General Chat

Afternoon Everyone,

You sound as if you are being plagued by bits that hurt Mel. You might have to take it a bit easier for a while and concentrate on the Tudor lady instead. It will be interesting to see how she looks once she is made.

I had to look up Syon House Vera and it looks like there is plenty to see. I hope you had a smooth journey to help your poor back with all the sitting and look forward to hearing about it.

AnnG that was good you had a cafe stop midway in your walk. Was it to the cafe and then back or did you come back a different way? OH used to drive me mad with circular walks as we would go wrong and end up walking so much further.

Mandy, OH laughed at the 'cough, cough trombone' and then said 'wait till next year it will be your 'sunset strip' birthday then!

Well after saying yesterday how well my 2 cues were doing in the greenhouse, when I went to water them this morning, 1 had gone limp and was sprawled on the soil and the other was halfway there on it's knees and mostly wilted! The soil was still mostly damp so it wasn't lack of water and they looked perfect yesterday. The courgette in there looks like it may go the same way, but those in pots outside look good and are in old compost.

We've just had a sharp shower which decided OH to miss a match he was going to tonight. Sport on the telly instead I expect! We went to the chemist for our meds today to find they hadn't arrived yet, but they tested my BP monitor and although my first reading was quite a bit higher than their monitor showed, the second reading was only 1 point different so it is still accurate which is good. We then went to the factory shop and OH got new slippers as he keeps scuffing the floor with his old ones as they are loose now. He usually has M&S ones, but decided they last no longer than cheaper ones so got some nice dunlop ones. I don't usually like artifical plants, but saw some small, very realistic, succulent type ones in little white pots I can put on the bathroom window cill.

We had fishcakes with salad and coleslaw for lunch but my avocado from the Asda delivery last Sunday was a strange grey in the middle, so that went in the waste bin and I asked for a refund!

It was rubbish bin day today and they arrived in a new, shiny, brightly painted, ELECTRIC bin lorry. I wondered what it cost and thought there goes our council tax! I suppose there will be savings in running it though and less fumes.

Good afternoon all

We had some rain overnight but could do with a lot more. It seems to keep missing us. It’s very warm again but there is a bit of a breeze so it’s bearable.

Oh dear Mel you do seem to be in the wars with your back, arm and hip. I hope all the aches and pains start to ease up very quickly. I look forward to seeing your Tudor lady. There is quite a lot online about ordinary people’s dress at that time. I put “Tudor labourer’s wife’s clothes” in the search box and quite a bit came up. One site you could try is www.cardinal-creations.com but there are lots of others.

Lovely to see your post Ann and to catch up with your news. You seem to have had a very busy time lately. Are you still finding time to paint? I laughed at Mandy’s cough, cough trombones. It made me think of my Dad who regularly sang “102 trombones led the big parade”. Now that would make you feel old ;-). I may not be on here tomorrow so I’ll wish you a very happy birthday now.

The reason I might not be on tomorrow is that we are on a coach trip to Syon House and have to leave home soon after 8 am. I was looking forward to it but my back has also given out again over the last two days and the thought of a couple of hours in each direction on a coach isn’t very appealing. OH won’t go without me so I shall just have to take some painkillers, grit my teeth and put up with it. I’ve done a load of ironing this morning and am paying for it now so I am resting on the bed with pillows behind me. Oh, the joys of getting older!

I need to go to the Co-op for a couple of bits this afternoon and I want to drop a few flowers in to a friend who’s unwell and a bit down at the moment so I’d better get off this bed and sort out some lunch or the afternoon will be gone before I get out.

Good afternoon all. very grey here and 18 degrees. Still it has stayed dry which is good because I am just back from a 3 mile walk (done in two halves with a coffee stop in between. My legs know that I have done it and I am ready for something to eat.

Morning all,

Not very nice out there this morning its all dull and dreary again and pc says 15 degrees and cloudy so its right this morning.

I must have been bitten on my wrist inthe night as it itches like anything this morning. Back is still bad and arm and my right hip. Its all ok when I first get up but after I have made my tea it all starts to kick off.

Right I am going to put some cream on this bite.

Hope you all slept well.

I make a big batch and freeze it so I have it for about 4 weeks on a Monday.

It was really windy today but the washing dried ok even though there was no sun.

Watch this space for a Tudor lasy......... if I can get one right. Do you know they don't really know what the ordiary people wore in Tudor times as only the gentry had pictures of themselves painted. I can't find anything on the net about ordinary people in those times. I shall just have to go with what I have seen on films.

Yes I like to see what you make Mel. Dinner sounds tasty and good for a rainy day.

Ha ha Mandy, you are right it's the cough cough one this year! I must tell OH you said that! OH actually said he is going to have another sort of his books and take quite a few to the charity shop. (maybe he already has his eye on some replacements?) The man who came told him to get a Kindle! :-D but he likes the feel of a book and I must agree with that. Kindles are good though and much lighter to carry if travelling.

