General Chat

Morning Brenda And Dorothy,and for a change ,we have sunshine ,wahey,so the wife has started the washing machine ,and the race is on ,3 to 1 on the rain ,he he. i won't give better odds.
I have noticed this morning as i water the urns with the trees in ,that the runner beans are well away ,so we need to use last years out of the freezer in a hurry ,or we will get snowed under ,with the new crop.
The dwarf runners are well under way as well so things are looking up.
The wife put another row of Pak Choi in yesterday evening ,and we have time for another 3 sowings before the season for them ends ,we are doing very well .
I have brought an indoor electric B B Q unit which i can use when the weather is so lousy as it has been,so if i use that and the george foreman griddle ,i will do okay and i am looking foreward to it ,seeing as i have some spinach ready ,i can make Sag Aloo for a change instead of Bombay potato .
I hope you get off to Bury okay Brenda ,me and Dorothy is jealous ,i would love some more black pudding ,but i only have to wait a few weeks until i go down to Fleetwood ,where i can get the real stuff [real lancashire pudding]instead of the geordie/scottish stuff [yuk] a real i am ,NOT,he he :-(.
We are trying to get yet another week ,or two down there now as we have had to cancel Cornwall ,,the wife can no longer travel that sort of distance ,a pity ,but we can't have everything, :-).
Looking at the fir hedge outside the front window,if it dosn't dry up shortly ,i will be needing a chain saw to trim it instead of the hedge trimmers ,ouch.
Going to sit outside with a coffee now ,to keep the cat quiet ,he he ,i think she is worried in case the rain comes back as well :-0.
Catch you all later ,and no Edith old friend, i havn't forgotten you [as if i could
] i hope you get genes sorted soon ,Fred :-).

hi it s2pm thursday and I am sitting in the dark all the blinds closed it is 35 plus the humidity of 45 in town at the moment and it is hard to breathe if I go out on the balcony so it is a day inside for me plus the air is on early, hope that liz got the washing out and you did not have any rain. sorry that you feel that you are not able to go to cornwall any more but never mind fleetwood and the black pudding is not bad, also fred maybe you could take liz to cartmel and grange over sands I am sure you would love a look around the postoffice in cartmel it has all kinds of goodies and lots of sticky toffee pudding the real kind. the 2nd hand book store is good and the church the priory is worth a look at I have 3 great pictures on the hall wall of my time there I never get tired of looking at them. well I am off to raise one of the blinds a little and have a read, brenda tell john that I watched a couple of hrs of the senior open to-day too bad it rained bye for now dorothy

Morning fred and Dorothy,its a light grey outdside and dry ,for now,I am wondering on what to do ,go out and do a couple of errands I have to do or doa few jobs in the house,that I have been putting off.!!
Will have a think when I have finished on here and having a cup of tea!!
Hope you got your washing out and dried fred, I really enjoy bringing in clean dry washing.Shame about Cornwall,but I am sure you will find nearer places you will enjoy.
Dorothy glad you enjoyed the meal ,and hope andrew and his dad have a good trip in august.Hope you are coping ok with the weather,it has been humid here in the night and my duvet has been on and off me like a fiddlers elbow as i get too hot and then cool down.
Went to meet my friend in town yesterday,its her birthday today ,but she is working,so we had a chinese lunch which was great,afterwards we went to M&S and had a look at the sales but did not see anything we needed,so we had a cup of coffe and a slice of cake,very naughty but Very nice!!!Back on the diet again ,today!!!
Better get my emails sent and have my cup of tea while I decided what to do.
Take care Brenda

hi I was up early and out at 7-30 am mamagram day at the hospital for me apt at 8am home again at 8-40 it was only 23 so it felt quite fresh another schorcher on the way though, just recieved an e-mail from Bryan he crushed his thumb yesterday!! that boy is accident prone andrew had said one of bryans duties this week was at the waterdront not sure what that meant but he is home to-morrow for 30 hrs so I will heare about it from him I am sure, glad you enjoyed the meal out brenda, friday afternoon rea and gossip session at 1pm may go down have not decided as yet, cooked 2 chicken breast yesterday so will have one with some salad later this evening thats all from me to-day bye for now dorothy

