General Chat

Vers, what a nuisance having the wrong part sent. So does that mean you are still on water patrol? It must be really annoying to see it wasting away and knowing you will pay for it. I assume you are on a meter?

Gill pleased that your bin eventually got emptied. We were surprised and pleased that our garden bin and our general waste bin were both emptied this morning.
Good idea to leave the TV until the weather is not as good and get out in the garden, the sun does lift your spirit doesn't it. We sat out there with our coffee this morning and it was really warm. And so lovely to sit and look at all the spring flowers while drinking it. We must have gone overboard with bulbs last autumn as we have lots of new, mainly large white daffodils in flower, they are so lovely.

Annx Hope you enjoy that turkey it has been a long time in getting ready for you :-) Have you heard anything about the car? We are wondering what will happen about OH's MOT which is due end of April. I don't really believe he will lift the lockdown after 3 weeks. Spain have gone straight into a second one.

Mel I hope your OH doesn't try and do anything silly and put his back out, you really don't need that in addition to everything else.

I'm out in the garden tidying the front and it certainly needs it. Hope you get on ok with your baskets AnnG.

I saw a Brimstone butterfly earlier and a huge bumble bee and a smaller bee so things are stirring.

And I just saw two small tortoiseshells Mel.

OH nipped home for something and gave me such a shock, I was in the bedroom getting changed after doing a bit in the garden and wasn't expecting him, he was only here for a few seconds and then left. I said to whistle next time so I know it's him. I must remember to lock the back door if I have a bath again, you never know who's going to walk in.

Your white daffodils sound nice AnnG, I love white flowers, especially when it's just going dark, they look like little lights around the garden as they are the last flower you can see. I think we are due for a bit of rain towards the end of the week which is why I decided to do some gardening today. Silly me did the hardest job first, so now I'm a bit achy. That'll teach me, I should of started off slowly and built up to the bigger jobs with not being in the garden all over winter. Never mind the two medium size Red Robins, that had lost almost all their leaves have been cut right back, I managed to move one out of the border, but the other one is to heavy to do on my own, so if it's not raining on Friday, when OH has a day off, I'll ask him for some help. I've cut it back so it only needs picking up and moving, so shouldn't take long to do.

I've seen a few butterflies and bees to Mel, lovely isn't it?

Right, I'm going to watch a bit of TV now and have a drink, it was very warm outside and I didn't drink much when I was working.

I hope Jane is home and in her garden now, it'd be a shame to miss out on such a lovely day.

I sat out in the garden reading for half an hour, love it when we get a short preview of the warmer weather. It is still 16 degrees out there.

We got a call from the garage midday to say the car was ready. OH thought about going tomorrow morning for it as they are closing at 1.00pm every day now, but I said we should fetch it straightaway with how fast things are moving! They have minimum parking so it could have been put on one of the nearby back streets for goodness knows how long if they have to close. There was more traffic about than I expected and people on the pavements were passing close to each other which I wouldn't do. We saw padlocked gates on the retail park down the road and on one of the city green parks.OH took wipes to use on everything that could be touched in his car and washed his hands as soon as he was home.

It's good you got your petunias planted in the baskets and have them in the greenhouse now away from any frost AnnG. We've found it really peaceful in the garden as we can usually hear noise from the M1 which is now really quiet. I heard that MOTs for vehicles like buses have been extended and I think they are deciding about cars. I think OH said his is due at the end of next month. That's poor that people are buying then wasting food. We are watching all our dates now with what we eat and I chopped up the broccoli stalks as well to eat today.

Good idea to make the most of the nice weather and fresh air Gill. You could dry a few seeds from a tomato on a windowsill and try planting them in pots. We had some grow on the greenhouse floor last year from a tomato that got knocked of a plant that we didn't notice. I was thinking it isn't a good time to be selling property as well. It sounds like you don't think Sandra will be ever coming home now.

