General Chat

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

We were supposed to have our electricity turned off from 9 am to 1 pm today because they had to prune trees near overhead power cables. This was over a wide area of the town. We have been getting email and text reminders for days, then suddenly at 8.45 am, I got a message apologising and saying they had cancelled the power cut at short notice. That was fine for us because my daughter and son in law both work from here, but the shops and cafes must be furious at losing trade for no reason.

I had decided to go to York on a summer spending spree, so I still went. I bought two dresses and a pair of summer trousers, but I wanted to get more :-( I really wanted to get some shift type dresses, but I am 5 ft 7 (I have shrunk a bit) and they were all too short, too much above my knee. I am too old to get away with such short dresses now. Most if the dresses had fitted waists which is no good for me. I am very long waisted and a fitted waist is right up around my ribs, a good few inches above my actual waist. So they look odd and are very uncomfortable.
Another grumble is about sleeveless dresses when the arm holes are so big that they show all your bra under your arms. Why do they make them like that?

:-D :-D :-D @ Linda re Camiila

Ah, we know to brave Joan for the bad weather, you should never have put those garden seats out :-D

It has been a horrible drizzly day here as well, no playing out today. They went swimming this afternoon, so we got a couple of hours peace.

I watched the concert as well, I thought that it was quite good in comparison to some of the recent ones like the Queen’s jubilee one. That was absolutely dire. It was odd how it stopped so suddenly, you would think they could have run over just a few minutes to round it off. I think the stage dresses have to be over the top for the benefit of the audience, they probably look totally different if you were there compared to the TV close ups. Camilla looked bored half of the time, OH said she was looking down at her lap, so probably had a book to read
:-)

Well the day brightened up here and so I ventured with stick out to hang 8 pillowcases but oh my it was breezy. My long hair in me face so couldn't see a thing lol.
I managed to peg them but 5 minutes later 2 flew off towards neighbours garden! I managed out to pick them up and promptly put 6 pegs in each. 20 minutes later I noticed the haar coming in off the sea so off I went again to get them in and amazingly, they were all dry yay!

Not putting out anymore so shall use the tumble drier.
Both neighbours cats were purring around my ankle fighting for some attention bless them but the older one is def the boss and boxes the others ears to shoo him away from me, its so funny.

Joan, I like Andre Bochelli but like you on his own. Some costumes were, well "eye catching" lol

I shall send the sun over to you Joan and hopefully, you will get to relax on your new chair very soon. We are supposed to be getting strong winds and heavy rain later.....what's new there!

Not sure about me tea as not really that hungry today so maybe just crumpets and marmalade.

Florence in the Hebrides

Hello ~~~~~~~

Like you Florence we have had rain aaall day, it's still coming down, not too cold but there are big puddles everywhere around the house.

I watched the concert but only because i wanted to see Andre Bochelli.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy his performance but only because that awful sounding Welsh guy sang along with Andre & in my opinion he ruined the duet.
I didn't like the welsh "singer" when he sang in Westminster Abbey during the Coronation & had to switch him off then.

The female "singers" in the concert didn't excite me either & the dresses they were wearing were ghastly !!

Looks like the rain has finally stopped, the sky is brightening up but too late in the day to venture outside.
'm beginning to wish I hadn't put out my 2 new garden seats & the new gliding seat now, not been able to sit on any of them since they were erected & placed in the garden, lol.

Joan.

Morning all.

Its drizzly and cold today and of course it was bin day lol never fails. But at least they came early today so all dealt with.

Head is a little better but never slept much and why is my temp still up at 38?? I mean I don't feel ill as such but my mouth feels like its burning and tongue is a ghastly colour of yellow/grey. Clearly I still have something in me body not right and so wish it would "do one."

Daughters bedding needs ironing and guest bedding nearly finished in the machine.

Watched the concert but for me was a mixed bag. I didn't expect it to end so abruptly either at 10pm.

Well I guess, I had better make a quick salmon roll for lunch then get on with me list of jobs to do.

Hope everyone else looking is is well and ok

Florence in the Hebrides

I am sorry that you have had such a bad day Joan.
It us odd that you still have a high temperature Florence.

We had a lazy morning, my daughter wanted to go out somewhere, but Esme was adamant that she just wanted to play in the garden. She likes playing football, so I mentioned that it might be good to get her a little football goal. That was all the excuse my daughter needed, so she ordered one to pick up from Argos in the nearby town. She went off with Eve to pick it up and they were going to do an hour’s treasure hunt which they had downloaded from the internet. That meant they would be away for two hours. Not to worry as Esme’s daddy would be looking after her. - yeah! That was never going to happen. He spent all afternoon with his headphones on listening to an audio book while I played with Esme. She wasn’t any trouble, but she needs constant attention.

I then cooked a pork dinner, which made a nice change from the chicken we usually have. It is time to relax tonight, I will probably watch the concert.