General Chat

Just come down from the top field where I trimmed up all the willow stems I cut down the other day. They are now stored in the workshop for now as I still have to clean up all the side branches I cut off of the main stems. I want to try and use it this year.

Am wacked out now so am going to have a couple of crumpets and a COT.

Good afternoon

What a nice lot of posts there are to read. Gwyn’s right, you are all getting on well with your gardens. Unfortunately we’re not. Our garden is very weedy and overgrown and we’re at an inbetween stage when we can’t plant up much till all the foliage from the daffs and winter anemones and aconites die back. My geranium and argyranthemum cuttings and the tomato and antirrhinum seedlings are all doing well in the conservatory. I’m just starting to put them outside for a few hours when the weather’s good so they can harden off a bit.

AnnG, I love that word I wish I’d known it years ago when I worked as it perfectly described my boss who was the greatest spuddler on earth. Scrib is pretty good too.

Your gardening finds were good Gwyn. The lady would have been pleased that her things were going to be of use to someone and saved her the cost of disposing of them, and I am sure the special needs students will be glad of their shelving. It’s sad to hear about your friend. It would be lovely if another pair of swans nested near the same spot. It would be like a memorial to her. The time with family is very precious as you say Gwyn. Unusually I’ve seen that particular granddaughter twice this year but I haven’t seen her younger sisters since a fleeting visit last October and goodness only knows when I shall get to see the granddaughter in Edinburgh.

Annx, yes Clydesdales are big animals. Granddaughter showed me a photo of her riding him. Apparently she saw a local ad asking for someone to feed, water and generally take care of this horse 3 days a week till October. I think a few people applied and she got the job. She has been riding since she was little and for a few years her mother owned a horse so she is pretty experienced.

I’m glad you seem to be recovering Mandy.

It’s been a bit hectic here this morning as we have been moving furniture about and clearing rooms as best we can. The carpets are being cleaned tomorrow so that’s the whole of the upstairs, the stairs themselves and one room downstairs. When the chap came to look and give us a quote we told him we would try and move out all the smaller stuff and he should just clean up to the really heavy furniture. He said he would move things like chests and beds round himself as he is doing the cleaning. I’m not looking forward to it but it’s a job that needs doing.

We’ve had rain showers this morning and we are promised heavy, thundery rain later. It must be a bank holiday, lol. Enjoy the day whatever the weather where you are.

Morning all,

You've all been busy posting this morning while I over slept. I was watching a film last night and it was late and I kept dropping off so went to bed around 2.06am. The moment I hit the pillow I starting thinkjing of things and could'nt drop off which is unusual for me. I lay there for ages and ages and was getting really cross with myself. Got up at 6.15 for the loo and went back to bed and was away again right away and woke with sunshine at 10.30am. Now I have lost most of the morning and they say its going to rain at 3pm.

Pleased about Vera's swans but such a shame about Gwyn's not being there this year .

I will try and find out about the fire and let you know especially about the dog.

Anng I love that wod and must use it in my speech from time to time 'Spuddle' great round word. When I worked at the PDSA I used to help in the phamacy in my breaks as I had mine after everyone else being the telephonist so went in the pharmacy for a chat and help do the pills up and there was one called Stilbestrol which which I love3d the name of and they were little tiny pink shiney pills. I think today it can be used for cansers.

Its good G gets on well with the front garden when your neighbours away I wonder if she notices wehn she get home how tidy the front is? My oh was always cutting himself whilst doing jobs around the garden and come in covered in blood for just a tiny cut on his hand or finger becaause he was on blood thinners.

Gwyn what a good find the greenhouse and potting bench for free to a good home. I am sure it will be great for the special needs students. What a great find! I love something for nothing to benefit others. Great idea and you steppedin just right to get it for them.

Better stir myself incase BIL turns up.

What a great find for the students Gwyn.
And what a shame that the swans have not appeared this year. How sad to lose your friend so unexpectantly. I am sure that is not connected to the swans...... But you never know, can't really be sure, can you?

I have just been watching a video from a camera in a friend in Hampshire who has a camera in a blue tit's nesting box. We originally saw the cluster of 10+ eggs and now we can see the chicks. Apparently there were 10 but she has just counted 9 little mouths. What a big brood, I wonder if they can possible all survive.

I like that word AnnG. :-D... I can relate to that too!

