General Chat

I am really enjoying your memories Carol.Look forward to your next installment .
I have had one long glass of the iced coffee,and very nice it was too.James has juct made up a big bottle of Pimms to take out to his mates when they have the football on t his afternoon.He has given me a nice tall glass of it.Mmm it's good.Lots of fruit floating in it too.Strawberry,apple,orange and mint.

Only me deleting.

Holidays were spent Hop Picking or as we would say dan Hopping.

Don’t know if any of your recognise this song?

HOPPING DOWN IN KENT

Now some say hopping's lousy I don't believe it's true
We only go down hopping to pick a hop or two
Chorus:
With me tee-aye-I, Tee-aye-O, Tee-aye-ee-aye-o.

Now when I went a hopping, hopping down in Kent
I saw old Mrs. Riley a-sweeping out her tent.

Now every Monday morning just at six o-clock
You'll hear the old hoppers calling: Get up and boil your pot

Now Sunday is our washing day, don’t we wash it clean
We boil it in our hopping pots and hang it on the green

Now do you want any money? Yes sir if you please
To buy a hock of bacon, a pound of mouldy cheese

Now here comes our old measurer, with his long nose and chin
With his ten gallon basket, and don't he pop 'em in!

Now when our old pole-puller he does come around
He says: Come on you dirty ol' hop-pickers, pick 'em up all off the ground

Now hopping is all over, all the money spent
And don't I wish I never went a-hopping down in Kent.

Every September when the hops were ready to be picked, farmers would write to workers (usually women and children who didn’t have permanent jobs) in Kent, London, and Sussex . They were invited to come down to Kent, stay in huts on the farm and work in the hop gardens for 6 weeks. For many Londoners, living in a dirty, polluted city, this was seen as a holiday in the country. The same families would come 'hopping down in Kent' year after year.
Pickers' huts were usually made out of tin. They were often arranged in a block so pickers could share washing and cooking facilities and a communal toilet. Cooking often took place in the communal "cooking hut"
Most pickers brought belongings with them to make their huts feel like home. We even covered them in wallpaper. 'Fagot' beds were made up using sticks and whole families shared one room for their 6-week stay. If tin huts weren't available pickers were sometimes accommodated in old animal sheds or tents.
Some of the pickers did not need to stay in huts – they were travelling Gypsies who came to the farm with their own caravans and trailers.
Many of the pickers lived in army surplus tents, huts were built when health and hygiene benefits were recognised, and I remember sleeping in both a hut and in my granddads tent. We would travel down to Kent in the back of my Uncle Alf’s lorry, the only problem was he didn’t own the lorry he worked for Sunlight Laundry and would use he’s work vehicle to transport us and all our belongings.
We saw the annual hop to Kent as a 6-week holiday so we wanted to have a great time. If they had the money the adults would go off to the local pub, if not we would make our own fun around the campfire. Sundays were a day off and visitors would come down from London to join in the fun in the countryside.

Afternoon All,

Dare I say it...more Sunshine! Spoke to a neighbour this morning whose wife is in Bahrain staying with their son this week. She told him the temperature yesterday was 52 degrees!! She said you have to breathe differently in those temperatures. Pheeuuw!!!!

Planted some foxgloves for next year this morning. Candy somethingorother........the flowers turn upwards so it should be interesting to see what they are like. 2 tomatoes are ready, but my cues are tiny yet......not ready to eat like Janes.

Love your memories Carol, I hadn't realised catholic schools were quite so strict. My MIL still shops every day and knows all the assistants by name. I used to love Lemon Stodge pudding and custard we had at school and a chocolate tart pudding. I must say I wasn't a very fussy eater and enjoyed most of the school dinners apart from lumpy mashed potato and brussels.

That was a surprise then on the FMP site Mandy. I'm doing my stint now, but listing what I want before I start to make more use of the time this time!!

Shirl have Pm'd you .

Mandy, thanks for the piccie.......you look blissful in all the bubbles!!!! I was looking at some on a website last night and I really do like the idea of them, especially being able to put it away. The hard bit would be persuading OH though, but I showed him the piccie and it made him smile!! That's a start. lol I have found lots of rellies and some wives and families I didn't have before on FMP this afternoon. I whizzed along, but it was very slow to start with. It would have cost a lot in credits so I am quite chuffed.

