General Chat

Afternoon All,

More rain here last night and first thing this morning. It is dry now but the morning sun has gone so we had lunch in the conservatory. Easy today a nice chicken, ham and leek pie between us with crunchy roast pots, brussels and carrots. OH could hardly manage his so maybe he won't want much to eat later. :-)

That was a shame about the grasses Gill, but we have to keep an eye on some pots as the rain seems to fall at an angle and misses them. You probably have some others that may need splitting so you can replace them. It does sound like your doubled meds might be affecting you but it may settle in a few days once your body gets used to the higher dose. I'm glad you've reminded me to take a hayfever tablet!

Ouch Mel, that cramp in the calf is agony! It can stay sore for a few hours too sometimes. It does sound like the strimmer may be what has triggered shoulder pain. Just bending with one foot up the slope of the flower bed yesterday and hauling the heavy rocks around has made my knees and back sore today. At least with it raining I shan't be tempted to do any more out there today. Your garden photos were lovely and the wisteria is quite big isn't it! I used to have an iris like yours and when you smelt it close up it smelled of germolene of all things!. Your OH keeps your huge lawns nice and trim. I never received your clay leaf photos.......did you send any? Your son was quite small when he was born like my sister, but didn't he quickly put weight on! My mum would have been 93 yesterday.

AnnG I bet you will be relieved to get rid of some garden rubbish at last! OH says our tip is opening next week, but I bet there will be large queues to begin with, so we won't be going for at least week or two. We still have old dining chairs to take that are in the way and lots of other rubbish we are sorting out. I wish I had someone cook me a brunch like that. My best chance would be beans on toast! lol.

Jane, OH always says there are such pretty villages in Northants and it would look prettier still with the tree blossom out. At my old house it would have been me and first OH banging, hammering and drilling! We never started before 8.30am though, unlike the dog next door barking. All the other noise here is lawnmowers!

Back to more sorting and shredding now.

Thanks Ann. That is pretty much exactly what I do so I guess it must vary a bit from region to region.

Hope everyone’s OK. In a rush so might bbl.

Afternoon All
It has been a cloudy day today and not one bit of sun. The runner beans are in :-D :-D
My favourite veg.I could eat them every day.

Mel I loved the pics of the garden and the lovely Wiseria on that wonderful wall.

Gill I would take it easy if I were you and give it time for the change in your meds to adjust.At least you are sleeping better which is a good thing. Hayfever can cause headaches and tirdness too.I think a lot of us are taking the Hayfever tabs now.Even James has started which is unusual.I think it is still the tree pollen .Yestreday when we were driving in the country lanes we had the windows open and my throat started itching and James got a really stuffy nose.

Vera do have a go on Zoom for the Quiz with the family.It is such good fun. Hannah is organising another quiz for all of us again next Saturday at 5pm.

Nice Brunch today AnnG :-D. Its making me salivate LOL I dont know why I am suddenly havng trouble with eating and reflux .I just hope it is nothing 'bad'. I have my appointment a week on Tuesday with the new Consultant so will be able ot discuss all my concerns.

Your lunch sounded lovely too Ann :-D I agree about very pretty villages in this county.The nicer ones seem to be more towards Leicestershire.I love the old ironstone coloured cottages.I think it is Ironstone.I am not sure I wouls want to live in some of the tiny villages though as they are quite isolated and a fair way from SHOPS. Not that tht would matter at the moment LOL I did notice the larger villages had a good local store.

Need to check the slow cooker and see if the Brisket is ready.I was up early this morning and had it on by 8.30.I then went back to bed with my Breakfast
:-D

I think I must have caught Mandy's funny tummy as I only just made it to the bathroom this morning. I am not going on water all day though as Imissed my big breakfast last week with the bad tooth ache so I have had it today. It may have been the sandwich spread we had at lunchtime and the fact I only had a granary roll with the spread and ham and pringles then in th eafternoon we had an apple strudle with our drink and in the evening two granary rolls with steak and onions in them. Then there was the wine too and water so maybe a funny combination.

It took us both all morning to sort out what else we wanted to put on the shopping list for Tuesday.

I feel very tired this afternoon and could quite easily join oh on the bed to watch the back of my eyelids BUT I have sausage rolls to make for tea and I may make some cakes too.

