Just some pics of the garden

 Just some garden shots... everything is beginning to flower at last!

I'm loving these and we have three,,, all in  a pot which we'll keep in the pot, as they are supposed to flower better.. Agapanthus.

And the clematis survived that gusty wind from a few weeks ago.

And the blue geranium will soon be joined by the orange flowers of the crocosmia, buds are there,

We have been sitting on our bench in the cool of the mornings, too hot later on.

On one of the FB gardening groups I belong to, a member had written the joys of retirement, was sitting on her patio with a Magnum.. there were a few comments asking her for a glass, but of course she wasn't talking about champagne, but a chocolate covered ice cream!

But I agree, it is lovely being able to sit outside in our garden and admire all our hard work.

Chrisxx

Spring cleaning in the summer!!

 It is swelteringly hot here and we're keeping cool inside with the A/C at 18C. We bought this portable unit, 3 years ago and wondered if perhaps we had spent our money without thought, but we've really appreciated it in all this heat. I'm really appreciating it. happily watching the tennis, which I love. Our outside weather station says 29.4C and that's on the northside of our bungalow, round the side. On our west facing back, our thermometer is saying 32C!!

Dh has been busy painting our little pantry!! It is on the north side of our bungalow so cool in there. It measure about 4ft x 4ft and as we've been here 4 years it had been scuffed by tins, broom handles and the shelves we'd put in there, so the cream walls looked like they needed a freshen up.  He emptied it over the weekend and we found tins and packets well out of date! Foods we fancied, but never got round to eating, so I expect that would have been me!

Anyway in all this heat my lovely husband having decided it'd do it over the weekend and beginning of this week, he's carried on regardless of the heat! It seemed washing it was not really worth it, so as the paint was there in the garage, Dh decided to paint it.. he wouldn't let me take a photograph of him togged up to paint, because he had on an old shower cap to do the ceiling!! 

Tomorrow I am going to sort out the spice drawer and then the drawer with the kitchen bags, papers and cake bits like the rolling pin.

So then we need to do a deep clean in the cupboards and the under sink especially..        The window cleaner has been today so that means we should do insides too? 

What an exciting week we'll have!!

Chrisxx

Air rain!

 

Yesterday was a miserable day and the drizzly rain lasted for most of the day, I call it 'air rain!'  We did not go to town or the library. We've plenty of books to read. as we bought the Spring choice of Richard and Judy book club. We've decided not to buy any more till we've read them all.

I read faster than Dh so I usually read them and get them finished first.

I choose this one first as I like Tim Weaver books.

It started really well, but some how in the middle it lost the original story and I struggled to read it.

I did finish it, but I didn't think it was up to his usual standard and it was really long! So a bit of a disappointment for me.

I needed a lighter read after it. so I'm reading a free kindle book about a couple who have bought a wreck of a farm house in France, and its not brilliant. but an easy read and funny.

Why would you buy somewhere with out electricity inside the main building and water only an outside tap? Outside toilet, non flushing, no bath or shower and a loft bedroom only accessed by a ladder. Actually the bed room was just a bed and some boxes for their belongings.  The main rooms are earth floors and a leaky roof. I could not live like that, even if you paid me! Especially as they have no spare cash.

This bungalow was clean and decorated, albeit magnolia through out, but it was desperate for a new bathroom and kitchen although perfectly usable, but we had them done as soon as we could get the workmen organized. So to buy somewhere that was a wreck, they must have a lot of faith. I shall find out more as I read it,  I'll let you know...Its my bed time read...

I like reading my kindle in bed as its easy to hold!

Chrisxx

A new week!

 Everyone complimented me on my hair cut at SW! Well everyone I knew and the scales were nice to me after my eating on Wednesday, I maintained my weight, so not even 1/2  pound gain!

We came home and sat outside admiring our garden, with a cup of tea and then had our lunch out there.. Cooked perfectly by Dh, a flat omlette, with grilled bacon, baby toms and cheese grilled on top. It was delicious, made the Mary Berry's recipe of adding water to the eggs not milk and it is so lovely.. then a huge bowl of fresh fruit with Greek yoghurt and a teaspoon of honey and we were sated!! 

We actually won the raffle which is better than the basket for slimmer of the week! There was loads of fruit, potatoes, sprouts! broccoli, red onions and a nifty Tupperware container divided into 3 and a measuring jug.. so that was a bonus! We were delighted and came away smiling.. I need 2 1/2 pounds to get into the next stone down! So back on plan with strong ideas to lose that weight this week. 

And I phoned the surgery and wonder of wonders I have a physio appointment next Friday afternoon! So that's sorted which is now not worrying me, ( Yes I was worrying, just a bit|!)

Our Friday evening meal is nearly always cod and chips cooked the SW way. And so we've resisted the Friday cheat day, as the weighing is behind us!

