General Chat

I have been cooking all afternoon. Two quiche, I always think they won't take long but they did! I also have twelve pastry cases which I think I wil make into some little bakewell tart type things and with the sponge thats left over I shall do a few cupcakes.

Your oh is showing a good improvement on his walking Vera and as Jane said little by little he will get better at it and be able to go a bit further. Its not nice when they change our collection days. We used to have one day for dustbin and recykling but now recyckleing is on a monday every Monday and the bin is forthnightly. When it started we did'nt know where we were and have only just about got used to it now after months and months. I judge by how much the bin is filled up but oh still sks me when is bin day.

Oh has his curry tonight and he shall have to watch me eat some quiche but he can have some for lunch tomorrow.

My poor old feet feel really hot today as it has been a scorcher here again today.

Jane its good your redness has'nt gone any further and that you are making very good progress and were praised for it. That goes a long way a comment like that. Hope you get on ok with the new exercises and with useing the one crutch. How is Fitzy doing? Did he get praise too or not?

Gosh I needed that cuppa I have just drunk........ :-)

Yes I am nearlly back to normal now face wise. At least I don't have a fat eye or a pouch of water under my eye. Its just the gum thats sore now. I must make an appointment with the dentist as I keep forgetting until its too late to ring for one.

Oh I missed your post Jane as I stopped halfway through mine for a while before posting it. That's great news the physio was so pleased with you! That must have given you a boost! Also great that the red mark isn't spreading and down to 1 crutch now! You are making great strides! (oops, not too great to soon though!)

I had to chuckle at Chris in Tesco when you were shopping. It's just how OH tended to be after he retired and came shopping with me. I used to wait till he picked something up that he wanted and say the same to him! lol It worked! On that subject, he popped to get some milk this morning, so I asked him to bring some mushrooms, as I wanted to add some to some lamb mince to make it less fattening. He asked me what sort to get, so I said small ones if they have them, otherwise large will do. Bear in mind I didn't need many, so what did he do? He brought a carton of each!!!!! That's male logic for you! I'll be eating them all week now, but at least my waist should benefit.

Ann my oh would say you never have too many mushrooms. He loves them and will eat them in a salad raw too. His sister has them on toast for breakfast.

You must have posted just before me.

We have them on toast sometimes Mel or with toms or beans on toast. I have tried them raw, but wasn't keen, but they might be nice mixed in with a salad. I liked the sound of and quite fancied your quiche. You amaze me with all you do and yet still manage to do so much cooking as well.

Just packed my bag with my felting to carry on with tomorrow. Now to watch some tv.

My knee has gone tonight. It must have been all the walking and turning in the kitchen this afternoon. It don't half hurt and I can only walk with my leg held stiff and straight.

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Lunar eclipse - when will it start and how to see 'Half-Blood Moon' in the UK tonight

The event coincides with a special anniversary and it's the last one for a few years



20:10, 16 JUL 2019 Updated 22:31, 16 JUL 2019



A partial lunar eclipse is expected this evening - tying in with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's launch.

On July 16, 1969, US astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins set off for the now famous moon landing.

Tonight the moon is set to glow red as it rises, eventually reaching around 60 per cent coverage.

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth crosses between the sun and moon, causing a shadow to be cast on the lunar surface.


Stunning photos show a partial lunar eclipse over Bristol

The partial lunar eclipse partly obscured by low cloud in St Anne's, Bristol
The partial lunar eclipse partly obscured by low cloud in St Anne's, Bristol (Image: Paul Gillis)

Tonight's is the last lunar eclipse for a few years, so you'd better make sure you take your chance.

If the conditions are clear, UK stargazers will be able to see the eclipse from moonrise, which starts at around 9.16pm for Bristol.

Mid-eclipse is expected to take place around 10.30pm - the best time to view the moon - and the event will end around 1.17am.

Have taken a couple of pics.

Morning all

Cloudy here today, OH's just been to speak with the roofer, he didn't come and put the tile back on the roof yesterday like he said he would, apparently he forgot ,so he's coming around at lunch time to to it. I hope it doesn't rain before then. I thought he'd forget and asked OH to ask him again before they left but he was certain they'd turn up, which of course they didn't, so hopefully they'll do it today before it rains, as I can't see another roofer coming out just to fix one tile which would mean OH would have to go to the top of the roof to put the tile back himself.

