General Chat

Well GR tell me I cant use Mary in Sydney as someone else has it..I have had it since 2004, and have never seen anyone other than me with it..I was advised to find another name..I think it went into the to hard basket..
So now I am Aussiegirl...ggggrrrr......it was the only way to get the names I am researching added to my posts..It wouldnt add any other way.
Ah well whats in a name...

A bit cool tonight ,, might snuggle down under the doona..nearly time for bed..xxxx

Love Mary xxx

Morning our Mary ,you should get in touch with the powers that be ,and tell them to sort your board name out for you,you know ,i know ,and most others on genes know that you are the one and only Mary from Sydney,hell ,we have been talking to you for years ,and know who you are ,and so do they ,taking your subs since 2004.
We can always get the Wattlers together and give them some stick for you ,WE ,are the heart of Genes ,not the few idiots in their office. :-(
Anywaay ,we are sorted ,the roof is finished ,the chimney repointed ,and all we have left for them to do ,is place a waterproof coating over the bricks ,and that's it,so ,for the next ten years,any roofing problems such as split tiles ,and it's up to the firm to fix it.wahey :-).
To make my day ,the diseased Nectarine ,with loads of T L C is showing signs of recovery ,he he ,i may now ,land up with two.
While shopping yesterday ,my dear wife spotted one of these new rotary washing lines ,[you know] one of these ones with four arms ,not three ,giving you more drying space over the same area,so i get one to keep her quiet,asking her if she is sure it's the sort she wants,,we get it home and ,disaster ,the pole is the wrong width and won't go into the hole ,grrrrrrr :-,women ,what part of [are you sure it's the right sort], don't you understand, he he,so there's the grandson and me ,in the belting rain ,putting a new line up,for her ,grrrrrr again. :P
If it dosn't prove to be a go ,i will have to find a new metal spike ,dig out a square of turf ,sink a square hole,concrete the spike well in ,and fill in the hole ,replacing the turf to level it off,soooo peeps ,when you see the next pic of the garden ,and think ,hey ,the clothes line has moved ,yep ,you are right ,women ,who will have 'em ,he he.
Any way ,you Aussies are to blame ,seeing as one of you ,invented the perishing thing in the first place :P .
The grandson Sean and wife are here for a couple of weeks,so i will be a tad busy showing them around town ,it having changed so much in 6 years ,they wo'nt know it..have to toddle off for now ,but will be back later,nearly the holiday weekend here ,and rain forecast for the whole three days =I , sounds about right don't it .lol Fred. :D xxxx

No mistakin' you blee'n gold-diggers, Mare! A rare visit from Michael, in Dundas. Nothin' new with me in the last few years, the numbers just get bigger, and less significant... still working and gardening. I need to get a life!
I just keep my eye on what's going on... but this is a true EMERGENCY. Mary, aka Eliza, what IS going on??? GR.. love it and hate it, right???
love to all
Michael

WOW Michael... How lovely to see you again..we have missed you..hope you are not working to hard and enjoying that lovely garden of yours..
Yes that is me finding a nugget a few years ago..down in the victorian golden triangle.Since they had the floods down there the fossickers have come out in droves and are probably having some good finds.

Yes I have been having a few words with GR about my board name.. About 5 emails all told.. What I think has happened is when I had to leave GR they still had my board name on record..So that when I returned they now say someone else has my name and I cant have it..The same thing happened when I left and tried to rejoin GR photo site..It kept telling me my email addy and board name was invalid as someone else had it..they were right it was ME. but they made me use a alternative for both. The only way to get my names I am researching under my posts was to change my board name AGAIN..LOL..Ah well as I say,,Whats in a name,,,You all know who I am so that is the main thing..might play around with it for a bit till I get one I like ..?????
Fred So glad to see you have invested in a good Aussie invention..LOL..you must concrete it in the ground otherwise it wont last..hope you got the one that folds down like a umbrella..saves a lot of space. and keep the mechanism well oiled..heeheehee hows that from a bossy Aussie..LOL...
Edith What ya planting now,,

Well better go and get some of the dreaded done..My maid has the day off,, well she never really had the day on..just dreaming..Have a lovely weekend all ..

Love Mary xxxx
Aka Mary in Sydney...LOL..

