General Chat

Hi SueMaid and all other's

don't get much time alone SueMaid, just enough time to send a few post here, will tell you about I.O.M when I get back, will have more time then hun
catch you again soon
love Diane x

Good morning/evening everyone:))

A windy start to the day here although sunny. I think I'll spend some time potting up my new plants but it means a trip to the garden centre and that's dangerous:) A question for the gardeners on this thread. Do you use different potting mixes for different types of plants or do you use an all purpose one? I use an orchid mix for the orchids but I also use it - mixed with potting mix - for bromeliads. My mum - who has great success with anything she grows - uses an all purpose potting mix for everything and thinks it's a waste of money to have different mixes.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend. Linda, I hope your mum has had a better day.

Sue xx

Good morning and good evening everyone.

Sue, I have had success in the past (when I did a lot of gardening) with just using Orchid mix for orchids, Rose mix for roses, and all-purpose mix for anything else, whether it be 'garden' mix or 'potting' mix. I did try the different mixes, but found myself with a lot of half-empty bags - and no result to say it was worth it.

Good Morning/Evening

Up and about early this morning as have a busy day planned....

Finishing off homework first then off to sons football game then hope to get out in the garden as i have not pruned the roses as yet....and with all the rain that we have had the gutters need cleaning...:((((

Hope to finish the day with a bbq and a quiet drink.......if I havent falling asleep:))))

have a great day Aussies and Sleep well Poms...

xx

Hi Sue,

Just wanted to say what a lovely thread this is... sorry just a nosey Scot with a few relatives in your part of the world who likes to read this thread.

Hello upside down people.

Aileen xxx

What a busy Sunday, Janet. Hope your son does well today:)) Aren't you a little late with the roses?

Berona that's what I was thinking. Too many bags of potting mix to store and perhaps half used. OH uses seedling mix as it's lighter. Berona, do you have a courtyard? A friend of mine has down-sized to a villa and she left behind the most beautiful garden. She took some cuttings and now has them in pots in her courtyard. She misses the garden but knows that it was becoming impossible to maintain. She loves her neat little courtyard with little to do but enjoy.

Sue xx

Hello, Aileen. You know you're welcome here anytime:)) Of course if you have rellies over here then you automatically become a honorary Aussie.

Sue xx

Good evening/ morning all

Had a few technical problems yesterday (actually I was clearing up the mess that the dancing girls left.....I should have the house relatively tidy before my OH returns this evening lol)

Janet, I hope that your son's team's success continues

Aileen, nice to see you on this thread.

My all my Australian acquaintances have a great day and to all other posters have a nice evening


Allan

I couldn't resist this one: not mine but appeared in the 'International Express' a few years ago, no author given

Errant Coffin

T’coffin slid from off the hearse,
But what transpired was even worse.
T’cortege, you see, from Dawlish Mill
Was only ‘alfway oop the hill,
And since it had but newly snowed
T’cask when fallen onto road,
Took off, down slope, at such a rate
That passers-by, in fearful state,
Joomped to the side, and in the air,
While some stood still, turned stone with fear.
T’coffin sped at greater pace
Past drinkers in the Crown and Mace
Past Bric ‘a Brac and Hazel’s Teas,
And Joe’s shop with “all kinds of cheese”
And then down t’High Street, steeper still,
On, on, like rocket , with a will.
Then casket came to a left hand bend
And here the matter reached its end.
For on that bend, faced up the slope,
Was t’chemist shop of Joffin Pope.
Old Joff, eyes wide, let drop his jaw
For t’coffin sped right through the door
And stopped, with bang, at counter’s base.
(You should have seen old Joffin’s face.)
As casket bumped, the lid flew wide;
Then waxen occupant inside
Sat oop and asked: “Ah, chemist Joffin……
“Hast ‘owt in here to stop me coffin’?”

I liked that one, Allan!

Sue - yes, I do have a nice sized courtyard. When I first came here, my son-in-law turned up and cut my grass whilst on his rounds, just as he had been doing at the other place, since my son had moved out to his own home. SIL often brought his employee with him and the job was done in minutes! (He is in the lawn/garden maintenance business). However, I am an independent person and he would not take anything for it - so I had the courtyard paved.

I do have a couple of tiered stands for the smaller pots and have put larger ones around the courtyard. These keep me occupied watering them - twice a day in summer. Out front, I have a small garden in front of my living room - this is filled with various coloured geraniums; and a larger garden under my bedroom window - half of the garden is mine and half belongs to my neighbour - but we share it as a rose garden. You'll notice that I have roses and geraniums - about the easiest plants to care for! I'm proud to say that my little area is the brightest in the complex as most of the residents have retained the evergreen plants which were originally planted by the developers (over builders' rubble with a thin layer of soil on top!).

This year, I have noticed a few of them are beginning to add the odd shrub or two, and occasionally, a small border plant. Perhaps they are new to gardening - but I think we are slowly getting them interested.

Helllloooo

Just popping in to say hello :-)))))

am very busy at the moment... a wedding in two weeks ( sons) haven't got anything to wear yet and am at frazzles end. Lots to do and no time left to do it in.

