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longer off topic comments - Episode 50 Life Outside Ambridge
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Life outside Ambridge
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Life in Ambridge
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Will get the hang of this yet....!
ReplyDeleteDoing well Gary, and a very pretty picture.
ReplyDeleteI hope those going through difficult times soon find themselves in calmer waters.
✔️🙏🏼 I agree KP
DeleteWell done Gary and thank you, again.
ReplyDeleteThanks to zoetrope and KPnuts.
Good thoughts help each and all.
Think you’re doing great Gary.
ReplyDeleteWaouh ! (or wow..)
ReplyDelete🤗 fantastic pic GG ⭐️
Delete⭐️ Great pic GG!
ReplyDeleteWhat happened there first one did not show, did a second post and “and then there were two” 🙄
DeleteGG - You have a hidden talent! 🤗 Just love the photo.
ReplyDeleteI have been intrigued with the peregrine falcons, in Springwatch, both Norwich + Salisbury - along with the Stork + Osprey nests.
Out of things this week, but have read the posts, or most. A belated response to those who've suffered the loss of close ones recently or more distantly, but haven't been able to attend the funerals. It's sad enough without that shared time of appreciation, grief & loving remembrance. Still, I do have a conviction that people attend their own funerals in some form of consciousness, &, if I'm right, then they'd also be aware of other signs, other churches, where they are being focused on by friends & family. Energy travels, free from the material form.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carolyn for your kind and wise words.
DeleteIt most certainly does, Carolyn.
DeleteThanks, Gary, for keeping both flags flying, in this case of the spectacular bird, quite literally !
ReplyDeleteI wish to share a small glimmer of sunshine in this wet weather.
ReplyDeleteMy cat mithered to go out last evening, but each time I opened the side door, seeing the rain he baulked and withdrew.
On about the sixth occasion of this annoying behaviour I noticed something on the path that looked like a leaf. But some instinct told me it was worth watching for a few seconds. It moved. And the cat saw it at the same time as me, but I got there first.
A small toad ! I picked it up, stroked its head, and put it back at a higher level to help it get back into the plants.
I have history with toads. Many decades ago, when I had a large garden with a nearby river I had toads everywhere and they would frequently come into the house. And hop about. I love them and have looked forward to finding some here.
This was my reward.
I am very happy with simple needs.
love toads.
DeleteLove that story, Mrs P. Frustrated Phss, but rescued toad ( at least for the time being)
DeleteWe rarely get toads but plenty of frogs at certain times of the year, & cats are just awful to them. Before he went blind, Percy & Katya ( very much still a hunter) were surrounding a poor frog, crying in an eerily human manner, covering his head. I rescued the little chap then, but....
I have just heard some wonderful news. A niece, who moved to Cheshire last August, but who has still been commutung to London for work, has finally been offered a job, here "Up North". I do not yet know exactly what it is. If all goes to plan, she will be a director, based in Stockport, which I think has to be with Manchester City Council or similar. I am so pleased + proud. 9
ReplyDeleteWonderful so pleased for you 😀 Miriam (and your niece)!
ReplyDeleteAt last some warm sunshine today, but lawns soggy.
ReplyDeleteBig Sis has arrived in OZ, to help them all out.
Another lovely new bush petunia planted today, a maroon + yellow striped variety, S'burys for £2. Good value + different (well for me).
So pleased for niece, her partner + the 2 children. Still early days yet, but her new job (it's Salford City Council as compared to South Croyden Ciouncil), will mean she lives in their family home, will see the kids + sleeps in her own bed, every night. It's a new start.
DeleteOops - meant Stockport City Council - not Salford. 😣
DeleteYounger Sis, who lives in north Norfolk, has a grey partridge on a nest with 10 eggs, in her small orchard. The female has appeared, wet, bedraggled + thin, after the rain, but it is wait + see if the eggs will hatch. Who needs Springwatch?
ReplyDeleteI don't, esp. after watching a magpie go into the escallonia in my front garden, to strip a blackbirds nest of the eggs/chicks. Not nice to watch but it is nature.
Gorgeous photo Gary!
ReplyDeleteI’ve not been reading the ‘general’ blog for a few weeks now, so I’m afraid I’ve not kept up with everyone’s news. My apologies are therefore due for not commenting on anyone’s significant events. It is not that I didn’t care, just that I didn’t know I’m afraid. I will try to look in more often.
A small item of news from me : I had been complaining, via WhatsApp, to my son about our awful weather, the constant rain and the need to put the central heating on in June.
He replied just now and sent me a copy of a Government warning sent to all Dubai residents today.
It warns that the temp. will rise to 47 - 50C over the next few days. People must not fill their car fuel tanks until the evenings and only fill the tank half full of fuel, take anything in an aerosol can or bottles of fizzy drink out of the car, stay indoors between 10am - 3pm, make sure any gas canisters are out of the sun, and not use electricity for air conditioning except in family homes. The children’s school will be closed until temperatures drop.
I was delighted to see that the final item on the list was asking people to ensure bowls of water were put out on windowsills, balconies and gardens etc “ so as to irrigate the thirst of birds, cats and other fauna” !
How nice that they think of birds and animals in these trying conditions.
I don’t think I am ever going to moan about British weather again!
Me too! I can cope with the rain, winds + cool temperatures, but I would not be able to be to survive, in your son's situation.
DeleteEvery-time I see + hear a "beluga" plane fly over me, off to Broughton, I dash out - but no "super beluga" has been seen yet. It has come + landed just once, but the fly path was different on that day. I so want to see it.
PS I have not put the CH on again, though thought about it. Instead June has seen me, with - tights/socks/slippers/long-sleeved blouse/ jumper + a cardi on, to keep warm.
DeleteMiriam - I think there are only two super Belugas built at the moment, though more are in the pipeline. A couple of weeks ago Airbus celebrated their 50 years with a fly past in Toulouse. The super Beluga, painted up to look like the whale, was in the fleet and looked superb. Wish I could have been there in person to see it’. Corrin would have loved to be there too instead of frazzling in Dubai!
DeleteYou are letting us northerners down,Miriam.
DeleteNortherners are not nesh
Summer has to start on 1st May and finishes on 1st November .