Hey Michael....what a treat to see you!!
Mary what is with the name thing...it is a bit weird isn't it. Tell GR to get the other person to change so that you can keep yours...bloody cheek.
Fred, got my plants yesterday, toms, peppers, cukes and various squash. They are in the greenhouse waiting to be planted. We went yard-sale-ing this morning and it was so cold you could see your breath, and its almost June!! We bought Monopoly as I quite fancy playing that again after all these years. So tonight I am going to make spagbol and Norm and I will eat and play (Monopoly of course!!)
Meanwhile I am about to complete my 2011 census online and then cover some boards with velvet so I can start to pin all the jewellery on...chore!!
Nothing else too new.
Lesxx :-)

Hello all, Edith comes in from the balcony at last. I replaced all the carpet and got all the plants lined up. Have been out there all week getting everything done. Got 3 kinds of Toms this year as well as a new variety of basil. All the Herb plants look real healthy so if the weather will co-operate should be a good year. Yes, Fred I have the pots with the false bottom and they do work well, no water seepage, even tho' there is a rubber bladder under the decking. When it rains it all runs down a pipe to the ground below.
Put some hanging baskets together to-day so that is it. Now maybe I can sit and watch all the stuff grow. !!!!
Oue weather has been sunny but still have a cold wind, no more frost forecast but I will not hold my breath.
Nice to see Michael back. Stay well.
Mary, think you should come up with a real nasty name and demand G.R
use it. Saw some bears at the dump site last week but before I could take a pic they ran away uuughh.
Time for my dinner so will get to it. See you soon. Edith XXXXXX

hi Edith ,might have known where you were ,he he,sounds as though you and Les are well sorted now ,despite the lousy weather :O
i got out back this morning and managed the veggie plant replacements,feeding,and got the chives out of their pot ,into the garden,so i have now 2 seperate plants on the go ,and managed to put Salvia in the tubs out front,replacing the dead Fushia ,that succumbed to the terrible winter we have just had.
The tom's are well away too ,as are the peppers ,in the greenhouse .and out the front.I will look in again later ,after dinner,roast pork loin ,spread with a honey glaze [Bu***r the diabeties for today] :P, roast pot's and parsnips,french bean ,swede ,spring cabbage,and garden peas.
The wife has made five little Apple Crumbles [one each] to go with custard,so we are well sorted for dinner ,lol. ;-).
Hope everyone is having a good weekend ,Fred [Of the new piccie ,he he. :D xxx

Hi all We have rain rain beautiful rain..got about 2 inches in my water tub so bring it on and fill the ruddy thing...LOL

Sounds like you are all getting in your spring veg..I am quite envious as I have to wait a few months to do that..Never mind all is looking good in the patio of Mary..LOL..

Quiet life at the moment but that is nothing new..our outings seem to be to the doc and back,,hee hee hee..very exciting..not..

Les..is the house still on the market..and have you found a motor home yet, or have you given that a rest for a while.

Edith.. Glad you are off that balcony at last..LOL..will be lovely when its all grown and you start picking..

They are wanting to bring in a carbon tax here in OZ..Stupid PM,,pandering to the greens..if not she is out of office..Tell me ..how can putting a tax on carbon is going to reduce the greenhouse effect,,all I can see is money changing hands and nothing more,,don't they know that Carbon dioxide is plant food and not a pollutant..A prominent scientist said that OZ contributes .0005% of carbon so any taxing is not going to make any difference to the world me thinks..But so many scientist making a living of millions would lose their jobs if it was proved otherwise so they wont say anything detrimental to lose the funding..They might have to find a real job.
Gets off soap box..LOL

Hope you are all well ...

Love Mary xxxx

Morning Mary ,you too ,we over here get taxed to the hilt ,and are tying our hardest as a country to reduce our carbon emissions so that other countries like Yankie land ,China ,India ,and many other places can increase theirs,it's just a ploy here so that the powers that be can make even more dosh from the down trodden working class [Fred climbs down off his soap box too] he he :P
Now that the weather seems to be improving ,i will get out to do the lawns before doing anything else in the gardens,and trim the fir hedging around the gate posts to tidy it up after the wet spring.
Tomorrow ,i can at last get my leeks in filling the garden up .lol,i even have a few peppers out front ,in buckets,on the patio,so we should do well this year.
Sometime this week i will try to get the planned B B Q done,with all the trimmings ,including some Mc Cains spicy wedges,i did some for Marta and Sean when we were down at Lyneham last ,and they loved them,just hope they enjoy the Bombay potato's as well.
talking of potatoes [crafty lead in eh?] i notice that the barrels are well away so now is the time to start filling them up too ,over the next few weeks.
Glad to hear that your water barrel is starting to fill ,could swap you some water for some sunshine about now .lol.
Going to take my missus ,her morning cuppa now,but should be back later.
Waves to Les ,and Edith who are no doubt busy doing other things :D Fred.xxx

