General Chat

O dear Vera you just take it easy for a day or two and get back into working order. Pleased you had some large toms from my seed I sent. Anng said hers were'nt very big.

The sweetcorn and large tomatoe was really lovely with a bit of bacon and my double yolker. I was just sitting there and BIL turned up as I had messaged him about the pond UV and he came and changed a bulb in it for me and its working again now. He did say that he needs to get some more seals for the ends as the tube that had gone came out all wet. He went home with 6ozs of runner beans and said they may not get home as he eats them raw.

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I did a bit of weeding and deadheading on Friday and I must have twisted or stretched awkwardly and my back didn’t like it. I spent the night sitting up and thought I was going to be in for several weeks of pain again but it is already feeling a lot better. Also yesterday I had a flare up of a long standing tummy problem so spent most of yesterday in bed.

That’s also why I didn’t get around to responding to Mandy and Mel’s emails. Mandy, your crochet squares look so neat and even and I like the colours. You are both doing well with your produce this year. Everything looks delicious. Well done both of you.

I told you our toms were pathetic this year. Would you believe I have just picked our first few? By now we’ve usually got tomatoes coming out of our ears. All I have picked this afternoon are 2 big ones from Mel’s seed and half a dozen cherry tomatoes.

OH has been clearing a bit more of the garage today and is finding more and more damage done by the mice we had a while ago. None of the damage looks new so I don’t think any more mice moved in after we caught the original 5. We found an old nest and it was inside one of OH’s welly boots which made me laugh though OH was not pleased.

Sitting at the computer is pulling on my back so I’m not going to type more now. Hope you all have a good night

I see you both popped in and I didn't notice. AnnG the footpath ends where the new little estate starts and I wondered if people had been feeding the cows and that they then tended to hang around there hoping for more? I haven't looked at his trainers yet or the porch doormat! I agree with you about these different photo sites. I spent ages doing the photos I would have entered in the show. I used to be able to click on all the photos I wanted to print on a page and a page would appear with them all on and you could size them etc. Now all I get is a page showing the first photo at the top and you can't scroll the page down to see if there are more! Eventually I spotted in tiny print at the bottom it said 1 of 2 and realised there was another on the page but still couldn't scroll. Why do they make things worse when they change them. :-S

We pulled up most of the Snapdragons today Mel as they were shrivelled up with the heat. I wanted to save some seed but there's a nice yellow one on the front that may come true from seed so I'll save some of that.

Lunch was nice, fresh salmon with cabbage and leek mix , parsnips and carrots a little mash and Hollandaise sauce to moisten it. OH has to be careful what he eats on Sundays now with taking his weekly alendronic acid pill as it can really unsettle his tum.

We've put a second wash out on the rotary and OH has washed up the things we use most days while I zapped more new nasty weed plants in the back garden. I don't know if I said but I saw one in a plant pot at the garden centre yesterday. It may be the way the neighbour who had this weed first got his.

We are both having a rest now. It's hot out there and has reached 24 degrees so I was glad to come inside. It's supposed to reach 28 degrees tomorrow so I will be off to the shop early. OH wants some cobs to make up and take to the match to eat as they don't sell anything healthy, it's all hot dogs and greasy chips!

Ann it sounds like the cows ganged up and made sure that people wouldn't want to walk in 'their' fiels. Hope his trainers were not stained.

Mel it is 25 here, too hot to be gardening. Is it coller whee you are if you stayed out so long?

I spent an hour sorting and downloading my holiday photos. and then once I had transferred them all to a folder, it disappeared and took me half an hour to locate it. with my old PC and Picassa it used to be so simple. Every time I do it now it is a fight to remember how to get it sorted.. that is done now anyway. I spent about 10 minutes cutting down a perenial sweet pea which had got tatty. Then came in to do an admin job. I shan't go back out in the garden now. Brown bin is not emptied this week anyway.

Been outside in the garden since 1.13pm and just came in cos I got hot. I hav'nt eaten yet either so I think I will get osmething to eat and then I won't want to go back out again.I have pinned down some new Strawberry runners as I am going to chuck a lot of the old plants this year as some arevery old. Pulled some dead leaves off pond plants and fed the fish. I really need to give all the plants down there by my shed a drink as they look like they need it.

I think I am going to have the nice cob of sweetcorn bacon and the big tom Angela gave me and an egg which I think it going to be a double yolker.

