No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

[Deleted User]

Morning everyone, I had such a lovely time with DD1 and the concert on Saturday was superb, they did a range of pieces of which the Parry 'I was Glad' was incredible. We went shopping on Sunday and had a nice day including Tapas for lunch, and on Saturday DD2 came up to visit so we all had an enjoyable day. DH has just gone off to plant butternut squashes on the lottie and I am off to do some ironing. We are currently dry but very overcast and the rain is predicted to arrive midday. Hope all is well with you and yours Cheers Lyn x.

[Deleted User]

mardatha wrote: »

Kittie, they're saying on the weather forum that somebody is talking about the worst weather in Europe is to be in the UK this winter coming. Have you heard anything about that?

no Mardatha I don`t know, I`ll be glad to be based at home during june though. It all seems to be about where the jetstream is based at the time and there are mad swings going on, ie instability. Even piers won`t know yet. I have booked a short uk holiday early winter but am going to be fully prepared for the worst. It`ll be a nice change of scenery anyway and no travel worries as we will be on a `luxury`coach trip, door to door

scottishminnie

Evening all. I've been missing a bit as my father has been in hospital so things have been a bit chaotic. Feeding calves at 5am before cleaning myself up and getting into a suit and heels for paid work isn't fun but I better get used to it as I think this will be life for the next few months at least.
Unfortunately I didn't see any of the jubilee celebrations so I hope you all enjoyed them - I'll raise a glass to HM at the weekend when I hope things will have settled down a bit.

I had a major bargain yesterday in Asda - packs of baby avocados which had whoopsied stickers - 10p for a pack of 4. I bought 2 - I adore avocados. That was my only bargain on a whistle stop trip but it really pleased me.

I'm off tonight to bake some fruit loaves and hob nobs. Mum has a steady stream of visitors to the farm enquiring about dad and she feels obliged to give them all tea and cakes however we are running low on the cake supplies so I need to fill a few tins before tomorrow. I'm off south on Thursday and won't have time to do any baking on Thursday night as I'm not home till after 10 so I must make enough tonight to last thro Friday.

No chance of me being idle for the meantime anyway:)

[Deleted User]

SM - hope your Dad is on the mend, sorry to hear you have problems. Hope your mum is OK but she has you to support her so that must be a blessing. If you have to be up and feeding calves etc at silly o clock I think it must be better for you that it is light at that time of day, would be horrid in the winter. Lucky you with the reduced avocados they are a favourite of ours too. We have developed a strong liking for butternut squash and sweet potatoes as well and DH has started to enjoy parsnips too - it's only taken 37 years! Who says you can't re-educate men? Cheers Lyn x.

[Deleted User]

sm, I hope dad is getting better quickly. That must be the downside to farming, I hope the neighbours are helping out

In the public domain, a taster of `flaming??` june
http://www.weatheraction.com/docs/WANews12No26.pdf

I have got fed up of scrabbling on hands and knees for my strawberries, which are getting sodden anyway on the allotment. I`ve decided to hand the plants over to dd if she wants them in autumn and I am going over to autumn raspberries, that I can pick standing up. I`ve got some good strawberry systems at home now and they don`t take up much space. Table top is one with 10 plants growing in each grobag, you can use anything for a tabletop and watering is fine with water spikes. I`ve also re-arranged my planters into two tall towers with a long cane down the centre, spiked into the space between decking boards. A couple more small canes at the top and they are wind proof and the strawberries and fruits look absolutely great. There are 39 strawberry plants in two towers and marigolds in the bottom planters. They are the terracotta clover shaped ones. In fact they are brilliant like this

Massive and heavy rain just before and already blight warnings

scottishminnie

Thanks guys. Every day is an improvement for dad, long may it continue. He's written a list of things we should be doing so that is a good sign!
The district nurse visited dad today and was horrified that he was taking 15 (as prescribed and printed out ) tablets a day to prevent blood clots. Apparently they had been misdiagnosed and he should only have 5 a day - hopefully it explains why he hasn't been able to eat and has been sick most days. When my mother asked if the nurse would contact the hospital to tell them of the mistake she said it was pointless as nobody would do anything about it. It's sad that 95% of the healthcare professionals are let down so badly by the other 5%!

Hubby watched me carefully painting my fuschia pink toenails last night and commented I must be the only person who goes to such efforts under their wellies. If he'd seen me strip off my boilersuit the other morning to reveal black see through underwear he would have died laughing. I don't care - at least I know I've got nice things on under the grubby overalls!

Anyway, a fleeting visit as the baking needs to continue. The stream of visitors continues. 2 brought home made jam today which was lovely so I'm making some tea bread and pancakes to have with it tomorrow when I'm away. I'm thinking maybe I could make empire biscuits on Friday and queen of tarts - must go find the recipe.

