General Chat

I am pleased ros arrived home safely and that must have been a horrid journey for her with all the rain and wind and land fall. I bet there's also a lot of trees down over the country. Our garden has lots of twigs come down off the ash tree and leaves and apples in the orchard which the deer will like.

I have been up the shop and meant to pick some plums off the tree on the top field but drove back down forgetting all about them till I reached the bungalow. May go up this afternoon and pick some. The wasps had most of the ones on the little old tree on the south wall this year. I should have kept my eye on them better.

AnnG enjoy your lazy day and pizza tonight. Oh would'nt think that was a meal but we do have it for lunch sometimes.

Better go and get some lunch now as I am really hungry today.

Afternoon all ,

No rain here just very windy ,i think it's rougher now than first thing this morning ,i did get my washing dry though ,had to use plenty of pegs to keep them on the line :-D

Frank Ros did well to drive in those conditions i bet she was glad to get home and Lewis too after getting so wet .
What a shame the weather is like this for the Festival weekend when so much planning goes into it .
I don't think i would want to be in a caravan with this wind ,i should think it would be rocking about well in the wind .

Your lucky you don't have all the wind Gill so OH can get the painting done ,i bet it all looks nice and clean now .
That's good your foot and arm are starting to feel better ,don't try doing the screening just yet i'd give it another day or two to really feel better .

AnnG i thought i read some where that the super markets were stopping people going in the stores in their PJ's .

Oh that's good Ann :-D looking forward to seeing what you make with it ,there's more here if you need it .
Our poor beans are being battered a bit now ,i should see if there more beans ready to pick .
I bought a big Marrow today at the fruit and veg place where we get the children's fruit for the week that will be for my Piccalilli when i get round to making it .

Do make any jam with the plums Mel or just stew them ?
I hate it when the doors keep rattling and have to get up and close the window ,oh the bathroom door upstairs has just banged shut .

Katie has had the chance to go to the Adventure camp on Monday for a couple of nights ,its the camp she went to with her school ,she goes to a little club once a month and one of the girls couldn't go on the camp so they asked if she would like to go ,it's all free so they couldn't say no to it ,she is so excited and has packed her bag already :-D
Chelsea is coming to stay with us on Monday for a couple of nights while Katie is away so i think i will have a relaxing weekend as she wants to be on the go all the time .

Well it did stop raining and the sun came out (still windy though), so we popped down to the horticultural society show. We had a good look round although didn't really look at the veg as we don't really understand what an onion should look like!! enjoyed looking at the plants and flowers though and the few flower arrangements too. I always feel sorry for somebody who comes second when there are only two entries. The cakes were well supported and the photography groups although I didn't honestly think the photos were that good. That is the trouble with digital photographs, once printed off they never look as good as on the computer screen. I was especially impressed with all the children's entries, the poems by the 10-12 year olds and the colouring by under and over a certain age up to 10 I think. The smaller entrants all had miniature boxes of smarties. and impressive was the father who was looking with his little girl in the under 6 class colouring, she had not won, the winner was 6 with a beautifully coloured picture. When she pointed to hers and it didn't have a red card her dad said. Oh yes look you have got a box of smarties and explained that the other one was better and why. I like to see these children go in for things and accept when they have not won.
After we had seen enough we didn't stop to hear the results but went through to the cafe at the back of the community centre and had coffee and shared a piece of cake.

Still blimmin windy but the suns out now so thats a change from grey miserable skies.

I feel if I just shut my eyes I would soon drop off.

Em and the boys were out when I called this morning but I did'nt leave the eggs incase they blew away. Em's road to the bungalow was littered with leaves, heads off the hydranga's and twigs. I drove over one large twiggy bit hoping it was'nt going to get stuck under the car.

Went to the hsop after that and spent much more than I needed to. At least I have two nice brown loaves in the freezer now. I but a large one and cut it in half as its only me who eats wholemeal bread as oh will only eat white.

Afternoon all,

The wind is still blowing, but it's not cold. I am sitting in shorts and no top. I went down to dig some carrots earlier, picked a few beans for tomorrow and picked up some windfalls.

The match was HORRENDOUS I think West Ham stayed in the dressing room. !!! FIVE - NIL to Man City. Absolute disaster.

