Re: Hello Everyone

Tue Sep 15, 2020 5:11 pm

Pauline garden looking smart and bright does cheer you up.Pleased you are feeling better.Think as we age our digestion system gives us trouble.You have certainly got the garden just about up to date
Jean good you are starting to clear your feet and I am sure will soon be all nice and shipshape again.Hope David does get is feet seen to So annoying when machines play up hope you manage to get is fixed
Rita well done in all that walking that was quite a walk.I should have walked more today but afraid did not
Changed my living room curtains for winter ones today........did take me quite a while between stops but pleased got it done.Ironing them takes time too.Pleased neighbour took 2 more full bags of apples today.She also brought me milk and bread as she was going to shops anyway.She was telling me a man of 90 ran into her on Saturday when she was parked in Lidl. He hit 3 cars so police was called she said she was lucky as she had just moved her car further away from him.Always something.now off to see what I can have for eating.Wet morning but has dried up but not enough to cut grass......grrrr.Just got letter about TV licence but not opened it yet

Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:46 am

[font=Comic Sans MS]Hi Everyone. Well it was so hot yesterday afternoon that I had to keep going indoors for a break, but finally finished the small section of grass on the other side of the path and last evening had to end up watering as everything was wiltering from the strong sunshine. Finished up by bringing in the recycling bin from outside (collection day) and got that back in its place and then put out the food for the hedgehogs, topped up the bird food and thankfully came in for a cool bath to get off the garden dust. Here is the photo of how the other side of the path looked yesterday evening and as the garden now looks so tidy it is going to be a pleasure to work out there getting the other jobs done (and there are plenty to do):-

Spoke to Maria and we are both off to visit Gennie this morning and after that will go to the centre for some shopping and I will also aim to bring home a few more games to check through from the lock up. I really want to get that cleared and over and done with during the next 2 weeks. After that I can look through what I have got here and perhaps start advertising some of the games, etc., on Facebook Marketplace to raise more funds for whatever club opens up first or if the Residents Council needs the money.

Jean, answering your post from page 20 as we are now on a new page (21) and yes we know how you feel because you are going to have to keep on nagging to get David to phone the surgery about his feet still swelling, as like most men he will put it off. Reckon you did well emptying 6 sacks of items and deserved a break after that. Yes thank you, feeling so much better and you can see from above, the other side of the garden is looking tidy again,so will enjoy working out there and not feel as if I am working my way through a jungle. Expect you will get through more clearing today and looks like an early walk for you with Coco as the sun is so warm already.

Rita if you look in today you will see we are on a new page and I did answer your post yesterday and both your post and my last one are on page 20. Hope today is peaceful still as a lot of the noise from the building work has eased. I know it isn't pleasant to have to live with that, but it does show how your hearing has improved.

Dian it has certainly cheered me up now all of the grassed area is looking tidy again and I can see the bamboo edges now - the grass had got taller than that edging. Still lots to do with regard to planters, baskets., etc and might manage to get a couple done after I get back from the centre this afternoon and early evening. That is so true about our digestive systems as we get older and I will have to start missing out some of the goodies . I see it took you a few breaks to get the curtains changed back to the winter ones in your living room and agree that it does take a while to get them ironed, so that is one job done ready for the colder months. Nice of your neighbour to bring you the bread and milk yesterday and bet you were pleased that she went away with 2 full bags of apples. She certainly was lucky having moved her car and missing the worst of that damage done in Lidls' carpark - that driver certainly caused enough damage to other cars and see the police had to be involved. See you had a wet morning, which stopped you from cutting the grass and another downer was the letter arriving about the tv licence.

I have just noticed, when previewing this message, that the fonts had changed from what I had chosen and were showing earlier, but not going to alter them as that might cause another problem and I must away now, have a light breakfast and get ready to meet Maria so we can visit Gennie. Hope all of you have a good day.

Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:46 am

Pauline have a nice visit to Gennie with Maria. Is the latter going to Spain?
I am doing half a load of washing and will see if that has still not spun properly
I am going to try and get a call back for David they say the phones are now working at the docs. and have been off for a week.
this is terrible.
Dian have to do the curtains. the stuff to be put away seems to be breeding....