Hi Guys, you just with "stuff" you know how that goes. We are ripping the downstairs bathroom apart in the hopes of adding value so we are off the market for a week or two. Meanwhile we are junking out the garage to make room for my sale this weekend...it just never ends eh?
It was warmish yesterday but there was a cold wind. Noticed that there were tornadoes in Manitoba sure hope they don't head towards you Edith.
Made display boards for the jewllery yesterday and will start "pinning" today.
And on, and on. Sure hope that Michael pops in again??
Lesxx

Morning all, Grey, rainy day so I will be inside for a change. We have had so few warm days ,I have to take advantage of them and enjoy the outside.
Fresh fish has been on my menu, the season has started and the fresh pickeral is mouth watering.!!!! Lucky to have fisher sons who make sure Mom gets a share.
My garden is growing well despite the cool winds, only the basil is not too happy but I changed it to a corner, out of the wind and hope it works.
No, Les we didn't get the tornadoes, too many trees for them to pick up enough speed. Thank goodness.
See you too are busy Fred. Nice to have the young ones around isn't it?
Must get busy and tidy this apt of mine, things need picking up etc. stuff i neglect when I rush outside hee hee.
Off to work, Edith XXXXXXX

Hi Edith,can i ask ,what on earth is Pickerel ,lol, this is a new one to me ,something exotic perhaps?
Glad to hear that you are well under way with the herb garden ,we are doing well now too,and all our planting is finished at last,and now it's just watering ,feeding and pest control ,i hope .
We were out yesterday at Tiddly Bay showing the grand daughter the sea side ,which she has never seen before ,coming from ,well inland Poland ,by heck ,she was entranced ,spending two hours searching rock pools for crabs and fish,and wandering along the beach.
Later in the afternoon the two young'ns went into the town centre and the amusements, leaving us to enjoy the beach and our usual watering hole ,for the summer time [where ] her he :-0.
Anyway ,today with the sun at last showing it's face ,we are off to Beamish and the open Air Museum,for most of the day.
The B B Q is on for tomorrow ,when it's supposed to be fine and sunny,we couldn't have it before because Marta was feeling the cold.
We were suprised to learn that this last winter ,it was ,up here in the north anyway ,as cold as Poland,and that over there at this time of year ,it is up to 23 to 28c cor ,i wish he he :-\.
Time to go anyway ,we need to be out very shortly ,so i will be back later ,Fred :-) xxx

Morning, Yes, Fred you can ask and the answer is it is a fresh water fish.It's other name is wall-eyed pike. Of all the fish we have in our lakes this is the prefered one. It is a firm, fine flaked creamy white colour and can be cooked many ways. Just salt, pepper a bit of butter and 3 minutes each side is my favorite.
As we are a tourist area folks pay a lot of money to get here as soon as the season opens to get their fill. We also have several kinds of trout and small carp, 3 kinds of bass, ling, sturgeon, muskie, and a few more.
Fishing here is also a sport as we have catch and release too.
There with is my fish sermon of the day.
Off to finish up some garden chores so will see you soon. Edith XXXXX

Morning all,, We have lovely weather..cool and clear at the moment..They say it is going to get a bit colder next week,,We will wait and see.. :-D

Edith.. Are you still out on the verandah farming...What have you planted so far.. I am thinking of going to the nursery and getting some winter veg,,like carrots, parsnips, and garlic..and see what else they have..my chillies have now died and I need to put something else in..plus get some more pots..

Fred Your BBQ sounds lovely and bet it went down a treat.. Those younguns are going to miss your cooking when they go back.

Les Are you out of that garage yet..when is the big sale..

Quiet life here.. John is much the same,, if not a bit worse..one day at a time..

