General Chat

Morning all,

Mel, could we have some of your sunshine, it's raining here and should be like that all day when it does brighten up it seems to rain harder .

Anng sounds as if you need to give the leg a rest today hope it soon feels better .

Pain killers seem to be helping now I had quire a good day yesterday, just have to be careful what I eat

Morning all,

Nice bright sunny morning and BIL is supposed to be coming early today. Guess what he has just pulled up outside. BBL

O it did'nt post

Back to daughters until next Wednesday Vera..
Those terracotta pots are heavy to lift so plastic is a good idea.
My leg is still painful but the worst part now is that my left lower shin and ankle and top of foot are really painful and won’t take my weight so it really makes walking painful especially going up and down stairs. Luckily we have nothing much planned these few days and it is half GDA. So the world and his wife is up here

Good evening

This is the first chance I’ve had to get back online since I dashed off a bit rapidly this morning. I needed to be very sure that my dearly beloved was going to put the right plants in the right pots. I sometimes think Annx’s OH and mine must share some genes somewhere along the line. They do seem to be two of a kind. I don’t think mine has fallen in a pond yet but I’ve lost count of how many jumpers and shirts he has ruined by catching them on bushes and branches. He never seems to just cause a little snag; he always goes the whole hog and gets a great big tear. Of course there is a bag of old painting and gardening clothes in the utility but he often thinks he’ll only be outside a few minutes, not worth changing.

Mel, you really are getting a lot done outside. Could you send some of your energy this way please. Your poor knees must ache at the end of the day.

AnnG, I’m glad you got back safely. I can’t remember if you were going back to your daughter’s or if you were going home. I hope your cough is a lot easier now and your legs aren’t so sore.

I hope Mandy’s feeling much better and the painkillers are helping.

I got some bedding washed and on the line and that dried nicely; then OH came in and said several of our bigger terracotta pots were falling to bits and we needed to get some new ones. Of course he wanted it done immediately so off we went to our nearest garden centre. I really like proper terracotta but they are so expensive now and they are so heavy to move that we bought 4 plastic ones. I still have some pots and troughs to try and fill and I saw some pretty nemesia so I also got 2 packs of 6 plants. I have a Dobbies card but that’s miles away and we only go there when we are going to the hospital nearby, yet I’ve never got a card for our local garden centre that we use all the time. Anyway I joined up and was glad I did as it saved me £4 on my bill today. On the way back we popped into Sainsbury’s for a few bits and pieces and the rest of the day I’ve been doing odd jobs.

Yesterday we went to the theatre at Colchester. We got there about 5.30 and went into the café bar where I had ham, egg and chips and OH had scampi but the helpings were enormous. Even OH had to leave half his chips and he usually clears his plate. The chap who served us and cleared the plates when we finished said he keeps telling the chef not to dish up so many chips because they just get wasted but the chef keeps piling them on. The show was excellent if you like Carpenters music. There were 7 very good musicians who seemed to be able to play any instrument and act as backing singers too, and an excellent singer. I had to laugh though. As the Carpenters were very much from the 60s and 70s I don’t think there was anyone in the audience less than late middle age and it did look funny with all these grey haired old dears and bald headed old men swaying and waving their hands in the air to the music. There was a standing ovation at the end and you could almost hear the joints creaking and the groans as people tried to stand up.

Annx, your story of the 3 year old’s embarrassing remark made me chuckle and reminded me of a time when my two were around 3 and 5. The Irish couple 2 doors away had just had their 5th or 6th child and I was invited in with my two littl’uns to admire the new baby. We had barely got inside before my youngest, in his loudest voice, said “Mummy, this house smells” (it did!!). I had to try to wriggle out of it by saying something stupid like “That’s a lovely, milky, new baby smell”. Thankfully he was distracted by one of the other children showing him a toy and I bent rapidly over the cot so no-one would see me blushing.

Time is getting on and I still have things to do this evening so I’ll bid you all goodnight. Sleep well.

Iv'e cut down loads and filled the big trailer up and left loads onthe grass cut down the Weigela as it was dead at the back. cut more off the fig tree and dead stuff out the border. Had down some huge thistles and a sycamore tree out of the Xacodia on the corner. Cut a hawthorn ouut of the borderbut had to come down for a drink and my left knee is hurting so its time to stop.

long a biut further and found my poor Gloxinia

Blast lost the lot I give up.

I can't settle to what I should be doing either Mel. I've just knocked a pile of papers off my desk and now they are all mixed up including the food order I need to add to and the bits of paper to do with the bathroom. I think OH must be having a nap as he hasn't interrupted me for ages! I think I'll get a COT and start again. :-(

That's good you are back and settled now AnnG and that you found a garden centre to have lunch at on the way. Yes I have an idea some were behind a Fuschia so I will have to have a careful poke around as you say. Come to think of it, he's also removed the dying leaves from some pink bluebells that have travelled with me from other house moves, but I know they are under the sprouting leaves of a cordyline that's regrowing, so I can dig those out giving the clump a wide berth with the spade. I should have known what he would be like in the garden when we got together and he 'helped' weed my garden years ago and he told me proudly that he'd cleared the weeds I had in an old half buried metal bucket. It was my mint I had carefully planted in the bucket so it wouldn't spread everywhere! Another time he came to help, I left him to halve a big clump of yellow flags in my small pond while I popped out on an errand. When I got back I was surprised to see him at the pond sporting a pair of my very bright floral shorts! He'd only managed to fall in the pond hadn't he. He'd had to go and rummage in my drawers to find something to wear and the shorts happened to fit hm ok.Turning around I saw socks, jeans and underpants drying on my rotary line! lol

As the others have said Mel, it is easy to accidentally log on to American Amazon. Just make sure it has UK in the log in line.


Oh dear Ann can you remember roughly where the chinodoxia are? If so dig loosely with a fork and see if you can retrieve some bulbs. Then put a marker there

We had an uneventful journey back. Stopped for a hour and a half at a big independent garden centre for lunch. Now all unpacked and settled back in.

Yes that made me chuckle to. Three year olds are so knowing.

Even though BIL is'nt coming I still can't get into anything and I should cos lots needs doing inside and out. May just go and cut off the big thistle heads so they don't self seed all ove the garden.

Afternoon All,

Still dull, but dry and no wind. OH and I popped to the shop, then had lunch and now I really must send an email to bathroom place for more answers! Speaking of which I have now had 5 more scam emails today. I can't believe all these prizes I am supposed to have won!! lol. They've all been reported now.

Yes, Vera is right Mel. It sounds like you missed clicking on the UK Amazon account. I have done it myself before now.

I hope you have a good journey back AnnG and that your sore throat and cough are much better now. The white Peacock sounds nice, I have never seen one, but wonder if it has the coloured tail. I love to watch the baby bunnies together.

Mandy I hope the painkillers are helping with the pain and that you are getting on better with them now. It's a devil when you take something to help you and then that gives you a different problem.

Vera, I thought the front garden had got away unscathed from OH but was wrong. He's managed to dig up a big patch of small, yellow flowered little alpine type plants with leaves like small irises that I specifically told him to leave as I haven't got any in the back garden and was going to move them there. There are 3-4 tiny pieces left so I will have to nurture those. I asked him to leave the pink Chionadoxa leaves that were dying off so that I would know where they are when I dig them up. No chance, every trace of them gone now, so I will probably chop the bulbs up when I go digging. The garden bin was collected this week so I can't try and find anything in there to rescue either. Perhaps I should have married a Monty Don or Alan Titchmarsh! Still, he won't mind me buying replacements.........but you can't always find them to buy these days.

I read something in the paper yesterday that made me chuckle. You may have already seen it. A man said that they had a friend who, unannounced, would often just pop round for a chat and coffee. They heard his car pulling up one day and the man was really busy and didn't want to be held up, so told his wife to duck behing the sofa and they both touched their lips to indicate to their three year old to be quiet. Eventually the man drove off again. When he turned up the following day, they let him in and the three year old immediately piped up and said to him 'don't worry, we aren't hiding from you today'. Imagine the embarrassment and the shock on the visitor's face!

Thanks Vera I will try that.

BIL just phoned and he's not coming today so I can get on with what I want to do. Done some ironing so thats out of the way.

A bit dull and cloudy at the moment but not too cold. Mel, are you going into Amazon.com? If so try going into Amazon.co.uk and the prices should be in sterling.

OH is calling to show him what I want done with some plants. BBL.

Morning Anng and all,

Quite a bright morning here and pc says 12 degrees and partly sunny. BIL is due today so another day I shan't get on.

I shall have to ask him about my Amazon account as when I go into it it gives me all the prices in dollars and I changed it to pounds and pence but it keeps going back and telling me it can;t ship to my address. I hav'nt been on there for months since Christmas.

Good morning all, alll packed and just about to clear up ready to leave. Very grey and damp looking but not raining at the moment. It must be dry as the peacocks are around again they don’t like the wet. There are lots of tiny baby rabbits out on the grass and yesterday a blackbird was feeding his baby right outside our patio door on the. Seal o y. He had a piece of bread which he held I. His beak so the bs y could peck at it.
There is also a completely white peacock.

