General Chat

Morning everyone, well it is much cooler today and we had some rain last night so plants are ok. The tomatoes have flowers on and the cucumbers are growing well. In fact the veg beds are doing well at the moment.

There is a new show starting on channel 5 tonight at 7pm -8pm. It is hosted by Jeremy Vine and is called Celebrity Puzzling. I shall record it to see if it is any good as I like Quiz shows but not keen on J.Vine. I did like Eggheads though but I think this will be different.

Take care all.

Good morning florence and everyone.
If only we could even out the weather a bit, we could do with some of your rain florence Have you got a chair in the tunnel for when you get stuck in there when it rains?

Afternoon all

Wow some torrential rain here awhile ago so much so that we were trapped in the tunnel lol.

I dug up the rest of the potatoes and some were a decent size. Im thinking of planting some more as i have planted more peas and beetroot.

Bought 2 fuchsia's and have potted them into 2 big tubs as they will expand to 3ft by 3ft.
Have a Helibor to repot too but we ran out out of compost so will have to get some more.

Our wee poochie is home but her eye has an awful infection. have various meds etc and we have to bathe the eye several times a day. Will be going back to see the vet tomorrow and see what she thinks. Last resort is to remove the eye which of course would be terrible. So fingers crossed by tomorrow they is an improvement.

Hope the pollen count has down down for those that are suffering with hayfever.

Enjoy the rest of Sunday peeps whatever you are all doing.

Florence i9n the Hebrides

The hayfever is very bad this year, I use eye drops to help it.

It has been incredibly hot here for the past two days. My sister and brother in law have been here for two nights. Yesterday we went to Harlow Carr Gardens in the blistering heat. It was very pretty, but I was glad to get home about 3 pm.

My sister then decided that it would be nice to go for a walk in the woods near us. She is absolutely crackers, I wasn’t going out again in that heat, so OH and her husband went with her. I wouldn’t care, but her legs are swollen like tree trunks, so the last thing she should have been doing is going walking again.

This morning, she wanted to go out again, so we went for a walk around a tree trail by the river, she liked that and it was only about 23 degrees, but by the time we had lunch, it was getting really hot, according to my watch it is 29 degrees now.

They have gone on their way now, they are going to a wedding near Aysgarth. The wedding is tomorrow, but she has no idea when because she left her phone at home and all the details are on a What’s App chat. She can’t remember anything, so hopefully someone else who is attending will be able to tell them. She is becoming much worse, so I hope it isn’t the brain tumour growing again.

It is very difficult, I try to be patient, but she just stands dithering in the middle of the kitchen asking what she can do to help. I ask her to do little things, but she forgets and wanders off. It must be so difficult for her husband having to look after her all the time.

The last few days the pollen count has been very high from grasses.

Best to stay in until it comes down again Joan sore eyes are most unpleasant and painful.

Good afternoon to you all. It's very hot here, there is a bit of a breeze,but it's not helping to keeps things cool.

I did venture into the garden & made a start on straightening up the wavy hedge but I have had to come inside for a break, my Hayfever is quite bad especially having trouble with watery / sore eyes

I haven't had Hayfever since about 2020, when it just didn't happen any more !! but this year, especially today it is back with a vengence.
It looks like I will have to give up on the garden work, such a pest as there are plenty of things still need doing.

I hope everyone is well & not suffering in the heat too much.

Joan.

It is very hot here, 28 degrees so I have stayed indoors out of the sun/heat all day.
Hope little dog is better soon Florence.

Afternoon all
Grey day here, breezy and chilly.

Another trip to town as our wee poochie wasnt well after an operation on her teeth yesterday so going to get her checked out in awhile.

Daughter is away on mainland and now has Covid grrr with her not eating and being diabetic, bit of a worry but today she says shes a little better so thats good news.

Linda, i could spot troubled kids from the young age of 6 and just knew how they would turn out in later life. It was so sad that after they left for the big school, they were out of our hands!

Right better get ready to head for the vets.

Hope everyone well today

Florence in the Hebrides

My two roses which looked dead for such a long time are Rugosa - so I hope the deer don't find them! At least not until they have grown up a bit.
They were very cheap, from Poundstretcher.

I buy the plain beetroot in vacuum-packs of 3 or 4.
The vinegar taste of the stuff in jars is too strong for me, and overpowers the beetroot.

