General Chat

Right we won't worry then and thanks for letting us know.

I hope Mandy and Gwyn will post and Annx as we will be very thin on the ground won't we Anng?

No more mice in the trap so far today. Its blimmin cold out there but we have had a nice sunny day with just a couple of short sharp showers. There's been a lot of rain in the night though as by the side of the chicken run theres a lake which I paddled through in my wellies to give them a good wash.

Ok Vera but it will be very quiet on here without your newsy posts. Hope you can get everything done. :-)

You are way ahead of me with your Christmas shopping AnnG. I’ve barely started. You managed to get rid of quite a few of your pots.

Let’s hope you’ve caught the last of the mice Mel. I quite like mice outside but definitely not in the house.

We’ve been busy the last couple of days and this is a short visit to say I may not be posting for a few days so don’t worry if I’m not around. We have things on and I am trying to help OH with a couple of his commitments so time is short. Added to that my iPad, which I use most of the time, is playing up. I’ll be keeping an eye on what you’re all getting up to by reading your posts on my phone and I should be back within a week.

That sounds nice Mandy can I come for dinner please?

Hi all
It is a nice dry day here, not really cold although temp is showing as 8 degrees. I went in to Cheltenham and did a bit of Christmas shopping. Not much more to get now, then there is all the wrapping to do.
Mandy I put 17 pots out in the end and was left with 7. One I have put back in with those I have that I might use. One I took with a few other bits for the charity lady. I only took one as they are quite heavy and I was on the way to catch the bus for Cheltenham. I guess all I bought I could have got in gloucester but I wanted to have a look in the larger M&S and also John Lewis.

Afternoon all,

Dull start to the day but now I can see blue sky and sunshine ,very nippy out though
Jake should be calling in later when he finishes work ,he'll stay until its time for his dad to leave off work and get a lift home with him , it will be nice to see him for a chat .

Oh Mel I'd have forty fits if I had mice in the house I hate them ,I hope you've caught them all now and there's no more ,no telling where they been crawling about so I suppose to need to have a good wipe down of everything in the room .

Nice to see you pop in Gwyn ,no I haven't got anything crafty started for Christmas yet ,I must have a go soon as it will be here before you know it .

Anng thats good your hedgehog box has been used ,I expect it will soon be back in it to hibernate for the winter .
Did you get rid of some of those pots with the gardening club .

I've made a shepherd's pie ready for tonight and we'll have carrots and green beans with it .

Not got the shop to do today as I have just realised its Friday not Saturday. Silly old fool.

Morning all,

You will be pleased to hear the trap was stll set this morning and still had food in it but we will see how it goes today.

It very very wet out there this morning but the sun is trying to shine out the back and the front sky is blue with big white clouds. How long it will last I don't know.

BIL may come today but he never lets me know just turns up after he's been to Exmoor with his camera. Anng you may be interested in his wildlife pictures they are on facebook. I'll send you his name.

Just the shop to do this morning and clear some more of the spare room where the blimmin mouse has been. This time it walked all over the dressing table and wee'd here and there.

good morning all, a bit grey but more or less dry I think. May go to town this morning. Another Mouse mel. Better put the trap back again.
Meeting went well yesterday 8 of us and very noisy as usual.

Just checked the trap and I have my third mouse.

Now we have hailstones.

The joys of country living Mel, they have got too cosy in there. Hope you can find the others now.

I have the garden interests group coming today so need to give the kitchen the once over and do the lounge floors etc. I think there will be 10 of us but it is raining so I will have to put extra mats in the hall for their shoes to be clean. Trouble is it is a small hall so if they all arrive at once it is awkward to shed shoes so they usually get away with it.

Nothing in the trap. 4 deer in the garden this morning and now it dark and raining.

Morning girls,

Well it looks as though it may be a nice day today but pc says rain coming soon and its 7 degrees but bright.

Just before I went to bed last night I looked in the wardrobe and saw a mouse disappear down the corner of the floor so there must be another hoe there. On coming out after popping the trap near the corner I noticed two boxes of Christmas chocs onthe floor. They had only had a go at those too. I bought some cho9c ginger for myelf, peppermint creams for SIL and Mon Cheri for me also as oh used to buy me those They had nibbled the edge of the box of ginger and there are tiny teeth marks on Lorraines mints. So thye had to come out and I shall put them in a tin. It had been all over the side drawers and the dressing table. This is getting just too much and I hav'nt been in there yet today.

I think Annx has got rid of her mice and they've come down here.

I am now going to have a look to see if I have caught another one.

I don't dust upstairs as I don't have one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One way of keeping warm. Just sorted out my winter trousers and put away the summer ones. I would rather be doing it the other way round but I tell myself it is not long until March. And I am here to do it.

After that I made three more Christmas cards. Made almost 100 now. I need around 80 but I just go on making them for next year. Never know when aches and pains make it harder to make cards so I like to have a good stock.

Also dusted downstairs and up.

Hello Gwynne, lovely to see you calling in.

I am having a wooden shed again as I prefer the look rather than the other sort. I am sure Jake will find a good one for me. Then I have to think about shelves versus shelf units. Nothing is simple any more.

Vera, the trouble is that I did have quite a lot of sleep but I seem to have been very restless. Maybe sheds were on my mind. Despite the sleep I do feel tired today.

