General Chat

Afternoon All,

I was surprised it had reached 12 degrees by the time I went to the shop and it is sunny with no sign of the rain that was forecast a few days ago.

Miss Marple woke at 5.45am to the sound of a paper being pushed through the letterbox so was out of bed to peep through the blinds. A car with headlights on was parked on the road a short distance away just past our neighbour's bungalow where they could turn easily. I hadn't blocked our drive at the bottom with my car last night to see what would happen. I'm pretty sure now that the person using our driveway was probably a relief driver for when the usual one was unable to come. He was coming much later at about 8.00am as well.

We do still have bikes in the garage Mandy. We had a couple of secondhand fold up ones years ago, but the front wheel flew off OH's on a ride once and my handlebars would turn without the front wheel so we got 2 mountain bikes we still have. When we were girls my friend's mum had a bike like Miss Marples' with the basket on the front and a thin plastic cover over some of the back wheel to keep your clothes clean. I only had the tiny bike I had as a 7 year old then, so I would ride my friend's bike and she would ride her mum's bike when we went for a bike ride.

OH has gone to a local match despite being in agony with his back last night after changing the shower curtain that's over the bath. Apparently the holes in it at the top were smaller than the ones we've had before, but some ibuprofen and a hot shower have done wonders in getting him match ready. :-) We were pleased he got a call from the docs yesterday to say they are arranging a bone scan to see what is happening with his osteoporosis as it's 5 years since he last had one. He was helpfully getting things ready for me to do our usual Saturday poached eggs while I was out. I have tinned tomatoes with mine. This week he managed to get out and open red kidney beans instead!!?? lol. :-D Apparently you can rinse and freeze leftovers of the tinned ones so that's good. :-)

That was a shame you lost your Camellia one winter Gwyn. With such happy memories too. I was surprised we lost ours last summer yet two others next to it survived. It was about 5 foot high, so not a small plant. I hardly watered last year with the indoor work we were doing, so it might have got too dry. I wasn't in the garden much in all the heat and can't have noticed.

Yes they do like ericaceous compost as you say AnnG and it surprised me they thrived in our soil which isn't really ideal. I do give them an ericaceous feed in the Spring though and then chuck some used teabags under the lower branches where they aren't seen. The oldest one is over 7 feet high now and I want to reduce the height a bit. I might start this one in a pot this year while I decide on the best position for it. I hope you can get your printer you like sorted as they all seem different how they operate.

Your poor OH still hobbling around Vera. I have had bad cramp that left my leg sore for a few days but not as bad as his sounds. I hope you still have the 'chariot' to help if needs be. He must be fed up with it now.

Mel it will be good for you to have a change from doing the Tudor man. Could you blue tack the tiny pieces to something to hold in your hand or prop up to paint them? I can imagine how fiddly it must be to hold them while painting them. You do such lovely fine detail on them.

There was a note in the WW this week that if you take old mobile phones, broken toasters etc to Curry's they will give you £5 in store credit so I might take my ancient mobile in as no-one would want to buy it.

Well, I've learnt something new today AnnG. Our printer is an Epson and is now fairly old and I had never even heard of the maintenance box so I have been looking up what it is for. One site I saw said the maintenance box should be changed every 1-2 years! I think I'll just wait till the machine tells me it needs changing.

It's 11 degrees here and is now quite cloudy though it has been beautiful all morning. I did some washing and got that on the line as it was very blowy, than I wrapped up in my old gardening anorak and spent 90 minutes working outside. I tidied up some pots of herbs and cleared a couple of big pots of dead plants and did a bit of weeding. Then I decided to tackle some mini hostas in troughs down the side of the house. I bought 6 a few years ago and planted 2 in each of 3 troughs but they have grown and become entwined and the troughs were full of moss. I've only tackled 1 trough so far but I got everything out and split the 2 hostas into 6 pieces, planted 2 pieces back and topped up with some fresh compost and potted the other 4 pieces up to grow on and take to the plant stall at our Club coffee morning in June.