No butterflies here, but I did manage to bring one of those big shield beetle things inside on my fleece yesterday! I hate them and they love the bottlebrush which is why I pruned that first and where it must have come from.

The Turkey was lovely and I sliced enough for sandwiches and a also for a Turkey risotto tomorrow and then froze what looks like enough for 3 more meals. Not bad for a free Buxted Turkey from the Daily Mail.

I've been too busy in the kitchen to do any more in the garden and OH is working away on his notes so I think we will leave doing more outside for today.

It’s been a lovely day here but nowhere near 16 degrees AnnG, more like 12 or 13 and the wind is cold. That’s the trouble with East Anglia, the east and north winds can be biting. I haven’t got any actual gardening done today but I have given the bird bath a really good scrub, using some of the water I’ve been collecting up. The rest has gone on watering pots and I am now refilling buckets. A lot is still being wasted.

OH rang Anglian Water and they said their last meter reading was 13 Jan. That should indicate our normal usage, then when it is fixed, even if that’s a while away OH has to read the meter and then read it again 2 weeks later and then phone the readings through.

So he went hunting for the meter just to check exactly where it is. When we moved in we were told it was at the bottom of the road which we assumed meant at the end of our little Close. No it wasn’t. Our Close turns out of a narrow road. Left leads to a community centre so he turned right to the end of that road. Nothing there, so he turned right again into another road and there, at the end of someone’s driveway were 3 meters, one of which was ours. You really couldn’t make it up could you. And ours had a broken cover! OH rang Anglian Water again and they said someone will come to change it, probably within 6 hours. I suppose they think it could be a danger.

We’ve worked out why it’s where it is. Apparently the builder of our houses used to live in the house where the meters are and I suppose it was cheaper to have the necessary pipe work run through his garden and through our garden to our house.

I believe garages are currently not on the list of places to close so your MOT should be OK AnnG. I hope so as our MOT and service are booked for a week today. If the MOT doesn’t go ahead we can’t tax the car. If we can’t have the car it will be very difficult for me to get my medication and any essential food.

It’s certainly not a good time for your neighbour to put his bungalow on the market Gill. I can’t see anyone wanting to move right now. I bet you nearly had a heart attack hearing someone come in when you were dressing.

Did you enjoy your turkey in the end Ann and has your OH got his car back yet?

I hope OH is looking after his back Mel and hope everything went well for you today Jane.

Just going to have a late afternoon cuppa and then I’ll have to decide what to eat tonight. We’ve got some cold lamb so I might just put some bubble and squeak with it.

Yes we are both ok. I had to guide the mower up on a ramp oh had built so it was easier for him to get the deck off. I tidyed up the two big troughs out the front and the clematis in them have all buds on them. I meant to cut them down earlier than this but I have cut som eof the flowers off. I remember cutting the one up the border right off at the bottom one year and it grew better than it ever had before and had loads of flowers. I have always been a bit worried about cutting the ones down in the tubs.

Also got some stinging nettles out on the little rockery outsdie the kitchen window. They had spread far and wide.

Hope Jane got to sit out in the garden in the sunshine. Its been a real Spring day here today with no cold wind.

I keep meaning to tell you that we are going to lose our lovely BIG BERTHA our biggest koi as she has dropsie and there's no cure. All her scales are sticking out and she has gone a funny sort of pineapple shape.

Getting dark so I better shut the girls in and start on the dinner.

Evening All
Just a quick one from me tonight. I was home by midday as the Dr yesterday forgot to do my prescription for the Magnesium infusion.This means now I will have to have it on Thursday when I have the blood transfusion .I can have one in each arm apparently as it is safe to have both together.It will reduce the number of hours i need to be there .I will decide when `i get there. Just going to to the toilet if `i need could be intesting with both arms hooked up to drip stands :-D
I spent a nice time in the garden this afternoon with james trying to knock golf balls into an upturned bucket :-D Thomas thought it was great fun and enjoyed trying to chase the balls.He then decided to lay down on the mat we were teeing off from LOL

Just watching Eastenders. Back tomorrow

I see your OH has his car back now Ann, much better than it being parked in a back street, especially if you didn't know where it was to collect it. I didn't know you could plant the seeds of shop bought tomatoes, I'll have a go and see what happens, thanks for telling me, I'll let you know how I get on. You did well with the amount of meals you got out of your free Turkey and just at the right time to eat it with the shops being the way they are.

