General Chat

I have done one load of three weeks worth of washing. Two more to go. But tomorrow is defrost the heavily frosted freezer day. Not looking forward to that, feels as if it will be a bit stressful.

Glad you are safely back home AnnG. It sounds as though you had a horrid journey. Our journey was OK but took a bit longer than it should have done due to roadworks and volume of traffic. Everything is unpacked now, the laundry basket is overflowing and OH has picked so many tomatoes that I am wondering how we are going to get through them all. We picked a load before we went and I froze some and took some with us. It has been a good year for tomatoes.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I’ll have to do at least some of the washing and I need to shop for fresh stuff as the fridge is looking very empty.

I hope you enjoyed the day with your visitors Mel and hope everyone else has had a good day too. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own room tonight as I shouldn’t be so hot as I have been this past week. I just have a sheet and a lightweight blanket on the bed and my lovely floor standing fan which has a remote control so I don’t even have to get out of bed to change the setting or switch it on and off :-D

Hello all. We got home about 2.30 It was not a nice journey. The first hour+ was filthy weather, very low cloud and lots of surface water and also mist and or fog in places. The weather improved but then the traffic increased. It was horrendous we had a very long lot of roadworks at 40 then 50, then a bit later we were in a slow crawl for ages, a bit of a stretch where we could get a move on, then another long stretch where we crawled. Never actually came to a complete stop. However the M6 and M5 both came to a complete stop and the jam that side went for miles. I have never seen so much traffic on the road and so many lorries too. It was good to get home. Still we had a great time I really enjoyed my time away.

Morning all,

Safe journey home you lot. Nice morning 12 degrees and pc says cloudy but the suns out at the mo and its the first day I have seen the fairy hammocks in the box hedge.

The deer and her baby ran across the lawn this morning on their way to the orchard so I expect they will breakfast on apples. They both lay together against the box hedge yesterday for about an hour as they were still there each time I went out for something.

Must get on as I have things to do before they come today and I have to get up to the post van too.

Safe journeys home both of you and I hope you don't get held up in traffic.

I have been busy today having a tidy up and hoovering but not got it all done as I'd have liked but thye can take me as they find me.

My arm is hurting now and I just realised I hav'nt changed my patch today so I better do that now and find something to eat.

Frustrating if you leave your camera at home and then need it. Hope the phone photos turned out well.
Sounds like two good days Vera, lovely to spend time with your friend making more memories.

We had a good time with Step granddaughter and baby Maya, and Amber the cockerpoo and we also had youngest great granddaughter for three hours, that is quite tiring as a lot of attention is needed to entertain her. She will be two next month.

Vera you will probably get home before us. We hopefully leave here at 0730. Safe journey anyway. That week went quite Kay didn’t it? :-)

I’m glad you enjoyed your Buttermere walk AnnG and it made a new memory for you. It is a lovely spot from what I remember though it’s some years since we were last there.

Enjoy time with your visitors tomorrow Mel. I wonder where all that grit can be coming from?

We’re off home again tomorrow so I’ve been packing as well. That week has gone very quickly. We’ve been very lucky with the weather, there’s not been a drop of rain though it’s still too hot at night for my liking. I’m not sleeping much.

We had another lovely day with our friend Val yesterday. We drove to her house and her man friend joined us for lunch later. Val had booked a table at a lovely Italian restaurant and we had a super meal, then her friend took us on a car tour of the area. Back to Val’s for a coffee and more chat and we arrived back here around 6 pm.

Today we went to Sheffield Park and Gardens. There are no laid out gardens as such but 250 acres of walks through different types of woodland and round several lakes. Needless to say we didn’t cover it all. It is National Trust but the house is still private and not open to the public. OH has been carrying his camera around all week and hardly taken a snap. Today he wanted it and had left it behind. Typical! He took a few pics on his phone so we will have to see what they come out like.

We’re just going out to eat so I’d better quickly tidy myself up a bit. Then it’s home tomorrow :-(

Happy packing Anng. We have had a little sun but now its grey sky again and 17 degrees so workable outside.

I have just done the pond filter again in an attempt to clear this water. I need to fill the pond up now from the well.

Good morning all bright here but cloudy and a strong breeze. It rained yesterday evening and overnight. We are staying in today and it is the two Ps people and packing. Not sure when people are coming but it is some time this morning so packing will be this afternoon.

Morning all,

grey skies and pc says 13 degrees and humidity 84% mostly cloudy.

I must definately do house work today. Talk about leaving it to the last minuet. I really only have to do the bathroom floor and hoover through and put my craft things away.

It will be nce to see Chrissy and Vic tomorrow but I wish it was'nt such a fleeting visit.

Evening all,

It's been quite a nice sunny day ,we went shopping this morning and got a few bits but I need to go to Aldi tomorrow when their offers start as they should have the fat quarters in ,oh and wool .

Mel could all this grit in the washer be coming up from the leaky pipe ,have you noticed any in the sink when you run the tap although after saying that most taps now have a little filter bit in the tap so you might not get it in the sink .

Anng that was a good walk you did today you'll have walked up an appetite ready for your Indian meal.

Vera hope you've got your voice back ,is it tomorrow you meet up with your friend again ,if it is enjoy the day .

That was a nice day then Anng and some memories along the way.

I have spent all day cleaning out filters. First I washed the bathroom mats and then went to do the big pond filter but I heard the alarm going off so came back in the kitchen and did the washing machine filter and put it back on. big mistake I put it on to carry on and it was 19 mins so went back to my pond filter. Heard it again so came in and put it on a rinse and spin wash this time after doing the filter again. It went and did the cykle this time so they went on the line and I had the washing machine filter out again and still more grit came out.

