General Chat

I'm glad you had a nice day out yesterday Mel.

A good day's work for you AnnG. I used to hate defrosting the large ex-Canteen chest freezer we had at our old place. Now we have an upright in the kitchen and another in the garage and they both self-defrost, so just need a bit of a wipe out every so often.

I've done 3 loads of washing and got it all dry and I've been shopping for fresh veg, salad stuff and milk.

Tomorrow morning we are going on a guided tour of our town's "Unlisted Heritage". There are a large number of listed buildings locally but this is taking us to look at places that have interesting architectural features or interesting stories attached to them but aren't Grade 1 or 2 listed. It's free but had to be booked and the tickets were emailed to me so I had to print them off. It's taken me ages as first the printer was out of one colour ink. We changed that and printed off one ticket only to get a message telling me that another one of the inks had run out so had to go through the whole process again before I could print the second ticket.

It was sunny and warm all morning but this afternoon it has been overcast and very heavy. It feels as though there ought to be a thunderstorm at any moment but there's nothing forecast.

I'm feeling a bit peckish and we won't eat for a couple of hours so I think a cup of tea and some biccies might fill the gap. Time to put the kettle on, methinks.

I forgot, in between melting the ice and emptying the water from the rapidly filling tray where we took it I. Turns daughter and I, I managed to quarter fill the brown bin by cutting back stuff that had grown since I cut it back three weeks ago.

A second load of washing done, a visit to the garden centre and some compost bought while SiL was here to carry it for me. and the freezer had its first defrost in about 6 years. It took us three hours to get rid of the build up of ice. It took three of us as we could not have done it without SiL to carry all the food drawers up0 and put them in the bath.

It was now I just have to work out where to put it.

Hope you've cured it now Anng. Its 16 degrees here now but still very cloudy.

Postmans just been so better see if its my pond bomb to clear the water.

Morning all,

Been raining heavily in the night as everywhere is really wet this morning and the wheelbarrows have about an inch and a hlaf at least in them from what I can see from the patio. The deer are lying on the front grass this morning.

Slept like a log last night must have been all the walking I did yesterday but I so enjoyed going out to a beach and walking onthe sand. I am so pleased we went yesterday and not today as the sky is very grey and pc says 14 degrees and cloudy. Yesterday was perfect comfortable weather with plenty of the yellow stuff and a nice warm breeze.

Good morning all. quite bright and 10 degrees. Just had an hour battling my main PC it didn't want to run properly. I have ended up totally switching off and back on again and re-loading google facebook and genes so hope it is ok now.

Hi all been out to Bude today and had a lovely icecream ( I had a ginger one) and then walk right across the sandy beach looking for shells but did'nt find any. We then walked back and had a meal of fish and chips in th eposh Olive Tree bistro which I was treated to and a nice fresh orange juice. It was a OAP meal of fresh haddock with a great crispy batter with poppy seeds in it peas and chips and a great tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon. Went down a treat. We then came home and I gave Vic one of oh's fishing poles as he had got all the fishing gear out of the car up the top garden and we laid it all out and took pics of it on my phone. We went in the fishing shop in Bude first but the manager was'nt there so the chap gave me a card so I can send the pics to them and they will see if they want to buy any of it.

Am really tired now so am going to have a little relax and watch gardeners world. May have a bit of toast with it.

Glad you all arrived home safely and I do hope you all get a better nights sleep tonight in your own beds.

I have done one load of three weeks worth of washing. Two more to go. But tomorrow is defrost the heavily frosted freezer day. Not looking forward to that, feels as if it will be a bit stressful.

Glad you are safely back home AnnG. It sounds as though you had a horrid journey. Our journey was OK but took a bit longer than it should have done due to roadworks and volume of traffic. Everything is unpacked now, the laundry basket is overflowing and OH has picked so many tomatoes that I am wondering how we are going to get through them all. We picked a load before we went and I froze some and took some with us. It has been a good year for tomatoes.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I’ll have to do at least some of the washing and I need to shop for fresh stuff as the fridge is looking very empty.

I hope you enjoyed the day with your visitors Mel and hope everyone else has had a good day too. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own room tonight as I shouldn’t be so hot as I have been this past week. I just have a sheet and a lightweight blanket on the bed and my lovely floor standing fan which has a remote control so I don’t even have to get out of bed to change the setting or switch it on and off :-D

Hello all. We got home about 2.30 It was not a nice journey. The first hour+ was filthy weather, very low cloud and lots of surface water and also mist and or fog in places. The weather improved but then the traffic increased. It was horrendous we had a very long lot of roadworks at 40 then 50, then a bit later we were in a slow crawl for ages, a bit of a stretch where we could get a move on, then another long stretch where we crawled. Never actually came to a complete stop. However the M6 and M5 both came to a complete stop and the jam that side went for miles. I have never seen so much traffic on the road and so many lorries too. It was good to get home. Still we had a great time I really enjoyed my time away.