A new week starts on Fridays for us

Chrisxx

Not my best day!

 I've had one of those days.. everything was wrong or it seemed that way to me. I was telling someone how excited I was that a plant we'd had four years had buds at last. It can take up to eight years and more to get to the flowering stage from seeds! I bought the plant with me from my Suffolk garden and it had taken four years there to flower too. 

Angel Fishing Rods, Dierama so pretty and delicate. 

 Of course she had loads in her previous garden.. couldn't she have just had said, 'thats nice?'

It took the wind out of my sails and I felt deflated.

The surgery are supposed to be phoning about some physiotherapy checks,  because I've reapplied for my Blue Badge which allows me to park in designated spaces nearer to shops etc.. having been told I would hear this week a while ago, I'm still waiting, by the time the appointment comes through, my Badge will have run out!

I went to my regular hair dresser for a tidy up, because I'm growing my hair into a loose Bob style.. he was chatting as usual and I reminded him I didn't want my fringe cut short. Before I could say anything else he'd cut one side of my hair, I stopped him to remind him I was growing my hair, because I didn't want the short fussy style.  Too late,  he had to cut the other side to match and then my  hair at the back short too..  I said no to lacquer and came home and brushed it straight. Actually it looks clean and shiny and not too bad, but I was upset at first. I won't go back there!!

I rarely complain about Dh cooking, but last night we'd arrange Bacon Carbonara. A favourite of mine and we save our cheese allowance for. He decided to look at one of the Pinch of Nom recipe books and followed that one and instead of a lovely cheesy taste it had a 'zing'... he'd added balsamic vinegar. I didn't like it, but ate it, because tomorrow is SW weighing day, any other evening I'd have wolfed down toast instead.. I think he thought it would be nice for a change. So the end of my day was like the beginning, deflated. 

But all said and done, I still have that gorgeous Dierama, the physio will get in touch eventually, my hair grows quickly and I have a lot of it, and I'm not hungry!! So not too bad after all!

Chrisxx

A garden group having fun.

I had,.... 

3 small triangular shaped salmon and cucumber sandwiches with  brown bread.                                                                                               1/8th of a pork pie, I know it was an 1/8 because we took it and Dh cut it.                                                                                                      Some crisps and those tiny salted biscuits.                                             A very small pasty, short crust pastry and some sort of meat, quite tasty... made by Kay

Then 2 small scones with jam and cream,  very small.                           3 small finger size chocolate eclairs, (they were the ones Tesco have in their frozen section, Dh saw the  boxes they had  come out of.)                   A Mr Kiplins pink French Fancy little cake.

There was a lot more food there, cakes, Strawberry Eton Mess, Trifle, salads, dips, pies, more sandwiches, and strawberries and fruit, 

There was wine there too, but I don't drink it anymore so had 2 cups of tea.

And as I am dieting, even though it all looked delicious, I restrained myself, sort of!!!

And a heap of laughter and chat and photographs of gardens on a big flat screen TV.  The photographs were run as a slide show and were of the members' gardens. A very enjoyable afternoon at our U3a garden group monthly meeting. The bring and share food was to celebrate 30 years of the U3a in Porthcawl.  

We talked and laughed, I heard all about Caroline's Jersey holiday, now I want to go! It was a lovely, lovely afternoon.

Chrisxx

The sad side of strokes!

 If this hadn't happened to me I wouldn't believe it. People who have strokes change and some change totally.

Last year I had a phone call from an acquaintance, which was very strange. She was very upset and kept saying she was going to be arrested. I managed to get our of  that she had been able to access the 'dark web'  and that she by chance had come across some videos, that were of children being abused!

If they find out I'll be arrested she kept saying. Because she lived quite a long way from us. I phoned her brother and his reaction was, that his sister was always messing up using her computer and not so very long ago had tied herself up to an American firm, who were charging her £70 a month for a beauty cream.. anyway I did get him to go to see her, because she had phoned me again, saying that she was afraid that Social Services now know and that she was expecting the police to arrive at any moment.

When her brother arrived at her house she had more or less barricaded herself in and he had trouble getting her to let him in. He got a Dr to come to see her and she was diagnosed with some small strokes, which had affected her brain! She also had some appointments with a psychiatrist for a short time after, although she nor her family admitted to that, but a friend of her told me.

All sad and odd, why did she phone me? We don't communicate much these days. because she is still convinced that her laptop was the cause and so she won't use it any more, but she still uses her phone to access the internet!

Ah well as the saying goes...' There's none so queer as folk!'

Chrisxx

Do dogs go to heaven?

Lots of people, who have lost a dog like to think they go to heaven, and are waiting there for their owners. Its a lovely idea when the loss is very raw. When my little Mari died I arrived in work wearing dark glasses to hide my red eyes, because I had cried all evening and had hardly slept. I started to play the piano for Assembly and started to sob uncontrollably, I carried on to the end of the hymn, but then the Head came to me and said 'go home!' She was the dog I got after a miscarriage and she was almost like the baby I never had. And then we had to say good bye to out lovely Nell, I was heart broken when we had to say good bye to her, she was such a love.

