General Chat

Morning to all ,from old Blighty ,sun is out ,the grass is rize ,i wonder where our Freedie is ?
Out in the garden as soon as i post this ,that's where ,he he .
yep John is lucky in a way Mary ,like other people you mentioned ,my ankle was painful to walk on for months when i had the pot taken off,mainly because the plate ,pin & nail used to put the bones back together were left in,and even now years later ,if i sit down and laze around for a few days ,the area softens ,and i have a week of pain when i become active again.
You may see me complaining of a bad year yet Mary ,we have drought here ,and into the winter,and even now have a forcast of two dry weeks :-S,what in heck has happened to our weather ,lol.
It will be a case of watering my veggies ,and other gear with watering cans ,and devil taking the lawns ,lol
I got the porch pointing repaired last evening ,and only have it to sand down now before i put the brick paint on to more or less finish the whole porch off,so i issss off to a good start to the season :-D.
All is tikkity boo over the road ,the machines have moved off well up the road ,and the soil is back in place ,he he ,within three months there will be no sign of all the flats left at al ,and then we can look out and see grass and trees as far as the eye can see ,yippee.
Bet getting John out for that meal has cheered him up Mary and a nice meal for you too ,nor having to make it yourself ,as well time you got spoiled a bit too.
I had a good chuckle when i read somewhere a couple of days ago that someone ,either in Canada ,or Oz tried to get a rellie some good old Italian tomatoes .tinned, into the country because they were unavaiable to them ,only to have them siezed by customs as being dangerous Heeeeello ,seeds yes ,but canned tomatoes? Dangerous ? maybe if the person taking them into the country threw them at the customs agent yes ,but how can a fruit in a sterelized tin be ar risk of bringing a disease into a country,? the mind boggles. :-S.
Hope everyone has had a good weekend ,and our Les is resting her hands ,before taking up scissors and needles of any sort again.
catch you later folks, Fred is off into the wild garden yonder ,spade at the ready ;-) :-D <3

I am doing nothing!!!! Norm wont let me. He purposely will not light the wood stove so that I cannot go down and sew....says that I must be patient and we don't want to go thru this again....guess he right.

Fred my Dad is a gardener extraodinaire, always has been, and in his younger days had three greenhouses 2 at my Gran's and one at home. Now he, at 98, only uses the conservatory off the living room. Each year, apart from starting enough bedding plants for himself and the neighbours, he grows maybe 6 to 8 tomato plants. His favourite tomato is Shirley. Expensive seeds but large well formed fruit and incredibley tasty, sometimes one tomato may weigh 8 oz. he says he gets 6 trusses per plant and enough toms to keep the entire neighbourhood happy. I tried to get the Shirley seed here but it appears to be "unavailable" in Canada....maybe a bit like those canned toms. You might have a look for that seed, you still have time to start it??

Raining and windy and sunny all at once today. Calling for snow tonight and all thru next week,hopefully they are wrong. The garden is coming along but really needs some TLC. Soon!!

Mary I am glad that John was able to get out. Are you getting any help at all?? housework? bathing John etc?? Take care of you!!

Edith we hardly watch the news either altho here in BC we have other issues apart from a crap provincial government and we do try and keep up with that stuff. Teachers on strike, nurses talking about a strike vote and the BCGEU (government employees) also without contract. They all want more money and who will pay.....well all of us of course. When they are all getting 5 -10% over the next 5/10 years....what are the rest of us getting....nothing except 5-10% more taxes. What a world we live in !!

More later. Lesxx

YYYAAAYYY Good old Normie..Keep that woman out of the basement...make sure she does as she is told... :-D :-D

Fred.. John had to have metal plates and screws in his ankle as well..The specialist said one screw would break but not to worry as he wants it to..Glad he warned us.. :-D :-D :-D..We go back to see him next week and the ankle is looking good,despite the enlargement due to all the ironmongery..He cant get a shoe on yet so he is going places with his slippers on..

