PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.

The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

15115125145165171496

Comments

  • FairyPrincessk
    FairyPrincessk Posts: 2,439
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Monna, I assure you 'worthy' doesn't come into it. In fact, my plant nurturing can be a bit hit or miss. I prefer those hearty varieties that seem to thrive on erratic schedules of too much attention followed by neglect based on my whims rather than their needs. I'm even worse with humans. I can switch on the nurturing, charming, professional self a few times a week but could never do it day in and day out. I suspect I'd make an excellent hermit.

    So, if you can tolerate an antisocial curmudgeon, a cat that refuses to sit on laps and eats by dipping her paw in her gravy and raking her biscuits onto the floor, an other half who likes at least four hours per weekend in a chair with headphones and a book, and a very slapdash attitude to conversation from all of us, you're more than welcome.

    I do make a mean lavender lemonade and we always have a bottle of elderflower and sparkling water on hand. We're also very regular with our meals, although we do usually repeat one or two a week to save on the washing up/cooking. We also eat a lot of aubergines and even some kale

    Oh, and all inmates must be able to tolerate an enormous collection of books that is allowed to reproduce, expand and positively outgrow all shelf-space at will. All books freely available to borrow as long as it doesn't overlap with another inmate's reading plans. Just ask my OH how long I'm going to bear that grudge about how he left the newly charity-shop acquired PD James at work over Christmas when I'd put it on my reading list....
  • monnagran
    monnagran Posts: 5,284
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Are we twins FairyP?
    I'm no Florence Nightingale either. Anyone who has had the misfortune to be cared for by me, will testify that I am absolutely brilliant for 24 hours. If they haven't had the sense to be cured in that time they were on their own.

    May I invite you to join the organisation that I have set up, Hermits R Us. Do, it will be such fun, you will be member no.2.

    The drinks menu sounds right up my street, not so convinced about the aubergines and kale though. I'm more a cheese and tomato sandwich girl myself, but I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. My specialities are cheese scones and sausage rolls.

    Now, about the books............this is a little more concerning. We may need a large extension on the house, or maybe a barn in the garden. Although every time I move I reluctantly part with several hundred books, as will be evidenced by the weary resignation of the charity shops in the area, they start to breed as soon as my back is turned. Yes, I do have a Kindle, but its not the same.

    So? Do we have a future , or do I continue with my search for a bungalow?

    Sigh. I thought so.
    I believe that friends are quiet angels
    Who lift us to our feet when our wings
    Have trouble remembering how to fly.
  • greenbee
    greenbee Posts: 16,073
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Just make sure your bungalow has plenty of room for bookshelves Monna! Like you, I cull every time I move, and despite using the library now for the vast majority of my reading (and leaving books I take with my on planes behind to free up space in my luggage) they just seem to keep breeding...

    I have two HUGE bookcases my dad built for me when I was about 10 which have moved everywhere with me, and two smaller ones he made for my last house. When we moved the staircase here I also had the landing balustrade replaced with bookshelves, but I'm running out of space again... There are books in all the bedrooms, the loo and one of the bathrooms. When the kitchen is done, it will also have it's own bookcase.

    I may need to move house again to avoid disappearing under a pile of books, particularly as I'm gradually bringing some of my dad's books home with me each time I visit my mum.
  • pollyanna_26
    pollyanna_26 Posts: 4,839
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Forumite
    FairyP and monna . Me , me ,me !!! I've gone from reading your posts to imagining a little dream community of lovely period little homes suited to our individual needs . Larger lovely buildings , we'd need more than one , which would be libraries full of all our beloved books .
    Does owning a Librarians badge and understanding the Dewey system get me on the list ? Badge was actually a gift from dd to make up for my mother deciding the Civil Service was more secure and better than following my childhood dream of becoming a librarian .

    I love Lavender Lemonade and have a talent for growing swathes of Organic english lavender , herbs and veg . I'm a trained first aider and as a mum of four can patch up anyone .