Wed Sep 16, 2020 11:27 am

Oh b.. ... It another posting disappeared. I give up I must be stupid. Gotta go now

Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:59 pm

Pauline garden looking a treat now and makes you feel a lot better that it is done. Gennie will enjoy your visit with Maria and will cheer her up I,m sure.See you are still busy with sorting items for later for charity.Hope no more heavy gardening for you this year.I just wish I could do a lot more in mine
Jean do hope David gets an appointment for his feet. Also hoping your machine improves. Sometimes they do play up but settle
Rita know how annoying it is when we loose a post .It happens so not to worry.Hope your having a good day
Well it is dry so far but dull and overcast.I did not have a good night as was awoken by strange noises and was still half asleep .Not sure where I thought i was but then realised I was in bed but still hearing strange noises It would stop then start At first thought cat then remembered he was locked downstairs then thought maybe a mouse or even a squirrel or intruder.After lying wondering heard a loud bang at window .Switched on light grabbed walking stick..I was so relieved to see curtain blowing wildly and pennies lying on radiator and about a dozen on floor Pulled back curtain and a small vase with artificial flowers rolling about window sill.Remembered front bedroom window open too so obviously one was drawing curtains about and must have overturned vase then the vase had pushed the coins about. I was so relieved but could not get back to sleep so read a book for an hour then dozed off but late up.window will be closed tonight

Wed Sep 16, 2020 6:27 pm

I am sad, very sad. ,once again did a long long rep,y to each of you and then it's gone. Somehow on iPad I had pressed airplane. Sorry ladies I give up......I've spent ages can't get it back

Wed Sep 16, 2020 6:28 pm

Good photos there Pauline, oh how I woukd love to be by the sea.
They have such a variety of animals at that Sanctuary, yes it must cost huge amounts to keep going, I did use to contribute but couldn't keep it up, along with other charities.
on the photo of the bus, I noticed the size and tyoe of the wheels and the bus would have been A really wonderful transport, were they horse drawn?

It's a dull chilly day here but I have put on line a small wash - it may dry..
When I was last in town I found an extendsble little flat mop thing which is great for lamp shades and the top of the wardrobes, better than getting on stool/ steps to reach. And it slides off to wash. It was from the Pound Shop, surprising all the stuff thry have there now, even bacon, sausages etc.
Dian, I hope you are having a good weekend away.
Jean, still all upside down as far as getting stuff put back in place, but now the carpet is down, it will get sorted eventually and all be so fresh and new for you to enjoy.
They are laying pavement outside the new building next door, always lorries there snd traffic one way hold ups. I suppose someday it will all be finiished. Perhaps have oeople living there by Xmas. I have no plans to go out.as don't need snything but if it's fine weather I ight go to town tomorrow just to get out.

Wed Sep 16, 2020 6:30 pm

Now I found posted old one lurking somewhere, but where is today's?

Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:02 pm

Hello Ladies. Lovely start to the day, but don't like the sound of the forecast to come, so had better get through as much garden work as I can today.

Yesterday Maria and I enjoyed the visit to Gennie and we had a good laugh with her. Took some books up for her and the children she knows (Gennie has lots of god children), plus some more pillowcase for her. Social worker phoned her yesterday early and said there was a 2 bedroom bungalow to apply for, so Gennie got onto that one straight away, so fingers crossed that she gets one at last. After that we caught the bus to the shopping centre and Maria went in shopping straight away and I looked into the lock up - packed a few more games into the trolley to bring home and check (leaving enough room for the few bits of shopping I needed) and while I was in there I sorted through the plastic containers that we had left and have put them all in the empty trolley so Maria can collect the two that she wants back - I said to her yesterday that I would like to see the entire thing finished within the next two weeks and she agreed.

By the time I had done the shopping and then got home and caught up on the computer, there really wasn't time left for the garden, so going to get out there after posting this.

Jean, Maria has got to wait until the hospital doctor phones her on 1st October and tells her about any future treatment, so she can't plan anything until she hears from him. I did say to her to tell him that she would be going to her own house where only her brother lives and she wouldn't be travelling around (and to make sure she wouldn't be doing that), plus the fact that as she is still a Spanish national and that if anything wasn't going well for her healthwise while she was there, that she would get health treatment immediately free of charge and that would make the situation clearer for him - so fingers crossed he allows her to go. Do hope that washing machine behaved itself with half a load. On the front of mine at the bottom I have a small round section to open where I can clear out any stuff that might be blocking the filter which stops the full draining of water - is there nothing like that on the front of yours? Like me having cleared out so much, I still didn't seem to be left with the amount of room that I thought I would have and still need to get rid of more things - know how you feel about things seeming to multiply. Hope you manage to get through to the doctors - that is bad their phone service not having been working properly for over a week - see you will have to do it, because that is easier than keeping on at David to do it.

Dian it made me feel so much better seeing the garden looking tidier, but still plenty to do today and hoping to clear some more planters, sieve through a lot of the potting fibre in them and start on the baskets. See it was dry for you yesterday, but dull and overcast and what a fright for you being woken up in the night with all of that noise - thank goodness it was only the wind that had caused the vase, etc., to tip over with the curtains blowing about and although you were satisfied about what had caused it, that still made it difficult for you to settle down again, so you ended up reading for a while. Hope you managed to get a more peaceful uninterrupted sleep last night.

