General Chat

She's been in touch with me today. Father has cancer so she's been tied up but will send me the extra postage.

When I look back on my childhood taking it from about the age of seven or eight, I had quite a bit of freedom.
We lived in a bungalow built in 1939 bought by my parents new and a bit battered by the war.. our estate was on the edge of fields and farmland that spread for miles in all directions with the addition of HMS Collingwood and Fort F******.
From the age of seven I had a friend whose bungalow was right next to the first field, we were allowed to roam, play build dens all over this field just going home for midday dinner and tea.
As I got older with friends of whom there were quite a lot, I roamed a bit further making for a lily pond by the farm and various other small ponds for tadpoles and newts taken home to be looked at and subsequently released back into ponds.

We often used to meet up with other friends and one odd meeting place was the small (but large to us) crater left when a bomb fell nearby. I can still remember that we sat on an old trailer dumped in there.

I do remember that I was always warned not to speak to strange men, so there must, even then have been concern in that respect.


As we got older wandering got more adventurous I remember aged twelve or thirteen getting into Fort F****** and chatting to soldiers sunbathing on their
break. No my parents never knew.

I'm late on parade today. It was chilly first thing and I needed a jumper but it warmed up by mid-morning and has been quite pleasant all day, apart from the strong winds this afternoon. We had an earlier lunch than usual and I didn't do my usual Sunday roast. Instead we had a veggie quiche with lots of extra roast veg, followed by strawberries and cream. Very tasty it was too.

This afternoon we went for tea and cake with our friends M & V. We have seen them a fair bit recently but always in a group so it was nice to have a chat with just the four of us. There are things we would tell each other that we wouldn't want to broadcast to everyone in the group. OH offered to get the car out but it is well under a mile to their house so I said we would walk. We didn't so much walk as battle into the wind going and get blown along from behind coming back. I was wearing quite a thin blouse so I was glad I had taken a jacket but at least I got a bit of exercise. All in all, it was a very pleasant afternoon.

Your early childhood, before you moved to a town, sounds wonderful as well Annx. Your OH is working hard in your garden. You won't dare complain when he's off to more football matches as he's earned lots of brownie points ;-)

I don't feel I have done very much at all today but I am definitely not going to start h/w or gardening now. I think I'll have a go at some of the crosswords and puzzles that come with the Saturday and Sunday papers.

Afternoon All,

It was a windy morning but has calmed down now and the sun's gone in.

Glynis your childhood was one I would have loved, especially with the sea nearby. I had a look online at the village and it is still just as you say with the sea at each end of the road through it. It still looks very unspoiled and natural as well, away from any crowds. I love the Gower peninsular in Wales, which has kept a lot of it's wildness too and have stayed there a couple of times. I lived in sight of the Cannock Chase forest and opposite a farm I would play at till I was about 9 years old. A school in the next village I'd walk on a public footpath across fields to. It had two classrooms with 15 in my class and outside soil toilets that stank to high heaven. Take a breath, hold your nose while you dashed in and were as quick as you could be before dashing out to breathe again! The smell of bracken and pine trees was everywhere. Then we moved to a city, almost at the end of a road with a dual carriageway at the end of it. I'd never seen a dual carriageway before and the noise at night from traffic kept me awake after living somewhere quiet. The classes at the new school were twice as big as I was used to and I'd never seen so many children. Play then was at a local park like Vera, but a friend and I would walk along the canal and river a 15 minute walk away and swimming baths were nearby and a cinema, well it was called a Kinema. It was new having pavements after being used to pea gravel paths with grass edges and they were great for roller skating on.

I will look at bulb sizes AnnG and the varieties, as I would like some bigger flowered ones, so I'll read the labels. Lodges can be very comfortable can't they? We like them since staying in one at a golf course near Exeter and then in Cornwall. We had a bad one in Norfolk that wasn't clean, but mosquitos were a pain there as it was next to a lake, so we wouldn't book a lodge near water again.

OH went out and pulled the remnants of weeds I weedkilled a fortnight ago out of the gravel this morning so it's all looking much better on the front now. There's still plenty to do and he's started pulling out the cotswold stone rocks that edge the borders there and that we will replace with slate rocks. The old rocks quickly discoloured and split with the frost but it is over 20 years since I set them in place..