I have been so bored this afternoon. I have prepared all the veg for tomorrow, and covered the lamb in mint dressing, in the roasting tin, and sitting in the oven out of the way, ready for tomorrow. Only the Yorkshire, Cheese sauce and gravy to do.

It's stayed dry here, so hopefully the crowds did come to the festival, Ros didn't want to go this afternoon, so will see about a trip down tomorrow morning, if it's fine and dry.

Ann, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to the show, i am with you regarding what a perfect VEG should look like, A ONION IS AN ONION as far as I am concerned. It's nice the the parents explain to children why they didn't win this or that. It might encourage them to try harder another time.

Gill you oh was lucky with the weather, to get his painting out of the way. I bet it looks nice and fresh now, and put the neighbours noses out, that theirs is dull and dreary/

As it was dry and not cold, I gave a serious thought about doing the step. It didn't take long to decide it can wait for another day, when I don't feel so achy. lol lol

Ros bought an Indian takeaway from Tesco, this morning, but instead of getting popadoms, she bought the Chinese crispy things instead. Can't think what they are called at this moment in time. But it will come to me. (NOT RICE CHRISBIES) (sp) lol lol

I expect T.V. will be rubbish as usual tonight. Thank goodness for SKY. We can normally find "FOYLE'S WAR" or Midsummer Murders to watch, until I go to bed, then Ros watches her Jewellery programmes. I know you are thinking :WHAT AN EXCITING LIKE WE HAVE. ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) I should be so lucky :-D :-D :-D

I hope you all enjoy your evening, whatever you might be doing. !!!! xxxx

I can just smell that Lamb with Mint Frank Mmmmmm Luverly :-D What a day . The wind hasn't eased off at all.Its bonkers. I send Chris out just now as I heard a bit of a clatter but he couldnt see anything in our garden that had gone over or blown down . So it must be in one of the next door neighbours .

I feel for Ros having that journey yesterday Frank. I did worry about her after hearing how bad it was around Luton. I sitll think it shoild have been Harvey to go and get Lewis rather than Ros

Who in their right minds goes to Tesco or any shop in their blooming PJs !!!. I have seem people do this before but not for a long while. It is ridiculous ,slovenly and down right common (I think ) .Not that I am posh :-D I can understand a Mum maybe driving and just dropping off children at school driving in nightclothes (as long as they don't have get out of the car) .. I have to own up and do remember once.and I cant remember why I had to do it but I did keep my nightie on BUT put clothes over the top and I never left the car :-D

Oh Katie is going to have fun on her few days away Mandy :-D That was a bit of luck someone dropping out :-D Chelsea to will enjoy a bit of time with just you and OH . Put your feet up tomorrow Mandy :-D :-D

Got to go now . Will try and get back later.

Mel did you manage to see Gone Fishing?

Poor OH, he was doing so well with the painting and had almost finished when the heavens opened and washed the paint off, all over the ground, he had to get a sponge and wipe the paint off the gate before it made more mess. It's all cleaned up now, but he'll need to do the second gate again when the weather is better, then it's just around the back that needs doing. It looks really good, I'm so pleased the paint dried on the walls before the rain arrived, or we would of had even more mess to clean up. I tried to help but my foot and shoulder wouldn't let me do much.

How lovely to enter things in a village show Ann, that was nice of your friend. What are you going to enter, or haven't you decided yet?

It sounds like you had a nice time at the show AnnG, you were lucky the rain stopped in time.

That was lucky for Katie, being able to go to camp Mandy, it sounds like she's really excited and looking forward to it. Let's hope the weather improves by then. Have you got anything planned to do with Chelsea when she stays next week? It didn't rain again after OH cleaned up the paint, but he didn't do anymore painting just in case it happened again, it's such a waste of paint and time. I'm not going to do the screening until I'm total pain free. I helped OH clean up some of the paint before and now my foot is hurting again. I'm sitting here with a hot water bottle on it, which seems to be helping.

I've been feeling a bit fed up not being able to do anything and it hasn't helped with OH being busy with the painting for the last few days and Sandra busy with a book she's reading in her room. I've just been sitting in the living room all day on my own. When OH does come in he's so tired he falls asleep on the sofa. I'll be glad when I can do some jobs, it's very lonely sitting here with nothing but the laptop for company. I've watched all my programmes off the planner and there nothing else worth watching on TV. OH's nipped out to his friends now.

