What are you all up to
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Sorry some of you guys are not having such great weather, we have been blessed with plenty of sunshine and plenty of warmth and it is set to continue for at least another 5 days, off to Cornwall for 1 month on Sunday, caravan almost ready, we have decided to take minimum amounts of food and shop when we arrive, clothes, well that is another story, I am sure we will only wear half of what we are taking, hopefully, but i guess this is the UK and one has to be prepared.
Took this photo at approx 1700 hrs yesterday as i was getting out of the water, it is a cruise liner and she is in the deep water channel between Cowes and Lymington, the sun was just starting to set, we seem to see more cruise ships than cargo vessels these days, seldom see the very large container ships from the Far East whereas you always saw 1 or 2 off the IOW,
still a bit dull but we are set for another scorcher, got some gardening to do before we depart but have a gardener coming in whilst we are away to do the autumn cutback etc, cant do ladders since i had my knees replaced. Hope the sun shines for you whereever you are
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Rufs
I am always amazed at the number cruise ships that seem to depart from Southampton on the same day. Must have a big impact on the roads into Southampton. The first cruise we did we stayed in Southampton the night before but the second we travelled down on the day of the cruise. I think any future cruises will be an overnight stay as its too stressful. Only trouble with staying the night before is that you have time to kill until you embarkation time.
David
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Good to read folks news and see lovely photos.
Weather here has been dry, apart from Saturday - WET it's been warm, 24 currently but we are lacking sun. Grey skies again.
Continued to feel under par so have done essentials only, caught up with emails but not much else. I think I'm beginning to feel better. 🤞I'm not good at not functioning properly.
David I'm glad Lizzie is OK. Hopefully she'll be alright now. Those vet fees sound brilliant. Yes it's amazing how fast xrays and bloods are received by vets. Or in A&E and the dentist, not such much blood at the latter! RichardandRos I'm not even going to think about your Boxing Day bill, but they are worth it. We don't pay pet insurance, pop the premiums to one side and hope they accumulate enough. By luck, well some research too, we joined a self owned vets, husband and wife and can't complain about the costs. We did have insurance for the first couple of years, but it doesn't cover routine things and the only time we may have claimed it would have been less than £50. Premiums go up annually regardless and as they age.
Rufus you text worried me greatly, Took this photo at approx 1700 hrs yesterday as i was getting out of the water, it is a cruise liner and she is in the deep water channel between Cowes and Lymington, the sun was just starting to set,
I know the evenings are getting shorter but please confirm this was a typo ...
Lovely scene though made me jealous, not seen the sea this year.
Milliehull I've not done Easton Walled Gardens since finding myself on a very short run onto the A1 🫣. But we did Barnsdale earlier this year and enjoyed it.
Yesterday, everything was in alignment 😂 and we agreed to go out, heading for Rutland Water for an explore and lunch. Dora came too. However although warm and windy no sun. I remembered we'd had details of a Garden Centre near Oakham, with a restaurant, so thought we'd explore there first. AMAZING! They'd created about a dozen parking spaces with shade.we were the only ones with a dog using them, others just using them. There was a sign saying enclosed dog field by the entry. So off Dora and I went to explore. Puts at lots of CMAC ones to shame!
On entering the car park I saw a big Lakeland sign 😀. Well.that was just the start. A Pavers, huge farm shop, lovely restaurant, gifts, books, toys none as stuck.in the corner but really nice big areas, soft furnishings oh and a huge garden centre that we didn't really explore. Owing to the fact we fell in love with 2 paintings....... which look fabulous indoors, not where we originally thought! We had a lovely lunch, saved cooking dinner 😉 and 3 plant pot holders. I also wanted to visit Lakeland. We did skim round the marvellous garden centre,being decorated for Halloween. Cashier said Christmas Dec's are amazing DON'T go weekend or school holidays!
I feel we will have another visit before too long, so much more to explore.
Not sure why the font has changed since I copied and pasted Rufus' but it's much easier on the eyes!
OH has just called lunch, so I'm off.
Sorry should have included congratulations to all those who have heard children/grandchildren achieved well in their exams.
Swift edit I see all text is the same now! I never cease to wonder at this sites IT....
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Rufus you text worried me greatly, Took this photo at approx 1700 hrs yesterday as i was getting out of the water, it is a cruise liner and she is in the deep water channel between Cowes and Lymington, the sun was just starting to set,
I know the evenings are getting shorter but please confirm this was a typo ...
No def approx 1700 hrs, high tide was 1830 ish so i was able to get a good swim in reasonably deep water, i think the photo is perhaps a little mis-leading as i was on a south facing beach and the sun was starting to set really slowly into the west, leaving the ship as a silhouette with the sun shimmering on the surface of the solent.
