General Chat

What a good girl sorting through your cupboards Many you put me to shame. I have three bags of clothes and two boxes of glass, jigsaws and cups and saucers in the uti room which have been sitting in there on the floor since lock down. I had had a good sort out and was going to take them when it happened.

We'vehad the deer in the garden this morning sitting up by the wall warming themselves in the sunshine. I got one pic of one of them so I will send those off in a min.

Shopping not arrived yet.

good morning all. a bit misty here today 13 degrees so not too cold and the sun is half out. OH's back is so bad that he is really only comfortable lying down which is a nuisance for him and neither of us knows what he should do about it. He had said the doctor was gong to phone today but he has not done yet. He was on his computer for 20 minutes but is back lying on the bed now. No sign of the scan appointment either.

I have made a saucepan full of soup, mixed veg leftovers plus some of the roast chicken, it tastes really nice so hope he will eat some. He had his weetabix for breakfast and a chocolate biscuit with his coffee. He did eat his meal last night although a small amount on his plate. we had slow roasted barbecued brisket from M&S which was very tasty plus mash and sweetcorn.

I have put half the banana loaf in the freezer as it was not going to all get eaten unless I ate it and then I would be as fat as he is thin!

Sent a few pic enjoy.

Thanks for the photos Mel. did OH go hungry then?

I have just had a COC and its nice. Azera decaf americano. Sent as a sub the other week so I kept it. Glad I did now.

Emailed you Anng. No he ate it but could'nt look at it.

Good afternoon all

I would love some of your drizzle Mandy. It would be a nice change from heavy rain. We did have a little break from rain yesterday and even got a couple of gleams of sunshine in the afternoon but overnight it was back to heavy showers. It’s not actually raining at the moment but the ground is sopping and the sky is leaden. We desperately need to get some work done in the garden but between the weather and my foot there’s not much chance of doing anything.

I need to contact the charity shops and see if they are taking donations yet. I’ve got a load of stuff in a spare bedroom from when I cleared cupboards way back in April. I still need to go through our clothes but I lost motivation when I got to that point.

How’s your OH today AnnG? Perhaps his next osteopath appointment will help him. It has dragged on for a while now; you must both be fed up with it.

I hope you can sort out a scooter Frank as it would give you a bit more independence. However I think anyone who wants to go more than 4 mph should be on the road. 4 mph is fairly fast walking pace so quite enough for a pavement. I have every sympathy with people with mobility problems but some scooter owners round here are a menace. They don’t have bells or hooters and you don’t hear them till they are right behind you and you have to jump out of the way and then they glare at you as though you have no right to be on the pavement. Still, I am sure you wouldn’t be like that Frank.

I seem to have lost my green fingers - at least as far as penstemons are concerned. I have now taken 24 cuttings and 23 have died :-|. I don’t understand it. I’ve never had problems before and I must have been taking cuttings of them for nearly 30 years. I thought I might see if a few cuttings will root in water. Has anyone ever done that with penstemons? I’ve just done it with a few argyranthemum cuttings and they rooted well in water and are now potted up in compost.

OH is watching tennis from France. It’s a good, very close match but there’s no atmosphere without spectators cheering them on. I suppose things will get back to some sort of normal eventually.

Times getting on so I’d better start thinking about food for lunch and dinner tonight. Everything is food orientated now. We all seem to be either ordering it, wiping it down, preparing it or cooking it!

EDIT. Missed you while I was typing. Sorry T’s back is so bad. Will look at my emails now Mel to see your pics.

Afternoon All,

After a dull start the sun is out so I might go out with my camera again after I've done some paperwork if it's still sunny then. We have just had some egg and cress sandwiches for lunch as OH's first meeting today started at 12.00pm. He has another at 6.00pm. Last night's was over 3 hours and he gets quite exasperated as he said it could have been done in half the time. He says so many of the meetings are not at all businesslike, run off into trivia and unrelated things. It's hard for him with having run so many meetings himself over the years.

