuff in on the way to shop if we want to .

On Mel that was naughty of her not booking your appointment in for you ,hope you soon hear from her .

We were so pleased today Jake had an interview in our local butchers this afternoon he called in to say he starts on Monday :-D he's applied for lots of jobs and was getting a bit down hearted do we're really happy for him .

She has just rung me and admitted she cocked the appointment up so now its tomorrow at 1pm. I asked her if she got any of the sweets I took in and she said no she will go and see if she can get a toffee. I bet the others have eaten them all.

I just made scones from a packet out of the cupboard and when they were baking I could smell a sour smell. When I got them out of the oven they still smelt so I tasted one and it tasted sour and when I looked at the packet it was out of date in April 2023 so the birds are goin to get those and I will have to make some more from scratch.

that is a nuisance Mel. Maybe she still will.