General Chat

There’s been a few gleams of sun this afternoon but not much, it’s mostly cloudy. It has got to 16 degrees but there’s a cool wind making it feel colder. I washed a duvet cover that I changed a few days ago and that blew dry. I also had a good dust and hoover upstairs. Our workman didn’t arrive. I had forgotten it’s a holiday weekend so I suppose it will be at least Tuesday before we see him. A gardener we had approached did pop round to look at a crab apple and a hawthorn tree in the garden. We want a bit taken out of the top of each of them and have them reshaped a bit. They are getting a bit big now and it’s only a small garden. He’s going to do them sometime in the next couple of weeks. I bet the handyman and the gardener will be here at the same time. I hope they don’t get in each other’s way.

Well done Jake. There will be no stopping him now. I bet he enjoyed winding his Dad up. It made me smile. I’m glad your sister is getting some treatment Mandy and seems to be getting on well.

How are you now Gwyn? Illnesses like that can leave you feeling quite debilitated so make sure you take things easy for a while yet.

I’m relieved you and OH are OK Annx.

Tomorrow OH is having his second cataract done so I shall have to drive him. The weather is forecast to be awful - lots of heavy rain. I won’t much enjoy driving through that and hope there is no flooding on the roads.

I feel like a coffee now so I’m off to put the kettle on. By the time we’ve had our coffee it’ll be time to start getting dinner ready. Tonight it’s sausage and mash with onion gravy and some green veg.

That was a bit wicked Mandy but I bet he was delighted. Well done Jake.

Strimmer line ran out just as I was trying to finish the side of the orchard where BIL dos'nt mow and the weeds were creeping out onto the lawn. There is a cement wall along the side of the orchard where they used to plant things against the east hedge.

Anyway come in now to cool off and get us both something to eat, cheese sandwich with a bit of coleslaw in it. some grapes and pineapple and tomatoes. Followed by a nice cold orange juice.

Afternoon all,

Nice sunny day with fluffy clouds ,got a load of washing dry and did a few jobs in the garden .

Vera my sister had her appointment for the stroke clinic on Wednesday and it was a stroke she had so they have given her some medication to help .
Hope your tradesman has arrived ,Monday is a bank holiday so it might be Tuesday before he starts .

Glad your OK Ann well done getting your PC working I wouldn't know where to start with it .

Son just messaged to say Jake has passed his theory test this morning ,I told him third time lucky ,son said he rang and told him he'd failed again and then when he got in he showed him his pass paper :-D

Glad you're ok we were all worried ewhen you had'nt posted.

Morning All,

Yes we are fine and it's nice to know when we are missed. I've just got my PC working again and will catch up with you all after lunch which is ready to serve now.

Morning girls,

Nice morning here 16 degrees and sunny theres a pale blue sky with net curtain like clouds so I hope the weathers not breaking as its been so nice.

Not sure if BIL is coming today will just have to wait and see if he arrives and starts mowing. Iv'e a lot of strimming to do today so shall have arm ache tonight. I need to do the bit round the chcikens run and the trees in the orchard and round the caravan.

Yes I hope our Ann is ok and lets hope we hear from her today.

Sorry you didn’t sleep well AnnG. I was reading in the night and got up for some milk but I did sleep from about 3 am to 7.30. I hope it warms up for you and you can enjoy the gardens today. The last 2 days have been quite cold here. It feels as though we have left summer and moved into autumn.

Our tradesman said he would try and start today but there’s no sign of him yet and I suspect we won’t see him till Monday. Because he was ill and couldn’t work he’s got a backlog of jobs to catch up on first. Not knowing when he will be here makes it difficult to plan anything. I guess it had better be a h/w day.

Good morning all definitely colder up here than at home but so far still sunny. Hoping to drive to Holehird gardens near Ambleside/Bowness today so if it stays clear there will be nice views on the way.

Hope you all slept better than me. And hope Ann is OK

The last time Annx was on was 20th. Not sure but I might have seen her on Facebook but hope she is ok.

Pleased you arrived safely AnnG. Enjoy your stay and I hope the weather is kind to you. It's not been very kind here today :-( It's been really cold and grey all day though it has stayed dry. The forecast is for the temp. to go down to 1 degree tonight. I've just moved a load of seedlings into my little plastic greenhouse in case we end up with a frost I think I'll get a spare blanket out again and just put it at the bottom of the bed in case I feel cold during the night.