Recently I've read an article where a little girl in a Sunday School class asked the teacher to pray for her dog, who had recently died. Her distress was obvious from her teary face and the Sunday School teacher said a short prayer with her for her doggy friend. But of course the Christian beliefs don't encompass animals in heaven, as they don't have souls.

What is your idea of heaven? A place of gold, somewhere where you'll see Jesus face to face, or where you'll meet loved ones, who have died, or the verse in Revelations, 21.4 'There will  be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.' No matter what the picture we see, our minds are limited to imagine something of God's.  Even our best guess of the joys that heaven holds can't come near to what it will be really like.

Because of the Christian belief that only those who believe and have a soul can enter heaven, so proves to the Christian that our animals don't have a place in the heavenly abode. 

However if you look further into the Bible, in Isiah it says animals will be in the new heaven and new earth.. 'the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard lie down with the young goat and the calf and the lion and the fatten calf together and a little child shall lead them.' There are several more verses about animals, but not dogs and cats. So do they go to heaven?  We can't imagine what it would be like.

I like this quote from Billy Graham speaking about his dog in heaven, ' I think God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness. If it takes my dog being there in heaven I believe he'll be there.'

We don't really know till we get there what it will be like. or whether our beloved dog will be there, but one thing we can be assured of is that, there'll be no lack or longing, because God's presence will be enough. 

Chrisxx

Worrying!

If you were to meet me face to face, I wouldn't appear to be worrier, but I am. It manifests itself physically by my insomnia. I can be awake night after night for no apparent reason, although not one that is obvious to anyone else.

The last few nights I've been awake worrying about a self seeded Ash Tree, well not the actual tree, but how to get rid of it, that is dig it up. It is growing between our fence and a neighbour's to the side of us.

Its on our land, as when we had the fence put up, we had it sited inside our boundary, so difficult to get to the tree from our side, as it is a solid wooden fence, they have a wrought iron one.

At the moment the tree is about 3m high, but growing fast, it could grow to 50m plus, so must come out.

Then I realised we could pay some one to do it, Prise some panels off the fence, and cut the tree down. We have a regular hedge cutter firm so not a problem.. If the fence panels get broken, we'll just have to have them replaced.. Problem solved, now I can sleep!!

Chrisxx

Gremlins

 Do you get frustrated with the ever new technology? I do and what I don't understand is how things changed in my own accounts, but its not me who's changed it!

I have several bank accounts to keep my money separate.. eg. one is solely for bill payments. So money goes in to cover our energy, phones and internet, Council Tax and water bill and anything left over is transferred into what we term the 'House' account, for repairs or replacement items. Food is paid from a different account, which is our joint account and with that Bank, we both have individual personnel accounts. To us it is simple and we know each other's passwords, although mine are changed more than I want, because there are times when my passwords don't work, but they are all written down!

I can't believe it when I get a the polite message,  ' Something is not right' and I can't get into my account, I'm inclined to loose my cool!

 When I had to phone a bank the other day I had all the ' to make sure its you' questions.. and you've guest it, I kept getting them all wrong! It was so long ago when I opened that account, years ago! In my frustration I asked the young woman to ask me a question I knew! Then I remembered when and where I opened that account, it was a three weeks after we were married, so I was able to convince her, it was me.. Anyway I added, if anyone wants to access my account to pay my Credit Card bill please let them. She didn't laugh,  Dh came to help me write down all the new passwords, which I hate, because I'd had what I thought were correct for years and I liked them and I thought I knew them! Grrrrrrr technology!

Chrisxx

HOT!!!

For the last six years of my teaching I worked part time in a school near to where I lived.. I was on a three day contract, but sometimes worked  more if the school, needed a teacher. One year I worked full time as one teacher was off on long time sick. And after that year the Head Teacher asked me if I'd like to apply for the higher teacher award. I wasn't keen, what I was earning was enough to keep me going, it was my son who pushed me to apply. I did and I got it, and it was considerably more money than I thought!

But that school was a doodle compared to some schools, where I had worked. A well organised school with a good Head teacher and I had 20 years experience, the last 8 as a senior teacher and Deputy. Also the parents were very educational conscious and took a big interest in their children's learning, so worked with their children at home.

I never forgot I had been a senior teacher and still behaved like one, so never let a child get away with anything, down to telling them to tuck their tee shirts into their trousers or skirts, when I saw it was needed. I was treated with a great deal of respect by the children and the staff.

The one summer it was hot, as hot as some days now.. on the Friday I struggled into work and even before the day began I was hot. It had been very hot all week, and I had also worked the Monday and Tuesday as extra days. When my friend phoned the night before, we laughed that here I was 63 and still working. She had retired at 58, but I really enjoyed it.

