General Chat

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.

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

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

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

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

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

HI everyone..yyyaaayyy we have had 2 days of sun..my one tomato is now nearing the size of a ping pong ball.. :-D :-D There has been a lot of havoc with gardens here in OZ this year due to all the rain..I have had to empty the saucer that one of my pot plants is in as it wont let it dry out and it dying of to much water,,never did I think I would complain of that..lets hope I have saved it..I do have a lemon and orange tree in pots Fred and they seem to be doing ok,,I have 2 lemons on the little plant so am quite pleased with that. Might see if I can grow some Chinese greens,,, ;-)

Les Gosh a beautiful pic of that lovely granddaughter,,she is the spitting image of YOU... :-D :-D...The dolls clothes were lovely,,you done well...

Edith I am a bit like you re the news.. I am so sick of politics that I turn it off whenever I can..What sort of tomatoes do you grow.. the little ones or the normal size ones..I might try the little ones next spring, they might do better..though everyone here is complaining of things not ripening due to lack of sunlight..perhaps this next week might help things along as they predict more sunlight.

Managed to get John across to the Club for lunch yesterday and he did enjoy getting out..his first outing since coming home from hospital. He is so lucky that his broken ankle has not given him any pain since they took off the plaster,,and he can walk on it as good as the other foot..The power of prayer.. as this is quite unusual..My sister in law had dreadful pain when trying to walk on her broken ankle after they took off the plaster..She broke hers in a car accident and was telling John how painful it was when she started to put the foot to the floor again..Glad he had one good thing happen after all the bad things he endures. Now we have to get him back to his specialist,family doctor,physio. and about a half a dozen other people he has to see..not looking forward to it..

Well am having a lovely relaxing day today..the afternoon is all,,MINE. :-D :-D :-D :-D

Have a lovely Sunday all

Love Mary xxx <3

Morning, Pots at the ready, Fred. I will try and have my coffee out there this morning. And yes :-D our temps will be in the double digits by next Friday.
Even tho' we have had a warmer than normal winter it is still great to get outside without parka, mitts, and boots
The snomobilers are not pleased as the year is over for them, but I think they also had a good season.
Loved the pic Les she looks to be a happy child, beautiful eyes :-) Can't imagine the fun the parents will have with her teen years.
I have started to turn off the news on t.v as it is all weather disasters, kids killing kids, everyone wanting more and more money.
Turn up my music and make my way through the day, much happier that way. Even if I do miss out on some things so be it. :-)
Mary, I have a niece who is visiting your country. She landed in Aukland yesterday and will make her way around to Sydney in about a month.
They are grade 12 high school girls and have been working towards this trip for almost a year. Left Winnipeg in high spiirts so hope they enjoy the time down under. Next year they all start University and lots of hard work.
Les, try adding tomatillo's to a salsa, they really add to the tang!!
Time to move so it's bye for now. Edith <3

Morning our Les ,great news about the healing ,it must be a great relief to you ,after all the hassle you have had with the original wound,and i hope you are soon back to normal with it.
Grandie looked as pleased as punch with her dollies clothes and even the dolly seemed to have a smile on her face at being so posh.,looks like you could have a new needlework job for a good while .
what a change in our weather ,Fred is def' out in the garden later this morning with tons of dead leaves and whatever to put in the garden recycle bin for Tuesdays pick up,and then it's time to start the digging again ,with a little de weeding as i go along.
I have a little brickwork to do on the porch as well ,which won't take long ,and then i can get the door step painted red again ,using the usual brick paint that seals the brick ,as well as the pointing against frost and damp.
Had a phone call last night ,to say that the grand son flies home from Afghanistan on the 25th of this month ,his six month tour of duty done ,so we will be off down to Wiltshire on the 24th to open up the house for him ,making sure the water and heating are up and running for him arriving.
Hope you are getting those pot's ready Edith ,and have your tomato and herb seeds ready to go ,the warmer weather is on it's way at last .
Let me know how the recipe goes Les; sounds a bit of alright to me .
Still more torrential rain due in Sydney ,so i think Mary will be well pleased being up on the hill out of it ,but i hope the shops are able to get plenty of supplies in ,some other parts Of N S W are not do lucky,with food running short,dosn't look too good at all :-(.
catch you all later ,Fred. <3 :-)

The solar flare seems to have knocked out the input to our satellite and screwed up the dvd player. Norm has been on the phone with a tec. for almost an hour but it is still not working...grr!!