Rita, what determination and perseverance you went through to get a post on here yesterday and I don't care whether it was yesterday's or the day before's post that turned up, because it was still good to read. I know the feeling of longing to be by the sea and I did enjoy our short break there. Know what you mean about the cost of contributing to charities and I only have the £10 a month Direct Debit to the NSPCC, the Age UK monthly lottery and the annual adoption fee for Hillside, but do buy things and give donations to them more often. We all have to harden our hearts to the appeals that keep coming through and only do what we can afford to do. All of that means of transport in the Hillside small museum was the type drawn by the horses. My Mum used to tell me about the huge ship's propellors that were manufactured in Deptford by J Stone and then transported through the Greenwich area to the Thames in the area where she lived and seeing them being pulled out of the factory by teams of 8 Shire horses and the sparks coming out from their horse shoes (as they brought their feet down to grip the road) must have been a fantastic sight. Here is a photo taken off of the "Catford and Lewisham way back when" group on Facebook that I belong to and it shows the size of those things in the factory of J Stone of Deptford, so you can imagine the effort it took to transport them by the horse teams and that one made of brass was for the Canadian Pacific line in the late 20s:-

See it was a dull chilly day for you, but here Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were very hot days and yesterday was pleasant and today also, although a bit cooler and easier to work in out in the garden. Hope you got the washing dry that you put out. See you got a handy cleaning mop for the tops of cupboards, etc., and I get quite a few things in the Pound shop - really handy place and that is where I first found all sorts of cleaning fluids made by Astonish and that was the mould remover that Jojo first mentioned and it worked miracles on the plastic garden furniture. With the pavement being completed by the council outside the new properties, I just hope all the disruption is soon over for you and you get pleasant neighbours in there.

Well ladies I must away if I am to get through all of the garden work I have planned and hope you all enjoy your day.

Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:13 pm

still have not gotten through to the docs. will try doctor link later. Would have loved to see those horses Pauline

Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:12 pm

Pauline garden will be looking a treat but as you say never ending.I,m sure Gennie enjoyed your visit with Maria and here,s hoping she gets the bungalow.Gosh you must have had so much in the lock up but good you have nearly cleared it.See still more clearing in house but you have done so much so far.Yes it would have been a sight seeing the propellers getting transported in those days with the magnificent shire horses.I can remember seeing them working when I was a young girl and loved to watch them They were so mild too for their size
Jean do hope your winning with the house and hope you got your machine working again
Rita hope your day is going along nicely and you manage to get out.Great you did find your posts
Well has turned out a nice day. I was going to do wonders but so far nothing I did have a good sleep last night so do not know why I feel so tired but I am now going out to cut back grass if nothing else.Have a good day ladies

Thu Sep 17, 2020 7:04 pm

hi it's me trying again.
Dian, what a scary disturbance you had in the night.mbrave you going to investigate. It's Autumn now so instead of apples you will be picking/sweeping up leaves instead.

Jean, are you nearly straight in house now. I understand your frustration on phoning Doctors, I was phoning and was 13th in the queue and waited and waited until it was my turn then was told that my Dr was full up with appointments and they were starting fresh list and for me to phone on Thursday, so I did but altho was phoning just as soon as they had opened I was still in a queue and gave up. There is also another number for putting name down for flu shot. What a bother Eh!

Pauline, I do hopeGennie gets the house, yes, fingers crossed for her. Maria does so well, but it doesn't seem much prospect of her getting to Spain for a while yet altho I don't know what Covid situation is like there.
Will you hedgehog be getting ready for it's winter sleep.?
Those photos show those huge heavy things which had to be moved and transported, and as you say mostly by horse drawn. You must have a great filing system (in your head?) to find what you need amongst all your photographs. I guess you are now clearing your garden and preparing it for bad winter weather. Although summer flowers are gone there is still the colour of the berries and changing leaves ofAutumn
I managed to walk to see friend who fell in her kitchen snd broke her arm, apparently after the anaesthetic she was raving delirious so they keot her in hospital for four days and took a brsin scan in case she had knocked her head, she us ok now, I told Muriel and she said it us affects of the snaesthetic as similar has happened to ger sister.
I went this morning to Ssinsburys and soso stopped snd bought some birthdsy cards but must not have picked them up as they are not in my bag, so thst means a trip to tiwn to get more.
I will say cheerio and press send hope it does,,,,
.

Fri Sep 18, 2020 1:46 pm

Pauline do hope Gennie gets that bungalow. when will she know? that small opening for the fluff etc. is on the back of my washing machine, did not notice that
when I bought it. all the others were are the front.
Dian still in a muddle, the pile seems to grow instead of getting smaller.
Rita this morning phoned the doc. for David, they sent a text here saying that he had to have a diabetic check up. well they answered so quickly it was beyond
belief . Friday is a good day to ring the docs. then when I told the girl about his feet, she got the doctor to ring here, which he. did. blood tests next Wed.
Why not todya!!!!!!!!!
had to go down town as his phone would not let the caller here us so got another phone. no smart phone for him
I am doing the washing in the morning to see how it is going to work.

Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:28 pm

Hi Ladies - did a naughty this morning and nicked that gif off of Facebook (as it appealed to me) and just added the message at the bottom.

Yesterday I cleared another eight larger pots and planters and sieved through the fibre from them (some of which I have used again with adding plant food and some of the composted fibre to it), planted up the Sweet Williams and Foxgloves ready for next year in clean pots and planters, transplanted one of the chrysanths from a small pot into a larger planter, got the last three lily bulbs (that I bought late from Tescos) into a good size pot and covered that with dried grass cuttings ready for overwintering and actually managed to tidy and dig in some compost into a small section of flower bed at the end of the patio and put in some Wallflowers from the old planters. Still a lot more to do, but enjoying the work in this weather and will get on with it again today.

I started this early this morning (hence the good morning gif) and then got a couple of phone calls, which led to me searching for a couple of things that were needed by Rachel and found them and then carried on with looking for a handbag that Gennie wanted as all her bags are black and she wanted a brown or beige coloured one. Looked for one of my brown ones, but realised that had already gone to the Air Ambulance, but looking through some of the items I had brought home for any future sales, there was a nice beige coloured one that she can have. After that had a cup of coffee and a slice of toast with a banana, did the washing up, cut up the banana skin for composting together with some old leaves from the house plants which led to me clearing the kitchen end, turning out the household rubbish and then making a bit more room at the dining room end, closing down one of the picnic tables which I had been working on (when I had the chance to do some repair of some of the garden ornaments) and shifted around the dining room table nearer the kitchen end which will give me the room to lay out, measure and cut that carpet for the bathroom and of course then out came the vacuum cleaner. By then it had got so hot outside I reckoned the garden work would have to wait until after 4 when the sun has shifted and then Rachel phoned again to say that she was taking Ralph to a training driving course tomorrow and they would call in, so at least we will have room to sit indoors round a cleared table. Ralph is getting on so well at the job (been there 2 weeks now) and is happy with it and the firm are happy with him (and they are paying for that driving thing and also are giving him more money) - good to hear all of that. So now I am back typing 5 hours later to continue .

Jean - Well done with getting through to the doctors and see the doctor rang back and David has a blood test to be done next week (as you say) why not today? See he also got a text for a diabetic test and you have had to get him a new phone as his wasn't letting people hear what was said. How strange that the filter thing is at the back of your machine - no good at all, because you just don't keep pulling out the washing machines to do jobs like that, but hope it seems to go well today. Have you tried doing a cycle without any clothes in or using that Calgon or Dettol clearing stuff in it - just a suggestion and it might work. Not sure when Gennie will find out about the bungalow - also depends on how many people apply for it and if any of them have more points above her, but with her mobility problems and illness I shouldn't think there would be many and they need the 3 bedroom house she is in, so keeping my fingers crossed for her. I see you still feel that the pile of things to be sorted is getting bigger, but you will get there in the end. Yes that must have been a great sight to see those Shires pull that heavy load and would have loved to have seen that myself.

Dian, yes garden work at the moment never ending, but enjoying it at the moment with the good weather and appreciating the part that has been tidied, but you can see from what I typed above, I feel it is far too hot at the moment to be out there and hopefully will get a couple of hours in soon when it gets a bit cooler. Yes, we did have a lot in the lock up with people bringing us items and it had got to the stage where everything couldn't come out for each sale, so we did alternate things and of course, quite a bit of Christmas items stored, which have now had to come home to me for sorting. You mentioned that you remember seeing those working horse when you were a child and there was one baker that used to come round where I lived and he still used his large horse and a very smart cart with a high cab on it and during one winter when it was the thick snow and everyone had changed to motorised transport, he was the only tradesman to do his rounds with the help of that horse. I also used to see them pull up near our shop from Youngs brewers that used to be in Wandsworth with their dray horses and a lot of them were black and the men were always in brown smart suits and bowlers. Here is a photo of a couple of the horses I used to see and that driver that we knew and a copy of that famous photo taken at their brewery with one of their Shires and the little Shetland pony near him. Talk about Little and Large .

Glad to read the weather was good yesterday your way and you managed to get a good night's sleep after the interruptions of the previous night. Hope you got the grass cut in the end and think when we do catch up on sleep, we still seem to feel tired when we get up.

