General Chat

Hello all

We are just back from a run out past Towcester. Firstly to an old dairy farm where there are a lot of small shops one of which is a jewellery and other crafty made shop. It is the third time I have been there and again bought a bead necklace. This one goes over my head but is not so long as the other two. It has glass beads in several coloured, red, black, white, dark green to name a few colours. It is genuine 1969s apparently. Sold on behalf if the two elderly ladies as the others were.
We had coffee and shortbread in the cafe there and son had his big breakfast which looked very nice.

Next we drove to a place called Bell plantation. Lots of shops round a garden centre. One of the shops is a large BonMarche which was good as I had a 20% voucher to use. Well I did use the voucher but since insisted on buying my stuff for my birthday so that was trousers (pull on 25 inch length), a pull on blouse top with long sleeves (autumn) and a T shirt. Thought of you Vera as they had a lot of 31 inch.

We looked round an antique shop next then went for lunch if a cold drink and a Brie and caramelised onion ciabatta. Then after a glimpse in the extremely hot garden centre we drove home for a much needed cup of tea for me and DiL has a hair appointment.

Senior cat is under the weather after having some teeth out yesterday.

Afternoon all,

Another lovely day, supposed to be a bit cooler but it's really hot out there ,we've been tidying up in front of the shed having a good sweep up as some of the pins from the old sheets on the shed had dropped down when the old sheets came off .
I also did a bit of dead heading and fed the toms and cues ,sat and had a nice coffee then didn't want to really get up again but I did eventually get going again .

Ann thats good it went OK for OH's appointment hopefully now after the xray and another MRI it will give them a clearer picture of what's going on and OH can have some treatment to help all this pain .
Oh it would be nice if you could do the painting course Ann ,Colins always saying has Ann done any paintings lately .

Vera thats the best thing sending an email to the chap ,covers you should he turn up after someone else has started the job , if the chap is very poorly you'd have thought he would have got someone to ring his customers to keep them I formed of what was happening about his jobs you can't keep waiting around jobs need doing before the winter arrives .

Mel I could never get on with one of those drainers for the dishes ,I just pile it all up on the drainer and wipe some up as I go along .

Oh three o'clock "everything stops for tea " now where have I heard that .

Morning Mel and All,

I was up early to go to a garden centre about 5 miles away. I slept well and it seems a bit cooler today, but more sun so it feels hotter than it says. I managed to quickly water the flower beds and pots and was just gathering what I wanted to take and dash off to be there for opening time when OH interrupted me, saying I should take his loyalty card and then started asking me various unimportant things. Blow me once I got to the garden centre I found I'd forgotten my purse, the magazine I wanted to read in the cafe and a pillowcase I wanted to match some wool to! Adding insult to injury he then phoned me to tell me I'd fotgotten my purse! Luckily I remembered the loose change I keep in the car and realised I had enough to get a coffee and at least buy a card I wanted. I was quite cross though as OH does this every time I go out when I am in the middle of sorting what I need to take with me, yet I never do it to him when he's still getting things together he needs to take when he goes out. :-( That's my grumpy moment for the day!

I'm waiting for the blind man to come and measure up for the blind in the ensuite now. All they could tell me was that it would be PM so I can't do much else till he's been. OH is on a Zoom call so I can't make any noise either.

My old Art teacher from the pandemic times has emailed me this morning about a 10 week course he is doing on Zoom from the end of next month. It has a variety of topics including still life and figure drawing so I am condsidering doing it as it might kick start me painting again. He has stopped doing the online ones with WEA since they changed the rules as have most of the teachers they had.

Better get changed out of my scruffs next and tidy the bedroom.

Good morning ladies

It’s another hot day after a very sticky, sleepless night. Goodness knows when we are going to get some rain but the 10 day forecast is saying none expected during that time.

Your OH’s appointment with the rheumatologist seems to have gone well Annx. It’s all moving in the right direction but it’s a shame that pain in the head has come back. Hopefully the medics can sort out some way of easing that for him.

We are having problems with our fence painter at the moment and are concerned that he may be ill again. I do feel sorry for him but this is the third time we’ve been left in limbo. The two previous times we gave him a lot of leeway and delayed other jobs till he could complete his work but this time we can’t even get hold of him to find out what is happening. His phone is never answered and it isn’t going to an answering machine and he isn’t responding to emails. We do fear the worst and feel guilty if we are harassing him but all the work round our house should have been completed by June and we need it done now before the autumn/winter weather sets in. So that there is something in writing, even if he doesn’t respond, OH has just emailed the chap to say that we are sorry but as we can’t get hold of him to discuss it we will be asking someone else to do the job. We’ve got a man who did a couple of hours work in the garden recently coming to give us a price for doing it. Nothing seems to have been straightforward this year.