During that period winter clothes including tights and jeans are vacuum bagged up and put away.
Makes life much easier when one doesn’t have as much choice as to what to wear.
Archerphile ,when you mentioned Dubai in the summer a while ago I misread what you had written and thought that you were going there in July!
I have been twice and both times it was during our winter and it was much too hot for me then.
I am so pleased that your family are coming to visit you rather than the other way round.
Life has been getting back to normal after our trip to Edinburgh for my youngest daughter's wedding followed by a family week in a lovely rented house. It was so nice to be together as it doesn't happen often with everyone so spread out. The daughter who had the baby in February came to stay with us for a few days before going back to Singapore so we had some quality time with our newest grandchild which was lovely. Now I need some good weather to get on top of the garden again!
ReplyDeleteJust catching up after another trip up north where I have lovely new windows (back again for the summer in three weeks to paint and work on the garden).
ReplyDeleteThanks Gary for keeping the ship afloat and good luck Ruthy with your kitchen and work. Hope there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Wishes to those with weddings, funerals, births etc on their minds. I found out in January about an old friend who died last year and I was surprised how it was hard to deal with, having long since lost touch. I wrote it out of my system and lit candles in church; although he didn’t believe I hoped he would appreciate it.
As many of us were saying last week Seasider, the best you could do !
DeleteMy garden, despite the rain, is still looking really good (apart from the beaten down poppies), with the bonus of no nightly watering.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile, I am so glad you have mastered WattsApp. I remember when your son went to Dubai + you had your new smart phone, how mystified you felt.
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonderful way to keep in touch, with family around The World.
I love, every morning, catching up with the latest news from OZ.
I was woken up at 4.30am, this morn, with neighbours shouting, loads of banging of doors and general noise. They left, along with car doors slamming, 30 mins later + then drove off.
ReplyDelete🤞🤞 they have gone "on holiday" meaning I will have some peace + quiet for a short time, but don't know.
PS It took a while to get back to sleep, but was OK as listened to R4ex...
A months hols would be great Miriam, but having been in your situation some years back appreciate that any respite from such abominable behaviour will be bliss 🤗 enjoy!
DeleteWonderful news this evening from my daughter.
ReplyDeleteShe has six working days left.
At last her amazing work ethic has paid off and enables her to leave work behind and realise the dream she has worked for since the age of twenty.
And she has done it without ever relying on anyone other than herself and has never climbed over another's back to get what she wanted.
I am so proud of her.
What lovely news Mrs P.
DeleteThat is fantastic ! What an achievement.
DeleteChampagne called for ?
I so admire her.
DeleteI did similar, buying houses/cars in my early years, all on my own .
I also, left my working life early, as soon as I could.
I have never looked back (though have money hiccups, now + again)!
But the life balance is great.
Only 15 months now, until I will get my SSP, The countdown is starting. 😀
DeleteI will be 65 in September, but all my ideas are now on hold.
DeleteThis is until I know when my 2nd catarct op. will be and then the necessary opticians appointment, 8 weeks later to sort vision out, if needed.
I wouldn’t have expected any less of your daughter ,Mrs P wiith a mother like you,
ReplyDeleteGood for her.
Your daughter is a very precious rarity nowadays, Mrs P not clambering over others to get where she wants to be. Talking to my daughter there are many who are promoted beyond their ability as they are so ambitious and in the field of education put themselves before the interests of the pupils. The ones who really care are sidelined. It really is a bad situation and not just in her school. Very best wishes to your daughter and well done her! You must be so proud!
ReplyDeleteAm back from Italy and had a grand time. Miriam, really recommend the water I’ll. After two visits it is like going home for me and have already booked for next year! When your cataract op is over look at it and book as early as you can as spaces are limited to the number of rooms. On the domestic side, the central kitchen is well equipped for making tea, coffee etc with biscuits and snacks aplenty! The meals taken in the lovely dining area around a huge table are very good. The rooms are individual and mine this year overlooked the fast flowing river. I don’t know about the Italian courses but art wise we were taken out en plain air most days to villages, to the local market and a peaceful convent with lovely grounds. With only about a dozen people on the course you get to know everyone and before dinner there are aperitifs on the terrace and afterwards coffee and digestif(drinks like amaretto or limoncello) in the sitting room which is like a gathering of friends every night! It really is ideal if you are on your own with a flight time of less than two hours, being met and returned to Pisa airport. You have to book your flights separately but I fly EasyJet from Gatwick staying in the Premier Inn on the night before. I feel I have learnt a lot about painting and fully intend to set more time aside for it despite domesticity and dogs! Go for it, Miriam! All the best for the op!
I recommend the Watermill!!
DeleteLovely news Mrs P. 🥂
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful place Ev, to "se ressourcer".
Thanks Ev. It sounds just perfect for me, so I will be researching tomorrow. I can fly from either Manchester or Liverpool, both only a 30-40 min taxi drive away, and just a 2 1/2 flight. I am getting very thoughtful 😀 - so much so, I am cooking a lasagne tonight. As I hate cheese, I make a bechamel sauce with basil + extra garlic in. I even have an authentic amaretto for afters. I find limoncello too sickly sweet but do I do like a Vin Santo (firewater),to be taken with care! That is experience talking.
ReplyDeleteThey would cater for your cheese hatred and always ask for special requirements. A pity though as Lois’ cheese soufflés are to die for! I bought some vino santo in the local village with biscotti to dip into it!
ReplyDeleteSounds my type of place. Thanks for the wonderful reply - very appreciated + the fact you have booked again, says it all. 😆
DeleteI looked at the Italian language course, at The Mill, for 2020.
ReplyDeleteThe date is August 22-29. I can see 2 problems:-
a) will it be too hot?
b) return flight would coincide with August BH Saturday, so would flight costs reflect this?
I, obviously need to do some research - but t am still interested.
I have emailed Lois re the temperature at that time of year, will let you know and I suggest you look at airline prices for this year comparing bank holiday weekend with a normal weekend. I think if you book as far in advance as possible you can get a better deal.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Ev. 🤗
DeleteLois says it can be warm but not as warm as June/July because the days are shorter. It wasn’t unbearably hot when I was there and I enjoyed the sunshine! Roomwise, she said if you opted for the Brunelleschi or Donatello bedroom you will definitely have aircon. They are currently working towards aircon for all rooms. The windows are shuttered so stay quite cool.
