Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

I am hoping GW is as nice this week as it was last week when Adam presented it, so I'm saying goodnight now and I'll see you all tomorrow.

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When they're happily finding all sorts of bugs and grubs in the soil @Ladybird4 one of our chooks lays 70+g whoppers and the other about 60 to 65g so this is definitely below par.

 

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Hello everyone. Hoorah for the cooler temperatures as I had a better sleep last night. I can see patches of blue sky through fluffy white clouds. It will be gardening for me today and oddly enough a task regarding tomatoes mentioned by Monty on last night's GW was already on the top of my 'to do' list. Thanks for the info about the chook eggs @Obelix-Vendée. 65g - 70g are the approximate weights of the large free range eggs I get from my milkman. I hope you all have a super weekend as we move into Autumn.

 

Good morning. I was having a good sleep till Minstrel came in at 5am announcing she was wet and needed drying before she could eat her mouse. Lovely. OH is going deaf and sleeps thru such distractions.

We have heavy drizzle now but not proper rain. That'll be nice for OH when he takes the fridge freezer to the dump. Lots of glass shelves for me and my seed trays. Looks like sewing or house-ing for me today.

Our chooks are clearly having a hard time finding juicy grubs, bugs and snails @Ladybird4

Happy Saturday, whatever you're doing.

 

Morning one and all. Still no rain. We're in drought now.
We are 'at home' this weekend, as we want new pooch to settle into our routine a bit more, before we go back to the van. He's doing so well, bless him, as are our other dogs.
We enjoyed our meal out last night and it was the perfect evening to enjoy our table with a village view.


I haven't been sleeping particularly well recently, but I was hoping for a good night, with no alarm. Some hope. Awake my usual 2 hours in the night, then tree surgeons started up at just gone 7.30.

 

Good morning all.

My back still hurts so I expect it will be another take it easy day on the sofa. A bit frustrating as this will be the only dry day, according to Meteo France, for the next week. I have taken co-codamol.

 

Morning all.

How frustrating, @Busy-Lizzie . Hope your back begins to ease soon!

Are your tomatoes growing outside, @Ladybird4 ? If the summers continue to be very warm I might try a few plants outdoors. Blight is always a possibility in the west of Ireland, though. I'll have a think.

We used to shut the bedroom door when we had outdoor cats, or we'd be given "presents" in the middle of the night, @Obelix-Vendée . Maybe selfish of us, but necessary when OH had to get up to teach the next morning. But our last, indoor, cat used to sleep on (or occasionally, in) our bed...

Best wishes to Jinx!

 

I feel I spend most of my time in my recliner. If I eased off any more, I would be permanently horizontal, which is so bad for me! I seem to need to be doing something, although I have always thought of myself as lazy. Maybe it comes from having grown up in a guest house, and everyone having jobs to do. My very first job was carrying jugs of hot water to each guest's bedroom each morning, knocking on the door and calling out politely, "Hot water!" I never went inside the bedrooms until I was old enough to carry the tea trays. No en-suites or tea-making facilities in 1948. 1 bathroom between 14 guests, and book the bathroom in advance if you want a bath.
A full English breakfast, a light salad lunch, or a packed lunch to take to the beach, and a 3-course cooked meal in the evening.
7 guineas. £7.07shillings, £7.35p I think in today's money.

My daughter and I went to the RSPCA centre with 4 dustbin liner bags full of bath sheets, hand towels for the cats, dog's toys, dog towels, beds, and food pouches. It was a real wrench with one of the beds, when I picked it up it still smelled of Rob. We did go and look at the cats waiting to be rehomed, they only had 6, each sweet in their own way, all but one, young Mums recovering from having litters, but my heart went out to one, we couldn't see it, hiding in a pet carrier under a cover. It had been the pet of a small boy, but an accommodation move had necessitated the cat being rehomed, and it is heartbroken, missing its young owner.
My daughter kindly carried my heavy rubbish bags up to my wheelie bin and generally got me organised. We stopped on the way home at a weird collection of businesses, almost on a roundabout, for a coffee. All of the shops were organic, natural, vegan etc. I was appalled to see the prices in the restaurant; every meal was £18.00 plus. Certainly, you had a generous portion but mainly salads and veg smoothies. etc. I need to go out more! I think my BP was down as I was feeling rather rubbish so didn't want to explore the rest of the stalls in the market area etc. Maybe another day.

I was shattered when I got home so watched not a lot on the TV. apart from Gardeners World. Is Monty gradually cutting down on his appearances, he seems to be taking more and more time off? I did make some more apple juice. My project today is to find my demi johns in the shed. It is overcast and chilly, we keep having heavy mini down pours so no outdoor jobs. I use the sterilizing solution used for sterilizing babies bottles etc. Much easier than boiling in water or juggling with slippery glass from a hot oven. I must also check my supply of wine making yeast, I may have to order some fresh, from online.

Have a great weekend everyone. Cooler, wetter, windier.

 

Afternoon all. Having a lazy afternoon here whilst the rain does the thing. A little pang of sadness that Summer seems to be over. Hey ho - but I love the changing of the seasons.

Enjoying this podcast “As the seasons turn”:

https://ffern.co/podcast

Take care all - especially those with aches or ailments.

 

Afternoon everybody. It is indeed autumnal today, had to dig out a jumper. Had a shock this morning as I had volunteered to drive OH to the station, he's gone to London again. It was 7 am when we left! Not used to that so didn't quite know what to do with myself when I got back at half past. A coffee and half a left over slice of cake did the trick though. I had thought I'd start trimming the front hedge but it started drizzling and was windy so that was that.
Managed to idle the time away until my friend arrived later and I took her up to the farm kitchen we'd visited last week. Still not impressed as they'd run out of scones and cream and had only a few cakes left. This was just before lunch and yes, they were busier than before but need to up their game. A latte and a smallish slice of cake was over £11.