I am going to the hospital every morning to get my dressing done and to get the wound looked at. It seems to be knitting OK.....what a fabulous docotor I have. He has promised me that he will see me every day until this is healed. So I have been taking it easy watching TV and reading a lot of books. It is strange not to be busy at anything.

I saw a recipe for a cucumber salsa on the Food network which I am going to try today. It has tomatillo in it, mexican tomato....interesting stuff. I will let you know.

I am off to make brekkie.
More later. Lesxx

Morning ladies ,early this morning due to her majesty pulling the covers off me ,i really must ban her from watching the tv ,as this is the only place she can have seen it done ,sigh ,plurry furry pest ,lol :-).
If you only have a patio Mary ,and no little garden like i have ,why not some dwarf trees ,Nectarine ,plum ,orange' apple,or even some rhubarb planted in a big urn,all look lovely while growing ,beutiful foliage and brilliant flowers before the fruit sets ,all of the modern ones being self fertalising so ,only one tree required.all these little beuties need only a little pelleted manure twice a year ,a little lime ,and water,easy and so lovely when the fruit ripens,all that slurpy taste and vitamin c.
Other than that you can grow anything i can, your climate is tons better than ours [normally] the only thing you don't have usually is the water .
Yes ,things have quietened down very well ,all that is left of the concrete out front now is a large pile of rubble that shrinks by a quarter every week ,and all the soil ,sub soil is in a seperate pile ,waiting to be put back in place to finish it all off ,we are very nearly there .
We are away out this morning for a new phone seeing as the old one has gone to it's maker in the digital sky ,lol it went pop last night puffed a little pall of smoke and i thought aye aye ,that's your lot folks .
I will get another one today ,a digital one with the answer machine on ,meaning that i can take the handset to bed at night in case anyone phones ,or take it out in the garden with me ,while either working ,or partying ,he he :-D.
Don't know how you lot managed yesterday ,but the big solar flares did no damage here at all ,no power outages or damage to the phones or puters that i could see .
Well ,now that Hissy is doing the morning rounds outside after her brekkie ,i suppose i should take the missus her early morning cuppa ,and watch the news lazy style he he ,snuggled back in bed ,lol
catch you later peoples ,have a good day ,or evening ,depending on where you are.Fred :-D <3 xxx

Morning all.. yyyaaayy we have sun,,for a while anywy..The rain has caused a lot of flooding in the whole of nsw,,about the size of France.. and some poor people have been flooded 2 and 3 time in the past 12 months..crazy weather..
At least it has been cool and I am not complaining about that..just love it..

Glad all the demolition has stopped Fred,,you must be enjoying the peace again..
Les.. go easy on those biccys ,,remember the diet.. :-D :-D :-D

Edith.. which way does your balcony face..to the sun...would be lovely in summer..and help the plants grow,,dont know what I will put in next..the tommys were a failure,,,might try somehting new...what grows well in the cool climate Fred..

Well better get my A into G as I have a lot to do today..have a lovely weekend all..

Love Mary xxx <3 <3

Get some early practice in Edith ,never mind the weather ,stick a few icicles in the pots ,he he ,by the time they melt you will know it's time to plant seeds ,lol :-D
Saw a lovely programme on the box last night Edith ,a Train journey from Halifax,right through to Vancouver with a side journey right into a small indian settlement nestled in the Rockies.
What a beutiful country you live in Edith ,and what luxury on your trains ,we even took a trip on your big steam train special,even if it was converted to run on oil instead of coal :-|.
Yes ,pussy cat is looking forward to the weekend when it will be coffee on the patio time again,if we get the promised 14c :-D.
Hope Mary and Lesley are okay and looking forward to this coming weekend ,back later ,time to make a little tea .
Fred. <3 :-D xxx