"I am always amazed at the number cruise ships that seem to depart from Southampton on the same day"
yes David we have seen 8 or 10 on a saturday afternoon/evening, leaving Southamton, it is unusual to see them mid-week, we also have the new terminal at Portsmouth Harbour which is currently home to some of the Virgin Cruises, now those are the vessels to watch out for, these are for older people, no children i believe.If you want to avoid the hassle go for SAGA cruises, i believe they pick you up at your door, taxi of course, not the ship
Always something going on on the Solent we have 3 sailing clubs within 5 miles of each other and then of course we get all the yachts etc from Cowes + lots of kite boarding and wind surfing, watched the local life boat crew rescue 1 man and his dog last week, silly billy had the dog on his paddle board, was out far too deap when the dog jumped off and headed for the IOW, he did leave his paddle board and swim for the dog which he caught due to the fact it had a long lead attached to collar, however he was never going to catch his paddle board, but the inshore crew came to the rescue so all good. Quite a strong pull 1 hour before high and low tides as the water surges in/out between the IOW and Lymington and at Southsea.
p.s. Lee on solent to IOW is approx 20 miles , not something i would do today
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The guys came to finish my section of decking today. Looks very nice and we now have to start looking for a suitable Gazebo to go on it.
David
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well blow me down, no sooner said we did not see many container ships when in sails one of Hapag LLoyds container ships, these are the giants of the ocean, same position but she is sailing into port, this was taken at approx 1630 hrs. There is a speed limit of 10 knots in the deep water channel so it seems to take them forever to move down the IOW
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get yourself an ensemble and you could hold your very own tea dances, lovely
, when we moved here we had a very large patio but we built a conservatory on part of it, not sure that was such a good idea, it is like throwing pound notes out of the window during the winter months to heat it, looked at getting an insulated roof but at £12k it is a bridge too far, that is a lot of £ notes to throw out of the window 
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Bakers, Easton is a lovely visit, I think it was Millie who recommended it to us, and we have been a few times now. It has lots of parking, but be aware you cannot take a dog around the gardens. We are always ok, as we are in MH, and park in shade with lots of windows left open. The garden shop and plants are lovely, I spent a fortune last time we were there. Nice eateries as well.
Nice day here, mainly sunny, 24c. After a few chores and a pooch stroll, we braved the pool. It’s not getting as warm as it was now, but hoping we can keep going. Do have a secret weapon though…..shorty wetsuits🤣 Niece called in for a cuppa, now she is a real hardened wild swimmer, has done the Ice Championships up in Scotland. Heading to Leeds for a swim in a country park Ex quarry pool🥶
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Very little sun here today but it ended up very humid and warm. According to the weather forecast this evening it reached 30 degrees in some parts of Cambs which I can well believe. I started to do some gardening first thing but had to give up after an hour or so as it was too hot. I managed to plant the plants we bought at our garden visits over the weekend though. I am trying to re-design one of our garden beds (again!). I have never been completely happy with this particular bed so I am having another go.
I hope those who have had tooth trouble over the weekend have managed to see a dentist.
Well we are now into the last few days of summer which is quite sad as it is my favourite season. Grand-daughter in N Ireland started back at school today. An induction into the 6th form day. I came across a photo taken of her the day she started at Primary School the other day and now our great grandson starts primary school next week. How time flies!
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Yes, Bakers, a trip up the A1 to Easton well worth it. We enjoyed it.
No dentist for OH as her dentist is on holiday with her daughter this week. It's not too painful more inconvenient and she has to be careful about what she eats. Booked in next Wednesday!
Been very busy but not achieving a great deal, why oh why does that sound familiar? We've not had the weather enjoyed by those further south. Teeming with rain when we awoke this morning. Had a brolly up for our morning walk and it took until mid afternoon before the sun put in an appearance.
MiL beginning to sound and look a bit more like her old self. Craft class yesterday for 3 hours where she actually managed to make something. She said it was lucky that they were making a montage on a greeting card as it didn't matter where her errant left hand placed things!
She went out to lunch today with the ladies who lunch for the first time this year. She's been worrying herself unnecessarily about it but ended up enjoying both the light lunch and the company particularly when a quite "dotty" friend related burning her knickers whilst drying them in the microwave!
Anyway we escaped to DIY stores and Dunelm in Chester. Exciting or what? OH really sad and annoyed. She bought some slanting calligraphy paper to practice on and resented the fact it came from China. She originates from a Lancashire town which had 3 paper mills when she was growing up, now none as well as most other manufacturing companies.