I got to our coffee meet this morning and there was no-one there so I got myself a coffee and sat drinking it hoping someone else would turn up. Sure enough after a few minutes one person came, then another and we ended up with 5 ladies and 1 man, so it was a nice little group.

This afternoon I managed to do a bit more in the garden but it was so cold I had to wear my old gardening anorak. Tonight I had an exploding fish!! I had a couple of thick pieces of salmon and put them in to cook by my usual method. I lay them in a rectangular glass dish, cover the top with cling film and just lift an edge or corner enough to let the steam escape and then I microwave them for 2-3 minutes. I did that tonight but after about 1 minute 20 seconds there was a very loud bang. When I checked I discovered that the inside of the microwave was covered in fish and the pieces of salmon were much the worse for wear. There was still enough in the dish for us to eat and it tasted fine but why did it explode like that? I wasn’t happy at having to thoroughly clean the microwave.

How is your sister Mandy? I hope she is feeling much better.

I don’t think we’ve seen Annx for a couple of days. I hope she is OK and her OH too, of course. Perhaps she is just busy at the moment.

I’m now going to have a quick read of our local paper online and then shut the computer down for the night. Sleep well everyone.

Glad your there safely even if it was a hard journey. Enjoy your stay.

I have been pottering in the shed and outside it sorting plants from weed and chucking some stuff out. I found a whole pot of Frittilaria covered in weed so that got sorted with a bit of new soil mixed in it. There's some big corms in there as well as tiny ones. Orchids in everything. The ones I have sorted I have put in pots together.

Had to come in for a drink of water. PC is telling me to expect 5 days of rain in a row.

Hello all. We got here at 1pm, left home at 0740. Traffic was heavy but all moving. Not like the M6 south up near Lancaster (ish). There was a large container that had been moved off its lorry base on the hard shoulder on fire. Five or six fire engines, lots of police, traffic down to one lane that was heavy traffic anyway and they eee held up for miles goodness knows how long they were going to be there.

Good to be up here and to sit chatting to daughter while SiL watches the cricket in another room.

The sun is shing, scenery through the mountains. Area on the A66 was glorious. They need rain here too. It is forecast for the coming week.

Morning ladies

No rain expected today but it is cold and grey and the temperature isn’t expected to get above 13 all day. I hope AnnG and family have a good journey.

Sorry to hear your knee is still painful Mandy. I hope some rest will improve things for you. I’m still stiff and sore and I’ve had a couple of new bruises come out since yesterday.

I’m just going out for our Thursday coffee but I don’t think there will be many there today. OH isn’t going and I know of 3 others who won’t be there. I could be sitting there like Billy-no-mates.

Morning Mandy and all,

Another lovely bright sunny mornn ing here and its 17 degrees.

I plan to do some cutting down of brimbles today where I don't know yet but that the theory whether they get done or not is another matter. I shall probably get sidetracked.

I have three or four gnat bites which are driving me crazy and ones on the back of my hand.

Safe journey Anng hope theres no hold ups.

Just having my COC and then I will get on.

Morning all,

Well we've had a little rain ,only enough to wet the ground but it's a start .

I expect Anng is on her way so hope they have a safe journey with no hold ups ,I expect the traffic will be heavier tomorrow and over the weekend with it being a Bank holiday and the schools breaking up for half term ,not sure if they still call it Whitson holiday.

Not doing a lot today just going to rest my leg it's still painful when it's bent so I must sit with it up ,oh well good excuse to knit or crochet :-D

Yes Mandy thats right I remember now. We had Sausage fried mash leeks carrots celery and red onion tonight. He mashes his tato with the skins on and then frys it. It had no nice crispy bits but it was tasty.

I could'nt open the back door when I came home so its just as well Stu had freed the front door up for me so I used the front door key to get in. Thinking I have to get a new lock I tried it once I was in and it did open. I think I may have ocked it from the inside and it did'nt like it but I must remember to keep a key somewhere or with Em for the front door incase it happens again.