Morning all, A bright sunny, blue sky day. Temps about 10 degrees above the norm? Apparently by the week-end we will have+12 and up.
Yaaaay I can get out on the balcony and get a start on the plant pots. :-D :-D. Can't get too crazy tho' as this is Canada and winter usually lasts until mid April :-( :
The pics coming out of Australia are not nice at all. Last nite on the news they showed folks being rescued by helicopter from roof tops. They too are getting the crazy weather.
Glad you got over the demolition in your neighbourhood Fred. The racket some of those machines make can shake your brains about :-0
We had the track drills used for rock busting here for about a year before the new hospital was built. Didn't realise how noisy it was until the day they quit for good and we could hear the silence :-)
Hope everyone has a great day and stay well.
Edith <3

Morning to all the colonials out there ,he he :-) yep ,very true ,our weather is gone ga ga too ,a hard frost overnight ,but by the time we got to town it was sunny and getting up to very mild ,so ,with any luck we are coming into spring proper. :-D.
Well ,the demolition is finished as in the flats being knocked down ,so all that is left is to move tons of hard core to the nearest building project .
My porch is up too ,i now await the company to come and do the snagging [minor faults] and we are good to go .
It looks like the garden will be well under way within two weeks ,wahey . bring it on ,lol.
Well Les ,as Edith says ,with any luck ,this will get to up and running again and will very soon be an end to the pain you have been going through,and long may it last after the last few weeks of suffering .
There is a deafening silence outside ,lol,can't believe the noise we have been putting up with here for the last few weeks ,but it's all over bar the shouting ,these flats being the last to come down anywhere near us .
The last batch of three blocks are a half mile away so we won't be hearing those come down at all with any luck.
Keep Bella and Oliie close to you for a couple of days Les' and be a lazy lady for a while ,you deserve it ,specially if you have a few of those cakes left ,lol.
Love to all that end ,Fred :-D <3 xxx

Morning everyone, The crazy weather continues, even the birds are confused.
My neighbour and I have bird feeders out and we have summer birds as well as winter ones. She counted 4 different species that are definately summer visitors, but the temps are so warm I guess they don't know where to go :-S
We are in for some freezing rain, rain and snow in the next 24 hrs,so who knows what that will blow in. Maybe we'll get something from the land down under hmmm Mary?
I'll bet those kangaroos would give the bears a run for the money :-D
My fingers are itchy and ready to dig Fred, but I have put all the garden stuff out of sight until it is really warm enough.
Our clocks go ahead next Sunday so will be getting up earlier and maybe able to enjoy my coffee out on the balcony :-)
My friend Chloe was enjoying a run up and down the halls yesterday, her "Mom" says she needs a bit of exercise to keep her trim figure.
At the rate she was racing by my door she will be in shape in no time.
Oh, to be so lucky. If I could only run that fast :-)
Stay well Les, and hope you heal quickly. Getting into the "golden years" is no fun is it.
Time for me to get moving so bye for now. Edith <3

My doc did the op im emergency this morning. The freezing hardly works on me so a bit painful. I have had a good cry so now I am going to find a warm spot to curl up in and be calm for the rest of the day. Ollie and Bella both have their "worried" looks on again.

Daughter was here all weekend. She made these amazing double chocolate chip cookies for us on Saturday....Norm inhaled 4 within the first 10 minutes of them being out of the oven. They are yummy.

Ae spent all day yesterday watching movies and generally being lazy. Weird weather. It was snowing like the dickens an hour ago and now it is bright sunshine.

Off to hibernate.Lesxx

Hi everyone,,Just a quick post as I have a lot to do..My rest periods are short these days.. :-D

I have a lady coming out on the 13/3 to see what help I need and hope that something comes of it..I get very tired..

I looked at my tomato plants this morning and there is ONE there the side of a large marble,,The weather has been so bad that it has done havoc with my plants..

Sorry this is so short but hope all are well and you all sound so busy..
Les Do hope this next op will fix you problem..
Edith Time to get that bikini out again..are the bears out of bed yet..
Fred.. You tell them demolishers to get with it or blast them,,It would not be good for Liz,,all that dust..

Take care all..

