General Chat

Evening all,

It's been a lovely day with sunshine and I got all the bedding dry , we got the bits of the exercise bike down the stairs and it can go in the bin a bit at a time but not the fly wheel as that's so heavy .

Anng hope your daughter got home OK with no hold ups , you've been busy in the garden .

Ann we thought the Victorian bakery was good too I couldn't have crawled in that oven for fear of getting shut in ,they have a lot of work to do and they are mostly elderly people doing it .

Mel I bet your postie will enjoy the cake ,everybody loves a piece of cake ,your pot look lovely all placed together ,lovely splash of colour .

Vera enjoy your day out on Wednesday it should be getting warmer by then , I've never made a banana loaf but I did make some banana and biscoff muffins the other day and they were lovely .

It's looking more like its going to rain out there now its gone over very dark .

You’ve been busy with the garden since you came home AnnG. Do be careful and give your back time to recover. I haven’t read any books by Fiona Valpy but I have heard of her. I’ve checked on my library app and the library doesn’t seem to have any of her books, at least none that I can get through the app, but I’ll keep an eye out in the charity shops or in the kindle store on Amazon. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mel, thank you for the photos. The baby swallows are certainly tucked tightly in the nest. Your patio pot garden looks attractive and your paving slabs certainly look cleaner than ours.

Thank you too, Annx, for the photos of the magpie babe and the lovely rose. I must get into the habit of checking my Spam file every time I go into emails as that’s where I found it again.

I’ve been chasing my tail all day as we, or rather I, seem to have so much to do. I’ve done 4 loads of washing. 3 dried outside today and towels are going round the dryer now. I’ve also made a banana loaf to use up some bananas that had gone soft and done various household jobs. Yesterday I had a call from an old and dear friend with some distressing news about his health. He asked if I would make some telephone calls for him to inform various people of his situation so that took another hour out of the day, though of course I was more than willing to help.

Tomorrow I have some business to attend to in town so will fit in some other errands while I’m there and Wednesday we’re on a coach trip to Lamport Hall. Don’t worry if I don’t post for a couple of days. It will just be because we’re busy and I’ve run out of time

I did have another go out there, pulled a few more weeds finished off moving the tomatoes around and planted up one basket with a couple of petunias. At the garden centre I didn't really have much choice with petunias because it is a bit late although there were masses of plants ther, just not the colours in petunias. And I didn't see any calobrohoas.(million bells). I finished out ther by weeding the gravel parts of the front garden when I put the brown bin out. I was pleased to see that the self seeded lavender out there has spread on the gavel and the bees are loving it.

Afternoon All,

It started sunny, but it's dull now. OH went to meet his book swapping pal at the new Jenno's cafe near my hairdresser. It is in the old Santander canteen site next to Santander HQ. They are all on the site of the old Hospital site wherethe old Chapel is that I wrote about. I popped to the shop and saw the Egret paddling in the brook with the Moorhens. It seems so tame I wonder if it is an escapee from Tropical Birdland a few miles away.

I feel tired and keep yawning today and don't feel like doing much, although I slept well.

Yes don't set your back off worse again by overdoing it AnnG. It sounds like you did quite a bit in the garden anyway.

Mel I think you have made the Postie's day today with the cake to look forward to. It was very kind of you. I love your patio group of pots and like the idea of the solar lights in a pot which means you can move them about where you want the light at night. The colours look lovely together and your patio looks so clean compared to mine. Those baby birds look a bit precarious all crammed in the nest don't they and so many mouths to be fed!

Mandy I watched the first of the Victorian bakery last night and thought it was good.

Time for a COC I think and see if it will liven me up!

Lucky postie Mel.
17 degrees here, I have done two wash loads, second lot in the drier now. Also tidied the lounge then spent a good hour in the garden brown bin day tomorrow it is a third full now, I have cut back a Buddlia whic had got away from me before we went away, sorted out and repotted a couple of tomatoes and done good bit of weeding as I have gone round. Back strted to remind me that it was not that good so I have come in for a rest. Being up and on the go so early it feels like it should be lunch tim and that is an houe earlier than usual.

thanks for the photos Mel, I bet the birds all have to breath in to make space for the last one to get into position. Patio is looking smart. My next job out there now the tomatoes are settled, will be to plant the plants bought yesterday.

Just sent pics.

Tim the postie has just been and I asked him to wait. Took him out two big pieces of the cake and his eyes lit up when he saw it and he said he would enjoy that later. He had a big smile on his face. :-D I wrapped the two pieces in kitchen roll and put them in a tin.

Morning all,

Cloudy start to the day here and its 14 degrees and pc says mosty cloudy.

Nothing planned for today so see what I feel like when the time comes.

I like to go and see what I have done the previous day in the garden and then you see it in different eyes. I also arranged the pots on the patio which look better now. there a nice lot of colour there and the Osti I bought last year and spoutred from the bottom is a picture, the other one I did'nt like so much is flowering but on bare leggy stems, I don't know whether to cut it down or not?

Good morning all. Up and dressed ready to see daughter off on their journey home. Washing in and dish washer emptied an early start to the day. Slept well. Lots to do now getting straight after the holiday. And then plants to go in and garden to do. But got to go easy with that as my back is better don’t want to start it off again.

Ann yes he is definitely full of beans definitely his father’s son.
Yes I have plenty to do tomorrow. Back has eased a bit. Hope it continues to tomorrow

Vera have you read any books by Fiona Valpy. I have read two lately and really enjoyed them. The Cypress maze and The sky beneath us?

Afternoon All,

It's been mostly dry here today with a couple of short gentle showers and a bit breezy.

