What are you all up to
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We like Northumberland as well stayed with friends a few years ago only a short break due to their working schedule but they took us to all the usual haunts they love including Bamburgh Castle and Lindisfarne, wuld like to go again but a long trip from here and that was the last time we flew over to UK.
@heddlo hope all goes ok with your operation and my OH has the same white coat issue and he said always been the same and has to do blood pressure twice times a day and 3 readings each time over 3 days his blood pressure monitor is a medical one that he got a few years ago and it sends the readings go to his phone then he fills in the paperwork they need on the computer a bit too technical for me.
Weather has been cooler this week and looks like a bit warmer for the next 4 days than some more rain forecast next week so good for the garden it is starting to get quieter around here some folks have gone home and the children return to school on the 1st September.
Have got ahead with holidays for next year 2 cottages booked for North and East Devon and even done the ferry as well and that is before we come over for this year's holiday next month, hoping to get away for a late short break in the caravan this year just trying to find a site that is open in November and not too far to go and will use the caravan more next year just been a odd year this year.
Have a good bank holiday folks and keep away from traffic jams.
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@Freddy55 yes you are wrong! 🤯. Northumberland is beautiful and one of my favourite places in the world. Some amazing beaches, gorgeous countryside, interesting castles, villages, and historic places. A place we love to visit more than once a year.
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I thought it was quiet on here but have just realised that I am now not getting email alerts for the discussions I am following. What button have I pressed that I shouldn't have?! And what can I do to put it right? Can anyone help please.
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@milliehull hi😁. Click on your avatar photo, that will bring up your profile, click on “account and privacy” just under your photo. Scroll down to “notification preferences” and then choose your options. This should work, beyond that I would contact Rowena.
My home page has defaulted to the mobile version, and I cannot get it back for my iPad, but I can do most things easily, so I am living with it. Had a few goes at rectifying, but no joy.
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@Freddy55 I think Northumberland is probably a long run for you, across country? All I can say is that I don’t think you would be disappointed, particularly if you can keep an eye on the good weather, and head out within the 10 day forecast period. There are lots of folks on here who know it very well, and could advise on best locations to stay, sites to use, things to visit, so that you got the best out of it. It’s a very big county, not unlike Yorkshire, with beaches galore, moorland areas, small interesting towns and villages, and as I said earlier, the Hadrians Wall area is a holiday in itself with all the stuff to see and do. You can easily dodge in and out of the Borders area of Scotland as well, again a beautiful area. It’s possible our favourite place to take our MH, as it’s got some great sites and overnight stops. And compared to the South, it’s great value for money.
Warkworth Castle, not far from Amble and Alnmouth. Ancestral home of the Percy’s (Hotspur etc…)
Cocklawburn Beach…….in August! Cornwall was heaving, we went to Northumberland. It does get busier, but nothing like the SW.
Part of Hadrians Wall. This was taken in December! It’s was our pre Xmas holiday. It had snowed, but got this as well.
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This keeps signing me out and taking me back to the beginning of this forum postings, not sure why. @Bakers2 don’t worry about the dry weather, we are going away soon so expect lots of rainy days, first thing in the car will be a mac. Once my cousin knows we are going to her area she always says, ‘oh if you’re coming here then we’ll get the umbrellas out’ she’s not often wrong. They have already asked us over for a meal though, which is nice. She’s a great cook. Our grandmother was a cook and our grandfather a gardener, we both have a passion for gardening and cooking, it must get in the genes. Those tomato seeds that I obtained from the NT and planted are now enormous plants growing outside in tubs and just covered in tomatoes. Hoping they survive us going away, sister in law is on watering duties but she can’t do it that often so the rainy days may be useful.
Our newish neighbours are going flat out with house and garden alterations. They have consulted us about putting up a fence, which in 40 years we’ve never had on that side, just large bushes. We put a fence up on the other side. It will look very different when we get back, it’s nice they ask us before doing anything cos they don’t have to. I think the fence is to keep the dog more secure.0 -
Thank you @Takethedogalong I have ticked as many boxes as I can - not sure what I am ticking though! - but no email notifications yet sadly. It is such a palaver having to go into the Caravan Club website each time or via an old email and trawling through all the recent posts that I have missed. I might not be on here as much now sadly.
I wonder whether @Rowena could help?
