General Chat

Morning all,Fred has just had a naughty thought ,he sees in his mind Brenda sorting out her drawers he he, know what you really mean Brenda,i normally leave the missusto do that sort of thing as i'm now busy outside in the garden,with plenty to do despite the rain.
The son got that fir out for me,so,it's off back to B&Q tomorrow to get one of those palms that they have at Cala,that will make a very nice centre piece for the front garden'
The car has to go back on Thursday,the piece they need is not in stock ,but they have fixed the horn so that it works on a temporary basis.
Have to go and put dinner out,Kolgannon with mince pies and beef gravy.
Catch you all later Fred

Good afternoon to you all, hope everyone is keeping well. The weather has turned cold again - and my central heating broke down on Thursday!!! Can't be repaired so now have to get a new boiler. Quote from British Gas was £5,000 - don't have a spare £5K hanging around so called in someone else and waiting for their quote (he called BG quote "criminal") hoping his will be more reasonable but probably still too expensive. Luckily I have an immersion heater so we do have hot water and have borrowed a heater. Good job it didn't happen during the REALLY cold weather. Although after reading about Dorothy's weather we sound like a load of softies complaining about it being cold.
Off to the physio shortly, my hand has improved quite a bit following the excercises she gave me to do so I am hoping that I won't have to make many more trips there.
Really please Murray won his match, didn't watch it but read about it the next day.
Fred, advice please about growing onions. Never tried them before so could do with some tips. Never had much luck with carrots as they always seem to fork but will keep trying. Going to try some different tomatoes this year, Beefsteak and plum. Last year had loads of cherry tomatoes growing in a pot - they were so tasty but rather small.
Must be off now for my appointment with the physio, I hope she will be pleased with my progress.
Take care everyone
God bless
Love
Kathleen

Morning all,its cold here today but the sun is trying to get out,we have rain predicited for the rest of the week,!!!
Will be staying in for the bank holiday i feel,good book and all that.Might sort out some drawers and wardrobes again,too much exitment !!
off to lunch now see you all soon ,hope everyone is well,
Brenda

goodmorning well I had a great day yesterday it was warmer 50 degree's and sunny went to the library and picked up a few groceries as they said we will be hit by a storm on monday, then murray won his match and it was a good one to watch. then I made the mistake of getting out of bed this morning and watched great big fluffy flakes going by the window it is now 9-30 am and no visabiltiy out of the window all the school buses cancelled roads in a mess snow plows out and a toatl of 25cm expected by this afternoon more to-morrow, but by easter week-end it will melt and a high of 50 again april has gone mad, sorry that all my news is about the weather but not very much else going on. andrew and lindy have booked the flat in paris for the french part of their trip I think that it is the one her sister used last year so they have an idea of what is involved , her other sister is over from england at the moment looking for a house to buy in ottawa for when they return to canada in the fall and to look into schools for the children. I have to go over to the family to-day as andrew is in windsor (canada) for meetings for three days and lindy has after school commitments ie the girls basketball team practice so I am in charge of homework and guitar practice I may go over early so that I don't have as much snow to shovel off the car, bryan will clean off the car for when I come home this evening bye for now dorothy

Morning all,was coming on here earlier after putting some photos on the pc,but I can not find the lead which connects the camera to pc,I am the only one who uses it but it always gets moved!! so have spent almost an hour looking for it to no avail.I am out to lunch with a friend and have to call in the bavk to pay in a cheque.It is my day off, but have agreed to help out with some extra hours tonight.I know they are desperate when they phone me!!
Hope the weather improved Dorothy and that the car is ok and you are feeling better Fred.How are you Kathleen?
Hope everyone else is ok.
We had a walk round a garden center yesterday looking for a rose bush for a silver wedding present for some friends ,we did get one ,but I also saw loads that i would like,but some of the prices !!!
have to go now and get ready to go out.
TAke care Brenda

Nudge,be back after i take the car in for repair ,Fred.