Morning All,

Slept well and you are right about the light going earlier in the evenings and being later in the mornings AnnG. I was thinking I need to put the alarm on for my morning pills as I've been later taking them the last couple of mornings. I need to have them early or lunch has to be later. It's good your leg is feeling better but be careful what you do today as you say. We did some weeding this morning, but had to stop due to backs and in my case also knees playing up. The garden bin is half full though which is good, but plenty more weeds still to tackle in the top border and behind the shed.

OH went for a walk while I got the veg done for lunch and braved walking across the shorter end of the field of cows as they were right at the other end of the field and ignored him. I'm not sure he will do it again, as where he climbed the stile at the end it was covered in lots of recent, slippery cow pats. I shudder to think what the bottom of his trainers are like!

Mel won't the UV light wait till BIL next comes? It is only to kill the algae to stop the water going green isn't it or does it do something else? Your neighbours must be loving your produce and fancy Mandy having over 70 cues up to now!

Lunch is ready so BBL.

Suns out now and 21 degrees.

nd the sky is grey andits 16 degrees same as you Anng bit pc says to expect rain over the next 5 days.

I think it this new keyboad causing problems.

Morning Anng and all,

Its overcast today and same as you Anng 16 degrees but the pc says to expect rain over the next 5 days. I suppose it will be good for the garden but not for gardening.

I have to get in touch with BIL today as I did the pond filter yesterday on the big pond and the UV light is out. He won't be pleased as he was here yesterday. Its one thing after another and seems never ending.

Good morning all. 16 degrees and quite bright. Nothing planned for today. Might walk down to Irene's as I have 6 of her books here to return. (I read a lot while at son's).

Leg did feel better Ann after not overdoing it uesterday so will go careful again today.

Had a good night's sleep last night. I have noticed the it getting light a lot later now and dark earlier :-( :-( :-( I don't look forward to winter. the short days are so isolating.

I do have a bit of tidying to do in the garden so I will see how that goes. And, of course, I should proabably do a bit of H/W, :-\

Evening All,

Your squares are lovely Mandy and the colours will look good together. I forgot to say in my email what lovely tomatoes you have and plenty of them as well. The big tom does stand out and likely to be from Mel's seed!

I see Mel is getting plenty of produce too and all looking healthy. I'm really envious of the plums as I hadn't realised they were Victoria plums, my favourites.

I hope your legs feel better with the rest AnnG and that you finished your admin jobs. There are always things cropping up to do aren't there.

I haven't done much today. I lay in then showered and popped to the shop. I carried on to the garden centre in the sticks afterwards as it has plenty of parking and doesn't get busy at weekends. They own another, nearer garden centre and around this time of the year they sell things off and move plants to the other garden centre while they close the one I went to over the winter. They hadn't started yet, but I had a look at the slate chips as I will need some for the front garden. All they had left were some really large ones, too big for what I want. I saw a nice rainbow Euphorbia and a cordyline that is supposed to be hardy while I was there, but will look them up before buying them.

OH watered the garden while I was out and went for just a short walk as it was starting to get hot and then went to a local match this afternoon. I've done a wash ready to put out tomorrow and am off to bed now. I hope we all sleep well and wake up with lots of energy in the morning! :-)

Sent some photos ,the big tom just be from Mels seed ,it's the size of the palm of my hand .
We've had a little sun but it's cloudy again now and it's a slow dry for the washing .

Did some dead heading this morning , fed the toms and cues and now I'm going to crochet another square

Morning all,

Cloudy here but bright so we're hoping we might see some sun today ,the last two evenings have been quite chilly .
Need to feed today ,still plenty of toms to come the cucumbers have slowed up now but we've picked 72 so far and I can see a few more little ones .

Ann I hope you had a better night with no power cuts ,I had to smile when you said about shining the light on your face when you woke OH in case he clobbered you with a book lol
That's not very good with that show having to hang about at the end to collect your entries I should think that would put people off entering anything , hopefully if you can find another show it won't be like that .

Have a rest today Anng ,have you made any Christmas cards yet ,that would be a sitting down job and rest your legs .

Hope Gwyn is OK we have heard from her lately .

Better get my washing out now I think the machine has finished .

Good morning all. 15 degrees here a bit grey so far but I think the forecast is OK. I son't plan to do much today after the gardening yesterday as I need to rest my legs a bit.
I had a good night's sleep last night and am just about to go and shower and wash my hair.
I have a shortish list of admin type jobs to do so that will occupy me for a while

Morning girls,

A|nother beautiful morning here but when I looked out the window at the car there is steamed up windows and patterns onthe roof as if we've had a frost!!!

Its 15 degrees and pc says temps to drop by next Tuesday. BIL told me its going to rain next week.

