Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good afternoon all. Still a frustrating mix of sunshine and showers here; tomorrow is currently forecast to be dry, which would be great since the lawn is distinctly hairy.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder, @floralies . I tore a shoulder tendon a couple of years ago, so I sympathise with the pain! I had to teach my left hand to pour tea, hold the kettle etc, which turns out actually to be really useful brain training... but now the only problem I have is an inability to scratch my left shoulder blade with my right hand, hardly a life-limiting difficulty! It's definitely worth plugging away at the physio, in my experience. I was too old for surgery, but exercise, and a determination to carry on gardening little by little, worked wonders in the end.

Thank you for the information about your apple crusher & juicing equipment, @Goldenlily26 . I must look out for second hand stuff.

OH left for the UK this morning. So far he's only got half way to Belfast, because trains have been running late - but he's got plenty of time to get to the port, from which he'll take the overnight ferry to Liverpool. I'll be wanting him back by Tuesday, when he returns, but in the meantime I'm enjoying not having to stop what I'm doing to make a meal, and not having to vacuum around him...

 

All 10kg damsons are either in the wine fermenter or the freezer for future jam/gin or curd. Really pleased with our efforts.
I thoroughly enjoyed my choice today (I've copied it from the menu)
Linguine al cartoccio con gamberoni
Linguine baked in parchment paper, with king prawns, white wine, fresh hot chilli, garlic and chopped tomato
Together with a fresh Caesar salad, it came to £11.70 and, I thought, amazing value.
I had 3 teeny weeny dolcetti as pud!
Then we hit Lidl, which dented our finances somewhat!!
I have a back scratcher @Liriodendron. Before breaking my arm, I could scratch every inch of my back, no problem, but even though I now have a good range of movement, it's not the full shilling!

 

Thank you for your encouragement @Liriodendron the pain can be excruciating with certain movements! I was hoping to have my other hip done this autumn but I don't think I can think about that at the moment!

 

I feel for you @floralies. I gave up tennis years ago because of my shoulder. I had a cortisone injection in it. It's not too bothersome when it's settled down so long as I don't do anything silly with it. I have a back scratcher too, essential piece of kit!

Our thunderstorms haven't happened - again. We had a shower when we came out of the SM for the short drive home.

I got my text from Gov.UK on my English mobile which I don't use here but I keep it charged. The one about the alarm on Saturday.

Done the shopping. Changed some of my spices, my curry ones were very out of date. Once I had to get ground coriander and cardamom in England, they've come to Leclerc SM now.
Dusted and vacuumed the dining room.
Did the ironing while watching Bake-Off and Sewing Bee.

Had a phone call from the Gardening club treasurer and she is also secretary of the Rose Group. She asked me to host the Rose Group on Tuesday. It involves afternoon tea for ten. She will make sandwiches, someone is making carrot cake. I will make sausage rolls, cheese scones and lemon drizzle cake. I don't have many roses out at the moment. The beds need edging and there are weeds. There wouldn't be many weeds if I hadn't hurt my back. Back is better now, maybe gardening tomorrow.

 

Good evening everyone. Had a nice time with Bestie today. We sat in her conservatory and nattered and knitted. She helped me out knitting daisies for my posies and we caught up on all the news. She was telling me that the house next door has been emptied now since the passing of our friend. (She was a great patch worker @Obelix-Vendée) Her daughters have been very busy clearing stuff away. The British Heart Foundation have take a large amount of the furniture. Bestie is starting to get nervous about who her new next door neighbours might be but I think that may be a while yet. There's a whole mess to start with that needs sorting out, involving some equity release taken out on the house and apparently - though I don't understand all this - this has to be paid back within a certain amount of time from her passing away. Sounds like a real nightmare.
Sorry to read about all the aches, pains and niggles some of you have to put up with but good news about Gin @Penny_Forthem. Those damsons do sound wonderful! @Busy-Lizzie our 'alert' in the UK is not on Saturday but on Sunday 7th at about 15:00. I didn't even hear the last one we had and I think I might just turn my phone off on Sunday afternoon - don't want Cricket jumping out of his skin!
Signing out for this evening. Looking forward to our Quizzers First Friday meal tomorrow. Hope everyone has a restful and as comfortable as possible night. See you all in the morning.

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Take care with the weeding, @Busy-Lizzie - the Rose Group should understand if you've not been able to keep up with everything in the garden.

 

I pulled something in my shoulder a few years ago. I’d just ordered a big telescopic pruner, and was so excited to try it out. Of course it was heavier than I was used to, and the centre of gravity further away than my smaller version. I really got carried away, trying it out on higher and further branches, very successful and I kept trying just one more. Ended up in agony, and the thing had to sit in the shed for over six months before I was able to use it again. Had to rest my shoulder for such a long time, and in such a lot of pain. It finally eased, and I’ve (sort of) learnt my lesson.
I’ve had a busy day. Out this morning to a talk on education in Nepal, and the plight of young girls in the rural areas. Frequently malnourished as wives and daughters only get to eat what is left after the menfolk have eaten the food that the women have prepared for them. Girls married off when they have barely reached their teens, with a resultant high maternity death rate. It was very sobering, but so encouraging to hear about the efforts being made to support schools and ensuring that education is being made available to girls. The speaker’s description of carrying out a school inspection and support visit, which involved a 10 hour trek by foot through the mountains to reach the village and its school. And then a 10 hour trek back to motorised transport!
In the afternoon, I took OH to have afternoon tea in a hotel overlooking the sea. I had won a voucher which was getting near the expiry date. Despite skipping lunch, we ended up bringing home two cardboard boxes of goodies! I’ll have a couple of little cakes for supper!