Rita, what frustration for you also when you are phoning the doctor and having to wait for ages in a queue - not good enough. Yes I do so hope that Gennie gets that bungalow, but if not, we do know she must be near the top of the list, so hopefully won't be long before she can move. I honestly cannot see that the doctor will be happy with Maria going to Spain - as far as the virus goes, it might be okay in the part of Spain where she wants to go, but she has still got to travel by train to the airport and then go through the airport here and in Spain and transport from the airport and back again from where her house is and they are the places where you are very vulnerable (and of course on the flights) and then I reckon she would have to isolate again under our rules when she arrived back here, but she has this idea in her head, so we will see. Talking about the hedgehogs, last year they were out really late in December and one the other evening decided that he would perch right in the middle of the tray where some of the bird food is - I know he was after the mealy worms which really aren't good for them and I have to buy the dried cat food for them. You talking about where I remember to get the photos from, well I knew I had used that one of the propellor in that group on Facebook that I belong to, so I just put that in their search section and up it came and as far as the ones I have put on here today, I just put "Youngs' Shires" in Google search images and up they came, but you can laugh at this - the one I pinched off of Facebook this morning and then added the words to, I actually forgot where I put that one - whether it was in my "Good morning" gifs, or "Good Morning Ladies" or even in the "Autumn/Winter" files and that was only within 15 minutes of creating it - see, short term memory loss . It is so hard to destroy some of the plants ready for the winter, but the roses have been cut back time and time again and are still blooming and my alstromerias are in flower again and the clematis. I had planned to cut back the honeysuckle, but that is all out again and I know I will have to destroy some of the begonias in the baskets - hate having to do it, but it is so necessary, because we all know how suddenly the weather can turn. See you managed to walk to see your friend who had been in hospital after breaking her arm and that was a nasty affect the anaesthetic had on her and of course, it can take quite a time to work through the body, but glad to read she is home and recovering. What a nuisance buying those cards in town when you had the visit to Sainsburys yesterday and then finding you hadn't brought them home with you, so another trip to town for you, but at least if it is today then you will have the good weather to be out it.

Well ladies I really must get out in that garden for a couple of hours and hope you all have a peaceful evening.

Fri Sep 18, 2020 6:52 pm

Pauline loved your photos of the shires and the Shetland pony Such a nice giff you found too.Yes do hope Gennie gets her bungalow.Maybe really not a good time for Maria to travel the way this virus is playing up. See you are busy as ever in the garden but as we know never ending. Good you found a bag for Gennie she will be pleased
Jean good you got through to the Doctor for David but pity they could not have done it that day.Do hope your washing machine works Good you found a phone for David to use.
Rita that was good you managed to see your friend who had the bad fall.It will have given her a fright and can make her loose her confidence so hope not.Yes you got that right as I just noticed yesterday leaves starting to fall and still apples are too....grrrrr I have given away stones of them and more in the garden bin Shame you lost your cards so annoying when that happens
Sent my cheque off for TV license.Daughter picked me up at 10.30 am and we went to HB which was unusual at that time but it was like a summers day.got my shopping then daughter took them home for me also got a nice white Hydrangea shrub for £7 there.We then went to that nice hotel we go to for a lunch and sat outside in the gardens for a couple of hours.After that we went to shopping mall and separated for an hour. I got a few items in sale at M&S then we met up and daughter drove me home so really enjoyed a nice day

Sat Sep 19, 2020 1:10 pm

Just made it while it is still morning.

This morning Rachel, Stephen and Ralph called in for a while, but Stephen got a call from one of the neighbouring warehouse people next to his, to tell him that the cardboard (which should have been collected this week and was missed) is blowing around everywhere, as cover got dislodged in the wind, so that had to be dealt with urgently as the small group of warehouses are on a privately owned fishery and that is kept so nice and he doesn't want any of that ending up in the lake. They had to leave and drop off Ralph for his lesson (off road driving for underage teens) and then get back to deal with the problem. Luckily Ralph's dad was picking him up from that to go back to his house for the weekend, so they didn't have to get back and pick him up and could concentrate on the cardboard clearance.

Yesterday made a good clearance in the dining room end after closing down one of the picnic tables and this morning early vacuumed around downstairs quickly and that is all looking better - gives me more room to lay out, measure and cut the carpet for the bathroom and make more mess , but not going to do that yet and will concentrate on the garden. I also managed to cut back the buddleia yesterday and chopped the branches into small pieces and they are in a black sack at the moment and today will go outside and chop back the one that is looming over my side fence and seeing as that one on the council bank is the one all the seeds came from that sprout up in my garden, then all of the cuttings can go around the base of that one - council can have it all back. Anyway it does fill up bare spaces in that corner and gives the hedgehogs somewhere to hide when it all dries down. Talking about hedgehogs, I see that the slug pellets are now going to be banned and I must say I have tried not to use them for a long while because of the hedgehogs and birds, as if they eat any of the slugs and snails that have been poisoned then it poisons them too. I did read that the ash left from burnt branches and twigs is good for putting around the base of plants that they attack (and they do love the delphiniums), so know where my wood ash is going now. Take a lot more time being environmentally friendly, but something we all have to consider seriously these days.

