General Chat

Afternoon All,

My word it did turn cold here last night. OH got home from the match and was freezing and certain he wasn't going to tonight's match. Of course he's forgotten that now and is going tonight, but dressing for the Arctic!! :-)

Jane what a horrid thing to have done to your nose. I think I must have narrow nostrils as they seem to close inwards if I try to sniff hard! I have a fear of burglars tying me to a chair and sticking that gaffer tape across my mouth! I'm sure I would suffocate. That Wisteria looks beautiful on the cottage and it does seem to be a good year for it. Sorry your hip has been playing you up, but it's good Chris gets stuck in to help.

I hope whoever moves into the properties for sale near you have their own builders Gill. It would be too much to have more problems. We are not sure whether we will stay here with the big units planned to be built in view at the back of us, so for now we are getting everything shipshape and a bit easier to look after as well. That will help us and be better for selling if we need to go down that route. Later, as we progress, we are dismantling the raised beds at the side and using the concrete gravel boards they are made of to add to those on our back fence. There are 3 rows already there topped by a 3 foot wood fence and trellis top. We will need smaller top panels then or just a trellis at the top and so will have very little there to paint and maintain. The existing wooden panels are rotting now so we need to do something with them. I will get a raised veg trug then to grow a bit of salad. We've still the garage to clear yet, so plenty to keep us busy. Sorry you didn't get the pics......I will send them again.

I had a letter this morning cancelling my appointment to see the surgeon in June. They've brought it forward a few weeks to just before we go to Cornwall.........less time for weight loss, so I will have to ramp up the diet a bit!!!! :-0 :-0

Good to see you got home ok Frank. It's very tiring driving in those conditions, so well done Ros. So the big semi was originally one big detached house then. How great it would be to be able to see it and the views from it when it was first built.

We have had 2 really heavy downpours that only lasted a few minutes and it is dry and sunny now. We did half an hour in the garden first thing. OH now has 14 sacks of garden rubbish to take to the tip in the morning, so we are making some headway. I am off to one of the free talks at the hospital that does them tonight.

Mel I think you have a good chance of getting a refund on your water, as the water board let it leak before it reached you so to speak.

Hi Mel, Yes we both have felt like nothing on earth today. BUT I have managed to water all the baskets, pots and trays of plants, as well as the patio, greenhouse and the plants round the pond. I have also cleaned the bird baths, and refilled them with clean water. I was seriously thinking of trying to cut the lawns, but thought better of it.

The weather can't make up it's mind what to so. One minute there is sunshine, then over come the clouds. The one good thing is, the washing on the airer in the conservatory has all dried, and ready for ironing. We aren't short of anything, so it can wait until Ros feels like doing it.

I have had my begonias arrive together with instructions (tips of how to plant, and care of tubers.) So thats another job for me. I also had delivered a new Shower and the sliding bit you attach to the wall. I will see if I can tackle that tomorrow. I hope it's the same size as the one I am taking down. Plus I ordered and it's just arrived a SCREW IN SPIKE for the lawn, so I can fit the bird feeder in it, rather than keep filling the little feeders on the bushes and trees. I expect I will continue to do both, for those birds, who know where their food is now. !!!! (mustn't upset any of them) SOFTY or what ;-) ;-) ;-).

The power lead to the MacBook keeps falling out of it's socket. So I have had to tape it in to position. Life just isn't easy. :-P :-P :-P :-P

I ACHE all down my right side, including my neck, shoulder, back, hip and leg. I think I am falling apart. lol lol.

Afternoon Everyone
Lots of posts already today !!. I have been shopping and oh goodness this extra long journey each time seems to take ages.I came back via the country lanes just now to see if was any quicker than the A14 but I reckon it is about the same.

Good to see you back home safe and sound Frank after what sounded a horrible journey.Ros was good to cope with it.I bet you were so glad to get home .You have had a nice long break away this time. Next Spain :-D. Fingers crossed the weather will have improved by the time you go. My Niece and 2 Nephews are off to Benidorm today for 3 nights. That is Janice's 3. Michel and Matthew have paid for Rachel to go as her 40th Birthday present. All I can say is watch out Benidrom :-D :-D. I think there will lots of drink and clubbing. I bet there will be pics on facebook :-D :-D

It looks like it is going to pour in a minute. It came down in torrents just as i got to Sainsburys,so I had to sit in the car and wait for it to ease off.There was a bit of hail too.

