General Chat

It's been a warm, brightish day but very windy again. It looks as though it is going to be a hot night. I hope it's a better one than last night when I hardly seemed to sleep at all, though I must have slept a bit. I was sitting downstairs about 4.30 am when there was an almighty bang. It certainly made me jump. I couldn't see what had caused it so started to wonder if OH had got up for the bathroom and fallen . I had to check so went into his bedroom and he was tucked up in bed soundo. He didn't even hear me go in the room. I still haven't found out what the bang was. I eventually went back to bed and slept for an hour or two and then got up feeling very groggy and shaky.

As I felt so rough and as we had a lot to do we decided to give our Thursday coffee meeting a miss this week. OH spent a while on the phone with our handyman sorting out how and when he is going to do this construction job for us. I do feel sorry for him as he has been ill himself, his mother in law has a brain tumour and is near the end of her life and his brother has just had a cancer diagnosis. We have given him the opportunity to duck out of doing the job but he still seems keen to do it. The latest is that he will probably come Saturday to measure up and get the materials ordered in. I suppose everything will get done eventually.

After his second cataract op. OH was told to contact our opticians (Boots) to set up an appointment after 14th June for a post op and vision check. So this morning he rang Boots, only to be told they are not licensed to do this check and to go to Specsavers for it. We were amazed. I don't know if it is just our local branch of Boots that isn't licensed or all branches of Boots Opticians. If it's just our branch I would have expected them to suggest one of their own branches where it could be done, rather than send us to a competitor. Anyway, no problem with Specsavers. They have given him an appointment for 21st June.

Our day continued to get worse. A neighbour had brought our emptied bins back up the Close and left them just outside our side gate. OH went to bring them in, caught his toe coming through the gate and gave his elbow a hard bash on the gate post. He took all the skin off the elbow and bled profusely all over the sleeve of the new shirt he was wearing. I had some elbow plasters so we patched him up and I said to make sure it had stopped bleeding before putting another long-sleeved shirt on. Did he listen? Did he, heck. Before long another shirt had a blood spattered sleeve so I've now got 2 in soak. At this point I covered the wound with another plaster on top of the first and made him put on a shirt that had been put aside for a charity shop rather than another new one.

He not only injured himself but damaged the wooden gate post so the gate wouldn't shut. That meant he spent the rest of the day repairing the gate and our plans for the afternoon got pushed aside.

I have read all the posts but won't comment as I am so tired now and my eyes are going a bit blurry. I'll just wish you a safe journey to Skipton and a good week AnnG.

Iv'e just come in from the garden. I did more sweeping and took the frame off the bean tub and put some farmyard manure in it to replenih the soil. There was one bean growing in it from last year so I left that. I just have to plant my bean plants in it now and cable tie the wire top on and then it will be ready to go.

I sowed some cue seed on the 25th but nothing is showing yet. Nor are the new short bean seeds I sowed. I hope htey are not old seed too like mine were.

Going to have my salad now. Iv'e got more strawberries ripening on the barrow so thye should be ready tomorrow.

Too late Mel as I dug it up as soon as we got back from the tip. I did manage to get the foot long tap root out. This one wasn't like any other thistles we have. It's flower buds are round and as big as golf balls and the plant was over three feet wide and a bright green. It's prickles were so sharp that when I carried it round the back in the big humper it drew blood on my arms. I'll remember and try your suggestion on the other kind we have though, as that way won't kill nearby plants I want to eventually transplant. One seems to have rooted in foundations of the neighbour's low wall so I don't want to disturb her wall. We were hoping to have this border along the drive edge slate chipped by someone before the weeds started to grow, but with what happened with OH it got delayed and the weeds have kept growing while I've been tackling the back garden.

