General Chat

good evening all, glad you now have the new dishwasher in Linda, it is such a performance to change things these days isn't it.

Oh dear Florence, so sorry about your carrots.

It is my birthday today and I have had a very good day. I went out to lunch with five friends and then an outdoor performance of The Mikado, not my type of music but it was fun and good to spend my birthday with friends.

Such jobs are never straightforward are they Lindad, always something to make things difficult.
I hope the missing piece hasn't stopped the dishwasher being used !

I forgot to say yesterday about my trip to the garden centre, whilst we were walking round in the outside section there were 1 or 2 garden "toys" on display, a small solar item of a Butterfly flittering round the plant of the plant pot it was fixed to, it was brilliant & I just HAD to have one, lol.

I'm not a big fan of brightly coloured solar garden decor things but the Butterflies look so prett , I can feel the purchase of another one coming on, there were 3 colours in all, & I reckon the other 2 would look just as nice. LOL.

Joan.

The new dishwasher was delivered this afternoon, they took the old one away as part of the deal. Poor OH had a terrible job getting the old one out yesterday as we didn’t have the original fitting instructions. It was a really snug fit and he didn’t realise for ages that there were two clips on the top front sides with screws going into the sides of the units. Once he got those free he still had a long job to get it out. Since it was put in we had changed the flooring, there was cheap laminate downstairs in the house.We replaced it with much thicker oiled oak flooring.. That meant the he couldn’t just slide the dishwasher out. He needed to alter the height of all four little legs to make it shorter so it could lift over the deeper floor. Of course the legs were all seized up, so it took him ages.
He has just fitted the cabinet door to the new one, thankfully that went on easily. He just has to push it in and connect it up. Except - there seems to be a part missing. It is just some sort of plastic strip which goes across the top out of sight. We rang them, but their spares department closed two minutes before we spoke to customer services, so they are going to sort it out tomorrow. Why isn’t anything ever straightforward these days?

It is annoying about your carrots Florence, but I guess caterpillars have to live on something. We have lots of apples on our tree, but by the time they are ripe, the birds have pecked them all

Afternoon to everyone looking in.

Mixture of sunshine and heavy downpours here, same yesterday. Feel like summer has gone already and we only had a good dose of sunshine back in June!

We have now finished all the card making. Xmas, blank square and 7x5 sizes.

Just waiting on me tassels to finish off bookmarks and that's it all sorted.

Looked at me carrots yesterday and have been wondering why the 3rd box had hardly any growth! All became clear when i suddenly spied a green caterpillar eating away at the leaves!! Oh yes it had had a feast at my expense.

Not much i can do about that now as the others are nearly ready to pull up.
That's the first ever caterpillar I have seen around any of my plants.

I wonder what type of butterfly that will become?

Last night I watched Casino Royale but a remake with Daniel Craig. Must say, it was action packed and I really enjoyed it.

Well not sure what to do for tonight's meal as we had chicken curry last night with all the trimmings, so something like jacket potatoes and salad maybe.

Linda, I hope you got your new dishwasher and all working again ok? What will you do with the old one or will they take it away for you?

Joan, when I have been to the garden centre, I cant help but buy more roses and fuchsias, just love them and like you spend far more than i intend to!

Oh well better clear up the craft mess all over the kitchen table !

Florence in the hebrides

Happy new plants Joan :-D OH cleared out some invasive plants from one bed, so we need to go and get a couple of bushes to fill the space.

I have ordered a new dishwasher and it is coming tomorrow. I toyed with the idea of getting someone to look at it, but it has plenty of water coming in and heating up. Nothing seems to be blocked up, but neither of the two spray arms are turning round when they should be. The water is coming out of them, but they aren’t spinning round. It is probably a problem with the circuit board. If one of them was not turning, it might be something mechanical, but who knows. Anyway, we decided to get a new one, we were going to go out for lunch tomorrow, but it can arrive from 7am to 7pm, so we will have to stay in. I could have paid extra to get a narrower time frame, but it wasn’t worth it.

Linda do you have anyone in the area that can repair kitchen appliances? The reason I ask is that my dishwasher is probably about the same age as yours and it was filling and heating up but not washing. I got somebody to look at it and he sorted it out for me. I was ready to get rid of it and get a new one but it was something to do with a furred up pipe somewhere. Might be worth getting it checked. (Unless you actually want a new one of course.)

