General Chat

I am sure your grandson would have loved painting the shed Joan, plus all the surrounding area :-D

Apparently the Northern Lights were stunning over the town last night, but I didn’t see them. My daughter took photos at 10.30, she said that the sky just had strange white bits in it, but the actual photos show stunning colours. We are going down tonight to watch Eurovision, so I will take some as it is supposed to happen again tonight.

We went to Eve’s school speech day this morning. The keynote speaker was Alesha Dixon. She was actually a very good speaker which rather surprised me. The ceremony is always quite entertaining with lots of music and dance interspersed with the presentations. They have a posh marque outside and everyone gets a very nice picnic lunch along with Bucks Fizz or orange juice. It is 24 degrees this afternoon, but the hall was nicely air conditioned.I was glad to get home though and take my posh frock and uncomfortable shoes off

You've been busy, Joan!
What colour are you painting all these things?

Perhaps the wind will die down again for you, Florence.
Our weather has been the opposite of yours today. It started off warm and sunny, but is now clouding over, with some wind. I hope it doesn't rain.

I hope your hawthorn is less droopy today, Linda!

Went into town with a friend yesterday. I had some shopping to do, and she just wanted an outing, as she doesn't drive. It was nice to have company for a change.
We stopped first for a coffee and scone (well, decaff tea and scone for me), and later had soup and a sandwich in another place on the way home.

And when I got home, I cut all the grass, except along the verge of the track, which I hope to do this afternoon.

Hi everyone.
Another lovely day here, the sun has been shining since first thing, it was too warm for me this morning but now we have a welcome breeeze, makes garden work a lot more pleasant when there is a breeze, shame you have some serious wind though Florence, spoilt some of your plans.

I have given the 2 old Benches & the 2 old Bird tablesa second coat of paint today, & the big shed has had 1 coat on the door end.
We also have a small tool store shed & I have managed a first coat on that one as well.
I just love the new colour.

Our young grandson (5yrs) phoned me earlier, he was looking for a job & earn £10 for a school trip that's coming up, he made me laugh, first time in a while !
He was absolutely delighted when I said I would GIVE hime the money without having to work for it, lol.

I don't have any suitable jobs for a 5yr old, lol.

I have done enough painting for today, the back is creaking again so I'm off to see what I might like for my tea.
I do hope everyone is having a lovely day/weekend.

Joan.

Afternoon everyone.
Well started off overcast and dull and windy which was not the forecast. :-(

But now the sun has come out very nicely but oh my the blooming wind is sooo gusty! Which means, we cant eat alfresco as everything would get blown off the table. Such a disappointment. I have the jug of non Pimms ready and the onions ready to cook for the rolls etc and loads of other bits and bobs.

So looks like it will be an indoor "al fresco" instead.

You really cant win up here! If the wind dropped, it would be a scorcher and just perfect.

We did'nt see any northern lights even though we are the farthest north. partly because I face the west and not the northern mainland. people in Ballater, Aboyne and all along that part have the best views, but I have seen them many times when I lived in a different area.

Hope everyone else has a nice sunny and less windy day :-D

Florence in the hebrides

All I have to do is pay the sol. and estate agent plus the utilities and thats it. Bank accounts were dealt with and probate ages ago so nothing else to do, except divide the remaining balance after everything is paid between 3 of us.

That is really good news Florence , although not the end as the estate will now have to be wound up

Yes names as its been dragging on for weeks, not sure my patience was going to last for much longer and I am a very patient person but this carry on really stretched me to the limit.

You know this ANON drink is so like the real Pimms, you cant hardly taste the difference and the beauty is you wont get a hangover :-D :-D

Non alcoholic Pimms party coming up :-D

What a relief.

Well, it's finally happened yay :-D :-D :-D

We have just exchanged contracts and completion is next Friday :-D :-D :-D

Such a relief to hear. I have just tel my brother(other exor) and relayed the good news. As you can imagine, he is relieved and delighted.

Looking forward to my trip to Glasgow and maybe treating myself to something special!

Joan, we haven't managed to buy mum's headstone yet as the ground sunk with all the rain in Dec2022 and then the council had to put more earth on top. It has levelled out now and the grass finally growing over. Hopefully, they will now allow us to put up a headstone as that will bring us closure and a proper place to remember her. i think we were quoted about £900 but not sure if that reasonable or not?