I finished up by giving all the bird feeders a good wash and disinfect. I've decided that in future I am only going to put out sunflower hearts and fat balls with occasional mealworms. I put out peanuts and nyger seeds, they hang there untouched and getting rained on and then start to go mouldy. I throw them away, wash the feeders, put out a few more and the same thing happens time and time again. All the birds just go for the sunflower hearts. Even the resident robin ignores the mealworms which they are supposed to love.

My back is aching from the gardening and I feel quite tired so I am going to get my washing in and sit down with my book now.

It is 13 degrees here but there is quite a strong wind which keeps the temp feeling colder. I had a bit of a potter around the garden but there is not a lot needing doing at the moment. Just little bits here and there. I don't like gardening when it is windy.

I could do some H/W but it doesn't really need doing, I did a bit in the kitchen a couple of days ago so that is clean, I have done a load of washing but mostly I have pottered around on here. I have had my epson printer a long time and today, for the first time ever, it is telling me my maintenance box is full and to buy a new one. I see they are on Amazon and I looked at how to change it but it beats me so I am waiting to hear if my computer chap does it then I will buy one. It is a really good printer so don't really want to change it but I will wait and see if Dom thinks it is worth changing.

Thank you Ann for the photos. The camelia is such a pretty shade and looks strong and healthy.
We lost ours a few years back in the winter, which I was sorry about, as our children had gifted to us one wedding anniversary, as we had stayed at The Camelia Hotel on honeymoon.
Very bad riding on the horses.
Luckily the van driver was more considerate, as there was little room to avoid the riders being so far out into the road and close to the centre line.

A beautiful Spring day here, laptop is saying 12 degrees and mostly sunny, so that should help to dry our clay soil a bit. It's so cold and heavy out there in the back garden, but I want to get out there soon to keep on top of it before all the summer growth really takes off.

Good morning all

Our weather is much the same as yours AnnG. I haven’t stuck my nose outside yet but I can see it’s still quite breezy so it might be colder than it looks. I don’t have any plans for the day. Maybe I should try to get a bit done in the garden. OH is still hobbling and limping so we won’t be going out.

That camellia is a very pretty colour Ann and it looks a very healthy plant. Those riders were really discourteous. They could easily have gone single file and pulled over a little. The van driver was good to stop, not many would.

Morning all,

Nice sunny morning, it was a little misty first thing but that's all gone now .

Well I wonder if Miss Marple has solved the case today ,I'd like to see a photo of you with your Miss Marpls bicycle Ann :-D

Anng the soil makes your hands so cold when you weed this time of the year even with gloves .

We're off into town later need to go to the butchers and see Jake and get chickens ,sausages and mince .

Morning all,

Duller here tis morning and its the same temp as you Anng 7 degrees but the pc says strong gusty winds in two hours. Not a pleasent day to look forward to I think. Just the shop to do this morning and then its back to my miniatures as I seem to have been faffing aroud with the tudor man for long enough and want to do some painting now. I am going to attempt a Clarice Cliff milk jug and sugar bowl that I first made back in the 70's or 80's thing is they are so tiny I don't know if my old hands will actually hold them to paint. We'll see anyway I hav'nt tried get them oout of the moulds yet.

O its raining that horrid fine stuff that get everywhere. Nice......not

good morning all 7 degrees here and sunny but I thought rain was forecast, maybe it missed us.
That is a pretty Camelia Ann, is it to go in the ground or in a tub? They like Ericaceous soil don't they?
Nothing planned today, probably potter in the garden, hopefully the soil is warmimg up, hate weeding when the soil is so cold. Even with gloves it is unpleasant.

Yes she might have to set her alarm Mel! lol.

Yes, I did too Mel and I think most riders do try to. I don't think many realise they should stop if there isn't that 2 metres gap if a horse is coming towards them along a narrow road and that it doesn't just apply to overtaking them. I'll send a pic.