What a lovely little boy your grandson is AnnG, so smiley and don't babies have lovely cheerful outfits these days. He looks full of beans doesn't he. :-) I hope ypur back is soon better as there is always plenty to do when a break away is over.

Oh Vera, thank goodness we didn't get your sheets of rain and thunder. It damages all the plants when it rains that heavily. I managed a few handfuls of weeds as I walked round the garden earlier too. Rather than keep tramping to the wheelie bin, I leave little piles on top of any flat rocks and Mr Tidy picks them up and puts them in the garden bin when he spots them. I managed to plant up the front wall pots with the fresh plants too, but will put them on the wall tomorrow. I worry the driver bringing the food might catch them and knock them down as there is only one screw holding them.

Mel I love coffee and walnut cake and will have Vera's walnuts, but no icing on mine please. I had visions of you with a white face with the iciing sugar, but I think I've done the same with my food mixer in the past. We find snail shells on some of our flat rock edging. I don't know what bird smashes them as we don't get Thrushes anymore.

Well done getting the exercise bike dismantled Mandy. I think it took us a couple of attempts to get ours in bits, but yours will soon be gone. I don't know if you or anyone has Nat Geo, but the David Attenborough film Ocean is on Channel 5 at 8.00pm. It wqas on in the cinema a while ago and OH said it is supposed to be good. I hope the bandage has helped your knee. I find the Ibuprofen gel helps mine a bit. Mine have been worse than usual this past week and wondered if the wet weather is making them worse.

Asda still have me blocked on their site with my usual browser, despite me chasing it up. so I am still having to use one I don't like for now. Mel do you find they say there are substites sometimes, but then the right things arrive with your order?

I've done some chicken thighs and veg in the slow cooker and it's cooling down. I added some frozen spinach which I didn't realise was very, very finely chopped. I think all the liquid is a green colour now.....not sure what OH will make of that! I also did another wash, but might be able to hang it outside tomorrow.

O yes done some washing and it now needs to come in.

Just come in from the garden. I have pulled loads of ivy off the fence at the end of the decking where my little greenhouse is and pulled it from both side now I need to sort out the Albertine rose there. Its smelling lovely at the moment. I have put string round the canes for the beans on the decking, just a few in a BIG pot, fed the toms and the flowers on the patio. Fed the fish and the wild birds and the pheasents. Thrup the female comes with me to the garage after telling me she wants her supper by coming on the patio to me and she knows she's not aloud up there so I have to go and get her some corn.

Hav'nt eaten yet!!!! am just going to do egg bacon toms and beans followed by a slice of cake and maybe some fruit and cream. was going to make a fruit jelly but I forgot getting lost int he garden. I'm sure I have done something else today too but can't think what.

It has stayed dry here despite the promise of showers. I have fed/watered the times atoes but not done anything else as the pots have all been well watered in the past two days.

Just having a chuckle, I never really taught daughter to cook. She did learn a lot at school though. However her late husband loved to cook and did it all so she didn’t need to do it. After he died she was on a steep learning curve and does very well but it all gets written down that has increased since the Air Fryer everything is written down so when I am cooking anything new in the AF I consult her and she tells me how to do it. So we have come full circle she is teaching me. Incidentally my Mum didn’t teach me to cook, she passed on recipes and explained when asked but goodness knows what she would have made of Air Fryers.

Just absolutely tipped down with rain here it went over so dark and now the suns trying to get out .

Morning girls,

Nice morning at the mo and its 14 degrees but at least there is some sun with the clouds.

Lovely photos Anng is'nt he lovely love his shirt with the tractors on. He looks a happy chappy. Sorry you have a bad back and hope it eases so you can look around the garden centre for your plants.

I have just watched a lovely Thrush batter the life out of a snail on the little wall by the road down to the banty house. She actually wiped it from side to side to get the last bit out. I often get a mas of snail shells down that bit of the garden it must be a favorite anvil.

Don't know what I am doing today so will just see how the mood takes me.

Morning all,

Nice sunny dry morning but I think it should cloud over later, I have just hung some washing out as there's a lovely blow so hopefully they will son dry, its quite chilly but it is still fairly early .

Anng hope your back soon eases for you and you can manage to get all your plants ,lovely photos .

My knee is still painful so I have put a stretchy knee stocking on this morning see if that helps .

Vera well done to your granddaughter what a lovely job to be working at Disney World Hong Kong I hope she has a fantastic time .

I have sent a couple of photos, let me know if you have not received anything.

Good morning all. The sun is shining and it is 8 degrees. I didn't have a good night and am less than impressed that i have developed a very painful back. I seem to have pulled (or something) the muscle on mylower left back. One I have pulled before. Hopefully it will ease soon. a result of sittin 4+ hours in the car and then several hours here just talking and watching Cassian. We are going to the garden centre this morning so that I can get plants for my pots etc so I will have to hope it eases. Also have quite a busy week ahead.

I have uesed Ibruleve but usually Deep heat works for me. I have not used that in deference to my daughter and son in law as it is not a nice smell for other people.

O Vera thats wonderful. What a great chance to get spotted I wish her all the luck in the world (Disney World) I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time and an interesting country to work in.

The cake was well worth the mess. I made it with a sponge mix from Asda and you add 10 tablespoons of water so I did a tablespoon of coffee in a tablespoon of hot water and 9 tablespoons of water. The frosting was 1 and a half tablespoons of coffee in a tablespoon of hot water 100g of butter or marg and 225g of icing sugar. I used decaf coffee Azera Americano. I took a pic so will send it tomorrow.