We saw the partial lunar eclipse last night Mel, we didn't know about it until it was mentioned on the news. It's a good job we've got a long garden as we had to go to the bottom of it to see the moon. It was bright orange and very big, even Sandra took a look. Have you made an appointment at the dentist yet, I hope he can help? It sounds like you had a productive time cooking and baking in the kitchen yesterday.

Hello Frank, nice to see you popping in. Take care of yourself, we're all looking forward to seeing you back on here soon.

How is your OH today Vera? I'm sure things will keep on improving little by little. I've replied to your PM.

It sounds like your first Physio went well Jane and now you only need one crutch. Pleased to see the redness hasn't got an bigger. So Chris thinks he know all about shopping now he's done it for a few weeks........bless him. At least he's helping you which is good. I bet you'll be glad to get back to normal. How is Fitz has he had Physio yet? I hope the meds are working on his infection and he's starting to improve now.

I did smile when you were telling us about your OH and the mushroom's Ann LOL. What are you making at felting today?

I did really well on OH's tree yesterday, but had a rocky start as the couple I was trying to find used their middle names. I finally found their correct names and the woman's maiden name, then found 9 children with 1 extra one I think she had as a single woman, weather it's his child or not remains a mystery as she had her mother's maiden name as her surname then took on his surname later. The names were Williams and Hughes, so you can see how difficult they were to find. I'm going to carry on with their children today to see if I can find their spouse's and children. I did find a few last night including one man called Swinbourne, I've never heard of a Christian name like that before, it did make finding his records easy though ;-) ;-) ;-)

It's OH's birthday today, we're just waiting for Sandra to wake up as she has all his cards and presents tucked away somewhere safe for him. I'll go and make him a cuppa while he waits. <3 <3

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to your OH Gill. I had a good night last night. So going in the right direction. xxx

<3 <3 Happy Birthday Gill's oh <3 <3

Have a lovely day and let the girls spoil you rotten.

Morning all,

Cloudy sky this morning, all grey but its dry so thats a bonus.

My knee is not better this morning but the good news is my mouth is more comfortable.

I should be going to Mole Valley today as I have run out of chicken food and desperately need to get some more. Trouble is there is a great big slope to get in the shop and then back to the car to go and get the sacks from the store shed. Its going to take me a long while to walk there and back to the car. Will see how I feel later on.

I heard from Will this morning and he sent me the card his children sent him for his birthday. It has his to girls and him in the middle. I have asked Will if Ican forward it to you all but hav'nt heard back from him yet.

Sorry I was not on here yesterday, we had a long day and I was tired in the evening. The only way I can describe our day is to copy my diary piece that I have written about it, it includes bits we learnt backed up by some facts from guides on the internet to get it into context. sorry for the length of it, hope it is not too much like a history lesson.

