Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Thank you, Busy Lizzie, Obelix -Vendee and Ladybird4,for your reassurances. The GP said it would be about 4 weeks before I heard anything so patience. Hopefully, I may have a kind hand to cling to on the day. Because I have always thought my voice loss was emotional stress I have not worried about it too much, the same thing happened when my father died, but not for so long. I am wondering if I should see someone for bereavement counselling to see if I can shift the 'emotional block' or whatever is causing the problem.

It was a quiet day, light rain from mid morning. I did a pile of washing up and began assembling the ingredients to make a cassoulet. I made one many moons ago, newly married and all that, it was delicious, I am sure I found the recipe in an Elizabeth David recipe book which I no longer have. I had a vague recollection of using a mix of meat but couldn't remember what. I went online and discovered duck is the answer, especially using duck fat to cook off the veg. etc. Hardly a peasant's dish these days.
I also spent a ridiculous amount of time online trying to sort out my electricity supplier. I thought I had switched last month but somehow it didn't work. I began having a circular conversation with a robot, no matter what I asked, the same reply kept coming back. Eventually I gave up, I couldn't face going back to square one to switch, I will wait until I have the energy to battle through the switch search again. I have switched on a regular basis so no idea what I did wrong.

My son is back in Canada, exhausted and jet lagged. They had to queue for 2 hrs at Heathrow to book in for their flight,due to the hacking issue, it all had to be done with pen and paper. How did we manage before the internet! Their last 2 days in the UK were hectic, catching up with family at my DinL's father's funeral, not seen since their wedding 20 years ago, then more family re-unions at my DinL's parents home before heading home to Canada. Their heads must have been spinning.

I also phoned the hairdresser and asked to change my ap. as my last cut was horrendous. I can't do a thing with it. It has taken on a life of its own, it sticks out randomly all over the place. It was my own fault, when I made the last ap. I should have asked for a senior stylist, looking at my hair the girl who cut it must have been a Sat. job assistant. That will teach me!

I hope grandson is OK and able to enjoy your last day with you.

Watched Strictly. It is hard to guess who will win at this stage. Often some of the best in the early stages, usually those with some dance experience, plateau and are overtaken by total novices. The winner is also someone the public chooses so can be random.

Moons ago I went to a church fund rasing event where I bought a lovely unnamed apricot flowered rose . It had side shoots which I potted up and one took, to my delight. Usually, because they are not grafted onto more vigorous stock the plants are weaker in growth but mine flourished and I loved it. Sadly, I had to leave it behind when I moved house, as it was growing in open ground and I had no way of keeping it going until I found a new home. You can do the same thing with the side shoots of cut carnations. They root quite easily in gritty compost.

I have some cream/white Camassias in my garden. They are lovely but always flower at least 4 weeks after the blue ones. I had hoped they would flower together, for visual impact, but they never have. The same with the ginger lilies, each colour blooms at a different time, never all together.

I am 'intending' to go to my club for a game of croquet this afternoon. We shall see how I get on. Not too much activity this morning, a beautiful day again. Rather damp underfoot but sunny, dry and cool.

Have a lovely day everyone.

 

Afternoon everybody. It's been a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies, perfect for gardening. I've done several jobs on my list plus others that weren't so pleased with progress.
I even had lunch outside at 2pm sitting in my Egg chair and just contemplating my garden.
I'm hoping the SIL of a friend will arrive tomorrow with his chainsaw to cut down two dead shrubs and execute artistic licence on the remains of a short length of hedge. The idea is to give more room for the roses in front and keep the hedge pruned to a foot above the fenceline. That's the plan anyway.

Counselling might help @Goldenlily26 if you can find somebody at a reasonable price. It worked wonders for me when I had a big wobble some years ago.
Hope you enjoy the croquet this afternoon.

Right, time for cake making I think.

