General Chat

Morning girls,

Its nice and bright here at the moment but pc says afternoon rain and 12 degrees and partly sunny so thats all good to look forward to.

Stuart's coming to dinner tonight and thats the first time I have seen him in 2 or three weeks. Iv'e got the cottage pie I made out of the freezer so only have to cook the broccoli and heat up the gravy. I shall also put breadcrumbs on the top and some cheese to make it nice and crispy on the top.

Mandy Mr Gardener is great how many is that yu have done now as I've lost count?

Safe journey today Anng and hope you don't get held up anywhere. do have a nice time and let us all know what you are doing.

Got to get up the post van this morning so I better get on see you all later.

Hope you all slept well and that Vera's back has eased a bit more.

AnnG I hope your family have a good journey to you. Travelling mid-week should mean they meet less traffic perhaps.
Bournemouth, Poole and Lymington are all not too far from your holiday spot. Obviously they would be better in good weather, but there should be something of interest in the larger towns if the weather is not so kind. I look forward to hearing where you go.

A wet night last night, but it had been a mild and dry day.
I've been to school already this morning, but not to stay and it's damp underfoot, but quite pleasant at 14 degrees. I think we are forecast showers, but we often miss the worst of the weather predicted and have our own little micro climate just here :-S

Morning Anng ,morning all,

We have a fine drizzle this morning so no outside jobs will get done unless it gets out .

Did anyone watch The Hardacres I did and think it's going to be good ,also I noticed the Yorkshire farm family are on with their new programme on Monday night nine o'clock on More 4 for those that like it .

Right just finishing my cuppa then I better get the hoover out .

Good morning all 10 degrees and cloudy but so far dry.
daughter will be on her way soon I think. If so will be here around 1pm. Got some cleaning/tidying up to do, otherwise all ready for them. Well also have to get tonight's meal into the slow cooker. (actually just had an email to say they are leaving now.

Thanks Vera so do I, not sure there is a lot to do if it rains.

Thanks Mandy. As I said in my email I'm looking forward to trying the recipe out. I didn't know about the red squirrels; I'll have to check that out.

I like Dorset AnnG though we haven't been that way for a few years. The last time we went we stayed in quite an isolated B&B near Corfe Castle. I hope the weather's kind to you while you're there.

Cake recipe sent Vera , but it should have said a 7 inch cake tin

Dry here ,we didn't have rain for long and the suns been out again.

Anng perhaps they were using the gnomes as window decorations and they are not for sale ,our florists had snowmen in the window just after Christmas there must have been at least a dozen or more all dressed different as men and ladies some had skies there were even some smaller ones ,they have had a window full of little elephants one year.

Ann that was nice watching the squirrel, I watch one in next doors garden it gets nuts out of a box and sits on their greenhouse to eat them ,there's two and I have found monkey nuts buried in a lot of my pots .

Vera I will send the cake recipe but the oven temperature needs altering no way was it cooking on 140 so I upped it to 160 .
Did you see on the news were they are starting a breeding programme of red squirrels in Suffolk.

That was entertaining watching the busy squirrel. The cat was probably thinking ‘what is that silly creature rushing around for, why isn’t he clever enough to own a human to get him meals’.

Had he changed his mind about the football?

Vera The New Forest near Christchurch Dorset.

Hope it dries up a bit first. Daughter and son in law come to me tomorrow.

Good idea stop when you are tired don’t push your back.
Talking of putting things in the wrong place. My SiL has a mental block on one thing. In a large cupboard under the stairs I have a. Large oblong container for recycling to go to the bin. Next to it is stored my laundry basket bigger and deeper. Guess where all the empty bottles etc end up. After they go home I have to do a big tidy up.

The drizzle stopped and the sun came out by about 10 am. Since then it’s been sunshine and light showers. We’re on a yellow warning of thunderstorms but maybe they are going to miss us.

Mel, I wouldn’t dare let OH put the shopping away - I’d never find anything. I recently discovered a cake slice that’s been missing for a while. He hadn’t just put it in the wrong drawer; he’d put it in a drawer in the wrong room. Sainsbury came about 10 am, the driver carried the crates through to the kitchen and OH unpacked everything on to the work surfaces where I could reach things easily. 2 subs that I was prepared to accept.

I’m glad you didn’t get wet this morning AnnG. Only a few days now till you go away again. I’ve forgotten where you said it was

It’s good that the tin opener is what you needed Mandy. Would you mind sending me your Manor House cake recipe please. I think we would enjoy it. No rush, just when you’ve got a moment free.

Your poor OH Annx. He’s been in pain for a while now hasn’t he. I can’t see what use these Physician Associates are going to be if they neither sort out a diagnosis and treatment nor pass you on to the GP for further investigation. It makes me realise how lucky we are with our practice.

