No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

[Deleted User]

Hi SM glad you've got this lovely weather too, georgeous isn't it? The advice with rhubarb is NOT to touch it in the first year, no matter how luxuriant the growth as it needs an undisturbed year to 'set' root properly. We're well and truly into the harvest down here particularly from the polytunnel where things are growing as you watch them! The climbing french beans are particularly prolific and I'm having to freeze them to keep up with the amount. Peas, lettuce, new potatoes, beetroot, spinach, brokali, cavalo nero, and even harvested the first ripe tomatoes from the greenhouse yesterday. Our old apple tree is also laden and the soft fruit looks to have masses, so different from last year eh? Cheers Lyn xxx.

flowertotmum

Hello all..sorry i have been mia..just so busy that i haven't had the time or even energy to get my laptop out in the evenings..i have just lolled on the sofa...
MLW..wow your polytunnel is paying off..green beans yum..i love them so much ..our apple tree is also laden..my pear tree has 6 pears on it..so you can half that when it drops them..so 3 this year..my little fruit trees are doing well..my raspberry bush is producing at a fantastic rate..i have Fern on watch and she picks washes and then pops in the freezer for me..Iris just eats them bless her..the toma are going great but not ready yet..i can't wait til they are..i love toms..our new potatoes are very nice too..we didn't get many but what we did get were delicious...
I have found a new recipe for choclate cobbler..o my its so lovely and it disappeared totally..poor simon didn't get any..will post recipe later..o and your forgiven by the girls for the duckling and cherry remark lol..in fact they asked what duck tastes like..so i did some duck rolls..they liked them...so in a way thank you for making them wonder what duck tastes like...
SM..am so sorry to hear about your friend..it must be devastating..my sympathy goes to you all...you sound so busy..and yur garden sounds like mine..i spend most of my evening watering and deadheading flowers..doing a bit of weeding in the evening when its cooler..
Katie..how are you..the girls are in love with the ducklings..i bet they are bigger now..is your job going well...
Well we ahve been uber busy with this and that..had some bad news..Sam won't be going back to college..the tutor has quit so the college has decided not to continue the course...he is now looking for a job..his dad will not let him go to the job centre..and we are supporting him for now..bless him he was totally devastated about the course..we had the money and all the paperwork ready..still he is doing ok...
I have been busy doing bits and bobs..i took the time to go through my papers and shred them..sorted out new insurances..saved some money there not much but enough..done some batch baking..almost fainted in the kitchen and had to sit down quick..it was so hot..
I got the pool out last week and the girls have been in it a lot..i am refilling it today..got a bit murky...we have been working outside most days..
I have some good news for you all....this week we will have a new family member...we are going to get our new little friend..a puppy...we thought long and hard about it and kept looking..and we finally settled on a yorkiepoo..a small little black fluffy chap with a tiny white patch on his tummy..he is gorgeous...and will be my new little friend..he cannot replace patch at all...and he is so far the opposite of him we cannot even compare them...but i so miss having a mate..sounds daft..but i love having a mate who will listen and not answer back lol...so as soon as we get him to his forever home i will post pics...
got to go its lunchtime and we are starving..we went to the moon today and saved the moon cheese..plus we had to have new space helmets made...so the world is safe thanks to the only 2 little girl astronauts in the world..you can all sleep easy tonight...
love you all
ftm

scottishminnie

Hi FTM, good to have you back. I know exactly what you mean about being to tired to log on. Sometimes I go straight from watering the plants to bed with no online time, tv viewing or newspaper reading in between! Our weather seems to have broken today, it's overcast and cool which is a bit of a shock after all the good weather.
Looking forward to the chocolate cobbler recipe, that sounds delicious and the news about the puppy is great. It's really comforting to have another family member to talk to - especially when they don't talk back!
That's really disappointing news about Sam. I do hope he finds something which he will enjoy soon.

Surprisingly the pumpkin seeds appear to have sprouted something already which is much faster than I expected. I'll keep watering them and wait to see how fast they grow.

I've taken note of your advice on the rhubarb MrsLW so no matter how tempting it is I'll leave it alone. The leaves are so big they almost look like some kind of prehistoric plant. I just keep thinking that I will have a bumper crop next year.

I'm chief laundry maid at the moment. My mum's washing machine needs a part so I've been taking her washing on a daily basis. She has arthritis so finds sewing difficult so I've also being making repairs before I return the dry and clean clothes which she is delighted about. I simply can't leave little tears and loose buttons so it's certainly keeping me busy.

I swear my lunchbreaks get shorter by the day - back to the grindstone now. Chat to you all soon.

katep23

Hello ladies! Glad to hear all gardens are bearing fruit (and veggies!) We've had 2 cherries this year (oh my gosh, so sweet!), have lots of apples on 2 patio trees and have just started harvesting tomatoes. I need to get more salad on the go as we are both having it for lunch every day so it saves us a fortune. Oh and courgettes are just about to start glutting (if that's a word!)

Job is going well, busy which I enjoy.

Our double glazing is being installed - they started yesterday and plan to be finished tomorrow. I almost can't wait for winter!

Big news is I am learning to ride a motorbike! I have wanted to for years but always been too nervous in case I made an idiot of myself and I thought it was something you needed to do when you are young. My friend (who is 50) is learning to ride and it's really inspired me so I've got a 125 which I'm practising on on the farm (private roads) and I will take my CBT in a couple of weeks.

The bike came in boxes as it had been dismantled so we didn't know if it even ran but thanks to my lovely and talented OH who was able to re-mantle it I now have a running bike for half the market value!

