So true...on days when I've had a really bad night I think these..
Monday, 30 September 2024
What is a luxury?
Sunday, 29 September 2024
Porthcawl Elvis Festival [ Day 2 Sept 28 Afternoon] (6 Locations in 4 mi...
Saturday, 28 September 2024
Raining!
What do you do when it rains and rains and rains? We are always sorry when we see news reports, that people's homes are flooded, it must be awful. Perhaps I should be more grateful that we have those steps to get into our lounge at the back and there's a step up into our front door. So not easy for water to leak into our home, although a couple of nights ago we were up at 3:00am checking outside, because the rain was torrential and our gutters were over flowing. We'd had them cleaned a short while ago, so no problems with them, but it was frightening to see the water overflowing out of them like a waterfall, the rain was so heavy.
We were the only people looking out of our front door, just checking we were alright. Perhaps everybody else was sleeping through it, although it was so loud we were woken by it. Dh closed our fanlight window just to make sure no water came in.
Then we had tea and toast and read for a while sitting in our arm chairs.. we didn't go back to bed till 5 when the rain had lessened and I slept till 9.. so didn't feel too bad the next day.
And it did stop late morning for a short while and we had some sunshine. I walked around the garden checking the plants, a chrysanthemum needed a stake, but everything else was fine. Although our lawn was covered with leaves and the keys from the Sycamore trees that grow along the drive way of St Clares, the private school about 70 yds from our property. They sprout and grow every where and Mountain Ash trees, even in the middle of our hedges. We had a warming lamb broth for lunch and then the rain came back and so we read our books.. Dh has read more books than he usually does this year and I have just finished my 58th..But mid afternoon we decided to drive to the sea front and have an ice cream and we did and it was lovely.
Friday, yesterday, it was a gloriously sunshiny day and in the afternoon, Dh planted some Brussel Sprout plants. They will be grown by Christmas 2025! So nicely covered with an environmesh to protect against the Cabbage White butterfly and surrounded by bio slug pellets. Garlic will go in tomorrow.... All our other veg is now finished, just some carrots and we do have grapes still ripening. We've had another bumper crop of tomatoes, which have been delicious.
There's always something to do in a garden and the heavy rain has watered in the new plants!! Well actually practically washed them away!
So what do you do when it rains and rains and rains?
Chrisxx
Friday, 27 September 2024
TIFFIN
We love the chocolate Tiffin you can get in coffee shops but I used to make this a lot for my children and me and I still love it!
Ingredients
150g Rich Tea biscuits or a similar not Digestives they are too soft.
175 g Butter
200 g Sultanas or a mixture of 150 Sultanas and 50g Glace Cherries, halved.
150 dark chocolate (Greens?)
200g Cooking Chocolate
100 g Golden Syrup
METHOD
In a bag crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, but not to dust, leave some chunks.
Put chocolate, butter and syrup in a bowl and either melt all over a pan of hot water or in a Microwave.
Then fold in broken biscuits and fruit and mix thoroughly into the melted choc mixture.
Then pour into a butter greased pan.
Leave to cool..
Enjoy!
Chrisxx
Wednesday, 25 September 2024
A whole year.
Its been a whole year since we said good bye to our lovely Nell. She was such a cutie although she had her own mind!
We still miss her and although I wanted another dog, Dh said he couldn't cope with the loss of a dog again. Then suddenly about a couple of months ago he said, 'yes lets get another one.'
So we talked and talked about it. Here, this bungalow to get into the back garden you have to use the French doors in the lounge, so not good for a dog coming in from the garden on a pale silver green carpet, but we could cover it?... So we're still talking and lately we've noticed dogs in our favourite coffee shop, has become dog friendly!
This was on a FB page and could have been Nell!
Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Autumn Garden
We had our young gardener on Thursday afternoon and she weeded our 'L' shaped flower bed which gave us the push to get the others straight for the winter and the weather was perfect for us, not too hot. We cut down the Buddleia which was huge.. so we're happy with the garden, although I need to sort out the dahlias for their winter sleep! I'm very pleased with my Autumn flowers, Michaelmas Daises, Chrysanthemums, and Rudbeckia..
I want to buy a whole lot of more daffs for our back garden.. so another trip out for garden stuff which we love!
So pleased with my plants I bought the other week, all reduced and now in my garden.
So we're looking very Autumn, which is good although the thought of winter on the way is depressing, I need to buy some new jigsaws to keep happily busy!
At the moment rain has stopped play in the garden!
How is yours?
Chrisxx
Friday, 20 September 2024
Victor Meldrew???
My darling husband (Dh) is a real love, kind, loving and patient but now and then he gets a 'bee in his bonnet' and can be like a real Victor Meldrew.
Here in Wales everything is recycled and so Dh prides himself in us only having a very small amount in our blue sack, rubbish bag.. so the other week he was insensed when someone put a bulging blue sack outside our drive way, when ours was practically empty. He went on and on about it, I said go and put it outside some one else's house. Of course he didn't, but he wasn't happy.