Recently something made me think of a word my son invented, when he was little.
If he had a dish of food and wanted to get eg. the last of the custard as he finished his meal, he would 'scrib' the bottom of the dish. When we were puzzled, he said it was like scribbling, but instead of leaving a mark, he was hoping to eat all the food.

Mel
Any update on the dog, any sightings?
That poor family having to deal with such devastation.

You all seem to be doing very well with your gardens. Ours has taken rather a back seat this year, as we are busy elsewhere. We did acquire a 'new' mini covered greenhouse last week though. I noticed it outside a nearby bungalow with a Free notice on it. Also there free was a sturdy potting shelf with an underneath shelf. Daughter took a photo, zapped it to her sister and so we collected that too and it's here awaiting pick-up to go to college for the special needs students.
The lady in the bungalow was the new owner and was pleased to not have to hire a van to take them to the tip.
A win all round.

Vera
How lovely to spend precious time with your family.
I really miss the fun times with my grandson, now that distance means we see little of him. We did manage to meet over the Easter period, but I've no idea when I'll see him again, so just spending time with your grandaughter and her partner must have been lovely. Great that you walked by the river and saw the swans. Yesterday, I looked again for 'our' swans, but there was no sign of them or of any nest building, so I'm wondering what has become of them. My friend loved to go to see them early every morning and would give me updates on how many eggs, how many had hatched etc.
Sadly she died very suddenly last September and it seems really strange that she has gone and so have her much loved swans... <3

good morning all, quite foggy this morning, hope it burns away later. 9 degrees though so not too cold.

Just seen this 17th century word made me smile. "spuddle" meaning to be very busy working inefficiently and achieving absolutely nothing. I can do that!

Annx you are working hard in the garden between you, you will soon get it how you want it again. We changed rocks a few years ago to slate ones. We (now I) don't have a rockery but we have the slate rocks on the gravel between the house is on one side to prevent cats and people walking over it. I thought they might be pinched, but they are extremely heavy and have stayed there for quite a few years now.
Sadly the English asparagus season is very short, only about a month. I do get the other the rest of the year but it is not the same.

Mel I hope the people get their dog back, hopefully somebody will have found it. what a shock for them though so sad to lose your home.

How awful for them to have their house burn down Mel and their poor dog go missing too as I expect it ran off in fear. It's not just your home either, it's all your possessions inside. I hope they find the dog and that it's ok.

That was handy your son and DIL turning up and finishing putting things up for you Mandy and great that they brought you their airfryer now they have the stack one. I was looking those recently and thought how good one would be in my small kitchen! Like Mel though I still haven't used mine much yet and need to make more space for it so I can leave it in position. That's good you made some free Hosta plants. Mine were still ok this morning. That poor little puss miaowing. I expect it gets some fuss by miaowing too. ;-) OH went out on the front to do some more weeding and has started to remove some rocks that have crumbled and split that we are replacing with slate ones. I think he wants to get as much done as he can while the neighbours are away! Like you say, you can't be rude, but time flies while you chat and sometimes it is time to go in as soon as they go or it starts raining and you have to abandon things and go inside! lol. Typical though, nearly every time he does things in the garden he comes in needing 'Nurse Gladys' and her box of plasters and antiseptic ointment to sort out a cut or scrape! :-D I think he's overdone it today though and will be achey and stiff tomorrow.

AnnG, you are right about the foreign asparagus. I hadn't even thought about it, but today's we had was flavourless! I'll get some from the farm shop next time as theirs will be british. Skinny must enjoy his visits to see you if gets some dreamies. :-)

It sounds like you all had a nice time Vera, but it was a shame they were held up on the journey by an accident and had to divert. My word Clydesdales are really huge, with massive feet you need to keep your toes away from, so your granddaughter does well looking after one for some days of the week. It's good she was able to help set up your ipad too and will probably help you with the glitch. You've set yourself up for some regular walks now, as we'll be wanting reports on the swans and how many more cygnets hatch. :-) Lovely to see them though.

That was good Vera that you had good weather for your granddaughters visit It sound as though you had a lovely time. Nice that they cleaned the bird baths for you too. Saved you a job.
Good that you saw the swan family I hope they survive.

Mel I think you sort of knew that BiL would not come today.

Hallo everyone

We’ve been so lucky with the weather yesterday and today. Had we been on our own we would have got some weeding done at least but it was much nicer spending time with granddaughter and her partner.