I have Kin Care coming tomorrow to see what help I can get,,Would like some help with cleaning the 2 bathrooms as I have a bad back and it wont let me get down far without it hurting..Turning over in bed can be a chore sometimes to.. I take 2 Panamax before going to bed and that helps..There are 2 discs that done like me.. :-(

Glad you are getting out in the garden again Fred.. WE saw on our TV about the drought in your country..seems like its your turn for one... :-D :-D

Our climate change (global warming) scientists predicted back in 2008 that by 2010 we would have nothing but droughts and all the dams would empty and nothing would grow... Well we have just had 2 years of floods and the dams have filled and overflowed for the first time in years so :-P :-P :-P to the stupid scientist..Who we are paying good money to for all this crap...The climate does its own thing and man cant change it,,,,don't get me started... :-D :-D :-D :-D

Have a lovely day all

Love Mary xxxx <3 <3

Afternoon from Fred's Living room ,to quote an old northern saying ,[ Mother your Bairn ] ,ooooouch ,me poor old back to others ,lol.
I Have been out in the garden nearly all morning ,cleared a space for my first tattie barrel to go back ,done it ,and the tatties are in and covered.
Shifted a load of the old compost to four troughs out front ,where i am putting carrots in ,because there is no room out the back ,he he .
All my boxes are now in place along the border and are filled with the old compost ,ready to go.onions in three ,leeks in two ,and some turnip in the others.
All the buckets are now about ready to go again ,just topping up needed and some lime and feeder put in.
My Asparagus buckets are ready again apart from topping up too and feeder putting in,and the missus has cleared the greenhouse out ready to go..
Fred.
having got rid of the unexpected company ,the eldest son ,i will continue ,lol.
Great news about Johns ankle Mary ,it looks as though it's healing well ,and must be a load off both your minds :-).
Nice to hear to that Norm' has put his foot down Les ' you do have to slacken off a good bit until the op' site has healed properly .or you will knock yourself back by weeks ,if not months .
Have heard of the Shirley tomatoes which we can still get here ,but as i still have loads of old seeds to use up from the last two years ,they will be put on hold until next year ,when we will try them.
The upgrade disc for the wife's puter arrived this am ,so i will close for now ,and get cracking with that ,thank goodness for a job that entails sitting down ,he he ,catch you all later Fred :-D <3

Good evening, After a fabulous day, very busy one too,I finally found time to sit for a bit.
The temps are away above normal for this time of year so I won't complain yet :-D Only when they get to +30 do I become a hermit.
Glad to hear you will get some help Mary, shout loud and long, if you don't ,all governments have money for Senior care at home. Let them believe you want to move into a care home and they will back off in a hurry. It costs 3 times as much than if you can manage in your own home.
I know some of our folks have done that and they got home care in no time with nursing service if needed.
After taking care of others for 30 years I know I will raise particular hell if I can't get help. I do have a loud voice too :-)
Have a busy week ahead, we lost another of the regulars at our seniors club on the week-end and the funeral is on Wed. also have a St.Pat's day supper Thurs. and a soup and sandwich luncheon on Friday.
Sat. is a St. Pat's day Tea in a village close to us.
I grow the large globe toamatoes called Champions. Tried the cherry toms but just had too many go to waste. Can't eat them fast enough and all the folks here were stuffed as well. I am planting double the basil this year as so many want to make pesto. It freezes well and has lasted all winter. Makes a great salsa too.
Our time went ahead Sun. so am still getting used to the change everything is an hour later to-day. Time to start my supper so it's bye for now. Edith <3

What a difference this morning Edith ,chilly ,dull ,and miserable ,the only work outside today being ,rub down the repair in the porch ,lol.other than that it's housework grumble ,and take loads of the useless programmes that the new laptops have in them when you buy them these days.:-(.
All the inbuilt games are out of this ,new one now ,and i am now doing a defrag ,after which i should find it a lot faster says Fred hopefully ;-).
I take it you mean by chinese greens Mary you mean Pak Choi ? if so ,try them,they grow quickly are good for stir frys as well as using them for small cabbage with a main meal and the best thing is ,they grow in a small space ,in troughs even ,and you can get at least three plantings a season in the same area ,maybe more in your climate.
We even grew Chinese Leaf last year ,something that is used as a veg ,for a meal here ,or as a sort of lettuce ,which grows well ,and keeps fresh a long time in a fridge.
We are off out this afternoon to stock up on garden stuff ,seeds and other bits and pieces like fertelizer and a few insecticides for red spider mite that i had trouble with last year.
with the shortage of water and the price of eggs ,going through the roof ,my veggie patch is going to be more important than ever ,helping to keep the price of veggies down in my case .
The ppotato too is going to be horrendous price wise ,most farmers down south saying they won't grow them this year because of the drought :-(, i may ,around here land up sleeping during the day ,and keeping toot on the veggies with a shotgun loaded with rock salt over night ,any thieving gits who try it with me will have a bum full of salt on the house free to go home with :-| .
Well i am off for a spot of tiffin now ,back later if the missus allows me to come out to play again.
Catch you all later ,Fred.