Ducklings are lovely but nearly fully grown now. They stick together in a flock and run straight out of the house each morning to get to the pond - and if the big ducks are in there they push them out!

FTM, great news about the puppy but sorry to hear Sam's course didn't work out. He seems to have his head screwed on right though.

[Deleted User]

Woohoo KATE that sounds exciting and lots of fun too. We had many friends in our youth who were bikers and lots of lovely memories. Being on the back of a big bike running down through the weald of kent in high summer and smelling the ripening fruit is one of my cherished memories, too ancient for it now though, you enjoy it girlie, go, go go!!!

I'm off to DD1 for a couple of weeks from tomorrow some concerts and some kitten sitting while she has a few days away so I'll hopefully be reading (if I can persuade her whizzy laptop to talk to me!) even if I'm not able to post. Look after yourselves all of you and I'll post again when I'm back in August, Cheers Lyn xxx.

scottishminnie

Glad everyone is doing well, hope you are enjoying time at DD's MrsLM.

I don't have much to report - busy, busy at work and even busier at home:) Lots of gardening - think the strawberries are finished however we are enjoying the potatoes which are delicious and the celery must be close to harvesting soon.

I bought a new laptop mid way through June but I have had so many problems with it I'm ready to take it back for a refund. It was from Costco so I think they will refund ok. The performance is just shocking and I'm at my wits end. I suspect it may be the Windows 8 which is the problem. I just need to remove some photos which I uploaded then I can take it back.

I'm thinking I may just live with my little netbook and I could get an ipad in place of the laptop. I'm not very tech savvy though so I may need to investigate a bit more before getting the ipad.

Good luck with your motorcycling Kate - my experience is restricted to the farm quad bike which I can't seem to get into reverse so I have to do huge circles with to turn - no danger of me being loose on a proper motorbike!

Love the thought of the ducklings heading for the pond each morning -that really made me smile!

[Deleted User]

Morning SM thanks I am having a lovely stay with DD1 after a whole week of wonderful concerts in the cathedral here and she is off for a few days on the continent shortly so I get some time with Mr Pushkin kitten which will be fun. Glad your garden is starting to produce well, the news has just said that this year will be the bumper harvest of our lifetime for cereals and fruit, even predicting a huge amount of cherries picked but I don't suppose that prices will come down in the shops do you? Sad for you over the laptop giving you problems especially after all the debacle with your broadband supply, hope you can sort it out painlessly!

Hope everyone else is having a lovely summer and that you have all really enjoyed the lovely warm weather we have been having, look after yourselves, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Molly41

scottishminnie wrote: »

I bought a new laptop mid way through June but I have had so many problems with it I'm ready to take it back for a refund. It was from Costco so I think they will refund ok. The performance is just shocking and I'm at my wits end. I suspect it may be the Windows 8 which is the problem. I just need to remove some photos which I uploaded then I can take it back.

I'm thinking I may just live with my little netbook and I could get an ipad in place of the laptop. I'm not very tech savvy though so I may need to investigate a bit more before getting the ipad.

We have bought many expensive bits from C0stc0 and they have always refunded without a quibble. I think their customer service is excellent!

katep23

Hello all, hope you are well.

SM - I ditto Molly, Costco have always been fab when I have had to return stuff.

Been busy here - OH and I are in the midst of a massive sort out. We decked out our store room in second hand dexion (sp?) racking and then everything got chucked on it, plus with my bike in the garage it was getting so "cosy" in there I couldn't get to my chest freezer so we decided it needed sorting.

Loaded up the Frontera and trailer with stuff for the tip and the metal recycling today and OH took it there - we got £42 for the metal from the scrap place so that paid for a takeaway tonight very nortie on a school night but we don't do it often.

We have reached courgette gluttiness and I am busy playing with my new toy - a dehydrator from the parents in law for my birthday. So far only done courgettes but have a feeling it will get a lot of use.

Asked on freecycle for apples as the ducks love them and we can take the bruised ones other people don't want and have been inundated with offers so hopefully we might get some good ones as well that I can stew and freeze for the winter.

Picked up some half price seeds including some for winter cropping / early spring lettuce so I'm hoping they will be good. The cost of salad is so expensive and we both have it every day for lunch (although come winter we won't want it as often I'm sure!)

FTM, how's the puppy?

MrsLW, bet you are looking forward to getting home!

scottishminnie

Kate - I wish your ducks were closer by. I have lots of apples and many fall from the trees before they are very big. I guess the ducks wouldn't care about size though!

I returned the laptop and the lovely lady at Costco just laughed when I said Windows 8 and I were not compatible. They refunded no problem and I'll buy an ipad when I'm in the States next month as they are much cheaper there and the Apple warranty is worldwide.

My old steam mop died earlier in the week however I don't know if I will replace it -I found it just pushed the dust to the edges of the room and kitchen units etc so I may revert to hands and knees position and some good old elbow grease. I've yet to find a floor cleaning fluid that doesn't streak though which drives me crazy. I hate streaky tiles in my bathrooms:mad:

Scrap metal is really high in price at the moment. A friend called hubby recently and asked if he would take some old central heating radiators to the tip. Hubby collected them and took them to the scrappies instead. He then returned to said friend with the cash. He was delighted as he didn't expect anything so they split the spoils between them. It's nice when something like that happens and everyone gains.

My blackcurrants are coming along nicely so hopefully I'll have enough for jam. I made 2 lots of apricot jam at the weekend. Cheated and made it in the breadmaker but it saves a lot of mess. I need to find the cheapest source of powdered pectin though as it's quite pricy buying packs of sachets from the supermarkets.

Off to bed now - I'm heading south tomorrow so an early start. Never mind, keeps me out of mischief:)