Morning Dorothy ,sorry to hear about Bryan crushing his thumb it is a very painful thing to do ,and is very easy to do ,but at least he should get over it pretty quickly at that age.
Being on waterfront duty usually means keeping toot on the other kids to make sure they don't get into difficulties ,or misbehave leading to injuries and whatever,a sort of fresh water life guard.
Morning to Brenda as well ,and yippee ,Aldi has found a supplier of genuine Lancashire Black Pudding :-D,so i have no longer to wait till i come down to Fleetwood for supplies lol.,but we will have a little more space in the car for a visit to the pie shop in Cleveleys before we come home which is better still.
I Managed to get out in the garden yesterday morning ,and got ALL the hedging done ,apart from Joans side of the big hedge which is ours i hasten to add.
However ,i have told her ,that if she wants me to do it ,she will have to move all the crap off the ground there ,and move the bins ,before i will even walk in the gate ,i have no desire to fall over bricks ,broken tiles ,and boxes while i have a trimmer in my hands,so ,the rest is up to her ,no shifty rubbish ,no trimmy hedge ,lol :-(.
I am off out again very shortly to do both lawns while the sun is out .leaving only hoe weeding to do before Tuesday morning when the garden rubbish bin gets emptied.
Any ideas as to what i can do for dinner today? i have a load of calabrese to use ,it's all come together grrrrr ,heeeelp :-S. Catch you later this P m Fred.

Hi Everyone,at the moment we have sunshine and the washing is out on the line ,with another load in the washer,!!!Hope the few stray grey clouds pass us by. Been to Bury was there just before 10 and managed to get on the fourth floor of the car park!!
Got John a couple of Black puddings ans went to the fish and meat hall for some chicken ,also got some lamb braising chops ,so we haven't done bad. ,Had to come home just after 12 as I am out at the hair dressers in a few minutes,have a family outing tonight.My neice is 21 and her mother my sister has graduated from Bolton Uni with a degree ,its part of the job she does careing for mentally and physically chanllanged adults in a respite home.!! Wer are really proud of her.
better get going for my hair appointment,Be bavk tomorrow.Brendat

goodmorning glad to hear the trip to the market went well brenda and I am sure that you will look great at the gathering this evening you must be very proud of your sister , I can see the fish and meat hall in my minds eye as I write this, as usual fred you have been very busy with the hedges etc but how great that you don't have to wait for your trip to fleet wood for the black pudding, I gather from bryan that the nail has not come off the thumb as yet his dad and grand father will be driving up in a couple of hrs to bring him home for his 30 hr leave he has to be picked up between 1pm and 1-30,just stopped writing to answer the phone and my neighbour and her husband are going up to orilla about an hour from here one of the local farms I guess has a store and bakery her husband found it on line lots of local veg for sale and a bakery so they asked if I would like to go along so I said yes kind of a nice surpise so I better go and hit the shower and make myself presentable enjoy the rest of the week-end bye for now dorothy

goodmorning glad to hear the trip to the market went well brenda and I am sure that you will look great at the gathering this evening you must be very proud of your sister , I can see the fish and meat hall in my minds eye as I write this, as usual fred you have been very busy with the hedges etc but how great that you don't have to wait for your trip to fleet wood for the black pudding, I gather from bryan that the nail has not come off the thumb as yet his dad and grand father will be driving up in a couple of hrs to bring him home for his 30 hr leave he has to be picked up between 1pm and 1-30,just stopped writing to answer the phone and my neighbour and her husband are going up to orilla about an hour from here one of the local farms I guess has a store and bakery her husband found it on line lots of local veg for sale and a bakery so they asked if I would like to go along so I said yes kind of a nice surpise so I better go and hit the shower and make myself presentable enjoy the rest of the week-end bye for now dorothy

Morning all ,Hope you enjoyed your little trip out Dorothy ,a local farm where you can buy these sorts of products ,sounds good to me ,and of course ,it is locally produced ,and FRESH,def' the sort of place to go.and with any luck they either produce their own poultry stuff too ,or are working with another farm in the area swapping produce to help each other trade.
Your trip to Bury was productive Brenda, we do have a good market here ,but it is nowhere nearly as colourful as yours ,and not half the size ,i only managed to see it twice but still find it a miss,the cheese stall being the best ,small it may be ,but so many cheeses from around the world ,and so many smells from same ,wafting in the air,bliss. :-).
Lovely morning here ,and i have been out back already giving my veggies a systemic spray to kill any nasties that try laying eggs ,or try chewing into the leaves, i use systemic ,because the rain can't wash it off ,and four sprays over the season gives complete protection.
I am having bother with slugs too ,because of the wet season ,but have found dropping copper sulphate around the plants works well,and this stuff won;t harm the soil ,or pets. ;-).
Hope everybody is having a good weekend and is keeping cool ,or warm ,where ever you are in the world.
Take care all ,Fred. :-D