Just the shop to do today and call in on Beccy next door with plums and I may give Angela next door to her some too.

Evening All,

A nice cool day again but no rain so I will need to water in the morning.

Vera what a mad rush to get to your appointment. No dawdling deciding what to wear! It's not surprising you took the wrong prescription. We had one of those wired smoke alarms in the hall outside the bedrooms that was built in when the bungalow was built. It had battery backup and we'd have to change them from time to time. It would make those odd beeps at times, usually when OH was out and it was getting more difficult for us to change the batteries and I certainly couldn't manage it. When the electrician came to move the consumer unit/fusebox for us a few years ago, he fitted an unwired smoke alarm for us instead that has a battery that's supposed to last 10 years but when the battery does go you fit a new smoke alarm. Wasteful going to landfill I know, but much easier for us and less of a worry than the wired one.

Well we had a disturbed night! We had a power cut in the early hours this morning. I was watching tv as I couldn't sleep and everything went pitch black, no street or main road lights, nothing. I had to put my phone on to find my way into the study to fetch a torch (I usually keep it in the bedside drawer!) so we could see to check the fuse box. I had to wake hubby up very carefully with the torch shining on my face so he knew I wasn't an intruder and didn't try to wallop me with one of his heavy hardbacks!! lol. I fetched the big torch out of the porch and we checked the fusebox and it was ok. The landline phone rang after about 20 minutes with such a different tinny sound to tell us it was a power cut and should be back on by 4.00 am. They phone now as, at our ages, we are on their vulnerable list.They rang again after it had come back on to let us know. At least we know we need to get some new batteries now as one of our torches was quite dim. I have a fat candle in a bowl in the lounge as a backup too.

The Village Hall where the show is shares a small carpark with the sportsground so on Saturday it will be full and people park down the middle so you get blocked in too. OH offered to come with me early in the morning to drop my car off to get a space and then bring me back in his car when it opens at 1.00pm. However they have changed things this year and decided to auction off things people are happy to sell after announcing the prizewinners and handing out certificates and cups etc. But they also won't allow anyone to remove any of their entries till the auction is over either, which means hanging around much longer till the auction is over. You can't come back later or the next day for your entries and it states they will be disposed of if left. I can't stand around that long with my knees and there won't be many seats if any either. I will have a look at the other show that's on next week.

Yes we enjoy tuna with a jacket Mandy. I sometimes make a tuna mix by adding chopped onion, grated cheese and a bit of mayo or tartare sauce to the tuna. (low fat versions of cheese and mayo these days though), It's nice on a sandwich too. Yes food prices are shooting up now and the jackets we had were £9.95 each, at least £2 more than last time. Just a bit of salad and coleslaw with them. It's a good job we on't often go there now and no wonder the place was empty.

I have no writing under my Avatars AnnG! You've been busy in the garden planting things. I must get out and do a bit tomorrow. Two of my pots with old compost in don't seem to be draining very well, so I will start with some fresh once new plants go in them. Is Skinny still visiting you?

It's good you had an enjoyable meal Mel and I would have loved the plum crumble but had to pass on the chilli!

No still plodding on with them Mel, 7 more to do .

Mince is nice on a jacket tato too. We had that a\t the Eden project once.

You done all those squares yet Mandy??

Evening all

It's been another very cloudy day ,we did see a little sun this morning when the hairdresser was here but it didn't last long .
I got a load of ironing done , made a sponge for the weekend and hoovered through ,sat after lunch and could easily have nodded off but I kept awake or I wouldn't sleep tonight
It's quite chilly here this evening I have a cardi on .

Oh Vera that beeping must have been really annoying , hope it's all sorted now and you have a quieter night .

Anng its hard work emptying pots and refilling especially if the compost is a bit dry it's harder to get out , they will look nice all planted up.

Oh Mel don't forget to do Tinker ,Taylor, with the plum stones :-) handy bil was there to get the ones you couldn't reach ,why are the big ones always out of reach .

Ann you mentioned you had jacket potatoes, they were talking about jacket potatoes this morning on the news ,I forget how many they said were sold per day but it was a lot, and prices were very high in London 9,50 for one with cheese
We like a jacket potato when we have a salad and usually have tuna on it .

I had said I went up the top to read the potting sheds meter and BIL was walking across the top field with a bag in his hand. He was scrumping plums. He picked the ones I could'nt reach and helped me pick most of the rest. I gave a neighbour about 2lbs and BIL had about 2lbs came down here and weighed them and I had just over 6 lbs. I am just stewing some for the freezer now and its plums and custard for dessert tonight too.

The above post is about the end of the post I lost.