Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 8 November 2020

ANNETTE - I changed my mind and went out to weed instead. Weather gods intervened. A wee shower drove me inside and yes, I finished the vacuuming, put it away, then rummaged in cupboard for more wool scraps to be knitted, noticed a confetti of plastic on carpet. Oh dear, my wool is stored in plastic bags and one of them has biodegraded. Fetched vacuum again . . .

AQ:   I hope that vacuum isn't too heavy.  I've got one of those little handheld jobs for localized messes.   Never mind the weeds; that shower will just produce more, so you may as well wait until they're big enough to grab easily (assuming they aren't at that stage already).

Just starting watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix following recommendations by friends.  I thought it was to do with the Royals, but no - it's chess and really good.

Good Morning. A pretty pink sky again and calm after a windy night, here.

AQ - A frustrating time but at least you got some things done. I found that that happens with those biodegradable bags, it takes a lot of clearing up after! Trouble is, I don't always notice which kind of bag when I store things in them.

Annette, well done on having a productive day. It's a good feeling.

We stayed up late for a food delivery last night, M&S pies and produce mostly, to cheer us up during the lockdown. Asked for some fish for our next door neighbour, but embarrassingly, hers was the only thing missed off the list (unavailable) and I'll have to go around this morning and break the bad news!

Good morning.  Sunny morning – don’t like the look of what may follow on the weather map.

DIBNLIB – lovely moody photo from Kessock Bridge.

PAT – felt inspired to find photos from Wakehurst Place – August 2001!  OH and one of the flower borders, and Auntie (now deceased) with me in front of the mansion.

LINDA – once colours etc are chosen, we will get a printout of how the kitchen will look,  I still imagine it looking like the one we designed at our previous house so I get very muddled!  Well done with the garden day – ours currently needs a few like that, but OH has been so busy with Other Things!  Wish we could get deliveries from M&S – their current delivery arrangements don’t come up here.  OH did pop into Dumfries store when he was nearby for hearing test, and stocked up on a few of our favourites.  Booked shopping slots are now available with Sparks card so he will take advantage of that for another visit in December.

AQ – sorry the camera did not get its outing – sounds like a busy but bitty day due to the weather.  Hope you got out today.

ANNETTE – another busy lady – well done!  Feeling some guilt over spending money on posh kitchen – but we do spend time there as I help with veg when I can, and we bake together – and I don’t really have to make excuses!

Cleaning day here so OH is doing the bathrooms.  (I divide the house into small chunks to make sure everywhere has a proper clean each month, with occasional vac & dust etc between).  J received a hospital letter yesterday to have his knees X-rayed today!  It is at 3:40, so he’ll only miss one period of work, but his boss won’t be very happy as he already booked next Friday off for Edinburgh!

Sun stayed out here, and so I put a net curtain on the line which of course I have to wash by hand. We will be all Spring Cleaned ready for the festive season! Also scrubbed the feeder which we use for sunflower seeds as we've seen a couple of goldies lurking, and they seem to like sunflower seeds the best. We don't try and attract them in summer as we are so near to the countryside they have plenty to eat in the hedgerows, and don't visit us.

OG: No need for excuses re your kitchen! You have to spend a lot of time at home and so need pleasant and well organised things around you :-) Anyway, we are contemplating changing our worktops as we are very disappointed in the wear they are already showing after only a few years - I took the opportunity to say that I'd like new tiling as well so that we have a new look without changing the cupboards, which are fine. We'll be looking into it over the next month or so and perhaps getting something done in the New Year, covid permitting.

ps. That's rather short notice for J's X ray - good that they are on the ball and getting it looked at, but not exactly easy to organise without time!

OG you will enjoy the worktops! The only thing that I have found is that they make the kitchen feel cold. Our previous kitchen had a kickboard heater which we didn't replace. Sadly, no radiator in the kitchen and no room for one. But a bonus is that it is great for rolling out pastry :-)

OG - Interesting to see the 2001 photographs of Wakehurst. The mansion hasn't changed, but the vegetation has! They are also putting windbreaks across the big expanse of lawn shown in your picture, so that will change the view a lot. Not sure how it will look ... at the moment I would say 'odd', but we shall see. I'm afraid I don't recognise which flower bed your OH is walking around! I started visiting Wakehurst around the mid 1990s, but don't remember seeing you there!

It's been a lovely day here today. Warm enough to sit outside with a couple of friends for coffee - the sun was really quite warm. I think perhaps we broke the rules, but as my visitors were a married couple, we counted them as one! We kept very socially distanced! The forecast says we're in for a few days of rain, so glad we took advantage of the sunshine.

Now waiting for The Masters to start, after torrential rain. Interesting to see the course in the autumn, rather than the spring, when it always looks spectacular with the azaleas in full bloom. That statement will mean absolutely nothing unless you are a golf fan!

Good evening everyone. Thanks to all for the interesting pictures and news.

I have been rather pre occupied as OH has had his rather delayed surgical procedure today. All went well, apparently.
I will find out more tomorrow.

OG - I agree with others. No need for excuses for the kitchen. Just enjoy the best that you can have.
I don't think my quartz worktop makes the room feel cold. I seem to remember my colour is "Irish Cream" which is not a cold colour. I inherited a black worktop which I would have found difficult to live with. It showed every speck of dust!
My last (town) house had a kitchen which was built over the car port. The floor was freezing.

I also remember visiting Wakehurst about eight years ago. I don't recall much about it except the seed bank and a rather nice woodland walk, or nature trail. I am sure Pat will put me right on that one.