Morning Fred and Dorothy,hope your trip to the farm was productive Dorothy, saw loads of great veggies at Bury yesterday beautiful caulis and cabbage and carrots ,as well as great fruit,would have bought them had I not got a freezer full already,we are using a lot of veggies at the moment ,so I am hoping they will have some just as good when we go next time,will also have to treat myself to some cheese ,as they sell small amounts I will not over indulge.!! Cheese is a favourite of mine and Johns and we have been doing well not having too much ..
Fred I am glad you mentioned the slugs we have been over run with them and have been looking for something else to use on them besides the slug pellets because of the cats , Hope you are taking some time to sit and enjoy your garden with Liz and Hissy??
We had a brilliant night last night with my family,the ,eal at the steak house was wonderful ,and we went back to my brothers for a drink afterwards,Did not get home till after 1am !!! I was driving soo was drinking an old favourite of lime with soda and ice and lemon ,had almost fprgotten how refreshing it is,
john is up now and gone for papers so beter start the bacn sandwiches ,our Sunday breakfast treat !!
Have a nice weekend Take care brenda

hi one and all yes I did enjoy my trip out yesterday bought some nice produce and some red currant jam I have never seen it over here before in fact I thought red currants did not grow here show how wrong I was, then lorraines husband drove further up norrh to big shute where there is a big lift that takes boats from one lake up and across the road and deposits them in the next lake quite interesting to watch it held three big power boats at one time fred you sould look it up on line you might find it interesting, brenda glad you enjoyed the evening out and your drink of choice sounded great also your trip to the market sounded great, I have ot done much to-day it was a bit cooler but now the heat and humidity is back. so shall sign off for now bye dorothy

Morning all ,from a nice sunny Newcastle ,where the Badger has snuffled out a good four heads of Calabrese ,he he ,we have now four bags down in the freezer ,yeeees, the first of the new season in stock for the winter. :-).
Got the first pick off the runners too and we are having those for dinner,with mash,onions and liver ,in a rich gravy,yum.
The plums ,and apples will be a few weeks yet ,but in the mean time the Rhubarb is veeeery tasty ,done in a crumble ,yum again.
I have one Courgette that i have left on the plant ,so i think i will cut hat off one day this week ,and split ,and stuff it for a nice fat free dinner.
Have to go for now ,i have the rest of the veg' to get on for the dinner.and the cat to see to ,as usual ,lol,love her to bits ,but she can be a pest once i turn the cooker on ,he he.
Catch you later this afternoon ,it being a stay at home day .,Fred.

Morning folks,weather has been good over the last few days ,and is supposed to be good the rest of the week.
Hope it is dry and warm,I am out with my friends tomorrow ,might have lunch depends where they ar thinking of going as I still have to watch how far I have to walk .Think I over did it again a bit on Saturday with the market and then walking back from my hair dressers in the afternoon.
I might be out to Bury again on Friday another of my friends is on holiday this week and she loves Bury and can only get to the market when she is on holiday ,she has been round the shops on her day of but prefers the market.
Glad the drive out was good for you Dorothy,enjoy the jam.
Fred we are using our own spuds this week they are great ,the courgettes are coming on as well as the tomatoes ,
Have a few photos to scan and email to Oz so I better get get on
take care Brenda.

Morning folks,weather has been good over the last few days ,and is supposed to be good the rest of the week.
Hope it is dry and warm,I am out with my friends tomorrow ,might have lunch depends where they ar thinking of going as I still have to watch how far I have to walk .Think I over did it again a bit on Saturday with the market and then walking back from my hair dressers in the afternoon.
I might be out to Bury again on Friday another of my friends is on holiday this week and she loves Bury and can only get to the market when she is on holiday ,she has been round the shops on her day of but prefers the market.
Glad the drive out was good for you Dorothy,enjoy the jam.
Fred we are using our own spuds this week they are great ,the courgettes are coming on as well as the tomatoes ,
Have a few photos to scan and email to Oz so I better get get on
take care Brenda.

Morning folks,weather has been good over the last few days ,and is supposed to be good the rest of the week.
Hope it is dry and warm,I am out with my friends tomorrow ,might have lunch depends where they ar thinking of going as I still have to watch how far I have to walk .Think I over did it again a bit on Saturday with the market and then walking back from my hair dressers in the afternoon.
I might be out to Bury again on Friday another of my friends is on holiday this week and she loves Bury and can only get to the market when she is on holiday ,she has been round the shops on her day of but prefers the market.
Glad the drive out was good for you Dorothy,enjoy the jam.
Fred we are using our own spuds this week they are great ,the courgettes are coming on as well as the tomatoes ,
Have a few photos to scan and email to Oz so I better get get on
take care Brenda.

