General Chat

AnnG is it Virgin Atlantic your Daughter flew with? We used them when we flew to Tokyo and went one up from economy. I think it mght have been premium economy. Well worth it for such a long flight.I bet they have lots to tell you about their fantastic holiday :-D

How big is the shifter planter going to be Gill? It sounds quite big.Its going to be wonderful when it is all done and Sandra will be thrilled :-D

Chris had 2 disasters while I was away :-S A whole cup of coffee spilled on the study carpet. Light coloured carpet too :-0 :-0 I am not sure what damage is done as it is still wet from him cleaning it.
The other disaster was he stood on a bench on the patio to get some moss out of the gutter and the seat of the bench just collapsed .So he went down through the middle and has hurt one of his knees. It was a lovely seat too :-S

O dear Jane you now have a Calamity Chris and I wonder what the next thing will be?? Things usually come in threes. Hope the carpet is ok when it dries out.

So you've been seeing celebrities over the last few days. Sounds like you enjoyed your pasties. Did you bring any home with you for the freezer??? Loved the pics you sent too. Any more for us to see.

I have just been round and put the two new girls in the hen house. Took one out of the carrying box but I could'nt reach in for the other one so left the box open on the floor. Hope they are ok. I shall be thinking of them all night now. I am so silly with them and I do love my chickens.

It started raining just as I was going out. Now I shall have to get the dinner on. The usual steak tonight and a nice bottle of wine, luverly......

Frank sorry that Ros can’t get any other treatment. At least you know now so won’t have false hopes. She does wonders considering her back problems.

Jane yes it was Virgin Atlantic and it was for us when we flew back from Miami, really worth it on a long flight. We were lucky when we did it as there was an auction for reduced seats and we won ours.

You have just made OH smile and me laugh out loud with your description of poor Chris falling through the bench. It was the end of the sentence that mad me laugh. “It was a lovely bench too” never mind his poor knee.

I also chuckled although shouldn’t about you not seeing anybody you knew in Wembury ...... because they are probably all dead now. A bit like if we revisit Buckfastleigh.

On the way home from the chicken farm the bead shop was open in Black Torrington so I popped in and bought another cooper wire spool at £3.50. When I got home I looked in one of my tool boxes and there was the orignal copper wire I was looking for all that time. So now I have two spool to lose..........

Morning all,

We have sunshine today and blue sky with big white clouds every so often.

Not been round to the girls yet but must soon to make sure they are alright. I have seen the old ones in the run but not sure if the new ones know what the outside is like as they were in a shed when I picked them up so they may stay indoors for a while if thats what they are used to.

How did everyone sleep last night?? I went out like a light and only got up once for the loo. Must have been the wine..... :-D

Morning Mel and everyone

No sunshine here Mel. Dark, cold and very, very wet. It’s been pouring non-stop since the middle of the night. I try not to put our heating on till at least the middle of October but it’s been so cold over the last few days that we’ve put it on today. We have underfloor heating downstairs and it’s more efficient to just leave it on, so it won’t go off now till sometime in May.

I had a good night again last night and slept from about midnight till 7 am.

Another appointment mix up at the hospital then Frank. That is so annoying. I was sorry to hear that there is no more help available for Ros. It’s wonderful how much she manages to do. It must be down to grit and determination.

Two new girls then Mel. I am sure they will soon feel at home. I don’t know much about chickens. When would you expect them to start laying?

Jane, I am pleased your trip to Plymouth went as well as you could have hoped. It was the right decision to go. I hope Chris doesn’t have any more mishaps. I know I shouldn’t laugh as the poor man hurt his knee but I did have a funny picture of him falling through the bench, like something out of an old silent comedy.

Gill, you have been working hard sorting all the wood for Sandra’s garden. It will be a picture when it’s all finished. Send us some photos please when it is done.

We went to see the musical Oliver last night in a tent! The theatre at Colchester is being renovated and extended so they are currently operating from a pop up tent. Some tent!!! It is huge. It seats about 800 and has a big foyer and bar area. I thought it might be chilly so I went wearing a thin jumper, a lambs wool cardigan and a fleece but they had really good heating so I had to gradually strip off. The best thing was that granddaughter came from Cambridge and grandson and his girlfriend were there too, so I got to meet her at last (we were supposed to meet her in July but we had to cancel as OH was still poorly at that stage). She seems a really nice girl, very easy to talk to and with a good sense of humour.

We belong to a club locally and one of the ex members died recently. Then yesterday another ex-member passed away. It’s very sad when you start losing your contemporaries. I feel very sorry for the husband of the lady who died yesterday as he is now all alone in the world. Their only daughter died when she was about 30 and the only other relative is a nephew of the husband who doesn’t even speak to him. OH helps this man when he can, driving him to hospital appointments, setting up a new phone system for him, teaching him how to use a new microwave he had bought and so on. He’s only a couple of years older than OH but he seems to belong to another generation.