Oh Gill I do hope the stroppy Boss won't be doing any work on the house across the way. At least if he is it won't be right next to you. So you think the new neighbour won't be moving in .I bet he might be glad to see the back of the place after all the trouble he has had. I often wonder sometimes when I see several houses up for sale in the same road.Loads of houses went up for sale around ths area a couple of years ago when it was known all the new developments were going to start. But they seemed to sell fairly quickly. The one house that is still on the market in my road is Joans house(she was the 92 yr old lady who died. It has had sold signs up several times but then back up for sale again. It is sad to see it empty for so long.

Chris has hoovered right through the house while I was out :-D I don't think I dare ask if he fancies mopping the floors too :-D :-D. Looking around I think he has dusted in here too!!. I will attack the bathroom later. Hannah and Gareth will be here tomorrow evening so I need to get the bed made up and clear all my mess .I have slept in there for the last few nights because of my painful hip .
It is a lot easier now Mandy ,but my back hurts ,so I think that must be to do with the way I twisted too.What an old crock :-S

Anne is still not here. I do hope she is ok.

I passed the cottage again this morning with the beautiful Wisteria .It is just stunning .

I see Storm Hannah could be on the way!. I think it is so funny that the last storm was Gareth :-D :-D..The next storm with a girls name will be Jane.

Shopping needs to be put away now. Gill my card has a Snowman stamp on too just like Mel :-D

Glad your home safe and sound Frank and your sure to be tired after that drive in the rain.

It been heavy showers here this morning and I think the first one wa sabout the time AnnG said she had some.

We have both been in the garden. Oh is sorting out the hostas round his pond and I have taken a couple of things off the patio and dwon to the shed and brought some up from the shed and oh told me we have gale for winds tomorrow so take them back to the shed!!!!!!

Yes Gill thats my card pink with a white lable bit for the address and a snopwman stamp. I forgot the stamp was a 2nd class but I wanted to put the snowman on for her. Glad its arrived safely.

Nearly time for lunch already time flies when your having fun dos'nt it.

Enjoy Brixham today AnnG and I hope you get some sunshine to get about a bit and have a nice walk.

The pink and white card with the snowman stamp has arrived, so your card has arrived now Mel, along with another one. I'd just finished wrapping all Sandra's presents when my mum turned up, so that was good timing. I'll catch up with the posts later when mum's gone home.

HEAR I AM. !!! Good morning to you all,

We got up yesterday to rain, and it stayed with us all the way back to OXFORD. With the rain and stray from all the lorries, I wondered how Ros managed. At times we couldn't read the NUMBER PLATES of the cars in front. We went straight to an eatery in Northampton, to eat before going home. We finally arrived home around 4.30.

We unpacked the car, and Ros, got a washing machine load on, which is on the dryer and radiators this morning. We are both knackered this morning, after that horrendous journey home yesterday. It's been raining here for the pass two hours, and I think it might be set in for the day. Cold and miserable, after the lovely temperatures down in Devon. I got sunburnt around my neck, from sitting outside reading.

That house that Sylvia and Max has, was the ADMIRAL OF THE FLEETS HOUSE as a DETACHED HOUSE. It was him, who could see his fleet in the BAY. So how old it is, I just do not know.

Conrad said that his area Spain has had the worst storms for over SEVENTY YEARS. Tropical storms, that have done so much damage. A lot of the villas and apartments are leaking. So lots of complaints for him to sort out. The trouble with the builders in Spain, is that they don't build property, expecting such unusual weather conditions.

That Vera LLYN book is also written by her daughter, with lots of letters from the troops and decedents. It is called "KEEP SMILING THROUGH" A great read if you are sentimental like me, and grew up listening to her on the radio. AND ARE OLD. lol lol.

Going to have a shower and shave and get dressed. I have got Liver out of the freezer. So Liver, Onions, Mash and peas tonight. Before madam goes to Choir.