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We are another family who love Northumberland we usually visit a couple of times a year. We stay at the caravan club site Seaview nice site with excellent views and an easy 25 minute walk in to the town . Lots to do in the area we like to visit Lindisfarne (holy Island) lovely place with great views and a nice walk down to the castle. Also Seahouses is a must when in the area great little seaside village with a couple of good pubs and fish and chip shops. So much to do it’s well worth a visit for us it’s only a 3 hour drive so we go for 3-4 nights but there is plenty to do if you want to stay longer
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Not been quite as warm here over the past few days but still no rain which is good. Excellent night last night we were at second youngest sons house for a BBQ they have done a lot of work in the garden which is looking great. Even got an outside cinema now which was great last night for watching the football they’ve done a great job of the garden (I may have helped a bit) lovely night though we didn’t have a go in the hot tub thought
Hope everyone else is having a nice weekend
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Not long now? You will soon experience the benefits of the operation. Margaret is on the NHS list for her other hip, fortunately its only just starting to play up pain wise. Not sure how long she will have to wait but approaching a year seems likely.
I suppose I am still getting used to my situation.Its the left hand and arm which is the most troublesome. I do force it to do things its forgotten how to do! The grip is quite good if unreliable, for example I can carry things with it but wouldnt risk a glass of water or wine as you never quite know when the grip will let go. I am quite tired most of the time but apparently that is not unusual. On the up side I am back on the exercise bike which helps with the stiffness in the left knee and I am also walking further although I have to be careful with uneven surfaces. Life is very gradually returning to some sort of normal, I have even emptied the dishwasher a couple if times! However there is a long way to go, and recovery is often longer rather than shorter.
David
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Lovely to hear from you @DavidKlyne and that you are doing well. It sounds as though you are making good progress even if it is a little slow. Keep at it, I am sure it is paying dividends. Tiredness seems to be normal with stroke patients unfortunately. I only had a minor stroke nearly 4 years ago but I still feel tired or perhaps that is just my age! Take care. I hope Margaret hears about her hip operation soon.
All the best for your hip operation @heddlo I am sure how you are feeling is perfectly normal. You are bound to feel a bit anxious and stressful. It will soon be over and done with.
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Good to hear from you @DavidKlyne - from what you say, you seem to making excellent progress - long may it continue!
@heddlo - in a way - I'm quite envious of you - getting an appointment for your Op so quickly. I'm really struggling to walk any distance at all at the moment. I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine and it'll all be over before you know it. I don't bother with my blood pressure any more. It was first discovered 40 years ago when I was in my mid-30s. It was 220/160!!!! - and, needless to say, I was admitted to hospital for a week until it was brought back to safe levels. However, I became obsessive about it and was taking my BP constantly - recording it on a spreadsheet and producing graphs etc. Crackers - but I was looking for cause and effect - to no avail I might add. Eventually, I saw sense - binned the sphyg and didn't bother any more other than for my annual check up at the Drs. It's been 140/80 for as long as I can remember, now - so having realised that there's virtually nothing I can do to alter it if it is a bit higher sometimes - I just ignore it and keep taking the pills!😀.
I've also noticed things going wrong with the website of late. I used to get notifications of bookmarked topics - but they have disappeared over the last couple of days.
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I think something was updated on the CT site, and it hasn’t been the same for me for the last few months, but I tend to read through a few threads such as this one, so am usually aware of who’s posting, what’s going on. But it does make it difficult if you ask a question, as you don’t get the notifications of whose posted an answer.
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It’s good to hear you are improving, even if it seems very slow for you DK, and at least it sounds as if your OH is doing ok.
I had morning in our garden, doing a bit of tidying. I even got the mower out and ran it over the two areas previously known as “lawn”🤭 and did the lawn edges, so it looks a lot tidier, but it’s absolutely parched. I think we have only mown around every three weeks since the end of April, it’s just not growing at all. Started off clouded over here, but it’s warmed up a lot and is sunny now. We have 26-27c predicted for Monday, so still nice and hot in the day, but the evenings are dropping cooler. Jus5 heading home from Mums next, we have a glut of tomatoes, so I am going to stuff some big beef ones for dinner. I only like them cooked, no5 keen on fresh tomatoes…….
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@takethedogalong not in red again just to say my OH opposite to you he cannot stand cooked tomatoes if we go anywhere for a meal and a cooked tomato on his plate he looks at me and I end up with more heyho.
30.9C here today and a bit warmer tomorrow and Monday, washing done and some pruning of a few shrubs and potting a shrubby Salvia a peach colour, the grass is showing a bit of green and the last mowing here was towards end of June and will be doing it again in October and that should be it for the winter then hopefully and no lawn edges here to do and I don't miss that chore used to do them in Somerset.