Love the pics Mel. Your OH's comment reminded me of a place we stayed at in Salcombe many years ago. If you ordered sausage and mash, the mash came in scoops and the chef insisted in doing a certain 'arrangement'. ;-) It caused a lot of tittering!! :-D

Let's hope that scan appointment soon comes AnnG. It's good that T is managing to eat small helpings. I think sometimes tablets affect your appetite too and pain doesn't help. How awful that he can't sit comfortably now and has to lie down. I hope the doctor rings soon and can be of help. I agree that scooters should be insured too, having had to jump up onto a market stall to avoid one reversing into me once. I also think cycles should be insured as well having had 2 occasions where young boys were racing along pavements and then into me on the road. The first time the whole length of my car was scratched and dented, the second the boy raced downhill from a side road and went over my bonnet smashing the windscreen. This new adult, lycra clad set of racers we have now too, both on pavements and the road. I followed one through a small village a few months ago. I stuck to the 30mph limit and he was soon in the distance so was exceeding the limit.

Mandy, well done with your clearout. It's very satisfying to have a recap on what you have and to thin out what you don't need anymore. I still have a half filled black bag in the bedroom to carry on filling. I've still got some clothes I had when I moved in here 20 years ago! :-0 Frank will be so envious of your nice fresh crab! :-D

Yes you watch your step as Mandy says Frank, the only 'trip' you want is down to Devon. How are you doing with getting the drive and steps done? Like I said before, make sure that you will be able to get a mobility scooter down the garden. It will be good if you can get a scooter.

My left knee, the one I recently hurt, has started aching if I sit for long now, so I have ti try and keep it fairly straight. Maybe the colder weather isn't helping. I saw a neighbour from up the road walking past to give something back to the postman earlier. She retired about 12 months ago and I noticed she was limping a bit!

Still no Gill I see. I hope she is ok and just busy

Good afternoon to you all,

We had rain in the night, and everywhere is DAMP today. Very overcast, with no sign of the YELLOW THING ;-) ;-)

For a change while Ros is shopping with Carolyn, I have done a Chicken Casserole for dinner tonight. Chopped up nice baby carrots, tin tomatoes, Tomato Puree, chicken casserole mix, two chicken portions. Will have that with mash. While the oven is going to be on, I will pop a rice pudding in, as Ros loves RICE PUDDING with a blob of strawberry jam.

No news ref the scooter application, so will just have to be patient and wait. Likewise, I am still waiting for Harvey to come and fit a rail down the steps, and see what he can do with the drive. We can manage the drive, as the car is parked over the subsided bit, and we can get around the car, for taking the bins in and out. We get into the car on the drive, so don't walk up it very often.

Yes Vera, it seems to be the norm with these scooter drivers. We have them down the close, taking a short cut to the village hall, and the high street. Fortunately I don't go out walking, so they don't bother me.

I haven't had any pics. Mel. Are these new ones ??

I have my scan tomorrow morning 11.20 am. If Ros fancies it, we could drop in and have lunch somewhere, then we would only need a snack tomorrow evening.

Ann, I hope your knee soon shows sign of improvement, as there's nothing worse than a painful joint, that stops you getting around. Take care. xx

Yes, I wonder where Gill has got too, it's so unlike her not to post. I hope the family are all well.

Off now to do the potatoes, then I will have a read for a while. xxxx

asda rang to say the driver could'nt find us did we want the delivery between 8 and 10pm tonight. I said no so its coming tomorrow now but they will ring me in the morning.

Vera, strange about the penstemons, could it be because they are actually cutting that you are trying to take cuttings from? Can't see why but can't think of another answer.

Yes OH's back and headaches are both getting us both down and it looks like he has got it wrong about the doctor phoning today as nothing has happened so far. He is desperate for something to let him sit comfortably but nothing seems to hel.

Mandy we prefer the banana with walnuts rather than just banana as it gives it more body.