We also have, as well as various bags for different stuff, a lidded bin for food waste.. which we do use. The younger couple down the way from us obviously don't, as the sea gulls attack her blue sack and rubbish gets strewn all over the road. Dh moans about that too, but I just laugh.. and I always say to him, we're too old to get het up about things outside our control, but he does still have a moan!
When we were talking about it, I'd said in jest.. don't go outside in your pyjamas like Victor Meldrew did, if there's a noise....... remembering the episode in 'One Foot in the Grave,' when Victor arrived back in the bedroom with a dead hedgehog on his foot. And we laughed and laughed!
Well what else can you do?
Chrisxx
Thursday, 19 September 2024
OLD?
Although we have our groceries delivered we do pop to Tesco every few weeks for yogurts and sometimes extra fruit. We choose a quiet time, usually Monday afternoon as we've learnt our lesson going at another time, when it turned out to be very busy and it was hell! Just something else that's changed for us as we have got older.. we used to love shopping together and used to go a Friday afternoon when Dh finished work.
Its so strange how your 'likes' change as you age. I used to love walking on the beach, now I choose to walk on the prom and look down at the beach. I worry how my feet sink into the sand and I fear over balancing.
At our Book Group meeting yesterday afternoon, we talked about books we'd read over the summer.. One member talked about what are now called 'Beach Read' Easy romance type books and she mentioned several authors, whose books, I used to read all the time, now I find them not to my taste. Of course I didn't say that then. I had read the most books, and was asked how I had time,? My answer was 'I classed it as a hobby and gave it a priority in my life.' Years ago I would never have spent an afternoon reading, I did useless things like vacuuming a carpet that didn't really need it, because that's what I always did.
I've definitely changed over the years.. I do a lot less cleaning, every where is cleaned once a week, except for the toilet and the wash basin which is cleaned every day and the shower every other. The kitchen is tidied and cleaned after dinner each evening, although floors, unless dirty are washed with an easy swish mop once a week. Windows?? We hate doing them, we have a window cleaner for outside and we do inside now and then!
Why make work for yourself? We go out more......... for coffee, to meet people we know, for a walk, to meet up with SW friends, the gardening group and to join with others for the singalong group, to blow away the cobwebs..Just enjoying what we like to do! And we go to bed earlier too, so must be really old!
Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Such a good book.
This is the second book I've read by the latest new author I've discovered this year, Andrea Mara is a crime author living in Dublin, where this book is set.
It starts with every parents worse nightmare, Marissa goes to collect her son, Milo from a friends house where he'd been for a play date, only to find that not only was her son not there, but the woman who lives there isn't the mother she knows, nor is she the nanny, she doesn't have Milo. And so begins her nightmare, Milo is missing.
As the story enfolds we are drawn into the friendship between Marissa and Jenny, the mother of the boy Milo was supposed to be visiting and surprisingly with Esther, the owner of the house where Milo was supposed to be. The 'school gate' mums and the gossip added to the story and such a true occurrence, in real life. Its full of twists and turns and kept me guessing right up to the last few pages.
Written well, the characters were well drawn and very likable. I really enjoyed this story and am delighted to have found another author whose books I really enjoy. I shall be reading a lot more books by Andrea Mara.
Chrisxx
Monday, 16 September 2024
A nasty arrived... Am I bovvered??
I've had my first nasty comment, anonymous of course, not bad for 16 years of blogging. I shall leave the settings as they are for the moment, but if any more arrive I shall not allow anonymous comments like Hannah does.. if you want to make a comment Miss/ Mr Anonymous sign your name!
It didn't phase me, I don't write nasty things!
A very pleasant Sunday, sun's shining and we are forecast good warm weather for the next week, which means we can get the garden straight. Very poor dahlias this year, so I want to dig them up now although early, we garden when we are able not necessarily the right time. Next year I'm going to leave them in pots and stand the pots in the flower beds to reduce the slug and snail damage. I'll do like Monty and cover the pot holes with some gauze to stop the little b****rs coming in that way!
We've been to a garden centre in the week, so our front trough is newly planted and looks very nice. I had to open the front door last evening before bed to look at it! Dh has pruned the shrubs we planted in a corner in our front garden, so that looks very tidy too, we have to keep up with the neighbours, although we're the only gardeners, the other houses are all driveways!
When we were in the garden centre, I did a very Welsh thing and stopped to say Hello to a little old lady with her wheels, as I was trundling along with mine.. criky I don't think she had spoken to anyone for days, as I had her full medical history and her tussle with Social Services.. so that was interesting but I left her smiling.
We have a nice selection of plants now in the trough (we didn't realise the front door was open)
We didn't cook a Sunday dinner, but went out to a local hotel with the U3a lunch group. I had pork, with roast pots, roast root veg, cauliflower cheese and gravy followed by Vanilla Cheese Cake, raspberry couli and ice cream and very tasty it was too. And very interesting conversations too, nice to chat! Its true 'Life' is made up of lots of pleasant moments which make it rich, so a very nice weekend.
And for us now, a very lean week food wise till weigh in on Friday!