 

@Ergates, I have a friend whose doc. daughter is a volunteer for Medecin sans frontier. She doesn't say very much about it, but harrowing is the world.
Through hub's cousin, who is a world renowned water conservationist, we donate to toilet twinning. Horrifying what women have to go through.

 

You're correct @Ladybird4, don't know why I typed Saturday, should be Sunday, for the phone alert.

 

I shall be on a boat with 45 others when the alarm is sounded - what fun!!!

Apparently it will still sound even if you've got yours turned off or muted - not sure how they can do that? I didn't even hear it last time.

 

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A very good morning one and all. As yesterday morning I was awoken in the early hours (just after 03:00 today) by the heaviest of rainstorms. It is not raining at the moment and long may that stay. No fun going out for a lunch if its chucking it down.
Much respect given to those unsung heroes who go above and beyond to help women and girls in these difficult countries where they are considered with such low esteem.
I haven't as yet received a message on my phone as Vodafone have been working all week in my area to 'improve' their service but a friend sent this copy of the message she received about the alert:

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From that it would appear you will only get the alert if your phone is turned on and is compatible.

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Morning all. It’s a lovely day here.

Re the emergency alarm test: you can disable it in your phone should you wish. Go into settings and it’s either an option to turn off in ‘notifications’ or ‘emergency/safety’. I’ve turned my Dad’s off so he doesn’t worry. Some people have ‘secret’ phones so they may be caught out. Sad for those who need secret phones for their own safety but some cheaters may be found out! What a world.

Have a smashing Friday everyone.

 

I discovered the chickens coming into my garden are ferrel. My neighbour told me they refuse to go into their houses at night. They fly up into the trees to roost where she cannot reach them. At the moment she is culling the roosters hatched this summer, she takes them up into some local woods where they live wild. There are still 2 there from last year that have survived. Her Mum and Dad own a piece of the woodland so I assume that is where the roosters are taken. Her parents occasionally go and put food down for them.

Spent some time hand brushing some fluffy mats, hand picking grass seed out of the pile. One more to do. They disappear down the hose if I use the vacuum cleaner on them. One is in the bathroom, the other two go next to radiators for Rob and Poppy to sit on in the winter. I think they are meant as bath mats and come in a good range of colours. Cheap in B&M.

I had a tidy up ready for the SM delivery, I had to make room for rapid unloading.

Shoulder injuries take ages to heal, if ever 100%. It doesn't take much to irritate mine, just carrying baskets of apples from the garden into the house and it grizzles for days. My main complaint is my back getting extremely painful when doing jobs. I can only work for an hour or so at the most then have to take time out.

I watered the conservatory and had a look at some Sweet and Sour Dipping sauce recipes, also some Sweet Chillli Sauce recipes as I have a good crop coming along. I also put some under vinegar to pickle and use in cooking as and when, even cutting off a small piece and returning the remainder to the vinegar if the whole chilli is too big for what I want. I made a small batch of Chilli Sauce a couple of years ago, I was surprised at how easy it was to make and how successful so decided to make some this year due to my crop of chillies. I also strung some on cotton to dry, I haven't used all of those up yet! They must be 8 years old and still hhhhhot!

Does anyone have any tips for cleaning the inside of the glass window in a log burner. Damp newspaper has been mine so far, I do not want to use coarse abrasive in case it scratches the surface of the glass and makes the job even harder! I think it is because I use firelighters that I have a problem. I find it really difficult to get the fire to catch initially, due to the way the chimney faces and draws. If the wind is coming from the East, forget it.

It is lovely to hear Gin is beginning to settle down. When I first had Rob I took him to my croquet club to introduce him and start getting him used to going there. 18 months later one of the ladies told me she thought he was a different dog. I couldn't see any difference but she, as an experienced dog owner, could. It takes time.

 

Had a few downpours yesterday afternoon, but it’s a beautiful sunny day here now. Supermarket this morning to top up the supplies before daughter returns from their side trip. Not sure if they are going home on Saturday or Sunday, then I have a little time to turn round the guest room before brother in law arrives on Tuesday evening.
I shall have to put my thinking cap on re meals for next week. I have almost run through my repertoire of meals for guests, and not really relishing a repeat of the same menus just a week later. Absolutely no reason why I can’t dish up beans on toast after a busy day, but I have my (misplaced) pride!

 

We have what looks like a log burning stove, @Goldenlily26, but is actually a gas fired fake (but very realistic) The glass window seems to get grubby, but nothing I could do would get it clean. When it was last serviced, the engineer did clean it but stupidly, I didn’t ask him what he used.
However, I did struggle to keep the inner glass door of our electric oven clean, until I tried the specialist cleaner I bought for my induction hob. I was also very worried about scratching the glass on that, so got a bottle of Delphis non scratch ceramic and induction cleaner, which was very effective. Not cheap but eco friendly, and I’ve only just bought my second bottle after maybe three years? Im sure there are similar products available.