    Of course I have books , many books .

    How long does this CV have to be ?

    Meanwhile if our book lovers haven't read A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan I highly recommend it .
    It took me back to when we all wandered through our childhood books a while ago .
    Dd and I have argued which book was a good choice and which left us cold .
    I'm now reading an older book by her My Family and other Disasters .
    It's from columns she wrote in the Guardian about 7 years ago . Utterly hilarious .

    polly
    It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.

    There but for fortune go you and I.
  • Floss
    Floss Posts: 8,188
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Photogenic
    Forumite
    Can I come too? Application on the grounds that I'm the daughter of parents who met at library school and both went onto work in libraries all their working life (mum in public, dad initially public followed by industrial and ended as an examiner for the LA), our family books were shelved alpha for fiction and dewey for non-fiction:o
    2021 Decluttering Awards: ⭐⭐🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇 2022 Decluttering Awards: 🥇
    2023 Decluttering Awards: 🥇 🏅🏅🥇
    2024 Decluttering Awards: 🥇
  • Softstuff
    Softstuff Posts: 3,086
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I've never had lavender lemonade, sounds charming though. And a good use for lavender. I have a bit of an elderflower thing though. Goes lovely with gin.

    Monna, my dearest MIL got turned away from the post office here trying to post a teensy perfume sample to a friend. Dangerous goods apparently. I shall have to tell her how much more lax they are over there! What happens if Postman Pat gets her, with his black and white C.A.T???

    I am forever grateful for our libraries here. Not only do they have a vast selection of books, magazines and DVDs, ordering from them is free and if you request a specific book they don't have, from past experience, they generally find it from somewhere or buy it. It's a good thing, because given my book habit, I'd have to work full time otherwise to cover it. I go to the library usually twice a week and average 4-6 books a week. I couldn't buy all those, my house would be insulated with them. I do however, still have a bookcase. My rule is, if I've taken a book out of the library 4 times, I need to own it or if I see one for 25p hubby will like I buy it (he reads more slowly, he has less time too since he sleeps better.
    Softstuff- Officially better than 007
  • pollyanna_26
    pollyanna_26 Posts: 4,839
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Forumite
    I forgot the bookcases . I have big wide bookcases . Somewhere in this house is probably the old date stamp eldest daughter used when she was the librarian bossing around her much younger sisters .
    if it isn't here I'll buy one .

    I've started catching up in my usual fashion from the last post upwards and I've found the clincher for my admittance to a little community .
    monna says I have a beautiful soul .

    If that's what monna believes I have to be on the list ! A beautiful soul and calming lavender candles can't be argued with .

    End of application :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

    polly xx
    It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.

    There but for fortune go you and I.
  • Islandmaid
    Islandmaid Posts: 6,486
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post I've been Money Tipped!
    Forumite
    Me too please... I may be able to read a whole book without DH insisting on talking to me about trivia :mad: I have to (mentally) throw the book at him, whilst physically smiling and saying 'Pardon darling, I didn't hear you as I was reading' :D

    I can bring cake and gin or tea depending on the time of day :T
    Note to self - STOP SPENDING MONEY !!

    £300/£130
  • nannywindow
    nannywindow Posts: 3,385
    First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Me too!! I'm even qualified to work in a library and I had to do ten years hard labour at the library counter. I've even got stampers elbow :rotfl:. These days the youngsters don't know what hard library work is with their 'puters, pah !!
    Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, but this time more intelligently
  • pollyanna_26
    pollyanna_26 Posts: 4,839
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Forumite
    Floss and Islandmaid I will now bring the NHS automated system into play . Just to keep track you understand .

    I am no 1 in the queue . Floss is no.2 and Islandmaid is no. 3 .

    No one gets ahead of a determined women who was denied her dream in her teens .

    polly xx
    It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.

    There but for fortune go you and I.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards