General Chat

Hello weekend :-D and drizzle :-S ,oh well ,a good thing i got on so well in the gardens yesterday ,and can work in the house today instead.
The son arrived yesterday afternoon and got the flags by the gate up for me ,re raising them up an inch where they meet the path outside the drive gates.
The puzzle was solved as to the sinking .lol.the berk who laid the flags in the first place used just basic sand,on a slope ? i ask you ,he he ,the severe winter and heavy rains in the spring caused the sand to slip down the slope ,and the high winds can't have helped as they got under the flags as the sand slipped and eroded the foundations even more,i even found helicopters underneath ,the seeds from sycamore trees driven well in underneath.
Anyway ,we have replaced all the lost sand with the cement and mortar mix left from the other job he he ,and replaced the flags ,finishing with a watering can dribbling the water down the seams ,so that the mix will harden to make it solid.
The drizzle now will help too ,the water seeping underneath and helping to solidify the lot underneath ,so ,hopefully the problem is now solved.
Edith ,the chicken sounds great with the rub you talked about ,clue me in please as to how you do it ,and i will give it a go along with the treating that i do on the inside of the bird ,that should then be something else Yum.
Our market is nice Dorothy but not as quarter as big as the one in Bury ,nor as diverse in the products sold,our cheese stall is great yes ,but the cheese sold there ,yum ,but not nearly so many varieties from so many places,and our black pudding ,although nice ,is naff compared to the lanc's sort.
Nice to hear that the gardens and balconies are doing well ,with all the water i reckon my brassica will do well ,but i'm not so sure about the rest which need to flower first ,the lack of sun may knock the beans back a long way ,still ,win some lose some ,as they say.
The grandson will be here shortly ii reckon so i had better go ,do a bit of hoovering/dusting before i plan dinner .
Catch you all later Fred :-).

Well Fred, I am also not as busy as you but the garden is finally coming together. We found two wasp nests in the greenhouse yesterday and when the wasps left Norm destroyed them.....so now I have to be careful for a few days until the wasps go away and build somewhere else. We lost a lot of shrubs due to the freezing temperatures last winter so yesterday Norm dug out my lavatoria and I replaced it with a shrub lilac. My beautiful butterfly bush has not leafed this year but I am hopeful it will return next....too big to dig out. Miss it a lot the bees loved it and the butterflys also.

Made a huge tortilla pie on Wednesday and we got two nights of dinners from that. It was great yesterday having been in the garden all day not to have to cook...yeah!!

Now today is maybe a fish day, we'll see. Edith it is years since I ate pickerel. I do remember years ago going lake fishing in southern Saskatchewan. We took my Mom along. At one point she threw her line over her head, caught her sun hat and then cast it out into the lake. We laughed until we cried, the kids thought it was the best thing they had ever seen. Then the dog got sprayed by a skunk and we had to drive home with the smell...now that wasn't quite as funny!! :-D

Took Bella for her annual check up and shots and vet said she was "portly" so I guess it's going to be diet time for her, bless her heart she will not be pleased about that.

Time to get on with the day. A wee bit more gardening if the weather bucks up or if not the huge job of sorting out all the books that we want to sell at our yard sale. (Did I ever tell you guys that over the years we have amassed probably 1000/2000 books, idiocy on our part) I am hopeful to reduce the collection by at least 50%.
Off to the wars. Lesxx

Morning all. WOW Fred again you make the world a dizzy place with all you manage to fit into a day.
My balcony is indeed a green space now. I didn't think the beans were going to take so planted a few more in the same trough, well it is now FULL of plants :-D :-D so am going out in a bit and take out the weaker plants. Otherwise I will have beans up the you know what.
My rosemary plant is also a "mutant" it is soooo big, looks similar to the bushes of rosemary I saw in Arizona. Very pleased as I do use it a lot. Nothing like chicken roasted with a thyme and rosemary rub. mmmm
Our weather has finally turned to summer and all the plants are thriving.
Our fish dinner has been rescheduled for the 7th of July so am looking forward to that. The pickeral is very tasty this time of year and with all the side dishes it makes a great meal. :-) .
Mary, hope you enjoyed your family visit. Maybe it will perk John up as well.
Would love to have your family history, mine are just basic Brit families.
No royalty/criminals or lords :-( Did have a couple of "thatchers" tho' and saw a house which had been roofed by a distant uncle.
Must go as my tummy is growling to be fed. See you soon. Edith