Morning to everyone ,hoping all are doing well out there .
Had a good day here anyway ,noting that the rain was due back today i got the back lawn fed ,put my first tattie barrel back in place complete with tatties ,cleared the spent compost to one side and put 'tother barrel back too ,then started moving the old compost into the back garden.
The growing pots on the narrow side of the garden are now fed ,the old compost being used to top them up .ditto to the Asparagus buckets,then onto the greenhouse ,all pots put into place ready for the tomato seeds ,and the benches cleared off ,and one cucumber bucket filled and put into place.
The other bucket for the second cucumber i can't find anywhere ,a complete mystery that one ,knowing me and my memory it's probably in the shed with one of the greenhouse tools in , i will have to have a look later on. :-).
I have fed the nectarine ,and put it back under the window next to the apple tree ,having watered and fed it .
I have a few new urns still to put the holes in before use ,and next week i will start to change the front patio around ,two new Azaliea being brought ready to go in [the big one is going into the front garden ,replacing the Willow in the round bed in the lawn.
Finished off last evening painting the brickwork inside the new canopy and painting the step,before i retired indoors to watch Master Chef [the final] being a bit miffed that Tom ,one of the finalists ,blew his chances by adding Strawberries to an otherwise beutiful own recipe that i feel sure would have won him the title .What ever ,the three of the finalists were told by some of the chef's whose kitchens they used in the series ,that there were jobs waiting for all three of them so their futures are assured.
I went outside this morning and put a second coat of paint on the front step ,so ,out there is finished apart from sealing the wood of the canopy to the brickwork , a nice looking job all told..
Off now to do a bit of work indoors ,then a laze for an hour before going out for some supplies.
Take care all .Fred :-D <3 xxx

Not much going on here as I have been "prone" re: docs orders. Have had most of the stitches out but have a couple left in a bad area.

I don't know if everyone looks at Facebook but our JA has lost Mr. Darcy. He is now in kitty heaven, very sad as he was a lovely boy.

It has snowed on and off all week. Wednesday we had about 4 blizzzards blow thru dumping wet snow that vanished in the rain that followed. I guess it is Ok as I would not be allowed to dig etc. right now anyway.

The cucumber salsa was amazing so here it is, enough for 2/4. You can alater quanitiy to suit:
Half an english long cuke, roughly peeled and finely diced. Chuck in a bowl. One largish tomatillo finely diced, into bowl.
4 medium spring onions finely sliced, into bowl.
2 large cloves of garlic, minced, into bowl.
handful of fresh cilantro (corriander to you Fred) chopped, leave out lower stems, into bowl.
Then add a good glug of quality olive oil and the juice of one fat lime or 2 small. Stir an enjoy.

Today I may try a little knitting, a sweater for the dolly. I am now basically bored but hopefully by Monday will be able to be more active.
Have a good weekend'
Lesxx

Hello all, Well Les, We have summer temps here. to-day +15 and +22 to +25 on Sunday. The snow is going very fast and most roads and roofs are dry.
Have been chuckling at the folks who head for Mexico at this time of year, they like to leave in the snow and come back to none, Haaa this year they may have to work it backwards!!!!!!!
Saw the post about Mr D, sad day indeed.
Fred, I am now very very jealous, up until yesterday I couldn't get out on the balcony much less plant anything. Now I will have to try and get caught up to you :-D :-D. Must go and check to see if the bulbs we put in last fall are poking their noses out yet. With this warm sun they should be.
Les, have a friend who is a similar spot to what you are, and this morning she said she has had a rip roaring temper tantrum once a week just to get through the boredom. This from a very laid back person, she has 2 more weeks in the wrist cast so more tantrums to come I guess. :-)
Hope your weather takes a turn for the better real soon.
Enjoy the week-end all. Edith <3

Well,here are again,another Sunday into the year ,and another Mothers day here in Blighty,and i has been full of busy again ,the missus's specialdinner well under way ,with a nice fresh Chicken ,roast tatties in a tin with roast red onion ,parsnips ,carrot and even a few kilties to add in the last 15 minutes.
The missus is getting spoilt today ,even the washing up being done by Mwah ,lol,hows that for crawling ;-).
Yep a real bummer about Mr D ,a lovely ,very special cat ,but i do have some nice pics of him to remember him by :-\ .
Seems in a lot of cases ,this Colon Cancer is being brought on by people eating fruit at the wrong time of day ,eaten after a meal everything from apples to Strawberrys can't get into the bowel for other food ,there by clogging the stomach and fermenting there ,it seems you need to eat your fruit on an empty tummy giving the acids in it a chance to clear out the system.
Oooops says Fred got it wrong again ,and is sat here chewing an apple well before dinner ,he he .
Had aa belting day yesterday Edith .all the old pottery urns off the front patio have gone ,smashed up and lining the new plastic urns and tubs for drainage ,and the new urns are full of Azalias ,,the new tubs full of Heathers ,Begonias ,primula and other summer plants.
The lawns have been fed and watered ,so i am now having a lazy day ,and am planning the trip down to Lyneham ,to open up the grandsons house as he [yippee] is due home on the 23rd of this month.
He is now staying at Lyneham ,and not moving to Brize seeing as the camp has run out of quarters ,and they are laying busses to move the shifts back and forward ,so it will be cheaper for Sean to pay the bus fares rather than take his car when he goes to work.
Makes it easier for us to visit too ,saving us nearly an hour in travel time ,and to top it all ,the nearest town is way above in all respects to the one in Brize Norton ,which was very humdrum, i found .
That's it for today ,off now to have a good laze he he ,catch you all later ,Fred :-D <3 xxx.