My back still has a way to go but is now improving a little more each day so I’m happy with that. My other issues are getting better but have left me feeling very tired. I’ve managed a couple of household jobs and just 15 minutes in the garden. I had planned to do the ironing but that’s getting left for another day. I’m too tired to face it now.

I'd just set off for the shop and half a mile from home the rain started spitting. By the time I reached the shop it had stopped. I pulled up by the little brook after I'd got my paper and a few bits to read some of it. Then I saw a little Squirrel scamper over the road with something in his mouth. He ran across the little bridge over the brook and into the garden of a house. A few minutes later he was back and racing back to a tree in a carpark opposite. He was going through leaves, grass and twigs under the tree and then was racing back across the road and under my car before crossing the bridge again and disappearing. He must have fetched about 8 nuts of some sort while I was there. I'd seen the tortoiseshell cat that lives in the house next to the carpark between his travels, but she didn't seem to have spotted him or wasn't interested. It started to pour with rain then but has stopped again now.

That's good you are finding the can opener a much better one Mandy. I've not tried it in the slow cooker but I imagine your gammon will turn out nice and tender and the apple cider and dugar should make it tasty too..

Yes it looks dull and miserable outside here AnnG.

Oh heck, OH is back! He thought he would be going straight to a footie match nearby afterwards and I was just going to disinfect all the plugholes while he's out. Better see how he got on and put the kettle on.

Mandy in the window of our local charity shop there were two of 'your' gnomes. Both new but no price on them one was a pumpkin (haloween) and the other had skies.

Absolutely been tipping down here since lunch time and it is sooo dark too. miserable weather.

Oh that was lucky Anng getting there and back in the dry ,it's gone very dark here now and looks like it's going to tip down.

Oh Ann yes look at the date on the chocs you might have to eat them if the date is up :-D

I have the slow cooker on with my piece of gammon cooking in brown sugar and apple cider so I'll see what it comes out like later .

Can opener worked like a dream ,we had tuna sandwich again just to see how it worked .

Oh now raining I just saw someone with a brolly go past .

Afternoon All,

Sunny and nice here at present but I see rain is due around 4.00pm lasting all night so there could be flooded fields again.

Sorry you haven't been well Vera and I hope taking it easy and resting will improve your back today. Be careful putting your delivery away. It's very easy to undo progress isn't it.

Yesterday the road to and from the village past the end of our close was gridlocked both ways in the morning and the island it leads to on the main road,3 houses down from our close had all three lanes around it at a standstill too as well as queues in the three other roads leading to it. OH was in a tizzy as he was going to meetings in the afternoon and at teatime and wondered how long it was going to take to get out of the gridlock each time. We managed the short distance to the island and did our errand and stayed for a coffee and took a different route to the shop, hoping it might clear. Well luckily it did, but we still don't know what caused it.

I tell OH to have a mooch round the garden to get some vitamin D as well Mandy. :-D He can't wear shorts or have no socks, as he comes out in huge red rashes on his legs and feet, even with just a bit of sun, but luckily his arms are fine. We are guilty of getting extra bits and bought a box of Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocs to put by for Christmas last week as they were reduced to £4.50. I must check if there's a best before date in case we have to eat them soon! lol. :-D

It's a good job done getting your boiler mended Mel. We stayed in a cottage in Anglesey years ago that had an oil tank in a little room off the kitchen and it reeked of oil in the kitchen. It was so bad we kept out of the kitchen as much as possible.

OH is off to a council to attend a hearing soon, so I'd better pop to the shop and see If I am inspired as to what to eat when he gets back. We've just had poached eggs on toast as he never likes much to eat before this kind of meeting, as you can't just pop out if needs be.

It's looking more gloomy now so I hope you aren't sending your rain this way early Mel! I see you were very lucky rainwise for your walk to the hairdresser and back and got the bins in for Cynth just in time too AnnG. I have to be very careful on uneven paving too. So many pavements are in poor repair now.

It poured with rain and was very dark Just before I left for the hairdresser. It had stopped when I left and stayed dry until I got there and the sun came out. Thai in itself made walking difficult as everywhere was wet and the sun was reflecting in all the surfaces. The pavements are very uneven so it was hard walking, watching my feet and trying to see where I was going. When I came out of the hairdressers it was dry and the walk home was in the dry, no sun. As I got to Cynth's and took her recycling bin and food bin in I felt a spit of rain, Put my bins in and opened the front door. By the time I had closed it it was lashing down again, So I was very lucky today.

Now its raining again!!

Suns out now.

You take it easy Vera and have a restful day and don't hurt that back putting the shopping away, let oh do it. <3

Its chucking it down here like stair rods. Hope its not like that with you Ann.