Had some lunch after that. Then I did the big pond scimmer and set that going but I still think the water is not so clear with them both running together. Anyway I had actually managed to get the air pump going in the skimmer tank and cleaned that out too. Thats going ok now. Then I looked in the filter for my pond and decided to have a go at that one cos I have never really cleaned it out as it is supposed to be done. So one went the air line for that filter and I put the pipe in the middle to stop it going down back into the pond and pumped it out onto the hosta bed. All this time with putting plugs in for this and that the leccy had been good. Cleaned the scimmer out , the one in my pond and put it all back together and turned off the air pump and then swept all the leaves off the tree to the end of the decking so I can put then in a big black sack.

I did'nt have to come in once to turn the leccy back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The down side is I hav'nt got much done in the house today which is what I had planned to do today but I shall now feed the chickens their corn and clean the bathroom and put the dry mats back down.

Good afternoon. It has been a lovely day here until about 2pm. We had clear blue skies and sun. Very warm in the sun but there was a cold wind. Still it was good walking weather.T and I were always going to walk round Buttermere when we got too old to walk the high fells. However events overtook us. We used to walk with daughter and first so. In law but that obviously finished when he died. Then we still had dreams of doing it but we got older and didn’t walk so much when we were up here. The complete utter mere round is four miles. My limit now due to dodgy ankles and other aches is three miles. So today we drove to Buttermere village and managed to just get a place in the NT car park. We then walked down to the lake ( a quarter of a mile then partway or one and a quarter miles round the nicest side of the lake which is surrounded by high hills and mountains, then back again. Sat on rocks in a beach area to have our lunch, then walked up the road to the pub. Sat outside in the sun with a glass of wine then back to the car according g to daughter’s watch that was exacltly three miles. It was really nice and an ambition almost fulfilled for T.
This evening we are going to an Indian restaurant. Treating it as a last night as tomorrow we have various family members calling in.

Morning all,

Nice and bright here today with blue sky and big thin white clouds so I am hoping its going to stay nice so I can get some HW done and see my spider webs.

Woke up terribley dry this morning and feel like I have indigestion so plenty of water for me today.

That sounds a good day out AnnG. We had an interesting day that started badly but ended up well

This morning we thought we would go to Alfriston. Our friend Val had said it was a nice place and we could see that it was in a river valley so probably had some nice walking. There is also a 14th century clergy house there that is the first property acquired by the NT. It’s also less than 5 miles from here so we set the SatNav and off we went.

Over an hour later we were still trying to get there. Every route the SatNav tried or we looked up in the road atlas had major road closures. In the end we drove back, parked further up the beach to where we have been before and had a good walk along, stopping at the yacht club on the way back for a sandwich and drink. While there I remembered seeing a leaflet for Paradise Park Gardens. A bit of googling and we found it was only 3 miles away and looked worth a visit. It definitely was worth it.

The huge garden centre and restaurant are of course free to enter but there is an entry charge for the rest of the site. There is a very interesting area, sort of covering natural sciences, all about the earth, the sun, meteors, plants, sea life, animal and bird life and finishing up with man. We were the only ones in there and it took us an hour to get round even though we missed out some sections and rushed through others. Then that led us into plant houses that were like a mini version of the glass houses at Kew. From there we moved into the gardens area that was arranged around short, medium or long heritage trails. As you moved around you came across little garden areas with wonderful models of mostly local landmarks with explanatory boards. Because of time we only did the short trail (and a bit of the medium because we got lost, lol). We ended up in the garden centre proper where I was very tempted by a couple of penstemons, one blue and one white. OH said to get them but they were expensive so I just made a note of the names and will look for them in the spring.

Now we’re back and are going to have a wash and tidy up before going for a meal to the place where we had Sunday lunch. OH liked it there and said he’s happy to drive.

It’s still warm but with a bit of breeze so quite pleasant. I just wish it would cool down a bit more at night as I really could do with more sleep. At least it’s stayed dry for us.

I hope everyone else has had a good day too.

We had a nice day out today. Caught the train from Workington to Ravenglass. About an hour journey the journey takes you all along the coast. Today the tide was in and the views were beautiful. Had a long leisurely lunch of beer battered fish and chips with mushy peas. Beautifully cooked and I could not eat all my chips. Daughter and I then shared sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. We also had a glass of wine each. SiL had beer. While we were eating it drizzled a bit but otherwise it stayed dry we had a walk on the beach then, while waiting for the train we watched a lorry and crane unload replacement engine and trucks for little Ratty the miniature train that runs from Ravenglass to Eskdale. Coming home the tide was out so not so pretty but we still enjoyed the scenery. Looking to the hills and mountains they looks glorious. Also on the trip home we saw a lot of Canada geese and also quite a few cormorants.
Now we are home, the sun is shining.

Done my filter on the pond and on the washing machine AGAIN still grit coming out I am wondering if its in the washing powder now as when I look in the box there are little black bits in it. I think I am going to try the capsuels (SP) next time. Never used those before.

Shoppings been and no subs so that was good. I think now I am going to have a cook up while the suns shining and I am not using leccy.

Turned nicer here now but we did have that fine rain this morning.

Been up the post van and did the little parcel.

Now waiting for the shopping.

Good morning all windy and cloudy sun here, definitely cooler too. Going on the train that runs down the coast to Ravenglass this morning and having lunch out in a pub there.
Didn’t sleep too well last night, awake at 2.30 and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Morning All,

Dull and grey here this morning and it looks wet out pc is saying 15 degrees and cloudy.

Shopping comes today and I have to get up the post van before it comes.

Only HW planned for today with SIL coming on Friday I better show willing.