Chitchat thread #24

[mothhawk]

Afternoon all.

Everywhere looks refreshed by the downpour on Tuesday, first proper rain since March! The accompanying strong winds blew over a pot of begonias, but fortunately none of the stems snapped, just some petals lost. Not enough wet to close up the big crack in the lawn though.

A part in my breadmaker gave up the ghost last week so I made bread by hand for the first time in many years (kneading gives me pains in my wrists now). I resented having to put the oven on to bake it, even though it was delicious bread. The breadmaker costs much less fuel-wise. A new part is on its way. It's the mounting shaft, the bit that the mixing blade sits on, so easy to replace. The machine is nearly 13 years old, and had a great deal of use, so it's done well.

I collected some hollyhock seeds yesterday, and I'll check for sweet pea seeds before I pull out the poor plants that succombed to the drought.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Another dry start to the day.
Not the woodpecker to wake up to this morning but our female hen doing her funny crow.
Funnily enough I could also hear the geese in the nearby hamlet - it depends on the wind direction, but I love the sound of geese. They always bring a smile to my face. We had geese for several years andI loved letting them out in the morning. They’d run up the field close together flapping their wings as if to take off, then turn around and run all the way back ready for their breakfast.
And now I hear the church bells ringing. I do love living here.

Not sure what today will bring. We have routine medical checkups this morning but nothing planned as such after that. OH is suggesting we go out in the camper for the day on Sunday so I’ll probably have a look on the map for somewhere quiet, preferably next to water….no doubt the ‘long list of urgent jobs which should already have been done by now’. will come out…

Enjoy your day peeps what ever mischief you get up to!

[bramble]

Good morning all.

Geese Nicos, I dont have happy memories of them.
When me and my sister were children my mother used visit an old lady.
She kept geese and the minute we went to her gate the geese would start to attack us.
The old lady would have to rescue us as they would try to peck us

Anyway, nothing exciting happening here today,
Just doing a little bit of everything.
Have a good day all,

[Nicos]

Ooohhhh…10 minutes of light rain!..yip yip .
Looks like there may be more to come * crosses fingers and toes….

Ah - bramble ….. we only had them as youngsters from 6 weeks to 8 months and mostly only females, so they didn’t have much of a chance to get nasty. But I know what you mean…we were advised not to keep them older than that for that very reason.
I hear that once they mature they are wonderful guard dogs and 3 or more are capable of seeing off a fox
What with the chooks and geese we hardly had anything to put on the compost heap! That’s the way to a goose’s heart …much more interesting than chasing humans!

Anyone fancy a brew? I’ll get that kettle on. Not sure if there are any ginger biccies left, I’m sure some of the smiles were guiltily wiping crumbs from their lips as they set off

I have a casserole gently simmering away and it’s making me feel really hungry!

[greenishfing]

I'm another who's a bit scared of geese. The grandmother of one of my school friends had them as burglar deterrents and they certainly deterred us children.

Mr GF was not well this morning, so much so I even rang the surgery for a home visit and they called round by 10.30. He seems much better now I'm glad to say and I've picked his prescription up.

I'm hoping he's feeling okay on Sunday as we've been invited out for afternoon tea.

We were forecast rain for this afternoon but now it's disappeared .

[Nicos]

Sorry to hear Mr GF isn’t well…speedy recovery xx

I think we have your rain…it started about an hour ago…..steady gentle rain , so if it keeps coming there is a chance it might soak in.
A most welcome event!

Just about to make another brew!…I do seem drink quite a lot

[bramble]

Good evening all.
Hope Mr G is feeling better now.

Ginger biscuits, my favourite.

We had a few showers this afternoon but nothing major.
Have a good night.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Tis a sunny start to the day here , but the small amount of rain we’ve had has made an amazing difference to our dead looking ‘lawns’ It never ceases to amaze me how far grass can desiccate yet still bounce back! Yeh, it looks sad still , but it’s a good start.

Mrs Mop day for me , then hopefully a bit of gardening!
Thanks for the reminders re hollyhock seeds - I checked yesterday and there are quite a few ready for taking.

What’s everyone up to this weekend?

I’ll get that kettle back on….toast anyone?

