General Chat

It is lovely and sunny here at the moment but very windy which is not pleasant for gardening. Having had the two men team here yesterday pressure washing two patios and redoing the wooden edging on three places, I have just spent half an hour in the garden, I cut the small piece of lawn that is left on a high cut but it was well trodden by their big feet and, as it was already damp the grass is a bit flattened. Still I tidied it up. Then I went round the garden picking up my tools they had borrowed and not put away and discovered a bit behind the smaller patio where all the gunge has been swept by the water onto my slate hosta bed and that is also where they moved pots to and have not put them back. so an email has been sent to prepare them for what needs doing when they visit to finish off the patios with sand next week. They are very good and have done a lot of good things in the garden but they seem good at the hardware heavy stuff but not the more delicate jobs. they are self named (I think) landscapers but not plants men. Still they are willing and work well, don't take lots of breaks etc. And the garden is much easier to manage now.
And I have just heard from Jake, very apologetic saying he will sort it out next week for me.

I had a phone call from glos hospitals booking office but they wanted me to go to Tewkesbury for an appointment next week. I can't get there easily by bus so I rang them back and they are going to try and sort one at glos Royal. This is to see a consultant to discuss what the op will entail.
And now my downstairs phone has gone wrong. It receives calls on the answer phone but I can't call back, and don't think I can make calls. Luckily the one in my office will take and make calls.

I am sure it will recover once it gets a bit warmer and you'll be surprised how it gets going again.

I had a couple of patches where the phesant had his corn each night and that was bald but since I lost poor od Phil it has grown back lovely now. Also there is a patch where I go to the end of the chickens run to put fat sticks on the corner each morning for the Robin and thats now just a muddy mess but I jknow once it gets dryer it will grow again.

Good morning all. 8 degrees here now (8am) and fairly bright. I slept better last night except, I was in bed at 10.30 and woke with a start at 12.05 with reflux, ugh, I hate that because it makes me take ages to go back to sleep worrying it will happen again. First time for that in over a year although I do get heartburn quite a bit. I got up and walked around and had a drink of water. eventually dropped off again about two and woke at 0530 so not too bad.

Mandy poor pigeon, I know hawks have to eat and have to live, and are beautiful birds but sometimes nature does seem cruel.

Mel I am sure the swallows will be later than the wren with their nesting you will have to put up a notice "please form an orderly queue"

Ann I like carveries but I don't like the sound of those veg. I prefer it when they do cauli cheese or leeks in white sauce as well as cabbage (that is not chewy).
Yes the garden is coming together. I am now going to wait and see if the lawn that is left recovers as with all the tramping around on it yesterday it is looking sad. I don't want to have to get rid of lawn completely but if it doesn't recover it may have to go.

Morning all,

The suns just coming up a bit more now so it may be another niceish day. 6 degrees and mostly cloudy by the pc so will have to see how the day pans out.

Must do some ironing today and have a tidy upo incase BIL comes tomorrow or even today!!

Hope you all slept better last night. I went to bed at 12.27 and woke at 7.23am and did'nt get up in the night for the loo. Feel a lot better this morning but have hip ache.

Forgot to answer about the Swallows. They have been coming for many years to the same place so I expect they will come back this year. I have three nests in the filter shed but the one they used last year (the first ever made in there) is the biggest and was made taller last year. It could be my fault as I opened the fan light window in there a bit more as it get very damp in there.

Evening Miss Marple I bet your hoping that was a temporary delivery driver and now the old ones back. Its not good that they turn or park in your driveway. Could you not speak to the shp owner who sends the papers out? You need a NO PARKING OR TURNING sign like they have for no hawkers etc.

Not done much today but feel very tired so I think an early night is what I need.

Hope Anng sleeps better tonight and Vera too.

Evening All,

Brrr it's cold outside now and a bit breezy! Only a glimmer of sun today, mostly dull.

If the Wren chooses a nest let's hope she likes another better than the Swallow's nest. How long have the Swallows been returning Mel? Tudor man will soon be in the post hopefully then and off to a new home. :-D

Yes it is annoying to have to pay the same standing charges whatever fuel you use, as you can't make any savings on that. I suppose the maintenance of the pipelines etc is the same for everyone regardless of what fuel we use though. There are some that have no standing charges at all, but obviously they charge more per unit for the fuel used.

Mandy that sounded gruesome with the poor Pigeon. I wonder if the shock caused it to lay an egg? I bet the children were excited about World Book Day. OH said they had been talking about it at the schools he goes to and the Head Teacher tonight was dressed up as something he couldn't recognise. He said most of the little girls seemed to be princesses.

More progress today with your garden then AnnG and nice clean slabs. I go to bed really early these days as it can take ages for pain to settle and you get to a point beyond which you just can't nod off. Frustrating isn't it when you want to sleep and it just won't happen. I hope you have a better night tonight.

We had a fresh 30% off voucher for the carvery so went there for lunch. They didn't mention on the voucher that it was just for a normal size carvery this time (small is usually enough for us) so not such a good saving and the carrots were quite hard and they did Kale which we found chewy. Never mind, it save me cooking and the rest was ok. :-) We called in the factory shop afterwards and bought 2 bath towels, a pack of thick boot socks for footie for OH and a pack of 4 plastic lidded containers for the freezer batch cooked portions. Someone was stabbed to death in the road we went along at the same time yesterday. It seems you aren't safe any time of the day or anywhere anymore. It's quite a small old coaching town and not a rough area at all.