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Teeming with rain when we awoke this morning. Had a brolly up for our morning walk and it took until mid afternoon before the sun put in an appearance.
WN, very similar to us here. We did manage a short walk after our evening meal without a coat, but nowhere as warm as it has been at Millie's and B2's. I was able to get an appointment at the dentist for Friday pm, but with a dentist I am unfamiliar with. Hope for a good day tomorrow so we can get out for a run. Plans are coming together for our next trip away.
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I haven't re-read my post, I quite possibly didn't say it very plainly!
We visited Easton Walled Gardens last year when the sweetpeas were out. Magnificent all round. Including the food and shop.
However, bowling along the A1 satnag tells me to prepare to turn right. I'm on the inside lane and the outside lane is flying by. It continues to nag, turn around when possible. Eventually I did do a right turn, much much further up. Eventually making a u turn, not on the A1. Came back down and into the gardens. Enjoyable once my stomach settled...... OH never been a map reader so no good relying on him. Worked out a route back, avoiding the A1. Oh no it didn't. I must have missed a road, I ended up trapped, on a very short run onto a very fast A1with a large lorry behind on my tail. Not an experience I wish to repeat - so it's delights will always be a memory.
Takethedogalong your niece sounds intrepid 🥶. I hope you can continue to enjoy your pool.
I pulled my morning glory and sweetpeas out of their pots. Made a jolly good mess! And shifted the large, half barrel size pots of compost into the garage. I was going to empty the greenhouse of the bench and trays. Greenhouse came with the house, not my thing I've decided, so was going to weed in there and cover with weed membrane, and put said half barrels in. Too uncomfortable. Reading Milliehull's post I now understand why!
Wherenext your mother in law is wonderful. I do wish her spirit was available to buy, my OH could use a large dose! Oh please do tell me on burning knickers in the microwave
DEBSC belated birthday greetings to your OH. I'm sorry your celebrations didn't go entirely to plan. I do hope your inspirational granddaughter is OK? She really does go through the mill, and you specators too. I hope you've been able to recover from all the planning and work involved in organising and preparing the day.
Can't really garden here, too dry, so we'll done Milliehull. We do need rain but please let's finish the harvest first now. Not sure how they're progressing. A wet Saturday gave me a day with the 'boys' while DIL pottered as much as you can at 8.5 months. Son is doing his day job and carting in the evenings, so I leave them to rest/work. We're in 'stand by your bed' mode anyway. Timing will dicate who's on call when 'action stations' comes and then the grandparents will sort from there. DIL mother on the night call out, as only her so will sleepover at their house, but grandson has only overnighted here so if its before bedtime...... I'm hoping it'll stay where it is now until after 31 August for school year purposes.
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Rufs - although I am not surprised at the quote for your roof - did that come from an 'ordinary' builder - or one of these 'specialist' companies that seem to have popped up recently? The reason I ask is that when we moved into this house - and literally re-built it - our builder asked me if I would like the conservatory roof insulating. At that time, insulated conservatory roofs weren't as much in vogue as they are now. Must admit, I hadn't got it in my plans but it turned out to be one of the best things we did to the house. Cool in the summer and warm in winter. When I asked him the cost - he said about £2k for the materials - and although that was 12 years ago - things haven't gone up by that much.
The conservatory is about 5 x 4m - all that was involved was reinforcing the existing aluminium roof frame with 3 x 2" timber - bolted through from either side and then the normal lats and composite (lightweight) tiles that look like slate. Insulated with rockwool and 'space blanket'. It was all done in two days - and watertight within a day. Just a normal roofing job, really and nothing to justify the stupid prices I have known these specialist companies to be quoting.
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Up and out to join "rush hour" this morning which actually meant 4 cars waiting at the local traffic lights instead of 3. Had to take The Van in, about half an hour drive, to have some minor points fixing and hopefully have the new part for the boiler ready to be installed. New part there and waiting. Sat down to read the paper until OH arrived. She was leaving about 15 minutes later than me but lo and behold MiL had snuck into the car as well. The lure of a clothes shop at the large M&S seemed to have performed a miracle.
Back home for lunch, then off to town for prescriptions and drop a letter off at GP surgery. Then the joy of Tesco. Got beeped going out. Apparently, unbeknown to us, they have had to fit a security code on Cod Loin fillets due to theft.
Whatever next.No van to pick up tonight. Hopefully back tomorrow. Drive looks bear with just OHs run around on it.
Ronnie is a beauty Goldie.
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Great photo Goldie where have I seen that look before will have to find a couple of our old photos of our two.