I’m wondering what to do for the rest of the day now. I’ve done the essential jobs this morning, including some ironing that’s been sitting there for a while, but it’s now too hot for more h/w or for gardening. Think I’ll try and find something that I can do sitting in front of a fan.. Hope you all manage to stay cool and hydrated.

Just washed loads of pots and pond baskets that have been waiting for ages.

The thing I hate cleaning is the basket for draining the washing up. It always seems to take ages and dos'nt fit in the sink very well. When you wipe it over it always splashes evrything around it.

23 degrees here now and getting hotter by the minuet.

Morning girls,

Nice morning and its 16 degrees already. I think I saw BIL creep round as I got up and when I looked out of the bedroom window the long handled fork has gone from the trailer outside the bedroom window. Then I saw him disa[ear throguh the archway.
I wonder if he's picking up the stuff I left on the ground that I cut off the potting sheds.

Evening All,

Not quite as hot today thank goodness. We went for a coffee and bap at Costa in Next first thing. OH didn't have a good night as those pains in the side of his head that seemed to have eased lately were back. He took tablets and after a shower he felt better. He had his appointment with the NHS rheumatologist this afternoon which he said was good. No treatment yet as he wanted an up to date X-ray (done there and then) and has to wait for another MRI appointment first to compare with the last ones, so more waiting, but it's a step forward. He didn't have to wait around and was seen and back home quickly.

The knob came off my craft lamp earlier. I heard a tinkle noise and thought it must be on the desk or floor. Well I lifted the laptop, moved boxes, looked between folders, notepads, under the desk and on the floor,every where I could think of that it might have rolled, but no joy. The small stump the knob was on was really difficult to turn and I was thinking I'd have to do a better search tomorrow as I wrestled to turn it off, but standing to use more force, what should I see resting on the bottom of the magnifying glass on it but the small white knob!! I don't know why it came off as it feels really firm now it is back on.

Mel you are very lucky as that would be very light traffic here. We have a mile long queue through the village past our close at certain times now. When I retired there would hardly be any cars in the daytime.

We've seen a Pigeon going in the thick part of the Hawthorn tree and think there might be a nest there or they are using the Magpie nest. They seemed to lose interest a few weeks ago, but maybe they've decided it is a desirable residence after all!

Otherwise I've paid some bills and done other admin, sucked some of the spiders up with long legs thst just vanish if they spot you are after them and which seem to be everywhere just now.

Edit: just spotted you post Mandy! I can't face watering tonight so am doing it early in the morning. I'm not surprised you are tired after doing the shed with it having been so hot. I bet your tomatoes are loving the sun though! You will be able to freeze some sauces from them.

Evening all,

Phew another hot one and after all the sorting out of the shed roof I feel worn out , i have to admit to having a nap after lunch i was so tired ,I didn't sleep to well last night it was so hot and about four o'clock a dog started barking, that went on for about quarter of an hour and then another further down the road had to join in ,all went quiet then blow me five o'clock the little devil started up again , he's a little dog like a Jack Russell his name is Jasper and he's always getting out he takes himself off over the fields and comes home on his own people have told the dog warden and he's warned them but he's still roaming.
We did our shopping this morning and called into sons for a coffee ,bought them a nice lot of fruit and bought dil some flowers .

Ann thanks for passing on Anng's photos , the wild flowers looked lovely i especially like the cornflowers but there was a good assortment in the field they must have looked a picture in the sunshine .
I still haven't looked in our Rangs properly since it opened and I keep meaning to look upstairs at the craft stuff .

Mel could all that extra traffic have been people on holiday in the cars ,they are not use to the narrow little roads .

Well I'm off to water in a minute, it seems never ending but the flower's look nice and I'm now picking loads of tomatoes .
Think I'll get a drink and take out with me .

Morning all and what a morning it had been so far.

I had to get two labels and go up the post van before 11am and I had'nt done the parcels up so that was the first thing I had to do. Had trouble taking pics of the labels as it seems to come up different every time I try to so it. On the way to Shebbear I met 5 cars coming the other way so had to wait for them to come past then get into the village behind three very slow cars but managed to park near the post van. Could'nt get wifi inthe village to delete all the postage labels on the tablet but Dave showed me how to do it for when I got home by doing all the five I had on there in one go.