On the way there Ruth up the road to Stu sells plants and she has'nt had anything out the last few times I have been past but tonight she had so I had a look on the way back and she had a Nemisia that I hav'nt got in a pretty pale lilac and white so I went down the parking money purse and bought it. Its called Wisley Vanilla and it smells of vanilla. Must remember to put more change in my parking money purse I keep in the car. She had petunias too and bizzy lizzis and lot more and herbs so I will be back. Her prices have gone up though.

Evening all,

It's been a lovely day lots of sun but cooler with the wind again .

I sat down for my meal tonight and boy did I twist my knee its the same one I had pulled last week so I'm sitting here with a heat pad underneath my knee .
We got our shopping done this morning as we should be calling in to sons in the morning its Jakes birthday and he will be there as he's on holiday this week but I'll have to see how my knee is .

Oh Vera lucky you getting a little rain ,shame it was heavy as it wouldn't have soaked in as well as a nice steady rain .
Hope your aches and bruises from the tumble soon ease for you .

Mel I'm sure you had Stuart last week as you said you had the bacon joint .

I'm sorry you're still very sore Vera but keep moving and I hope you feel a bit better tomorrow.

I have plants my tom plants in big pots now and they are in the greenhouse. I also sowed french beans which came in the post today along with cues that came too. My runners are just popping through and I chucked the ones I sowed before that were no good. Tied in a Clematis. Teexted Stu to say could he make it tomorrow and Iv'e just had a call from him to say I am to him tonight. I was sure I went to him last week. I shall have to consult my diary. The weeks pass so quickly I never know where I am. Its good though cos I hav'nt got anything out for dinner. I did have lunch today too.

Edit I never wrote it in my diary last week.

Funny weather today. It's been good to see a bit of rain but I don't know if it was enough to do much good. It started raining as I came out of the hairdressers but it was really just a light shower. Then later at home we had 2 really heavy showers with quite a bit of thunder. For a while the courtyard outside the house was like a paddling pool but it didn't take long to dry up when the rain stopped. It's been very cold as well and OH had an electric fan heater going in the lounge from about 10 am to 2 pm. Now the sun has come out.

I forgot to tell you about our talk at the Club on Monday. It turned into quite a lively evening. The speaker was a lady we have had before when she talked about life as a magistrate. This time she titled her talk "You Decide...." She told us of a couple of real cases and we had to think what verdicts would have been given. The main case was of a lady of 82 who left the post office with her bag in one hand and a walking stick in the other. Someone pushed her from behind, grabbed her bag and ran. Unfortunately the lady fell and, even worse, banged her head. Our speaker had a handbag with her and withdrew from it things the lady's bag had contained. There was a purse with the £120 she had just withdrawn from the PO, a couple of letters, doorkeys, phone, credit card and a separate slip of paper with her pin number and so on. The perpetrator was caught. He was a drug addict needing money to feed his habit and had used the keys to break into her house whose address was on the letters in the bag. The lady spent 7 weeks in hospital and never left her house alone again. We had to consider everything she had lost and what punishment should be given. I won't go into all the details that we were gradually fed but it provoked a lively discussion with most of our group being of the "lock him up and throw away the key" attitude. I sat on the fence a bit as I didn't think it was black and white but could see so many shades of grey that I couldn't decide what ought to be done. One man in our group is 80 and is normally a grumpy old man but he is also an ex-policeman. He shouted at the poor speaker "it's a load of c**p" and walked out. His wife just laughed and said "Ignore him" so we carried on. As I said it was quite a lively evening. Btw, the 19 year old who committed the crime was given 7 years, the maximum that can be given by magistrates. He was let out on licence after 3 years, which means if he committed any offence during the remainder of the 7 years he would be hauled back to prison to serve his remaining time on that offence and then in addition would have to serve any time he was given for the offence committed while on licence.

I am really aching a lot now but it's not so bad if I keep moving so I'm now walking down to the post box to get dil's birthday card in the post. Our only collection of the day goes really early in the morning so I have to remember to post things the day before I want them to go.

Skies cleared a bit and the suns been out. Not too bad out there but the rain did'nt do much there was only a little in the wheelbarrow about a quarter of an inch if that. My second lot of runners are just showing as nothing came up of the first lot I sowed I think the seed was just too old.