General Chat

Morning All,

A sharp frost here this morning but it's been bright sunshine and is 8 degrees now. We were up at 7.30am and showered. OH has gone to a Standards Committee meeting and I wents to the chemist for my meds (they were open today!) and got some postage stamps as they are going up in price in April. Popped to the shop next and came home. Did a wash, sorted some rubbish for the bin and got our salad ready for lunch and got a COT. I mooched up the garden and I was wrong about which Camellia died in the summer. It was the one I least liked, a sort of dull pink, but the pink and white striped one I thought I'd lost has a few flowers opening.
Ernie has been kind every month this year so far, but I wish he'd add a few noughts on at the end. :-D

Ages and ages ago I joined familysearch site, but hardly seem to use it now. Anyway, lately I've had emails from them with suggestions of ancestors I might be related to and they are always right. I don't think I have ever put any of my tree on there, but others may have put eg my parents or grandparents. They seem to have drawn on a 'world tree' now and have linked members to famous people in their family history. I got an email last night that does this with my ancestors. For each famous person they connect you to ( five at the moment ) they show the family tree for both of you and all the ancestors for both of you going back to the ancestor that connects you. It's said we all go back to famous ancestors in our past somewhere, but it is interesting and surprising to know which ones are in our ancestry! All of mine are from my father's maternal side.

AnnG I buy mushy peas and keep a tin of potatoes like you, but rarely have any other tinned veg. I don't mind some french beans , but OH hates them! I buy chopped toms, baked beans, butter beans and red kidney beans. The lamb shanks were ready to cook in a mint gravy. I used to buy fresh years ago and cook them in the pressure cooker, but it's nice to have quick and easy things these days. You don't even see them to buy in supermarkets anymore. That was kind of you to accompany your friend back to her road.

I use the Microsoft Edge browser and in their latest update they changed the screen layout. Before you could open many windows at once and close each one by a click on the X in the top RH corner. Since the change, there are tiny thumbnails for each window on the LH side. It means you open and close windows by clicking on these thumbnails now. If you forget, like me, and go to click the top RH corner like before, it just closes every single window you had open, not just the one you are looking at, so if you have a half written post, then open say your emails and then close your emails the old way by clicking the top R, it closes the GR window as well. It drives me mad as I'm so used to doing it the old way. I don't know what was wrong with the old way either!

I had some of those decorative blocks in a wall at my previous house Mandy. It's a good idea to cover them to make it more private now more people walk by. you could always hang some pots on the wood if it's strong enough and make it a feature if you wanted to.

Better get lunch now as OH is back.

Good morning all.
A second day dry and with bright sunshine.. a real surprise :-0 :-D

The back garden, which is the one needing attention is so wet underfoot being on clay that it will take a while before I can safely tackle a lot of the jobs out there.
A few more days of dry weather would help in time for next week's garden bin collection.
AnnG
Thank you for the photos of the recent improvements in your garden. The men have done a good job and I like the way the slabs lead you round to another part of the garden. I see the seat ready for you to sit and admire all your lovely plants, when they grow. ;-)
Mel,
Thank you for forwarding photos taken by b-in-l How clear they are!
I particularly like the owl with outstretched wings and love the lighting in the harvesting photo.
I hope you pain eases after the painkiller. It must be so difficult each day, when you want to do so much.
Your little Tudor man is nearly finished then? What is the next project, a companion or something quite different?

Ann, I do seem to remember seeing the sprouts years ago but have never tried them. Most tinned veg is ok but some french beans are better than others. I rarely have tinned now as not many do small tins. I do have tinned sweetcorn chopped tomatoes and baked beans fairly regularly and also keep tinned mushrooms and new potatoes in the cupboard for emergencies.
Yes it is hard for my friend she is in her late 70s and the chemo has hit her hard. She lives on her own too but is a very independent person, rarely will accept help. Although I was going back from the book stall when I met her walking down to it. It was her first time out for a week so I asked if she wanted me to turn round and walk with her. she accepted the offer so I stayed with her until we got back to her little road. She was a bit wobbly but managed ok.

what new layout causes you problems Ann?

I enjoy brunch occasionally. I like lamb shanks too, were they fresh or ready cook?

I had a couple of shorter than I like dates on two ready meals so I had one last night and will have the other tonight. Delivered Saturday (2nd) they were both for the 4th. I didn't notice until the driver had gone as it was pouring with rain and I didn't want to keep him hanging around. And I couldn't be bothered to contact Tesco.

Morning all,

Suns out here and we had a sharp frost too .

I just had a look at my Amaryllis and the short stem has 6 flowers there's 2 little green Buds in the middle .

Ann yes I had the Chateau book from son and dil for my birthday ,I've read the other two and this is the latest ,I saw it in tesco before Christmas and didn't buy it in case I got it for Christmas.

