Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Afternoon all.

Agreed about the need for tissues when watching "Repair Shop". It grabs me every time... and the skill and patience of the experts is wonderful. My favourite repairer changes according to the projects undertaken, though I have a definite soft spot for Will, the amazing wood expert. But they all manage wonderful restorations, retaining important signs of wear and age so the item doesn't look brand new.

I've just watched the final of "Bake Off". I can't get Channel 4 live, but can stream it after the event, which is quite convenient. Anyway, my favourite baker won, so I was happy!

Commiserations to people needing expensive dental work... OH is expecting to need a crown very soon, on a back tooth which is now mostly filling. We have medical insurance, pretty well essential in Ireland, unfortunately, but it doesn't pay more than half for any dental procedure, Fortunately my teeth are currently no trouble - touch wood...

It was dry this afternoon so I got the tulips planted - mostly in pots, because the soil is so wet, though I've risked Tulipa sylvestris (the wild one) in the meadow area. It's supposed to be less fussy than the hybrids about dry feet. We shall see!

 

Ouch @redstar, I remember when you broke your wrist badly, too bad it's still giving you trouble occasionally.

It's been a lovely very warm (16c) and sunny day today, very much appreciated after almost constant rain this week and an awfully wet day forecast for tomorrow. I pottered around outside doing odd jobs, cutting back, pruning and digging up some unwanted plants while the weather was good - thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I don't know what your overnight temps are like @Penny_Forthem but I hadn't been sleeping well lately either and came to the conclusion it's too hot at night, we're still in double figures here. I slept better when OH was away so it's all his fault!

I still have one bag of left over tulips to plant @Liriodendron because I've been waiting for colder weather which hasn't happened yet. Still, I've got till the end of December to do so.

 

After I broke my arm late March, I have found changing gear a bit problematic. As hub is not a driver, I'm it.
We have decided to look for new (ish) automatic car...
Not electric (can't charge it at the caravan)
Capacious hatchback boot for 3 dogs
Low road tax/insurance (ha!)
Creature comforts for humans waaaay down the list... (not)
Ex rally driver, so need a bit of poke!

 

Our Zafira is automatic @Penny_Forthem - all our cars have been since lumbar slipped discs meant I had trouble using the clutch - and has bags of space for dogs and still has some welly despite being 14 years old. We could fit our suitcases in the back then a big doggy quilt annd 2 dogs on top when we went on holiday.

However, I suspect your spaniels don't need the headroom of our long legged Labrador so maybe an estate car would do. Vauxhall and Opel bootspace is more genrous than equivalent VW/Audi/BMW models. Dunno about Ford and co.

I do think good physio is essential to recovering well from injury or ops. People I know who have had the same knee replacement surgery and didn't stick at it or had less thorough physios are not doing as well and still have pain and stiffness. My only problem is kneeling with titanium on the inside - flesh and nerves still adapting and saying it's hard.

 

Snap @Penny_Forthem and @lizzie27. I also reckon the hour change has a lot to answer for as well
I remember you struggling last year with your wrist @redstar.

 

Food Bank was more busy this morning with the sort of admin stuff we have to do which is weighing all the food items and then marking their BB dates in marker pen. I just cannot understand why this is done. We had 1 single, 1 couple + cats and a large family to supply. That is a quiet day for us. That was Bestie and my last Food Bank duty this year unless there is an emergency but we will be having a get together with all the other helpers on 27th November.
Signing out for today. See you all in the morning.

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Hello all. Bracing myself for Storm Claudia at lunch time and I think that has put the kibosh on Canasta this afternoon. Time will tell. My neighbour called round last night to give me the news we have all been dreading and that is that building will commence at the back of our houses in January. As her house adjoins the bungalow that was a part of the stables and this is going to be demolished she got a card through her door from the builders asking for a meet up to discuss this. It will mean scaffolding and all the accompanying noise and mess. Neighbour has a lung condition and she has major concerns of course. I am going to hate this because of the disruption to the wildlife but I do have to be philosophical and accept it is inevitable. I am glad I planted trees at the bottom of my garden as these will act as a screen. There are only 6 houses in our Crescent - 3 blocks of semi detached - and two of them have no screening of any sort at the ends of their properties. Ho hum. At least they won't be starting before Christmas. Apologies - rant over.

 

Hello @Ladybird4 and all to follow.

My sympathies, Ladybird. Your rant was fully justified - and your philosophical acceptance is admirable. Hopefully the builders will be responsible and thoughtful...

Storm Claudia is due here this morning. The ground is already sodden, so the predicted heavy rain will be causing flooding, I fear, though our village is on a little hill. Not much pressure here to use unsuitable land on flood plains for housing, of course, unlike the situation in the UK.

I think I might be staying in today...

 

Good morning to you all!

Stormy weather here as well with winds and rain expected. We are also expecting the sands of the Saraha to powder everything. Inside games for many of us, I think.

How annoying for your neighbour @Ladybird4 if she has respiratory problems, it won't be pleasant. Dust seeps through somehow.

I hope the water drains away @Liriodendron I suppose it will be a clog mess for weeks to come.

I have the same thumb gloves @Ergates and they do help. Except when knitting!! I do wear one on my left hand although I have to be careful that the velcro doesn't catch the knitting!! I am also coming to the end of my tumeric and pepper powder that I bought in India - yes lots!! It spices up my marmite on toast in the morning!!