On that cheerful note I had better finish this post. Hope you all have a good day. Bye for now :-)

Morning Mel, morning all,

I think it's been raining most of the night and at the moment it's absolutely tipping it down, son rang to say they won't be turning out which I don't blame them no point in getting soaked when you don't have too.

Mel have you named the two new girls yet ?they don't know how lucky they are yet moving into Mels place :-D

They were nice photos Jane I bet the gin went down a treat , hope there wasn't to much of a stain on the carpet with the coffee spillage.

I think we're having a nice lazy day today ,I might try and get Katie's crochet bag done ,every time she comes she asks if its finished, but I've been making some bedding for Lacey's pram that she's having for Christmas ,so I've been a bit naughty not getting the bag done .

Morning Vera you popped in while I was posting :-)
Sounds as if you have the same weather as us .
That's nice your grandsons girl friend was an easy going young lady it can be hard going to have to keep the conversation going .
That was some tent to seat 800 !! I hope this rain doesn't flood them out .

Gosh a tent that seats 800, that must have been some super dooper tent or marquee. Did you enjoy the show though? Glad you have another good sleep Vera and I laughed too at Chris falling through the seat. :-D

Mandy yes I have named them they are Daisy and May. It makes me cross when I start something else when I hav'nt finished the first thing I started but I keep doing it!!!!! I get it into my head I want to try something and it goes on from there so I end up with lots of things started and not finished. I do it all the time so hav'nt learnt my lesson yet. :-|

Good afternoon all. I had a not very good night last night. Did manage about four hours of sleep but it doesn't feel as if that was enough.
We have been to Dobbies only bought a couple of things plant related, both reduced to half price then more off with our Dobbies premium card (plus 2 free coffees). I did pick up three small stocking filler type gifts. We bought a tray of pansies and a sedum that has small pink flowers all over the cushion, it was reduced because some of the flowers were dying off but it will be good for next year and £4.99 sounds a lot better than £9.99. It is a sort of round mound of a plant, like a cushion about 6 inches diameter.
Gill I paid particular attention to the michaelmas daisies (which the garden centres call asters). They had the taller ones in about five different colours and they also had the dwarf variety in either mauve or pink so you need to look in your GC, they are for planting now.

It is sunny and a bit nippy here today so far, I think it might rain later and it did rain in the night but the East was forecast to get the residue of the latest hurricane I think. Hope you all drty out soon with no flooding.

Vera, that sounds different, theatre in a tent, a HUGE tent by the sound of it. How did they keep it warm I wonder. Nice for you to meet up with family as well and meet Grandson's girlfriend.
We have our heating coming on now although I must admit we usually do in October, just from 4.30pm and an hour or so in the morning.

Mel, do the new chicks seem as if they are going to settle. do you have to keep them separate from the older ones? I envy you the eggs but not the hassle of keeping them, they are a tie unless there is somebody who can feed them etc if you go away.

Mandy hope you too dry out soon, rain is horrible because everything is drab and dark. Still we can't survive without it I suppose, just don't want quite so much. Yet I did see one area has declared a drought!!! Wonder how that works?
Awe she does want her bag finished. I think it is best to switch to something new if you get bored with making something, otherwise that is when mistakes happen.

Afternoon All,

We had rain in the night but there are nice sunny spells at the moment but OH says it is supposed to rain later. I slept well too and didn't wake till 8.00am. We decided on impulse not to go to the usual sunday carvery that hasn't been so good lately and had a breakfast at the farm shop instead! They will mix and match your items so I could avoid sausages and hash browns that are the most fattening and have my eggs poached. We carried on to the factory shop after for a look round, but I'd forgotten to measure my shelves I want some of their baskets for.

That was a marquee I wouldn't have wanted to put up Vera.....huge! I think Oliver is one of my favourites and it was nice you got to meet your grandson's girlfriend and that she has a sense of humour which always breaks any ice. Life can be dull if you don't see the funny side of it and you can soon tell if someone isn't used to it.

Chris sounds like Frank Jane doing things like the gutters when he is home alone! He was lucky he didn't fall and crack his head on something. Is the bench repairable? How is the coffee stain now it's dry? My OH never cleans things like that properly, just a quick wipe over. OH came up with a sobering comment the other day. He said 'look around and every person we see or know or who exists in the world right now won't be here in 120 years.' The only people still alive on my first wedding photo family group are me, my SIL and 2 nephews and niece.

That's still disappointing for Ros that they can't do anymore for her Frank. Still, who knows what new treatments might be round the corner. She does so well considering the pain and discomfort she must have.