Afternoon all,

Mel i was sick Thursday night ,friday i felt so tired all day and slept most of the afternoon ,yesterday i did feel a bit better but then today i have been on the loo three times ,i don't feel as tired and have done a few jobs but goodness knows where i picked this up as we haven't been out .
We had meatballs thursday for our meal which Colin had and he's been ok so i just don't know .
I hope your tummy's better now so you can enjoy your big breakfast this week.
Love all the garden photo's thanks for letting us see your lovely flowers .

Ann when you did your Gypsy tart did you put the can of milk in the fridge over night to get really chilled ? it whisks up so much thicker if you do that and should help it to set rather than be runny ,it also needs to be the full fat one as i don't think the half fat one will work as well .

Jane it must have been nice to escape into the countryside for a drive everywhere must be looking nice and green with all the leaves on the tree's coming out now.
Our runners are coming through i think today i could see about seven poking through the ground ,Colin gave them a little water this morning but i now looked up and can see its just started to rain here now.

Gill i hope the headache soon eases for you ,it does sound as if the meds are helping you get a better nights sleep ,sitting out in the air might help your headache .and i think the air outside seems much fresher with less traffic about .

AnnG thats good its this week your garden rubbish is getting collected and good they will let you put a bag with any extra out too .
I noticed that some tips are beginning to open again but haven't heard any thing about ours opening up yet .

I'm going to try a jacket potato tonight ,my tummy feels so empty .

Mandy, maybe just eat the potato, not the skin which will be kinder to your tum.

I think it does sound a bit like food poisoning though, were they home made meat balls or shop bought? Could have been a problem with just the one you had on the other hand you can go back 48 hours from when you were ill, maybe you had something different from Colin then.
Anyway good it sounds as if you are on the mend hope you continue to feel better.

AnnG they were Aldi meat balls I had them in the freezer

Don't mention the jacket potato I cut into it and put a tiny tiny bit of butter in when I noticed the butter I had in the butter dish was swilling about in some water ,Colin took the butter dish from the dishwasher and I told him to check nothing was wet as it went in a quick wash that doesn't dry every thing and the butter dish had some water in the bottom ,I'm to blame too as I chopped a piece of butter off the block and put it in the dish ,so my potato went in the bin I didn't dare chance having any ,luckily I hadn't put any in Colins potato.
I ended up with a small dish of cornflakes and banana with no milk .

Rain has stopped now but it did tip down for a while.

Oh dear Mandy that was a shame but better safe than sorry.

Maybe it was just one of your meatballs that was dodgy Mandy and Colin's were all ok? It's good you seem to be getting over it now. I suppose there's always a risk from animals like birds or cats walking on things in the garden that we touch or pets with what they find and lick and then lick us! I suppose we only need to touch our mouths after to catch something. It's hard to avoid everything.

You have me there Mandy as I only stuck the evap milk in the freezer for 10 minutes, too impatient I know. I thought it seemed quite thick after arm ache with the mixer, but probably not as thick as if it had chilled right down overnight like you say. Unusual for me, it was the full fat one as that was all I could get. I might try again, but tend to agree with Vera that it was still a bit sweet for me, even though I put less sugar in.

I hope you were ok after your big breakfast Mel.........I would have postponed the big breakfast a day I think!

Me and my beading friends are attempting to have a Zoom meeting next Friday so that will be interesting!

Good morning all, sunny here so far, hope it stays that way, so much more cheery. Not sure what we are doing except I know we are not going out!! BBL :-D

Morning AnnG morning all,

Nice and bright here this morning but a bit on the chilly side when I hung my washing out.

Ann the Gypsy tart is very sweet but if you want a nice slimming sweet have you tried sugar free jelly with a Muller light yogurt mixed in it sets like a milk jelly .
Make the jelly up to about three quarters of a pint and mix in the yogurt, you can use any flavour yogurt I use the vanilla one in a strawberry jelly but you could use any of the fruit ones .

Better get hoovered up Max's hair comes out so much it goes across the tiles in here like tumble weed.

Morning AnnG and all,

Grey and miserable here but dry and a bit windy.