we met the rest of the garden visits group in the coffee shop of Sudely castle at 11am. We had a really good day, first having a guided tour of the outside of the castle to put it into historical context.
In 1442, Ralph Boteler, who was created Baron Sudeley by King Henry VI of England, inherited Sudeley Castle and built the current castle on its present site, using what he had earned fighting in the Hundred Years' War. The law said that to have crestellations on buildings you had to have permission, he didn’t and therefore had to have a pardon from the King. Due to his support for the Lancastrian cause, King Edward IV of England confiscated the castle from Boteler in 1469, and gave it to his brother, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, who later became King Richard III of England. Richard used the castle as a base for the Battle of Tewkesbury. He later exchanged this property for Richmond Castle, making Sudeley property of the crown. It then passed through several king’s hands until it became the property of Henry V111. When King Henry VIII died, the castle became the property of his son, King Edward VI of England, who gave it to his uncle, Thomas Seymour, whom he made Baron of Sudeley, Lord High Admiral of England. In early Spring 1547, Lord Seymour married King Edward's stepmother, the Dowager Queen Catherine Parr. At the announcement of her pregnancy in late 1547, Seymour began to renovate the castle for Catherine's use, Sudeley is not a castle as we normally know it being more of a large stately home with castellations. The main part of the castle is private and lived in but the older part is accessible (although there are also ruins that are not) and used for exhibitions running from Roman times to the present. We were there from 11 until about 2.45, although we stopped for lunch in their restaurant. After the guided tour tony and I broke away from the group and explored the gardens including the Queen’s garden (roses) and the Secret Garden (more cottage type planting, the medicinal garden (herbs and the scented garden. Plus several other smaller gardens and also the pheasantry where there is one of the world’s largest collections of rare breeds of pheasants. We also visited St Mary’s church where Catherine Parr is buried. Catherine died after the birth of her daughter lady Mary Seymour, only a couple of years after she married Thomas and moved to Sudeley. Thomas, while being apparently a ‘charmer’ was not really a nice man, only courting and marrying Catherine because she was close to the throne of England. Thomas was really setting his sights a little higherIn 1549, Lord Seymour's ambitions led him to be arrested and beheaded; after which, Sudeley Castle became the property of Catherine's brother, William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton
It was very interesting to put all the facts that we knew with the ones we didn’t in the context of where they happened.
The castle then deteriorated and ran to ruins for 200 years. Then in 1837, Sudeley was rescued by the wealthy Worcester glove-makers, brothers John and William Dent, who began an ambitious restoration programme, which was continued by their nephew, John Coucher Dent, when he inherited the castle in 1855. His wife, Emma Brocklehurst, threw herself enthusiastically into Sudeley’s restoration, at the same time forging strong links with the nearby town of Winchcombe. It is the results of Emma’s dedication that are so evident in the gardens and exhibitions at Sudeley today. On her death in 1900, her nephew Henry Dent-Brocklehurst inherited Sudeley Castle. Henry's son Mark died in the first year of his inheritance but his wife, Elizabeth Lady Ashcombe, and her son, daughter and their families now live there. The family is committed to the continued preservation of the castle, its treasures and the ongoing restoration and regeneration of the gardens.
We were really impressed by the whole place and enjoyed our visit a lot. We got home about 3.30pm after a long interesting day.

Jane good to see you only need one crutch and that the infection doesn't appear to be spreading.
Frank, hello great to see you pop in.
Annx look forward to your felting results later.
Mel can't remember if I thanked you for the photo of the chicks. Our robin appears to have succeeded at last in producing a chick. I think they had three goes and we never saw any eggs or chicks but this time there is a little open beak peeping over the top of the nest, I dare not take a photo as they are very young parents and very nervous of their offspring so we are staying away from the nest which has been the same one since early May.
Gill Happy birthday to your OH hope he enjoys all his cards and presents. And hope you get the roof tile fixed today before it rains.

We have a U3A meeting this afternoon, I think it is folk music of Gloucestershire but not sure if he is talking or singing!
Vera I think you would like Sudeley Castle. (If you have not already been ). It won't hurt your OH to rest on his laurels for a while, he will regain the will to go further all of a sudden. It must be mentally tiring for you both.

Afternoon all,

It's clouded up a little now after a morning of sun but it's very muggy today .

Jane that good your now down to one crutch your doing very well , i bet you carn't wait to have a nice shower I remember Colin sitting in the shower for quite a while he said it was lovely having the water just run over him after all the strip washes .
Hope Jorge is settling in ok it's surprising how they soon get to know the routine of feeding and walks .

Nice to see you are keeping an eye on us Frank :-D we're all behaving so i hope you are too :-D
Glad you had a good nights sleep and you feel your getting there now.

Oh Mel you are having some problems ,that's good your mouth is less sore now and i hope the knee soon improves ,we have trolleys at our Mole Valley i don't know if yours have but if they do could you use one to help you get round the store and back to the car ?
The little birds are all squashed in the nest LOL is there four or five ?
Nice to hear William is ok ,i hope he enjoyed his birthday and that Carmel is doing ok.
I liked the Lavander Pentagon .

Happy Birthday to Mr Gill :-D
Hope you can get your slate for the roof sorted our today Gill you don't want OH trying to get on the roof it won't do him any good trying to do that after his op.
I looked out last night to see the moon after it was mentioned on the news but we had cloud here so i couldn't see it .

Are you getting through the Mushrooms Ann :-D that's the sort of thing Colin would do ,he'd say i didn't know which ones you wanted so i bought them both as we'll eat them up .
Sounds as if you had a nice birthday lunch ,it's nice to try some different things .

Vera your OH is doing very well and it's a big improvement on how he was ,at least he is on his feet now after all the problems on holiday ,slow but sure wins the race .

You had an interesting day yesterday AnnG ,it's nice to have the guided tour ,these guides certainly know their stuff ,it sounds as if there were lots of little gardens for you to explore
Enjoy your afternoon of Folk Music .