Yes she's paid.

Suns out here but it is very very windy. 15 degrees so nt very warm out. Barometer has gone up today.

Strange Mel as I assume that she has paid.

Morning girls,

To answer your question Ann no she has'nt even messaged me to say she has'nt recieved it. Iv'e sent messages three times with no replies. When she bought it she sent a message and said she was sorry for not paying earlier but she was at a meeting. She even told me what she did in the way of minitures, she knits on one ply wool and singles threads of embroidery cotton. She sent me her address on a message tooo with those letters in it. O well we will see if i returns this time.

Quite a bright morning here with blue skies and lots of thinish white clouds and it 15 degrees.

Good morning all, 9 degrees and sunny and very autumnal looking. I think we have had our summer.

Roughly on the same subject as Glynis.
During school holidays I am sure in the August one it was generally warm and sunny. As a young teenager I would cycle to Lee on Solent to the beach with friends (of both sexes). I remember we did have cycling capes to wear if it rained so it was not always dry but I always seems in my memory to have been warm. My birthday party as a child was always held in the garden. Us and a few wasps. When young my Dad would build my sister and I a tent out of a large tarpaulin and an old sheet and a pair of steps and whatever else he could find. This would be on our quite large lawn in the back garden. I would spend hours out there.

Glynis, that does sound idyllic, I wonder if you appreciated it at the time or did you long to live in a town?

Mel I hope the parcel doesn't come back to you again. But it must be a while since the sale was made now, Has the person not queried why they have not received it?

It sounds an idyllic childhood, Glynis. What a lovely place to grow up - a bit different to my childhood in a South London suburb. We were a long way from the sea and either had to go to the local park which had grass and a duck pond or one a bit further away that had swings and slides. Otherwise we played in the street. Not much traffic in those days so we could play out without being in much danger.

Hello Glynis again please feel free to pop on here any time you wish with a memory or just a chat. We are a freindly lot and love newcomers o please keep posting.

It sound lie a lovely childhood memory being able to go to the sea. I remember having cockles at Southend when we went to see the Fairy Lights when I was young. A little round dish with shelled cockles and you put vinegar on them. Once I was older I would'nt eat them. My uncles Les who had a fishing boat at Whitehaven would catch spider crabs and all sorts of other fish. He had a big family and aunty Jean would cook all the fish for tea. Even when we went river fishing uncle Les would take some fish home and eat them, yuk....... and eels even more YUK....... When he caught an eel he would take it off the hook and hold it in an old towel and whack it across the car roof to kill it.

Its strange how something will spark a memory of years ago.

Going back to the parcels I always put my postcode diaginally across the back of the parcel. I cut the postcodes out of letters and parcel labels with the Beaworthy and the code and right From:- above it. That way it is very clear where its from.There are 5 houses in our little stretch all with the same post code so the postman had to ask each one if they had sent a parcel. He hsould have known it was me!!

Gosh I have been painting miniatures and had'nt realised the time. Still the dinner is only going to take 4 and a half mins in the microwave.

I grew up in a very small West Wales village called Angle. I suppose you could say it was on the end of a peninsula. You went down a hill to get into the village and up a hill to get out. Both ends of the village was the sea, my father used to go cockling one end and I would go swimming the other.

We had a church, a small school, a lifeboat and one shop. I had a wonderful time there and I have such great memories of it.

She has to look early as we need two bedrooms preferably both en suite. The one she is looking at is a lodge with nice grounds and a hot tub. It is close to the dales so will be fine for us driving around. I can manage a couple of miles although it is good I’d there is somewhere to rest. I looked it up and it sounds fine to me and not too far from where daughter lives.

Goodness AnnG, your daughter is quick off the mark with holidays for next year. I have been to Skipton though not for a good few years. It was less than 10 miles from where son used to live and is probably less than 20 from where he is now. I don't remember a lot about the town except there was a very good fish and chip restaurant there. It's funny but I've never thought of it as a holiday place but I can't see why not. There are lots of nice places within easy driving distance of Skipton. I'm always a bit wary of recommending places as everyone's taste differs but the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough aren't too far and there are places like Harewood House, Bolton Abbey and RHS Harlow Carr not far away. There's lots of lovely countryside and rivers but you do need to be able to walk a bit to really enjoy it. I can't manage a lot of walking now and I suspect that might be true of several of us on this thread.