Yes the car has done well and it's never garaged AnnG. I don't do all the mileage I used to when I was at work though, but some car parts just perisjh with time and not mileage. In between the Peugeots I had a little Citroen AX diesel and OH stqrted with his Citroen diesels at the same time as we got a good deal buying the two. Citroen use the same Peugeot diesel engines as well. OH had Ford before that. That must have been about 1994 and he's now had 6 Citroens all with Peugeot diesel engines. When he started having daily commutes being based in places like Luton with much daily motorway mileage doing up to about 30,000 miles a year, he had the big Citroen C5s for more protection and they had air suspension and it was like riding along in an armchair and so smooth. The first vehicle I drove regularly at age 17 was dad's Austin A35 van. It was the same colour Clipper Blue as Wallace and Grommet's. Fancy me remembering that and I can still remember the registration number too.

I'm popping to a garden centre that is just a couple of polytunnels in the next village now. OH has gone to cardio rehab.

Annx if you see this before you dig up the thistle DON'T DIG IT UP. Squirt some of your weed killer in a little jar or yog pot and paint it on the thistle leaves when its dry. This will take the killer down to the root. If you dig it up it will only grow again stronger and spead. You don't pull Thistles till July or they'll just spread.

Fed the birds and the chickens and am just going to feed the fish and get something to eat as I'm hungry. Think I'll have a salmon and cuecumber roll and a salad tonight with pilchards so a fish day today.

That is a lovely lot of knits Mandy. Will they all be Christmas presents?

Thanks for the photo.

Good morning all. It is not a nice day here. It has been raining all morning and the strong wind is back. So we are staying in. I just wish I had brought some extra warm clothes with me instead of all light weight things. No heating on and daughter and SiL don’t feel the cold.

Your car has done very well Ann. That is one make car we have never had. We had Fords, Austin’s and Morriis, Wolsey, BMW, Triumphs and Mercs plus V Ws and Hyundai and Rovers. Lexus, Nissan Singer, And MG. Quite a selection and I am sure I have missed a few. And none of them were new.

Morning Mandy and All,

Grey skies here so it looks like more rain is due today. I hope we can get our trip to the tip done before it starts. OH didn't have a good night so I might go on my own as nothing is heavy that we were taking.

I've just dug/pulled up some thistles in the front garden, but one is waist high, so I'll need a spade later to do that one as my back started protesting as I'd also done a bit of other weeding. The garden bin is full again.

Morning Mandy and all,

When I looked at the thread last night latish there were no posts that I had'nt read and I refreshed the page to make sure and this morning there's loads I had'nt read. Don't kow what happened there.

Anyway its 16 degrees and abit cloudy this morning but quite bright. Hope it stays like that so I can do a bit more in the garden before BIL comes on Friday.

Sending love to Gwyn and hope she feels better soon. <3

Morning all,

Very cloudy here with a few light showers ,shopping day today and we need to go to Roys for some bits too so that will be our morning .

Evening All,

We had really heavy rain last night and I was so glad they fixed my car window yesterday. It is a diesel Peugeot RCZ AnnG and yes, I wondered if it was going to be the start of things going wrong too! I suppose I should expect some expense after nearly 10 years as all I've replaced on it is windscreen wipers and a tyre, no two tyres. It still has all the original lightbulbs as well. OH calls it the White Tornado. lol. It is my fourth Peugeot diesel since 1986. I had a look at Siloth online and what a strange lighthouse it has! I've never seen anything like it. It would be a nice walk you had on a sunny day, but still good to be out and about in the fresh, sea air.

Gwyn when OH had pneumonia, they saw a bit of lingering infection on the x-ray from his follow up appointment too. He kept thinking he should be better but found for a while that he soon ran out of steam if he didn't rest enough. You will just have to be patient a bit longer won't you. If you haven't had one, I would ask your doctor about having the pneumonia vaccine too. I hope you soon get your energy back.

That's a meal I enjoy Mandy and your dad was right as I've always saved for a rainy day.

Mel, perhaps Stu sounded better than he felt anyway and it's good he didn't want you to catch it.

We used to have kingsize beds and I found the duvet covers a pain to put on too. Once we decided if we were to get any sleep and with different working hours (OH could be up at 4.00am to get to Liverpool for 8.00am) we got standard size double beds instead that made things a bit easier. I have the same sort of orthopaedic mattress that Frank's Ros had for her back and it was a boon for my back too, but OH said it's like sleeping on a board when he tried it, so that was another good reason to have what suited each of us. Hot flushes in the past was another. :-) Thank goodness they came to an end. Remember Jane taking her fan with her?