At least your OH listened as to why you said which bulbs to plant in which pot. Hopefully he will pay more attention to what you say next time. It sounds as though he thought his ideas were the best ones!! Lesson learnt?

It feel very cold here, especially out. I got really cold walking to the pub, although I was lucky it did stop raining. It was not that warm in the pub either but we enjoyed the meal, seniors meal two courses for £5.49 small plated for the main course. I had fish and chips and although small it was plenty for me. then I had a sweet and I couldn't eat it all. It was a chocolate brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce and was very large and rich. Nice though.
then got cold again walking home so the heating is on really low. Early for me to put it on but I needed to warm up.

Good afternoon all, though I am not sure what is good about it. It's cold, grey and very wet :-(

It's nice to see you Gwyn. You really did get battered in last week's storms. What a shame about the classroom roof and the play equipment but the important thing is that the children were all safe. Is this the school where you help?

There are still a number of summer flowers blooming, as you say Gwyn. A couple of days ago I cleared a trough of a pretty dark-leaved, white begonia. I had to do it while I had the time but it was a shame to pull them up. They were still looking lovely. I've still got 2 big pots of yellow aryranthemum by the front door and some antirrhinums in the garden, though I have stopped deadheading now so I expect they will go over soon.

I hope your back is easier today Mel. You have my sympathy. You can't keep on like this with your laundry, you definitely need to sort a new machine though, as Frank always said, it will be MORE EXPENSE. It sounds as though you still have your mouse problem to sort out as well. Fingers crossed you have caught the ones already in the wardrobe and no more will be able to get in.

I'm sorry you didn't have a good night last night AnnG. I've slept quite well the last couple of nights though I still seem to be tired when I get up. I hope you have a better night tonight.

I seem to have had a busy day today. I did some washing, then had a bit of a sort out as we are shortly going to be away for a few days and I wanted to make sure thick jumpers and other clothes were all clean. OH and I had a friendly discussion about why he didn't plant anything in the pots I had suggested. Apparently he had listened but assumed I was just making suggestions and it would be quicker and easier to plant it differently. He was amazed when I explained the things chosen for the small pots were so I would have colour in a bit opposite the kitchen window where the big pots don't fit very well. I had also wanted the early spring bloomers in pots that I would later want to use for summer plants and the later bloomers in pots I probably wouldn't need in the summer. He admitted he hadn't thought of looking ahead like that, he had just been intent on getting the job done. Ah, bless (as the youngsters all seem to say).

I don't really miss the very large garden we used to have. It was a lot of hard work but that meant there were enough "big" jobs there to keep him occupied so all the flower and veg growing was left to me.

My iPad is playing up a bit. I think it needs a new battery so I am upstairs with the desktop computer. I haven't put any heating on up here and I am beginning to get very cold so I think it's time for a hot drink downstairs where the heating is on. Stay warm everyone.

Good morning all, ... although it's not very good looking out of the window.

It's wild and wet and the wind is howling.
A lot of the trees around here still have many leaves and that's a problem in strong winds, as the wind can't just blow through them, but meets a barrier and sometimes it's too much for the roots to hold the tree firm in the waterlogged ground.
The local school lost a new mobile classroom roof in last week's storm and some of the children's outdoor play equipment was ruined too, but everyone was safe, thank goodness.

Mel, you really are having quite a time of it, aren't you?
Just when you might be wanting to do extra washing of things from the wardrobe, the washing machine is faulty.
Have they sorted out your water pressure yet? ..It's been quite a while now :-| :-|
I hope everything gets sorted soon. I'd hate to not have full use of my washing machine.

Loved Vera's 'Oyez' announcement :-)
So pleased that you got it sorted at last, but what a lot of bother :-0 :-| When a system was working so well, why change it?
Strange how different surgeries / pharmacies have different ways of working, isn't it.?
When I pick up repeat medication from the pharmacy, I have a 2 months supply and with the meds comes a copy prescription for the next lot. When I get to about 2 weeks from when they run out, I tick the prescription list for required items and post it in the GPs reception area. I must admit that I do this in a special way ever since I went to collect my meds one day and thought that the bag seemed a strange shape for my usual items. The doctor had requested the 2 items on my prescription, which I didn't need, but no sign of the 3 sets of different tablets which I did want. :-| :-|

Now, when I tick an item on the form, I write YES at the end of that line, so there can be no ambiguity.

Ann,
You really are getting sorted in your garden aren't you? I hope Jake can source a suitable shed for you. We need a new shed too. I am thinking of going for a rigid plastic next time. My neighbour has one of a good size and it seems to be standing up to weather conditions well.
I thought of you gardeners, when I went for a local walk yesterday. Perhaps we have milder conditions here generally, but I saw many summer flowers still looking really good and not at all 'over'. Busy Lizzies, Bergonias, Geraniums, Hebe, gazanias,Cosmos and marigolds were all doing well and in 2 gardens I noticed shoots of spring bulbs a good few inches high.

Mandy, Have you got any Christmas craft projects on the go this year? I know the school staff sometimes keep you busy :-)

As it's an 'indoors' day, I will sort a few things for the charity shop. I seem to have 2 pairs of curtains belonging to my elder daughter too :-S ...They can go back, then perhaps there will be more room for my own things here.

Take care and keep warm, everyone. :-D

Don't rush to do it Mel if your back is already hurting. Leave it a day and rest your back. and, yes get a new washing machine. :-)