So Friday morning I was wilting, but when the Head teacher popped into my classroom, as I was writing the date on my board, I smiled even when she told me I was to have 4 extra children, as two younger teachers had phoned in sick. 'How are you faring in the heat?' she asked. I did admit that I was ready for the weekend and also I was giving my class an easy afternoon doing activities they enjoyed, while I listened to them reading their books sitting comfy in my chair, by the open door. I cheekily said , 'I hope I'll be having an afternoon cup of tea,' as she always arranged for one on a Friday afternoon.

I then said, that I hoped the two teachers weren't too bad and be alright after the weekend. She said 'I think they will as they've said they have heat exhaustion.' Without thinking I reacted with 'What??' I added that perhaps us older teaches know how to pace ourselves to keep up our stamina, or she said, 'Perhaps older teachers are more committed.'

I'm still in touch with that Head teacher and have note from her, in her Christmas card every year, I had some lovely gifts when I left and beautiful flowers too.

Chrisxx

Good news, in fact very good news,

 Yesterday I had my hospital appointment at the Urology dept, with the consultant with whom I'd had a telephone appointment last month. I was dreading it, was it going to be a cystoscopy? I hadn't had a prescription for antibiotics, so I was ready to say 'no.'

But it was fine, in fact it was better than fine it was very, very good! He explained the instances when there was blood found in my urine samples, were because my bladder was inflamed. Because when I didn't have an infection there was no blood. So not a tumour! Unlike the one Dr at the Surgery who said it could be cancer!

Such a relief,  if I could run, I'd be running through a flower meadow, jumping for joy! I'll sleep tonight because I was awake last night worrying.

Also he spoke about a new vaccine, which he has applied for the Urology Dept for persistent UTIs and I would qualify for it!! I felt like saying, give me the dotted line I'll sign now!

And he was such a nice man too, talked to me as though I had all my marbles in spite of my age! Such a relief, it has boosted my mood and I'm trying even harder to loose weight, which would help my recurrent infections.

Chrisxx

When we have the sun!

 

I have a fan on me most of the time. we don't sit out in the garden. Our patio is SW facing and temps get to 30C as the slabs are white and they reflect the sun!  

Our plants in pots sizzle and we water them every day, we're on a meter but we've never paid as much if we paid pro-rata our Council Tax, but Dwr Cymru has increased their charges to supply our water by 50%. We'll keep watering unless we're asked not to. We used to have hose pipe bans in Essex, but we did water the pots with a watering can, and watched the grass go to straw every year, But it all greened up in the Autumn.

The one benefit to me to have warm weather, my arthritis isn't as bad, but I have to be careful to keep drinking water otherwise I get a UTI.. We usually have a cold drink mid afternoon instead of tea, I have a 'Mimms' a mock Pimms.. a glass of lemonade ( sugar free) 1 tsp Balsamic  vinegar, and sliced fruit and a sprig of mint. Its really tasty and I love it.

Hope you're enjoying this weather too.

Chrisxx

Smoked salmon.

 One of the hardest thing about meals is deciding what to have.. We have loads of SW books, so no complaining about recipes, but we tend to keep to things we like. This is one we really like.....

So lunch time yesterday was smoked salmon and tagliatelle, easy to make. This serves 2.

Ingredients

150g tagliatelle

150g smoked salmon

2 Cloves garlic

100g lightest Philadelphian cheese.

Squeeze of 1/2 lemon

Chopped fresh parsley.

Method

Put pasta in pan of water and bring to the boil, simmer for 15mins

Slice garlic thinly,

Drain pasta and add garlic and chopped smoked salmon, give it a turn and a mean spray of olive oil Fry light, add cheese and mix gently and add a little of the pasta water. Mix again and give it a squeeze of lemon.

Serve with a sprinkling of parsley, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Enjoy\!

Chrisxx

A lot more of that please!

I'm sure I'm not the only person on a diet who thinks this, but this coming week its even more important for me because last week I lost 3 pounds!!! So I want to build on that loss with even more.

It seemed a long week, it always does when you stick strictly to plan. In fact chatting to another member in our SW group, she thought the same, that the week seemed to go slowly when you stick strictly to the food plan. And we did all week, but ate well, meals I like, even some ice cream with strawberries one day.

Sunday is my worse day, its the day, when I want something nice for tea! We always have a Sunday dinner cooked the SW way and yesterday we had a chicken with our own grown potatoes, carrots, and sprouting broccoli, followed by our own rhubarb with a fat free Banana Custard yogurt, all delicious ; but then tea?? I always used to have a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a piece of home made cake, or may be two pieces of cake! So it has to be some thing I really like and filling. 