Morning all,

Safe journey home you lot. Nice morning 12 degrees and pc says cloudy but the suns out at the mo and its the first day I have seen the fairy hammocks in the box hedge.

The deer and her baby ran across the lawn this morning on their way to the orchard so I expect they will breakfast on apples. They both lay together against the box hedge yesterday for about an hour as they were still there each time I went out for something.

Must get on as I have things to do before they come today and I have to get up to the post van too.

Safe journeys home both of you and I hope you don't get held up in traffic.

I have been busy today having a tidy up and hoovering but not got it all done as I'd have liked but thye can take me as they find me.

My arm is hurting now and I just realised I hav'nt changed my patch today so I better do that now and find something to eat.

Frustrating if you leave your camera at home and then need it. Hope the phone photos turned out well.
Sounds like two good days Vera, lovely to spend time with your friend making more memories.

We had a good time with Step granddaughter and baby Maya, and Amber the cockerpoo and we also had youngest great granddaughter for three hours, that is quite tiring as a lot of attention is needed to entertain her. She will be two next month.

Vera you will probably get home before us. We hopefully leave here at 0730. Safe journey anyway. That week went quite Kay didn’t it? :-)

I’m glad you enjoyed your Buttermere walk AnnG and it made a new memory for you. It is a lovely spot from what I remember though it’s some years since we were last there.

Enjoy time with your visitors tomorrow Mel. I wonder where all that grit can be coming from?

We’re off home again tomorrow so I’ve been packing as well. That week has gone very quickly. We’ve been very lucky with the weather, there’s not been a drop of rain though it’s still too hot at night for my liking. I’m not sleeping much.

We had another lovely day with our friend Val yesterday. We drove to her house and her man friend joined us for lunch later. Val had booked a table at a lovely Italian restaurant and we had a super meal, then her friend took us on a car tour of the area. Back to Val’s for a coffee and more chat and we arrived back here around 6 pm.

Today we went to Sheffield Park and Gardens. There are no laid out gardens as such but 250 acres of walks through different types of woodland and round several lakes. Needless to say we didn’t cover it all. It is National Trust but the house is still private and not open to the public. OH has been carrying his camera around all week and hardly taken a snap. Today he wanted it and had left it behind. Typical! He took a few pics on his phone so we will have to see what they come out like.

We’re just going out to eat so I’d better quickly tidy myself up a bit. Then it’s home tomorrow :-(

Happy packing Anng. We have had a little sun but now its grey sky again and 17 degrees so workable outside.

I have just done the pond filter again in an attempt to clear this water. I need to fill the pond up now from the well.

Good morning all bright here but cloudy and a strong breeze. It rained yesterday evening and overnight. We are staying in today and it is the two Ps people and packing. Not sure when people are coming but it is some time this morning so packing will be this afternoon.

Morning all,

grey skies and pc says 13 degrees and humidity 84% mostly cloudy.

I must definately do house work today. Talk about leaving it to the last minuet. I really only have to do the bathroom floor and hoover through and put my craft things away.

It will be nce to see Chrissy and Vic tomorrow but I wish it was'nt such a fleeting visit.

Evening all,

It's been quite a nice sunny day ,we went shopping this morning and got a few bits but I need to go to Aldi tomorrow when their offers start as they should have the fat quarters in ,oh and wool .

Mel could all this grit in the washer be coming up from the leaky pipe ,have you noticed any in the sink when you run the tap although after saying that most taps now have a little filter bit in the tap so you might not get it in the sink .

Anng that was a good walk you did today you'll have walked up an appetite ready for your Indian meal.

Vera hope you've got your voice back ,is it tomorrow you meet up with your friend again ,if it is enjoy the day .

That was a nice day then Anng and some memories along the way.

I have spent all day cleaning out filters. First I washed the bathroom mats and then went to do the big pond filter but I heard the alarm going off so came back in the kitchen and did the washing machine filter and put it back on. big mistake I put it on to carry on and it was 19 mins so went back to my pond filter. Heard it again so came in and put it on a rinse and spin wash this time after doing the filter again. It went and did the cykle this time so they went on the line and I had the washing machine filter out again and still more grit came out.

Had some lunch after that. Then I did the big pond scimmer and set that going but I still think the water is not so clear with them both running together. Anyway I had actually managed to get the air pump going in the skimmer tank and cleaned that out too. Thats going ok now. Then I looked in the filter for my pond and decided to have a go at that one cos I have never really cleaned it out as it is supposed to be done. So one went the air line for that filter and I put the pipe in the middle to stop it going down back into the pond and pumped it out onto the hosta bed. All this time with putting plugs in for this and that the leccy had been good. Cleaned the scimmer out , the one in my pond and put it all back together and turned off the air pump and then swept all the leaves off the tree to the end of the decking so I can put then in a big black sack.

I did'nt have to come in once to turn the leccy back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The down side is I hav'nt got much done in the house today which is what I had planned to do today but I shall now feed the chickens their corn and clean the bathroom and put the dry mats back down.