General Chat

It is a nice sunny morning here, but not terribly warm.
I went to my slimming class this morning and was in the naughty corner for putting weight on, so I had better be good this week.

I went to Tesco and Lidl to get the food for the week. In theory I shouldn’t need to go again, but no doubt I will to get all the things that we suddenly can’t live without.

I hope everyone is OK with no great traumas.

Hi Linda, no I don't drive, never have.
It is a bit of a pest having to keep the car but I prefer to travel in ours than daughters, I got stuck trying to get OUT of her car last time I tried it., never again, lol.

Whilst I am able & want to go out with her for my weekly shop we will stick to ours, hopefully for a while yet, I would miss not choosing my own food things & I would also miss having a chat to all the people that I have come to know over the many years we have lived here.
I really missed not going to the supermarket last Thursday.

Joan.

Oh dear Joan, I hope the car isn’t too expensive to repair. Do you drive it? It must be an expense just to keep it for your daughter to drive you.
It had been sunny here, but not very warm. The girls went out this afternoon, so I ended up doing extra housework. My daughter managed to drop an open carton of Apple juice on the kitchen floor this morning, she attempted to clean it up by just wiping it with a cloth. That just spreads the stickiness out, so while they were out, I did it properly with the mop and wood floor cleaner. The whole downstairs has oak flooring, so I did the lot while zi was at it.

Another hour and Eurovision will be starting, it is a family tradition to watch it. My daughter is keen, I am not so bothered. Eve wants to watch it, I suspect that is because she can stay up very late :-D

Hi to all.
Well at last the sky is blue after several horrible grey misty days, it's a much better day & the sun is shining though we do have a bit of wind which can be so annoying.

I have been into the garden for a good hour, so that was a nice change after being couped up for most of last week, the most I did was some weedkilling over the gravelled areas, so that was a good jobe done.

I had to give the weekly shop a miss last Thursday due to our car breaking down !
Our daughter came for me as usual & swapped her car for ours as she always does, I don't like going in daughters car as it's a bit on the low side a "sporty" type & she is inclined to go too fast for me !!
She sticks to the speed limit obviously but that's too fast for ME, lol, Our car a POLO is better for me to get in & out of & travels at a more sedate speed !!

Anyway as we left the drive & travelled along our house road/track, there was an almighty bang, (thought to be a spring) it scared me to death & rather than get into daughters car I chose to stay home, not a happy bunny but no choice.

The car is now booked into the local garage to be sorted.yet another expense to have to deal with along with having to have a new hot water tank fitted as the current one has a leak, it's dripping at the bottom of the front, we are just woundering what the 3rd problem is gong to be !

Hubby not great, some days he's really down & not eating enough, then another day he's quite chirpy & enoys his meal/s, he's on salads at the moment.

Well it's time to get the pots washed etc before I sit down & rest whilst doing some of my crosstitching project.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Joan.

Probably Ann, but it was near the edge so would have been easy to get out.

We have a power cut here, it went off about 4.45pm. Son in law was on a zoom call with America demonstrating some software they are trying to sell to them :-(

It is off over a large area, they said it may come back on at 6pm, the lights flicked on and straight back off again around that time. Apparently they have got some people reconnected, but the latest time for us is now 7.30pm. Luckily I was making a Harissa chickpea stew with couscous for dinner. The stew part was cooked in one pot on the gas hob and I only needed to boil some water in a pan for the couscous.

Linda, the contents sound like a child who had a cookery lesson maybe and maybe someone snatched their bag and through it into the bushes?

Linda, I wonder if a child had their bag stolen from them and then thrown in the bushes.

I have a water meter thank goodness, we were much better off once we had it fitted. I do have an outside tap but am careful how much I use it. I have a water barrel as well. And the outside tap is turned off inside over winter . It is still off.

The rain did stop quickly, so I went out and collected a large bin bag full of litter including six wine bottles. Then the rain really set in, so I came straight back. My most interesting find was a spotted nylon bag which had been thrown in the bushes on the side of the rough track which is a short cut through to the housing association estate. The school kids use it and throw all their cans and bottles into the bushes on their way home. I was intrigued as to what was in the bag, so I had a look. There was a nice plastic lunch box, which seemed to contain the remnants of the ingredients for a cookery recipe. There was a bag of flour, a whole block of butter with only a thin slice cut off it etc. In the bag was also an almost full bottle of golden syrup. I threw all those away, but have given the lunch box a good wash, Esme can use it when she makes her pretend picnics for all of her dolls.

It s actually sunny and warm outside, so I am going to go out for a litter pick. There are intermittent showers though, so I won’t venture too far from the house. I can do various small loops, so I won’t be too far away, I have just looked outside to see if the bird bath needs filling and wouldn’t you know it, it is raining :-(
Hopefully it will soon stop and then I can get out

:-D :-D :-D :-D@names
That made me chuckle today.

Most of the plants outside get a good watering when we have rain and I dont have to water them but in recent weeks, we have had no rain and so i have had to water them myself.
I may get a water butt to catch the rain water and have that beside the polytunnell.