You can buy what we call in Britain ,Trailing Tomato's that you can grow in plant pots up a height,which then trail down,,much the same as upside down tomatos,which i must admit i have never heard of.
I am chuffed to bits today because i now have 2 orange trees showing in the pots,not bad eh?
Can't get out into the garden today,it's gone back to cold and it's drizzling from time to time [bummer].
Having an early night peeps as i don't feel too grand at the moment.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.Fred,the snffling Badger he he.

goodmorning kathleen I hope that you will be feeling better soon the last three days have been crazy weather wise thursday the temperature got up to 60 and sunny friday it poured rain all day and at at 1-30 this morning I was awakened by a wind and rain storm then at 7-30 it was snowing and blowing visability nearly nil crazy april weather the temperatur is 0 big change so I shall remain indoors to-day, I see that any murray is in the final in miami so I am hoping we will see the match to-morrow. used up yesterday the last of the tomatoes and peppers that I had grown last supper defrosted them and made a pasta dish for supper it was quite good , the market garden near me is in full bloom (inside) abd had lots of veg plants growing but in this weather it is far to soon to be doing the balcony but it was fun to walk amongst all the blooms and it smells so good , my friends in brampton have some tulips coming up in the gardens but they are closer south than I and the tesco snowdrops are doing well. enjoy the week-end bye for now dorothy

hello all.its lovelly and sunny outside but deseptively cold!!!.
working today,so hope it will mean people will be staying at home,should not crumble I suppose,we do not have many admin duties on Saturdays,so it can be an easy day.
Have a few new books about local history ,which i will look at when home.I am reading Nora Ronerts at the minute but they are re issues so not new books,but had only two weeks to read them!! and they are a triology.!!
Nearly lunch so I had better get some books shelved.
take care,Brenda

goodmorning margaret I like the idea of the tomatoes that you mentioned I must look into that, we had a lovely day yesterday it reached 60 degree's this am it is pouring rain we are to get about 61mm and that is supposed to turn into snow over night crazy weather, brenda I went to chapters book store yesterday and wandered around the new books with my list and then added 18 books to the file at the library some of the books have a waiting list quite long and some don't . obtained the new archer book yesterday paths of glory good reading so far ( I was first on the list for that one) well must dash off to the hairdressers and I am taking another lady with me hope you all have a good week-end bye dorothy

Goodmorning all Mornings are getting chillier and when daylight savings ends here at the weekend we wil noticethe darker mornings
What better excuse to stay in bed a little longer!reading your bits about gardening I wonder if any of you have tried growing upside down tomatoes These are planted in buckets and hung upside down Do a google search and you will be surprized I tried two this year and it was a novelty to just walk out door and pick off cherry tomatoes
They grew well had heaps of tomatoes But I dont know whether ill repeat this as my back porch has flower baskets Begonias Impatiens and fuchsias we have two glass houses for tomatoes and grow far more than we need anyway
Margaret

Just a quick hello ,from a really warm and sunny Manchester.Still at work here till 8pm but we think that it is so quite due to the nice weather.!!
Looking forward to my tea ,beef casserole and cabbage and mash!!.
Better get some tidying done.see you soon Brenda

goodmorning glad to see kathleen is on the mend do take it easy and the physio should help, gosh fred can't say that I blame you changing the number it is annoying when companys don't get the message I signed up with the company that stops all these sort of silly calls and it has cut down on all unwanted calls, plus when calls do get through and they ask to speak to mrs lavallee I just say mommy is away and that puts them off. I was aware that the bluebells were protected I had thought of trying to bring some back with me last trip but decided I better not, though the snowdrop bulbs that I brought back from tesco's have been doing well in isobelle's garden, after I go to t he dentist this am I am going to have a walk around the garden centre and see what they have in the way of vegatable plants that can be grown in pots the tomatoes and the green peppers did well on the balcony last year, and as I am not planning a trip this year I thought I might expand my veggie garden! of course Ian thinks that I should wait until he can come with me so that he can help he really does not think much of grandma's gardening skills ( and he is right) he is planning the vegatable garden at his house with his mom overseeing it, they try something different every year Ian is keen on growing different kinds of melons and other fruits along with the usual they tried three different kinds of tomatoes last year and the zuccini they grew made lots of relish at canning time, well must dash the hated trip to t he dentist is nearly due bye for now dorothy