Dh makes a very tasty Frittata of which half serves as Saturday lunch with a full salad, shredded white and read cabbage, our own Cos and Lolo Roso lettuce with chopped apple, pine nuts and green olives, so the rest is our Sunday tea, No cake but a fruit yogurt fills me up and its a good start to another week.

I can do this!

Chrisxx

Rods, Dogs, Old women?

 There wasn't anywhere I particularly wanted to go yesterday, but when I saw the horrendous down pour first thing, I thought oh no, it's too wet to be going out! I hate getting wet. 

But when Dh asked where I wanted to go, I said, no where.. I just wanted the option to go! Silly or what?

It came down like 'stair rods,' Isn't that a silly saying, most people say like 'cats and dogs. ' In Wales they say 'Old women and sticks!' Anyway it was very, very wet|! 

Dh dashed out into the garden for some lettuce at lunch time, one of the disadvantages of growing your own! LOL

When it did stop the impulse to to out had gone and we stayed in and watched some tennis. When Dh went to prepare our easy Thursday night meal, as its SW weigh day today, I switched to watch Garden Makeover.. One of the programs Carol Klein says doesn't teach people how to garden, but then some of us just want to look at the designs and the flowers and the water features, so we don't want to learn.

It was really good and I loved it.. and I love Blue Geraniums.

May be after SW we'll go to town for a coffee? That is unless the rods, dogs or old women don't arrive!

Chrisxx

The Leaky Roof

Dh does all the cooking and sometimes I help by sitting in the kitchen to support him, so he's not by himself and chat!! We unload and load the dishwasher together. I always do the 'leaky roof' Which is the cutlery, called this, because where we used to live in Suffolk, the kitchen was an extension and we'd had the flat roof replaced. I'd taken the cutlery basket and put it on the table to put the cutlery in the drawer.

When we had sorted out everything after our meal. We noticed there was water droplets on the table. We were both puzzled and stared up at the ceiling, looking for a leak! Dreading that there might be one.. then the penny dropped and we realised the water was from the cutlery basket and laughed and laughed..  So ever since then the cutlery basket has been known as the leaky roof!

Altho' Dh is a good cook, he can be messy, so yesterday I gave the kitchen a really good clean, including the cooker top, which was very messy. But once I don my 'marigolds' I can do anything!

I did not check in there after we'd had dinner, altho' I was tempted as we'd had stir fry, which can slop over the wok! It was a very tasty meal, chicken thighs with stir fry peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic and a sauce of honey and balsamic vinegar, I love it!

We'll keep it clean now for days.. perhaps!

Chrisxx

Stop everything......

 The bathroom needed cleaning,

The lounge windows needed cleaning,

The lounge carpet needed a vac,

The bedding needed changing,

And the washing machine had finished.

But there were 4 British girls playing tennis at Queens

So that's what we did, we sat and cheered for Emma Raducanu, Heather Watson,  Katie Boulter, and Sonay Kartal.

It was so exciting and they all won, hurrah!

We shall watch some more and keep cheering

We love watching it and so the housework was left!

When I was 10 my Aunt bought me everything to play. A pretty tennis outfit, a super tennis racket and pushed me to join the Tennis Club. I was never any good, when the ball hit my racket my arm went back and when I did hit the ball, it hardly got over the net! So I left and had piano lessons instead! I didn't mind, it didn't interest me. 

But as I've aged I've grown to love watching it.. and so does Dh!

The washing was pegged out on the line and dried, the bed was made up fresh and I did a quick swoosh of the bathroom! Windows can wait,  because there's more tennis tomorrow!

Chrisxx

Was it fun?

 If you're as old as I am you'll recognize this little photo and remember scenes of your own like it. (Photo from the internet)

The road side picnic! My daughter has a romanticize memory of these, but as it was I in charge, not me!

Each summer we made two journeys across the country from where we lived in Essex, first to the West country for our annual holiday and then here, to S Wales  to visit my family. 

No service areas in those earlier days.

I'd have made sandwiches and we had flasks of tea and the toilet was behind a bush out of sight. With 4 children it was quite a feat.. the boys were fine, but it was me who did the treading down of stinging nettles for my daughter to squat!

How much easier it was when Service areas were built and indeed the M4 motorway in 1971.  But it still took us 5 hours, more some times!

I suppose looking back it was fun in a way, but only on the days when the sun shone. We listened to Children's Favorites on the radio, singing along to Nellie the Elephant, The Run Away Train, and others like those. 

We were off on our summer holiday!

Chrisxx

Cardi Madam?

 Recently there have been items on various news feed latewy about the late Queens choice of clothes.. It has also been noticed that Princess Anne her daughter, has been photographed wearing a jacket that her mother had worn! So even the Royals do that!

It seems the late Queen liked her clothes to be bright,  saying that as she was tiny,  she might disappear in the crowds, so in bright colours   the people could still see her.