Be good, see you later all. xxxx

Good job the leaks are by your meter Mel and you don't have to pay for them to be repaired, it sounds like you might have a good rebate coming your way and lower bills from now on. Some cards have arrived Mel, there was a brown one with a snowman stamp on, is that yours? It's brightened up a bit here but still very cloudy and everywhere is wet from all the rain. We are forecast more rain during the rest of the week. OH has just nipped to have his hair cut then he's off to his mum's to see her and pick up Sandra's birthday card. MIL puts money in it so doesn't like to post it to her. Sandra's still asleep so I might wrap her presents up while she can't see them.

I feel sorry for your sister Jane, I know how it got me down being ill everyday for 9 months, it's no joke. I've never heard of the problems you had with your nose during pregnancy, it sounds awful and what you had to go through, at least the op worked and you could breath through your nose again. I love the Wisteria pic you sent, it's very big and looks so beautiful.

Yes, I have lots of pots but we use the hosepipe to water them. It was a bit of a nightmare last year though when there was a hosepipe ban and it took us a very long time with the watering can to watering them all. Unfortunately we did loose a few plants but I suppose everyone did in all that heat. I hope it's not going to be as hot this year. I don't mind some sun but not so much the heat that can come with it.

It's all very quiet next door so I'm not sure if any workmen are going to be there today. I think, apart from the drive being sealed, all the outside jobs are done, just the gardens to tidy up. I overheard the new neighbour talking on his phone yesterday and it looks like he's going to move somewhere else, so next door could be on the market soon if that's the case. I wonder what potential buyers will think when there's 3 properties for sale all together, it doesn't look good does it?

Sorry Ann I mis read your post and thought you were putting turf down. The way you describe the new borders sounds lovely and will give you splashes of colour then. The bulbs I planted in the front garden are starting to come out now and they look so pretty dotted around the other plants. There are a few small Tulips I meant to put in pots for the back so I'll take those out once they have died back, but apart from those the rest of the bulbs look lovely. I didn't get the email of the church, I'd love to see it, could you send it to me please? Thanks.

That's a job I don't like doing Vera, mopping floors, although I don't have as many as you, at least it's all done now. I say my OH has selected hearing when it comes to helping around the place. He's good in the garden though so I can't complain.

It sounds like you ended up having a pleasant time out yesterday AnnG once the sun came out that is. 4 miles, that's a lot of walking, I bet you slept well last night. Pleased to hear the food is improving from the first night you were there.

Well I made myself a drink and forgot about it, so I'm off to make another one now........silly me :-S

Good morning all. Mel very blustery, not very warm and a shower at the moment here. We have just had breakfast and will sit here until the rain stops as the bus stop we want for Brixham does not have a shelter and is right by the sea front.

Morning Gill and all,

Not a bad day here so far as we have sunshine and blue sky with huge white clouds scudding across it. The wind is from the south west today I think.

Hope we hear from Frank today to know he arrived home safely. I do hope they are ok and were just worn out when they got back.

If AnnG has this weather it should be quite pleasent for a walk about today.

I bet our Sandra is on a count down now and getting excited and I hope Gill got my card ok as she did'nt say anything. Gill it has a pink and white envelope and a snowman stamp on it.

Morning all

Wet here today I think we're going to have the rain for the rest of the week so next doors drive can't be finished. They've put all the blocks down but it needs sealing which I think needs doing when it's dry. The neighbour said it's being done at the end of next week. The pipe work has been done from their bathroom so we don't have the water coming onto our side anymore and the drive doesn't cause trouble with running rain water so that's good as we have enough puddles of our own, so don't need anymore water coming towards our bungalow.

The two houses opposite and to the right slightly have come on the market with the same agent who sold next door, so no doubt the angry boss will be back for months on end again as the one nearest us needs lots of work doing to it and the agent recommends the nasty boss as they are friends. If that happens we won't be looking forward to all the noise and mess again.

I banged my head yesterday on the top cupboards in the kitchen when I was cleaning the worktops so I have a bruise and a headache now. On a positive I did really well on OH's tree yesterday and hoping to have another good day on it today.

Going to get a cuppa, then catch up with all the posts.

It was really the first night that the meal was not as good as it could be, it has got steadily better each night, and tonight was not bad at all, in fact we wondered if there was a different chef on, apparently they were really busy last week then very slack from Monday until picking up again today, wonder if staff chose the slack time to take leave. Breakfasts have been nicely cooked though.
I have read posts but I am too tired now to answer them except I am glad they have found your leak Mel and hope you get a refund.