They were able to get away from Yorkshire just after 4 pm on Friday but part of the motorway was closed due to an accident so they had to come by a longer route and didn’t get here till 10. They left a while ago as granddaughter has taken on a temporary task to earn a little extra money. She is looking after a Clydesdale horse 3 days a week till October and needs to be there for the horse tomorrow. With early mornings and late evenings on her “horse” days she can fit it in nicely with her full time work which is close by.

We’ve had a lovely relaxing weekend. After a long, leisurely breakfast (for everyone else - I had a slice of toast) yesterday we had a walk by the river till it got too muddy and we had to turn round. Then we had a snack and the kids cleaned both birdbaths for me, while I got our evening meal ready. After that we looked through some old photos and played cards, had our dinner which they all seemed to enjoy and more cards till bed.

Today they were late up and we all showered, then OH and the boyfriend cooked sausages, bacon, mushrooms, beans and eggs (just toast for me again) while granddaughter helped me get emails set up on my new(ish) IPad. It was the only thing I hadn’t managed to do myself. She couldn’t get the IPad system to accept my email password either so she downloaded an app and that accepted my password and she then set it all up for me. There is one minor glitch with a specific email file I have that I’ve only just discovered but if I can’t put it right I’ll phone her sometime and maybe she’ll be able to talk me through it.

When we went down to the river we saw our swans. Mummy swan is sitting on eggs and we could just make out a couple of little heads peeping out under her feathers, so some have hatched. We’re not sure if there were 2 or 3.

It’s good to know Skinny is still around and I hope the poor dog from the fire turns up. It must be awful for those poor people losing their home. That was good of your son and dil to give you their air fryer Mandy.

I am now going to make us a ham salad as I am definitely getting peckish and I don’t feel like cooking.

You spoil him Anng thats why he keeps coming back. The rain is much lighter now but I don't think I shall venture into the garden today. Also my knees are a little better today so I don't want to walk around a lot and make thme hurt again.

No BIL today, he probably thinks he can't do anything in the rain not even try to mend the mower. He may also have to wait for the pipe he wants. It the petrol pipe he thinks the old one has perished and is letting air in.

Thats lovely DIL thought of you with the airfrier Mandy. I've not used mine that much and probably should.

It clouded over so we lost the sun but it is 16 degrees. I have done a bit of admin with accounts etc and also walked down to the book tent with the latest book I finished. Not really anything except weeding to do at the moment as I can't plant anything.
Yes Skinny was here for a short while yesterday and the day before. He had a stroke and a few dreamies than wandered off again.

Afternoon all,

Another lovely sunny day here really warm ,we decided to get the bigger greenhouse up this morning and son and dil turned up so they finished it off and put the canopy up on the gazebo so that was handy .
They also brought me their air fryer as they now have the new ninja stack one, their old one is only about a year or so old and they asked if I would like it and as it's bigger than mine I said yes please ,it has a rotisserie spit thingy and a basket that fits on to do chips etc .

Oh Mel thats poor dog I hope he turns up he must have been so scared ,and also the poor people losing their home like that I wonder how it started .

Ann thats the trouble with us having people go past when we're out in the garden I like to just get on but you can't be rude and keep weeding while they talk , we had two people yesterday came to chat so that held us up a bit .
That's good what ever was chewing your hostas has given up on them ,when I took some weeds from a couple of my hostas a bit came out with lovely roots on so I now have two new plants I've potted up .

Anng is the little cat still coming round now the weathers a bit warmer , when we were out the front yesterday one of next doors cat was really meowing so loudly he's getting on a bit and she said if he can't see her thats the noise he makes until she finds him .

Clouding up a bit here now since I started typing and one cloud looks really black .

Em's just been for eggs and told me a farm house not far away from me burnt down yesterday and their dogs missing. So now I shall look out for a stray dog Spaniel type as often theyturn up in my garden. I used to get two big Labradors come in a long while ago.

You've got on well today Ann. I need to clean the bathroom and as its raining its a good time to do it as I can't get in the garden again today. I still have to get up the top field to pick up all the willow I cut down.

They were right its now pouring.

Morning All,

Sunny and 16 degrees here. I had a good sleep and lie in till 9.00am. The bed throw is in the washer and I've got the veg ready to cook. OH was up earlier and has made a good start weeding the border at the front next to the road. Our neighbour is away, so he could get on without interruption which he prefers when he's doing the garden! We hadn't done much there since the fir tree was felled. It's only a narrow border, but with our neglect, our usually soft soil has really compacted, so not so easy to get the mature weeds out or the grape hyacinths. We are leaving a nice yellow cotton lavender there and a Euonymous variegated shrub in the corner and I'll have a rethink on the rest of that border once I have moved one or two other plants I want to put in the back garden. I might do a bit more cutting back in the back garden later or a bit more weeding, but the backs of my calves are sore this morning with what I did yesterday. Still every little helps doesn't it! I've also cleaned the ensuite this morning.