DeleteWonderful feedback + very appreceiated. I also researched flights + prices but nothing past May 2020. The equivalent this year - best return price is £259 return + extra for baggage.
DeleteThen there is taxi fares, kennel fees for
my lovely "puss cat". I reckon this will put an extra cost of £450.
I am still very interested and will put a "note of interest" in, to The Mill, via e-mail.
I thank you so much, for your info. and replies. It is these little extras, which make a massive difference. 😀🤗
PS My calculator is "red hot" esp. as my new front door (which is on order), will be installed + so will have to be paid for, very shortly.
DeleteAlso, after my 2nd cataract op, (no date yet), there will be the expense of new prescription reading glasses, prescription sunglasses and whatever else required for long term use, for my new overall vision. This is all still unknown, what with outcome + costs.
Losts to think about.
A lovely warm day today with no rain. I have managed to dry the bedding outside. What a difference...now just need to iron it!!
ReplyDeleteNew garden plants are looking good, starting to flower and growing fast.
It’s been raining here today but we had a sunny day yesterday so got the bulk of the holiday washing done! We have had the first pick of broad beans. The geraniums are flowering.
ReplyDeleteYes, Miriam, when you add up all the costs of anything it does mount up! Good luck though and at the moment the main thing is getting your sight sorted out!
The dogs weren’t keen on their walk today as they don’t like rain but when we ventured out it was just the odd spot or two. I took raincoats just in case but it held off until shortly before collecting Gypsy’s buggy which I leave with a friend at the halfway mark. Gypsy settled down in it and Buddy rode in the “luggage rack” underneath. It is all waterproof!
I pushed them up the hill without getting too wet! Before the buggy Gypsy would get tired of walking and I virtually had to drag her home which is wearying so the buggy is as much for me as for her!
May I apologise to others, as to the recent "chats" I have had with Ev. We have taken up a lot of blog space - but it has been so helpful to me.
ReplyDeleteI now know that I have a lot to think about, in a very positive way.
This is what I love about this "Ruthy's Blog", that like-minded people can share thoughts + ideas, on so many different topics - be it The Archers or something very different.
I love that so many of us can correspond and thoughts can sometimes help each other out. 😀😆
I enjoy reading all posts Miriam always interesting to get an insight into blogger “friends” lives sharing concerns / joys etc so no apologies needed.
ReplyDeleteLots
of rain here in Hampshire today - no storm though as yet 🤞
Just started raining again. Luckily no thunderstorms are forecast + expected.
DeleteWish others well.🌩⚡
I add my apologies to Miriam’s. I was worried we’d put others off by our dialogue! Lovely to share things though!
ReplyDeleteNot a problem Ev.
DeleteWe all share.
Miriam & Ev - don't give it another thought! No apologies required in the slightest as far as I am concerned.
ReplyDeleteAs to gardening, after a complete standing start our back garden is starting to look like a "proper" garden at last. From having nothing but 3 large trees, concrete slabs and about 2 tonnes of bark to suppress all growth completely, we now have flowers galore and wildlife everywhere! It used to be the most depressing space imaginable when we moved in 4 years ago but after a lot of hard work (and quite a bit of expenditure!) we are on the verge of having the garden of our dreams. Couldn't be happier.
And now, as I understand it (being new to this gardening lark), I never have to do another thing - it will remain looking fantastic and won't require another penny spent on it for the rest of my life...😊
Gary, you’re inspiring me. I’m just reading about the gardens in Kent open for the National Garden Scheme - do they do that up your way?
DeleteI have arranged a date to put up a fence at the top of my garden where it drops steeply into the neighbour’s. (Old quarry). They(the fencing people not the neighbours) are going to clear the brambles in the autumn but I would love to keep it wildlife friendly without letting it grow completely rampant as it is now. Any advice from bloggers welcome.🤗
I'm a great fan of the NGS Seasider.
DeleteVisited London gardens almost every weekend in the summer before moving.
I have some wonderful gardens in my memory.
Now it's village gardens here in Gloucestershire.
I prefer the smaller domestic gardens rather than the great houses, but have been inspired recently by two Manor Houses in nearby villages, one with a pleasing mix of formal enclosed areas near to the house, opening to great sweeps of managed meadow.
Do you have enough room to have some meadow with perhaps wild flowers to encourage the wildlife ?
Seasider, my garden is quite large so I have a wild area around the lawn, I have planted the obvious daffodils and narcissi in addition to s few bluebell. I have camassia and some lovely alliums, I am also trying to build up on wild lupins, well mine arent wild but boring blue that I don't want in my garden, which are the colour of wild, I want to add some oxeye daisy,
Delete(my seeds didn't germinate this year ) and some cow parsley, it should be quite colourful then. The grass does need cutting though at the end of the flowering season and possibly again before winter. Good luck
Have just returned after a few days in Halifax. The Piece Hall (1779) is magnificent thought I was in an Italian Piazza. Visited Anne Lister'so house set in a wonderful landscape.
ReplyDeletePtbY I can understand your pride.
I had a short break to Halifax with a friend a few years ago.
DeleteI wanted to visit the Piece Hall, as you say Stasia, magnificent.
Friend wanted to go to Shibden Hall, I did not go, but watching Gentlemen Jack now, with glee I must say, I wish I had.
I love Yorkshire.
Congratulations on your fantastic garden GG, if you are anything like me, you will want to improve it year by year, I am always moving things around and buying new flower colours etc. Like you I have built up my garden over the last 3 years. At the moment I am clearing my wooded area, that the farmer who was here 20 years ago used it as a tip. I shall be planting a rose hedge in the autumn now that I have had a fence put up to keep out the marauding sheep and in the meantime I am planting 3, 25 kg tubs of assorted bulbs that someone has given me who has just dug them up, so hope to be surprised in the spring.
ReplyDeleteOoh we were typing at the same time. Sounds wonderful, Cowgirl. I will have to pick your brains at the next Yorkshire meet up.😊
DeleteI am envious of the gardens described.
DeleteMine is an overgrown mass at the moment. But very colourful and pretty.