Hello everyone,

A lovely bright day here today with a warm breeze., - such a change after yesterday.

This pneumonia business is so frustrating. The mind is willing, but the body not so able, so I will just have to be patient and 'listen to my body' and not expect too much yet.
Unfortunately, when I went back for the 2nd X-Ray, as planned, it was not clear and a blood test showed 'markers' for infection were down, but not satifactory, so I have another course of a different antibiotics to take :-|

Today, my elder daughter came and picked me up and we drove to the coast. I can't walk far yet, so we spent a lovely time just sitting on a bench watching the sea, a cormorant and taking in the sea air.
It was a lovely change.

Not much energy to do anything, which is annoying, but feeling brighter in myself instead of sleeping much of the day, so I'm grateful for small signs of progress :-)

Sunshine and showers today. Some of the showers have been heavy but in between it’s quite pleasant, though still very breezy. I’ve had a good hoover round downstairs and done the ironing as well as some odd jobs. I had a Sainsbury delivery booked for 10 am to 11 am and he was here before 10. Then our handyman turned up to look at our job and talk through with OH the best way to do it. They keep talking things through but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of action. The painter can’t start until this job is done and at this rate we’ll be lucky to get the house painted this year. All the problems stem from the cheapskate of a builder not paying out for the right materials for the job. He initially built just 3 or 4 bungalows in our Close, then when he was able to buy a bit more land he built another bungalow and our house. As he initially built the house for himself we thought he might have done a good job on it but no such luck.

It’s good your car is fixed Annx but what a price. At least you won’t have to worry about water getting in every time it rains.

I know what you mean about the duvets Mel. I’m tall but I still struggle with them. As we sleep separately and both have a king sized bed I have 2 to deal with and sometimes when I’m changing them a few choice words get said. Stu may not be making an excuse. He might have man-flu, in other words a bit of a sniffle. Lots of people say they’ve got flu when they are just a bit under the weather. I’ve only had real flu twice in my life, once in my teens and once 5 or 6 years ago and each time I was really ill for about 3 weeks and quite frail for about another 3 weeks so I hope Stu hasn’t really got flu.

That sounds quite a bracing walk this morning AnnG but nice to be by the sea and get the fresh air.

It’s good that your grandchildren are happy to eat fruit Mandy. Learning these good habits when they are young will help them to be healthy when they’re older. I hope young Lewis enjoys the water melon. They’re very refreshing, particularly when it’s hot.

If you are looking in Gwyn I hope you are starting to feel much better after your nasty bout of pneumonia.

OH’s eye is much better and he was able to drive a short distance today. The post came at lunchtime and he had 2 more cards. One was only posted yesterday but the other one was posted on 20th May in Essex, so not too far away. Prices go up and the service goes down with Royal Mail.

Dinner sounds nice Mandy can I come please?

Second lot of washing nearly on the line so thats another job out of the way. Had lunch a nice granary rolls with ham nd watercress and a couple of beetroot and a small hula hoops puft. a glass of water and my pills. I did sow some more french bean seeds this morning and split a primrose which I think maybe the double one as I could'nt read the label and it had another orchid in it which is now in a pot with another one. they are coming up all over the place in various pots. They disappear in the winter and come again next year. They were brought down with me from suffolk in pond plants I that came from my pet shop and I love them. Some have plain green leaves and others have lovely dark spot on their leaves.

Have you findished that rabbit yet Mandy? We're waiting to see a pic of it.

Afternoon all,

Wet when we got up first thing but as the morning has gone on its got brighter and we've had some lovely warm sunshine ,lots of very grey clouds but I can see blue sky too.

Anng yes it seems a lot of fruit but there's five of them and son and dil so it soon goes and they snack on fruit instead of sweets ,we've always brought them lots of fruit and they like making a fruit salad and even cooking with some .
Sounds as if you had a nice walk ,was the water very choppy with the wind .