Have a lovely weekend all

Love Mary xxx <3

Morning Ladies ,wow what a change ,there was Fred looking forward to another early summer day like the one yesterday ,opens the blinkers ,and what to i lamp ,grrrrrr ,windy ,cloudy and gack to normal [ sulks in the corner] he he :-S
I even had an early senior moment yesterday fresh back from the shops and B & Q ,it must have been B & Q upsetting me ,i go there first thing only to find that they have stopped selling the oak chippings used to smoke food on the B B Q ,disgusting i call it,so for a start no smoked Swordfish ,or Haddock.
I then went to Morrison's for the other meats ,bread and eggs ,plus a few other odds and ends.
Getting home ,i open the egg box ,the wire chicken egg container ,and start to transfer the goodies ,and halfway through the job , get distracted by the missus :-P ,who asks if i would like a cuppa , i ask you :-( off on my own ,come in lathered in the heat ,already building up,and what a ruddy daft question he he ,of COURSE i want a drink :-S.
Any way i turn back to the job in hand all hot and bothered ,mind no longer on the job ,lo and behold ,when i turn back to normality ,it's to find out that all the eggs but one are back in the cardboard box :-S ooooops blushes like a maiden caught doing something naughty.
By the time the time came to do the B B Q it was 1500 p m.so there were the young un's on the loungers in the middle of the lawn ,the wife sat at the table under the parasol ,and myself on cooking duty again ,sat at the B B Q ,cap on the top of the napper to protect the centre parting enjoying the sun[at least ,i think that's what it was ] it being a very fleeting visitor this year :-0
It went well anyway ,the grandson and wife enjoying the swordfish even without the smoked flavour ,but they say they won't be buying it at the price it is .
the morrisons sausages they were very impressed with ,saying they were all very tasty and meaty ,very firm,and no fat ,or gristle to be found.
The burgers were also very favoured ,specially the beef steak ones,but the pork ones were as tasty,so it looks like a trip to Morrisons for them once a week when they get home,there being no decent butcher within miles.
Mary ,you could buy yourself a couple of extra troughs and try some pac choi, they should grow okay ,and are very quick off the mark,our two troughs keep us going for three months up until late autumn ,and are great as a salad leaf ,and in stir fry's.
The other grandson Chris will be back today by early afternoon ,but i have already warned him that there will be NO B B Q again today ,i am still tired after yesterdays ,what with the clearing up after yesterdays.
You two should be fine ,along with me ,no e'coli from home grown veggies,when proper feeders are used ,not like some countries who never learn that you can't add animal tissue to feeders ,for either vegetables ,or meat ,it always bites you in the bum sooner or later.
By the time Les can get started with her garden she will be sorted ,and she being a canny lass will be watching what she is buying ,and from where.
Time to go for now peeps , things to do and all that ,hope all are having a great weekend ,Fred. :-D.xxx

Well kids, my sale was a bit of a bust. It was the first hot day we have had, about 30 degrees, and everyone just vanished. Maybe they were in their gardens, at the lake, out at the west coast. Who would know but they certainly weren't doing the sales.

However, dau came to stay for the weekend and help out and we had a great time. We had a Monopoly championship that we started on Friday night and then continued thru Saturday night complete with pizza and wine....we had a lot of laughs, great fun. Haven't played that in years.

Today I am going to start my garden. My neighbour was over yesterday. He's in his 80's and a long time veggie gardener. He planted his seeds yesterday so I think we will be OK. A late harvest, but that is better than none at all. And yes, Fred, what is with all this ecoli. We are very careful when we buy fresh veggies, some countries are automatically suspect, even the USA can have problems and we never buy anything from China. Norm goes out of his way to find local garlic. If we are still in this house I will plant garlic in the fall we did quite well with it last time. I bought organic bulbs online. I think the red german was our favourite.

So I am off to find the sun screen (joy!!) and head out to the garden. Seems like you are all OK except for poor John. Too bad, Mary, after all this time that they cannot help him.
More later. Lesxx

Morning Another very busy week for me. Settled down to-day so I will have time to chat. Our weather is still on a roller coaster, warm, cold, hot very cold. The plants are slowly getting used to it so here's hoping for some good results. I've had several basil plants given to me, of course with the hope of pesto during the summer hee hee.
Too bad about your sale Les, people are funny about the weather hhmmm. Try it on a crappy day and maybe they will come out.!!!
We had a fish dinner planned for the Centre to-nite,but the fish could not be shipped out of the north????I hope someone can get an explanation for that.? Had to postpone it to next month.
Going to a "Seniors"day in a town near us,on Saturday. The Seniors club there is putting it on so hope the weather stays warm as I'm sure it will be outside.
Mary, I think your name game with Genes is funny, perhaps if you put up a suggestive pic of yourself they will relent heehee.
Hope your days are getting better, not too cold yet.
Time for me to get on with the day. My apt has been neglected so it's time to clean and tidy. See you soon. Edith XXXXXXXX