Miss Marple will have to get up earlier to see which car comes in the morning Ann.

I always pulle din to somewhere along the way if I had traffic behind me when I was out on a ride on my pony. Some riders would say horses were on the roads before cars so have the right to ride where they want. The girls round here always pull into single file if a car comes and I always give all horses and ponies a wide slow pass. We get lots round here as you can imagine. Lisa up the road and her mum both ride past us and Pam down the road too. Pam fell off her horse once when a car past too close and oh had to pick her up off the road and she was injured and badley shacken. She was no youngster but oh got her home safely and called an abulance.

Pc is saying its 9 degrees here now and the bitter wind has stopped.

There more moss on the nest today as I took BIL in there to see it and it has the hole for an entrance now. I must get a picture as its like a two storey town nest.

Had sasage sandwiches lunch time and now I am not hungry so I am going to have a bowl of rice pudding I think or just something light.

Afternoon All,

I slept past the time the car and paper arrived this morning so didn't see which car came! Miss Marple will have to do better tomorrow! :-) We get a discount on the paper Mel and the company that gives it arranges deliveries so we don't know if it comes from a shop. If needs be we will have to ring them. I'm not sure signs would do much good and we don't want our cars to be keyed by someone irritated by them.

Five years ago today, on my sister's 63rd birthday, we were at her funeral. It was very chilly but bright like today then. I never expected to outlive her with being 9 years older. .

We got up early and went to two garden centres to look at Camellias. They seem to be stocking more smaller varieties this year with smaller flowers, which are useful for smaller spaces or pots. I did find a nice one with bigger leaves and flowers, but hummed and ahhed when I saw the price. OH didn't though and told me to just get it so I did. I'll send a pic when I've downloaded it.

On the way there, we were travelling down a narrow road and came across two ponies being ridden two abreast at a walk the same way we were going. We had to stay behind them as the new rules this month mean you have to give them 2 metres space to go past, like with cycles and there wasn't room as they were straddling across the middle. They didn't move to single file, so after a couple of miles crawling along there was a queue of about 10 cars behind us. Then a big van came the other way and he had to pull up and stop. Luckily we were able to turn into the garden centre then. Having ridden on roads with my own ponies I wondered why they didn't attempt to go in single file, go at a trot or move off the road into one of the field gateways we passed and let the traffic pass by. It's what I would have done. I'd be tthe first to agree that motorists have no idea of the unpredictability of some horses and drive by them much too fast and too close, but there needs to be a bit of sensible give and take.

I suppose it's better the workmen are so willing and you get a good job done AnnG, but they should have tidied your tools away. I'm sure your grass will recover pretty quickly now Spring is on the way. What a nuisance your downstairs phone has gone wrong now. I hope you hear soon with a new appointment at Glos Royal as I expect that would be the best option of all for getting there. (edit............I now see you already have an appointment!)

It has been a beautiful looking day with blue skies and sunshine but, boy, there has been a strong, cold wind.

Oh dear Mandy, that poor pigeon but I suppose everything in nature has its place and all creatures have to find their food where they can. It’s a bit gruesome for the person who has to do the clearing up. Glad it wasn’t me. I can deal with furry things but I’m not good with feathery things. It sounds as though your dil made a bit of an effort for World Book Day. I expect Lewis enjoyed being Harry Potter. I was reading some letters in the paper recently from parents complaining about the cost of buying costumes for their children for World Book Day. But it’s so easy to cobble something together for pennies. I can remember my two, 50 years ago, when we were hard up, going as Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. We just did a bit of adapting of clothes they already had, OH made a hat for our son out of cardboard painted black and I made daughter a pinny from an old, torn, white sheet and off they went happy as anything. It also reminded me of youngest granddaughter about 9 years ago forgetting to tell her Dad and stepmum that she needed a costume till she came home from school the day before the event. We were staying there so we all sat wracking our brains as to what she could go as with whatever was in the house when I suggested Lyra from His Dark Materials. I don’t know if you know these books but she only needed fairly ordinary clothes so we just sorted through her wardrobe. Son ran up the road to the charity shop and came back with a shoulder bag for 50p and she had a soft toy Meerkat so it got tucked in the bag with his head poking out and he became Lyra’s daemon, Pantalaimon. Took an hour to sort out and cost 50p.