Good morning all, hope all well and enjoying better weather. Quite bright here though a little chillier than predicted.
My hand is getting better, having physio now but restricted to just getting more flexibility as the lovely young physio said more time needed for the break to mend, a couple of weeks and then exercises to strengthen - I thought it would only entail one visit to show me how to exercise, silly me!!
My granddaughter nearly wrote my car off - not really her fault, a car pulled out of the petrol station without looking right , she braked, hit the speed bumps and went sideways into the double kerb on the roundabout at the end of our main road. A very dangerous corner - luckily she was not hurt just badly shaken. Feeling very sorry for herself now as not allowed to use the car for a while.
Good to read everyone's news hopefully will be able to write more in a week or so when my fingers work properly.
Meantime take care
Love
Kathleen

Morning you two,from a sunny Newcastle where Fred will be going out into the garden shortly to put in the3 plants that i bought the wife yesterday.
We bought another windowsill seed grower, 12 each Viola & Pansy,Half a Dozen Heather plants that will look nice in the impoverished soil alongside where i plant the jalopy.
I Also got my Growmore,Chicken pooh,and saw my replacement tree for the rockery,a nice finger palm like the ones iv'e seen at Carla Gran Park.frost hardy,green leaves all year ,very slow growing and a maximum height of 12 feet,just the ticket for a centre piece out front in the middle of the lawn.
I took the seven pots off the window sill last night with the orange pips in [the ones from Cyprus] which wern't doing anything[i thought] and decided thankfully to have one last look before doing the darstadly deed, and there ,just under the potting compost surface,a shoot ,wahey, we has plants.so ,they are back on the windowsill until they get bigger ,he he ,anyone want a young orange tree ,free to a good home, 5 available lol.
I will buy two more of those biiiig urns and plant two out,between the apple and plum trees hard to the house where they will be easy too afford frost protection.
My bluebell are as yet Dorothy,in four different pots because they were got at different times this being because there is a huge fine for taking from the wild these days and i had to get them from three family members from their gardens,but all is not lost,as when they have finished flowering i will move them to the top border out front ,hard to the hedge which is as near to their natural habitat as i can get,funnily enough ,i am still trying to find a market garden which stocks them,so far ,with no luck,.
Please don't mention Barclays Bank to me again ,lol. as after what they have put me through these last few months ,i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy,and only wish that those protesters ,when they broke the windows had lobbed a few large stink bombs inside.
As you probably know,my grandson pays us a visit whenever he comes home but dosn't ,live here ,or is registered as living here.
Barclays has taken it into their heads that he does and keeps bombarding us with calls despite being told repeatedly that he is with the forces abroad for a minimum two years.
This last week they have been putting automated calls through asking to speak to Sean fullen ,i had six calls in one day [monday] so i have had enough and changed my number .
If Barclays bank was the only one left in the world i would hide my money in the garden,no ruddy wonder they are in such a state[rant now over].
As regards barrels brenda ,i got mine cheap from the local council four years ago when they first started the beating the drum for the re cycle garden rubbish campaign,and once they started the bin recycle i had to recycle them lol [pardon the pun].
I weighed the lot from the first bin after i cleaned them last night.and found i had 40 lbs in total not at all bad.
I know people up the gardens who used old dustbins both tin ,and plastic with the bottoms chopped off ,owt will do so long as they drain okay..
I have the inspector coming sometime today to look at our combie boiler with the idea of covering all the services for the boiler ,water inside the house and drainage outside,all the electrics ,and the radiaters including valves plus all call out ,labour,and spare parts for £27 a month.which i reckon is pretty good.
Off to do a bit of dinner now ,a couple of h x b's with a bit of cheddar cheese in ,loooooverly lol.
Catch you later all .Fred.