She did indeed wear some beautiful dresses and suits all with matching hats and the handbag, which she was never seen without. But how she held her bag was a signal to her personal assistant. Moving it from one arm to the other, its said, was her signal to say she wanted to leave  and  they would relieve her and make a reason for her to leave. Was that true, who knows,  but its been reported as such.

Of all her outfits the one I love is that one, top left. It was how she greeted the new Prime Minister of the day then, Liz Truss. The Queen died a short time after that meeting.

She looks frail and is wearing a pleated skirt and a cardigan. If you look you can see the button holes on the cardigan are stretched, as though they had all, at some time been used. So not just a show outfits,  but as she relaxed at home, with a cardi to keep warm!(click on the picture to enlarge it)

Nice to see, I love my cardis and have a lot, all different colours and all wool to keep me warm!

Chrisxx

Could you be in 'The Race Across the World?'

 I am loving Race Across the World this year again.  Although some people complain there are too many sob stories I think its those that make it the interesting programme it is. 

Fin and Sioned a Welsh couple are doing well, altho she felt over whelmed with the crowds and noise in China. Their openness makes one realise, its ok if you don't have everything worked out, no matter what your age. you can get through it and thrive.

I love Caroline and Tom, mother and son, she age 61 has thrown herself into it and disclosed to him that her only value she felt was,  if she was useful at home. Taking part has shown her that she had strengths she didn't know she had. I 'd like these to win!

The sisters Elizabeth 33 and Letitia  26 are so serious, but have opened up that they have only ever had a surface relationship. They obviously care a lot about each other, but there is a lot left unsaid.

Brian 62 and Mervyn 65 spent a great deal of their childhood apart in a not too happy a home.  It made it all the more emotional when they had their first photograph together in years and vowed to go on more holidays together.

Without the sob stories The Race Across the World, would still be entertaining to watch, but this extra layer serves as a reminder that every single person you cross paths with in life. has struggles you may not know about. 

The emotional parts of the show are thought inspiring, and the show wouldn't have the same impact for me without them. Its not a travel programme, its a show of lives and relationships and I love it.  

Chrisxx

Blue cleaning??

Dh and I have a cleaning order, I do 'tops' he does 'bottoms'!

So in the bathroom I clean the sink and the surround and he does the shower, which is a large walk in one. I also do the toilet.. neither one of us mind cleaning the room that a lot of people don't like to do. We both had jobs where we were shown how to clean.. me, my student nursing, Dh, the Navy. Our very first jobs too!

We bought this to clean in the shower, because its very easy to get a discoloration in the grouting.

I'm not advertising this, altho' it does work, but to say, when we were in town yesterday, there was one just like it in a charity shop window for a fraction of the price we paid only last week! 

Altho truth be told we wouldn't have known what it was if we hadn't bought one.. I had never seen anything like it before!

Dh uses it and says it does the job a treat! But then we wondered why someone would have abandoned it, as from the box  it looked as new as ours?

Rather disconcerting and why has my blog writing gone blue??

Chrisxx

Oh no!!

 Monday morning Dh took his first cuppa of the day and sat on the new bench, while I was still getting showered and dressed; the sun was glorious. We have our on line Welsh session at 9:30am and we're both often bleary eyed, even going to bed earlier the night before. I would have joined him,  but I love that first cup of tea sitting comfy in my chair with a quick flick at the news of the day. He is determined we use the new bench! 'I will sit there tomorrow,'  I said

Yesterday early it rained, much needed again for the garden, so no sitting outside. When it had stopped, off Dh went to do the peering, that gardeners do over the plants and shrubs.. I heard him call out, and went to see what the shout was about. He was standing by the Buddleia.. 'you'll never believe what I've just witnessed'.. he said. Evidently a sparrow had snatched a caterpillar, yes the one that's a good one, bashed it on the ground and then ate it!!! So that's the end of that, because when we looked there wasn't one caterpillar left. All gobbled by sparrows and they have the very best seeds, sunflower seed hearts and a peanut butter thingy to feed on, so why did they take those caterpillars, we feel cheated!!

Nature can be so cruel!

Chrisxx

Dr Appointment.

 Yesterday afternoon I had a Dr's appointment, I had been asked to attend, so the Dr could talk over with me, that letter from the consultant Urologist at the hospital.

Very nice Dr, new to me, the umpteenth one I've seen! Anyway surprise, surprise the proposed Cystoscopy date had come and gone! So the strong antibiotics I had taken was in vain.. yes they worked and killed off all the bad guys, but they also killed off some of the good ones too, so I had some uncomfortable side effects, but hey ho I survived. 

So this Dr is writing back to the Urologist to arrange for me to have the cystoscopy and I will be given anti-biotics to cover me against an infection. Beats me why an investigation that can infect a patient is deemed ok? 

