Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

It did, thank you @Ladybird4. We have a new member who emailed me yesterday asking for info which I duly sent and then, as she was interested, I invited her to come and see us today. She did, liked our welcome and activities and signed up even tho we only have 3 months left of this year.

As it's hols and many absent on grandma duty we on t'committee got out all the strips for our Patch Corse project to trim them to size ready for assembly. It's a system evolved by Corsican women who would take all their fabric scraps up the mountains with the sheep and goats on summer pasture and spend their time sewing them up to make double sided quilts - one darkish for autumn and winter and one light for spring and summer. The whole thing is then quilted using embroidery and red thread.

I'm also learning to crochet which seems to me the work of the devil - fiendishly complicated and easy to go wrong. I shall finish what I've started but not, I think, become addicted like others.

Sorry you didn't get your op @Penny_Forthem and trust it will go ahead on Thursday as planned.

Glad you enjoyed your bonsai @Allotment Boy.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

 

Evening everybody, haven't done much today because I developed a very sore throat late yesterday evening and even after dosing myself up, slept very badly. Had to force myself into town (with a mask on) for a much needed haircut as I didn't want to let my hairdresser down at the last moment. Came home and went to bed all afternoon. Impeccably bad timing as we've things planned for the next few days. No idea where I picked the cold up, haven't had one for well over a year, most probably at the hospital on Friday but who knows.

Anyway, not so bad as a broken arm, I'm so sorry your op was postponed till Thursday @Penny_Forthem.

One of OH's nephews is into bonsai and recently took his favourite piece over to Belgium for a big exhibition. He said the paperwork to take anything wooden into the EU was horrendous and completely over the top.

Hope the funerals go ok @Tui34 and @Ladybird4.

That's fascinating stuff about the origin of that patchwork style @Obelix-Vendée. A labour of love indeed.

 

Good evening all. I posted earlier but it seems to have disappeared!!

I hope the funeral is a nice one tomorrow @Ladybird4

Rather a nuisance for you @Penny_Forthem especially if you hadn't had anything to eat beforehand.

@Allotment Boy My sister gave me a Bonsai "kit" so I have seeds dormant in the fridge for another couple of months....it's going to take years to get them (5) to a decent stage. Ho hum - it's a project!!

Early start tomorrow with the ladies at the church to organise some readings and music.

 

Hello all.

Just realised I haven't posted here since Saturday.

Sorry about @lizzie27 's cold, @Penny_Forthem's postponed op and @Tui34 and @Ladybird4's funeral days. Had a laugh about @redstar's daffodil lady!

The last few days have been warm and sunny so I've been busy in the garden. Want to get it all sorted before we go back to Norfolk on the 14th. I just hope the new handyman comes and waters and mows when necessary. He broke his appointment on Friday, not the first time. He says he doesn't have a phone signal where he lives so he's very hard to get hold of.

The tractor mower is still at the mower servicing place. We need it badly. OH has mown with the electric battery mower but it isn't tough enough for the rough bits. I also need to show the handyman how it works.

The battery, not rechargeable, ran out on the electric fence that I put up to stop the deer eating my roses. Local place hadn't got one so we had to go to the big farm supplies place on the outskirts of Périgueux. Luckily they had one. It's very near Le Grand Frais, the wonderful food store, so we went there too. We had huge prawns in garlic, lemon and parsley butter for dinner with salad.

 

Good evening, thought you might be interested to know a bit more about our trip. The hotel we stayed in was called Bestwood Lodge.in the middle of a country park. It was once the site of a Royal hunting lodge, gifted to Nel Gwynne by Charles 11. The current building was construction in the Victorian era. It was very quiet, but we got talking to another couple at breakfast, it transpired that they had grown up close to where my wife was, and they have a son at Nottingham University , they had visited frequently so gave us good tips for places to visit. They suggested a small town Southwell. We visited a Cathedral there where there was an exhibition of panels illustrating bible scenes in Applique & embroidery. We are not religious, but as artwork it was fascinating to see. @Obelix-Vendée , I think you in particular would appreciate the work involved, apparently it took the artist 10 years to complete the 44 panels, you could see the progression in complexity from the early to the later panels. The illustrations are of themes such as creation, resurrection, etc.

 

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Hello there one and all. @Obelix-Vendée crocheting is one of the things I haven't managed to learn yet though I do try. I knit as you know and would love to be able to crochet but increasing arthritic problems particularly in my right hand make fine movement a struggle.
Sorry to read that you have caught a cold @lizzie27 and I hope it doesn't spoil your plans too much though you need to take care of yourself. Stunning pictures @Allotment Boy. Thank you for sharing them.