Beds stripped and I'm wondering if I can hang them out but there not a lot of wind so not sure they will get dry out there .

We want to go to homebase this morning to get some wood Colin wants to put some new wood up on the wall ,we have a row of those decorative blocks that you can see through running along near the top of the wall ,when Colin built the wall not so many people walked through on the path then now there's more people they can see right into the garden so we like to cover them.

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and miserable here this morning and pc says cold weather and 6 degrees and rain which it is doing now.

It dos'nt make you want to do anything when the weather is like this. I have some washing to do but it will have to dry indoors as the rain is blowing across the patio.

The only plan I have for today is to finish my Tudor man as I only have his belt to do and he's then done.

Hips bad this mroning so I have taken painkillers.

good morning all 0 degrees and a hard frost but the sun is still shining, it shone all day yesterday. Up early as I had a message via Cynth, yesterday that the window cleaner would be hear around 0830. Otherwise no plans for today.

Yes Vera I had an hour out there today, first time since it was done because it was too wet yesterday. I was able to see today that it is all coming together. Quite a few empty pots out there but they will soon get filled.
So pleased granddaughter made the journey ok. Gosh I didn’t realise that she had not driven on the motorway. That took confidence then. Lovely that you had a nice time with her.

Evening All,

It's only been 1 degree here most of today and last night was really cold. It's been sunny though which was nice. I lost my first post I did this morning. I just can't get used to the new layout.

Thanks for the pics Mel. I hadn't seen those lid looseners before so will keep them in mind if my new one doesn't work. It should arrive this week. I was caught in my 'scruffs' yesterday when the man just dropped in on us to do the window. He's always rung first before. At least I was dressed though, but I had to scurry and move things out of his way in the bedroom. He seemed to open every door in the bungalow to find the toilet, including the study which is the shameful dumping ground for everything that doesn't have a home. I must have a tidy up in here!.

Your Amaryllis is a delicate pretty pink Mandy and so many flowers on it. The carnations are pretty too and I like your book!!

We had some lamb shanks for lunch today with the last of the roast potatoes from the freezer with parsnips, brocc, cabbage and carrots. The food delivery came 15 minutes early this afternoon, which was good, and Liam, the driver this time, knows our routine now. There were 5 subs, 4 of which had to go back. There were some quite short dates so I'll have to plan what we have to take account of it. I must have been half asleep doing the order as I managed to order a GIANT bottle of tomato sauce that won't fit in the cupboard, tall tins of toms instead of small, instead of one lot of apple juice I ordered a pack of four and misread OH's tiny writing where he'd added 5 lots of orange juice and I'd only ordered 3.

We occasionally have a brunch too AnnG, including on Sundays. It's just what you fancy sometimes. Your poor friend having cancer return after all that time. I hope she soon gets stronger now she has finished her chemo.

It sounds like you had a nice catch up with your granddaughter Vera, but a shame you found the route to your daughters was flooded. I may have it all wrong here but is this the granddaughter that went to help with the turtles?

Has anyone else seen the tins of sprouts I mentioned before? I'm going to look closely at what else they have in their tins next time I go.

Popped into Em's this afternoon to give her her present and stayed and had a nattedr with Ed, Em, and Sophie ,Em's sister. Had a nice bit of homemade flapjack and then I had to turn my car around in there drive but Ed said would I like him to do it for me. Well talk about going about it the wrong way he had four attempts at different angles and I was so pleased he made a mess of it when he got back to me I said I would have pulled forward a bit more and back to the side of Sophies car and round that and out the driveway. He said he did'nt think of that and it would have been much easier. One up for girls I think.

Vera yes I did look like an old Biddy as that was my mother name.

I am now going to watch my two little persons on youtube and their two dogs on Skye. They are on every Sunday at 6pm. I better get the kettle on for a cuppa.

Thank you for the photos AnnG and Mandy. Your slabs and gravel look good Ann. When you’ve got your pots and plants set out how you want them the garden will look impressive. You’ve got plenty of bloom on that Amaryllis Mandy and it is a pretty colour. I prefer the ones that aren’t too bright and garish.

Doesn’t someone always come when you’re unprepared Mel? Your description of yourself is lovely - I am now picturing a toothless, tangle-haired, dressing-gowned old biddy and I am sure you’re not a bit like that really.

The weather wasn’t very good yesterday but granddaughter arrived safely. In fact, I think she did very well. She only passed her test at the beginning of December and had not done a really long drive, nor had she driven on a motorway before. They left at 7 am and she took her boyfriend to Leeds/Bradford airport, then drove on to us after stopping for a toilet/snack break. She arrived at ours dead on noon. Today she left at around 2 pm. OH cooked a big breakfast cum brunch at around 11 am for them though I just had a piece of toast.