Morning all, Well, we have now broken a record temp for this time of year the warmest since 1946. The snow is gone and the trees are budding so it is a bit weird.
A cousin in Arizona had 14 inches of snow in her driveway so she is not impressed :-) Seems the old world has gone topsy turvy.
Neighbour and I went out and collected some pussy willows on Sunday the earliest for either of us in 50 yrs.
All our bulbs are poking through so will have early daffs and tulips as well.
Hope Les and all are well.
Out to enjoy my morning coffee on the balcony so bye for now.
Edith
<3

Well still snowing here. Snow and melt, snow and melt.....the forecast says this will continue for ar least another week. Hm! maybe will have snow for Easter....grr!

Still going to the hospital every day for a dressing change etc. and still have two stitches left in where it does not want to seem to heal. But my doc seems to think that we are getting ther and has today taken me off antibiotics....yippee!!

And ya know kiddies that is all I have to say. I am doing nothing, I am sick of the TV and sick of reading but hey!!! soon we will be back to the usual grind.
More later. Lesxx

Good morning to all ,Fred is in Lyneham after a good trip down yesterday,and is off in an hour to pick up the grandson ,who is on his flight from Akroteri to Brize Norton in oxfordshire.
He arrived in Cyprus yesterday after leaving afghanistan,having finished his 6 month tour.
Not best pleased with him mind you ,being awakened at 4am by him sending me an sms saying good morning grrrrrrr,that will cost him dear ,in the form of a biiiiiiig mac on camp before we leave to come back here ,lol.
I expect we will have to wait here for a couple of days while he does all his paperwork ,along with his de brief ,and gets his sky and broad band back on line ,as well as getting the heating repaired
There is no accomodation left at Brize ,so now he is staying here being taken back and forth to Brize by a coach for each shift ,which will save him having to use his car for work.
Once he gets sorted ,he will be going up to Newcastle with us to buy his new motor it being a lot cheaper to get one up there rather than being ripped off in the south of the country ,cars being over a £1000 cheaper up north.
Nice and sunny here this morning so it should be a nicer trip to Brize this time ,the last being in the winter last year ,with snow everywhere and none gritted country roads ,not a nice way to travel.
Well peoples ,time to get my bum in gear and get ready to go, :-D ,catch you all later Fred. :-) <3

Trying for the third time to add on this thread ,but if it dosn't go this time i will give up ,and sit in the garden.
we got back from Brize last evening ,doing as little shopping on the way home ,a change of plan from the beef ,because Sean was gagging for some pork ,lol
He hasn't had any for over six months ,it being all beef and chicken out there,so we got him a leg roast ,a packet of stuffing ,and i made him a lovely dinner today,wow you should have seen his face as he took his first mouthfull of stuffing and Pork ,it was worth the trip down ,just for that. :-).
He has a letter too ,off the housing officer to say he has been offered a house over there as well ,so he is going to ring them first thing Monday to see if it is still there.
The camp village has changed a lot in three years ,even a new Aldi and coop so he won't be short of supplies,and looking on google ,the house is about right on fields on one side and the camp on the other ,a five minute walk to work ,and no transport needed .
Been a lovely day here ,and i have been bored to tears ,he he ,no garden to work on ,just a lawn ,no genes ,because it's been playing up,and to cap it all ,i forgot my shorts ,no sun on the knobbly knees this trip :-(
Going to post this on now ,before i lose it ,lol,back shortly, Fred :-D xxx

Hello all, Just finished watching all 3 of the Queen series from Britain.
A great history and it brought back a lot of memories for me. She is a very dedicated lady. Enjoyed hearing from her children and grands.
Our weather has cooled a bit but still above normal for this time of year.
Will surely be able to plant soon and perhaps catch up to Fred :-)
Had pulled pork on a bun for supper tonight with a green salad mmmmgood. Have enough for a couple more meals too. :-)
Time to finish off the day so bye for now. Edith <3