Set off for home and when I got to the last crossroad there was a huge tanker lorry opposit with two cars behind. I wanted to go straight ahead and he wanted to turn left but just as he was going another huge lorry came along from the left and wanted to turn left and he had another car behind him. Iv'e never in all the years I have lived here (33) had to give way to so many cars and lorries. Anyway the one opposit came towards me and the cars behind him came through and then the lorry was able to turn left into my road and the one behind him went straight on. The others moved and I was able to drive across the crossrad and then the tanker reversed back so he could turn left.

When I went out Ade was cutting more of the old tree up outside the wall and I had'nt spoken to him but did so on the way back. All this time there was that fine rain.

I am now going to post this and go and feed the girls and relax a bit. What a performance for a Thursday morning and I still have to go up the garden and get the rabbit trap out as theres something in it. Don't know what yet.

Good morning all. That was a very hot and sticky night. Full sun again this morning. Only plan is to go to MK central shops with son. DiL working and taking cat to the vet for his teeth, granddaughter is on a dog sitting job for three nights and grandson working from home.(son has day off, most of the week he has been working on his phone while doing other things.)

I expect your DIL's mother loved the cheerful Sunflowers AnnG. That field was crammed full of them wasn't it. When I see Sunflowers now I think of Mel's OH painting them on his shed. :-) So you are now a Spring Chicken are you! She sounds very good for her age!

Vera it sounds like you planned your errands well today and got everything done before it was too hot. It was a shame about the fence paint but it's best to wait a bit longer and have it the shade you like. Yes I was surprised at stock in this Range shop. There must have been two dozen different doormats to choose from. The old shop (which I must go and visit too) seemed to have different things and less of them.

Mel it feels good each time something gets sorted and space cleared and I find I rarely miss things. It's nice to have another home to put things away in too. I wouldn't have a clue what PC stuff and cables were for and I suspect I may have thrown out the charging cable for my old camera. Software CDs go out of date after a while anyway and I have saved a few cases in the past to replace on music CDs that have cracked or damaged cases. I meant to ask you whether the gloss Modpodge dries nice and smooth?

Thank you AnnG for the photos of the sunflowers and beautiful wild flowers. What a sight to see them growing in such numbers... Lovely. :-D

Thank you Annx for forwarding them.

Lovely pictures of the sunflowers and wild flowers AnnG. Thank you for sending them and thank you for forwarding them on Annx

DiL just came back from her Mum’s (100 years old) where she was visiting her in her residential home. Mum is sometimes away with the fairies but was on form today. And was just back from a coffee morning. When DiL told her it is my birthday she asked how old I was when told she said. Oh she is spring chicken. I remember her at my age when we went for a walk she was swinging on a swing in one of the playgrounds. She is tiny less than five foot but did a lot of walking and was always fit.

That sounds a pleasant birthday trip out AnnG. I expect your dil is pleased with the sunflowers. They are such cheerful looking flowers.

You are having a good clear out in your office Mel and making plenty of extra room. If you are anything like me you will soon manage to fill it up again.

It sounds as though your new Range is a good size with plenty of stock Annx. I was hoping the Range would be opening up here but they didn’t want our Homebase which is still empty, so it doesn’t seem as though anyone else wants it either.

Although I was very glad to get home it wasn’t too bad in town. It was hot and a bit muggy but overcast so I didn’t have a blazing sun beating down on me like yesterday. I’d also planned the order I was going to do my errands to avoid too much walking. Our town is quite compact but if you have a lot to do you can find yourself walking backwards and forwards unnecessarily. I picked up my watch first and didn’t want to leave the jewellers as they had their air con set just right - cool but not freezing. Then on to pick up my meds at the pharmacy. Next stop was Boots, just to deposit a load of blister packs in their bin for recycling. Then it was over to the bank to conduct a bit of business there. Our branch is closing in about 6 weeks and I will miss it. When I went in I was able to go straight to the counter but by the time I left there was quite a long queue. By then it was nearly time for my hair appointment which was just across the road. It was hot in there but my hairdresser was ready for me so no waiting around. Hair washed, cut and blown dry in less than 30 mins.

By then I was feeling a bit weary but decided to finish all I wanted to do so next stop Waitrose where I complained about not getting my 20% off the fish on Friday. I felt very silly when it was explained to me that the fish I bought was already on a special deal of 25% off so I couldn’t have another 20%. Memo to self: Do not send OH to queue for fish. He either won’t see any notices about special offers or will forget to mention it.

Last stop was Roy’s where the car was parked. I got the few bits I wanted in there which came to over £5 so I got my £1 parking fee refunded and came on home.