Good to hear DK that you are improving slowly just keep up the exercises.
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Funny al this talk about blood pressure.When I was in hospital they take it every hour of the day or night or so it seems? They must have been impressed as they reduced the dose of one of my meds! Unfortunenately this was restored to the original dose once I was in the re-hab centre where they checked it far less regularly. .Another conscquence my recent medical drama is that I have lost nearly 4 stone in weight. No bad thing in itself and it will be interesting to see,when I am in a position to arrange a blood test, whether it has impacted on my blood sugar levels whice were borderline before the stroke?
David
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@DavidKlyne - Good to hear from you David. As you say recovery is a long process. I fully understand about your arm and carrying things. My dominant arm, right one, was damaged in the Stroke. It's nearly 3 years ago but I still had to get OH to carry 2 full wine glasses through to the front room after dinner tonight. It's only this year that I've been able to carry 2 mugs of tea through. I put my right foot down a bit harder than pre Stroke which tends to send a shudder up my right side, not noticeable to anyone watching but known to me. I have to carry the one in my right hand at a lower level than my left one which will be horizontal as the more horizontal my right arm is the more unstable things become. I often find my right hand grip to be weak when carrying light things but not bad when something heavier such as shopping bags as the mind is more concentrated.
You're in early days. Keep at it.
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OH was cursing @Takethedogalong today, don't know whether she heard it across the Pennines!
21 years of sterling service and the dishwasher stopped working! Ttda obviously jinxed it.😱😂 Have to drag it out of its cubby hole tomorrow but it wasn't anything simple like a blown fuse or overloading.
I wonder if the warranty is still in force?🙄
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Our grandmother was a cook and our grandfather a gardener
@DEBSC - What a coincidence. OHs Grandmother was a Cook and her Grandfather a Gardener, at a Manor house in Scotland pre Second World War. She hasn't acquired any of her GMs cooking skills though.
I tend to be chief cook, it started out as a Self-Preservation thing but I enjoy it now.🤣
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@Freddy55 we too like Northumberland, so many different sights to visit, as others have said. In fact we are heading up that way next month. There are a couple of differing club sites, at Berwick (Seaview) and Powburn (River Breamish), numerous CLs and commercial sites, by the sea and well inland so plenty of variety. It is a big county so by staying at different sites one can have a good couple of week's there.
@DavidKlyne glad to read that you are gradually being able to do more with your left hand. Hope that Margaret soon gets word about when her operation is going to happen.
The ground is very dry and dusty, and so far we have not had any morning dew on the playing fields, which is most unusual for this time of year around here. More weeding done as we have had very similar weather today to yourself @Takethedogalong
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😈 apologies @Wherenext for hexing your dishwasher. Our first one lasted 27 years, second one didn’t last a year, neither did the one that replaced it, but we got our money back😡 This one’s doing well, or at least it does until I deep clean it. OH says I should stick to gardening, it’s safer all round.
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Been dry all day so give the large shrub by the deck a good haircut then finished cleaning the last few boards. OH is the knowledgable one when it comes to gardening, apparently the shrub is Cornus Alba Siberica Variagata. I keep cutting it back, and it keeps growing again, but is less unruly than previously.
The shed could do with some TLC too, so that will be more vegetation to be cut well back!
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Thanks all, regarding Northumberland, I did suspect that I had the wrong impression about the county. @Takethedogalong , yes, quite a trek from here (Bristol), but I would never attempt a trip of that distance in one go anyway. It won’t be this year, but quite possible next year. We quite often visit Yorkshire, with at least one stopover on the way, so Northumberland is certainly doable, even if it means another stopover (I don’t rush). Thinking about it, we might have a month or so away, also taking in some of the east coast (Norfolk etc), as it’s an area we’ve not explored, apart from a week on the ‘broads’. We recently had our annual visit to Twelve Oaks campsite just outside Newton Abbot, staying with our daughter and the kids. The plan was to have 9 nights there before travelling down to Sennen Cove for 5 nights. Unfortunately, after 4 nights I became quite ill, contracting something akin to Norovirus, very nasty. This meant that we had to cancel Sennen Cove, I just wanted to come home.
Next Saturday we’re away for 5 nights at the clubs Littlehampton site, not far from Portsmouth, the first time we’ll have stayed on a club site this year. Looking forward to that, just hope the gout stays away🤞@DavidKlyne , good to hear you appear to be making progress, keep up the good work 👍
I notice that I’m no longer getting notifications (tagging), even when I look for them (the bell sign).