Dian, see you are still clearing the apples and now the leaves too have started to fall - my tidy lawn has quite a few over it this morning - so more back bending work for us to do outside. I still think that is so wrong now charging pensioners for the t v licence and see you sent your cheque off to them. I was reading the other day that a lot of people are refusing to do this and it is going to cost the BBC more to take them to court - wondering what the outcome of it all will be. Nice day weatherwise for you yesterday when your daughter picked you up to do your shopping and you both went off to HB and you couldn't resist buying another plant I see . After getting the shopping home you both went off to that nice hotel for lunch and sat out in the gardens for a couple of hours, followed by a trip to the shoping mall and you went into M & S and did well with the bargains in their sale and then home after that with your daughter, so a busy and pleasant day for both of you.

Jean, hope you have managed a bit more of the clearance and getting things into their right places, without exhausting yourself.

Rita, hope you managed to get the cards yesterday with another trip into town.

Have a good Saturday all of you and fingers crossed that the sun is shining your way, the same as it is here today.

P.S I have been trying to get this post on here since 11 this morning, but the site seemed to be playing up and it is only now at 13.10 that I have managed to post it on here.

Sat Sep 19, 2020 1:28 pm

Pauline good someone phoned Stephen so he could collect the cardboard before it caused any damage.See still at the garden but as we know never ending.Good you got more housework up to date.Wish I could get there I have never used any poisoning to kill slugs or anything as so many cats ect. I just have to live with them and try getting plants they do not like.I have a large Hosta in a tub and try everything to protect it but the little horrors still win.
Jean do hope your having a good weekend and starting to win with the clear up
Rita trusting you will be having a nice day too with no problems
Well it has turned out a nice day so will hang out small washing and do a bit more in garden.I got an e.mail on my phone saying someone had added name to my bank account Phoned daughter and she said it would be a scam to ignore it.Phoned bank this morning and they checked and said it was a scam and all was fine.....grrrrrr Enjoy your weekend all

Sat Sep 19, 2020 4:16 pm

Dian even if it is scam it still makes you think about ringing the back. luckily nothing had been done or added. See you had a lovely time and tea with your
daughter
Use the washing machine today, did not seem too bad, but doing the towels tomorrow. ......never thought of running it like you said Pauline thank you.
yesterday I nearly stood on a hedgehog which had parked itself outside the front door. never had one there before. it has gone off now so is ok.
as for the stuff, well the pile is getting down and hopefully another two or three days will do it, and then I have to vacumn and dust the place.
still have not found the cushions....
the computer man should have returned the laptop yesterday but phoned to say he had a problem and would come this afternoon..;;still waiting
Rita you will get through to that docs in the end. am having flu jab at chemist

Sat Sep 19, 2020 7:20 pm

Hi, I've not been out today it's very windy and I do not need anything. Yesterday I popped into town. . Number of bus passengers almost back to normal, people still need to get to whatever shops are left, so many closed now. I bought birthday cards and a packet of Xmas cards. Not sending any this year just need a few for neighbour's who all drop cards in. So I will not be going in much near Xmas time. As I cannot get through to the Doctors I went to Boots eye dept and waited there outside barrier until someone came and explained my problem re eye inflammation and they gave me name of eye drops so then I went to another counter to get the eye drops. Then bus home.
I put my carpet sweeper on every day and the strong vacuum cleaner twice a week and always empty every time. I thought today that I think it is taking fibre off the top of the carpet as in only three days and being carpet swept in between there seems to be a lof fluff, - only me here, not treading in any dirt, it's just a sprinkling if dust then the rest fluff. Haven't had the carpet for long.
Oh heck it's nearly dark and I've got washing on line, better get it in

Sat Sep 19, 2020 8:44 pm

When you mentioned the big horses I recall the huge Brewery horses pulling carts piled high with barrels. I also recall when the Co -op used horses to pull all their carts, green grocery, bakers, hardware, including a tap which filled folks bottles with parrafin. The fish man also came with a pony and cart with fish fresh from the sea, and always cats nearby. !
Jean, did you try using a washing machine cleaning powder, can get them at the pound shop, 2 applications in the Packet for a £1
Just put one in a hot wash on its own, I use one now and again. If there is a blockage it might clear it. Such a nuisance for you when you already have much to do.. I hope David is feeling a bit better and that they can tell you what is wrong when you go to the hopital and not have to wait for results of tests.

Dian, I see you bought another plant, have you somewhere sheltered for your pot plants in wintertime? I am just going to leave the few that I have now, let nature look after them.

Pauline, yes, Stephen would make haste to catch the boxes/card blowing about. It's cheering for you when they can call in to see you.
How is Margaret coping these quiet days when she has previously been so busy and caring for her daughter. The days can be very long.
Do you have any plants you need to cover from frost?. Did you get new neighbour's . You mention cutting back the Buddlea bush, so I should cut mine back too. The new neighbour's will be putting up a fence so I will cut Buddlea back as its too close to their side. I wonder if they will be finshed by Xmas, still seems a lot to do there.