Very, very windy here today, with heavy rain last night. We've spent some of the day tying up escapees in the garden ie: the hollyhocks! OH has also split a few logs to add to the pile we're getting ready for winter! I've stewed some plums that have blown down which will do for a pudding tomorrow after our roast chicken.Apart from that we've spent the day reading and watching a wild life prog this afternoon!
Oh dear, a little bird has hit the window of the sitting room! Its still alive so OH has popped it in the house on the bird table. This is always happening, but often they recover and fly off, so fingers crossed!
O.H is getting supper! Only cold meat and salad, nothing to get too excited about!!
;-) ;-)

Sorry Gill. I didn't see you there! I know what you mean about painting ! My OH had hoped to continue with the painting of our fence today but the weather has just been too wet and much too windy, so it will have to wait! How disappointing that your paint didn't have time to dry, after all that work!!! Still I'm sure we'll get some more fine weather before the winter comes! The little bird has flown -hooray! Suppers ready! better go!!

All that work Gill just to be washed off in the rain. OH must have been gutted.I am sure there is no rush to get it all done. Maybe best to wait until when we know the weather is going to improve. . There are plenty of things here you would love to get your teeth into :-D. But I think you have needed a bit of time just doing nothing just to rest up and let your shoulder and foot settle down.

Pippyn ,that noise of a thump on the window always gives me goosebumps as you never know what you will find. It is surprising sometimes how the little birds do survive if just left somewhere to recover. I don't know if you have said ,but do you have a big garden? We dont have any fruit trees other than a couple of Apples .They never do well here for some reason.Always have those scabbie bits on the skin :-S. Neigbours both sides had Damsons that hung over our garden for years.But there were always so many and they would fall and rot ,we cut down all the over hanging branches in the end.
Thomas has just has his supper on the patio. It looked like a massive mouse.He was very keen to bring it in !!!! Not blooming likely thank you. We need to order logs . The Woodburner had its yearly MOT the other week so it is just a matter of restocking logs. Chris always has to split a lot of them though to fit in the burner. I must say I love it when the nights draw in and it gets cold enough to get the fire going again :-D Not that I am wishing the year away,but there is something nice about drawing the curtains ,having a roaring fire and feeling cosy :-D
It was different when I was little . Lino floors, 3 bar electric fire and maybe a coal fire. Nothing too cosy back then ,but we knew no different .Hot water bottles,plenty of blankets and nice warm PJs

Jane, We have a fairly good size garden with a nice veg patch. We put in a few fruit trees about 10 years ago which make a sort of avenue along our drive! Some years are better than others for fruit! Not sure we shall do that well this year! :-( :-(

Annx :-) :-)

There's a lot of posts for me to catch up on but I enjoy reading what everyone is up to.

It was another hot, sticky night last night and I slept very little again and like Frank I sat up reading. We had a lot of rain during the night. Today has been mostly sunny until a couple of hours ago when the rain started again, but the WIND. My goodness, it's been blowing a real hoolie all day. Thank goodness we replaced all the garden fence last year and put up a good strong one.

What a shame the rain came down and spoilt OH's painting Gill. It must be a bit disheartening for him. At least your OH gets the job done quickly. Mine is such a perfectionist that he will spend days preparing every square inch before he even starts painting. He does make a lovely job of anything he does but sometimes I want to scream "Just shove a bit of paint on it to brighten it up a bit". Keep resting your foot and arm until you are sure they are recovered. If nothing else, it's given you a chance to get on with your OH's tree.

Poor Ros, Frank. That must have been a horrid drive for her when she picked up Lewis. It's a shame Harvey couldn't have done it himself. What a pity you have to look for another bracelet now and thank goodness that lady accepted your apology for your typo. You'll have to make sure you double check everything. I find my iPad and phone are inclined to substitute words and put in things I haven't typed. Please can I come to dinner tomorrow? Lamb's my favourite and I love lots of veg though I can't manage cheese sauce and gravy. One or the other please.