We went to Lacey's Leaving service at the church this morning ,all the leavers were given a Dictionary and then they went back into school for a leavers picnic .

Hi all,

Had one hell of a day. Spent two hours cleaning the cooker, after Ros had cleaned the hob and all the utensils that are on hooks above. Had hells own job getting the door glass cleaned and put back. Then I have walked to the Dr for my injection. Have just got back, and ready to sit and rest.

Sorry I haven't read any posts, but assume you are all keeping well, and that Jane is improving after the operation.

Still feeling very depressed and out of salts. But with a bayou time I am sure I will bounce back to my usual self.

Love to you all. <3 <3 <3 <3

Our U3A meeting today was very good.

The talk was really interesting and well done. And nobody complained when it over ran. He talked about folk songs, how they differ in various areas but also how they may be just 'tweaked' to suit the area in which they are sung. He spoke about mainly Gloucestershire folk songs and how the group he belongs to have traced many songs and their origins. Surprising that 'songs' like Onward Christian soldiers and The Holly and the Ivy started as being basically folk songs . i.e the voice of the people, songs that originated with 'ordinary' people. He spoke about Wassailing and how it used to be done sort of like carol singing by farm workers etc on the winter when there was no work for Ag Labs so they would go Wassailing around the houses and expect to get food or drink in return. He quoted the second verse of We wish you a merry Christmas which is 'Bring us some figgy pudding' etc and ends 'we won't go until we've got some'. He not only spoke but sang as well and he had a great voice. Liked him a lot.

Afternoon Everyone

Frank, maybe you have had another top of Tesosterone your mood might lift again. Fingers crossed. It is good you are posting again even if it is just to day HI :-D :-D

AnnG what an interesting history of Sudley. My Niece had her wedding reception there in the grounds and it was such a beautiful setting.

Happy Birthday to OH Gill <3 I expect he has had all his pressies from Sandra now :-D I bet she did a really special card for him too :-D

Mel,it sounds like you really cricked your knee yesterday.Have you got any Voleral or Ibuprofen Gel you could rub on. I find it works really well. Did you manage to go and get the Chicken food?

Mandy did all the leavers have to walk up to receive their dictionaries and shake hands with the Head? :-D. Will she be sad leaving the school or just really looking forward to now going to Senior School? Are all her friends going on to the school she is?

I have spent most of the morning trying to book a cottage for Xmas.It is Hannah'
s idea to go down to all the family for the festive season eg Gareths family and Janice and Larry and rest of the gang. She said it will be nice to see all the family.I think possibly one reason is that she doesnt want a quiet Xmas as this would be the time they would have had the baby and all the excitment of a Baby's first Xmas. :-(
So I have finally found a really nice converted Chapel in a little village called Shipton Oliffe for 4 nights.This will be the first Xmas in well over 30 years that we will not be a home for Xmas. Thomas is all booked in at the Cattery. That was almost booked up for Xmas already !!! So I am glad I haven't left it any longer.

Fitz managed to get a cancellation for Physio today so at least he now hasn't got to wait until the end of the month. Wound check again for both of us tomorrow afternoon.
I think Chris is getting a bit fed up now with all this chauffeuring LOL I have done my new excercises and just had awalk around the garden today as everything is feeling a bit sore today. I think the physio and trip to Tesco yesterday has something to do with that.
From tomorrow I am taking over the decisions as to what we will eat every night :-D
Bit of control back will be good :-D
Ann, we eat so many mushrooms here. I put them in many dishes but have never had them on toast. Mushrooms used to make me sick but now I have now trouble with them.

It is another really hot and humid day. The fan has been on all day in the lounge.

I have just seen on FB that my friends Sister passed away on the 9th. She wasn't even 60 <3

This was Lacey's leaving service Jane ,she's off to middle school and it's Chelsea that's going on to high school , the same school where Jake .goes.
Lacey did have to shake the heads hand ,they gave out over sixty dictionaries and we had to clap each one my hands were beginning to get a bit sore :-D

That's a lovely idea to all get together for Christmas ,you were lucky to get it booked by the sound of it ,it might make it a bit easier for them too to have all the family with them
Good luck with the wound check tomorrow hopefully you'll finally get to have the long awaited shower .

Yes Frank it might buck you up a bit after having the injection ,i bet the as a few choice word with the oven door :-0 :-D

So nice to see what Frak has been up to. I bet there were a few words about the oven door too Mandy. Frank thats a good job out of the way though.