Mel perhaps Stuart doesn't want to be tied to having a meal each week with the lighter evenings perhaps he wants to do other things better to be honest though and just say do you mind if we give it a miss this week and catch up another week .

Ann as my dad would say good job you saved up when you was young girl lol at least you won't get the water in now ,if the water had got to the electrics it could have cost a lot more .

We manged to hang the suncatcher on the gazebo and the lights on the fence but haven't done much else this morning ,Colins just looking at the back of his eyelids and I might do my knitting for a while .
Meal tonight is an easy one jacket potatoes with tuna and salad .

Could be I suppose Mel? Who knows what is lurking in my brain?

Just back from a nice walk along the promenade at Silloth on Solway. Stopped and had a coffee first. A bit windy and cloudy while we were there but clear across the Solway to Dumfriesshire. Quite a long walk for me and no stick according to daubs watch about a mile. We have come home for lunch and here it is blue sky and sunny with a light breeze.

Just recovering from getting the quilt on the line. Its such a fight with me being so short and its a king sized one.

Stu has just rung me to say he has flu so we are going to leave it till next week. He did'nt sound too bad so it may just be an excuse.

Morning girls,

NIce and bright at the mo with sunshine and blue sky with big white clouds scudding across the sky and I don't think its as windy as it was the last couple of days and pc says 14 degrees and partly sunny.

Anng I wonder if it was because my back door was locked and I could'nt open it that played on your mind a bit which made you have the dream about not getting out?

Think I will get in touch with STu and make dinner for tomorrow night as its quite nice I may get a bit more done in the garden today and I need to get some washing on the line.

Good morning all, dry and reasonably bright so far. Doesn’t feel as cold.

Hopefully we are going to risk a trip to Silloth all g the coast north of here for a bit of sea air along the Solway Firth. Tomorrow is packing again and daughter has hair appointment.
Slept ok but had a horrible dream where I had been out for the day on my own and on my way home called I. To a place that should have been a cut through to ‘somewhere’ but all the exit doors were jammed shut. People were all nice but couldn’t help me find a way out and I couldn’t for some reason let To y know where I was. In the dream I was not frightened, just annoyed. I was glad to wake up.

Gosh that was a big car bill for the window Ann. Hopefully it is not the start of things going wrong. What make is the car?

Vera hope OH’s eye continues to improve and is soon better.

They did'nt arrive till quite late in the afternoon and when Simon tried the door it opened. talk about sods law. its been ok since but I hav'nt had to lock it which I will do tonight.

we were issued food waste bins but I keep some compost in mine as I don't have food waste with the chickens thye eat anything.

Did some painting this aternoon while waiting for Simon and Janine to come and look at the door. Not done miniature painting for a while because Iv'e ben gardening.

Annx what a price for your car!! but st least its done now and you don't have to worry about the rain getting in. Hope it stays that way for a long while now.

I remember you saying that the children love their fruit Mandy and its a good thing for them to have much better than junk food. Has Lewis had watermelon before? or did he just fancy trying it? Never saw much in it and would much prefer a nice honeydew melon or the other kinds.

Hope you all sleep well tonight and see you all in the morning.

It's confusing how councils vary Vera. We can put magazines in our recycling bin and and cardboard, but they will not collect anything outside a bin, except cardboard boxes that have been cut down to a size that would fit in a bin, even though you can leave those outside the bin! OH told me off for emptying a small amount of the nasty compost in the garden bin as he said we can't put soil in it. Lots of other rules too about paint tins etc. People will start doing what they did in the old days and bury stuff in their gardens.

Well my car is fixed now and has cost over £500, so between us we've given the garage over £850 today. Frank would have been saying his famous saying! The inside of the door had got a bit wet, so they were good to fit it in today with the rain we are to expect this week. They looked underneath and could see no damage from me dropping in that water filled pothole.

That's a lovely healthy lot of fruit for the grandchildren Mandy and good habit for them to be used to. Lewis will be pleased to see water melon he wanted. The suncatcher and lights will make the garden nice.

Well you managed a trip out AnnG and I must admit I like to watch a more wild sea with bigger waves and find it mesmerising.