Difficult situation for your OH at the match Ann. It seems so sad that unrelated adults and children can't just enjoy each other's company anymore. Some years ago a female teacher friend of mine was in charge of the reception class at her school. She was a very motherly type and, if a little one fell over, her instinct was to pick the child up, dry the tears and give him/her a little hug. She found it difficult when she was told she must not do this and ended up retiring early and the education system lost another good teacher.

AnninG, I'm glad you got to the horticultural show. Do you ever enter anything in these shows yourself? I am sure you would do well with some of your photos and cards. We don't belong to the local horticultural society but usually look in on their shows. They are not always well supported and I believe they are thinking of not running them anymore. Hope you enjoyed your pizza. That's what OH always chooses to have if I go out to dinner with my girl friends.

Mandy, It's great that Katie has a chance to go away for a couple of nights, and even better that it isn't going to cost lots of money. It's lovely that Chelsea will be able to spend some time with you as well. She'll keep you on your toes :-D When our grandchildren were younger I used to love the rare occasions when we we had them individually and could spend some one-to-one time with them.

We had a lovely day yesterday. Friends of ours have been in New Zealand for 6 months. They have had a very stressful time as the man had to have major heart surgery while he was there. They returned on Monday and came for lunch yesterday. We have kept in close touch by text and phone while they have been away but there was still lots to talk about. OH was in good form but I think he maybe overdid it a bit as his back hasn't been good today. He has still managed walks to the corner and some of his exercises but is having to take it a bit easier.

Today I have been trying to finalise our travel insurance claim. It's been 2 months since it all started but the first couple of weeks back I put it aside as I was so busy trying to do everything OH usually does and drive him around to doctors, hospitals, physio etc. Then I had to get a medical certificate filled in at our doctors' practice at my cost (just over £40) and they kept it for nearly 4 weeks because the person dealing with insurance claims was on holiday. Half the questions on the different forms aren't really relevant and once upon a time you had one claim form and paid one excess on your policy. Now they divide the insurance up into different sections and you pay the excess for each person on each section. Our excess is £65 so I have to pay £65 to claim back the medical expenses for OH plus £130 to claim for the curtailment of our holiday as we both had to come home. I assumed they would just deduct the excess when they settled the claim but, no, I have to send a cheque to cover it before they consider the claim. I think they make it quite difficult so that some people just give up and don't bother to proceed with their claim. However, as I am claiming over £2000 I shall not be giving up. What they don't know is that our son works in insurance, admittedly not this sort of general public insurance, but I think he is fairly well known in the field. What he said to me a little while ago was "Mum, if they mess you about let me know and I will have a conversation with them". However I am hoping they will pay up without much fuss as I really don't want to drag him into it and it shouldn't be necessary as we have been very careful to comply with all their terms.

As usual I have rambled on for far too long. Time now for a cuppa and an hour with my book before trying to get some sleep. I hope you all have a good night.

O gosh Ann how bad was that to let the little girl go about on her own. The dad should tell her not to speak to stange gentlemen. G could have got into a lot of trouble.

I don't see why you cannot put something in a different show Ann. I would but they specify you cna't put anything in our show that has been in before or in another show.

We had stewed plums and custard tonight too. Its my favorite. Oh had a banana and icecream with his and some custard.

Gill after all oh's hard work on the painting it must have made him feel really down when the rain washed it all off. What a mess it must have made. You rest up ow and make sure you get better before tackling anything else. You can't do as much as you get older so you need to slow down a bit.

Mandy I hope Chelsea dos'nt wear you out too much. You need to find her something to make to keep her occupied. Something where you could both sit down to do it. How are yougetting on with the unicorn bag and cna we see a pic when its finished please. I did'nt see it in the magazine so don't now what its like at all. Have you got to make three of them for all the girls?

OH thought she was 7 or 8 Mel and her brother and dad could easily see her, but never called her. She said she came to matches so perhaps she does this with other people. They need to tell her to stop going round hugging strangers though as OH was quite shocked, but if you upset a child by stopping her you could be in trouble as well. He tried telling her to go to her brother and she went, but she came back again.

I had a good look at the rules in the leaflet and they don't say you can't enter things that have been in other shows. They all seem to have different rules don't they. I can't enter any paintings though as they are all signed. They don' t allow frames either.