The handyman turned up early this morning. OH has told him what paint to get and he had said he could get an almost identical colour in a cheaper paint so OH told him to go ahead. After a while he asked OH to go and look at a little bit that he had done as he wasn’t happy with it. Nor was OH. Painter left by mid morning and is now ordering the paint we wanted in the first place so another delay of a day or two. Nothing seems to have gone quite right these last few months.

I think I’ll go and get a nice cold glass of something to cheer myself up. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Hope Vera has been ok round the shops today. at least most places have air con now.

I had Ade come this morning and cut more of the tree up and take some away. He may come back later or if not tomorrow.

Then BIL arrived as he had taken a few days off and he fixed the grass box and came down on the mower and collected it and took it up to where he parks it in Phil's Em's dad next door. He also took away to dump two laser printers out of the office which was a bonus for me and now I can clear more stuff out of there as it is still chocker block with all plastic boxes full of pc leads and bits. We found 5 hard drives which iwill have to be distroyed and BIL said theres probably more around in there somewhre. I know there's a big plastic box of wires and plugs and things all to do with the pc he's had in the past. You should have seeen the dust and cobwebs behind the two printers. I could'nt move them as they were so very heavy. Now if I can empty the draws in that desk I could get rid of that too. The top draw is full of dvd's to do with the computers. I have no idea whats on the all so I shalltake all the discs out and recycle the plastic boxes.

Suns out now and its getting hotter.

Going to get something to eat now as Iv'e not stopped this morning yet.

Hello all thank you for birthday wishes thank you Ann and Mandy for your cards and Thank you to the ones whose cards are sitting in Glos waiting for me.

This morning I went with son and Granddaughter to The Patch near Stoney Stratford. There we wandered among the beautiful sunflowers and wild flowers for a couple of hours. There is also a maize there but we didn’t go into that, just enjoyed taking photos of the flowers and I bought 7 sunflowers to take home for daughter in law who was visiting her 101 year old Mum in her residential home.

Afternoon All,

<3HAPPY BIRTHDAY AnnG <3. I hope you have a nice day and do some nice things! :-)

A day full of thoughts for you yesterday then Mel. At least you had happy memories to think of.

Phew it's 29 degrees already here. I burnt my hand on the metal part of the gearstick when I went out earlier. I decided to go to the newest Range in the city as I haven't been yet and they open at 8.30am before it's so hot. I realised the traffic wouldn't be bad with the children off school too. They seem to have kept some of the store and the outside part as Homebase which I didn't know. It was good with more choice of everything than the other city store so I enjoyed a mooch and got some of those adhesive strips for hanging pictures using velchro to try as it saves drilling holes. They have a good selection of storage things, kitchen things, picture frames and towels as well as lighting so I'll be going back as I didn't get round all of the store. There must be craft stuff somewhere! There was also a big display of Halloween dress which seems a bit early.

I was opening windows and doors at 6.30am Gwyn and there was a slight cooling breeze which was wafting through. I'm in for the rest of the day now too. I'm not a fan of this heat. Temperature control can be difficult with thyroid problems. If I get hot it's hard to cool down and if I get cold I can't warm up easily.

I hope some of the shops are cool Vera and that you get done quickly as it's usually hotter where you are.

Mandy it was lucky it didn't rain for you getting the shed done and a good idea to leave it while it was so hot and make an early start yesterday.. It's another job out of the way now and wateproof for the winter.

MIL would have been aged 92 today and it would have been her 75th wedding anniversary yesterday. She was aged 16 when she married and aged 17 the day after. Can you imagine the gossip in those times about a 'shotgun wedding' (it wasn't) and cradle snatching as FIL was aged 29.

Morning everyone.

:-D Happy Birthday, Ann :-D

I hope you have a lovely day.

Another hot day ahead, although at the moment it is a little cooler than yesterday, because of a sea mist that's rolled further inland, so the sun is not shining much yet.
It was a hot night though.
I was up in the early hours opening another window upstairs trying to get some cooler air in.

Take care Vera and anyone, when out and about today.
Daughter picked me up on Monday and we had a short trip into town, but we didn't linger and soon came home again, as the heat was too much.
Today I'm going to busy myself indoors, as I don't need to go out.

Keep safe everyone.

Morning all,

<3 Happy Birthday Anng <3
Have a lovely birthday with your family .

Phew it's going to be a hot one today don't think we will be doing much outside today .

Oh Vera it's going to be hot in town try and keep in the shade between your shops and take a bottle of water with you .