Those BP readings should help them sort you out with your tablets which will be good.
You are way ahead with your cues and your toms won't be long. I must look for tiny beans tomorrow!

I must change this avatar now.........it kind of smacks you in the eye doesn't it!

Lots of lovely news from our Ann. Its so nice to see you posting. You have been a busy girl having all those things done but they will make life so much easier for both of you.

Its been raining on and off here all day and I have been dodging the showers as some of them have been quite heavy.

Its been a nothing day for me today as I could'nt get into anything.

I did go to the post van this morning to post two parcels and the only other thing I have done today, apart from feeding the birds and chickens is feed myself.

Over the weekend I made a tiny plate of mussles for a tudor feast to go with a chicken on a dish and a boars head dressed with apples and mushrooms. If you want to see pics let me know.

Mince and mash for dinner with greens I think. One of my favorites. Could'nt have it before cos oh did'nt like it. I found out from his brother they used to get that at home. BIL loves it.

I'm not surprised AnnG, I think I've got writer's cramp now! Yes the Pigeon did fly off. I stand at the conservatory door and clap my hands, but the wise little beggars often ignore that now.
Yes there should be a record of the delivery driver and I gave the neighbour a copy of our order from Amazon to prove he delivered here. Most of these delivery drivers are self employed though and this one was driving a tatty vehicle, not the smart grey vans you often see. I would think the Police have enough info, but I don't know how long these things take. The neighbour is fed up with the pile of rubble and wants to get it repaired.
Yes the compost was the peatfree one. After seeing what happened with the toms I mixed it with the existing compost in the tub for the beans and they seem to be thriving.
I meant to add to my embarrassingly long catchup how nice the Tudor man was Mel. I loved his boots and cap. Will you sell him or will there be a Tudor woman next?
I hope it stays fine for your amble tomorrow AnnG. Patchy rain here just now, then dry tomorrow morning with rain late afternoon if they are right!

Evening all,

Nice to see you Ann ,is it cough cough trombones in a big parade :-D I got son to post your card as I haven't been out until today .
So a lot of work happening at yours Ann OH will soon fill that book case ,I bet he's hoping there's a bit of room for a few new ones :-D

I have to take my blood pressure readings in in the morning so I hope they can sort my tablets out for me .
Today we went out and did a shop ,we got a few jobs done this morning, we gave everything a good feed ,I picked eight mini cues over the weekend so we had three and son took five home ,we have some green toms on the thumbling toms and tiny little green pea like toms on the other plants .
I can also see lots of half inch runner beans on the plants ,just hope we don't grt a heavy rain now to knock them off .

Mel you had a lovely double rainbow like we did, its a shame the photos don't seem to get the brightness of the rainbows as they are so lovely .

Better get out give the greenhouse pots a bit of a water ,it's been a hot day and they dry out quickly .

Wow I am out of breath reading that. Good to see you on here Ann you seem to have caught up with the news. I bet that pigeon took off before you got there. Next time just stand still and clap your hands.
Surely the delivery firm will have a record of the time of the delivery so can trace the driver. His vehicle must have been damaged as well. Some of them are such awful drivers.

Is that the peat free compost the plants don’t like? I ended up mixing the peat free with my own compost and my tomatoes are ok. I even had a few yesterday. Some small tumblers and one medium size Alicante.

Very showery here today but I managed to get to town and home without getting wet, it started to rain as I walked down my drive.

Hoping it will be dry tomorrow as it is the U3A Amble group. Meeting at 10am.

Afternoon All,

Well I'm all behind with what's been going on, but it seems most of us are having these health problems to sort out. OH has been suffering 'hip gyp' lately too Mel and I hope your shoulder soon improves. I hope Mandy's scary episode was a one off and that she's ok now and the tablets are ok. I too had a scary episode last week with dizziness and raised heart rate after stupidly hurrying up the garden to scare a Pigeon from trampling my waterlily in the water feature. I wasn't right again for hours, but I had had some chocolate, which I shouldn't really with my medicaton, so that may have been the reason. It could be several things and my tablets can cause dizziness so it's hard to tell what it is sometimes. Poor you Vera with the problems with your eyes and your sight. New glasses should help now as you say though! We are all glad of anything that helps improve matters.

I had a BP check done last Friday. The surgery requested it as they hadn't done one for 5 years. It was ok, but when I asked if they would check the accuracy of my own monitor against theirs if I brought it in, the nurse told me they don't do that now as they don't have time!! My mouth must have dropped open in disbelief as they are supposed to want us to look after our health aren't they? Anyway, I phoned our pharmacy today and they will do it. We need to collect our meds tomorrow so I'll get them to do it then. We also have some out of date meds to take there for them to dispose of.