Vera I think a lot of teachers felt the same. The wind has dislodged an old panel in our fence so it might be time to get a new one as some are a bit rotten now. Your poor friend having a heart attack whilst in New Zealand. I hope he is ok now. It sounds like it will be the way your OH will progress with a few days where he does a bit too much. When you feel ok you can't tell when you reach or pass that point. What a game with the insurance claim. They don't make it easy do they! Fingers crossed it will go through okay.

Just been a load of fireworks let off nearby and there seems to be music and a party going on. No chance of getting off to sleep yet.

Morning all,

Hope you managed to get some sleep Ann with the party going on and all the noise.

ey skies this morning but there has been some bright patches here and there and that high wind has dropped at last thank goodness.

Don't know about you lot but I slept like a log again last night but was a bit hot jst before I dropped off. I put on jim jams with a tight ankle and a long sleeved top, it was just too much so tonight I shall go back to some old ones that have worn a bit thin.......

The birds are back on the feeders so I must top those up as they hav'nt been around much in the wind. Robby still comes to the patio for his worms or crumbs and bits I put out there for him as its sheltered there under my plants. I think he thinks its his little cave. Jenny Wren has been coming too and the swallows are still sitting. I only saw them once flying yesterday afternoon when the wind had died down a bit. Oh was saying he hopes they don't hatch while this wind was here and all the driving rain as they won't find a lot of insects for the chicks to eat. I must check today and see if she is still sitting.

O I keep meaning to say to you that I stopped the door rattling with a duster I put across it when I shut the door. Worked a treat, not another rattle out of it. Next time you should try that Ann.

Morning Mel, morning all

Dull, cloudy and wet here. The wind has calmed down so that's good. OH isn't doing anymore painting today after some of it being washed off yesterday. I checked the weather for next week and it should be dry on Tuesday so he's hoping to have it all finished then. Luckily the only paint to have been washed off yesterday was a little bit on the fence near the gate, about three foot across and seven foot high, so it wasn't to bad in the end, although OH could of done without it happening at all, but he's thankful the main painting had dried and didn't wash away to.

Next door returned home from their holiday last night. I noticed the lights on as we were going to bed around 1am. He kept putting the outside light on, so OH thinks he might be trying to connect the gas supply himself as we noticed he had his heating on not long after. He was suppose to let the gas people turn the gas on for him and do a gas check on everything after putting in the new gas pipes, but it looks like he couldn't wait and has done it himself. I wonder what he'll say about the higher framework we put up against the side fence and all the bright white paint on our bungalow.

I bet you feel good after a decent nights sleep Mel, how nice to see all the birds. Do you still see the hogs, we haven't seen any in our garden for a few nights, maybe it's the bad weather keeping them away. I still put the nuts out for them, but OH said he saw the squirrels eating them the follow morning.

That's good that you can put some of your makes in the show Ann. I hope you win something. Poor OH not knowing what to do when the little girl came over to him. The father really should warm her about stranger danger though, or she could end up talking to the wrong person.

How are you getting on with your insurance claim Vera, I hope it all goes through smoothly for you.

How are you today Frank, I hope your aches and pains have eased now and you managed a good nights sleep. Sorry to hear the match did't go the way you'd of liked.

Pleased to hear the little bird was okay after hitting your window Pippyn. We weren't so lucky a few months back when I pigeon hit our living room window, unfortunately it broke it's neck and died on the patio. OH put it in the bin quickly and I cleaned up the blood off the floor before Sandra saw it. Sandra's our daughter, she's special needs and gets upset over things like that, so we never told her. It's not the first time birds have hit the window, normally they recover and fly off. It's a shock when you hear the thumping noise though and upsetting when some birds die.

Have sent you an email.

Pippyn if you would like to recieve our pictures would you like to send me your email address please?