I completed my little retaining wall, with help in the end, but my hands are now completely broken and very painful, so can't even use secateurs to cut stuff back.
It's not an option to pay for help, too many other financial priorities.
If and when this rainy season comes to an end I will have many bags of ' green ' stuff to take to the tip.
Gary, Up until last year we spent most days when we were not going out somewhere,sorting out the garden so that when we got old!! we wouldn’t need to do too much work
ReplyDeleteIn the main .plan A has worked.
It has only taken 19 years.
We have time now to spend debudding roses,clearing the fish pond of waterlilies,,taking cuttings,sowing seeds ,sitting watching the birds or just enjoying the view.
Scatter seeds,take cuttings,buy plants that are in “sick bay” at your local Garden Centre.
(I bought six Lavender bushes for £4 this morning)
They look fine to me.
I know you have spent a lot of time putting small plants into the garden earlier in the year Gary which will multiply and if you get some perennials like salvias or penstamen and take cuttings ,I really believe you will get so much more pleasure .
(I knocked on the door of a house which had a garden full of penstamens and asked if I could please have some cuttings and the garden is full of them now.)
I don’t know what soil you have but as long as you have a compost bin(add nettles to it or comfrey or well rotted horse manure) you will have soil to be proud of.
Good Luck and may you have as much joy as we have in gardening.
May I add erysimums to my list?
DeleteThey are perennial wallflowers and are magnificent.
Cuttings take easily.
They flower from February to late November usually.
My ordinary wallflowers smell lovely and I collect the seed from them(as well as from foxgloves and hollyhocks) to sow for the following year.
I cannot keep a compost any longer, no room and nowhere for a year or so to spread it once it is made.
DeleteSo yesterday I inveigled a neighbour with a garden and an allotment into taking my (sparse) cat litter and my (copious )amounts of cat and dog hair for his compost.
I have used both these elements in composting in the past as well as shredded newspaper and had wonderful rich compost.
Agree with LJ, nettles and comfrey both also very good to include.
I am a frustated gardener at the moment - but after a lovely warm day (hit 19C) - i am hopeful that by tomorrow things won't be as soggy. Things have certainly grown which need attention. The hedges have been cut, the lawn treated with feed + weed, so ready to go.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I planted loads of perennials, the idea being they appeared every year. This sadly has not happened, as they all have disappeared. I have lost delphniums, lupins, tradescantia, a clematis, gladioli to name a few. I need to start again.
I had a lovely surprise, a few weeks ago, when I spotted something yellow in my front garden - a seeded yellow poppy. It must have come via a bird, as I have seen anything like this is the nearby local vicinity.
How were the storms with you, who live in the south, last night.
ReplyDeleteI saw some wonderful images on-line this morning. All I had was heavy rain for a couple of hours. I was lucky.
Before I go into the kitchen to start cooking (a sausage cass. with onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, red wine + stock, with a tin of mixed pulses), I have to report the sun has come out. Not quite blue skies yet, but very warm, almost like summer . .🌞
ReplyDeletePS Noisy neighbours are away on hols. It's bliss. I hope it's not just a week. 🤞🤞
Delete🙏🏼 for you that it is so Miriam!
DeleteNo Hampshire storm for us, rain on and off again today and pretty black right now...
Ascot 🐴 and Queens really got the rain 🌧 Queens well behind now 🎾
Your dinner - yum!
Further to garden discussion above: I do have room for a wild area. At the moment the top half of the garden, behind some trees, is covered in brambles and nettles. We have cut a path to the very top where cow parsley is out. I need to manage the brambles, which I have put off until the autumn so I can see if anything else comes up over the summer - there were some raspberries in my father’s time. The nettles will certainly make good compost - my father used to stew them which Mum says smelt awful! In a tub in the garden, not in the kitchen, although nettle tea is supposed to be quite healthy 😑
ReplyDeleteI believe there is lots of information to help create a wildlife area Seasider.
DeleteIt's lovely that you have the room to do it.
I thought, earlier, that you were talking about your S. London garden, and I was racking my brain to try to think where there might have been a quarry in your neck of the woods.
Ah, no. Small garden here and no room for wild flowers. The odd toad and a resident sunbathing fox. Next door’s cat has not visited this year, although he peers at me from his garden occasionally.
DeleteMrsP Shildon Hall is beautiful and Miss Lister was a phenomenal woman. Even in our 'modern' society she would be a force to be reckoned with. Architect, mathematician, linguist, physician, business woman and mountaineer. So glad I went.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't look beautiful in the programme Stasia, more a hotchpotch of different architectural styles, but certainly interesting.
DeleteYes I've known about Miss Lister and her history for a long time now, and I am certainly enjoying everything that's been created on screen.
Very entertaining. And yes, she was phenomenal.
I do wish now, that I had gone when I had the opportunity to do so.
I decided that Gentleman Jack wouldn't interest me, even though I rate Suranne Jones. It seems that I was wrong, after reading other comments. I might do a catch up, via i-player, but still not sure.
ReplyDeleteGentleman Jack is the only thing I am watching on TV. It’s brilliant. Have yet to watch the latest episode as Ms S is glued to the football. Will watch tomorrow when he’s out as I have it recorded. Will definitely visit Shibden Hall if /when I visit that end of Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteMr S actually, I have just changed his gender 😁
DeleteCouldn't agree more about making compost, I'd be lost without mine. Mr CC built my current one a good few years ago, it's now disintegrating so he has a new project for the summer! I'm hoping that some warmer weather wiĺ start to bring on my vegetables which aren't doing as well as usual this year, most things are later than usual apart from the brassicas. At least my new bog garden is appreciating the rain!
ReplyDeleteWhen i try to make compost, it attracts rats, often nesting in or near the compost (I use a compost bin). Is there any way to deter them?
DeleteI would be interested to know how you have made your new bog garden CC
DeleteSomething I have always wanted to create.
Do you have a large garden and a natural boggy area ?
Zoetrope- rats !
DeleteIt's a hazard of composts I think.
One isn't supposed to put meat or cooked food into a compost ( bin or open container) although I have sometimes added these elements in the past.
My dad would find a rat near his on his allotment from time to time.
I'm pretty sure I had one in my compost before I stopped using it.