Susan
x

Hello, Susanwithnumbers. You wouldn't feel so frazzled if you went to bed at a decent hour. Just relax they're going to get married whether you have a frock and hat or not:)))

Sue xx

Hello SueMaid, Susan (with numbers), and Berona and Allan, if you are still around,

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - I think for those over yonder in UK it is a holiday weekend. September is just around the corner, and this year seems to have flown. And another birthday is looming too. Don't worry too much about them but as it is just a month before Christmas I always have other things on my mind. Next year is a significant one - that is, one with a 0 on the end - so I would like to do something to celebrate, not just a party. Does anyone have any suggestions, or have you celebrated a birthday etc in a special way?


Linda, I have readthat your mother is in hospital. It must be a stressful time for you and your family. I hope she is getting the best of care and
will soon be on the road to recovery.

I'm off now to make an apple cake as my sister and her husband are coming over for afternoon tea later.

Bye for now, Susan....

Hi all,

Susan, I took you to bit a bit more mature than 20! I can smell that pie from here

Thanks, Berona. the poem really struck a chord with me...well you know what my sense of humour is like, (yes I know...my humour doesn't make sense)

Susan with numbers, nice to see you on here again

Suemaid (I'm only being formal as there are now more Susans on here than you shake a stick at. Not that I wish to, of course). Like you my OH uses orchid mix for the orchids but then uses just one type of potting mix for everything else. She tends to purchase the more expensive ones as we have found that the cheaper mixes don't really do the job.

In the UK I used to make my own by mixing three parts peat with one part sharp sand, a couple of tablespoons of fertiliser and a couple of Tb/spns of lime and mixing thoroughly.

For lime hating plants I would mix up a batch without the lime. We had great success with it and used for everything from potting to seed raising.

Linda, I'm sorry to hear that your mum is not improving. I think that you should really ask the hospital staff some serious questions. I hate it when some sections of the community are marginalised. I feel that the elderly should almost be venerated as they are the ones who have made their respective countries what they are today with all the freedoms that go with it.

Excuse the rant: I'll step down from my soap box now. But I do feel strongly about the subject.

Janet, How did your son's team go?


Regards to you all

Allan

Regards to all

Hi to everyone:))

Allan.. I liked your last poem, I nearly had a coffin fit !!

All this gardening talk makes me want to get outside and start playing in the garden!! Does anyone have pigface growing in their garden? we have it growing wild here, there are a couple of different variety's. I don't know their botanical names but they have very vivid colored flowers, pinks, yellows, reds and oranges, when I first moved up here I thought they were very unusual.

Linda.. I hope your Mum is OK:))

I hope everyone has a great day:))

Carole x

Wooooo Hooooo !!!

What a game, back and forth that ball went !! Into the final game now..The team that we beat has not been beaten in years and our boys did it !! Think I was more nervous than the boys and then at the end I thought i was going to cry..But we all jumped up out of seats with joy. Fantastic game !!

Now going to have a celebration drink and make a start on the garden...

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone !!

:))))))

Suemaid....very very late with the roses...:)))

Good morning/evening to my Aussie and Pommie friends:))

Berona your courtyard sounds lovely and you've probably set an example with your front garden. The afternoon tea I went to yesterday was in a retirement village and the gardens around each unit were spectacular. I had to walk through much of the village from the carpark to the hall and I stopped a number of times to talk to people who were out in their gardens. There were a lot of pots full of orchids in full bloom. Also hanging baskets full of geraniums. So much time has obviously been put into the gardens.

Janet, so pleased your son and his team are onto the next level. I well remember the days when my children played their sport. I was often more nervous than they were.

Carole I love pig-face and I do have some in my garden. Bright red and yellow and also some lilac ones.

Allan I love the poem - may I copy it? I've often thought of mixing my own potting mix but the bought ones do the job. Like you I tend to buy the more expenive ones as it's probably false economy to buy the cheaper ones.

Susan you must be turning 30:)) Why don't you arrange a nice weekend away for your birthday - somewhere where you are going to be spoiled rotten. A cruise would be nice:))

Where are you, Tec? I miss your humour when you're not here.

Linda, I hope your mum had a better night.

Sue xx

It's morning already - how did that happen?

I'm going to be busy today organising a training session for new volunteers. I don't do the training myself but I organise other people to do it. Not a hard job but it requires putting aside time on the phone and computer and putting together a program. The professionals jump at the chance of giving a presentation because it gets them out of the office for an hour and they often get morning or afternoon tea. The biggest headache is when the new volunteers become nervous about doing the training and drop out.

The wind has dropped here - for now. Although the sun was out yesterday it was very windy. The wind has dried everything out and the grass is starting to yellow. OH was hoping to spray bindii weed killer on the lawns over the weekend but he’ll have to put that off for a couple of days.

Have a good day Aussies and enjoy the rest of your evening, Poms.

Sue xx

Good evening/morning everyone.

Janet, congratulations to your son's footie team. I bet the atmosphere at the match was electric!

Carole.....coffin fit indeed. lol

Sue, of course you can copy the poem. As I said, it isn't mine, but it did appear in a newspaper so it is in the public domain. No author was given for it so I was unable to acknowledge who she/he is.

I do hope that Tec has not buried himself under all that carpet he has laid otherwise he may feel a bit downtrodden

Regards

Allan