Hello to all.
Not a bad day here not very sunny but not cold,a litttle wind but not unpleasant.

Had a lovely day looking round Home Bargains yesterday & as usual spent far too much, I did have a list but bought several other things that I just had to have ! lol.
We also went to the local Garden Centre & I spent even more in there, they had a lot of new plants in stock & as usual I couldn't resist !

I have been busy this morning planting all 8 new plants, they are quite big, well grown & look as though they have been in the borders for ever, lol.
One of the plants was a CROCOSMIA, a yellow one & I was able to split it & so eneded up with 4 plants from it, I love that plant & already have an orange one which has been split several times & so have been spread around everywhere.

Shame about your dishwasher breaking down Linda, but it would seem to have been a good one & has lasted a long time .
My dishwasher is no longer able to wash the pots anymore, he's now confined to his room due to his illness & mobility issues & so I have to wash the pots myself , not a job I enjoy doing at all.

Well I must go & give my new plants a watering, talk again soon.

Joan.


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The front panel comes off Florence, so it will go on the new dishwasher. The one we have is a Whirlpool, I can’t remember when we put it in 2003-5 ish, so I can’t grumble. The kitchen we took out was only about five years old, but had been designed by an idiot. We spent ages trying to decide how to tweak it, but in the end decided to rip the whole lot out and start again. We had all new appliances then. I have been measuring and will probably go for a new Whirlpool as it seems to be the same size as the old one. OH has gone out for one of his bike rides, so we will decide when he comes back. The dishwasher was full, so I had to take everything out and wash it by hand.

Oh no Linda, what a disaster for you. So you will have to empty the dishwasher and do it all by hand.

Might be worth having a look online at where you bought the kitchen units from to see if you could get a matching panel incase you need to replace the dishwasher. Gosh what a start to the day and what a nuisance disturbing your so called peace and quiet.

Hope you get the problem sorted.

Well day one of peace, but I have all the cleaning to do which I norm do on Friday, but left.
Annoyingly the dish washer has stopped working. It is filling and emptying, but the arms aren’t spinning round, so nothing is getting clean. I guess something on the control panel has gone, it is very old, so I can’t grumble. It is a fully integrated type, the door panel is one of the kitchen unit doors, so it will be important to get exactly the same size. What can possibly go wrong :-(

Morning all
Well the heavens have well and truly opened, its bucketing down!

But yesterday, a friend came and took me out to lunch. Was lovely and great to be out of the house. Met a few people I knew so was chatting to them too.

So indoors day but at least I dont have to water the plants....yay

Plenty of chores and washing...daughter is home lol

Hope all is well with everyone looking in today

Florence in the hebrudes

Oh sorry Linda, I have been reading that bit incorrectly, I really do need to get myself to Specsavers.

Enjoy your few days peace & quiet, make the most of it whilst you can, you deserve it.

Joan.

It is my son in laws father Joan, the girls other grandfather. There is quite a difference in ages between the grandfathers. My OH is 74 and he is 99.

It is very sticky and humid here, but we had dinner outside, that was Esme’s idea. They are going away for the weekend, leaving at 5pm tomorrow, so we will have a couple of days peace

Beautiful and sunny here today but with a keen breeze(as always).

Sadly another funeral of someone I knew, thats 3 extended family in 3 weeks and a close neighbour plus a cousin in his 50's is fading fast also! The sad thing is all of those passing were sudden and unexpected which makes it even more sad.

Sadly I wouldn't be welcome at those funerals as no longer part of the family and it would be rather awkward too as 7 years since I spoke with any of them so best to stay away.

Did a small basket of ironing so thats all up to date now.

Neighbour and I have clubbed together to get rid of some household rubbish and split the cost. So will need to get said items out on my driveway later on as the lorry comes from 8am on a Friday.

Just realised how strong the wind is as my curtains are now flapping around in the lounge!! At least no midges though :-D

Linda, glad SIL's father is being taken care of and him going into a home will ease the worry of him alone at home.

AnnG if i walk a lot with my stick, my upper arm muscles ache for days afterwards. So maybe you have been walking a lot and just need to rest a day or 2 before tackling the garden.

Linda, most of my little tomatoes are all red now just a couple left that are green but they are indoors on my windowsill in full sun. They were very sweet and am very pleased with them.

Got 1 flower on my hydrangea, its pink and has opened.

Well off to make a sandwich and then tackle the waste removal with next door.