I had chat on line last night to daughter in Canada , she said there had been some Covid cases in their area. Their weather had changed quickly and were getting frost at nights, she was going in the garden to bring in tomatoes corgettes .

Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:49 am

Yesterday stuck outside my fence on that council bank trying to get the shrubs and trees under control - fighting with a huge wild prickly rambling rose that blocked me from getting at the buddleia and having cut that back to a reasonable size I then started clearing all of the large cut down branches from the buddleia from earlier in the year (when the fence was erected) and then was able to start cutting back the growth since the Spring and again it was enormous. I still have to go out there again this morning to finish that lot off and cut down the branches that have been removed, so that can go as ground cover for the winter. I took my small sack out of the one I had cut down from the garden, but that is nothing compared to what I have to deal with from the one outside and I will put some photos on tomorow of what has had to be dealt with again......... growl....... I just want to be able to get on with the work in my garden, but time being taken up at the moment by having to deal with unattended council work that looms over my fence.

Dian, that is the trouble with the slugs and snails, they still seem to win, but am going to try using that wood ash around the plants they love and see if that works. As the weather was good your way I see you got out some washing and then carried on with the gardening. What a nuisance those scams are, but expect you were satisfied when the bank confirmed that it was a scam and no other name had been added to your bank account. Okay a lot of us don't fall for them, but they are so time wasting.

Jean, glad to read the washing machine wasn't so bad yesterday and see that Rita has suggested a product that she has bought from Poundland and uses. All worth trying and hope the blockage (which it appears to be) can be dealt with that way. Glad you and the hedgehog escaped from any damage. I can remember once dashing out at dusk to get some washing in as rain had started and collided with a hedgehog and sent it flying like a football - luckily it seemed to survive okay and eventually uncurled itself and toddled off. Glad to read the pile of stuff is going down, but you still haven't found the cushions and hope you got the laptop returned yesterday.

Rita, two lovely posts from you. That product you mentioned for the washing machines sounds good and there are lots of things in Pounland that seem to work well like that Astonish range I buy. I have found that their foam spray carpet spot remover is good too. Years ago I was told that if you have a full wool carpet then it is best not to vacuum it for about the first three weeks, but just brush up anything from it, because it is best to let the fluff work into the pile, but that was only for full wool. These days there is such a mixture of fibres used for carpets and it is now recommended that you do vacuum them to get the fluff out and loose bits of fibre and as you say your one is fairly new, then perhaps it is the fluff and fibre coming up that should be removed. See you went into town yesterday and got the cards you needed and the buses seemed to be carrying more pasengers, also took the advice of the Boots pharmicist and bought the eyedrops that were recommended, but it is so bad that you have that long wait to get through to the doctors on the phone - is the surgery near enough for you to visit and explain the problem? We certainly do (at our ages) have some lovely mmories of what transport used to be like when horses were used. Our coal was delivered with horse drawn carts too when I was young and the horses always had their nose bags on to feed from when they wanted. Well I hope Stephen and Rachel managed to collect up all of the cardboard before it landed in the water and they certainly didn't get the easy day they had planned. I do have fushcias and a few other plants that need protection from the frost, so want to get that outside work finished, so I can see to them and get out the plant felt to cover them with. I know how you feel about letting nature take its course with your garden - beginning to feel like that now since nature outside my fence has decided to build a forest that I have got to deal with . Yes I did get new neighbours - Romanians who think that everyone needs entertaining with their music, when they have an afternoon bbq, but cannot really complain because it doesn't go on too late in the day - not like the unsociable lot that were here a couple of years ago and the noisy, drunken fights they used to have in the garden and they would burn anything for their bbqs - vinyl, plastics, painted and varnished wood and loads of stuff that gave off poisonous fumes. Anyway I hope you get good neighbours and see you are going to cut back your buddleia so it doesn't go over to their side. I will phone Margaret next week to see how she is, because last week she was going to be away with friends in Cornwall and coping with the death of Amanda during a time when she can't be as busy or occupied as she would be normally, makes it even worse when you have time on your hands - unfortunately it has been the same for a lot of people this year with the deaths coming from the virus, when so many have been stuck at home and not in their normal working patterns. See you spoke with Leigh and in Canada there have been more cases of the virus in their area and now they are getting frosts at night - the thought of frosts is going to make me get a move on in the garden after posting this.

Away I must go (going to make a coffee first though) and hope you all enjoy a pleasant Sunday.

Sun Sep 20, 2020 12:00 pm

Just saying hello as looked in iPad . Dian you mentioned TV licence I pay by direct debit and they certsinly don't waste time taking it.. I woukd like to have a walk round in the fresh breezy air but do not want to be out in case my son comes here. My garden is nothing like it was last year, but all I can do is keep it tidy now, I will tRy to cut the. Bud.lea back a bit today, but have to be careful, no sense in risking falling.
Time for a cuppa.