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@KjellNN. “ the shrub is Cornus Alba Siberica Variagata”.
You are really lucky to have kept your Cornus, we seem to have lost ours this year due to the lack of rain we assume. Ours is an Cornus Alba Elegantissima and, like yours, at 16 years old it was pretty large and looked great down the end of the garden. Sadly this year, albeit it seemed ok early on, it’s now just a few branches, some of which are definitely dead and hardly any leaves. Such a shame as it was my favourite shrub, we will hang on until next Spring to see if anything improves but not hopeful.Regarding the CT site. I just scroll through usually and read the latest but I have lost the little ‘bell’ that tells me someone has replied to me @Rowena not a big issue but definitely a change has happened.
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@DavidKlyne pleased to hear that you are making good progress. Maybe frustrating that it is slow but sounds as though in the right direction. Our daughter in law had a stroke some years ago, it didn’t affect her movement but her speech. Sometimes, but less frequently as time goes on, she stumbles over the right word she wants to use, but she never allows us to help her out, just to wait and be patient until it comes back to her.
@Wherenext my OH can’t cook either, when I knew that I was going to be bedridden for a while earlier this year the family, and I, had concerns about what I would be dished up. He just about completed his limited cooking prowess, fish and oven chips, pie and potatoes, pizza, and salad, before I managed it back to the kitchen. But I was so grateful that I had him to look after me. Come to think of it he says he can’t garden either, I do all the gardening, digging, mowing, pruning. I have offered to show him but he says he’s too old to learn.. However, he can fix almost anything, the grandkids often turn up with, ‘grandad can you fix this’ and he usually does.2 -
I've asked @Rowena on the Welcome to the new forum thread to look into matters @milliehull. No new notifications on my bell since 21 August but it did say on the last notification that there are 358 new comments on this thread.🤣
I tend to leave the forum open when I'm finished for the day and have it bookmarked. When coming back on I just hit the bookmark and voila it appears. As I've not signed out I don't have to sign in. There are no real personal details on here which aren't common knowledge.
It was overcast but warm first thing so we both hit the garden with intent. 10 minutes after starting the sun came out. The intent slowly waned and after an hour and a bit we surrendered. Mind you it was 2 full Brown bins worth. Plus the ground is still hard despite regular watering. The bins are collected tomorrow.
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The promised rain has not materialised here, as yet, but I will leave the outside work until tomorrow anyway. OH wanted me to start on the new flooring in the small upstairs toilet, but my back has not yet recovered from the “gardening”, so instead I am working on the wooden bowl/plate for oldest grandson.
heddlo……OH says our Cornus must be at least 37 years old. It was quite scrawny when she bought it in a garden centre for £2 , back in 1990. We have a normally pretty wet garden, being on heavy clay soil, and it is planted at the foot of a big slope, so she was hoping it would enjoy the wet conditions, and that does seem to be the case!
The garden is steep, 69 steps from pavement to the back fence, but roughly terraced, the 4 flat levels at the back are mainly paved, and the earth retained there with thick walls with drainage behind, otherwise it would all be extremely wet.
It took us about 3 years after we moved in in 1988 to finish the house and all the garden. We started by fencing it all, building a low wall at the front, and laying the driveway. There are enough bricks in all the garden walls (20,000) to build a small house, all carried up by hand, so we just took our time, and I learned bricklaying. Looking back now, I am amazed at the energy we had back then!Every weekend was spent working on the house or the garden, and usually a couple of hours every evening too. OH and MIL did most of the planting, weather permitting, completing one area each year, son helped with slab laying as he stayed at home while attending university.
These days the garden is getting a bit much for us, we get some help in occasionally, but we love the house so have decided to stay.
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There is no new notification on my bell either today, although there was yesterday when I cleared them off. I too have added a comment on the new forum thread @Wherenext , as the above is not the only item that is amiss.
It has been a hot sunny day here so more work done in the garden, broken up by walking Flyte.
@Freddy55 sorry to hear that you had to cut short your stay at Newton Abbott and also had to cancel your Senna Cove visit. Hope you are feel much better now and are fit enough for your trip to Littlehampton. I forgot to mention that the C&CC also have a couple of site in Northumberland, at Dunstan Hill and Beadnall Bay both close to the sea and the lovely beaches there.
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Arrived back home safely from Lweis and Harris. A long journey at the best of times, but we also had a ferry delay and M6 motorway hold ups near Manchester/ Warrington. It was lovely to see our daughter and family. Now a few day rest before the final leg of the summer - Pembrokeshire...
David
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