evening all,had a great day today,even after being up half the night with the old aches and pains in my knee and hip!!.
Went to Bury on the tram,with my free bus pass ,it was really good.Had a nice lunch and met my mates also pensionersthe weather was nice ,mild and sunny.
Did not buy too much with being on the tram,but got a few bits and peices.So it was a good day all in all.
glad your snow has gone dorothyand I meant to ask you Fred what is it you grow your spuds in I keep seeing adverts for.these plastic things but they cost about 18 quid.!! John has made abrew so had better get down and have it.
Take care Brenda

goodmorning well the snow has melted not much left around just some piled up in shopping parking lots and that is black!!!! glad to hear about the flowers coming up in your garden fred is there any chance you could send a photo of the bluebells going back years behind our house in walshaw in the farmers field there used to be loads of bluebells my sister and I used topick them for mom and she used to run out of vases we aretalking about 50 yrs ago, bluebells and lupins have always been my favourites.I have been watching the demo's in london for this G20 meeting our prime minister is over but all eyes are on barack I suppose. I am amazed at the number of people around the bank of england. I am off to the dentist to-morrow just for a check up and cleaning but not my favourite place to go. its raining at the moment but the temperature is about 10 so not to cold,have two birthdays coming up soon so I shall have to do some shopping lindy on th e18th and Ian on the 21st I might just give them english pounds to spend on the trip Ian, Ian will be 10 time goes by so fast while it is fun watching them grow sometimes I wish time would go a little slower anyway that is it for me to-day bye for now dorothy

Morning all ,and a special hello to our Brenda who will be chuffed to bits about the coming weather for the end of this week ,wahey ,things are looking up for us brit's at last lol.
Poor Dorothy still snowing i hear [evil chuckle] never mind ,you won't be far behind us ,i'm sure.
We up in Newcastle are doing well now everything is growing well ,and i have roses shooting daff's coming out ,tulip showing and the wild bluebell i put in last year are starting to bloom .
I got my first barrel of tatties out yesterday ,three carrier bags full,not bad for nowt eh?,but the other barrel ,being Charlotte ,i reckon will do even better,no tatties to buy for at least 4 weeks ,maybe more.
I will be away out there again shortly to clean out the rest of the bottom border of the back garden,take out all of the remaining leeks to freeze down,and take out the last of the cabbage and swede ,then the whole deck is clear for action,apart from motivating the missus to start on the greenhouse which his her job[she looks after the seeds and fruit,i do the heavy stuff ,which is only fair.
Gonna' get on with some graft now peeps ,see ya' all later ,have a nice day,Fred.

hi everyone,we have had a rather pleasent day again,not too cold norain,no wind.
Was working this lunchtime on a11-2pm shift covering the counters while the full time staff have lunch.then went to see my sister and did an errand.Took ages getting home due to the number of road works all over the place.Strictly speaking they are replacing drains and water pipes,but all you can see is an hole in the road ,!! Hope to get t he new keyboard this week.Good news about the families flights Dorothy,hope they enjoy it all.Hope Anne gets to come over and se you.
Brenda

hi glad the party went well brenda I am in a bad mood this am I woke up to SNOW not a lot but still wet snow Ihope it will melt later off over tot he keep an eye on the children this afternoon Lindy had booked the trip to england for the family they leave on the 9th of july and I think they come back on the 24th they fly into london and fly back from france she has also rented a flat in france in paris I think I will find out more details later managed to get three of the fares on andrew's air miles so that helps, they were offered two first class tickets back from france so lindy says laura and herself will take those can't say that I blame her and the boys and dad wil be in coach I can see that being discussed further they will probably play musical chairs to give the boys a chance at first class andrew gets to fly that way if his trips are over 5hrs. hope you all have a good week bye for now dorothy