 

Good morning all.

That sounds very interesting @Allotment Boy. Glad you are enjoying it.

Cold this morning but the sun ☀️ is shining.

We are going to lunch with old friends. They live near my old house. I don't see so much of them since I moved house. I need a break from gardening. My hands are aching.

 

I can’t believe it’s already time for you to go back to Norfolk @Busy-Lizzie ito ,y seems a moment since you were travelling back to France.

OH and I used to stay over in Southwell many moons ago. OH was working at Nottingham University and we used to enjoy meeting up weekends and touring the Peak District.

I have has a brief try at crochet but found it completely baffling. My tutor was a very impatient big sister but not sure I would have fared better with anyone else.

Sorry to hear about your op @Penny_Forthem

 

Thanks for the comments, if anyone is interested, look up Southwell Minster, much clearer explanation than I gave. The exhibition is called threads through the bible, it's going to be in York and Bath later in the year. The photos do not do them justice.

Meant to say before, sorry you have your op postponed @Penny_Forthem , hope it goes alright on Thursday.

 

Good morning. Sunny here but still chilly. It will warm up later tho. OH is golfing and has been sent off slathered in factor 50 and with a tube of it in his bag. He's been resistant to sunscreen this early in the year but came home on Sunday looking lobster like.

I have a bit of admin to do today - trying to organise our patch club lunch which means managing menu choices but also a vegetarian with extreme allergies to anything that lives in the sea and intolerances to spices, leeks, onions, cabbage family..... plus a type 1 diabetic so no sugar anywhere.

After that, chilli sowing, tomato watering and a check on the chooks. Then I'm going to try and find a suitable box to make a nest for the visitor in case it's a pregnant cat and needs a safe place to have her kitttens.

As for crochet, we had a full day workshop last Monday and I decided to have a go and learn basic granny squares to make a bag. I will persevere but can't see me crocheting clothes, scarves or amigurimi - little Japanese origin figures of caterpillars, dogs, cats, family groups. Amigurumi.com - Get wonderful amigurumi patterns! Not my thing at all.

Enjoy your lunch @Busy-Lizzie and I hope th erest is good for your hands. Have you tried taking turmeric/curcuma with black pepper? It helps me. Glucosamine is another good supplement.

Sorry about your cold @lizzie27 - shock to the system when you haven't had one for ages. Hope it passes soon.

Don't you love this time of year when all the roses are looking boony with new, bronze tinted foliage, no blemishes and flower buds forming. My Fairy in a pot is flowering already. I was given a cutting of Complicata a couple of Novembers ago at the annual plant swap and it is now on a world takeover bid so I need to rescue plants around it.

 

I was feeling pretty down yesterday. Apparently, I'm on his elective list for Thursday, so should get done. If I don't, it will be getting to the cut off time. Thanks for al your good wishes.
Love the bonsai and panels @Allotment Boy, thank you.
And (one armed) hugs to all with sore throats, achy hands, grief, and general trials.
I must get my kindle set up today.

 

@Penny_Forthem

 

Good afternoon

Another gorgeous day. It was a chilly start but is pleasant now. I went to town this morning to get some fish and cheese from the market and some dried fruit from the deli. Well stocked up with fish now and most of it stowed in the freezer (but some bream for tonight). The fish monger will be away over Easter, so I thought we should stock up just in case we don’t get to town next week.

I pottered in the garden yesterday, trimming a few shrubs back a bit as this weather has encouraged them to put on a growth spurt. If I leave them, they’ll become too big over the summer.

I agree about the roses starting to look healthy and lush, with buds beginning to develop (well, most of them, I’ve a couple of new ones looking a bit sad, but will keep watering them and hoping for improvement). I absolutely love this time of year, when everything is gradually coming back to life.

Sending a hug @Penny_Forthem, and hoping the op goes ahead as planned on Thursday.

 

Thank you @Ladybird4
I do hope everything goes well for you today.
I've pruned the buddleja back to about 8ft. It is clearly a very old plant, and has a thick, woody stem upto about 6ft. It probably needs replacing, but I'll see how it flowers this year.
I couldn't bring myself to reduce it to 1ft.

 

Thank you @Ladybird4
I do hope everything goes well for you today.
I've pruned the buddleja back to about 8ft. It is clearly a very old plant, and has a thick, woody stem upto about 6ft. It probably needs replacing, but I'll see how it flowers this year.
I couldn't bring myself to reduce it to 1ft.