In a house and garden that I visited regularly in London the mice were all over the compost.
Prey for the cats in the area.
Personally I don't know of any deterrent. Although male urine is very good as an activator in a compost and might deter rats I imagine.
I had a pond which was too big for me to maintain so I got someone in to make it smaller. He suggested making the redundant part of the pond into a bog garden retaining the liner with some holes in. It's not a large area but enough for a new habitat.
DeleteThank you CC.
DeleteThis is how I imagine making one, should I ever be in a position to do so.
Unlikely now.
Now curious about Shidhen Hall. Only watched one episode of Gentleman Jack ( deafness - could really only hear the two female leads !) but Suranne Jones is terrific as the dynamic Anne, & the hapless Ann, unfairly dismissed as a drip by journalists, I think.- what would one expect of a young woman of that era, controlled by the middle class family who just want to see their daughters respectably married ? She's in a totally unenviable position, crushed by convention & expectation. Unmarried women were 2nd class citizens then, so often - bullied & used by parents, or escaping into a marriage where they were bullied & worn out by relentless, multiple pregnancies.....some options !
ReplyDeleteSpectacular electrical storm here last night - much rushing round in the small hours unplugging this & that.. Our friends /house-sitters photographed Merry posing proudly next to a large rat last autumn, there's hope for him yet!
ReplyDeleteNettle soup is a nutritious staple in the French country kitchen.
I had planned a day gardening today, but woke up to torrential rain, with very heavy showers all day.
ReplyDelete🤞for tomorrow.
Interesting, over here in east Cheshire it rained first thing then dried up by lunchtime and we had a lovely walk this afternoon in the Quinta arboretum at Swettenham after a delicious lunch in the Swettenham Arms. The lavender field wasn't quite in flower so we have an excuse to go back!
DeleteI know the Swettenham Arms 😀
DeleteI don’t know the present owner of The Quinta but I knew the previous owner.
DeleteHe was a lovely man who sadly died a few years ago in his nineties.
I’ve forgotten the area where you live Miriam 🤔
ReplyDeleteNo rain in my part of Hampshire today, Mr R and I sat outside at a Garden Centre about 10 miles away (just in Surrey) and it became very warm. The flower boxes all around us looked gorgeous and smelt likewise 🤗
Good luck for tomorrow Miriam 🤞
I am West Cbeshire, not that far from Chester City. Cheshire Cheese is East Cheshire, the same county, not that far away but can be very different. This is the same with "Big Sis" who only lives 23 miles away in North Shropshire - she can have snow and I have green grass + sunshine!
DeleteI worked (before I gave up) in N.Wales, only a 20/25 mins. drive but it was a different world. One day, I was nearly snowed in, at my work premises. I managed to get away, driving very carefully. As soon as I crossed over the english/welsh border, it was just rain.
DeleteSo glad those days are now no more.
Hooray !
DeleteI have washed all the dog towels today, and they are bone dry.
Now the chair coverings are out in the sunny evening with a light breeze.
The lady who has agreed to help me with the dog, has been for a cuppa this afternoon. We then walked the dog back to her house and sat in the garden and she took some photographs of Lady.
I do so hope it works out between us.
I settled down to watch an episode of Vera - The Moth Catcher - but after 3 mins it has been turned off. I have read the book, which I enjoyed, but the TV adapatation is not correct. The body found at the beginning, in the book is male, but on the TV, it is female.
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand why things need to be changed for TV episodes.
Fingers crossed for you and Lady Mrs P.
ReplyDeleteI have a blister on my palm, but my many thousands of bulbs have now all been planted, roll on the spring ! As the area was completely covered in Ivy it is quite a transformation.
Goodness me, you got rid of Ivy ! Well done.
DeleteMy garden is a riot of colour but also very green with overgrown and spreading vinca and bindweed. The colour is from the wild flowers.
Thanks for your best wishes CG
Enjoy your garden as it is . wild flowers can be Just as lovely .
DeleteWhilst I have got the ground cleared in large stretches of ivy, (glyphosate and black plastic I'm afraid), it is still growing, it will be an ongoing battle, I have had to use my chainsaw to cut it from the trees as it was choking them, many stems inches in diameter, still some to do along my hedges. Ash die back is only 15 miles away and I have many , so any thing to help them survive is worth the effort, though I guess it will be inevitable, sadly.
Some ash trees are immune to dieback. You might be lucky if your ashes are a different strain from the ones 15 miles away. The woodland trust is contributing to research being done in Europe to try to work out why some are immune. I have a little ash grove, love them, and am hoping it doesn't reach us, although I think it has arrived in Cornwall. Our oldest huge ash has a tree house built when the children were young, the roof has gradually disintegrated but it is still nice sitting up high on the floor platform surrounded by leaves and birds and with good visibility up the field to watch fox cubs playing etc.
DeleteP.s. we have Cornish Elms thriving here that escaped the Dutch elm disease, so I am hoping we are sufficiently isolated to avoid the ash dieback as well.
DeleteHave just got back from the common and Lady watched a dog with a red ball.
ReplyDeleteShe followed, went over when dog and mistress sat on a bench, watched again at close quarters, then took her chance and pinched the ball.
And she wasn't going to give it back !
I had to put her on the lead and gently prise it out from between clenched jaws.
I need to buy her a ball. She has learned at last to PLAY !
You have worked wonders with Lady Mrs P, how lovely to have her play, so much fun to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped that Misty might like to chase balls, but no, only the real thing will do, she endlessly chases the swallows swooping over Emeralds field when we go to see her first thing in the morning, they are safe and she gets so much exercise.
I took her for a walk recently up a very steep hill, I went a bit far for her and coming back she was tired and kept stopping, then a blackbird hopped down, of course she chased, on her lead though, but it too was having fun as it kept hopping along safely out of her reach, teasing her, so we got down quite a bit quicker, I was sorry when it got fed up and went away.
Thanks everyone for the gardening advice! I always knew I would become one of those slightly obsessed people staring into strangers gardens and worrying about seedlings. And it''s even better than I thought it would be.
ReplyDeleteLanjan - I am planting out "your" hollyhocks this morning! Around 20 survived from propagation, potting on & the greenhouse. The poppies haven't flowered yet, but all look healthy and are about a foot high. I assume (blithely of course) that the flowers will come next year.
