Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 8 March 2020

Rosy, you do despair when common sense is not applied.

Sorry that your holiday break was somewhat spoiled. I hope your OH recovers soon.

Good Morning. Damp & grey here again, but not too cold. Last packing, as we are off away tomorrow morning.

My OH began streaming with another cold again yesterday, he must have a low immune system after our colds. I'll have to ring sis in law this morning, as she was hoping to come around to see us - she caught the last one from my OH!

Lindy: I hope you have a wonderful and healthy holiday. I also hope your OH will recover immediately and enjoy the trip. Safe travels.

Good morning. Looks like wet and windy is once again the pattern for the day, so I shall probably not go out.

LINDA – love the Magnolia blooms – such a pure clean white. It is mild again here too – rather too warm at 5:30! I hope your OH will be okay for the holiday – sounds as if he will be very vulnerable to any bugs around.

ANNETTE – the Stan and Ollie plus Maria story certainly developed. I hope OH enjoyed the film when he finally saw it! We never buried pets in our own garden because we never knew how long we would stay in one place. I knew an old lady who buried her dog under one of two lilac trees at the bottom of the garden – she proudly told me her late husband’s ashes were under the other one – she became very old and frail but stubbornly could not move away from them – I think she ended up falling down the stairs!

PAT – I guess you have already set out on your journey to see Charlie – have a lovely time!

ROSY – glad you are safe home, and sorry the holiday proved too much for your OH. Sorry you had such difficulty getting medical help for him – I hope the ABs will soon kick in, with no bad effects on his underlying health problems. We haven’t eaten any of our food delivery yet – will let you know when we have. Part of the reason for getting them is that we can microwave them at short notice, without having to plan to thaw them.

Atmosphere here is a bit tense – J bought four lambs wool jumpers (why? Silly “boy”). OH has succeeded in shrinking them all – ie £140 down the drain! He is convinced he followed all instructions on the labels and advice from J and me. I have told him that he must pay for replacements, but also told J not to spend £35 each on jumpers and stick to acrylic which will endure whatever OH does to them!

Oh, dear OG. Wool isn't very forgiving, is it? What a shame.

Stayed damp and dismal here all morning, but a lighter sky now. Sue came around to bring my OH a birthday card, as I had to warn everyone that we will be away on The Day. She stayed on the doorstep, away from my OH. Gave her two houseplants which won't survive without a drop of water regularly, so she's going to put them in her front porch. My OH is coughing and sneezing, so we know it's not the dreaded virus, but just hope he can manage not to be too objectionable on the plane.

Just a few details to sort out now, and we can relax as a golfing friend is going to take us to the airport in the morning, and all is pretty much done except for hoovering around the house! We will be missing some tubs of bulbs which we planted last autumn, and they have heads on now but aren't open yet.

LINDY - I'm blaming all the old golfing guys for giving colds to each other! My OH and all his friends hated to miss their get togethers at the bowling club. They used to go anyway even if it was cancelled. Just for coffee and chat !!!! I hope that your journey goes well and that you have a lovely re!axing holiday x

OG - I have a woollens programme on my washing machine but would be wary of using it for lambswool. I'm guessing that EE used the machine? Handwashing of woollens the way our mothers taught us with gentle squeezing and warm water rinse :-) I'd rather buy other stuff, as you suggest ! I'm far too lazy these days. Gosh, I remember the fiddle faddle of washing hand knitted baby clothes made with pure wool. ( My mother in law's idea of keeping me busy!)

ROSY - So so sorry that your holiday wasn't as relaxing as you had hoped. Thank goodness you were able to organise appropriate care for him x

ANNETTE - there is a cat buried at the end of this garden. I remember when we dismantled the rockery. Bill was saying that we must be careful not to disturb Hobo....

Regards to all

I wish you a good journey and a relaxing holiday Lindy and OH. I hope the warmer climate will improve the cough and dispel any 'bugs' that are lurking around.

Safely arrived at my sister's. Roads were no worse than usual, and the rain stayed away! Will spend tomorrow with Charlie and his mum (he will be four in June) - what we do is weather dependent. Then the journey in reverse on Thursday, and hoping for similar road and weather conditions.

Lindy - Hope you have a lovely holiday, away from the rain and winds, and hopefully away from coronavirus. I'm sure you are both looking forward to some sunshine to kill off all the bugs.

Lindy you mentioning pets buried in gardens reminds me of when I sold the house In Surrey where we had buried a much love cat - Pepsi - who my son adored. One night when I was in bed and the sale was going through my mobile rang and it was my son whispering into his phone. I asked him what was up and where he was when he said he was back at the old family house saying Goodbye to Pepsi - he was 34 at the time! I said it was a miracle that our next-door neighbour hadn't called the police!