hi isee gene's is acting up again three of the same messages from brenda hope you do get to bury on friday always glad to hear that, we have had a couple of nights with storms during the night which has sent the humidity away so to-day was on the cooler side with a lovely breeze. all this talk of bury and fleetwood tends to make me homesick you would think that I would get over it after 54yrs here, I looked up some flight prices on line nothing like teasing ones self I do know that the doctor won't let me fly but I can dream I would so like to be at anne's gling to the marktet up to cumbria and a week trip to windsor I guess I will have to win the big lottery and then I could charter a private plane and maybe that would be ok. the remaining 2 grand children go to camp next monday this week-end is a holiday week-end (bank holiday) andrew is acting vice president for his company for the next 2 weeks I was teasing him saying well of course you are going to get big bucks for that he said a very loud no! just the headaches.good experiance though I would think. of shopping to-morrow I need to find a birthday gift for andrew his birthday is the 8th of august and my friend isobelle's is the 23 out of ideas at the moment. well time for me to go and make a coffee and decide what evening tv. program to watch bye for now dorothy

Afternoon peoples ,sorry to be a bit late today ,but i'm afraid we have family troubles here meaning that we will have to take the daughter and her two bairns for a while,and iit is going to be a bit crowded,lol
.Nice to hear that you are reaping the rewards of your own growing crops Brenda ,we won't be far behind you with the tatties ,but we will be putting ours under clamps for use in late autumn when they usually become dearer.
Other than that we now have cabbage ,beans of all three sorts,and courgettes ,cucumbers and beetroot ready for use.
Still awaiting the ripening of our plums and apples to go with the rhubarb,and strawberries ,but ,there will be no Nectarine until next year,unless i buy some more ,lol.
That's about it for now ,so much to prepare for next weeks arrivals on Tuesday ,what a pity now ,that we got rid of the caravan ,he he ,it would have come in handy about now.
Catch you later all ,Fred. :-)

Afternoon folks,weather really good again.should have been out withfriends but it has been postponed,due to various things.So Ihave spent the time sorting out my paper work in my file and got rid of some more junk.
Glad its cooled down for you Dorothy ,and wish you could come over perhaps then all three of us could meet at the cheese stall and then go and have a cuppa somewhere nice.!! now thats a thought.
Sorry you have some problems Fred,hope you can get them sorted.We might be in frnt with the spuds but we are well behind you with what you manage to grow.!!! think you do really well.with the space you have.
We are on sausage and home grown potaoes tonight with onion gravy will not mash the spuds they do not need it.
Was going to have a go at making a victoria sponge ,but could not find my sponge tins or the receipe as it was a "light " one.sort of a swiss roll that is fat less .!!
Take care
Brenda

hi one and all I went out this am to get my hair cut but when I got in the car I thought something is not right at first I could not think what it was and this was before starting it, anyway after finding the rear view mirror on the floor I realized that the heat had melted the seal, so I did go and buy a kit to put it back on quite cheap really 1-50pence in total and my friends husband has put it back on quite strange driving without it so I was not out long. sorry to hear that you are having some family problems fred Ihope all improves soon but you are not alone andrew and lindy are having a tough time with laura(14) hanging with an older crowd not coming home for days calling in before the 48hrs that you can call the police and have them look for her,I could just spank her but of course then you can be charged with asault the law seems to be on the kids side, I have not mentioned this before as I have been very upset and quite angry with her, but she did come home this week-end for supper only to leave again for the night. apparently she is planning on going to camp with Ian I don't think that she deserves to go it costs 1300 dollars for each child, but as a grandma you walk a fine line, lindy is not tough enough on her I think and when andrew clamps down then that causes problems, boys are easier I think to bring up hopefully this is a phase she will grow out of.apart from that we had a nice cool night for sleeping las night 2 days of rain ahead and then the hot weather and humidity comes back, take care bye for now dorothy

morning all,another sunny day here,hope it lasts .Sorry about Andrew and Lindys problems with Laura ,my brother and his wife had similar problems with my neice a few years ago. They could not get help from anywhere,they would only get help if she got in any sort of trouble ,but no help to STOP her getting in trouble!!! ..She settled down some what but still gave them headaches being in two bad relation ships,she is an unmarried mother of two and now regrets not staying at school and finishing her education. and has encouraged her own daugther to stay on and go to college .
The other three siblings hardly gave my bother and his wife any problems think they could see how not to behave from their sister.
Hope they can sort it out soon,
And that freds problems are getting better.
Of to do the weekly shop ,so that will be a challenge ,it being the school holidays.!!
Take care Brenda