Gary, you may also enjoy visiting other gardens which gives ideas as to what you can do with yours.
DeleteNot large grand gardens, sometimes very small domestic ones, often inspiring.
You do have an open gardens scheme in Scotland as we have in England.
Three lots in Glasgow this weekend I think.
Be warned Gary the next stage in obsessive gardening is when you find yourself stealing cuttings left right and centre. My mother was one such. All the time she was younger and we visited gardens I could just vanish into the distance and pretend I wasn't with her, but by the time she had reached ninety she needed to be pushed in a wheelchair when out for walks and I couldn't abandon her when she snaffled cuttings from people's garden walls etc. And what's more she could play the sweet little slightly dotty old lady to perfection, and people if they saw her would smile and then give her more!
DeleteI have a friend who spent years living in Finland and according to her it was a tradition that a cutting would only grow if it was stolen. She became my mother's gardener and not surprisingly they got on like a house on fire.
Janice, my Mum was exactly the same! I can't wait for that stage in my gardening life...😏🌱
DeleteMrsP, we do indeed have the gardens open days here - as a matter of fact we went to one on the way back from being in the Cairngorms and bought some irises.
All finished in my garden today, weather has been marvellous over the past week or so. Sunny(ish!) during the day and rain during the night. Off to a concert this afternoon at Glasgow University that's being broadcast live on Radio 3 from 5pm. Then to the pub. Life is good!!
I think your poppies will flower r this year,Gary.
DeleteGood Luck.
Don’t move them though.
They don’t like it.
I might have mentioned this before but I decided where I wanted the poppies and sowed them in disturbed soil in February in those areas.
I have lots in flower all over the garden but not where I sowed them.
Some have come through a pile of shingle.
They look stunning.
They range in colour from very dark maroon to almost white and there is one which is a pink double.
Each poppy head contains thousands of seeds so don’t dig them up until the leaves are dead and the seed head is beige not green and when you give the plant a bit of a shake you can hear them
Re the hollyhocks, The seed was collected from plants in a Churchyard in Stratford Upon Avon so will do well I am sure.
I have been inudated for the past 3 days (on my land-line) with so many "scam" phone calls. Rather than ignoring, I pick up but don't say anything, it then cuts off. Each time, the caller display shows a different but a similar number.
ReplyDeleteMiriam, I have new phones with call blocker.
DeleteMiriam, go ex directory and in time the calls will stop. Have never had them on the island but did in Herefordshire where we were in the directory. You can report the numbers to the preference service or if on a mobile can block them.
ReplyDeleteI am ex-directory and have been so for many years. I cannot seem to block these numbers on my land-line. Perhaps I should upgrade my 'phones to a newer version, with that facility...it's worth thinking about.
DeleteMy 15yr old "puss cat" is in disgrace, yet again. She has brought in a live bird, which escaped, was caught and "puss cat" laid on it. I have managed to rescue it, let it go in garden, to see it fly off (minus a few feathers).
ReplyDeletePS Noisy neighbours have returned home 😥 and I already know their prescence.
Still the quiet was nice, while it lasted!
Have been looking at Age UK info on scam calls. Worth a look. One thing was that you can contact your phone provider to block calls but might have to pay. As you are ex directory maybe your phone number has been shared. We all give it when buying something for instance.
ReplyDeleteMy provider can provide a service. I haven't added this to my package (although it is FOC) as what worries me, is that an important 'phone call could be rejected. eg from my FA, the hosp. re eye appointments, the firm to inform me the date when my new front door is to be installed, my GP surgery with a telephone call back etc.
DeleteI daren't risk this type of 'phone call being blocked + not being received.
Well, enquire but I think you can block the particular numbers or report the calls maybe to Ofcom. What a pain it is! Good luck
DeleteYou can block by type, ie all International, all withheld, all unavailable, or by specific number, which is what I have. Press the 'call block' sign, the call goes straight to answerphone and the number is added to the 'blacklist'. TPS takes care of the rest.
DeleteSo it’s Friday, my favourite day of the week. Gardeners world followed by celeb gogglebox. Bliss.
ReplyDeleteHad 6 hours in garden working yesterday. Had a couple this aft lounging on my swing seat with dog on one end, me the other watching the birds at the feeders. Lovely.
You have to take time to enjoy your garden not just work in it.
Wouldn’t mind kidnapping Adam frost off gardeners world. A middle aged woman’s crush!!!!!
mmm!!
DeleteWell said ptby and agree wholeheartedly with your amusing comments 🤗
ReplyDeleteMiriam,have you got a telephone which shows the telephone number of the person calling and have you got an answerphone?
ReplyDeleteIf I don’t recognise a number I let it go to answerphone and if I am in and it is someone I don’t mind speaking to I do so.
Nine times out of ten if I let the call go to answerphone,the caller hangs up.
I have BT call blocker 1572 it's a free service and you have to have answered the call, but then you ' dial ' ( we can't any longer, can we ) 1572 and the number that called you is repeated And then blocked, and no more calls from that number.
DeleteHowever these ' scammers' have several number that they can call you from and are always one step ahead technically speaking.
Took Lady to the canal this evening, the river runs beside it.
ReplyDeletePreviously she has refused to drink even at the shallow edge but today she did drink then later looked as though she was tempted to jump into the canal.
So I took her to another shallow edge of river and this time she drank and put front paws in. Ten minutes later at another spot I threw a small stick and in she went with a few doggy paddles. Not far, and she was out again, but I'm pretty sure she will repeat on the next visit.
So pleased, along with several encounters with other dogs today and with most, just friendly sniffing, no barking.
Wow Lady! well done, you are almost there
ReplyDeleteI was watching the programme about the North Yorkshire Railway when you were watching Monty, Ptb Y
ReplyDeleteI bet Monty’s jobs for the weekend were not
1) Tidy greenhouse
2) Make at least two units from one large wooden one (from a skip) to be put into greenhouse
3) Sort out all plastic pots into sizes and put neatly on shelf under large outdoor work bench.
‘
Should have added
ReplyDelete4) Try to mend the bird feeder (just bought) which has been broken by one of our two resident squirrels .