I leapt out of bed early when I heard a car pull up to deliver the paper and saw it was parked on the road in front of next door's bungalow next to our drive like used to happen, but it was a different car! Now I'm wondering (hoping!) it is the regular delivery person and that the one parking on our drive was temporary or filling in for someone. Miss Marple has left her car at the bottom of our drive again to see who comes with the paper tomorrow. :-)

Two patios and a path pressure washed - wonder how much water that put on my meter. Definitely looks cleaner but difficult to tell until it all dries out. Small patio down the end of the garden has already had sand and weed killer added, just waiting for rain to wash it off. I had forgotten how pretty the bricks were on that patio lots of different colours.Top patio has larger cracks between paving stones now filled with water so the sand will wait until next week.

Then three long strips of log roll hammered in. That looks nice and tidy now.
It was a long job about four hours.

Just two jobs left on the list now. Two hand rails for the steps and one seat needing painting.

Come over all cloudy now and we've had a biting wind all day. I have put my Tudor man on Ebay.

No I don't think there was any photos Mel .

Cloudy here and looks more like rain is on the way as the clouds are getting black .

Sounds like great fun Mandy did they take a picture???? Would love to see one please.

Yes I thought I would just leve the nest as last year the swallows laid 5 eggs in the nest and that was that thye disappeared a while later.

I believe the male Wren makes about three nests and the Mrs chooses which one to lay in.

Afternoon all,

Sounds as if there might be a bit of nest Share going on ,hopefully Jenny Wren will have finished with the nest before the Swallows want it.

Yesterday we heard a thump on the conservatory window ,a bird had gone into it ,we think it was a Hawk that had a pigeon as there was so many pigeon feathers outside and some blood and looking on the camera we saw a flash of brown as the bird flew off with something in its beak.
There was liquid all down the window and when I went out to wipe it I could see it was all yellow like the yolk of an egg .
What a job we had to sweep up all the feathers ,the poor thing must have been bald by the time the bird took it off .

Been shopping this morning and called and got eggs for son so dropped them off and had a coffee ,dil was at work and as its World book day she had gone into work dressed as the Cat in the hat and Lewis went as Harry Potter.

If she is going to use it Mel I would leave it, it is not our place to interfere with nature I think. The swallows will sort it if necessary.

8 degrees here now too. I keep meanimng to say that Jenny Wren has taken over the swallows nest in the big ponds filter shed. She has loads of moss up the back of it and round the edge. Now I am not sure whether to remove it as the swallows may want it again this year. What do you think?

I think I was probably over tired. Fell ok today so must have had enough to keep me going. Jake has just been to check jobs and is coming back in an hour or so to power wash the patios at the back, clean off the wall to the wall garden outside the conservatory and lay some lawn edging around a couple of beds. 8 degrees now.

Suns our a bit here and its now 8 degrees.

Morning all,

Not such a nice morning today pc says strong gusty winds in an hour and 6 degrees and its very dull and grey.If we could have as many sunny days as we have grey ones everyone would be happy.

Another Thursday has come around. the weeks are flying by to me.

Sorry you had a bad night Anng you would have thought with all the walking you had done you would have slept really well last night.

Good morning all. a bit misty this morning not a thick fog (yet) like yesterday. Hopefully we are going to get some sun it is 6 degrees and no frost.

Yes Vera it was a bit tiring on my legs but I enjoyed it, good to be walking around in the sun. Unfortunately I didn't sleep well, Just could not get to sleep, no reason but was still awake well after 2am. I then sort of slept in snatches so am tired this morning, nothing planned except Jake is going to call round to discuss the next job.

Apologies ladies, I seem to have missed your afternoon posts earlier.

It sounds as though you have had a good day AnnG but it sounds quite tiring. Perhaps you’ll sleep well tonight.

I hope you get the camellia you want Ann and I hope that chap takes the hint now you’ve positioned your car differently.

You are right Mel about giving with one hand and taking away with the other but, having said that, our electricity bill went down by a reasonable amount last month even though I feel I am using more power. We pay by monthly direct debit so I suppose it could go up again at any time.

GREAT NEWS FROM EDF

The cost of using energy is going down from 1 April.

With global energy prices falling the energy regulator, Ofgem, has reduced its energy price cap*. This means that overall energy spend will fall significantly for the vast majority of customers - and that is despite the fact Ofgem has also increased some standing charges due to increased costs. You don’t need to do anything or call us, as the changes will be automatically applied.

Ofgem reviews the energy price cap every three months to make sure prices are fair and reflect the cost of energy. From April the energy spend for a "typical household" on a standard tariff will go down to £1,690 per year from the current £1,928 - that’s a reduction of £238*.


Yeh yeh yeh they give it in one hand and then take it with the other.!!!!!!!! Then it says:-

What does this mean for me?

Electricity You currently spend £1,512.05

New spend from 1 April 2024 £1,352.47

Change in spend (over next 12 months) £-159.58



These annual spend estimates are based on your energy use from last year. They assume no further price changes. They include any relevant discounts, or charges like VAT, but don't include any Warm Home Discount rebate.

They put up the standing charge so do we really get cheaper leccy I ask myself?????