Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Hugs for you all @Penny_Forthem. Never easy but it's kindest for them.

I'm shattered after a long day. Managed to get a 2nd wash done before I left for patchwork at 9am and have been sociable and helpful and chatty in French all day on not enough sleep. Been a good day tho. Having a quiet flop on the sofa now before I cook dinner and then an early night for me.

Your lunch sounds good to me @Debs64 and should be appreciated. Well done on the croquet @Goldenlily26. I hope you'll carry on with it.

@Busy-Lizzie we're taking a coach then overnight ferry from Caen to Portsmouth then heading for Knoll Garden in the morning and Abbotsbury in the pm before heading to our hotel in Taunton. Day 2 is East Lambrook Gardens then Cannington Walled Garden and then Hestercoombe. I did tell them not to try and squeeze 3 into one day but there you go. The last day is Lady Farm garden then the Sir Harold Hillier garden with dinner in Portsmouth before catching the overnight ferry back to Caen and coach back to La Roche-s-Y.

@lizzie27 the embroidery is a mix of coton perlé, which is thicker than standard embroidery thread, hard wearing and slightly satiny, plus ribbons. Simple stitches each time but to good effect.

 

That sounds a lovely trip @Obelix-Vendée . I hope you will be able to post some photos. East Lambrook looks like the sort of garden I love.

I enjoyed the garden club meeting today. It was like a social event, but started off talking about the vegetables we are growing then we had tea, lots of cake and chatter about other things, then a look round our hosts' garden.

 

I'll do my best @Busy-Lizzie. I'm looking forward to Knoll Garden because I suspect Neil Lucas is rather more imaginative with grasses and perennials than Piet Oudolph whose gardens always just look messy to me. I don't have ornamental grasses - yet - and may never.

I really pushed for them to choose East Lambrook from my short list as it was created by Margery Fish on a mission to prove you can have a beautiful garden without a battalion of gardeners. Cannington walled garden is attached to a priory which has become a college and has been there since the 12th century. It was all remodelled and renewed with modern and traditional styles and re-opened in 2009.

Hestercoombe has sections from several garden eras - Georgian, Victorian and then Arts and Crafts with Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll so should be another gem. Lady Farm garden is a modern creation since 1992 so, along with Abbotsbury, should provide contrasts in planting and style. Sir Harold Hillier's garden is on the way back to Portsmouth and they can play spot the tree and shrub. Some very knowledgeable plantspeople in our club.

 

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Hello everybody. I must try again this morning to see if I can get my car booked in for the necessary repairs. Fingers crossed. Shocking news from Liverpool this morning. I cannot understand why someone would do something as callous as this on such a happy day for the football supporters. My thoughts are with the families and friends of all of those affected.
Sending love to you @Penny_Forthem.

 

Good morning to you all !!! Good morning @Ladybird4 Up at sparrow's fart as usual!

Sunny and the wind has dropped!

My sister has had an urgent operation for a oesophageal hernia- successfully. In a city called Dunedin - originally (obviously) of Scottish settlement . They let her out the following day but they stayed the night in a hotel there before driving back. No highland flings - I told her!!

Expecting a delivery this morning between 9 am and 1pm. No run for Fizz until delivery is done!!
I too, @Penny_Forthem echo everyones' sentiments here. Such a tough time ahead of you. Best hugs!!

 

Good morning all.

Yes, @Ladybird4 , shocking news from Liverpool. I hope everyone recovers.

I'm glad your sister's operation was successfull, @Tui34 and I hope she makes a good recovery.

I agree with you about Piet Oudolf's messy gardens @Obelix-Vendée , I'm not a fan of grasses, I prefer flowers. I hope it goes smoothly and you have a great time.

I expect I will be outside, weeding, today.

 

That is such good news about your sister @Tui34. Hope the recovery is quick. Definitely no tossing the caber either. Why would anyone want to do that anyway apart from the machismo?? I am with you in not being fond of grasses @Busy-Lizzie - apart from the ones I eat!

 

@Goldenlily26 you brought back some happy memories for me talking about croquet. Before my family all grew up and we left home we played croquet regularly in our back garden. Those were happy days. Hope you are not too stiff this morning.

 

We had a blustery, sunny day at the beach yesterday. Gosh the sea was cold, but exhilarating and great fun.

Bressingham and Peter Beales Roses for me and OH today. E and her parents are going crabbing and then onto the beach again. We are all planning to get off early as heavy rain is forecast this afternoon. We’ve done quite well with the weather so far given the earlier forecasts but I think our luck may be running out. Am hoping tomorrow will be more sun than showers but we will see. I have a bag full of crafting bits hidden away if we get a rainy day. Not as fancy as your crafting stash @Obelix-Vendée, this one is all toilet rolls, ribbon bobbins, coloured paper and string!

 

Sorry to hear about your dog @Penny_Forthem but a wise and kind decision.

 

Penny forthem,
What a difficult decision to make. My sympathies, having lost "my boy" just before Christmas I know how you feel. It is heartbreaking but when we take on an animal I feel it is our duty to give them as peaceful an end as possible, not let them pass away slowly in distress. It is our last act of love and caring that we can make for them, regardeless of our own feelings of wanting to keep them with us.