Sun Sep 20, 2020 3:26 pm

The laptop is back but I prefer the desktop as it goes quicker have just lost part of the post and again
the post has gon. Thanks for that tip Rita will look in pound shop when next in town
maybe it is playing up
Barry has seen Jill at last and she seems fine
the washing machine seems fine today lovely sunny here with lots of wind though
hope this goes

Sun Sep 20, 2020 5:15 pm

.Pauline busy as ever in the garden and see you are working out the back fence where the council neglect it. That is good your new neighbours are no bother as it makes such a difference. You will be tired after you finish the garden work. Sad for Margaret will take her awhile to grieve.
Jean so pleased machine sounds healthier today and see you are winning with the clearance but will be really nice when all finished
Rita great that you got into town on the bus. Yes need to be careful in garden and not risk a fall
Well a touch of Autumn in the air today I was going to do wonders then fell asleep for an hour grrrr. Now going to switch sofas around after cleaning the leather and give a good vacuum when they are out. Also will cook some apples. Enjoy the weekend ladies

Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:46 am

Hi Everyone, Yesterday spent another few hours outside the fence clearing and cutting back and then it got too hot to continue outside, so came in and did some cutting back and tidying in my own garden and cleared out the bbq wood ash and started storing that to use around the plants in the hope it will keep the slugs and snails away. I have still got to go outside this morning and hopefully finish that lot - got to dig up a sappling that has taken root, because one stupid neighbour (who has the last leylandii in his garden which looms over my front garden) has now allowed a tree to take root where some of the leylandi had been cut back - it is one of those with leaves like a Rowan (but isn't one of them) and it is so invasive and sprouts everywhere and noticed one sprouting right by the fence behind the large hardy fushcia, so that has got to be dug up and also will dig up that nastry prickly wild rambler while I am out there. This is what I have had to cope with:-

The first photo shows the fences appearing after a load of cutting back done, with a pile of the cuttings in front of the buddleia and the second one shows another pile of cuttings waiting to be cut down to smaller sections. The third photo shows how it grows over my new fencing and that was after cutting away a lot of it (and that lot is now down). Fourth photo shows some of the branches still to be sawn up for burning and those are some of the smaller ones (a lot of the larger ones are already in the bags). Fifth photo shows a large bag with a small one on top of it, which hold a lot of the larger branches already sawn up for burning and now there is a third large bag full and still more to do.

What annoys me is that the former owner of the house with the green fence was the one who had all of those leylandii and after so much pressure him and the next house to that had the leylandii chopped down and the one nearest to my house which touched my roof, also got cut down, but he left that second one back that you can see in the third photo down and that is now looming towards my guttering. The people that are there now have done nothing to the end part of their back garden and allowed that other nuisance tree to take root. If it wasn't for the action I have to take each year in cutting back all of that foliage, they wouldn't have that green fence standing, because a lot of the branches have weakened a lot of the planks, so you can understand how I growl about it all. On the section of that green fence that comes down the side at the end of my front garden, I always have loads of ivy to contend with that comes over from their side and I did try and train that over an arch, but have decided this year that it is going from my side and any little bit that rears it head through that fence and over it, is going to be lopped off. I have one of the variagated green and white privets in the front that has grown well and that is going to be trained over that arch instead and there is still a lot to do in the front garden, but that is going to have to wait until I have done a lot to my back garden (seeing as the forecast threatens colder temperatures by the end of the week).

Rita, hope you have managed to deal with your buddleia, but not doing anything risky and as you say, you don't want to risk falling. Wondering if Peter did call in as you would have liked to go for a walk, but didn't want to miss him calling. Worth getting as many walks in at the moment, because it is such lovely weather and it is sunny here again today.

Jean see you have the laptop back, but still prefer the desk computer - me too, because when I had the laptop some years ago I still had a mouse plugged in - cannot stand working with the finger pads - and still did most of the work on the desktop one. That was good news from Barry that at last he had managed to see Jill and she seemed okay and also that the washig machine seemed to go well for you.

Dian, see you had planned to do so much yesterday, but fell asleep for a while, which meant you must have needed that sleep and work will always be there. Anyway you got the leather of the sofas dealt with and intended to switch them around and give a good vacuum and hope you cooked the apples. Despite losing the hour when you slept you still managed to get a lot done. Yes definitely a hint of Autumn in the air and leaves falling here, plus this morning we had a heavy dew.

At last my chrysanth (that started life as a small potted one 3 years ago) has buds on it, which seem late forming this year, despite continual work of nipping out side shoots. The other two that started life this year as small potted plants are growing well and the one I bought first this year and cut back after the early blooms, also seems to be forming buds. They are so hardy and the colder Autumn weather suits them.

Must away now ladies and get outside and hope you all have a good start to the week.