Annx not so long ago there was an elderly lady badly injured by a mobility scooter near here. They do wizz around and often go around in pairs. Especially in town with the hired ones I am not sure that the 'drivers' ar actually disabled.
Good meetings need a good chair person to lead them and keep control.
Did you get out with your camera?

frank dinner sounds nice. Have you decided against a ramp up to the lawn now then?

I have put more garden photos on the blog.

You were included Frank I will forward it on to you.

Leaving for our flu jab soon.

Afternoon all
I think I’ve caught Franks dizzies – may have to bat them back! Feeling cross eyed and wobbly so won’t go outside as I’m home alone at the mo’. I hope it isn’t vertigo back again, I thought that had gone. So I’m typing this a bit at a time in Word.

Sorry I haven’t been able to read everyones posts. I’ve just caught up with the photos.

Yummy looking banana loaf AnnG.

Fab shed Mel! Mines about half the size and a potting style which we don’t really use much except in spring, for a month sowing the veg seed, otherwise a bit of a dumping space – we have plans for early next year.
The sweet peas are beautiful, I bet they smell gorgeous too. I grew climbing ones among the runners for a couple of years for a further splash of colour and last year tried a perennial variety round some trellis, it’s still going strong but no flowers! Serves me right for imagining us sitting on the garden seat enjoying the wonderful waft of their scent of a balmy evening – night scented stock won’t play ball either.
The deer is very dear, lucky you! The bread roll.... is there something your fella needs to tell us? LOL

Annx your plant pot is lovely, nice job! Are your pebble plants ‘lithops’? I had a couple years ago but no flowers, yours are wonderful, a nice cheery colour too. We don’t get squirrels in our garden, thank goodness, but then they have plenty of woods to play in round here.

I have another WIP on the go at the moment, bit of an urgent one which has had to take priority. I’ll send a pic.

Last but by no means least. ~~~~~~ to Jane, I hope you are having a comfortable day and able to catch up with some of our ramblings.

Umm.... it’s only taken me 3 hours to type this – I did have a sarnie and cuppa break though and I’m not checking for typos LOL

Island, great to hear from you but sorry you are dizzy take that any way you like :-D ) Seriously I do hope it is not vertigo.

Yes the banana loaf is very nice but, owing to OH not helping me eat it I have now put half in the freezer for a later date.

We have perenial sweet peas in the garden but they have no perfume at all, loads of dark pink flowers so pretty but I do love sweet pea perfume.

The doc has just phoned OH and had another look at his spine Xray and says he thinks there is actually faint inflamation so he has advised to book another Xray and has prescribed some different meds (not sure what there are until we collect them but one is to settle his stomach which actually aches when taking Co codomol and which is one reason he stopped taking them. He says he has asked for the scan so it is just waiting for that appointment. I guess that will take a while.

Nice to hear from you Island and sorry you are getting dizziness......most unpleasant....so I hope it goes away soon. I look forward to seeing your WIP and yes, the yellow flowered plants are Lithops as you say. I decided to look them up as I wondered if there were ones with other colours in the flowers, but most seem either yellow or white. What I did find though is that they need a much deeper pot than mine are in (a shallow Bonsai bowl) as their tap root can be 6 inches long. So I might be painting another of my terracotta pots lol. :-) They do like heat though, so our conservatory is ideal as it can be boiling in there. I was a bit disappointed with our night scented stock. I put a pot of them by our table on the patio hoping the scent would waft in the evening. No, we had to virtually stick our noses in the pot to smell them.