Im planning to grow more flowers from seed and also veg like cucumbers, tomatoes, beetroot.I hope to have a long bench with shelves underneath to put all the pots and then, the top will be my working area for planting up things.

Its an exciting project to be planning for next spring.

If its that windy, I can assure you I don't venture out of the house but I can hang onto the steel washing line poles incase I fly away lol

No water meters up here at all but that doesn't mean we waste water just because we can. I prefer to fill the watering can for the pots as the hose is too fast and some gets wasted. If we don't get any decent rain, we will be on a hosepipe ban!

Its another drab grey day, no sun but breezy.

Daughter will be home later and no doubt will untidy the house in 5 minutes with the contents of all her bags!!Honestly, I ask her to go to Tesco for a pint of milk and shes comes back with 2 bags full of other things lol

Hope the weather has improved for those that got the downpours. My friend nr Wincanton drove through 2 ft of water and said it cam e down so quick, was dreadful.

Hope you are ok Joan and hubby too.

Well better crack on with cleaning the bathroom, next on me list of jobs!

Florence in the hebrides

AG - I think that a lot of people down here would also say we’ve got more water than we want at the moment. More due any minute.

I knew that one could get extra strong wind proof tunnels but I can’t get the picture of Florence hanging on for dear life whilst sailing over the gardens out of my head :-D

I have a water meter, so definitely don’t have an outside tap. I have two large barrels which collect water from the roof. I use that to water the pots and the hanging basket, OH uses it to wash the car. I only water plants in the garden when they first go in, after that they are on their own

No water meters in Scotland, thank goodness.
And on the west coast we usually have more water than we want!

Someone is not on a water meter ;-)

Can you have water buts and a trickle watering system running from them?

Linda, these Polytunnels can withstand wind up to 130 miles per hour. There is one across on a piece of land not far from me and all through the gales, it never moved. The director guaranteed it as the frames are sturdier than the average and the plastic that covers it is reinforced so it wont tear even if a slate was to fly against it.

We have an outside tap with hosepipe which will stretch to it quite easily.

It will be next Spring I guess before I buy one but just doing the research first so I know the costs etc and what's involved. My lawn is flat which is one of the stipulations, so that's good.

Gosh just realised the time eeek time i went to bed.

Florence in the hebrides

Is your garden safe from high winds Florence? If not you could have a problem with a poly tunnel. You will also need a water source as well. My sister has a huge poly tunnel and they ran a water supply to it. It takes a lot of watering every day, even if it is raining outside of course. She grows a huge variety of veg in it as well as outside in the garden.

JG yes i have a big garden and it will only take a 1/4 of it.

Since earlier, housing manager tel me and agreed it in principle subject to where it will go and how big but she has agreed others so i have high hopes.

Got me bed stripped, washed and dried and now off to iron and remake bed, wash dishes and then relax for the evening before daughter returns tomorrow and promptly will fill the washing machine up!!

Been a busy day of all sorts with a lot of phone calls.

Its sunny here but quite dark clouds and we had a few showers but the ground needs it so badly for the grass and plants to grow.

Our morning was sunny and warm so we went into the garden and tidied up the pots and OH got his section ready and tidy for his planting. Also moved a few things around and it now looks neat and tidy, It has been showers this afternoon but nnot as much as expected.

The polytunnel sounds good Florence , will it take up much of your garden ? I hope your weather improves soon. Also for you Joan so you can enjoy your new seating.
Hope everyone is keeping well .

Ginnie

Well what a grotty day!
Its pouring hard and windy so no washing going outside today.

Chatted last night to my brother about mums flat and which estate agent to go with.
I tel one of them and the fees are very reasonable. Went over the process of secure selling etc and waiting to chat with brother to make a decision later on.

The lady said it should sell fairly quickly and the price has gone up £20k since last October!!

I have today been looking into getting a Polytunnel. I tel a local company who install them here and discussed the cost etc.

So for a Polytunnell 4m x 4m its around £5300 complete. If you want them to put raised beds inside and cover the ground so weed free, its an extra £400.
It wont block anyone's view as facing the sea. I would need landlords permission but don't see it as a problem.

It would be fab being able to grow fruit & veg inside without the wind destroying as well as flowers from seeds and cuttings.

So now just having a wee break on here before I finish off the ironing then strip my own bed .

Hope all is well with everyone else looking in.

Florence in the hebrides

I find the summer shift dresses are far to short as well. way above the knee and i do not have long, slim legs! I like a calf length and agree with you about the arm holes. They are way to huge and yes who does want to see me bra etc...

I remember at the previous village, power lines ran right through a load of trees and they had to cut them back which took a whole day and our power didnt come on until 8pm!! Wonder why they cancelled it Linda? maybe they were short staffed or something. Yes i'm sure the shops would have been mad with lost trade something thesedays they cant afford to lose.

I havent made any food for myself as i couldnt be bothered today but going to make a cheese and onion toastie as now feeling quite peckish.

Sun is still shining but dark clouds are about and some places here had thunder and downpours earlier!

I hope you got outside today Joan if you are looking in and sat on your new chair.

Florence in the hebrides