He said it is important to remove the possibility of a growth. I asked what will happen when it shows NAD.. No abnormality detected? His answer, it will determine that it is not a tumour.. So it may have the same results as before and I'll just go on from one infection to the next.. not great but at least I'm having something done and if I get an UTI I'll get treatment!! But it doesn't fill me with joy, I think I'll just be one of 100s of women who have recurrent infections for no apparent reason.

Chrisxx

A good one or a bad one?

 You never know what is good or bad in a garden  Dh's mother used to stay with us, at different places over the years. She was not a gardener, and she couldn't understand why people had go out into their gardens every morning. And what were they peering at!

Last year our gooseberries were decimated by the Gooseberry Saw Fly Caterpillar before we even realised. So this year we have been vigilant and checked our two bushes every morning without fail.. no destruction of our bushes, lovely leaves but very few berries, awww!

So when Dh saw this on our Buddleia bush we looked it up. Looks nasty we thought, not a cabbage white they're bright green.. does bright colours mean its poisonous we wondered?

It is in fact the caterpillar of the Mullein moth and its quite common to find it on Buddleia leaves, but not so common where we live.

So we feel quite pleased it has decided to chose our garden and are watching now. for it to pupate and develop into this beautiful moth.

    So its a good one to have.

Chrisxx

Bikini polka dot melyn bychan

We always used to go to the library every Saturday morning, but here its not in the main street of the town, and its up stairs with a ramp for people like me, so we don't go as often. I don't understand why disabled people have to walk so much further with these U shaped ramps! I've missed going to town, so yesterday we made the effort and were in town in our favourite coffee shop by 10:00 am. There were a lot of people around, holiday makers? And white whiskery old dogs in push chairs; they always look so comfy!

Dh wanted to go to get his after shave moisturizer and I needed a card so we walked down the main street, me avoiding the broken blocks, I've seen two people trip over them so I'm very careful. I keep hearing that physio's voice saying, 'Lift your foot higher than you think!' My legs are struggling at the moment, I walked too far the other day and they keep telling me I did!.

We did sit for a while and listened to a band performing in the Band Stand, singing summer type pop songs in Welsh! It was very pleasant in the sun and enjoying the music. 

We were busy in the afternoon, Dh cut the grass and I potted up some foxglove seedlings ready for planting out in the autumn. I already have lupins and aquilegia so we should have good size plants by then.

And we are benefitting from the garden, as we're eating our own lettuce and we have sprouting broccoli all growing really well and if you need rhubarb or garlic come to us!.

A rather pleasant Saturday for us.

Chrisxx

What a shock!

My Friday started badly, I've  had a horrible weight gain, how??

 Last weekend we really pushed the boat out, extra treats on the Friday after leaving the SW group with a minimum gain, which I was ok about. Then I had a cheese toasty and chocolate tiffin at our favourite coffee shop, why? Well, we had acquired some free coffee points so had to use them! 

And Dh suggested rib of beef for Sunday dinner, which we had with 

all the trimmings which included several Yorkshire puds and Monday we had ice cream plus, plus, well it was Bank Holiday|! So easy to gain and so so difficult to get it off..so this extra weight gain is the shock I needed. The rainy days haven't helped as we only went walking one afternoon.

I know other women my age who are over weight too and think trying to lose weight at our age is silly and you should enjoy all treats at our age.. do you agree with them or do you think at any age you should attempt to lose weight?

Chrisxx

Let the light in... Liz Newman

 

Such lovely words

Chrisxx

Ellie Simmonds OBE

 We saw Ellie Simmonds win a gold medal in the 2012 Paralympics, so when I saw she was doing a documentary on her birth mother, I wanted to watch it.

She was very emotional at times, so was I watching, as she finds out why her birth mother gave her up for adoption, when she was just ten  days old. Born November 11th 1994, her mother had been told quite brutally that her baby had achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism and that her child would be disabled.  She was led to believe that Ellie would be like a circus dwarf, short of stature, flat face, bowed legs and muscular. A single mum on her own, she decided she wouldn't be able to cope.

She was adopted by a couple, who also adopted other children with disabilities and has had a wonderful up bringing in a very happy family unit.

While Ellie was talking on the subject of her birth mother, she never once blamed her for the decision to give her up. In fact when you listen to Ellie talking, she comes over as a really lovely person with a heart of gold. 

I loved the programme and then watched the second one, where she is trying to come to the decision if she should have children of her own. She is so honest and open it was very difficult not to weep a few tears with her. The option to have a child via sperm donation, where the donor sperm was normal height was an option explained to her, even that the embryo could be checked, so the implanted embryo does not have any genetic faults.. She decided she wasn't ready to go ahead at the moment. A sad time for her and too difficult a decision and tears fell. 

I shed quite a few tears myself watching her. If you haven't seen it, do, its so worth watching. (ITVX)

Chrisxx

What a palaver!!