Better get the convection oven in the microwave switched on now and a COT. Food delivery is coming this afternoon. That's a good thing that came out of the pandemic, not having so much tramping around big supermarkets!

Morning all,

Had a lie in this morning after my hecktic day yesterday. Got up at 5.23am for the loo and then slept till 9am. Not as achey this morning as I thought I would be but my wrists ache today. I alos got a thorn in the middle finger on my right hand a quarter of an inch from the base of the nail and it hurts like anything this morning. I shall have to get a needle to it but not so easy with it being on my righ hand.

Pc is telling me its Rain today about 12pm and its 12 degrees. Wonder what time BIL will turn up if at all?

Good morning all 6 degrees so far but only 0730 so early yet. Sun is shining anyway. Slept quite well last night but once awake and brain in overdrive I thought I was better up. Not yet dressed of course.
Ann, asparagus at half price that was good. I didn't get any on my order this week. I forgot but was annoyed last week as before that I had been getting British which is so much tastier than the stuff from abroad. But, just as there had been a piece on TV about asparagus from Evesham being on the market, My Tesco was back to the foreign stuff. And I didn't check this week.

Evening All,

A nice sunny day here and it was 16 degrees earlier. I had a good sleep and lay in till 9.30am, then was up and off to the shop while OH pegged out a load of washing and got things ready for poached eggs on toast. We are having easy chicken kievs tomorrow and I nearly got some asparagus to go with them yesterday. Today it was half price and still looked fresh, so that was a bargain, as were their half price hay fever tablets. I got some baby sweetcorn and jersey royals too, so with some carrot and peas it will be a nice lunch with a white sauce.

OH fetched the washing in and put out another load before he went to footie so that helped as well. There is another load done and put out now and then towels and bath mat need doing. At least the forecast is dry for tomorrow. My knees felt a lot less unpredictable today, so I fetched a humper and managed to weed the back of the bigger island bed, pulled some weeds out of the gravel around me and then pruned one of the shrubs that had long new growth on it. I'd had enough by then, so took my hat and gloves off and put the kettle on.

Thanks for mentioning the programme Mandy. I meant to record it but forgot. It's the tough looking chap who is always getting emotional and tearful isn't it. I'd also forgotten to record the Piano that follows it.

I'm a wuss too Mel as I would only pick the hedgehog up with a spade or with gloves on. Mind you they are a bit prickly to pick up without gloves anyway. They can carry more than fleas, including ticks, salmonella and ringworm so I wouldn't risk it with not knowing why it died either. I wonder what happened to the poor deer. I expect the young ones are at risk with foxes. Like Mandy says, what's left of it would be a gory find. We are seeing lots of dead badgers at the roadside round here as the young ones leave home.

Interesting what you say about the Wagtails Gwyn. I hadn't realised till now, but we always used to see them in the supermarket carparks round here, but I haven't seen one for ages.

That's good you got your lawn cut AnnG. It's another job out of the way while it's dry.

Evening all,

It's been a much better day ,with lots of lovely sunshine and the wind has dropped .
We've been weeding the front garden and I washed my pots with the hostas in they were getting very green round the bottom of the pots so they look better now.

Talking of pots just reminded me there's a new programme on channel 4 at eight o'clock on Sunday called Our Welsh Chapel dream ,its the big chap off the pottery throw down and his wife they are renovating a 160 year old derelict Chapel into their forever home with a working pottery studio ,so I thought those who watch pottery throw down might like to watch it .

Oh Mel I wonder where the deers leg came from and where the rest of it is that would be a gory find ,poor old hog .

Hope Vera's and OH are enjoying the weekend with their granddaughter .

I have been up the top field since I last posted. I picked up the hog and it did'nt half stink but I could'nt find the deer leg. I cut down all my two willows to let more light in to Hazel and Jonathin's garden and some of the sloe which came from them anyway running under their fence as its only sheep wire and it was'nt their fault as the persons who lived there before let it get out of hand. I cut down the Budlia on the west wall down here and now it all has to be picked up. Just come down for a cuppa which is well earned I think.

Still 15 degrees here and it says expect light rain tomorrow.