I thought the same about Monty @Goldenlily26, he looks tired I think so I'm wondering if this is his last series? Hope Adam takes over soon.
My recliner is on the blink I think, one of the buttons is misbehaving and doesn't stop when I want to get off so I get tipped onto my feet! It was my mother's so now over 18 years old - is that old for an electric recliner?

I'd lock the cats inside and downstairs if possible @Obelix-Vendée, certainly wouldn't put up with being woken up early with 'presents'. How's OH going to manage man handling a dead fridge freezer to the tip?

Sorry about the bad back @Busy-Lizzie.

 

Good evening all. Well I am rugbied out today. I am sure that your new pooch will quickly learn the routines @Penny_Forthem. Have you finalised his name now or still working on it? I have a rubbish sleep pattern these days. I am so sorry that you are still suffering with your back @Busy-Lizzie as I think constant pain could be very wearing. Hope that the co-codamol works and you don't suffer any of its side effects! @Liriodendron my tomatoes are in my greenhouse but next year I am definitely going to grow them outside. I always grow Gardeners Delight as I love their sweetness. This year they have not done so well due, I think. to the heat extremes. I forgot all about greenhouse shading! @Goldenlily26 I was deeply moved by your tale about the timid cat and it missing its young owner. I did wonder how sad the young owner might be feeling too. Good grief @lizzie27 that is an eye watering amount to pay for a latte and cake. I would defintely pass on that yet I can feel some sympathy for the farm kitchen as their overheads must have shot up recently. I have to 'fess up that your description of the electric recliner brought visions of you being shot in the air as if being launched from an ejector seat and I did smile! Sorry
I am signing out for today. I wish you all good night and pleasant dreams later. See you all tomorrow.

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Good evening. Busy day earlier vaccing and steam cleaning annex floors after heping OH heave the dead fridge freezer into the back of the Zafira. It only stuck out a bit so was fine to go to the dump but goodness he was grumpy! 3.5 days of golf is clearly bad for him.

Had an aching back after all that too so took a couple of Nurofen and went upstairs to consult my patterns and fabric stash and turn up the hem on a pair of his shorts that were fraying.

@lizzie27 that does sound expensive. Haven't seen GW yet but I've never thought MD looked particularly healthy - always drawn about the face - and he is 70 now sopast normal retiring age.
Our bedroom is downstairs and the cat flap is in the shower room behind it so our cats can come and go at any time. Minstrel has just been very prolific lately and I suspect that's a side effect of the heatwave and drought with meeces having less cover as they seek out food and water.

@Ladybird4 I too am planning to grow all my tomatoes outside next year but no doubt sod's law will bring us a cool wet summer. For anyone worried about blight, a spray with "purin de prêle" will act as both a preventative and a cure. It's a concoction made from 1kg horse/marestail steeped in 10 litres of water for 2 weeks and then strained and sprayed on plants. It works for peach leaf curl, rose black spot, rusts and all sorts of fungal diseases with no side effects for wildlife. Not to be used anywhere near ferns or other plants that produce spores and that you want to keep.

 

Thanks for that recipe @Obelix-Vendée , the NDN has marestail in the hedge between us which I could get at, might try it for rose black spot which is bad this year in this area.

I'm sorry, I think you have mentioned before that the cat flap is near to your bedroom.

You may well laugh at my recliner @Ladybird4, it does feel sometimes as if I'm being ejected towards the ceiling! It's one of those electric ones which lifts you until you're upright on your feet. My mother had found it difficult (being small like me) and with spinal problems to get up from a chair so we bought her the recliner to use in her care home. Problem was she was too scared to use it so waste of time really but when she died a few months later, I found it really useful after my back accident and have used it ever since.

 

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A very good morning one and all. I, too, would like to thank you for that useful recipe @Obelix-Vendée as my garden has been plagued with horsetail for over 40 years so you have given me a use for the wretched stuff! Cricket too has been enjoying a rodent explosion in the vicinity. I have managed to catch and release quite a few.
@lizzie27 recliner chairs are more often in my thoughts these days and I would certainly consider getting one if getting up from ordinary chairs got more difficult.
I am getting quite excited about catching up with my Australian niece and her husband who are coming over this week to visit the family. I haven't seen them since my sister and I went over to Perth to their wedding 10 years ago. He has relatives in Yorkshire. We are having a big clan gathering next Saturday.

 

Good morning all. Sunny and blowy here, though I believe it will be wet quite soon...

No service at church this morning, as we're all convening in the cathedral in a nearby town at 5pm for a celebration of their 800th anniversary, where OH will be singing in the choir. The only problem will be parking... but since I won't have the car, I'm getting a lift, which means one vehicle fewer to find a parking spot.

This morning I'm planning to do a bit of summer pruning of my newish apple trees, if the branches will stay still long enough! Yesterday I dashed out with my washing basket (thanks for the idea, @Goldenlily26 ) to pick cooking apples from the enormous old tree, which were beginning to drop thanks to the wind. Some of them are huge - the biggest weighed 540g - nice to be able to make a pie without having to prepare half a dozen small fruit!



The eagle-eyed among you will be able to spot our damson harvest in the basket! The tree is only 2 years old, so it was surprising to get any fruit at all at this stage. Must try to buy some damsons or plums to cook with it.

We are fortunate not to have horsetail in our garden, but there's some growing through the footpath on my route to the shops, so I'll have a go with your recipe, thanks @Obelix-Vendée . My lovely 'Wollerton Old Hall' climbing rose has been almost defoliated with blackspot this year.