You’ve had a lot done in your garden AnnG and Jake and his father will get everything back in order for you I’m sure. Grass is tough so I expect yours will recover OK. I hope the NHS staff can sort out an appointment for you at the hospital you want as soon as possible.

With the birds nest Mel I should just let the wrens and swallows sort themselves out. Perhaps they’ll operate some sort of birdy Airbnb, lol. I mentioned the other day that our electricity bill had gone down but I got that wrong. Sorry. I was sure OH told me it was the electricity that had gone down but looking online at our bank statement yesterday I see it was the water bill. That had gone down by about 20%.

We didn’t go to our coffee group yesterday morning. OH had woken at 3 am the night before with the sharpest, most severe pain in his leg. When I got up at 8 am he was up but still couldn’t put his foot to the ground and was hopping round the kitchen hanging on to the backs of chairs and the work surfaces. I wanted him to ring the doctor’s surgery but he wouldn’t. Eventually he agreed to ring 111. The person who answered the phone asked him a lot of questions and talked to him for quite a while before saying he would get a clinician to ring him back. This chap rang after about half an hour and asked all the same questions again but no one seems able to work out what has happened. Gradually, it eased a bit during the day so he could shuffle around but after a night in bed he was back to square one this morning. Now it is easier again. He is prone to severe cramp so the only thing we can think is that the muscle went into a really bad cramp and wouldn’t release or relax again.

Today, we had planned to go shopping, then OH was going to pick up the seats of our kitchen chairs which have been re-covered while I got my hair cut, but there’s no way he can walk around at the moment so I have had to do it all. The biggest problem was picking up the 4 seats. The shop had packed them all together in a huge slippery plastic bag which was a really awkward shape and size. The lady in the shop suggested I got my car and stopped outside on the double yellow line. That would have meant me walking back to the car park anyway, driving back to the shop, taking a chance on the traffic warden not coming by while I was on a double yellow and then having to go all round the one-way system to get back to where I started from to get home. I decided just to grit my teeth and carry them straight back to the car. I sure was glad when I got there. The pack was a bit weighty but not too bad. However it was so awkward to carry and I could really feel it pulling on my back. Never mind, I managed and we now have 4 new chair seats and a much lighter bank balance.

I see I have written half a book again. All I’m going to do for the rest of the day is get a meal ready and that’s going to be a really easy one. We’re having pizza, which I rarely have, and a big mixed salad. Enjoy the rest of the day folks and sleep well tonight.

EDIT: I see you now have your hospital appointment Ann. Mel, I hope all that bending down picking up branches isn’t hurting your hip too much.

:-D Mel not sure if BiL is a help or a hindrance. He sounds like the two who are doing my garden jobs a bit bull in a China shop.

I now have a date for Glos Royal for 10am on the 14th. A bit early but ok.

BIL turned up just before lunch to say he was going to mow as he thinks it may rain tomorrow and the grounds not too bad with this wind we have been having. So he mowed it all but did'nt pick anything up but it is keeping it down for when we get much better days so it can be done properly. The only thing is with him he will not wait for for to pick up all the fallen branches off the Ash tree in the orchard and he mows over some and I hear them braking under the wheels of the mower and bluntening the blades so I made him stop while I picked up a lot of them. I had two barrow loads and the first one he emptied into the trailer full of water!!!!! thye were quite dry and I could have burnt them all up but I did pick up another barrow load and shall set fire to those tonight.

Wind dropped a bit this afternoon and it was quite pleasent out there working. It must have taken me an hour to pick all those up ans when he drives over them it breaks the into smaller bits so more to pick up.

