Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 11 August 2019

I'm upstairs, Katie is doing a baking class with Mia and Isla. As I left the kitchen she was saying ' the weight of the eggs will tell us how much sugar, butter and flour we need'. It reminded me of cookery classes at school.... Along with a few more academic subjects, I did get a GCE in Cookery ( it wasn't called Domestic Science in 1960!) My teacher was to my mind very elderly but probably only in her fifties! I can still hear her saying things like ' Now, I am going to demonstrate what is called the conservative method of cooking carrots'.

Harelady - lovely to hear from you: what a special holiday that would have been, on a farm and by the sea! Lots of memories for you all to look back on, later. You sound a little like me, your grandchildren don't live near each other but now and then get chance to get to know each other. How exciting for you to be having a 4th.

AQ - At least your OH was able to go out for his lunch. Tell him that although my dynamo of a husband is always on the go with all his various projects (he is plastering a hole in someone's bedroom wall at the moment.....) he still finds time to wield the hoover and I hardly ever have to vacuum since he retired!

Went to my dentist for check up and was told 10 out of 10 for teeth care - came out beaming and proud of myself, and then although I had made another appointment for next year, completely forgot to tell them I have a new mobile No. now - they are very good and send reminders a few days before your appointment, in case you don't turn up.

Just put laundry on the line in a gale, but at least the wind is stopping the rain, which fell a lot this morning.

More pics. We are still in the Main marquee, which has smells like a perfume shop, plus the damp of the grass, and everyone's muddy and wet clothing.....

Pitcher plants (insect eaters!) on a mixed and interesting display.

Another mixed stand, very pretty blooms.

Roses from a Cheshire grower not far from us.

View from the other side, but neither of the pics does it justice, really.

The delightful pom poms of Alliums.

A dramatic display of something exotic!!

Rosy & Heather: we had Domestic Science and were taught similar things. Some of the sage advice has stayed with me for all these years. "Make the plate colourful and mixed, as we eat with our eyes as well as our taste buds" plus the less welcome: "Don't wear nail varnish in my class!!"

EDIT:  No, Rosy, it doesn't make you very old - just experienced and knowledgeable!!

Some more:

Perfect peonies.

General view: the marquee gets much busier later on, with hardly room to move, which is why we go there first.

I love these wispy delicate thingummies (I'll remember their name in a minute.....)

Edit:  Astilbes !!

Can't you just smell these prizewinning Lilies??

Finally, as we left the tent, my OH's favourites, Fuchsias.

Harelady:  Always good to hear from you and so nice you're enjoying grandkiddies with another on the way.  :-)

Speaking of folks we don't see often - where are George and Forestboar?  

Lindybird Peonies!  :-)    We also had Domestic Science.  Didn't like it then and don't much like it now. 

Heather: I don't think I've ever weighed an egg in my life. 

All this talk of brighter colors is making me wonder what I'm missing (I also have 'starter' cataracts but glare is bothering me more).  My friend who had hers done no longer needs to wear any specs, which makes her face look lighter but also makes her eyes look smaller and less defined, which I imagine would take some time to adapt to if you've worn glasses most of your life. I started wearing them at age 13 with bad right eye - those awful NHS pink plastic things.

I'm meeting an acquaintance later this morning - a technical writer from Chicago - who I ran into on my train ride from Chicago to Seattle last year.  We ended up having most meals together on the train so had several chances to chat.  She works for Cisco and for the last few months has been spending one week a month in Tokyo but is stopping over in LA on this trip, so is driving up for the day.  Meanwhile, my OH is staying home to meet the garage door guy - I got home yesterday, pushed the remote for the door; it went halfway up then crashed back down (literally a screw was loose).  

Off to hose down. Take care all.

LINDA - more lovely pictures - I think you did extremely well to get any in such atrocious weather! My favourites were the Astilbes and Penstemons.

Sunny day here after a damp start. Quite breezy but that was good as it died the grass enough for OH to get it mowed - is it mowed or mown? I don't seem to have done much, apart from a few bits of correspondence and planning some meals.

Well, I'm glad you had a quiet day, OG! The pictures were mainly taken indoors, so relatively easy, but the rest (hopefully tomorrow) are outdoor ones - only a couple of show gardens this year and no interesting sights, as it was just so difficult to take pictures anyway.

I think you can say mowed or mown!!

OG: Mown correctly can be used as a past-participial adjective. For example, "The freshly mown grass makes the property look better." Mowed is also correct in that sentence, however. I'm an editor. It's a curse. LOL!!!!!!!!!