Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 24 September 2017

Heather,  Totally agree with your comment about your garden. I think you feel what is the right thing for you.

Lovely to see the spring bulbs, AQ, but I love the  autumn, and the colouring and falling of leaves. Also, everything slowing down a bit and late summer flowers, like sedum and Anemone japonica.

OG  Good about the physio, and having time  to chat.

Evening all:  Totally stuffed after fish 'n' chip dinner at a pub in Folkingham where they get their fish delivered from Grimsby on Thursdays. Very popular place. Then home where naughty sister unearthed a marscapone/fruit concoction that will have me declared excess baggage on the plane home I'm sure. We also went to Isaac Newton's home, Woolsthorpe Manor, which was fascinating. I took a photo of the famous apple tree, which is apparently getting tired, as one volunteer explained, but which also has multiple offspring living nearby and one farther away in Cambridge, which I saw years ago. Some very knowledgeable volunteers there and some interesting demonstrations of Newton's theories (though I still didn't understand some of them).  Tomorrow it'll be something completely different with a visit to the M&S outlet near here and not much else, other than staying well away from yummy cakes, etc.

Heather: If everything's on time, I'll be home Tuesday evening.

OG: I bet your docs and physio people like you - a patient who listens and follows instructions so not likely to undo all their careful work.

AQ: Enjoy the spring!

Hallo to Rosy and WendyB

Rosy - I love autumn more than spring as it heralds the cooler weather. I love watching the trees lose their leaves and display their “underwear”. Spring means headaches or wheezing from the pollen (I’ve mostly escaped so far, touch wood) and of course the threat of awful hot summer weather to come. We had a shower of rain before breakfast, now the sun is shining.

Hi, all.

I just took a break and looked at the website of the Simpson's Garden Centre in Inverness. What a wonderful place that is! I could spend hours shopping in there. In Indiana, we don't have any shopping places that are comparable to your garden centres. We have very large super center stores, but they don't sell the same types of items all together under one roof. 

I looked at the exchange rate for British pounds to U.S. dollars (1 British pound is equal to $1.34 U.S.). The Simpson's prices seemed comparable to our better stores. I was struck, though, by how expensive flowers are in Inverness -- probably because you're much further north than we are. I also noticed that there was an emphasis on Peonies (Peony Roses). Peonies are the state flower of Indiana, and they are very popular in my rural area. Many people grow them around their homes. I wondered if that's because so many people are of Scottish descent here. 

I'll try to make some replies after my project is finished (hopefully by Monday or Tuesday!!!). Take care, everyone. 

Harelady: I loved your collection of hares!!!

Starting this in Word so I can go and prepare a few beans from time to time and then come back to it!  They are what I am supposed to be doing this morning while OH shops and then showers – but he picked so many of them yesterday afternoon I can’t prepare them in just one session!

We all had a great evening out – the Pork at the hotel was as good as we remembered it, although J preferred to have the Scampi; we all ate far too much, but we were out for a long evening!  The blues gig was even better than expected – not a big audience, but a very appreciative one.  We got home about eleven o’clock after a good sleep – I only woke up at four o’clock, rather than three or four times in the night!

Heather – I did look up Harelady’s garden centre restaurant.  I didn’t understand much of what was on the menu – I would describe it as “cosmopolitan London”, and I’m just not used to that cuisine.  I am very much into local Scottish food, which is very good in Dumfries and Galloway..

Wendy – I have to visit Simpson’s at least once whenever we are in Inverness!  Pleased Daisy enjoyed the walk, and is still getting some autumn sunshine to her skin!  Harvest seems to have gone quite well here, and loads of silage and hay gathered in for winter; I think most of the barley and maize go to animal feed too, rather than the barley going into the whiskey industry.  Big excitement here as our distillery is due to broach its first barrel at three years old next month, although the long-term aim is to keep most of it to sell as an eight-year-old.  Doesn’t bother me personally as I never touch the stuff, but it is interesting having it as a new local investment, a distillery revived after many years.

Rosy – our Japanese Anemones started early this year – in August - but there are still some blooms, also on the Penstemon, Nerines etc.  Still waiting for the Kaffir Lily to burst open in a blaze of warm orange.  Alstroemerias and Fuchsias continue in containers.

Annette – pleased you enjoyed your fish and chips, but indulgent desert after?  Oh dear!  We didn’t get to Woolsthorpe on our holiday down at Belvoir, but Daughter and Granddaughters said it was good.  I think physio enjoys a chat with someone relatively compos mentis in contrast with some of the long-term patients in the local hospital!

AQ – I waver between favourite seasons, probably because ours are so varied – and are all changing with climate change.  Today is a really good sunny autumn day, and the leaf colours are shining – far from skeleton trees yet as we’ve had no frosts to bring on the leaf fall.

Diane – Good to hear from you.  I think cut flowers are pricey in the UK because most of them are imported.  In general, I prefer to see plants in bloom rather than having the poor things cut off and put in vases – although I do send them as gifts, and quite like to receive a surprise bunch now and again!  I love peonies, but never grow them as they have a short flowering season, although that is improving with new breeds if you have the space to grow several different ones; there again, I often prefer older varieties of flowers to some of the new “blousy” cultivars.

Well, beans done, shopping put away and the OH showered!  Now, a quick sandwich before monthly Friday Fellowship at church (flower arranging, funnily enough!) and dinner at the Old Toll Bar Italian Night.  Bad timing, to be eating out two evenings the same week!   Big rest from activity and food for me tomorrow!  Have a good weekend, everyone!

I looked at the menu, HARELADY/OG and found it to be quite different from most garden centre menus up here. Intriguing though and on looking at TripAdvisor, extremely popular. Because I don't have a large appetite, I like the concept of sharing dishes. Tapas a favourite. If a huge plate of food is put in front of me, I am immediately much less hungry !

Tree man came today and we discussed things. I'm waiting for him to phone me with a price. I felt comfortable with him and that is a good start.

Heather so pleased your tree guy is giving you the confidence to go forward.

Eldest in Spain for 2 weeks a place they love and have found places off the beaten track over the years. As she says rarely buy food as a small beer comes with tapas so obviously they don't order a large one :-)

Sunny here Daisy sunbathed I did a 5 mile walk solo then cleaned the car..

Is it bedtime !!

Hello!!!

Yes, it's me again!   We got out of bed this morning at 6.00am in order to have breakfast before 7.00, then got into our car in a Southampton car park at 9.30am, intending to be back at home by a late lunch ----  But the roads, on a Friday...... we arrived, wearily to our front door by 5.30pm, nearly EIGHT hours after setting off. A tiring end to our relaxing holiday!  

I hope Everyone is OK on this thread. I'll be reading back in hopes that you all are.

ps -- We have been on a twelve day cruise from Southampton to Madeira and The Canaries, taking in the beautiful city of Lisbon on the way back.