I gave him sausage sandwiches for lunch and a coffee and he put the two small cans of deisel in my car for me so when he fills those up I will pay him for that. He brought petrol for the mower so I also owe him for that!!

Need a COT now so I will put the kettle on.

It is lovely and sunny here at the moment but very windy which is not pleasant for gardening. Having had the two men team here yesterday pressure washing two patios and redoing the wooden edging on three places, I have just spent half an hour in the garden, I cut the small piece of lawn that is left on a high cut but it was well trodden by their big feet and, as it was already damp the grass is a bit flattened. Still I tidied it up. Then I went round the garden picking up my tools they had borrowed and not put away and discovered a bit behind the smaller patio where all the gunge has been swept by the water onto my slate hosta bed and that is also where they moved pots to and have not put them back. so an email has been sent to prepare them for what needs doing when they visit to finish off the patios with sand next week. They are very good and have done a lot of good things in the garden but they seem good at the hardware heavy stuff but not the more delicate jobs. they are self named (I think) landscapers but not plants men. Still they are willing and work well, don't take lots of breaks etc. And the garden is much easier to manage now.
And I have just heard from Jake, very apologetic saying he will sort it out next week for me.

I had a phone call from glos hospitals booking office but they wanted me to go to Tewkesbury for an appointment next week. I can't get there easily by bus so I rang them back and they are going to try and sort one at glos Royal. This is to see a consultant to discuss what the op will entail.
And now my downstairs phone has gone wrong. It receives calls on the answer phone but I can't call back, and don't think I can make calls. Luckily the one in my office will take and make calls.

I am sure it will recover once it gets a bit warmer and you'll be surprised how it gets going again.

I had a couple of patches where the phesant had his corn each night and that was bald but since I lost poor od Phil it has grown back lovely now. Also there is a patch where I go to the end of the chickens run to put fat sticks on the corner each morning for the Robin and thats now just a muddy mess but I jknow once it gets dryer it will grow again.

Good morning all. 8 degrees here now (8am) and fairly bright. I slept better last night except, I was in bed at 10.30 and woke with a start at 12.05 with reflux, ugh, I hate that because it makes me take ages to go back to sleep worrying it will happen again. First time for that in over a year although I do get heartburn quite a bit. I got up and walked around and had a drink of water. eventually dropped off again about two and woke at 0530 so not too bad.

Mandy poor pigeon, I know hawks have to eat and have to live, and are beautiful birds but sometimes nature does seem cruel.

Mel I am sure the swallows will be later than the wren with their nesting you will have to put up a notice "please form an orderly queue"

Ann I like carveries but I don't like the sound of those veg. I prefer it when they do cauli cheese or leeks in white sauce as well as cabbage (that is not chewy).
Yes the garden is coming together. I am now going to wait and see if the lawn that is left recovers as with all the tramping around on it yesterday it is looking sad. I don't want to have to get rid of lawn completely but if it doesn't recover it may have to go.

Morning all,

The suns just coming up a bit more now so it may be another niceish day. 6 degrees and mostly cloudy by the pc so will have to see how the day pans out.

Must do some ironing today and have a tidy upo incase BIL comes tomorrow or even today!!

Hope you all slept better last night. I went to bed at 12.27 and woke at 7.23am and did'nt get up in the night for the loo. Feel a lot better this morning but have hip ache.

Forgot to answer about the Swallows. They have been coming for many years to the same place so I expect they will come back this year. I have three nests in the filter shed but the one they used last year (the first ever made in there) is the biggest and was made taller last year. It could be my fault as I opened the fan light window in there a bit more as it get very damp in there.

Evening Miss Marple I bet your hoping that was a temporary delivery driver and now the old ones back. Its not good that they turn or park in your driveway. Could you not speak to the shp owner who sends the papers out? You need a NO PARKING OR TURNING sign like they have for no hawkers etc.

Not done much today but feel very tired so I think an early night is what I need.

Hope Anng sleeps better tonight and Vera too.