A lot of our time was spent catching up but we also went to my daughter’s late afternoon yesterday and had a meal there. There’s more than one route to our daughter’s and OH chose the wrong one as we had to drive through some extensive flooding. We picked a different way to come back.

Granddaughter bought me a lovely orchid but I’m not good with orchids. Part of the trouble is there is nowhere in the house that combines the right amount of warmth, light and humidity. In the past the best place has.seemed to be on a sideboard in the hall. At least it’s warm and the plant gets a decent amount of diffused light from a half glazed front door.

I ended up with 29 birthday cards but suppose I ought to take them down now. They look so jolly on display but I can’t keep them up forever.

Better go and have a think what we are going to have to eat tonight. There are some chicken thighs in the fridge so I’ll probably do something with those. Enjoy the remainder of the day and sleep well tonight everyone.

Wow Mandy that certainly has a lot of flowers its no wonder it has'nt got any leaves. Feed it after its flowered and you can put it out in the garden afterwards in its pot and bring it in in the autumn in the conservatory and let it dry out completely. Don't take the leaves off till they die back and it should start to flower again next year. Mine is now three years old and its out in the shed completely dry. I have never had one with 5 flowers to a stem let alone two stems with 5 on one.

So much for my lazy morning slopping around as nobody was coming and what happened Phylis turned up to pay me for the wreath at Christmas which I had forgotten all about. I was still in my pj's and no teeth in and not even done my hair.

Thank you for the photo Mandy what a pretty coloured amaryllis.

Sunny here now still and 7 degrees.

I made myslef brunch (bacon eggs tomato and toast) at 10.30 so shouldn't need any lunch.
I took a gillet of T's down to Irene and bumped into a friend who has just finished having chemo. She is so very frail, it is a reurn of the breast cancer she had 10 years ago.

When I got back I went out in the garden and planted 6 primulas that I bought on Thursday, then did a bit of weeding but the ground is so claggy it is not pleasant, might wander out again later. It is lovely to be in the sun, I didn't need a coat on, just a thick sweater.

Morning all,

Very over cast here today with a watery sun not so cold ,not sure if we had a frost .

I have sent a photo of my Amaryllis its now starting to flower ,I bought this from Aldi just before Christmas, also got one for dil ,hers only has the one stem and three long leaves ,mine has no leaves and two stems .

I have had a hoover through and caught up with the ironing not sure what to have for our meal tonight might be gammon we'll see later .

Made a big mistake last night, I left my camera on charge on the pc and this morning the battery is completely flat. I have done this before. Anything else is fully charged if I leave it on, the speaker for my cd player, the cd player its self, my phone so why does the camera not charge at night?

Morning all,

Had a lie in this morning as nobody is coming. Its 7 degrees here and pc says mostly sunny. It makes you feel better when the sun shines even if you still have aches and pains. Hip still bad and back is aching this morning too. There wa\s a frost here last night well before I went to bed.

I need to cleaan cobwebs out of the bedroom behind a set of drawers today so that s what I shall be doing today and I may finish the Tudor man.

Good morning all -1 here and a hard frost last night. But it is bright and so far the sun is shining so it all looks much better out of the window. I don't have anything planned today so a bit of H/W and maybe if it warms up a bit, a potter in the garden as it is brown bin day next week.

Its called a Jar key. its on Ebay. I have sent Annx a pic of the two I have. If you want them let me know.

Found them both.

Yes they are heavy and glass so I don't want to drop them on the solid base and smash them. I will send a pic of the one I use which I bought in Homeleigh Garden centre years ago. It released the vacum in the jar and then you can turn the lid easily. I have another one which does the ring pulls on certain cans but I can't find that one at the mo.

Mel's right that's just the sort of thing OH would say Mandy. lol You just get that feeling when they start grinning and you know what the devils are up to don't you. OH made me snigger this morning when I went in the kitchen. He was moving about and what do they call it these days 'throwing some shapes'. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was pretending he was at the disco. I couldn't keep a straight face and I took one look at him writhing about and said ' if you keep that up much longer you'll be slipping a disco'. :-D He couldn't carry on for laughing.

I saw something very strange in a little corner shop the other day. I only pop in there when they've sold all the papers at the usual place. There in a tin on a shelf among other tinned foods was something I have never seen before. Tinned sprouts! Has anyone else ever seen them or even tasted them? I just can't imagine they would be very nice.

Mel I had one of those useless lid removers once as well. It kept slipping off the rounded edges of the lids and drove me mad trying to get it to grip enough. No this one is like a flat bar about an inch wide and the 2 ends can slide in and out and they fit over the edge of the lid each side. You turn the lever on the top which tightens the two ends onto the lid and the harder you turn it the tighter it holds the lid and hopefully turns it.

That's a nuisance about your shower and sounds fiddly to sort out. I imagine those doors are heavy as well.