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

No toast here thanks Nicos I had a bacon and mushroom bread cob earlier

A bit of a mix today shopping, gardening, house stuff, and hopefully a walk. At some point I'll be roasting a couple of trays of toms.

Enjoy your day.

[bramble]

Good morning all.
No toast for me, just had my Saturday treat of bacon, egg, mushroom and tomato.

Off to the farmers market shortly with daughter in law and grandson.

Have a good day all.

[lottie dolly]

HI all from my holybobs,had a good sleep,the jurney down was very slow,road works,this is my first time in other accomadation,as only ever had our own,am just chilling out for now,back has been a swine again,i have been busy this last week with one thing and another and cake making to bring with us,i did feel a bit watery eyed a couple of times,as was thinking MR should be with us,am ok ,just a moment off ness,as for rain we had a bitthe other day at home,the sun is out here in breen,but a comfey heat thank goodness,well Snoop will be on the way back now,hope she had a good time,glad MR GF is feeling better,so enjoy your day everyone

[Snoop Puss]

Afternoon all.

Have just been reading back and glad the smiles took up residence at Nicos's while I was gone.

Glad to be back home. But poor Mr Snoop is feeling guilty for something that isn't his fault. All my plants are bone dry, pretty much. Some hanging on but barely. He says he was watering them as per instructions, but it must have been very windy as well as hot, so they would have needed more water. A failure of imagination on my part and a lack of experience on his. The compost heap has grown a fair bit this morning... Anyway, no point being Mrs Miserable forever. I'll start a thread on watering tomatoes after the plants have got really dry. All advice gratefully received if you've got time to take a look.

Less said about the trip, the better. Clearing your parents' home is never a good thing to have to do and lots of disasters while I was doing it. Thank goodness for the neighbours is all I can say.

Off shopping this afternoon as friends are arriving from Holland on Monday. I'd better buck my ideas up between now and then, that's for sure.

Have a nice afternoon, everyone.

Edited: hope you have a lovely holiday, LD.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Good to see you back safely Snoop. It must have been a difficult time for you in the UK - sorry x
Not helped by returning to your poor veggie plots We’ve followed all the hard work you’ve both put in over the last few months. As you say - a learning curve. You have my sympathy with that too. Fingers crossed you still get a reasonable crop from what’s left of the overall crops.
It really sounds like having guests will give you a bit of a much needed uplift.
The smiles all set off South to welcome you home and cheer you up- maybe they’ll stay with you today.

Lottie!…great to hear from you.
Every ‘first’ is going to remind you of your lovely hubby. But he’s with you in your memories and I have no doubt you’ll hear his favourite comments in certain situations. He’s still part of all your family - as are you. Enjoy your precious moments with them all and remember that you are now creating wonderful memories with your family! You are very precious to them.
I can imagine you must be a giggle to be with - enjoy your holiblobs and get up to some mischief

As for me…we blocked both gites this weekend. We needed a break. In the last 8 days this household managed 33 full washer loads My poor septic tank…Mostly bedding and towels from multiple changeovers . So much for conserving water
So, I have the options of ironing or sitting and reading in the garden, gardening, or going out for the day in the camper.
I’ll let OH decide that one.

Last night the temperatures dropped to 10C and it feels very Autumnal this morning.
Fortunately we have 10 cubic metres of wood being delivered in the next couple of weeks- and a whole sheep ‘prepared’ for the freezer. Along with my preserved fruit and frozen veggies I actually feel I’m almost ready for Winter.( Seems strange saying that mid August though doesn’t it? )That brings a big reassuring smile to my face…just need to get the boiler serviced and the chimneys swept and we’re sorted.

Whatever you get up to today…enjoy yourselves

Now- where’s that kettle…..

[mothhawk]

Morning all.

Welcome home, Snoop. Sorry about your plants. Summer is always a treacherous time to leave the garden, either lack of rain kills the plants or torrential storms batter them to pieces.

Hope your holiday eases the aches and pains, Lottie

Right, kettle's on again, and I shall be rattling about in the kitchen to get you lay-a-beds up!

[mothhawk]

Oops, didn't see you there in the kitchen Nicos