It has a two year guarantee but not against squirrel damage.
I wonder how they would know that it was they who have damaged it?
5) which has to become (1)
ReplyDeleteRequest from Mr LJ
Try to tie up the large lavender bush which is encroaching the lawn.
Busy weekend then LJ
DeleteOr perhaps you will get all five done in half the day.
Only (2) and (5) completed so far ,Mrs P.
DeleteAfternoon at leisure now.
Only work mornings.
Our bird box has bees in it but they don’t bother us and will pollinate the flowers! Apples are developing on the small apple tree and we should have plenty of pears. Chutney making in the autumn then!
ReplyDeleteAt last, a sunny + hot day. Garden progressing nicely, but still lots to do, much more than I realised!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen many butterflies yet, but there are loads of bees + birds, plus snails (but no slugs).
Busy day in the garden also. Found a frog skeleton in the pond, my biology teacher daughter was very excited and asked if she could have it. This afternoon's task was getting it out of the pond as intact as possible and putting it into a container to take when we next visit. Sadly no tadpoles to be seen for some time but a lot of very well fed newts around!
ReplyDeleteBig Sis had the same problem with her pond. There was loads of frogspawn, until a newt took up residence.
DeleteThe kids, 5 + 7, loved the real nature lesson and learnt a lot.
Oh I do hope you managed to keep the skeleton intact CC.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your daughters excitement.
Newts well fed on tadpoles I suppose.
No gardening, though might manage some in an hour or so, but have managed three lots of washing including a duvet, which is almost dry now.
Walked the dog in the Churchyard and had a long conversation with a knitting Group friend, another with two local teenage boys about our history trail around the Churchyard ( this is a very nice place to live, I haven't met a youngster yet in five years who isn't polite and willing to talk with an old lady ) and combed the dog.
A lovely day because although hot, not too hot for me,so have felt comfortable instead of ill.
Age doesn't matter when chatting + meeting with others. It's how we are and is lovely. 😀
DeletePS The two boys (ages 6+8) who live next door but one, love having a chat with me, telling me about their dogs and school.
DeleteThe skeleton came out almost intact and have got all the bits.
DeleteHow sad am I at the moment, BBC4 TOTP from the 60's - even if it is in B+W.
ReplyDeleteHow times have changed.
Ev - chutney, hurrah!
ReplyDeleteA close friend celebrated a 'big' birthday today : the sound of the Angelus accompanied us out at midi & back this evening, a great feast! She never knowingly under-caters...
Feasts in France, that brings back a lot of happy memories
DeleteHad a lovely day, also no rain, just sunny with a pleasant breeze. We went to a fete with a couple of friends near an old railway line, which happens to be one end of my favourite walk, organized by a guy who has given much time to recreating a part of the old track, & looking after the road between trees & fields either side. Delicious cakes & coffee - you just give a donation - a few stalls & raffles, supporting various causes, everyone very good humoured & enjoying themselves.
ReplyDeleteI thought of bloggers twice : there were lots of handsome dogs, but 2 barked quite crossly at each other..' Lady wouldn't do that these days', popped into my mind !
Also, 2 bagpipers, in kilts & all, so naturally thought of Gary ( who will probably wince/sigh at this touch of national stereotyping) & was impelled to break into my version of what scittish dancing might be ( gosh, glad you weren't actually there, Gary !). Later, a local band played jazz, so of course, I had to make an exhibition of myself again - happily, the female friend joined in. Got an interesting thriller + 2 hedgehog toys from a stall about protecting the the prickly ones ( for children of a sort of niece).
Then we all headed back to ours for a snack lunch, & a bit if chicken + cat admiration. Lovely.
'scottish' of course, though the dancing was a bit skittish...
Delete'Chicken admiration' - we didn't eat them !!
DeleteTen minutes before you wrote those words Carolyn, Lady sneaked through the barrier twixt our two doors and neighbour was holding back her dog Raven. Both dogs very close, but neither barking and both tails wagging. So I came in to get treats for both and after accepting, Lady lunged and attacked.
ReplyDeleteNeighbour and self both left with hearts beating fast.
Two steps forward........ etc
Spoke too soon !! You're right, of course, Mrs P., ' 2 steps forward'... same with humsns, must be a law of nature 😉
DeleteWe took the dogs for breakfast and a walk on the beach. Buddy ate something in the car park and then was sick twice. Making a rapid recovery, on the walk we remarked how well behaved he was at the moment being now 15 months old. He then went racing after two very boisterous dogs, wouldn’t come back and with Katy in hot pursuit Gypsy and I pretended we weren’t with him! Then this afternoon on second walk he went into the creek and got muddy paws then ran amok in a lady’s garden nearby. Mercifully she was used to dogs (and children) behaving badly! So, Mrs P you’re not alone in taking 2 steps back! Is it a full moon at the moment? That sometimes sends dogs bonkers! My two sisters in law are coming down for a few days this week and one of them is not into animals so hope he behaves!
DeleteGood luck with the visitors Ev, we will all hope for you that both of them behave.
DeleteThanks Mrs P. Gypsy will behave. Everyone loves her but they don’t know what a madam she can be! Shih Tzus are lovely companion dogs but they are on the other hand very stubborn and plough their own furrow! Buddy will probably be angelic tomorrow as often happens after one of his defiant days but will it last into next week?
DeleteI have enrolled for an online course on watercolours and had the file today to work through. I have a tutor and will have to send assignments by post or online. I am telling you all this as I am somewhat lazy and can find it difficult to apply myself so will need a lot of encouragement from my friends! Push from the back please! I can take up to two years although the average is one year. It’s with the London College of Art and if completed will get a diploma. The cost of £360 is reasonable in view of the file I received and the time and attention of the tutor. I hope next year in Italy I will show much improvement!
Ev, lots of luck with the course - I hope you enjoy it. I am impressed.
DeleteI love studying and tend to enrol on all sorts of short courses so spread myself too thinly to master any one subject.
Incidentally it was a full moon a couple of nights ago - I took a picture as it was so beautiful rising from behind the trees.
Well done Ev for enrolling on that course.
DeleteI have never wanted to paint, but I have always wanted to draw.
Specifically to draw buildings.