You have been very busy in your garden but so glad you are as your day will pass so much quicker. I always find when im busy, I have less time to dwell on things.

Have a good weekend all :-D :-D

Florence in the hrebrides

It wasn’t this house where the plants disappeared from, but the previous one. The house was set back from the road with a large grassed area in front of it which belonged to the council. People couldn’t be bothered to walk round the pavement to get to the pathway which cut into the nearby estate, so they wore a path in the grass just outside our hedge. It was easy for them to lean through the little hedge as it was then and carefully remove the plants. I must admit to walking around the estate to see if I could see them.
Years later when the hedge was large, OH planted daffodil bulbs outside the hedge next to the worn path. For two years in a row as soon as they flowered someone kicked all of the heads off, so he dug them all up and planted them in our garden.

I am going to buy some plants this afternoon to plant up two hanging baskets. They will stay in the greenhouse until they are well grown and the current ones out the front with pansies in them have gone over.

You have been busy Joan, no wonder you need a sit down. Headstones are ridiculously expensive, but you can’t really shop around, so they can charge what they want.

I must admit Florence, that I am not keen on bbq’d food. It isn’t too bad if it is cooked in the oven and finished off outside, otherwise it always seems to be burnt on the outside.

Hello.
Oh my it's warm day here, the sun is shining & no breeze, I am not able to do anything too physical in the garden today.

I have had a busy morning I was out for my B12 jab first thing & thankfully it wasn't too sore this time, it was a student nurse that did it & sge was very good.
Daughter & I then went round to the stone mason re the headstone details, looking forward to seeing the finished stone but not the price !!
We did get a price but I have tweaked things a bit so I have likely added to the cost !

We then went to our local B & Q,I was needing some new shed paint,I was very surprised to actually foind the one I wanted in stock & at a "reasonable" price !
And so on getting back home I have made a start on painting 2 of the wooden seats,
there is one more wooden one to do the other 3 seats are metal so I don't have to do them.

I am also going to paint the 3 OLD wooden birdtables (not the new ones) leaving the shed till last.
Next shopping trip is to the local Garden centre. I am looking for a particular Climbing Roses but if they don't have it I am going to get another Bird bath, I have a Gift Voucher to use up that daughter bought me for my birthday.

I am currently taking a breather as my back is aching, it doesn't take much to get a sore back these days.

Joan.

Morning all
Linda, are you saying that one of your new neighbours has stolen your heather plants??? hard to believe that :-S

Well the sun has returned but it is very windy grrrr. There is a mist over the hills too. We have planned to have our evening meal alfresco tomorrow so hoping, the wind dies down as looking forward to it.

I have a bottle of Non alcoholic Pimms, well the equivalent, as not made by Pimms.
But mixed with Sprite in a jug, sliced fruit etc and its a pretty good alternative if you cant drink alcohol. Not cheap at £20 a bottle but that will make several jugs and daughter and & i will only have 1 jug between us anyway so plenty left for another time.
Strawberries and ice cream for desert....oh yummy
:-D

We are not going to use a portable BBQ as the lawn is quite bare and tinder dry even after a couple of rainy days. One spark would set it on fire and it would spread to the neighbours so quickly. So shop bought, chicken wings and drumsticks, veggie grills and sausages cooked in the oven etc.

Making myself so hungry talking about all this food lol

I'm feeling better today and the bruising is fading a bit and the lump has gone down which is good. So i have just managed to vacuum the whole house and behind the 2 sofas with the hose so all dust free now.

So coffee time now and a break before any more chores. better to do a bit, rest and then a bit more as that way, i dont get so tired.

Hope anyone else looking is is having a good day with the sunshine :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Some people are in believable. Bet you’re going to have some interesting walks checking out all the front gardens.

Well the Hawthorn whips are still in situ and look OK, if a bit droopy. When we first moved into our last house, the now very tall Copper Beech hedge across the front of the garden was just a single line of straggly whips, not doing very well because the previous owners hadn’t watered them. We bought more and made a double row which eventually turned into a lovely hedge, but I digress.
There was a strip of soil inside the hedge, so I bought lots of nice heather plants and put them in there. When I came out the next morning, they had all been carefully dug up and taken away :-|

I am going to have a morning in the greenhouse planting lettuce seeds

No sun here, just raining all day! I have just had to put on the heating grrrrr but its cold.

Linda, glad yo got your Hawthorn whips but wonder what happened to the others?