Evening all,

It's been a lovely warm day and at times it felt quite muggy ,i have been getting compost in some pots ready for the toms and cucumber plants ,we bought some cucumber plants this morning and i have put some tom seed in so it will be a week or two before they will go in the pots ,i had just finished when we had quite a heavy shower but it lasted all of five minutes .

Ann lovely photo's as usual ,the colour on the tomb must have look beautiful when it was first done ,it looks a nice little church with some nice stained glass windows .
Oh , i can just feel those thorns in OH's fingers ouch !!
I missed that programme with Miriam Margoyles but i have seen her in other programmes and she speaks her mind :-D

AnnG that a shame the food is not so good but you sound as if your enjoying yourself with lots of walking .

Mel that was good you won't have to pay for the leaks ,i hope you get a good refund .

Oh Jane that op you had on your nose didn't sound very nice to have done ,just thinking about it made my eyes water .
How's the hip today after you twisting it ?
That lovely Wisteria,what a picture , there was a place in town that had Wisteria growing all along the railings in front of the building ,some one cut so they could paint the railings such a shame as it had been there for years ,i could remember it being there when i was little as the building use to be a toy shop/

We've had noisy planes here most of the day and last night ,they did say on our local news that there would be noise from them because Mildenhall and Lakenheath planes would be flying for a couple of days ,they are those fighter jets and they really roar overhead.

Oh Vera you didn't lose your post tonight ,so annoying when that happens .
I use to have a steam mop but it clogged up as our water has so much scale in it so i just use an ordinary mop again now
I was thinking we haven't heard from Anne i know she said she hadn't felt well so i hope she's ok.

Good evening everyone

Lovely pictures from the church Ann. The tombs must have been amazing when they were first set up.

That is some wisteria Jane. I should think it is quite old but someone has been looking after it.

What a shame the food isn’t brilliant at your hotel AnninG. We always look forward to our evening meal when we are away and feel a bit cheated if it isn’t up to much.

I hope you are safely back Frank and not feeling too tired after your journey.

Gill, have your workmen finished the outside work yet? Let’s hope it will be stress free from now on. Thinking of you watering all your pots has reminded me that I need to do mine, though I don’t have nearly as many as you. We have had a couple of heavy downpours today but everything still seems very dry.

What a good job the leak wasn’t on your property Mel. It could have worked out very expensive. I hope you get some sort of refund.

Has anyone heard anything from Anne lately? It seems a while since she posted anything. I do hope she is OK.

I have just had the joy of cleaning our floors. I hate doing it and often “persuade” OH to volunteer but my hints have been falling on deaf ears this week. I have a steam cleaner but it seems to take forever. We have carpet in the sitting room and our bedroom but the rest of the downstairs - large, oblong hall, big L-shaped kitchen-diner, utility room, conservatory and cloakroom - is tiled right through.

It’s about time I started cooking tonight’s meal. I hope I can submit this post without losing it.

Hi all, Yesterday in Torquay harbour there were two huge jelly fish, not sure what sort photos when we get home.

Jane beautiful Wisteria, love it.

Annx what a lovely church, some great photos too, lots of ornate memorials. Loved the photos thank you.

It rained this morning and we got a bit wet walking to and waiting at the bus stop.Caught a quite old bright yellow bus to Totnes, got off at the steamer pier and got wet again walking up, and up into town under the rebuilt arch which replaced the original very old arch that burnt down. We then had coffee in the community building which is OH’s old Grammar school. Had a look round the shops then back to catch the bus going to Torquay harbour, had a gin and a prawn sandwich in a local pub, caught another bus the short distance back to near the hotel and decided, as it was early, to walk over to Tor Abbey. We were pleased we did as it was e extremely well presented lots to see I. The museum and art gallery as well as the ruins outside were interesting and the gardens lovely. The sun was out by now so we sat there for a while before walking back to the hotel. That was four miles walked today.

Afternoon All,

We have had a really heavy shower around lunchtime. We were in Boots down the road ordering OH's varifocal sunglasses and by the time we were done it had stopped thank goodness as I hadn't got a coat with me. The poor optician serving us could hardly walk and had trouble getting up from the chair. She has bad hips, but her doctor just gives her painkillers and expects her to go to work! She said she is going to push for an MRI scan next time she sees him.

