Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 19 May 2019

HAPPY NEW WEEK! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

  • Well done , LINDA, for successfully stepping into OH's shoes to help his Sister.

    Have to confess - but sure I am not alone - I never watch Eurovision contest these days - was much better years ago (like most things, I suppose). Being selective with food today after yesterday's "funny tummy" - no, LYNETTE, this time not connected with the chronic problems. OH is outside weeding and trimming various things; he will have to sweep the deck again after a visit from young Blackbird who is just like his mother - can't resist throwing bark trim off the top of containers! I have stayed in to put the newsletter together - which you can see I am not doing!
  • Lindybird: Missed the bit about assembling the pressure washer. Good for you - and be thankful it wasn't an Ikea cupboard, etc.
  • Off to bed, tired. So is my OH, having had a busy day, mostly on his knees trying to sort out the plumbing in our son's kitchen - they needed to scrap some of it and redesign the way it went behind the cupboards before finishing the installation. Now all that's needed is for a professional to come and fit the work tops, and for our son to put on the cupboard and drawer handles. My OH came home in time for a plate of quiche and some braised asparagus, which is now in the shops.

    I pulled heaps of weeds in the garden, and sorted out yet more stuff to go to charity. Also threw out several solar lamps which we had in the garden but which no longer work - I suppose the storage batteries in them only last a couple of years. Forgot to ring sis in law to see if the pressure washer was working OK!

    Hope Diane and bjane are alright in the storms.
  • Lindybird: We have some solar string lights that take a special AAA battery for landscaping. We have a couple of stick-in-the-ground ones too, but haven't used them much.  I did a bunch of work in the garden too; found out I'd been pruning the protea and the euphorbia all wrong, so did the best I could given that it was two years late!  Hope your OH is done with helping out with the kitchen.

    The ISS is making the brightest pass tonight so will go out and wave to the folks on board if the sky stays clear.  :-)

    Have a good Monday all.

  • Good Morning. Dry and looking sunny again. Perhaps I'll be able to catch up on my To Do list today!
  • Hello - and thank you, DIANE.
    Sorry no helicopter !

    LINDY - you are very clever fixing a pressure washer together - I can hardly work mine, never mind make it! Callum used it yesterday to wash his car and I had to ask him to change the wand to the one I need - I can't even do that... I'll blame my stupid hands.

    OG - I don't watch the Eurovision Song contest either - can't stand the noise. Sometimes I watch TV using the subtitles - the combination of sound and vision together annoys me. I'm pleased that J is finally going to see about his knees.  My son eventually consulted the GP about his knees a couple of years ago. He had put it off because I rather tactlessly told him that his knees were carrying too much weight. Well, if your mother can't say these things - who can?!!

    ANNETTE - I seem to remember that protea is a rather large tropical flower? Sorry about the whale (not) count.

    We've had a couple of rain showers here this morning but I am quite determined to do some weeding and mulching of the one border that is left in the front garden. I have to buy shrubs to put there - can't decide on what to get. Not too tall, not too wide, you get the picture. I will get at least one mop head hydrangea, have already got a camellia and a lace cap hydrangea there plus a hosta that survived the onslaught.

    Regards to ALL

  • Love those lace cap hydrangeas, Heather. So pretty. Why not have an azalea? Nice for spring colour, and you could prune it a little if it grew too large.

    My sis in law has just bought two rhodedendrons for her tiny garden -- I thought Oh, heck, I hope they're the miniature versions as some can grow to ginormous proportions. I daren't ask her.....

    Sunny here in between some of the cloudy spells. We put out the garden chairs but it's too cold to sit in them for more than five minutes. Must go and attend to my emails

  • Gardening in The Rain

    "I'm going to get this gardening done,"

    Even though, in the rain, it's not much fun.

    I bought some tough new gardening gloves,

    And watched by the local collared doves

    I started on the muddy borders,

    Struggling with the pots I'd ordered:

    Camellias, hostas, hydrangeas, too -

    When I'm finished, the colours will show right through.... But

    My wellies got stuck before too long

    My feet were aching, the rain was too strong

    I came out with some swearywords, and 

    "This gardening lark is for the birds!"

    I made a dash for the house and home,

    Tripping over a muddied gnome.

    Looking from the window, I'm dry at last

    I'll wait warm with a coffee until the clouds pass.

  • Just about it, LINDY! Brilliant :-)
  • Lots of news on here today.

    LINDY Well done for your handiwork. Love the poem.

    OG Hope you are better now. Hope J makes his appt and gets good advice. I haven't watched Eurovision for years.

    We are off to Eden Court tomorrow to see the screening of Matthew Bournes "Swan Lake". The dancers are all male so it will certainly be different,