Getting tea now, new pots and salad with chicken and ham pie.

Well I feel exhausted and I have done very little today.It's just too hot for me now.I watched the football and fell asleep for some of it.I'm pleased we won.There will be a lot of happy people tonight.

I remember watching the Darling Buds of May when they all went off to Kent to do Hop Picking.The children had great fun.

There are 2 cucumbers ready to pick but I will leave them until the one in the fridge is finished.They are small cucumbers about 6 " long.It looks like we will have a load of them.

Ann thanks for email.You are right it is Red Valerian.
Mandy that spa looks great.Is it easy to get in and out of?

Some little b****r has eaten all the flowers off my Petunias !!!!!

Yes Jane its easy to get into ,i put one leg over and then bring the other leg over ,but if your short you can bring one leg over and sit on the side to get in, it won't tip up because the weight of the water .
The bottom is pumped up so its lovely and comfortable ,they are easy to put together .
Have a Google there's a site that shows how to pump them up and fill.

I'd love one Mandy but I think OH would say it would flatten his lawn lol.Miserable old so and so !!!!.Next door has a swimming pool which we have used in the past ,but it has a leak and they haven't used it for the last few years.
I never did get my paddle at Southwold this year as it was a bit too choppy and I didn't fancy walking around with wet trousers lol

Sorry only me deleting again.I'm fed up with this today.It has been a real pain posting.

OK made my coffee in blender with crushed ice/ice cream
was sooooo smoooth-----think the next time will use flavor coffee Irish cream---or just a drop of leal thing Brandy..

see England just had --l-0 score
we picked berrys in summer holidays lived close enough to bus there and back at night--But some familys did stay all summer in hut's & tents.Then in fall we potatoe picked for a couple of week's ---Remember I made 12 shillings for an 8 hour day--and on a good farm as much veggies as you could carry free. Trust me i had army bag lolxxxx

also brought a lots of baby rabbits home had been dug up.
would take them to pet shop make a few bob.

Have you got a patio area Jane, it would stand on there ,you don't have to put it on grass ,ours is on the patio.

Mandy we have a big patio but its full of pots ,gazebo and things.So his excuse would be there is not enough room !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.He just doesn't want a spa lol.Ba Humbug!!

Shirl a drop of Baileys sounds good ,or that Kaluha(sp) in the coffee sounds good.My son just finished off the jug I made up .
When I was on Vancouver Island we picked tons of Blueberries,just like we would pick blackberries here.Blueberries are very expensive to buy here.

WOW Mandy-----Ester--Williams---look out we have our own bathing beauity lol xxx
For goodness sake dont let Frank see it ---You him xxxxxxx
SorryI dont get Look mag here so cant see pic Jane

Somehow it always managed to rain during June when a huge group of travelling showmen congregated on Newcastle Town Moor for what is known locally as The Hoppings.

This year they have had very warm dry weather, and it's clashed with the World Cup.

Quiet here tonight.I hope Frank hasn't got carried away with his electric secateurs and done himself damage,or got too carried away with Englands win this afternoon lol
I'm away to bed now ,so I will be up very early to do the walk.I can't believe I was down the lane at 7.30 this morning.That is unheard of for me lol.
Night Night everyone xx.

Taken me ages to read all the postings, will try to spend a bit of time with you tomorrow.

Been to the garden center today but only bought a new parasol for the caravan for a tenner and 12 goldfish for £20.

Went to Hols. on the way back and bought some chicken food and another of those squashy buckets a bit bigger than the others I have. I use one for puting water and feed in in the tunnel.

We have been eating our new pots out the tunnel and I forgot to tell you. Have also had three courgettes so far. Shallots are nearly ready and some cabbages and the summer brocolli is almost there with some nice heads coming on the plants.

Jane in the Darling Buds of May they lived in Kent. OH used to work in the hop fields as he is from Kent. He told me all about it. How the plants could rip your skin off. Also an aunt of mine always went hop picking with her kids and used it as a holiday.