 

I have nothing much to report, as it's been a quiet day.
The 'outlaws' are coming for supper. We always enjoy their company.
I've made a lamb mince shepherd's pie with purple sprouting broc.
We have decided to seek some "back to basics" training for Gin for a couple of very obstinate traits. He is truly a delight in most ways, but if we can help him overcome getting in the hatchback part of the car with the other 2, it will be very helpful.
He wants to ride in the front like Lord Muck, as @Ladybird4 found out!

 

Good evening all, Tell you what @Penny_Forthem , Gin makes a wonderful foot warmer! Tea/Coffee morning went well and I have had several requests for the daisy knitting pattern! My youngest sister (the one who is going to be a Grandma for the first time in January) told me that her daughter's partner cannot stop picking up the little Burnley jumper I knitted for the baby and he had mentioned to her that he wondered if I would knit a little scarf in the team colours so I have been working on that. Not really sure how long a baby scarf should be. A guestimate will have to do.
Thank you for those useful tips @Obelix-Vendée. I will definitely give rose cuttings a try.
I noticed that the colchicums I planted a few weeks back are now starting to flower. So nice to see when a lot of the other plants are going to sleep.
I am signing out for this evening. See you all tomorrow.

​

 

The minute we opened a boot we'd have dogs jumping in for a ride, even if we were just going shopping @Penny_Forthem tho when we just had Rasta she'd ride in the car with us - front seat if allowed as she liked to see where she was going - or else standing on the backseat with her paws on the central column in the Zafira and doing a great impression of a bike rider as she leaned into corners. Bonzo liked the boot. Minstrel pussy loves jumping in cars, till they move.

We have spent our afternoon at a dance competition. Much to our suprise, all the competitors were our age or older and the "confirmés" had clearly invested loads of money in outfits - Tails and dinner suits for the men, latin and ballroom for the ladies. Interesting, fascinating and quel horreur in equal measures. Home for usual roast dinner and now flopping.

Well done with your jobs list @lizzie27

 

​

A very good morning one and all. It is a bit chilly but no mist today. I need to pick up a prescription in the village first thing then there is a lot of cutting back to be done in the garden. The green bin is fairly full with all the buddleja bits from last week but I'm sure I can cram a bit more in. No quizzing tonight as our season has ended and I think our team is probably propping up our league but it is always a fun night out - even if hardly ever win. I'm not really interested in golf but well done Europe on winning the Ryder Cup.

 

Good morning all.

We came home last night.
We had a great weekend. Yesterday we went to the port at Capbreton and saw fishing boats come in and the fish market. Every stall had the name of it's boat that the fish came in on. There were some unusual varieties of fish.

Then we walked up the harbour to the sea. There were people swimming and surfing. It was a lovely warm day. We had a light lunch at a seaside restaurant.

Smallest grandson seemed a lot better. He gets so excited, maybe he got overtired.

My old Border Collie, Tigger, didn't like being in a car. He got car sick and he had a weak hip that dislocated when he was young. The vet sorted it but he got arthritis in it later. He couldn't manage steps or getting into the car. I had Border Collies from when I was in my 20s. He was my last and my favourite. He was lovely, sweet and gentle. I haven't had one since but now we travel too much between England and France.

 

I have posted some photos on the Garden and Pretty Places Visits thread. I found it quite hard to find. I hope it's here. Gardens and Pretty Places we have visited

 

Morning all.

Your day sounds lovely, @Busy-Lizzie . Did you buy any interesting fish?

Our cats have always been suspicious of cars, because the only time they went in one was to go to the vet. And one was always car sick. It's amazing how they know when you're planning to take them to the vet, however clever you are at preparing the carrying basket in a different room, and finding inaccessible corners to hide in!

Today is promised to be dry. Hopefully this will be true, otherwise OH will have to mow the lawns on his own after I go to Scotland on Thursday, since there's more wet on the way for tomorrow and Wednesday. But before starting the mowing I need to go shopping and put a stew in the oven.

This evening we're recording Christmas music with the Limerick choir we sing in, for an album (not a CD, I think, but just on vinyl and Spotify, which seems very odd to me) to be released next month. We don't do Spotify and no longer have a working record player, so I'm not sure how we'll be able to hear the results of our labours...

