The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

Mrs_Chip

Morning All!

Glorious day here, but hot! BBQ tonight in the garden tonight with Mr & Mrs Next Door, so at least no cooking as such.

OH said that car thermometer was showing 40 deg in an open air car park in town yesterday :eek::eek::eek:.

Pooky - so glad kitty has put on weight, wish our old boy would. He used to be a stocky 5kg, but when he was ill last year went down to just under 3kg and is a bag of bones. Vet says he may never regain it but does eat like a horse most days. I am sure he has, apart from hyperthyroid, some sort of gastrointestinal problem as he has very gurgly tum most of the time and sometimes passes or vomits blood. Vet does not seem keen to investigate, I can understand giving his age. So we plod on with him as long as he seems happy.

Princess - try Freecycle for a chest of drawers - put a 'wanted' up, you never know you may be lucky, if not Fuddle's Ikea stuff is fine.

Hot news - we might be going to be on TV (via the van)! Won't say too much in case it does not happen but will keep you posted. OH is a show-off and will love it, I am rather more retiring when it comes to lenses of any description!

Stiltwalker - very envious, L'enclume is one of the restaurants on our 'must do' list when we have some funds. Have a fab time and report back please!

Have a good day everyone!

Possession

Anyone who wants to get something in Argos, there's a 10% off voucher in the Mirror today, and its valid until 26th July.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/an-extra-10-off-top-other-offers-everything-argos-with-voucher-from-daily-mirror-1609947

Molly41

Valli wrote: »

Hello lkadies


Been to my sisters. After much discussion my holidya this year wil be a few days at hers, with visits to places of interest (so if you know of any, in and around Northampton, speak now) - a break was something I was being pushed into; cannot o with DD as she has work; and I even renewed my passport. Ah well.

.

Stoke Bruerne canal and museum
Althrop

Beautiful countryside so a picnic?

VJsmum

People have been known to think I am posh too - if only they knew I grew up in a pretty rough area. My accent is quite "darn sarf" tho people have thought me from Luton or Australia or even New Zealand before

Well, according to my weather forecasters, the temperatures are starting to break down towards the end of next week. South west looks set for heavy rain.

Thanks for the Arg0s heads up - I need a new rotary dryer.

I have a day of housework and ironing a visit to dad tomorrow and a day to myself, more or less, on Sunday. On Sunday I plan strawberry picking and jam making - excited.

DD had a lovely, if somewhat expensive, birthday. I think she made cakes for pretty much the whole of the west midlands.

Had a phone call from DS headmaster this morning he said that they have considered a letter we sent to the governors asking for "the incident" not to go on his record, or if it did for a limited time. He said it will be there for a year with our letter of mitigating circumstances with it (we explained the circumstances of BiL death and the impact on the family and why J would have been so upset) and that sixth forms and colleges didn't ask for references from year 9. J gets his Xbox back today so we are hoping this is the end of it. Once again, thanks for your support last week, it really helped.:)

OK time to do stuff

kezlou

aw briliant news vj :j:j:j:j

now you can relax and put the experience to one side.

Rosanna79

Well it's taken me all morning to catch up with all these pages of posts since before we headed off on our trip.

The day with MIL went very well considering how it can be at times. One of the SIL who can't bear to miss anything ( lives locally to MIL) kept appearing, with the usual sweeping generalisations / trying to order us about - generally being the fly in the ointment. When we mentioned we were going to Wisbech the following morning, but not the reason for our visit she informed us that it is a ' dump, full of foreigners'!! we enquired as to whether or not she'd ever visited? Apparently not! Amazing how judgemental some people can be. Earlier comments to OH on the phone that MIL was breathless and if we were driving her to the surgery I MIGHT NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!!!

Bearing in mind that I trained as a nurse , midwife, school nurse, health visitor and nurse prescriber plus a few other certs and worked 43 years in the NHS OH was very short with her. I was very annoyed & offended so when her sister phoned her to join us for dinner in the evening OH was not at all pleased.