No Sandra has decided to stay with her sister, there are more opportunities for her to join clubs and make friends in Leeds and she seems happy as far as I can tell. We would buy a 2 bedroom property so if she ever changed her mind there would always be a bedroom for her. I've been okay with it apart from Mother's Day, it hit me hard that day and I had a little cry, but I'm okay now, I find keeping busy helps.

It sounds like you had fun in your garden with James and Thomas Jane. Oh dear, lets hope you don't need the loo, or like you said it could be interesting, to say the least lol.

Yes, I thought it was a waste of food to, not to mention money AnnG. All the food could of been bought and used by someone else. It looks like panic buying wasn't as good an idea as they first thought.

I know how you feel about cutting plants down in tubs Mel as they don't tend to respond as good as those in the ground. It sounds like you've been busy in the garden to, let's hope the good weather stays with us all so we can enjoy sitting outside and having some fresh air. Pleased to hear you and your OH are okay. Sorry to hear about Big Bertha having dropsie.

Fancy your water meter being so far away from your property Vera, what a daft idea, ours is right outside our drive. I thought everyone's meter's were that close....I guess they're not. It still doesn't make sense to have them away from your property though. Pleased to see Anglian Water are doing something about it and also advising you on what to do about all the water escaping at your property, that's one less thing to worry about now, hopefully now you won't have a big bill. Are you still collecting it?

Dear All

Hello

Just a small message, I hope you are keeping safe and well.

Take very good care of each other and your families.

Lots of love
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

Thanks Elizabeth, I wish you and your family well too.

Thank you Elizabeth and I wish you all safe in the family too. x

Frank it made me roar with laughter and a shame its not true.

Morning you lot,

How are we all doing today? Hope your all well and had a good sleep.

Anyone fed up with each other yet?

Its just like normal for us really because we don't see many people living down here just the postie when he comes down with letters or parcels.

I shall be out in the garden again today. first I shall sow a few veg seeds for my tubs and pots then have a go at the rockery bit as it needs digging over where the pheasents trample all over it. I do put up turned hanging baskets on it but they still find their way around them.

good morning all, another lovely spring day here. Just about to blitz the bathroom then will maybe go out in the garden. BBL

Afternoon All

What a cracking day it is. All windows open to get the air circulating a bit in the house.Blow out any bugs :-D

It looks very likely that Fitz's OH has the Corona Virus :-( She had a temp of 104 yesterday and the day before and a slight cough. She has a very stressful job with the NHS and spends much of the time in meetings which is no doubt where she will have likeoy picked this up. it is her 60th tomorrow too so that will be n hold for now.I ordered some of those flowers that will fit through the letterbox as I cant get out to buy any .

I have just prepared a Meat loaf for tonight so it just needs going in the oven later.Towels in the machine so they will be hung out soon once Chris has finished the lawn.
James is in the summerhouse preparing his presentation he has to do for this seconf interview on Friday.He will be doing it via the computer.

I hope we all have the lovely weather today and can all get out in the gardens.It is good we all have a nice garden to enjoy.I feel so sorry for those stuck in flats /high rise and bedsits with no outdoor space.It must be hell especially if there are children.

Enjoy your day :-D

Two lots of washing on the line and changed the bed.

Oh has been in the hot tub this morning and is jsut about to have a coffee.

Going in t he garden later and having a tidy up.

Oh told me that Prince Charles has the virus.

O Jane is she at home???? and if she is what about Fitz? I do hope she will be ok and be able to get over it. Sending love and Birthday wishes for her for tomorrow. <3 <3