A bit cooler today but very stuffy everywhere so had a trip out to Montauban about 40 minutes from home so a wander around the large Brico Depot store same owners as B&Q and OH got the bits he wanted then across to Le Clerc shopping centre and it was quiet as lunchtime so shopping done and then into a local shop to get some toiletries and then back to Caussade where they have some old quarries that have been turned into a leisure park to walk run or even ride a bike around and that was very quiet and had a quick picnic late lunch and behind us we had about 30 Greylag Geese behind walking about they seemed to be resident there as we have seen them before, then back home and chill out as it was still stuffy outside.
Looks like we may have some storms over the weekend we could do with some rain now fed up with a brown dry crispy garden but still have water in the water butts.
WN wish we had a M&S here just have to make do with what I can find in local shops although I have enough clothes really.
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Is Ronnie sat in a Quad/ATV? Thought it was a Landy at first, but noticed no steering wheel😁
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then back to Caussade
Oh my goodness. You brought memories of our times when in early March we used to head down to Spain, stop at a campsite that was open a few miles from Caussade and visit the butcher in town for one of his made meal specialities such as Chicken Chasseur or Rabbit a la Orange, sometimes Duck. Nice place Caussade. Happy memories.
Hope you get some rain, also hope we don't! Had enough of it.
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Much better day today, although it did start out cloudy it soon brightened up and we still had a breeze. We took a walk on our local common before lunch and then, after calling in at the local caravan dealer for a replacement gas bottle, we visited Swathmoor Hall, built in 1576, the Quaker property once occupied by George Fox after he married Margaret Fell, the widow of Judge Thomas Fell, son of the house's builder. The house became the "powderhouse" of the Quaker Movement. Although it is only about 8mls from home we have never before visited it.
Good to read that your MIL is slowly improving, as indicated by wishing to once more visit M&S, and getting back to her craft classes, WN.
Goldie, a grand photo of the tractor driver!
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How is Ronnie as the driver?
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Unbelievable! The day before big family wedding and OH has come down with shingles! Fortunately he had his injection for it a couple of years ago, so he isn’t too bad just rather sore. As it’s on his chest and shoulder and covered up Dr says he is absolutely fine to go to the wedding as long as he doesn’t hug babies. Or we now realise get too close to our granddaughter whose autoimmune system is compromised she has had chicken pox but there is a chance she could get it again apparently, so he will need not to get too close to her. He did suggest not going but he was with our granddaughter for his birthday party when he thought it was just bites on his chest, so as long as they stay clear from each other now. Flippin heck.
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Saw this and thought of Kj
David
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Oh DEBSC what have you done to deserve all this aggro?
I think it's a very sensible move to go, contagious period is usually very early on and as you say he and granddaughter were together for his birthday.
I hope you manage to have a lovely day, even without hugging babies.
Many congratulations to the happy couple.
Speedy recovery to your OH. And many thoughts for you 💐💐
Beautiful English summer day here. Dog walked, and shopping done and unpacked. OH preparing us a sandwich lunch for in the garden.
Now got to keep my mind busy until we hear from son and DIL, a scan followed by consultant review this afternoon. Requested by midwife yesterday. Baby's heartbeat good and mum's blood pressure OK. They had a scan about a month ago....... Due date is 2 weeks yesterday.
Spoke to them both this morning, they sound fine on their way to the farm. And all things being good are being fed here tomorrow. Hence the shop!
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DEBSC having had shingles last winter your OH has my sympathies. I do hope his shingles isnt too bad. I was also told ( and having worked in a maternity unit many years ago I knew anyway) to keep my.distance from pregnant Mums as chicken pox in pregnancy can be dangerous for the baby. I hope you have a wonderful time at the wedding and that your OH soon recovers.
Bakers2 I hope all goes well with your DIL's scan and consultant appointment. Not too long now!
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Thanks for your thoughts DEBSC and milliehull.
Been a productive afternoon on my part, but can stand down now phew! All on track apparently. They reckon it weighs 1oz more than grandson did at birth. Well see in due course.....
I do often think of my mums words - they can't tell much more than than could when my mum had me? That's getting on for 100 years! They seem to know more, but the human carrying has the best insight from her body 🤞
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Bakers I do think that when baby ‘drops’ Mums pretty much know when their baby is ready. They do know a little more now though with scans, I remember when my Aunt - we were brought up like sisters- was pregnant, before the invention of scans, and the Drs kept trying to turn the baby cos they said it was breech, it just kept turning back again. In the end they prepared for a breech birth. Her husband phoned us and said, ‘it’s a boy…and a girl! Twins, and that’s why it kept turning round. Not a breech birth, but twins were a total surprise to them and the Drs.
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