Mel, I wonder when they see your proper water useage whether you could claim some of what you have paid back or at least some compensation? I think we pay about £220 a year on a meter, but OH deals with that bill now so I may be wrong. With you having well water you use, it's obvious with just 2 of you you wouldn't be big users. Yes you do have a very BIG drive and it's lucky the leak was outside your land or that might have been costly to repair and made a mess to put right into the bargain.

Gill, like Gwen, I think it is a great idea to do jobs rather than get presents and your mum will appreciate you doing the decorating without the hassle of getting strangers in to do it. My word, what a lot of pots you have now!! Yes, the soil here is brilliant, no clay at all and your trowel just sinks into it, it is so easy to work. You could have made bricks with some of the clay at my old house!! lol. We won't be putting any turf down Gill or we would have to buy a lawnmower and OH doesn't want that again after getting used to not having one!! He says if we have any turfed area in future it will be artificial. lol The middle beds are random shaped and rock edged so I think I shall cover them in different rock plants that will be more manageable. (not the invasive kinds though) The bed nearer the house is already half covered in rock plants and dwarf pinks, so something similar and I can split some of the things I have to transplant elsewhere.

OG's bashed finger must have felt better Jane as his focus shifted today to the 3 thorns embedded in his fingers so I had to get those out for him! :-) Despite a soak in the bath last night he was moving a bit gingerly this morning after all his efforts in the garden, but he's managed to crawl off to a match an hour ago! :-D I watched Miriam Margoyles and yes, she does have a potty mouth! She has almost a childlike innocent expression with some of the naughty things she asks but knows they are naughty, She likes to shock I think but does get to the nitty gritty!

The oilseed rape is really smelling that sickly smell now and we've noticed loads of it along the grass verges this year where it has spread. OH has started to get hayfever symptoms with it now as well. Quite a few grazing fields around here are brown with weedkiller as it looks like they are destined to have rape seed planted too. :-S

That was quite a house Frank! You do move in wealthy circles!! ;-) ;-) You timed your break just right with the weather changing today. :-)

Mel I hope you get a good refund . That is an awful lot of money you have had to pay unnecessarly . Thankfully you are not responsible for the leaks :-D
Our chap has gone now and fixed the tap. He could talk for England. He started on about his bad back and bad knees so I made a quick escape and went upstairs to do some ironing. I left Chris to him :-D :-D

While I was up ironing I heard a helicopter than seemed to be very low. It was hovering over the works across the way.At first I thought it was the Air Ambulance but it had ELECTRICITY written on the side of it.

Ann, your photos of the Church ,Tombs and Graveyard are lovely. What an interesting Church !I see what you mean about some colour still being on the Alabaster.. Incredible that it still there. Just imagine what it would have been like all those hundreds of years ago !!.

The wind is really picking up here now .I wish I had put the mattress protector and Pillow protectors to dry now . But I thought we would have had the rain by now so the tumble dryer is going non stop :-S.

Gill ,my Sister was like you with Sandra through all her pregnancies . She just never seemed to stop being sick. I was lucky and was not even sick once. I did have some queasyness at the beginnning . My main problem was that my nose was blocked and I just had so much trouble breathing through it. I had sprays to help . Once Hannah was born it went back to normal but wit hJames it didnt and in the end I had to have an operation which trimmed the linings of my nostrils. Not pleasant . I was in hospital for several days and then I was not allowed to lift anything for so long. Janice came up to stay for a week to help out.James was still a Baby then.
The worst part about the nose op was that my nose was packed with ribbon gauze and when it was pulled out it was just horrible .I felt like my brain was being pulled down through my nose :-S. I had 2 plastic splints stitched into each nostril to keep the airway open and after a couple of weeks I had to go back to have them pulled out :-S. BUT the op worked which was the main thing and it was so good just to be able to breath through my nose again. I hope that wasn't too graphic :-)

I wonder if Frank and Ros are home now. :-D

Home Serve been here just before lunch. It turns out we have a leak both sides of our meter which is in the road so not up to us.