How nice to make some bedding for Lacey's pram Mandy! I flit here and there on my projects too as you know. I think if you aren't in the mood for something it's best to leave it and do something you do fancy doing and then go back to it when you are less tired/more patient. That's my excuse anyway. :-)

How are the 2 new girls today Mel and what kind are they? My sister's middle name was May as was my paternal grandmother's middle name. We never knew that till I started doing FH.

Gill, you are gradually getting there with Sandra's new 'view' from her window. It's good to be able to use some of your wood too.

I finished my tree early at the class yesterday, as did my two friends that went, but a few others didn't manage to. It was such a big class she had set up 2 rooms with big tables for us. I had 2 small cakes, but there were no choccies, crisps or nibbles this time.

Didn't see you here AnnG. I want to get another Sedum or 2 with the dark leaves and pinky red flowers. They will be less trouble with spreadling and don't need so much watering in the summer and attract so many butterflies. They tuck themselves nicely into our rock edging as well.

Had to smile this morning outside the shop I popped in. Two chaps met up, one with 2 black Labs like Max and a brown working Cocker Spaniel, the other with a just about fully grown young golden retriever. The Labs and Spaniel just sat and waited patiently, but the Retriever wanted to play and kept turning to bite at his lead while jumping around. The man wasn't really assertive enough to start with but after a few louder 'sits' the dog looked at him and just squatted low enough for it to be called a sit, before jumping straight up then rolling on his back. You could just imagine him thinking 'right ho that's a good enough sit, let's get back to some playing!' :-D

So how are Daisy and May settling in Mel have they met the others yet ?

I have nearly finished one side of the bag ,so i might get the other side done today but i was naughty making the bedding for the pram before the bag but i bought the fat quarters and wadding from Aldi and couldn't wait to start on it, i have made the cover reversible so she can pick which side she likes the best ,i've also got a crochet blanket on the go for the pram too .

I hope you can get a better nights sleep tonight AnnG sounds as if an early night might be in order for you .
Still raining hard here ,i was just reading that the A47 to Norwich was flooded and some cars had got stuck .

Ann what a the tree like that you made i liked to see a photo you make some really pretty things .
I'm a bit like your OH when i see old bits of black and white films i look at all of the people and think they've all gone and then wonder what they would think if they knew people were looking at them now .

Had to smile at the golden retriever.wanting to play , poor Max couldn't understand why the children didn't come this morning for the usual play ,he keep going to the door and listening in case they were coming :-D
He hung on and hung on this morning to go out for a wee in the end he had to go ,he then comes in and sits on the mat waiting for Colin to towel him dry :-D
There's been no walkies today !!!

Good afternoon to you all,

I see you have all been busy,stopping for things for the garden and Mel with two new Chucks xx What breed are they Mel ?? Ros has trays of pansies sitting on the patio table, together with loads of others, When she is going to put them in and WHERE, I just don't know. She will do it in her own time, I am sure.

I say up until 10.30 last night, and would you believe was STILL AWAKE at 4.10 am. (the last time I looked at the clock) Was awake again at 8.00 am. Now feel totally DRAINED.

The takeaway from our favourite Chinese in Towcester, wasn't up to Par. So I will mention that on my next visit. They gave me a surprise. !! When we were last in a couple of weeks ago, the card transaction didn't go through the machine, so I had that to pay for as well.


The shower behaved itself this morning, makes you wonder why I bought a new one, lol lol. More to the point, when am I going to get it fitted. ??

So Chris is doing a ME, Jane. I hope he didn't hurt himself, can the bench be repaired. ?? Those pasties sounded just the "PROPPER JOB" on your way home. How were the ones you bought for dinner ?? Sad about your friend, but it's no more than you expected. At least she is in the best place, with 24/7 care and attention. Thinking of you. xxx

Suns just come out here. Ros is weeding the front gravel. Would you believe what she is using ??? Carol down the road, gave her a tool her daughter uses to get stones etc. out of Horses Hooves. You just drag it through the weeds/gravel,and they come loose, so you can just pull them up. Great piece of kit. !!!

Roast leg of lamb again tonight.I know it's not the cheapest, but it is so tasty. Mmmm

Will go and see if Madam wants anything, and catch up with the football scores. BE GOOD, See you later. xxxx

Just having a think about those who were at our wedding, difficult without getting photos out to check but we had 80 guests 59 yeats ago. A couple I don't know about but I can count at least 20 of the 80 are still alive. However we are more or less the eldest with a few friends around the same age and we did have quite a lot of children (cousins and children of cousins) at the wedding.

I don't have early nights Mandy, it doesn't work with me. I just have to wait and see if I get a good nights sleep.