 

I didn't buy any fish @Liriodendron because we were out for the day and I didn't have anywhere cold to put them.

 

It's a bit like that at Les Sables and St Gilles-Croix de Vie which is the biggest sardine port in France. I've discovered some interesting fish since moving near the coast @Busy-Lizzie. One is a big, meaty fish called Vieille which Rick Stein discovered in Bordeaux on one of his weekends away. Another is maigre which is not thin at all. Plenty of hake in season and many more including crustaceans and shellfish and, of course, we have moules de bouchot farmed off the coast and which OH and I love and oysters which none of us like.

I'm feeling a bit stiff today after tripping over on the path between car park and dance hall - bruised left elbow and right knee. Not clever but I don't bounce like I used to when falling off a horse. Quiet morning then getting ready for sewing club this pm. OH is ironing whilst watching the last of his Ryder Cup recordings.

@Liriodendron Minstrel is a very vocal cat who chirrups and chats and announces her catches. The only time Cosmos ever "speaks" is when he's in his basket in the car to go to the vet for his annual jabs or to clean another wound after playing with the local ferals. He sounds like a boy whose voice is just breaking but he has a lovely loud purr.

Sunny here but fresh and 20C expected later. Hope it stays fine for everyone's plans today.

 

All of my dogs have thought, when the word 'walkies' was said, that meant a ride in the car. Mainly because I would drive to an open dog walking area, rather than walk them around the block.

What a beautiful day. I finally got my b****m into gear and managed to get myself to club. 16 people turned up to play, much better than of late. I played one game before my back began to complain so I sat out with a cuppa before coming home. It is strange for me because most of the members are new, they all ask me if I am a new member, I am one of the few remaining original members from the club when it first began. It was a bit of a surprise for my partner, a gentleman I had never met. He thought he had been lumbered with a new member who didn't know how to play, he barely spoke to me but was happy we won the game. He told me I had played well, praise indeed. I didn't bother to enlighten him.

I have decided I am going to have to speak to my neighbour about her ferral chickens. They spend a lot of time in my garden and are pooping on my back steps and wall, as well as my patio and around my front door where they congregate each afternoon, waiting for her to feed them. I will have to hose everywhere down to avoid my treading it into the house.A job I can well do without.

I am going to try and get some jobs done today. Have a good day.

 

Poor @Obelix-Vendée, hope the effects of the fall are short lived. I’ve read two versions of how you know you are old - one is that when you are younger, you fall over, when you get old you have a fall. The other is that you realise you must be old if you fall over, and people rush to help you instead of just laughing.
Out for our regular breakfast and a walk routine, then a list of garden tidying to do. Had to read up on how and when to prune my hydrangea paniculata, haven’t had one before so all new to me. Also reading up on what to do with the two very fancy dahlias I have in pots. Sounds very complicated, and I don’t have a greenhouse or similar to put them in for the winter, or room anywhere for trays of sand to bury them in! Explains why I generally treat them as disposable houseplants.
I remember travelling from the southeast to Scotland one year, with our cat sitting on my lap. He slept most of the way, but somewhere near the Lake District ( in the pouring rain) looked me in the face and started miaowing. We used to take him on camping holidays and he was trained to walk on a long lead with a collar and harness. We stopped at the side of the road, where he promptly hopped out of the car, did a wee, and hopped back in on my lap, and went back to sleep. Very sensible lad, although I did end up with a rather damp lap!

 

What a sensible cat @Ergates!

 

It was lovely and sunny first thing, now grey and cloudy.
Time to upgrade my duvet as I had to add a throw in the night.
Lovely evening with the outlaws last night. They left early, as he's undergoing chemotherapy
and gets very tired.
Chiropodist for me this afternoon, then family coming for a bbq. I think it'll be the last of the summer.
Good luck tackling your neighbour @Goldenlily26 It's not right that you have to clean up after them.