Oh had a word with a waterboard man that came a while ago and that man said he would have a look at the meter for us to make sure everything was alright after numerous lare water bills. We have been paying £300 odd for water for a few years now. It is going to be interesting to see what the next bill will be after we have a new meter fitted.

Thats a great weight of our minds but oh recons we have paid about £2000 which we did'nt need to.

Afternoon All
I have been over to Rushden Lakes to take back a top to M&S. The sleeves were really odd on it and would have got on my nerves.It has rained a little but looking at the sky now I think we might have a lot to come later.So no need for the hose pipe today.
Gill I knew you had a lot of pots but not 500 !!!!!!!!!! :-0 Do you water with a hose or watering cans? If it is cans it must take forever.

Mel, are you responsible for the leak if it is on your land? I hope the man can find out why you have had such a big water bill.I can imagine that is a bit of a worry if you have to pay for a leaky pipe to be repaired . We too have a Plumber coming soon to see to our tap in the kitchen. He rang at 2 o clock saying he was in Wisbech which is miles away .He said he would be at least an hour with good traffic. I have just emptied the cupboard out from under the sink. Honestly the amount of things in there is shocking. It wasnt that long ago when I had a good clear out there .I shall have to have another go before I put everything back.

AnnG ,what a pity the food wasn't up to scratch .It seems a bit bad really if it is a good hotel to be let down by the food. Are you going to be in Hotels in Dorset or self catering?

Oh Home Serve is here(plumber) Back later.

Afternoon all,

We have the man here about our water as we had a very large bill. He is going to check the meter reading for us while he is down the hoe in the road. It is always full of water and we can't get down to it to bale it out. Our water comes all the way down our very long drive so if we have a leak it could be anywhere. Ann and Jane know just how long our drive is as they have both been here.

Its raining too today which dos'nt help as they listen on this pole thing and all the chap can hear is the rain!!!!

Had three eggs this mroning and only one with a soft shell broken. They are not eating them as I have to clean it all out of the nests and its all there.

The only post I have read from this morning is Gill's so I am posting this now to see if anyone else has posted.

Morning all

A little cloudy and a bit cooler today, there is forecast for rain later so that'll save us watering the garden. That's the problem with having over 500 pots, it takes forever to water them all.

How annoying to loose your post Vera, hope you have better luck today. It's happened to a few of us over the years. I post mine then go back and edit it if necessary, at least you know it's gone through then.

I've started doing things for my mum for her birthday and Mother's day Gwyn. I made her some new cushion covers for Mother's day and we're decorating her living room as a birthday present. I really have difficulty buying gifts for her as she seems to have everything she wants/needs, so doing some jobs I think is better as she can't do them herself anymore and it saves her money getting people in. She is thrilled, so everyone's happy. It's nice your daughter cuts your lawn so that's a start, you never know they may do a few hours here and there in the garden given time.

Sylvia and Max's house sounds massive Frank, I bet the views were to die for. Loved the story of the Captain living there and keeping an eye on his fleet of boats. The seafood platter sounds right up your street.

It sounds like the chef isn't very good AnnG, is there anywhere else you could go to for your meals. Apart from the food it sounds like you're having a lovely time away.

Pleased to hear Hannah isn't to bad with her pregnancy Jane. I was sick morning, noon and night when I carried Sandra, especially at 10.30 at night. Every day I was ill at the same time every night, the funny thing was she was born at 10.30 in the morning, I was much better with Michelle though, so that was a relief as I was very dehydrated with Sandra. Naughty Thomas coming in through the window, let's hope he stops doing it or he could end up bringing his bunnies through there to.

It sounds like you have really good soil Ann if the plants you put in there grow twice the size they're suppose to. Pity you have to take all your evergreens out from the middle border and turf it over, is it the cats spraying that's causing them to die?

Well, the drive blocks are finished but they still need to come back to seal it, we're not sure when that'll happen and they need to take all their rubbish away to. There is finally someone there today doing the inside jobs, there hasn't been anyone around for about a month. The boss was there yesterday making a snagging list with the new neighbour, so hopefully this time he'll be able to move in on the date he wants to now, which is the middle of next month. We're going to see what happens later with the rain, hopefully it'll stay on their side and not come over our drive and near our bungalow.

Safe journey home today Frank, let us know when you're home so we don't worry.