Comments were made about how MIL's breathing was fine, a transformation... I withheld the information that I'd advised her, in view of the current heat & pollen to enquire from the GP re a small spacer device & reliever inhaler to alleviate symptoms that even non asthmatics are suffering at present!! The old lady was able to go for a little walk on her 85th and enjoyed her trip out as we have air con in the car. This has always been a necessity to me rather than a luxury in years spent working as a community nurse. For MIL it was evidently very pleasing.

Our visit to Wisbech was excellent. We were made very welcome as OH returned the 115 year old book back to the town, There were some delightful people present and we plan to return once harvesting is over for a break and to look around the place in more detail than a few hours permitted. OH was in his element and I was so glad he had the opportunity to have his big day. MIL was totally uninterested in this visit & the reason for it on the day. She has now said she wants to do a day trip in our car to see this book her son could have showed her the day before he presented it!! Talk about being contrary!

I'm finding this lovely weather too hot to go out into for my usual Walk for Life walk so have all doors & windows open but the blinds pulled across the French doors as the fan whirls in the background. OH went out in the car to do the weekly shop for me so I'm very fortunate to be able to stay indoors for a good while.

Our garden is blooming so the shopping list is considerably reduced. I'm looking at the veg left in the fridge & planning what meals I can make. Even overripe bananas get turned into milkshakes in this house. Hopefully in the next few weeks there'll be more 'garden shopping rather than the conventional sort.

I usually plant a baker's dozen of white Minicole cabbages. They are big enough for a couple or small family and can stand for up to 4 months. As we had such a cold spring and stuff was slow to propagate I sowed some Romanov Red cabbage as well. Now I've got 33 of the 's**dding things! Potatoes, carrots, runner beans, onions, leeks, tomatoes and sweet peppers are all coming on well . OH has rigged up some excellent watering systems as well as watering everything but the greenhouse for me every evening- all I have to do is the greenhouse. I know I'm very fortunate and we do the rest together.

The real highlight of this weather is sitting out in the garden after dark and lighting the two oil torches we've had for years. After so many horrid, wet summers we feel blessed to be able to do that. It's cooler, more comfortable and being retired who cares if we don't get up early? Well Henry the cat for one and he's looking a bit overwhelmed by the heat at the moment poor moggy. However difficult the heat is physically for some of us isn't it wonderful to see all the crops coming up and (hoping) the farmers will be able to sell us stuff we can't grow at a more reasonable price?

We can take or leave sprouts - it's a lot of faff preparing the fresh- We prefer broccoli but haven't the space to grow it. The prices became so ludicrous we stopped buying it, Has anyone else had to cut out a favourite fruit or veg on account of the price? We've had to resort to frozen varieties of stuff which lightly steamed and well seasoned have proved tasty enough as long as they're still a bit al dente on the plate...

Hugs to all who're ill / struggling at present. Hope the start of the school holidays brings a lot of fun with your children as well.

Possession

I have just had a mad moment and ordered an 8 ft paddling pool. I expect it to arrive on Tuesday so you can all expect rain from then onwards lasting until the 1st week of September when they go back to school.

FairyPrincessk

Oh No Possession! I used my birthday money to buy new sandals and they arrived yesterday! It will probably be a very wet and cold end of summer!

Popperwell

Great news VJ's Mum...I think its only fair that should be seen as a one off and not blight someone's future prospects...I bet there would be very few in the world that are without some incident in their past.

I thought it was cooler but I am sweating terribly even with hardly a stitch on(TMI)and windows open and blinds closed. Will eat something later, I won't come to any harm.

I finally gave in and had a Pineapple cube cupcake with a mug of coffee. Its been ages since I gave in and had a treat.



I eat enough fruit and vegetables and whilst my health allows, why not, one day I may not be able to...

I have a variety of another fifteen to choose from...

Popperwell

Thinking of the discussion of accents...I see Katie Hopkins who seems to enjoy stirring things up is at it again...

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/katie-hopkins--stephanie-mcgovern-and-northerners-sound-stupid-131026114.html