Today I've been along to the mobile bank van at the village hall, and then to the post office, seven miles away, to post a parcel.
Then back via the church, where I read the electricity meter, as we'd received an estimated bill which was about three times as much as usual.
It's a semi-smart meter - mostly it sends readings automatically, but sometimes it doesn't!

Tomorrow I'll be heading off in the opposite direction, ten miles to the doctor's surgery to pick up my repeat prescription, and then I'll visit my daughter while I'm along that way.

I don’t know why I originally bought my jar key but is well worth it. Especially now. with my poor, on the mend, wrist and OH’s arthritic hands. We also have a ‘thing’ for opeining bottles, not such a good buy as the jar key.

When i cant open jars as my wrists are quite weak, i use my big tin opener. I bang it on the side of the lid a few times and this knocks out the air and then it opens easily.

Overcast day here and a bit breezy.

Was just back from drs and he gave me some meds which i requested and he agreed so im a happy bunny today!

Making chicken with pepper rice for tea later on as not made for a awhile.

Still plenty chores to do including ironing, hoovering & dusting! Then after tea, the endless watering of all the pots plus the tunnel. So lucky we do not have a water meter !

JustGinnie, those cheap roses sound fab. Sometimes the cheapest things are often better than the most expensive. Hoper you get plenty of blooms.

Its forecast to get very windy later so may have to move a couple of smaller pots into some shelter but the rest of the week is looking great. Friday 22 degrees so Im sure we will be off to find a nice beach somewhere, take a picnic and see what else we will do.

Have a good day all

Florence in the Hebrides

It sounds like you need a jar key Joan, it is a great little device which breaks the vacuum on jars,making them really easy to open.You can get them in supermarkets or from Amazon
It has been really hot here today and is going to get hotter. We aren’t going to gat any rain for a long time, so I will have to water my new plants even though a drop has been declared in Yorkshire.
I was listening to the children read again this afternoon. One little boy is really naughty, I can see him being suspended by the time he gets to secondary school , sad but all the signs are there.

Hi to all.
Not as nice a day today as it was yesterday, it's warm even without the sun shining but it's been on the dull side all morning, it's starting to brighten up a bit at the moment so I might be able to get outside & sort out that hedge !

I have had the odd Deer in the garden over the years, fortunately they have never touched the flowers, they do tend to go after the trees rather than flowers or small shrubs.
It's the same with the cows that get in as well they don't touch the flowers but they do like the long hedge which is made up of Rugosa, when they are in the field next to my house they keep their side of the hedge trimmed back, lol..

Now Sheep on the other hand will have a go at most plants especially Ivy, some years ago when several got into my garden they absolutely demolished my ivy, going right down to the roots.
I was very surprised when it came back as good as ever some weeeks later.

re my Beetroot sandwiches, I don't have anything but the beetroot in it,
.
I love beetroot but I haven't been able to have it for quite some time as the company who make the brand I buy changed the lids & my opening gadget wouldn't work on them.
Just recently I happened to mention this to my daughter who said to pop the top of the lid & it should open !
So with wee knife & hammer I tried it & yey it worked,.

Joan.

Afternoon all,
Hope you are all well, I have just booked my BP check up for Thursday these checks seem to come around very quickly.
Our dog went to have his booster jab and check up and they found he had a broken tooth so he had to have an appt. to take it out and have the rest scale and polished so he now has lovely clean white teeth . Cost us just over £650.00 so not cheap. He came back from the vets looking very sorry for himself.

The cheap roses I got from Poundland over a year ago are still going strong I'm pleased to say. I don't know the name of the white one but it is very pretty but has very sharp thorns and lots of them. The other roses I have don't have many thorns I happy to say.

It's been lovely weather here with most of the rain overnight but the planters still need extra watering done as everywhere is very dry.

The new neighbours are a young couple who are still decorating the house and not living there full time yet. Hopefully they will stay when they get it all done . They seem to be very nice but have only spoken a couple of times.



Take care all.

Definitely no gardening here!
It's been wet, grey, windy, and generally dreich for the last couple of days.

And I had to chase two deer out of the garden yesterday before they ate too many of my plants.
Humph!

Beetroot's said to be good for lowering blood pressure.
What do you put in your beetroot sandwich, Joan - apart from beetroot, of course?

Morning all
Grey, overcast and looks like rain today so not an outdoors day today.
Yesterday we went out for lunch and took the wee poochie with us and had a lovely time.