I see Anng has been away to the IOW and had at least some nice weather. She must have got some nice photos at places like Osborne House.

We have made a start on sorting the umpteen jobs out that need doing, mostly to make life easier for us in future when we are even less able! The electrician has replaced our ancient security light at the front with a much cheaper to run one and also put one over the patio door and the back door. He also swapped our smoke alarm for one with a 10 year battery to save climbing up steps so often to change batteries. At long last we have now got the fuse box moved from next to the ceiling in a wardrobe, to further down the wall where it is easy to reach. It was impossible for me before and if OH was out in the evening and the power went off I would have to use a table lamp and torch till he got home! We've also got a carbon monoxide alarm which we should have got years ago. A man has been today to measure up to do some changes to the built in wardrobes and to put some bookcases along the wall at the bottom of the bed. The tv will need moving to the better place between the bookcases. They will be a 'U' shape with the tv in the middle. That hopefully should take care of a lot of OH's books! A roofer has been and pointed up the roof tiles where needed, which should stop anymore bees ( we had some going in again a few weeks ago where the wasps went in and built a nest a few years ago, but luckily our accommodation wasn't good enough for them and off they flew thank goodness!). We have ordered a new front door and garage door last week. The new front door has a lot less glass than our current one, but we can still see who's at the door. The little hallway should be warmer in winter and cooler in summer and we needed a new letterbox after the paper boy has destroyed it forcing too much through at once. The garage is a roller one with remote and manual controls and should stop the mice getting in as it is a close fit everywhere. Hurrah! We noticed as Jean, who used to live nearby, got older, she wasn't strong enough to open her up and over garage door. Typical though, the lock on the old garage door decided to pack up once we ordered the new door, so my car is now parked right up to the garage so no-one can get in there!

I've given up on my toms now after replacing them twice in that awful compost. I puffed some old antkiller round the base of the plants in the pots and then realised antkiller has a chemical in that isn't good for us. Out they came and into the garden bin and the compost went on the garden. I also need to throw out the Begonias in the wall pots round the back as they don't like that compost either. At least we still have a couple of cue plants and 3 courgette plants, although the courgettes are bright yellow instead of green with stripes like I thought I had ordered. I'm hoping for some beans though! We are all behind with the rest of the garden and need to get weeding and pruning. We have a neighbour's virginia creeper dangling all over and growing between our side fence, competing with their ivy over our fence now and it is climbing the tree in the field and along the brambles. How long before it will be over out bottom fence too.

A couple of weeks ago a stupid Amazon driver decided to turn round on our drive after dropping a small parcel off to us through the letterbox. I heard all the revving and looked through the window, then there was a huge bang as he drove forward into the hedge nextdoor to Mrs O, before driving off. I thought he had run into a rock that is at the base of the hedge and went out to make sure our cars hadn't been scraped, but my car blocked my view of my neighbour's wall between us where he had demolished it! Luckily another neighbour managed to get the registration number and the Police are looking into it. He only needed to reverse one bungaow length to the turning point like the other drivers do.

We think something has happened to 'Hello Kitty' as we haven't seen him sitting in the road at the top of the close, watching the hedge bottom for ages. :-(

I have received a couple of birthday cards, (not to open till the day) and OH made me smile as he is calling this one my 'trombone birthday!' :-D It took me a while to work it out, but think of a song!

I seem to have written a whole chapter, so better stop now before you fall asleep.

Morning Anng and all,

Its dull and dreary here but its 16 degrees and pc says light rain.

It has rained a bit in the night as the cars wet this morning and the ground.

Enjoy your visit to M & S food hall and don't spend too much.

Arm is still bad and I am living on the painkillers but my right hip is giving me what for even if I cough.

Good morning all. the sun is shining and it is 13 degrees. But the forecast is not really good. rain/storms forecast for later and apparently weather not improving. Looks like a return to the old July weather when it was unpredictable. I know last year was too hot but I was hoping for warm weather. Hate not knowing what to wear when I go out.

Might nip into town this morning. I chose not to have a food delivery yesterday but there are one or two things I could do with. So a visit to M&S food hall maybe.

19 here now and the sun is shining but the pc says thunderstorms so we will see.

Been doing some gardening this afternoon. Got out some ground elder from the rockery and moved the tubs on the decking by my pond and put the hostas in them. they have sat on the decking in the way ever since the man came to do the pond.

Now the suns full out but the sky has big white clouds under the blue .

And now its pouring..........hard.

21 here now but grey and showery

I think the later Anng. It 18 degrees here and partly sunny but quite warm.

Mel, either that is his way of grieving for his brother, or it is his way of getting to do what his brother wouldn't let him do. either way it gets your grass cut.