Love Mary xxx <3 <3

Morning Les,'Edith ,Mary,and all else who happen by ,on this Saturday morning,or late afternoon ,depending on where you are.
Les ,have you by any chance got a good digital camera about? ,it might be an idea to take a telephoto shot of the back of this pick up with the number plate on,along with the time -date stamp to pass on to the police ,who with the photo ,will be able to trace the owner ,to ask him why he is is repeatedly parking out side your houses,it would be enough to frighten him off good style.you could even put the photo up on the net to alert others to his shinanigins.
Think Bella ,and Ollie have picked up on your unrest all right ,i notice that when i become unsettled or upset ,Hissy is soon under my chair where she watches my every move ,and will follow me around the house until she thinks i am calmer.
Edith ,lass ,the email about the muslim terrorist joke had me in kinks ,so much so that i have sent it on to friends around the area ,where i,'m sure it will cause much merriment.good one :-).
I have told Chris to bring his game disc when he comes today ,because i have the wifes new desktop puter on line, and boy ,is it fast ,the graphics alone being far better and faster than the old 'puter ever was.
The old one will now be put into storage in case it i ever needed,and the other one ,the OLD backup .i will now strip down for spares.
The tattie barrels are now empty and i ,for sure ,wont be needing to buy any tatties,for at least ,a month.
The old compost needs changed after four years ,and i will use it up in the new urns that i have brought for the front patio ,because the severe frosts these last two years have split them badly.
The rest of the compost i will use in the new boxes for my onions and leeks ,three of them which will fill the empty space right up to the back patio edge .
The space along the patio from the Asparagus ,will now be used for a long row ,of beetroot,a couple of rows of spring onion ,and some lettuce.
We both got into the greenhouse last evening and put down the two new trays that will take the buckets for the tomatoes,giving us 15 plants.The benches have been cleaned down too ,giving us room to place all the seed trays ready for the start of the season,so ,all in all ,we are about ready for the off :-).
Hope your next meeting with the specialist to do with the wound will go much better for you Les' ,it's time it all got sorted out to your satisfaction.
Take care all ,hope your weekend is going smoothly and that Edith is not going too daft with the extra work she has taken on ,blimey i wish i had her get up and go ,but i'm afraid mine has got up and gone ,lol :-D <3 xxx Fred.

Fred, it's good to see that I am not the only one who likes food shows. We have one here called Chopped. The four contestants get a basket with ingredients and they have half an hour to make an appy, an entree and then a dessert. Each round they are judged on the food they make and the worst one is "chopped". The ingredients are often quite weird, such as shrimp, cherry liquer and pretzels...huh?

I think my all time favourite at the mo is Come Dine with Me Canada. I loved the British show but the ones here now are uniquely Canadian and always funny.

The arthritus in my hands is at the base of my thumbs so altho it isn't the whole hand it is a spot that gets a lot of use. It is however a bit of a challenge to lift heavy things. For the last few weeks it has been "quiet: so this is a good thing.

Had to take Ollie to the vet yesterday. He has licked his nether regions absolutely bald. The vet gave him a flea shot but she thinks that it is stress induced. I did think about that and he started this licking malarky about the time I was going to the hospital three times a day for IV therapy....maybe he is licking in sympathy?? Anyway I cuddled all last night, rubbed his bald spots, hopefully he will stop. Right now he is in his favourite spot, on my old office chair in front of the woodstove....bless his heart. And interestingly Bella is sticking to me like glue at the moment.....more sympathy I think.

Daughter is arriving today for the weekend so that will be good. Have been trying to think of some yummy food to make for her. I might make cannelloni's stuffed with spinach and cheese...always a treat. Then maybe tomorrow I will make slow cooker chili....she doesn't cook meals like that for herself, too much food for one person.

Seems that we have a "lurker" hanging around outside our houses. He drives a white truck. Norm and one of the neighbours have scared him off a couple of times but I would like to get his license plate number and then report him to the police. Nobody around here has any money nor anything overly luxurious so if he is casing the joints....he's wasting his time. The world is full of strange folks nowadays!!!

Off to grocery shop. Have a great weekend you lot.
Lesxx