I hope the change of meds are better for your OH AnnG and now he has another appointment to wait for! Hopefully the doctor made it urgent. Just a suggestion, has he tried sitting on 2 rolled up towels, one under each thigh, to take pressure away from the tailbone? Anything is worth trying. :-S :-S

I wonder why your penstemon didn't take this time Vera. It is a shame only one survived. I can understand your frustration at not being able to get out and tidy your garden. We need to do some work in ours, but we have made a start emptying some of the straggly plants in the pots. This new garden bin we have now seems to motivate OH to put stuff in it ready for collection day, so he goes looking for stuff a few days before! You are so right about everything being food orientated now! I said to OH that everyday my head is full of keeping a food list, planning food, getting food, thinking of food to defrost, checking the cupboards and freezer, wiping down. It's hard to concentrate on anything else. :-S

We are still without the big telly working, but have a dvd player we've never connected up and used yet! As it is just the link to SKY that doesn't work I'm going to see if I can set it up. We have a lot of free dvd films we've never got round to watching that we've had years now and were due to be chucked out with the big clearout! It would be good to watch them first, especially with the dark evenings and being indoors more. :-)

Lovely to see you Island can't wait for the next pic of the work in progress. Sorr to hear you've caught the dizzy spells from Frank, he likes to share things you know......... Hope they pass soon.

Poor T I hope the new meds work for him and he gets some answers to his problems soon. It must be so uncomfortable and not know what to do with himself to relieve the pain.

I knw what you mean about shopping lists and cooking and thinking what to have every day. I am lucky in that oh will get things that don't need a lot of cooking but his latest passion is ginsters slices and pasties and I am putting on so much weight my belly is resting on my legs when I sit down. I must be good and just get them for him and I shall have to go on salads again and no bread.

We would have had pizza and chips tonight if the delivery had come. Now I have lost another day with having to wipe down tomorrow.

This afternoon we went for our flu jabs and mine hurt. She was'nt light handed at all. I don't usually flinch but I found myself drawing away from her. The doctor gave it me last year and I hardly felt a thing. Tonight it aches if I touch it. Then we went to the local shop for some milk as oh is drinking that every night now.

Vera its a good idea to take cuttings of penstemons from the base as you usually find they have some root coming from down there. Semi hard wood cuttings are best. I hav'nt had much luck with internodal cutting either. Twenty odd cutting is an awful lot to take at one time too. How many did you put to a pot? and what size pot?

Since having our new telly in the kitchen we hav'nt had the dvd player connected. I used it a lot and he even bought me one that records but I could'nt get my head around it.

Morning All,

Dull and drear here this morning so how is it with you? and its raining too.

Asda are suspose to ring this mroning to tell us when its coming but nothing yet.

Hope the poorly ones had a better sleep last night and everyone else too. I went to bed at 12.30am which is early for me as I just could'nt keep my eyes open. Oh woke me at 10am so I should be fully rested.

Arm still aches this morning but not quite as bad. I have neck acheand thumb ache so I think I have just started to feel my age.

I am wanting to make an autumn garland and have rooted out some coloured leaves just have to think what to put with them. I have acorns and beech nuts and faux berries.

Sorry everyone for not being on here for ages, Sandra is now living back with us, she came back to us a couple of weeks ago as M&M started picking on her again, she's much happier now and it settling in fine.

I'll try and bob in again as soon as I can.

Hope that Sandra stays settled now gill. Glad you called in as we were worried we had not heard from you for quite a while. do pop in and let us know how things are occasionally

Good morning all. Mel our weather is much like yours dull and almost raining. 12 degrees.
Autumn wreath sounds nice we look forward to the photos.

OH slept well last night but, as usual when he sleeps well, he woke up and feels 'disconnected' his words. He feel his balance is not good. He has eaten two weetabix and had 2 cups of tea since he got up and is now lying down again as that is the only way his back is comfortable. I need to go and get his new meds sometime but will have to walk as the road is shut for resurfacing and I would need to trail the long way round.

Annx no he hasn't tried sitting like that but I think that would unbalance him and hurt his back. I will suggest it though. I don't think there is much of him that doesn't ache, he really needs that scan to put our minds at rest about his head. He has tried to get through to the Xray department but so far has had no luck so no appointment there as yet. I do hate the thought that there will be 3 hospital visitd in a short time, so risky with the Covid around.

O Gill thats wonderful news that Sandra is back with you two. Give her my regards and love please. <3 Hope the headaches have gone now you have your lovely daughter home. What good news for a miserable day.