Morning to all ,nice and sunny here today ,again ,lol, i will be getting spoiled if i stay here much longer.
Sean had to go on camp yesterday to do some paperwork ,re the house inspection and repairs ,so we had a run through to Westbury to pay my respects to My uncle Ray who died in Jan' and in a way wished i hadn't ,because that bitch of a wife who bled him dry for years ,hasn't even been up to the cemetary to place flowers on the grave :-| which is less than a half mile from the house.
When i get home i will get in touch with a mason and get a small granite flower pot made with his name and dates on ,then when i come down next time i will take it to West Wycombe Church yard in Bucks ,and put it in the granite plinth of his fathers grave,along with the rest of the family,at least ,that way ,when family go to his dads grave ,they can lay flowers for Ray as well.
It works out well for me anyway ,because i can also pay my respects to my grand dad ,dad ,uncle .aunt and the others in Wycombe cemetary.
I hope Sean has some luck with the possibility of the house at Brize later today ,when he phones again ,poor lad tried earlier but had no reply.
Off for now to see what i can do for the dinner,catch you all later,Fred. :-Dxxx

Hi everyone..Sorry havent been in but am back on the doc and specilist rounds again..Back later when I get home..

Love to all..

Maryxxx <3

Hi Too all ,from Newcastle upon tyne where the old git has had a good day in his garden ,working ,and resting.
We have the grandson sorted as regards his new motor ,and good news about his married quarters too two results in less than a week.
While we were in Lyneham late last week getting Sean's house opened up a letter arrived ,from the housing office at High Wycombe ,with the offer of a house at Brize where he now takes up his new post.
Sean phoned them as soon as he got home ,and was told to fill the forms in ,that came with the letter and fax them through.
We did that this morning ,so our grandson now has a new house ,only a couple of minutes walk from the camp gates.
We were out yesterday too ,and got him a lovely Toyota Celicia in immaculate condition ,inside and out with only 87.000 miles on the clock,so he is well pleased.
Hope your new hospital appointments go well for you Mary and you are getting all the home help you are needing :-).
Hope you are winning re the wound too Les' it's time you had some satisfaction.
I have had a canny day ,resting in the sunlight on the patio ,trowel in one hand ,cuppa in the other ,putting some seeds in ,calabrese ,brussel .and pak Choi . and the two little containers with the cucumber in ,sings a little ditti .catch me if you can Edith ,lol.
Off now for tea ,a nice little salad with a slice of my own corned beef ,and a slice of wholemeal ,belting.
Catch you all later peoples ,Fred. :-D <3 xxx

Morning everyone, It's back to white again :-P After lovely warm days we now have a cold few days coming. Snow is about 2 inches deep so it's back to cleaning off the car and shovelling the walks to get to said car.
Oh. well it is Canada we live in and so cannot expect spring until May, but this early spring spurt has been very enjoyable :-)
Fred, for sure you will be way ahead of me now with planting, guess I will have to find a green house to rent :-D
Sorry to hear you are on the run again Mary, do take care and get all the help you can.Do they have a volunteer driving service there?? It is a big help here as we have many miles between our centres for medical care.
How's things on the coast Les? I see your weather is as mixed up as ours
wondering what the summer can possibly hold for us?
Time to get out and clean off my car as I have shopping to do to-day so will see you again soon. Edith <3

Mary, specialists for you John....or you? Keep well and get all the help you can, squeaky wheel and all that.

Fred d'ya think Liz would let you come over here for a couple of weeks and get my garden planted? probably not eh! My doctor has said no gardening at the moment, no wall washing, no house painting....am knitting tho!! LOL

All my stitches are out and yesterday I had my first real shower, no waterproof cling film etc, since Jan 19th.....it was wonderful. I don't have to see my doc until next week....what a journey!!

And knitting? Well much like sewing, I have a four legged helper who likes to be a busy boy. I have to fight every inch of the way to keep the yarn to myself, the tape measure etc. Yesterday I thought I had finished the front of the little doll sweater and then I saw that I had lost two stitches at some point. Now Ollie told me he didn't have those stitches...LOL but I ripped the blasted thing off the needles and gave it to him to play with anyway. Now today I am starting a new one....oh! well. It keeps me out of mischief.

A local restaurant has a pasta night on the last friday of the month. All you can eat of about a dozen different pastas for $13.95....and that's where we are off to at 6 pm. No cooking, lots of funky pasta dishes, a glass of red.....ah!

Have a good weekend everyone. Lesxx