Mel x

Frank, what a shame the match was disappointing. Good job you had not made a special effort to get somewhere to watch it.
I hope that lamb tastes as good as I imagine it will. My favourite meat and we don’t have it often as it is so expensive. We also try not to eat too much red meat so tend to have a lot of chicken. Today we have Chicken thighs which I will do in the oven or OH will barbecue.
Jane, I do so agree, how mucky to go to the shop in PJs but also in slippers, in the rain. My Mum would have said it was common, although I think she would struggle to see that anyone actually did it. Yes, somebody said they thought supermarkets had banned it, I think they have in some areas. And it was not as though it was early and the place was empty, It is onle a metro so not one of the larget ones but it was gone 11am and there were a lot of people around.
No more food for Thomas today then if he has feasted on a mouse. At least it saves you money.
We have an electric ‘mock’ fire. Don’t think we could be bothered with logs or coal these days.
Gill oh dear that was really frustrating to have the paint all wash off. When the rain came down yesterday it really lashed down so no doubt it was strong enough to take the paint off.
Because you are always busy you are bound to be bored when you ahve to be inactive for a while. Hopefully you eventually found something to watch, read or do.
Pippyn, it was our gladioli that OH had to nip out and secure and we also lifted two hanging baskets down to keep them safe. We had stewed rhubarb after our pizza,
That is the last lot for this year but it has done really well. OH also picked another good amount of blackberries. I am freezing them at the moment until I see if we get any apples in September.
Oh that is good that the little bird had flown
Annx No I don’t know what the criteria is for coming first and I do wish the judges would put remarks on the cards. When we go to the Malvern Autumn show there is a big agricultural show tent and, especially with the floral arrangements there are comments for those who won and those who didn’t. However the main class yesterday which was to celebrate the anniversary of the first journey of The Queen Mary to USA and there were only two entries. Bothe done in red, white and blue, both very attractive and with plenty of ephemera of the voyage. I couldn’t really see why one was better than the other, except the bigger one won. Both concentrated on the British side with the union jack etc, I thought it would have been a good touch to have had a stars and stripes somewhere. But what do I know?
Unusual for a parent not to get uptight when their child chats to a stranger. Worrying in a way but how lovely that she though your OH was nice.
Vera I slept badly last night Vera, it wasn’t hot, I had a bit of indigestion from the pizza and rhubarb but really I just couldn’t switch off. I had been rading back through one of my holiday diaries (1992) and so was thinking about that I suppose.
I have just ordered the new Oasis Kindle which should come tomorrow, apparently it is easy to read in the dark with it, not why I bought it but it might be useful. I bought it because I have had my kindle almost 9 years and, although a lot of the time I read books I do use the kindle for holidays and the current one is getting tempermental. Only trouble is that I will have to come to grips with it and sort out how to transfer from the old to the new.
I have never entered any show,. However, I might think about it next year as I am sure some of my photos are equally as good as the ones on display. I didn’t see any cards on display but maybe I missed them, OH got a bit bored and was looking for his coffee and cake.
Nice to see your friends for a catch up after they had been away for so long. Hopefully your OH has recovered from overdoing it by now.
Hope you soon get your insurance sorted. My sister was put through hoops claiming for a cancelled trip but she eventually got the full amount, not before phoning twice to customer services who sorted out all the errors that various people had made, there seemed to be a lot of incompetence there. I don’t know what firm it is, one of the cheaper ones I think.
Like you our son is quite high up in one of the big insurance firms, has worked there about 30 years so we are ever hopeful that, if we had a problem with our travel insurance (which is with his firm although not his department he might be able to help us. In our case they do know as we get close family discount. Our daughter too was in insurance before she stopped working by choice and is very good at advice (and is very well known in the insurance field) It is a bit of an strange field really as they get so well known even in other companies.
Mel, our little robin still comes for the mealy worms and I think we had a young one yesterday eating the mealy worms that had blown onto the floor.
Pale blue sky and sunshine today here and the wind has dropped.
Well we have been a bit busy this morning, instead of going out for coffee to a garden centre. OH has shampooed all the downstairs carpets so that will look nice and clean. It was not a great help to me as I was cleaning one half of the kitchen, the worst half round the hob and cooker (not the actual cooker) where it gets greasy and he was trying to fill the thing that holds the cleaninf luid at the sink. As fast as I cleaned and dried it all off he made it all wet again. Not to worry it is all clean now and I will finish the other half tomorrow when he is at golf. He already steam cleaned the floor a couple of days ago.
I have also washed the bedding off our bed so have to put the clean sheets on later, that will be another job done.
We have just received a huge parcel addressed to me from Amazon, from our son and family for my birthday. I have not opened it but it is really heavy. He sent OH gin and mixed tonics and spices for adding to gin for his birthday so goodness knows what he has cooked up for mine.
Like Vera I had a lot to answer so had better stop.