 When I had to have a bladder catheter, it was very uncomfortable sitting, so I bought this ring, December 7th 2024.

I thought having the hole in it would be ok for the catheter,, well it was awful, it was hard and uncomfortable. So that's what I wrote in the review and so did other people write that it was hard. . It was £19.59 so I just decided to forget the money wasted.. Just another bad buy!

Anyway April this year I had an email offering me my money back plus £5.00  I thought it was a scam so forwarded the email to paypal, and their advice was not to change my review, just because the firm had offered me money. So I ignored the emails, which were now arriving every day. 

Then last week Paypal contacted me about an issue they said, where I had sold something and the recipient hadn't received it, although they had paid via paypal!! The cushion firm had complained that I hadn't given them what they had paid for! What??

It has taken me all these last few days, via chatting to an AI chat bot to convince Paypal, that its this cushion firm, who have put £25 minus £2.70 transaction fee in my paypal account and emailed me they had!

But when I did check it was  a 'pending' amount, so they hadn't actually given me anything.. their emails now were begging ones, along the lines of, 'We're being nice to you and giving you money, you could be nice to us with your review!' I just forwarded all the emails to Paypal.

Eventually Paypal have apologized for the inconvenience of all the messages,  as I have been a valued customer for 17 years! And offered me £20 as I will not be getting the refund from the cushion firm. I said no need and refused it.

What a palaver.. lesson learnt, Do not buy anything from China!!

Chrisxx

A VE Topper

 Isn't this lovely? Its just round the corner from us, so its the post box we use.

 

The crocheted topper was there before the anniversary of VE day and is now battling against the weather.

After all the weeks of sunshine and temperatures in the high twenties, it is now very wet.

We are having gusts of wind and the rain which we badly needed..

But the 'Topper' is braving it all and it looks amazing.  How lovely that someone has crocheted this.. thank you to who ever has done it.

Have any of you have one near to where you live?

Chrisxx

Dych chi' n siarad cymraig?

 I am struggling with my learning Welsh, at the moment. I do 45 mins plus  each day practising and doing the exercises. While I'm doing them I remember, but then if I move on I've forgotten some.. Is it so hard or am I just too old to learn? I get confused and unless there is a rule. I guess the words.. I'm good with 'weather' and I can say what I like or what I don't like. 

We watch Popol y Cwm, the Welsh every day soap and although we know some of the words, we miss a lot. We've tried watching children's programmes, but when its puppets their lips don't move with the words!

Some one said watch the News, because you already know what its about, so easier?? No its not! 

We can get sub titles in Welsh and that makes it so much easier, but that's not conversation.

We have Welsh lessons each Monday morning 9:30 to 12:30 and I always feel absolutely flat after it, so I must be using some 'brain energy.' 

I do like the sessions and when we're partnered up, its good to know the younger members of our group are finding it hard too. Once when I was partnered with Will, we had done the required exercise, so decided to try the past tense, so when the Tutor popped into our 'room' we got a 'no no no!!' Will,  a young man and I laughed and laughed. 

The following week when we were again partnered up.. I said... Peidiwch a'm rhoi mewn trafferth y wythnos hon!! =  Don't get me into trouble this week!! So we do have fun and because I did a very small amount of welsh, as a child my pronunciation is good.

What amazes me I can remember French words I learnt in the fifties! But I'm carrying on and still trying... Dw i eisiau i r dysgu cymraig!

Chrisxx

My Happiest Place!

 Oh dear I've neglected my blog but we have been very busy in the garden and there are only about 30 plants left to plant out.

Most of the flowers I have grown from seed on window sills.

Our new bench  bought as an anniversary present to us, which isn't till July, but we thought we'd get it now so we can sit there all summer. We're off to buy some smaller grey pavers next week, which Dh will sink into the ground for easy mowing.

And sitting there we have a good view of the garden.

This rose is the grand daughter of a rose my daughter gave me for Mothers Day 2012. Dh took 4 cuttings, which we took to Suffolk. All flourished and grew, we gave 2 away, planted 2 in our garden there and then when we moved, Dh took a cutting and here it is blooming and growing, its scent is heavenly just like Turkish Delight! Sorry I can't remember the name.

And we have figs, 12 altogether I want to make some little bags from mesh to keep the squirrels off!

All the lupins have been amazing and all grown from seed.. I have some sown already for planting out in the autumn, for next year!

One of the climbing roses and this one has a clematis with it. Taking out the old hedge and putting in a fence was a very good idea.

    Two years ago

And now the shrubs are all flourishing and beginning to flower. I only bought shrubs that would flowers.

  

I have pots all over the patio, and all are now beginning to show their worth and the buds have started to open.

This year we will have colour and that makes me so happy.

Where else can you have such happiness?

Translated ... 'To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.'

Audrey Hepburn,

Chrisxx