Morning Mary,and all else who enter here ,lol,from the land of clear settled weather [not ] :-S,and where Fred is recovering from a marathon stint in the garden after a trip to the metro centre and Argos.
,all will be revealed shortly.
Glad to hear that your balcony is now looking green and herb'y Edith ,all you need now is plenty of nice warm sunlight.
The wife and i went out yesterday to get the spike i needed for the line ,from Argos ,and the concrete and pea gravel i needed for the same from B & Q,before coming home to get cracking on the lawn.the job started by 2 p m,and not finished until 5-30 pm ,groan ,was i packered :-\, stiff ,sore ,and needing a hot bath to ease the back and legs :-S.
To start with the spades wouldn't go through the turf ,which have curved blades any way ,not conjusive for a neat job,so after a long hard think ,i nicked the 14 inch carving knife from the kitchen rack ,the steel one i use for the corned beef and venison [,all i could think of .lol.
So ,having found a length of planking ,i marked out three sides in the grass ,and started to cut .[this was easy ] there i am carving a way when i hear a chuckle from the fence ,where the neighbour has lamped what i'm doing.
Next thing i know ,he asked me if i was going to biol the turf ,or roast it ,at which ,knowing what i must have looked like with a damn great butchers knife in my hand, started to chuckle myself.
I used the to spades to lift the turf along the cut ,which alone took me 15 minutes ,rolling it up as i went ,and after a long sit down ,started the easy job [so i thought ]of taking out the soil.
Ruddy 'eck ,it was like concrete and i quickly gave up with the shovels ,after jarring both wrists ,and settled in to using a hand trowel ,chewing the soil out little by little,
Nearly an hour i spent doing this to remove a square hole 14 inches deep,down through a soil that was as hard as the hobs of hell [now i know what it feels like to go gold prospecting] without the possibility of a yellow reward :-0.
Any way ,i was glad i settled for the spike from Argos ,it being a lot harder than the previous one i used the last time.
The spike i drove down into the bottom of the hole using a 3 pound mash hammer,driving it well down until the top was an inch below turf level.
The concreting was easy ,a large bucket of mix ,with pea gravel mixed in,poured down the hole [dry] until i had enough ,then used a watering can with a fine rose to wet it well in.
I was half expecting that voice to come over the fence again asking how long the spike would take to grow now that it was planted and watered ,but no ,his car was missing ,no doubt he was at the watering hole talking about the mad git next door ,cutting slices of turf out of his lawn with a ruddy great knife :-P.
Any way ,finished at last ,sore and stiff ,i sat down at the table satisfied that nothing short of landslip was going to move that drier he he :-).
Had an early tea ,the wife making me a beutiful Greek salad with feta cheese ,and for afters ,the first of our very own strawberries with low fat cream :-D.
This morning i was out with the knife again ,lol,putting some of the dug out soil on top of the concrete and soil,bringing the turf half an inch proud of the lawn to allow for settling,finishing off by cutting a slot into the turf so that i could work the turf round the pole,to lay it back down.and finishing off by using some lawn patch repair to fill in where i had cut the lawn to start the job.
Looks like we are town bound this morning to renew our metro passes,so i will park the car at Morrison's and catch a bus into town ,renew te passes ,visit the market to buy a sarnie and coffee,before visiting our meat and cheese stalls.
This afternoon peoples ,Fred is doing NOWT ,lol sitting in the garden ,rain or no ,under the parasol.
Forgot to mention that after i had done with the lawn ,i moved the courgettes from the side of the house to the border next to the Rosemary and onion grass,so everything is tons neater and easier to tend :-D.
Have a nice day everyone,Fred.xxx

Afternoon all. We have lovely rain..its filling up my water tub lovely..and watering my plants nicely..

You all sound busy with sales and bears and gardens..I havent had much time for things as it was back to the quack with John and it really wore him out..Have a lunch tomorrow with all my siblings which I am looking forward to..My brother is back from his holiday to the UK and I am dying to hear all aboout it..
On the way back from the UK my brother stopped of in Singapore for a few days and went out to the Changi Jail Museum where he managed to get a list of inmates of the Japs in Changi Jail and Sime Road prison Camp where my dad was imprisoned during the war..Another bit of news to add to my tree..
While doing some FH yesterday I found a great uncle who went to Wormwood Scrubs jail for being a naughty boy..that is 3 jailbirds and a convict I have in my tree... :-D :-D
Great family I come from... :-D :-D

Life is quiet at the moment..so its FH for me to keep me off the streets and out of the gutter.. :-D :-D :-D

Hope all are well

Love Mary xxx <3

Morning all, We have at last had a sunny week-end. There were so many boats on the lake they looked to be side by side.
Fred, my balcony finally looks like it will produce some food by the end of summer. Everything is coming up nicely and to-day I will give them a feed of miracle grow.
Yes, Mary you do run the other way when you see a big black guy. Once he was in the pen, he sat there and whimpered like a small child. Hope the bluberries are plentiful where they let him out. :-)
To-day is laundry day for me so must get on with it. See you again soon.
edith XXXXXXX

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

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 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

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

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 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

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, 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

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 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 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 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 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

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