I like alliums too but they do produce seedlings by the million. We had several and OH got very stroppy when he spent all his time in the garden pulling up seedlings. Then one day 3 or 4 years ago I opened the lid of the garden bin to see lots of bulbs. He had to admit he had dug up the alliums and got the sharp side of my tongue in return. I rescued some of them and replanted them in a trough down the side of the house. They don't do quite so well there but they don't spread everywhere either. When they have finished as flowers and have the big brown seed heads which are very decorative I cut some of the stalks and put them in a couple of narrow topped vases in the conservatory. I sometimes give them a quick burst of hairspray which seems to stop them dropping too many seeds over the conservatory window sills.

My knowledge of tracker is from Devon T’s dad.

Ann when you buy Allium the packs of 50 will be very small ones. I had some with such small heads they looked like stalks. Those with fewer in will be larger.

I thought the same about the public not knowing what the codes meant too AnnG, but perhaps the reason is written somewhere too as Mel seemed to know her parcel delivery was refused. I suppose if the post office get us to write the whole return address it saves them time looking up the postcode. I must start doing it properly now and it will help when you don't get an answer to something to have some idea why, at least some of the time.

Your daughter is on the ball with researching holidays for next year and finding some new places to visit! All I know about Skipton is that they have a Building Society!

I did like our Choisya and may get the smaller green one to plant. I only want shrubs that are evergreen so there are no leaves falling on the gravel. Thr left hand border is nearly all evergreens and also smothers the weeds.

You got on well at the eye clinic then Vera and won't have to go so soon next time. OH has to have drops in both eyes for his eye tests as his pupils don't open enough and he can't see properly for ages afterwards and needs sunglasses on. I'm not surprised the bright lights triggered a bad headache afterwards. That's a good idea to try rhubarb in a pot Vera. I might do that too as I'd like to keep a bit of it. I saw a sauce made from it in the past to go with I think pork and that may be less sweet, so I could try it and freeze some. OH is always eyeing up our patch and asking if he can cut it back as it is huge now.

I'll have a look on line at the Alliums Mandy as it sounds like you get a lot for the price. The factory shop we go to has sold them before so I might take a trip there next week. I like them as they stand out when they are in flower and inbetween other plants. I was looking at the cut gladioli in the shop today as they look nice in a vase. Will you replant the bulbs again with the ones you have flowering in the garden now?

Had to laugh, just had an email from daughter. She is working on our next years holiday, May or June. She is looking at Skipton. Not an area I am familiar with.

Well I got a little of my get up and go back as I had a good hoover and dust in the conservatory so I've done a little this morning.
Still raining here so the water butts are getting a nice top up.

Ann funny you should mention Allium bulbs as i saw them advertised in the lidl leaflet on line ,they were 3.99 a pack and I think it said 5-50 bulbs and there was two or three different colours ,not sure if it's a good buy as I have no idea how much they usually are in the garden centres but I thought I might get some for the front garden ,my Gladioli are now flowering ,the pinky coloured ones have done well but I only have three or four of the red ones .

I bought a couple of bunches of Gladioli from aldi this week ,I gave dil a bunch of pinky red ones and I had purple ones they are now opening out .

I have never seen that about where to write a return address I do know not to write it in the centre at the back of letter of parel and under my post code I write 'from' as I think a machine picks up the post code on the last line of the address so the word 'from' prevents that.
Those codes are all very well if people know which code is relevant for the parcel returned.
Vera I go to the ENT clinic on Wednesday at three o'clock
Glad all went well with your appointment.

ann we used to have a huge Choisya in the front garden, it went when we had the front done with brick paving.