Morning Edith ,sorry to hear your fish dish is off the menu,for the time being ,but i will think of you when i go for mine dinner time at the Chippy next to Morrison's ,lol :-D
Could be the cold and storms to the north of you lass ,even a largish vessel can be held up .or frozen in by one of those northers ,we get them here too, up in the Shetlands and nothing moves for days.
We have worse weather thaan you at the moment,down to 5c last night again,and not much better than 17c during the day up here in the north country though it is somewhat better down south.
We ere in drought now as well ,the worst drought on record ,with four counties farmers being banned from drawing water from rivers to feed grain crops,and veggies,methinks Fredneeds to buy a few pounds of plain flour in case we land up having to make our own bread in the fall :-S,thankfully we will be okay for veggies and tatties,growing a lot of our own ,even if we no longer have allotments .
Having said that ,i am having to go out back early in the mornings to water my veggies with watering cans ,paying extra care to the leeks and onions ,to stop them going to seed in the dry conditions,i reckon we are in for an expensive year end with every thing being in short supply and going up in price.
I am already getting a couple of extra cans of gas in ,hunting supplies of cured logs for the fire ,and dreading using extra mains gas and electric because of the hiked prices because of greed from the energy companies and excessive profits they are making,i am even more glad now ,that we brought the diesel motor which nearly doubles the mileage we used to get from our petrol car.,these days ,it all helps,it's only a pity that our powers that be cannot be as assertive as the French and Canadians and hammer the likes of esso ,British gas ,and exon,threatening to close them down and bring back the national coal board and the like.
They won't o it of course our government are scared of their own shadow ,never mind tell these people to get their act together or else, RBS included. :-(.
Time to go anyway ,things to do and all that ,lol. :-D.
Have a nice weekend all Fred.xxxx

Hi Guys, gonna try my sale again this weekend. Put an ad in the paper again and they misspelt one of the words. Now I wonder if anyone will see past that???
We have someone interested in our van and are hoping they will come thru. Norm has his eye on a Ford Escape and we would be able to tow up to about 3500 pounds with that.
Weather was cold and blustery yesterday but has started out sunny this morning. Fred, at the moment, they say that, as a country, Canada has the weirdest weather of all. Flooding, still snow in some place, heat waves, tornadoes and forest fires. Here in town the city is doing a door to door approach to the possibility of there being a serious tsunami. And so it goes....
More later. Lesxx

Morning Les' i am glad that we don't get the extremes here that you seem to cop all the time,yes we have the odd forest and heathland fires and it can [and is at the moment] hot one day and cold the next ,but we don't get tornadoes ,only junior members of the family,and the last tsunami that hit wales was a few hundred years ago .
Hope your new sale will go like a bomb for you ,despite the gaff on the spelling ,you could ask for a discount on the next advert and see if they bite ,lol.
Havn't heard of Ford Escape but i will google it later and see what comes up,seems as though it can pull a decent weight any road so i hope you are lucky with getting one ,and getting rid of the van.
It was only 16c in the house this morning when i got up ,so i have put the heating on for the wife ,and told her to stay in bed until the house warms up a bit ,i don't need her ill again on top of everything else .
Looks like a stay indoor day today ,Hissy was most put out when i refused point blank to go out on the patio for my cuppa with her this morning ,but after a night when we were a tad off frost ,there was noooooo way ,he he.
The car is a lot quieter now after the service so i think the tappets were adjusted ,and the timing moved just a little ,and the brakes have def' been pulled up a little,the only down side was they said there was no cap on the water bottle ,when i know there was ,so i told them this was the second time they have pulled that stunt ,and i wasn't going to pay for a new one this time [told them that i did when they pulled that one when i had the Note,last year] but that it was a lease car ,and THEY pay for all the parts needed.
Anyway ,a new cap is in the post F O C,hmmm. i will be keeping an eye on Nissan in future ,and will also send them an email suggesting that they place a cord on their cars washer caps so that their mechanics can't put them down somewhere off the cars and loose them he he. :-P
Think for dinner today seeing as it is so chilly outside,i will make some kind of curry to warm the cockles of the tickers ,lol.
Hope all are having a good weekend ,Fred.xxx