Yes I shall only be ordering the crafts stuff from now on, def no clothes!

I managed to do a small basket of ironing earlier but left the bedding as leg was aching, another job for another day.

Glad you are ok JG, you have plenty in your garden to keep you busy by the sounds of it.

Daughter not home until 8.30 so its been a very quiet day, not seen or spoken to anyone. Soaps starting soon. Wish they would wrap up the storyline on Corrie re lauren, its now dragging on far too long!

I have bought things from Temu Florence, knowing that they are always going to be cheap Chinese knockoffs . I wouldn’t buy clothes though.

It has been a glorious day here, it got up to twenty one degrees. Our hedging plants arrived this morning, so OH planted a hundred Hawthorn whips this afternoon. Luckily the pathway is in the shade, so it wasn’t too bad. There is an outside tap here, something we have never had before, so we had bought a hosepipe knowing we are going to have to keep the hedge watered. Of course when OH tried to connect it to the tap, it wouldn’t fit. :-( He had to go to Home Base to buy a fitting, but eventually the new hose was working and the hedge was watered. Hopefully most I’ve them will survive

Good Afternoon everyone looking in.

It has been lovely weather again so done a bit more in the garden . Moved some of the pots around and sorted out the ones that needed it. Still need to clean some of my ornaments that are looking grubby and a few need touching up with some stone paint. I have quite a lot of ornaments as had some from my late sisters garden one is a large bird bath with a owl on which is very heavy and really nice to look at. I have a lot of dog ones in various sizes as well.
The lilac has been lovely this year and also the lavender , the lavender in the front hasn't flowered yet but it is usually a good show.

Glad you are out in your garden Joan and sounds like you had a good bargain when you went shopping .

Sorry you had such a bad fall Florence hope the lump goes down soon.
Lucky you were able to return the items free of charge that you brought, always a risk when you buy on line from China or anywhere really. I saw a programme a while ago where Gloria Hunniford was speaking about the sites that have a lot of sellers that are copying genuine designers and selling below standard items. Not just clothes but accessories as well. We have to be so careful now.

Take care all
Ginnie

Good afternoon.
Florence the lump & bruise on your leg sounds nasty, i do hope it clears up soon & there are no after affects.

A nice dat here so far, no sun but it is bright & warm, no breeze today.
It rained during the night so I needn't have watered various plants or filled up the birdbaths yesterday !!

I was out for the weekly shop this morning,I don't have much to buy now but I still like to cover what I need for a week.
Our daughter got the 2 birdtables for me yesterday,they are really lovely, I have just been placing them in the garden, one at the front & the other at the back so that I can see them when in the L room & kitchen.
The 2 old ones are still ok to use & so I have placed them elsewhere in the garden, I can't see them from the windows but they can be seen if sitting on the garden seats.

My B12 jab is due tomorrow, not looking forward to it but I have to have it, maybe I will get a bravery sticker, lol.

Joan.

Morning all.
Another misty, windy and rainy day, no good for washing!

My bruise is awful but thankfully not visible to anyone except me. There is a huge lump and it looks like I burst a blood vessel as it looks like its bleeding under the skin. I am feeling my left shoulder and upper arm aching today as I guess, I strained myself.
However it could have been a lot worse as i could have broken my leg or hip so a lump, a bruise and some pain is minor really.

But some good news. The clothes I ordered I can send back free of charge. Yay :-D :-D
When I went on the site to request a return, it said I get one free return. So as daughter was going to town, I quickly put all the clothes back in the little bags they came in, printed off the returns form and found a thick black refuse bag and packaged it all up securely with half a roll of parcel tape lol

So hopefully refund will be back in my bank account within 7 seven days.

Gentle pottering about today, nothing strenuous anyway.

Hope everyone looking in is well and ok

Florence in the hebrides

Florence, what a shame your weather has changed.

I feel a bit better for getting some outside jobs done, but my heart isn't really in it !
Life has changed soo much for me now.

We don't have a shower & I am not able to get in & out of the bath so bathing is a pain nowadays, I can't afford to get a shower fitted & to be honest this old cottage wouldn't enjoy the upheavel !!

Linda let's hope your bulbs do take, it's worth a try.
When I was going round the garden today I noticed several new Primroses have appeared in places where I wouldn't put them, obviously self seeded.
I won't be moving them as I like plants that self seed & trying to get them out of the gravel would likely damage them..

Joan.