Your hands must have been sore Mandy with all that clapping for 60 pupils.

AnnG that was very interesting about Sudleigh Castle and it sounds like you had a really good time there looking at all the gardens and interesting things.

Jane I hope you get to have your long awaited shower tomorrow after an all clear from the doc. It was good Fitz got a cancelation. Poor Chris having to do the hospital run for such a long while. You were bound to be a bit sore today after phisio yesterday so hope you feel better tomorrow after your wound checks.

I managed to get to Mole Valley and do a bit of shopping in Waitrose which is just a little way up the road to MV and I forgot my rubber gloves so had to go back to MV to get them.

When I got to Waitrose check out the young lad asked me how are you today and I told him I had a sore mouth and a bad knee. After he had served me and given me my bill he said go to the advise desk as there something there for you. When I got there the girl behind the desk gave me a big bunch of coloured Gerberas. Was'nt that nice? It certainly put a smile on my face and they are lovely and sitting in a vase near my desk with a bit of my Alchemilla Mollis in with them. So some young men can be very feeling, bless him.

JANE, DO YOU WANT YOUR BACK WASHING. ??? I know I am being cheeky. !!!!

Cheeky boy, Frank :-D

Sudeley Castle sounds just my cup of tea Ann. I don't think we have ever been there. The trouble is over the years we have been to so many places that I forget which we have seen and which we haven't! I did google it and didn't recognise the pictures so I don't think we have been.

Belated Happy Birthday to Gill's OH. I hope he has had a lovely day. I expect Sandra enjoyed giving him his cards and pressies and making a fuss of him.

It sounds as though you are really doing well Jane. Shame you are still having to wait for a shower but I bet you will enjoy it when you eventually get one. Good that Fitz could get a cancellation. I know what you mean about having a man with you when you're shopping - I get done in half the time if I am on my own. It's a good idea to get away for Christmas this year. A new environment might be helpful and you will still all be together. Whereabouts in Suffolk are you staying? I remembered that it's called Rose Cottage but I can't remember where it is.

I hope your mouth is a bit less sore now Mel. It must be agony to put a denture in. Now you've got your painful knee to put up with as well. Hopefully another night's rest will help and it will feel easier tomorrow.

Did they sing "One More Step Along The Road I Go" at Lacey's leaving assembly Mandy? I think that's been sung at every leaving assembly I've been to in the last 50 years. Still, the words are appropriate. I hope she enjoyed the picnic after.

OH had a good night last night. The pain in his leg keeps waking him but he said that last night he slept from midnight to 6 am and didn't stir. It will have done him good. The walking is going OK. He can still only make it to the corner and back but today he did that four times rather than the three he has done the last couple of days. He still can't stand for more than a few seconds so I hope that improves soon.

Now I must ring my son and try and have a chat with him. I usually end up having to leave messages on both his land line and mobile.

Hope you all have a good night tonight

Morning all

Cloudy here today but the sun is trying it's best to come out, it looks like we've had quite a bit of rain in the night.

The roof tile wasn't put back in the end as the roofer said he wouldn't get on the roof in the rain because it was to slippy, so OH struggled to get in the loft and put a large tarpaulin down so if the rain came through it wouldn't go through the ceiling. He went to the neighbour to ask for his ladders, but because the neighbour new about his op he said he would to it today if it's dry, I hope he can do it otherwise OH will and I don't really want him on the roof.

Thanks everyone for OH's birthday wishes, we wanted to go out but ended up staying in all day waiting for the roofer, only to find out he'd just gone home. Apart from going in the loft he had a relaxing day watching "On the Buses" and "George and Mildred" I found for him on TV, that gave him a giggle.

Mum came around to give him his card, but gave us a shock when she asked if we knew anyone who could lend her friend SEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS, I was quite shocked. OH and I think she was really asking if WE could lend her the money.

We said we didn't know anyone, which we don't and didn't offer ourselves as it was only going to be paid back on her friends death. We've only ever met her three times and OH thought mum was very cheeky asking in the first place.

The money was for her friend to buy the house she wants. We think she should buy a house in her price range rather than going for one she can't afford, even her family wouldn't lend her the money.

So quite an eventful day yesterday. Certainly a birthday OH will never forget.

I haven't read the posts properly yet, so will do that now.