I know people despise the telephone coming out with games or films on for little ones in such circumstances @Penny_Forthem and yes screens etc......but as a child (one of 5) we all had books that came out - or colouring in - and even some plain biscuits at church! In fact, being a bookworm, I was very unsociable - banned at the table of course (the book) and when my parents went to bed at night - they could see the torch shining under the bedcovers where I was reading! I still am and have an audio book and a "reading" book on the go. It's nice to knit and have someone read you a story!

On that note, hunker down everyone - as with all storms; they pass.

 

That's a blow @Ladybird4 but you are right, we do have to be philosophical about the house building. At the moment we have fields on the hill opposite but I fully expect housing to go up eventually. Land is so scarce in the Bath area and the terrain difficult with some unstable limestone in a few places. It will be a big blow if we lose our beautiful view as it was one of the reasons we bought this year.

My daughter was telling me last night about her logistical nightmare at the food bank this week.
She had arranged for the HGV from Sheffield to be parked in an industrial park nearby as the roads were just too narrow in the village. She then organised as many volunteers in cars as she could, they offloaded their share of the lorry's contents - 5000 tons of it! Loaded as much as they could into all the cars and did numerous trips to the foodbank's store room. Took most of the day so they were all shattered. The HGV then departed to do the same at two more foodbanks in Devon.

It's been raining hard since 5 am when I woke up and probably all night by the look of the garden. OH went bravely off to fetch the paper and got so wet he had to strip to his undies in the hall on his return. Fortunately I was prepared with towels, buckets and newspaper on the floor!

 

Hello all.

My dinner party last night went well. Guests were here until nearly midnight so we went to bed later than usual.

It has been tipping with rain and there is a howling gale. The buddleia has blown over. It was here when we came and looks very old. It had been trained to be a tree, lower branches cut off, and it had grown quite tall, but rather straggly looking. I won't miss it.

Sending sympathy about the proposed building behind you @Ladybird4.

 

Good afternoon. Weekly shop this morning tho we actually go late so we get the quiet period at lunchtime. Very pleased to find raw chicken livers which are as rare as hen's teeth here. OH and I like them done with lardons in a warm salad.

Since lunch i've been sorting photos on my camera to make sure I have the ones I need to do a tutorial for Monday's machine patch project. As I said yesterday, storm Claudia seems to be passing us by to left and right. Even so, it was supposed to be damp this weekend so I'd planned to sew but, apart from a shower later on and a dribble on Sunday, they've taken away all our downpours and showers till next Saturday so I'll manage some gardening after all.

I hope the builders are considerate @Ladybird4 but, until someone comes up with a scheme to unlock all the empty properties in the UK - the BBC reckons almost 720,000. There are local and govt grants for rehabilitating derelict properties so why are they left to rot? That said, there will still always be demand for houses in nice areas with good views and facilities.

Planting opportunity @Busy-Lizzie !! Sounds like a knitting weekend for you @Liriodendron

 

Good afternoon,

It’s been a very wet and chilly day, so not been outdoors today other than the hairdresser this morning.

I’m glad that it was a decent day yesterday which enabled me to get out into the garden and take up the dahlia tubers to over winter in the garage and to fleece the more vulnerable plants as the temperature is set to plummet in the next few days, particularly night time temps.

I took a few salvia and fuschia cuttings as a precaution, and hope they will take root. If they don’t and my plants outside don’t survive over winter, then I’ll have to replace them, but I’m hoping they’ll survive again - they survived last winter.

I swept up a lot of leaves, too, but the back garden is as bad, if not worse, today as my neighbours big lime tree decided to shed a lot of its leaves through the night and this morning. There’s no point clearing them whilst it is still so soggy, but as soon as it dries up a bit, I’ll brush them up.

 

It’s been raining here since last night. Thankfully there was a slight lull this morning when the man came to clear the gutter. Nearly all the nearby leaves are down by now. When we had the gutters replaced a few years ago, we ordered galvanised steel with a ‘non stick’ coating, with a wider diameter than the previous plastic ones, and extra wide downpipes as well. It has made such a difference, we rarely get overflows despite all the surrounding trees, and they look much smarter than the old white, and very stained, originals.
Just stopped for a late lunch / early dinner - I had a jacket potato with red pepper hummus and roasted artichokes from the deli counter. OH had ham, egg and chips!
I can quite imagine that knitting could be hazardous with all the Velcro on the wrist support, @Tui34! I’m expecting to find some chewed up looking areas on my jumper, but so far, so good. The strap is still looking tidy, so haven’t picked up much fluff yet. It is one downside of Velcro that it very soon picks up all sorts of fluff, loose threads and even hair, and stops sticking. Very hard to clean, and does look rather grubby after a while.
I’ve done two lots of washing, and cleaned the back door! Now I’m going to read a book with my feet up. Might even have a little doze!

 

Afternoon all.

What a dark and rainy day! I hope everyone is ok.

It wasn’t too bad this morning so checked on Dad and ‘did’ his feet. Had a lazy afternoon then doing some jigsaw…



Zoom in to see a few ‘whimsical’ pieces in the shape of animals and plants.