Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good morning @Debs64 you sneaked in whilst I was typing my post. I hope your work today goes without any unpleasant incidents. Enjoy an 'unwind' with your sister and friend tonight.

 

@Liriodendron, I have had a reply from my friend about the Irish apple tree in the collection and it is one called Sam Young. Raised in the the south of Ireland circa1819.

 

Good morning to you all!!

Just popping in to say hello - need to get moving.

 

Good morning all.

Oops @Ladybird4! I skimmed through the posts as I was busy cooking 2 days meals for daughter's visit. I post on another forum and several WhatsApps, can be confusing!

 

Oh, bother, my post is included in the quote. The bit from "Now a friend".

 

No worries @Busy-Lizzie. You are living up to your name and must be very excited about the visitors. Just watch that back of yours. When we went to Holkham Hall there was a fair on and my Mum bought a set of lovely crockery from there which we had to carry of course - in fear and dread that we might drop them!

 

Good morning all.
Yesterday I was "on the road". A final shop before the family from Canada and the Isle of Wight descend at the week-end for my sister's wake.
I had to go to the butcher in Heligan Gardens to buy a large enough joint of gammon for 9 people. Fatal. I was tempted to buy a couple of ox tongues to pickle, they are in the freezer to deal with another day. I bought some locally produced goodies for my ex, it is his 85th birthday in a weeks time so I will ask my son to take the parcel when they go to see him.
I also bought lots more that I didn't know I needed! Like a piece of a new Cheddar they are trialing. I had a taste test of 3, it is delicious. It was supposed to be for cooking but is too nice. I stopped off at the local Co-Op to complete my shop on the way home.
I was absolutely exhausted when I came home, managed to unpack the shopping then fell into my recliner and stayed there for the rest of the day. Managed to summon up enough strength to start cooking the gammon overnight in my slow cooker, will finish it off today.
The whole family are going to a local hostelry for Sunday lunch and then back to my daughter's for a cold table buffet later in the day, hopefully after a beach walk, weather permitting.
I am thinking of visiting a local charity shop as I have a 4yrs old coming, I am sure her mother will bring things with her because I have nothing suitable for a child of that age to play with. She can take anything I find home if she wants to, or they can go back to the charity shop. Things from other people are always more interesting than your own belongings aren't they?
I must get washed and dressed and crack on.

 

Morning folks. I slept well so having some coffees and a potter before work this afternoon.

Charity shop idea is good @Goldenlily26 - very thoughtful. At 4, some crayons would be suitable. I used to love doing colouring with my nieces / very therapeutic for adults too!

Have a good day everyone.

 

Good morning all!

Thanks, @Ladybird4 , for asking your friend about the Irish apple tree. It's not one I've heard of - but many of these "rescued" varieties are named after the person who grew the parent tree from a pip. (Presumably my "Haddock's Favourite" is named after Mr Haddock, rather than the fish.) Some we considered planting just because we liked the name - "Foursquare", "Green Chisel", "Irish Peach", "Strippy"... Your photos of the flowering trees shows the diversity as well as the beauty of the flowers. Lovely!

@Goldenlily26 - I've found you're absolutely right about visiting children finding delight in toys and books different from those they have at home. Hope you find something in the charity shop which the 4-year-old loves.

 

Good morning. Cool and grey here with no sign of the sunny spells but dry. OH is out all day playing golf and I should be having athin day and gardening but I'm still having disturbed night with the sinusitis and need some comfort. I shall restrict myself to checking for more seedlings needing potting on and dividing the 4 plants I bought at the fair on Sunday. One is a deep, coral red version of sea pink so I hope it divides well.

When I was looking for apple trees I very nearly went to local old varieties from a conservation nursery at a horticulture and agricultural college near Luçon. Theyy too have fabulous names but then I found a Scottish nursery had sold up at home and bought a chateau about an hour away to start a B&B with nursery and they had a Bramley Seedling and a Cox's Orange Pippin needing homes. There isn't a French apple I've found that behaves like either when cooked. Bramleys are triploids so I also bought a Braeburn and a crab apple for pollination.

Great idea for the visiting children @Goldenlily but beware crayons. My mum's stair wall was decorated with wax crayon when she had small people to stay with their distracted mother. Not mine! I hope the wake goes well and you enjoy catching up with all the inbound rellies.

Enjoy your visitors @Busy-Lizzie. It'll be hectic but fun, I'm sure.

Take care, everyone and enjoy your day, whatever you're doing.

 

Good morning all,

After a bright start, the cloud seems to be building up a bit now although no rain is forecast.

I’d not heard that about St George’s day and not having a Saints day the week before or after Easter - that’s a new one on me. I will stick with the 23rd. Plus, no one told the calendar and diary publishers, as they have it marked as the 23rd April. Is it the same then if Easter fall close to St Patrick’s day?

 

A little suggestion for your 4 year old @Goldenlily26 Connect 4 and Dominoes are easy for pre-schoolers. The only snag is that you have to play them with her!!

 

Nothing extra special today. continuing the same stuff as yesterday. But bills/checks all written and in the mail.
Beautiful weather today. have a good one all.

 

Good afternoon, we had a slow start as we were out last night. Fleetwood Mac by candlelight in St Albans Cathedral. So we weren't home till nearly 11pm. It was OK, some tribute bands are really good, one we saw in Edinburgh was better than last night. Still it made a change. Still trying to get the raspberry cage set up on plots so I can plant the new canes. After a cold grey start it's really warmed up here.
Regards to all.

 

I have been up to my eyes in roast gammon, shepherd's pie, mashed potatoes, quiche and fresh mixed fruit salad. Finding suitable dishes to put them all in to convey in the back of my car, to my daughter tomorrow.
I had a couple of slithers of gammon in a roll for lunch. Well, I like it, even if no else does! I have spent quite a lot of time flat on my back, on the sofa, with my legs up along the back, resting my back and shoulders.
So frustrating!
I emptied and washed out the cat litter tray, it is huge, really it is a container to put over a manhole and grow plants in. I used one in my previous garden, made it into a small pond with a fountain. It makes a good litter tray as it is nice and deep and "almost" stops Poppy from kicking the litter out over the floor. The area it covers is about the same as 6 seed trays next to each other so much bigger than the traditional litter trays.
I will take the food to my daughter tomorrow and then go and have a look in the charity shop for some toys. I hope the games come with instruction books, I am too old to have played with Connect etc. an abacus is more my thing! I have Pic a Stick and Sequence. No dominoes.