Evening All,

A chilly day here, but no wind and some sunny spells this afternoon. We lay in this morning as OH had 400 pages to read for his voluntary meeting yesterday. He said everyone was complaining when they gave them another 100 pages to read during the meeting, so he had a nice rest this morning, but is out again now. Last night I couldn't seem to get my right knee in a position where it didn't start aching after a few minutes and it was the same when I woke up this morning. I expected it to be bad today, but when I stood up and walked about it went off. All I have done today is get lunch, pop to the shop and catch up with some admin, so I have lots to do tomorrow.

Vera you sound as if you got on about as well as I did yesterday! You'd never think someone carrying a washing up bowl had lots of seed packets in it! lol. It is annoying when systems for getting our meds change. Our chemist used to have our tablets ready to just pick up, but not anymore, which means there is always a queue now while people wait for them to make them up. I don't remember Minadex either, but I do remember being given some Famel Medicine out of a flat, faintly bluey green tall bottle when I was ill in bed and it tasted foul and made me screw my mouth up. It looked like clear water and I can see that teaspoon zooming towards my mouth now! I also had syrup of figs but didn't mind that or the codliver oil and malt.

Mel, I used to like to enter local shows as you know and have had some successes and didn't signed any of my paintings through lockdown as they obviously don't accept signed ones, as they need to be anonymous for the judging. But sadly we haven't had any local shows since the pandemic and I keep looking out for them. I expect it is an area where the council can save money. You have been busy with your miniatures and it is a good idea to make things that others don't, as people will want to buy things they don't often see. I hope you feel a bit brighter watching the Carpenter's Tribute tonight. We like them too.

It's a shame it was wet again for you today AnnG and that other people wanting to keep out of the rain had the same idea so it was a bit crowded inside. It's a pity your legs are very sore and the steep stairs wouldn't help. It triggers too much pain if I try to climb steep stairs with my short legs and bad knees, but I can carefully manage the very shallow ones. Maybe all the walking you have been doing has made them sore.

It looks like it should be dry and sunny tomorrow so I think I will get some more washing done and see if I can do a little stint of weeding again. I need to email the bathroom people with some questions too!

Hope you enjoyed the show Vera you will have gone now. Hope oh enjoyed it.

BIL turned up here quite late with the new belt for the mower and he tried to get it on but has failed so he's gone home and will ne here tomorrow.

I have been sorting my meal worms for Robbie. I have to keep them clean and have been sorting out the sizes which takes ages but I now have a good lot of big ones I have grown on and sort ed the beetles that lay the eggs and got those in clean litter. I have gone from porridge oats to bran now as I think its going to be easy to sive them.

We have had two wet days now. We were soaked yesterday getting from the car park to the visitors centre and then back to the house. The house was interesting but crowded, everyone wanting a day in the dry. And as for my legs, they are very sore today as there were lots of quite steep stairs in the house. Today is not quite so wet but still wet and Misty and yesterday we were driving in Thick fog.
We have been to Morpeth today a walk round the shops in the rain then lunch in an Italian restaurant, good food bad service. Just having a rest before packing..
Yesterday the internet was down from the afternoon until ten o’clock this morning.

You did well winning all those local show awards in the past Mel. With luck, you'll find a couple of categories to enter this year. I'm sure you'll win something again.

It's been cloudy and not very warm all day and now the wind is getting quite gusty but at least the rain has stayed away today.

I had a dreadful night, eventually falling asleep some time after 7 am and being woken by a noise outside at 9.30 so I have been tired and grumpy all day. All I want now is a drink and a sleep but instead we have to go out. Many moons ago we used to quite like The Carpenters brother and sister duo and OH loved Karen Carpenter's voice so when I noticed there was a tribute to them on at the theatre in Colchester and it's OH's birthday week I bought tickets. It's only on for one night and our plan was to go down early and have a meal in the theatre cafe/bar before going to the show. I couldn't feel less like going out but I can't disappoint OH by not going (or waste the money I shelled out for tickets). .We want to leave here around 4.45 pm so I had better go and change and tidy myself up.

Its quite windy here too Mandy and still a grey sky. I have had a little hind out the back this morning but hav'nt taken a pic. Robbie is still feeding his chicks like crazy and eating me out of house and home. Must fill the bird feeders up today but I am getting the Jackdoes and they eat everything in site and are so noisy.

Morning all,

Very overcast here today we have had the sun peep through for five minutes then it was gone ,its 13 degrees and might get to seventeen, its also quite windy .