Joan , you sure were busy in your garden. Beetroot is great for boosting your iron too so you will feel the benefit of that as well as enjoy it.

I cut another courgette last night which is getting chopped and then frozen for future use. The potatoes were very tasty so was very pleased with that Peas that i had thought were finished have now a new set of flowers so looks like ill be getting another crop soon :-D

Linda, like Ann It only seems more recent you had last years bed race so not sure where the time has flown but glad you all had a great day out.

Off to visit a good friend today who has been in the wars with her broken foot and shoulder but she was leaning into a deep freezer and has somehow managed to crack a rib!!! Poor lassie so off to visit with cakes and flowers to cheer her up this afternoon.

Ann, watering all our pots outside takes an age too even with 2 of us, 2 watering cans and a hose. The small damp showers are not enough to feed the plants unless we get some downpours which we havent had. Everywhere is so dry and today is grass cutting but in 2 weeks its hardly grown.

So better look sharp now.

Have a good day all

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning all. 13 degrees here at 7am but overcast. Still no rain so it will be more pot watering later. My neighbour is away so there are hers to water as well.

Linda, that bed race and parade always sounds a good day out. It doesn't seem a year since the last one. Pleased that you all had a good day and it was dry and fine.

Joan that was a busy gardening day, you got a lot done, well done, you deserved your beetroot sandwich.

Florence, I suppose with all the shows where you sell your cards starting in the autumn (I assume), it makes sense to start card making now.

Good afternoon everyone. It's been a lovely day today, not much sunshine but nice & bright, very warm & no wind, yesterday it rained & off all day so it was nice to get outside today.

It sounds like you & the family had a lovely day at the Bed races Linda,at least the rain stayed off for it.

I have been busy today,outside as usual, lol, done more weedkilling,not too much left to deal with now but still some stragglers in the side garden, more grass patches than single weeds which are not so easily lifted but they need to come up,

After tidying the flowere borders I tidied up the planters of the flowers that had died off, then I went round to the back of the house & shifted some of the weeds from the gravelled area, then I trimmed back the growth of an ornamental Cherry tree that sits in the middle of the gravel, the branches were soo straggley & made the tree look top heavy.

It's not a big tree height wise but it does look a bit silly when the branches start stretching out sideways, it looks much better after its haircut, lol.
I was getting tired by now but needed to sweeo up the brnaches & leaves from the tree, I then swept the drive.

I am now finished for today, too tired to do anything more, going to make a Beetroot sandwich just now then settle down in front of the telly, hopefully there's something worth watching.

I hope everyone else has had a nice weekend & the weather was nice.

Joan.

Good afternoon, it is very blustery today, but still warm. Yesterday was the Knaresborough bed race which we always attend. The forecast earlier in the week was bad, with rain due all afternoon, but it in the end, it was a gloriously sunny day, about 22 degrees. My daughter came and parked here, then we all walked into town with Esme in her wheelchair, only about twenty minutes, so not bad. We went for an early lunch and amazingly, our favourite cafe was fairly empty. About thirty thousand people are estimated to attend, so the town is usually heaving
After that we nabbed a prime spot right at the start of the parade route and saved space for Esme’s school friend who is permanently in a wheel chair. We were right at the front on the kerb, so had a brilliant view of the ninety decorated beds as they passed us. The people accompanying the beds dish out sweets on the way past, so of course two little girls in wheel chairs were highly favoured. Esme said that it was better than Halloween :-D
After the parade we made our way down to the riverside park where the race proper starts. The beds are stripped of all their decorations and the team of six push the beds with a child passenger over a two and a half mile course which is incredibly hilly. They end up by coming back through the river, the beds have buoyancy aids of course so they don’t sink. The pushers actually have to swim in the highly polluted water. The winning team takes about thirteen minutes to cover the course which is amazing given the steep hills they have to negotiate.
There is a big stage in the park where a very good cover band plays for two long sessions, so everyone takes picnic blankets and lots of food and drink is consumed while lots of people dance at the front. It is a very good day out, but then we have a long walk back along the road by the riverside and a climb back to the house. They stayed for a late dinner before going home.

Today is Father’s Day, so we all went to my daughter’s house and had a lunchtime BBQ. I had to play with Esme of course , so am quite tired now.

You can eat the cauliflower leaves, Florence.
Just cut them up and cook like cabbage or spring greens.