Kittie - that is VERY alarming reading however it's better to know what is ahead of us.

[Deleted User]

I am just about to go to the allotment as we are going to get a very bad wind battering later, I`ll be putting a large temporary net cage over a very nice marrow plant, it`s made of a medium mesh so will be perfect as a windbreak. I`ve also got more windbreak netting stashed in the hall, so will quickly sew channels for canes. A lot of people down here are likely to lose, or get damaged, fragile crops like beans and courgettes. Thank goodness for well settled cabbages and os parsnips and potatoes. I wish dh would hurry up and get up from bed, I need a hand to get the stuff up to the allotment sooner rather than later. It is frightening to think that july is normally the wettest summer month. Looks like summer is a complete washout

[Deleted User]

I`m back and never needed to add more windbreaks, apart from the very useful popup cage, which took only a minute to peg down. I tied some runnerbeans onto poles, pulled rhubarb and spread the leaves under the gooseberries, to prevent nasty sawfly. Picked some 3rd class sodden strawberries and furtled for early potatoes, bringing back enough for 3 days. All my clothes are now washed on 20 minute wash and I have had a mug of tea, so feel normal again

If you have young apple trees then google `ian sturrock videos` he`s amazing and such a skilled man. I have 3 maidens and will be nicking and notching, in march, in order to get a really good framework for my apples trees. He showed the weak cork that you get at the top if you prune to get the classic bowl that they sell in garden centres. I am aiming for the elongated crowns

All the time I was there, I kept thinking about the poor pyo growers like
http://www.hendrewennol.com/

That is where I used to go when I lived near. They are just a small family business and their strawberries are field grown. They work so hard and then the weather happens

flowertotmum

Morning all...

SM..so sorry to hear about your dad..i am sending him lots of well wishes..good job that nurse checked his pills..my dad was taking some that weren't even presecribed for him..the chemist somehow got them mixed up ..made him really poorly..but he is ok now thanks to a practice nurse checking the labels...and as for having skimpy undies under a boiler suit..you go girl..i like to feel like a woman in my undies what ever i have on top...

MLW..hiya..so glad you have had a great weekend...lovely music and family is the remdey for lots of things..

Kittie hey hun..i have been looking at other forums too..but decided i like this one too much too go...i would miss you all...bad weather is on the horizon for us today...its very muggy,windy and threatening rain again...nevermind..it is what it is..
Kaz you there sweetie..how are you and your family?

Well it has happened and my lovely husband starts full time as a senior supervisor on monday..yay..i have just ironed all his shirts and got his ties sorted..i am so proud if him..
I have been very busy this week..getting it all sorted out and well it seems weird but having to get used to being on my own in the day..i mean i have iris and fern here but without him its very quiet lol...i will soon get into a routine and be grateful for the quiet..
Well my kitchen is almost finished it had had to take a back burn while i had the poorlies to look after..i ordered my new shelving units and they will be here soon i hope..got a nice set of cafe nets for both windows..very nice too and a bargain..love them bargains...
The garden is growing away very well..my trees have all settled down now and are full of green leaf..the spuds are doing well..i am so looking forward to picking them..the sparrows are still at my lettuce but i have avid bird scarers lol..
I am doing all the beds today and having a good tidy up everywhere with the aide of 2 little tots...o by the way fern is much improved its just her cough..she was sick again in the early hours of this morning..am thinking i should just take her back to doctors as its going on too long now..she is supposed to go back to school on monday but am not sure she could take it..she has fallen asleep on sofa nearly everynight at about half 6 and she never does that or did that even when she was little...
right i have to go and get lunch ready..its a nice chicken with the works today..yummy..
love to you all
ftm

[Deleted User]

Hello FTM - I'm so glad you are staying with this thread, I would miss all my E friends like crazy if you weren't here to natter to. You must be so relieved that DH has this wonderful new position at work, that must make you feel much more secure. Glad Fern is much improved, coughs can linger on and on, specially if caused by a virus poor littlie let's hope she gets the better of it quickly. It would help if we had some nice warm weather to dry her out, nothing doing though mores the pity. The garden and allotment here are growing on despite the damp and cold and I've just picked peas and little gem lettuce from the polytunnel, also have the new potatoes in there nearly ready to lift. The weather forecast has just said we are likely to get power outages this evening so glad I've got all the winter prep stuff and my little gas stove along with the wind up radio and lots of candles and solar lamps so we'll be OK if it happens here. How is your DD who is preggie getting on? hope all is well and that both she and baby are fine. Enjoy your chicken lunch Cheers Lyn xx.