Frank missed you there. that tool sounds just the thing we could do with, I hate having to weed the gravel, some things come up easily others won't budge. Will Ros put the pansies in pots or in the ground.

OH is outside planting bulbs we bought this morning

Afternoon all

It's raining and very windy here, some of the downpours are very heavy so the weather has put paid to any work on Sandra's little garden today.

It sounds like some of you have bought some nice plants. We have Sedums and they look lovely dotted in amongst the other plants in the borders.

Nice to see you back on here Jane. Fancy Chris falling through the bench, I must admit I did smile when you said how nice the bench was but didn't mention how you felt about Chris's injury. ;-) I hope he's not badly hurt. The make shift planter will be around 12 foot long and 2 foot deep and high, so quite big. It's more like a box to go around the pots to hide them and once it's finished we're going to add a bit of a shelf type thing on the top to go around the plants to hide the pots from the top, then cover that in some artificial Ivy I've got left over from when I did the planters in the front garden last year. All we need now is some nice weather so we can get on with it. It's far to wet and windy to do anything today. I'm then hoping to buy some nice flowers to pretty it up. Sandra loves flowers and at the moment the plants we have are just green with no other colour which she'll find a bit boring.

That was a bit tent Vera. Oliver is one of Sandra's favorites, she loves to watch it on TV every time it's advertised and never get fed up of it.

How have Daisy and May settled in Mel? They are nice names.

I'm going to take another look at OH's tree to give me something to do, before our programmes start later.

Yes Daisy and May were put in the hen house last night so they have met but the big girls are picking on them and they hav'nt been out of the house at all yet. I had to put food and water in there and shut them in so they could have a drink and a feed. Whether they did or not I don't know as I can't see them from the outside of the house.

My paternal grandmothers middle name was May too and she was always know as May when her first name was Edith. Also her maiden name was Martin so thats why I named my son Martin.

Sounds like you have been given a Hoof Pick Frank for the weeds. I probably still have one up in our stables. If I could get in there I would try and find it and send it to Anng. There is so much stuff in there we were keeping for someone who moved and they never picked it up. I must admit to using an old carving knife which works well.

Made me laugh about the dogs Ann. I could just imagine them all doing their thing.

I saw something I wanted to make on the pc and did'nt take a picture of it. I usually do but do you think I can find it again? nooooooo. Its only a simple thing and I do know how to make it but wanted to see if there were any variations with the things on the ends.

Afternoon All

That was different Vera seeing the show in the TENT :-D I hope the seats were comfortable. At least the show could still go on :-D We are going to the theatre on Thursday afternoon to see Calendar Girls at the Derngate.I am not sure who is in it other than Ruth Madoc.

I am going to have to have a look at my wedding photo album now and see how many people are 'still here' . I know a lot have gone,especially all relatives :-(

Daisy and May are lovely names for your new girls Mel :-D. I hope they ventured out today.

I bet poor Max had his legs crossed this morning Mandy. I am sure Thomas did too.I let him out at 5 and it was raining quite heavily.He dashed under the patio table and I left the door open while I went to the loo. By the time I had finished he was back in doing a wee in the litter tray :-D :-D It was back to bed again for both of us.

That sounds a great bit of kit for getting the weeds Frank.It sounds like it made easy work for Ros :-D

There have been soooo many posts here today!!!. I know I have missed most of them :-S Sorry.

Frank, I didnt bring Pasties home.It was Pies and they were good and tasty. Not as nice as those Pasties we had though.They were so good with proper bits of beef and not the mincey stuff.Not a bit of gristle either.

I looked at James just now and thought he looked different. He has shaved off all his facial hair !!!! I have to say it has taken a few years off him.

Physio again in the morning.I think ti might do me good as I have felt a bit stiff .Probably from sitting in the car for so long on Friday.I have done some excercises today to try and loosen up a bit.

The bench that Chris broke is only fit for the bonfire Ann. It wasn't that old really but has obviously started to rot. We won't bother getting a new one now until next year.
Chris has moved some of the pots around to fill in the gap it has left.

The wind seems to be getting up a bit here.It has been a nice sunny day and no rain :-D

Gill did you see my bit about the Michaelmas daisies, you didn’t say.

Jane glad the pies were ok.,what were they again?

They were Breton Pies Ann. Chicken with Cider/mustard and something else. There were several others including Venison. Not cheap pies. I think they were £4.20 each. But then nothing is cheap at Gloucester Services is it. The Beef on the Butchers counter looked amazing!!.The Cheese counter there has to be one of the best I have ever seen with so many different cheeses. It has to be the best Motorway services . There should be more like that ,with no Mc Donalds.KFC Burger King etc etc. Saying that I do love a McDonalds cheese burger
:-D. Trouble is no-one will ever go to a McD with me :-|