Oh is up the garden sorting out where the bricks have fallen away from the lawn at the west side of our road. He did'nt put any drainage holes in those when he built it and used the old victoria bricks from the melon house outside the wall which was in the secret garden and at that time he owned that. Some of them had crumbled and I think frost had got into some of them after all that rain we had and maybe lorries coming down had hit some of them so he is thinking of putting boards long and cementing it instead of replacin g the bricks. He said it would be stronger.

I have washing to do and clear the kitchen ready for tomorrow order to be wiped down before being put away. Its a job I did'nt miss last week when we did'nt have an order so this weeks will be bigger than the last one.

Good morning to you all,

Not a bad morning here, cloudy but not windy, I think it will be warm enough to sit outside with my book later.

Just had my MATE Alan on the phone, for best part of an hour. Chewing the fat as they say. His and my children are very close in ages. Between school outings and plays we got to know them. I have been friends with all the brothers over the years, unfortunately he is the last one still with us. We keep in touch from time to time, si t's nice.

For whatever reason, I have been getting very emotional. An act on BGT on Saturday got me started. It was a young girl of 14 singing with her mother who was 47 and dying with CANCER. The flood gates just opened, and a lot of things, I start remembering from being evacuated and the war, start me off. Gawd knows what I will be like on FRIDAY EVENING with the houses around us celebrating VE DAY. Bud and Estelle, with have their record player going full blast with all the OLD WORLD WAR SONGS, playing. I will walk round to the green outside their house with a fold up chair. and sit a have a wonderful SING SONG. Wth whoever takes/makes the effort to join us. Lets hope the rain holds off.

I am going to see if I can find out, how to set up my ALEXA that Ros has bought for an early Anniversary present.

Please stay safe, ny dear friends. Speak again later. xxxx

Good morning to you all,

Not a bad morning here, cloudy but not windy, I think it will be warm enough to sit outside with my book later.

Just had my MATE Alan on the phone, for best part of an hour. Chewing the fat as they say. His and my children are very close in ages. Between school outings and plays we got to know them. I have been friends with all the brothers over the years, unfortunately he is the last one still with us. We keep in touch from time to time, si t's nice.

For whatever reason, I have been getting very emotional. An act on BGT on Saturday got me started. It was a young girl of 14 singing with her mother who was 47 and dying with CANCER. The flood gates just opened, and a lot of things, I start remembering from being evacuated and the war, start me off. Gawd knows what I will be like on FRIDAY EVENING with the houses around us celebrating VE DAY. Bud and Estelle, with have their record player going full blast with all the OLD WORLD WAR SONGS, playing. I will walk round to the green outside their house with a fold up chair. and sit a have a wonderful SING SONG. Wth whoever takes/makes the effort to join us. Lets hope the rain holds off.

I am going to see if I can find out, how to set up my ALEXA that Ros has bought for an early Anniversary present.

Please stay safe, ny dear friends. Speak again later. xxxx

You'll like Alexa Frank. She will tell you the time and all sorts of questions and if you say Alexa Goodnight she will answer you.

One lot of wshing on the line and dry as the sun has come out and there's a nice blow. Tidied the kitchen a bit and going to clean it all this afternoon ready for tomorrows onslaught.

Meant to say the mother and daughter brought a tear to my eye too and even oh was wiping his eyes.

Afternoon All,

A bit mixed here weatherwise but not very warm. We collected our plants from the garden centre at 10.00am and they were so efficient with a coned off route in the carpark. We stayed in the car with the windows up all the time and I made one of the chaps smile when I held our email up to the window with my name I wrote in big letters on the back! :-D They put the plants in the boot and off we drove. I have planted up my wall pots front and back and pots at the sides of the arbour and will decide where the rest of the pansies will go tomorrow as my knees were achey by then. The runners are through at last and lots of the nasturtiums and french marigolds, so I need to get the marigolds pricked out.

Mandy what a good idea for a slimming treat. I have the low fat yoghurts and buy the low calorie jelly but never thought of putting them together like that. I used to make milk jellies with the light evap years ago, where you mix the 2 and whisk like mad till it is all frothy. When it sets it has a frothy mousse on top and a lime jelly one was my favourite. I hope you are feeling ok again now.

Asda had sent Pollock instead of Haddock so we had it today with parsley sauce, mash, leeks and red peppers and it was ok, not as tasty as Haddock but ok.