It has been raining steadily for a couple of hours, just what the garden needs. Still windy and grey. I have to go B&M to buy more cat litter, also need to go to the GC, I wonder if there will be any reduced bargains after the Bank Holiday. I might manage a cup of tea and buttered tea cake in the tearoom, to ease the pain of walking around in the rain.

I am still stiff and sore, I have found muscles and joints I haven't used for over 2 years, especially my thumbs and wrists from wielding my mallet. We have started to have a few more people coming to the club for the free "have a go session" and have several new members as a result. People seem to be recovering from the effect of Covid and are starting to join clubs again. It has taken a long time and I know a lot of small clubs have had to close down. My daughter's dive club has also begun to pick up again after almost folding.

I had another very quiet day yesterday, I didn't get out of my PJ's until lunchtime. Just washed some pots ready for my courgette, luffas and mini melons to be potted into and swept through the house.
My daughter called in, she and my son in law completed the endurance event. She came 3rd in the ladies long course section, out of 3 entries, so actually last! My son in law came somewhere in the middle of the men's section, he usually comes in the top 8 but he was very muscle tired as he had cut a hedge back the day before. (Not a good idea) But they both completed the long course, a sea swim alternated with a coastal path run. I thought they had gone to Wales but it was held in Charlestown, just up the road so not far to go.
Only about 60 entrants as opposed to the 120 they had last year. The sea conditions were fair this year, last year it was very bad, really rough water and strong winds so it may have put a lot of people off entering again. Last year taxed my family members who swim in the sea all year round and are used to rough water so people who only swim in swimming pools struggle. There are always safety launches but last year one lady was taken to hospital with hypothermia.
All part of the fun! Apparently.

 

@Butterfly6 if we'd been at OH's Norfolk cottage we could have met you! It's 10 mins from Bressingham and 20 mins from Peter Beales, 2 of my favourite gardens and PB is free! PB is much smaller of course but the roses are lovely at this time of year. I like that they plant perennials with the roses and there are ideas to copy for your own garden. Bressingham is big and glorious but especially good a bit later when all the summer perennials are out.

 

Good morning, all. Quite a lot to read back through, so please consider yourselves all liked, friendly or informative. So sorry to hear your update, @Penny_Forthem, hope it goes smoothly. I’m sure she enjoyed the chicken dinner. Hope the sore toe is continuing to improve, @Butterfly.
@Obelix-Vendée, I do have to have tissues handy to cope with the mouthwatering when I read your posts!
Back from our cruise on Saturday, managed not to get stuck in any bank holiday traffic jams through Dorset. Out for our usual walk, then a stop at the supermarket to restock the fridge on Sunday, OH’s birthday so we had a roast lunch, and he watched the Grand Prix. Yesterday seemed to be taken up with unpacking and laundry, but it’s nearly all done, and the cases have been put away. We had a lovely time, very relaxing, and we were lucky with the weather. A bit cool and windy, but a lot of sun, and smooth seas. We didn’t do a huge amount, have visited most of the ports before, but it was a huge ship, and just wandering around it provided quite a lot of exercise! It was great not to have to concern myself with any household chores, food and drink on tap, and wonderful views thrown in for good measure. I’m looking to book another one!
Grey and light drizzle this morning. Forecast for tomorrow is sun and dry, we have two green bins to fill by tomorrow night, so have set the day aside for pruning and attacking the rhododendrons ponticum, all obligingly in flower at the moment, so easy to identify.

 

Good morning. I've been busy ordering new glasses this morning. Long and complicated performance these days and only the 2nd time for me so still a novelty. My new specs will be clever with reflective, blue light filtering, progressive lenses for normal viewing but also magnetic "clip on" solar lenses for day driving and yellow clip ons for night time dazzle driving. Impressed.

It's grey here but fairly warm. The clouds look desperate to do a dump but none is forecast till Sunday when we should get a dribble with thunder and co. I have household jobs to do today - needs must sometimes - and then maybe a bit of pottering in the veg plot.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise @Ergates. Not sure it's for me tho.

I'd love to visit Bressingham again @Butterfly6 and @Busy-Lizzie. I remember visiting in the late 80s and paying £6 for a small pot of ophiopogon planescarpus nigrescens which was newly introduced and hard to find. Then I found out how easily it propagated itself when happy. Ha! I really would like to see it again now that all those conifers are mature and are being crown lifted and shaped to make views and vistas thru and round them.

Not keen on bog standard conifers either and more interesting ones are hard to find and expensive here but I have 3 magnolias waiting to be planted and they'll do nicely - Star Wars, Butterfly and soulangiana.

 

A very bleary -eyed morning to you all. Unfortunately I've been awake since 4am, woke up all hot and bothered and couldn't get back to sleep so crept out of bed for a cuppa. Weather forecaster said is was 13.4c outside but 20.6 inside - no wonder I was hot! I did check but the radiators weren't on either. Tried to snooze again at 5.30, not a chance, tried again at 9.30 am after OH had gone out, same result. Isn't it so annoying?

It's been raining steadily since 9 ish so no gardening likely. Not sure what I'll do today , I suppose there's always H/W.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise @Ergates although I must admit I'd rather stay in a nice hotel on dry land.

Your daughter and her family sound much like my son and his, @Goldenlily26, they are all very sporty and like doing things at weekends. They're in Bude this week hoping for some good surfing although when I checked the forecast wasn't brilliant. Good job they've got their wet suits!