Have a nice afternoon all

Florence in the hebrides

A shame really Linda as he has been lucky enough to stay looking after himself but the best decision as otherwise not only is he no safe, everyone else in the family is worried. I hope they find him a nice kind place.
It is sunny here too and 22 degrees. I intended to cut the lawn but my ankle is playing up. It does occasionally, I suspect it is arthritis which eventually will right itself for a while, I have done a fair bit of walking the last couple of days so that is probably the answer. resting it today then. :-) :-)

Good morning, it is sunny and humid here, which makes a change from rain. I have just been outside cutting some of the leaves off my tomato plants. There are quite a few green ones but nothing has ripened yet :-(
SIL came back yesterday as his father was stable, his sister lives fairly close by, so he is being looked after. So far he has lived at home with carers, but he can’t feed himself anymore and as he mainly stays in bed, or in a recliner, he has some bed sores. He is going to be discharged but into a nursing home. He will be furious about that, but it is for the best.

Good morning, it is sunny and humid here, which makes a change from rain. I have just been outside cutting some of the leaves off my tomato plants. There are quite a few green ones but nothing has ripened yet :-(
SIL came back yesterday as his father was stable, his sister lives fairly close by, so he is being looked after. So far he has lived at home with carers, but he can’t feed himself anymore and as he mainly stays in bed, or in a recliner, he has some bed sores. He is going to be discharged but into a nursing home. He will be furious about that, but it is for the best.

Having just over the shock of my contents renewal quote, I have just received online my electricity bill for Jul and got a nice surprise.

The bill was £77.00 incl VAT, the lowest yet thus year. So now I have a credit of £81.00 which I am leaving to build up so in the winter, I wont worry having the heating on when its cold.

Always a silver lining!

Grass cutters came although front lawn was left as hardly any growth in 2 weeks and still some bare patches. Although recent rain refilled some rivers etc, the garden still needs watering every night mostly. I didn't water plants last night but the soil is dry today, so a job after tea once the sun has moved round to the back.

AnnG, glad you are now rid of your cold although doesn't help getting wet in the rain, poor you.

Linda, sounds like Esme was having lots of fun and at least it was outside mess and not indoors. SIL's father probably has a UTI as many elderly people get them especially if they don't drink much. My mum, bless her refused to drink water and said her cups of tea was all she needed but she regularly got infections and needed antibiotics. Just hope it isn't Covid!

Hope they find out today with blood tests and can treat him.

Decided to strip daughters bed before she comes back and made a load to fill the machine .Its still dry here so perfect for the washing to dry in the breeze.

Time for a quick sandwich for lunch.

Florence in the hebrides

For once, it is a sunny day here. Esme was playing in the garden and wanted her crazy foam on a tray as she had seen some children on a You tube video doing that. It is foam soap which she plays with in the bath. It is horrible stuff because it leaves a slimy scum on the bath. She was having a great time playing with it outside, but then decided that she was going to wash the glass in the patio doors in it. That was fun, she was writing in it. Grandad had to bring a watering can and the long car brush on a pole to clean it off, needless to say she was soaked. It seems to have left a film on the glass, but no doubt the rain will sort it.

They tested grandpa as soon as he got to A&E last night, but said it wasn’t sepsis. By the time we went to bed, they were still waiting to see a doctor. He has got some sort of infection, but they didn’t know what. SIL eventually went back to the house, leaving his father there. He hadn’t been put on a main ward, but was in the A&E diagnostic ward. SIL was going back this morning,but we haven’t had any more news yet

good afternoon. Yes you are right Florence, I haven't posted but I am ok and I have read the posts. I actually thought I had posted so must have got confused. Anyway yes cold had gone by Sunday thank goodness and I feel fine now.

Linda, that must have been very stressful for your sister. And It is also worrying about SiL's father. Hope the hospital have made him comfortable.

This morning:
Well. it rained....... And we walked through it. six of us. It was the fortnightly 'amble' with U3a Luckily it was not cold but my jeans were very wet by the time we got to the little cafe in the village, having meandered through lanes and alleyways I didn't know existed.. We sat with coffees for a good 40 minutes chatting and then walked back to the car park via a quicker route.

I think it may have been just about two miles. Luckily the rain had stopped by the time we came out after coffee. Still it was a bit of exercise, a bit of company and I can now feel virtuous for the rest of the day.