I only watch BGT rarely so didn't see the singer and her mum. I think a singsong may be just what you need Frank and will do you good. I doubt anyone will be stirring in our close though. I have been watching The Great British Sewing Bee but have thought some of the makes were a bit, well, unwearable and strange. lol.

OH has fetched the cube storage thing with 9 holes from the garage and I'm going to move stuff around to see where to have it. Some of my beading polythene boxes fit in nicely, so it will help me get straight in here. :-D

OH is filing his paperwork on the dining table.

Hope the sore shoulders are feeling better, also the headaches. Must go and take my hayfever tablet now.

The sun's out again now so I hope it is staying fine for your OH doing the drive edge Mel. I loved your video of the Pheasants following you for some food.

A bright sunny day but still with a nip in the wind. It is quite breezy so the washing dried well but next door’s wind chimes got on my nerves when I tried to sit in the garden.

Thanks for the video Jane. It made me laugh :-D. You’re as naughty as Frank.

Loved your garden photos as well Mel. That wisteria is gorgeous and I love the old wall, much nicer than our modern fence.

I have read all the posts bit by bit but I am really limiting my screen time as I am still having a lot of trouble with my head so I may not be posting much for a few days. I’ve been a bit bad tempered with poor OH which isn’t like me so I need to give myself a talking to and buck my ideas up a bit.

Stay well and safe everyone

Hi all

Lovely and sunny here today, we had some black clouds looming about an hour ago and thought we might have some rain, but nothing came of it.

I've been so busy today I've only just come online. My mum rang to let me know Aldi had some compost 40L for £1.99 so OH bought me 5 bags, it's the cheapest I've ever seen and I've wanted some for a while now so I could re-pot my plants, so they've been done, all 27 of them. I've also sorted out some insulation that had come off the wall in the spare bedroom, but we had to take the bed down and move it out, along with some bits of furniture. That job and some filler that needed doing has been done, and tomorrow or the day after it'll be painted, then we can put the furniture back before OH is back in work on Thursday. The place looks a bit of a tip with everything, everywhere, but it'll be back to normal soon.

I had BT text me reminding me I need to do the router, I'm still nervous so it hasn't been done yet. They did say on the text I could reply and they would help me, so when I'm ready I might do that and they can talk me through it. I think I know what to do as far as the wiring now, but haven't got a clue how to do the bit that makes it work on my laptop, I should imagine I'm going to have to go online at some point to connect it, but it's way over my head. So if I'm offline for a while, you know why. The switch over isn't until 15th May so I've still got 11 days to go.

What a lovely idea to mix up a yogurt with a jelly Mandy, I might try that one day.

I watched the 14 year old girl with her mum and was in tears myself Frank, it was very emotional. It sounds like you're going to have a good day of singing on Friday for VE Day, I hope the weather is nice so you can enjoy it.

Loved the video Jane, so funny LOL :-D :-D :-D I think I'm starting to get used to the extra meds now, I haven't had a headache today, which makes a change, I had one for two days on the run.

Sorry to hear you've had a sore head, I hope you don't end up with a migraine Vera.

It sounds like you're busy with your garden and planting up all the plants you got from the garden centre Ann. Good idea to put a note up to save you having to open your car window.

OH's just finished watering the garden, we haven't eaten all day, didn't realise how late it was, so we're eating a bit earlier tonight. I'm absolutely shattered I haven't sat down all day, so I think I'll sleep well tonight.

Going to grab a drink before I start cooking, I haven't drank much all day either. I made myself drinks but then kept forgetting them and they went cold.

Frank your sing along should be lovely on Friday.

Mandy I had forgotten ideal milk and jelly whisked until frothy and set, we used to love it.

Mel sounds like your OH has a job on his hands replacing bricks with planks, probably be more sturdy though.

Annx sounds like getting your plants worked out well, and almost all planted so you did well.
We always avoid pollock but sounds as if it is not too bad.

Vera do hope your migraine is not returning. Do your eyes need testing by any chance? Hope you soon feel better.

Gill sounds like the meds are helping which is good. Sounds like you worked hard on the garden. That compost sounds ridiculously cheap.

I really didn’t do much at all today. Made two cards and spent most of the afternoon
Listening to Jack Jones on you tube. Playing all my old favourites.