We were up late too Mandy and my get up and go seems to have followed yours. It was pouring with rain and has only just stopped, so I got a soaking going to the shop. For about the 5th time in as many weeks and in the same place, the side of the main road was being dug up and extra traffic lights there, so a huge queue of traffic both ways. As you say the rain will be good for the garden and it will help OH get more weeds out after the bin is emptied next week

Yes AnnG it was a shame about the show as I had all my entries for each class decided on and ready in plastic sleeves. I drove past the carpark going to the shop this morning and, as supected, I couldn't spot any empty spaces, even before the show opens. It only has about 40 spaces. Never mind, I will keep my eyes open for any other shows. I expect your itchiness now is signs of healing, which is good despite the irritation. If the dressing is claylike I expect they will soak it to soften it to remove it. We had an enormous golden Choisia in the flower bed before. It was about 20 years old and just wilted and died with the hotter sunmmers. Two things I want to add are michaelmas daisies and some allium bulbs which are in the garden centres now. The Squirrels don't seem to bother with allium bulbs I already have, but they do go for tulips so I can't have those. I'm suspecting OH has dug up and thrown out all my pink Chionodoxa from the front garden. I wanted to keep those, but I expect he thought they were more grape hyacinths that did need to go. The subtle differences in bulb leaves pass him by.

OH has gone 48 miles to a match today. Now he's started following a team that replaced his old one I expect there will be more matches a distance away. At least his cars are always ones that are frugal with fuel.

Back to the subject of post I hadn't realised that your return address should be written at the bottom, righthand side on the back of envelopes.

Time for a COT next. :-D

Good day everyone

I expect we all have similar weather; grey and wet and not very warm. At least yesterday’s wild wind has dropped.

Your tomato soup and sauce sound good AnnG. We’ve just picked the first few of our toms. I bet they all ripen in the next few days so I end up with a glut just before we go away. I expect I’ll be quickly trying to turn them into sauce to freeze. I’m not a fan of tomato soup. I hope everything is healing up nicely under your dressing. I’ve forgotten when you said you have to go back to the hospital.

You are having problems with getting your parcel delivered Mel. It certainly sounds as though it’s going to a collection point and the number would be needed to make sure it goes to the right person. I hope it arrives safely now you’ve included the line of letters/numbers. I guess they are the identification code. Little tacker was a new expression to me as well. Perhaps it’s a West Country expression. I would have said I hadn’t seen someone since he was a nipper or since he was knee high to a grasshopper.

Surprising what you find when you start sorting cupboards and drawers out, isn’t it Mandy. It’s good that you found your son’s premium bonds and I did laugh at his comment about not buying his Range Rover yet. I think my get-up-and-go has eloped with yours. I can’t seem to rouse myself to do anything much. We both need our get-up-and-go to get-up-and-come-back, lol.

What a shame you aren’t entering anything for the village show Annx but I can see how difficult it would be with parking etc. Is there anywhere else more suitable locally where it could be held and, if so, could you mention it to the organisers? The venue and parking could be putting a lot of people off attending. Your OH is doing well with getting your garden cleared. You will have to let us know what you decide to plant. I’ve been wondering whether rhubarb would do OK in a very large pot. We like rhubarb, it freezes well and makes nice jam with a bit of ginger in it but I don’t have space for it in the garden. However I do have a very large pot and a half barrel not being used at the moment. Like you, I cook it with orange.

Well, my visit to the hospital went OK yesterday. It was very quiet in the eye treatment centre but apparently most of the doctors were on holiday. The result was that my eye is stable which they are pleased about (as am I) as I haven’t had an injection for a year and there is little sign of swelling now. However, with this condition there can be problems with blood vessels which is why they want to keep seeing me but the doctor I saw said I needn’t go back for 3 months. My eyes were very uncomfortable for the rest of yesterday. They were blurry and sore and I couldn’t bear the light on them so was in dark glasses till I went to bed when I developed an horrendous headache, probably caused by all the bright lights I had shining in my eyes during scans and examinations. All the tests are done on both eyes – I think they use the good eye as a comparison. Anyway I can see fine today and don’t need the dark glasses though my eyes still feel very sore. The hospital are quick off the mark; I had only been home about half an hour when I got a text and an email giving me my next appointment for 20th November.

OH has called out that lunch is ready so I'd better get this posted.