Wherever I go I select buildings that I would like to draw.
But I never do.
I must make a comment on the spider subject on the other thread.
I was fascinated by spiders as a child, then had an experience of a jumping spider on my arm when in a church service, and I couldn't shake the spider off.
I became averse to spiders until in my twenties, when being in a room with a very large one which I trapped under an empty jam jar, which put me in control. And that experience cured me of my fear.
I then the became the person that rescues others from their fear of these harmless creatures, including my next door family in London, when I was frequently called in to deal with one.
And ..... there has been an Alligator lying on the verge opposite my house for the last month. It went on holiday for Father's Day but was returned the following week. Last seen on top of the van, apparently on its way to Glastonbury !
This is typical of Stroud.
Well done BBC for putting the tennis onto BBC2.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is why the channel for BBC4 is not used in these circumstances, when at this time of day, there are no scheduled programmes.
I want to watch Andy Murray, but to do so, I think I will need use my internet TV "box". This is seldom used (except at Wimbledon) but luckily I had it FOC, and this cannot be changed.
I just need to recall how to use it, no easy task.
DeleteA few years ago we had a brilliant holiday in Nepal. It started with a tent. ( with en suite !) and the first night we heard a scream followed by much laughing. They had discovered a brute of a spider dangling in the bathroom. They attributed it to a practical joke from one of the holidaymakers who had a great sense of humour. That is until it moved! The mahmouts were rapidly called but they were scared of it too. They managed to extricate it! They joked with us too saying the tiger had been prowling around the tents. There was even a footprint but it transpired they had a replica foot on the end of a stick! It was a very memorable holiday!
ReplyDeleteSounds brilliant. I had a 7-day stay in a "bungalow" (just a large bedroom/lounge + bathroom) in the Kruger N. Park in SA. I noticed a strange footprint outside by my patio. I took a 'photo of it + showed it to a ranger - who said it was nothing. On the final day, as I was leaving, he admitted it was a lion
Deletecubs print. No wonder we were all always escorted back to our abodes , early, from the main lodge after eating our evening meal - by rangers with their guns!
Quick extra. I am so enjoying the tennis - thanks to BBC2.
ReplyDeleteI am, in the lull before the storm, I think! I already have had some heavy showers, but it has cleared a bit, but it is hot, humid, with no wind + no birds - dark clouds are appearing, and storms forecast for overnight.
My new front door is supposedly being installed at 10.00am tomorrow morn 🤞🤞
Quick extra - quite a while later.
ReplyDeleteNew door has now been installed and is far better than anticipated. It is very similar to the previous one, in a style I like, and suits my home (sounds strange but wanted it to fit in, yet enhance the house). Perfect weather, overcast, very warm, with no wind or rain. It was a quick job, only one fitter (who was lovely) and just 2.5hrs start to finish..
I now have a brass coloured door knocker.
I've always wanted to be knocked up!!!
PS no storm. My scaredy "puss cat" hid in the airing cupboard, whilst work being done. She has re-appeared and is fine. That's her, she is my cat, who loves me, but is scared of any-one else. She was a rescue cat, but only about 9 months old, when I got her 14+ years later she is still the same. It doesn't worry me at all.
DeleteOops - to explain my knocked up comment, I sadly could not have children..but's that's past history.
DeleteKnocked up and a lovely fitter who did a quick job?! Me oh my! Couldn't resist.
DeleteYet another incident with a new born calf this evening.
ReplyDeleteI am running out of places to walk Lady.
Oh for a suburban park !
I made sure that we were no where near any of the herds and the nearest herd was at least five to six hundred yards away. And we were on the golf course, lady happily sniffing in and out of the small areas of stunted trees and undergrowth and suddenly she came across a cow who I suppose had taken herself away from the rest of the herd and given birth. She was down in a dip and so I could not see her.
The dog went mad barking and rushing towards her and leaping out of my way every time I tried to grab her. The cow moved aggressively towards her this time and she darted away, but went back, every time.
I did get her eventually and had to drag her away, the rest of the walk back she was on the lead.
Back to the woods I think. Safe.
I find it very hard to be angry with her as I understand that it's a natural instinct, but it's dangerous to her, and very dangerous to the mum and baby.
What's more, because of the fear and danger, I don't get more than a glimpse of the newborn and I would love to see one more clearly.
MrsP, I was cycling through Glen Fruin on the west coast today and there were dozens of young calves trotting up to see me - don't think they get many visitors! Still lots of lambs down that way too.
ReplyDeleteBut more importantly, I cleverly managed to avoid all that monsoon rain...
And the mums let them trot up to you ?
DeleteLucky you.
We see them too of course, but when they are still wet from birth, it's very special.
CowGirl will have seen plenty of course.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnd have removed this one too...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gary.
ReplyDeleteAnd dangerous to you to Mrs P, cows can be very unpredictable , as would any new Mum when danger threatens, so please be careful.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more magical than the sight of a new born calf struggling to get on its feet and then attempt to latch on to the teats. Mums have a very special voice for there new borns too, so many memories and some tragic ones too. I had one cow who had a very rare condition in cattle who lost her calf and was desperately ill after. Cows generally want to be on their own when ill, but she was grieving for her calf and when I was cleaning her out I left the gate open and she attempted to get to the rest of the herd, I managed to get her back to her quarters wobbling on her legs. Thinking she might have wanted to see her last calf I put them together during the day and indoing so I am convinced she saved her life.Like us cows grieve, though not for so long. The vet had not expected her to live.
Oh don't worry CowGirl, they were all behind fences! I never approach any of the animals I see on my travels but if they show an interest in me I will let them investigate for a bit from a distance. I have a very healthy fear of being attacked by 750kg of cow...🐄
DeleteWe once stayed on a farm and a cow was bellowing. It turned out she had had a male calf which because of our antipathy to veal had been killed on birth. Not sure whether that applies nowadays. There was a lot of cruelty in the rest of Europe where they like their veal to be white and crated the animals but we Brits don’t mind ours being pink so they could have some life. Presumably like lambs they would have a good few months. Like many others I am an animal lover and don’t like to think of them being killed but as I said before, we are omnivores. The main thing for me is that they are treated well. I try to stick to British meat as we seem to have much better standards than most.
Delete