Gran Chat!

[Gemini]

Good morning ladies.

Nan2 our forecast says 100% rain! Not a day for anything outdoors. I'm sure you can keep dry in town though.

Congratulations to your GS2 Daisy Good for him taking the advanced test. The only person I know with that is my SIL2.

OH wants to go to different garden centre today for bean plants. They didn't have any she liked where she went for the tomato and cucumber plants. No other plans, but some housework needs doing.

[Oma]

Morning ladies.
I was too tired to come on last night , we had bit of a stressful day with MIL yesterday , didn't get back into the house till after 5 .
She waited till we had our coats on ready to leave to decide she wanted a McDonald's
So we had to go get her one ,
Then while we were there she got a plate out of the cupboard and dropped it so lots of little bits had to be swept up then hoovered .
We just had a salad for tea we were too tired to cook , I put my PJs on and we watched the Downton abbey film . I was in bed by10.30

Daisy
How lovely for your GS
B did his with the police some years ago and got Gold
It will help with the cost of GSs insurance as well.
I don't think I could cope with large pots now either or large plants,
How high do the banana plants grow?

Gem
So pleased to hear S had a good day ,
Is the garden centre under cover? If it's anything like here it's raining hard , you will need shelter.

Nanto
Enjoy your trip into town , as you say plenty of places to keep dry 😁

Plant
I think potting days are too much for you now, does GD not like gardening? I know you said your DD doesn't like it,
Maybe you should ask your gardener to do it now.
Don't over tire yourself with it plus bending over isn't safe for you

We have to go get veg to make broth for MIL and to Boots the chemist for emergency prescription .that's another story I will tell at some point 😁

[Gemini]

Oma, MIL is wearing you both out
I hope today is more restful.

I think the veg plants will be in a covered area . I don't think our weather is as bad as yours sounds.

[Plantaholic]

Nice and sunny here, not sure if it is warm as I have not poked my head out yet. Off to GS1 for lunch, DD and Sil are still in Wales, they attended a wedding there yesterday.

Oma, home made soup for Mil, she is a lucky lady but I know she doesn’t appreciate what you all do for her. Mil really needs a live-in carer. The gardener (I have had several) do not do much really in the 2 hours they are here and they charge £20 an hour, more than my cleaning lady. My hands itch when I see how slow they are.

[Daisy]

Good Saturday morning, everyone.

It's nice and sunny here, as well, Plant. We're going out in a minute, but I'll pop back later.

[Nanto2girls]

Dull and cold in town. When we were on our way back for the car,the sun put in a very small appearance.
A bit brighter now,but its still cold.
DS2 is in Lincoln this weekend and this morning it was warm and sunny.

[Lizzie48]

It is so warm here, in fact I can't remember the last time we had any rain , last week some parts of the Netherlands got the rain, we just got the thunder storm.

I was wrong about GD1 going to Malta on a work experience, it is a bonus holiday for all the last year pupils at the college. 40 of them are going plus 4 leaders, she was showing me the program they have got planned, made me jealous ! They will be seeing and doing so much, they will certainly all enjoy it. I hope! Whilst I was at their house this morning, I took the suitcase for her, we had a walk into the village, the first time in months I have managed a walk like that so I shall have one daily now.

I still don't know how you manage to keep it up with your MIL Oma, was she like that with her DH?

I met friends of DS2 whilst on the bike this morning, I have known him since DS2 was 14 and first started cycling. It was his father I used to visit, he has alzeimers and is in a home now, M said he is very happy where he is, I will try and visit him this week, they said he probably won't recognise me but he likes visitors. M and his wife live most of the year in Germany, near Winterburg in the mountains, he bought a house a few years ago and completely renovated it, that he is very good in! They love living there, have 2 hunting dogs that they both train so enjoy life, they were here for a few days, they still have the house here, a neighbour has died so they are staying until Friday for the cremation.

[Nanto2girls]

The sun is shining,but its quite chilly.

Only plans for us is doing a bit of tidying up upstairs.

Just waiting for the flooring to be done in the bathroom on thursday.
I'll post some photos then.

[Gemini]

Good morning Nan2 and everyone coming by today (please say Hello if you do!)

Looking forward to the photos Nan2.

Plant, I imagine my OH would feel the same way if we hired a gardener.

That sounds a wonderful trip for your GD Lizzie.

Did you have good day yesterday Daisy?

Very sunny here, but no doubt cold out as Nan2 says.
This afternoon we are having a tea to celebrate OH's birthday. Her birthday is Tuesday. She should be on the golf course then and the family busy, so today is the day.
I think everyone should be here except GD. Her GCSEs start tomorrow so she can be excused!

[Oma]

Morning ladies,

Nanto
I'm sure you will be very pleased with the bathroom ,
All lovely and new 😁

Gem
I hope S has a lovely day , I posted her card then other day ,

Doesn't seem possible that GD is doing her GCSEs
All our babies are growing up fast .

We have to take food to MILs today ,Home made chicken broth and a lamb hot pot , plus rhubarb crumble.

She will moan there is too much soup , and she's sick of chicken , then she will say there is too much topping on the rhubarb,
We can just hear her now , we know exactly what she will say.

GS rang yesterday he was on his way home from his few days golfing , he is coming to see us this afternoon.
You would think he had been away a fortnight not 3 days 😁

[Gemini]

Oma, I think your card is here She will open them on Tuesday.

Aww, it will ne nice to see your GS and hear about his golf trip

[Lizzie48]

Good morning, I am all shook up here, I almost got knocked off my bike at a roundabout!! Cyclists have right of way, I put my hand out saw a car and thought it was stopping, it wasn't, I managed to throw my handlebars over and rode alongside the car!!! There was a man walking his dog, I know him well and he stopped for me, he said " that was a clever snap decision ", I told him a good thing or he would have been a witness! We stood talking and he asked if I was OK, I told him I was just shaking a bit! As we were talking the car returned on the other side of the road, the lady run over to me asking how I was and apologising, she said she didn't see me so the man told her she didn't even look, she admitted to that, she will know better next time! The thing is it was very quiet on the road with it being early on a Sunday, she was the only car at the time, me the only cyclist! A good thing one of us was alert!!

I was just telling a neighbour, he said that is unheard of that they return to apologise!!

[Gemini]

Oh thank goodness you were ok Lizzie! You will have been considerably shaken!
The lady will have learned a lesson I think.

I have to say as a driver cyclists fill me with dread! Especially all the far from careful boys from the secondary school who ride all over the road.
I do know cyclists get a rough deal from some drivers though.

[Lizzie48]

It usually isn't too bad here Gem with having the cycle paths, the roundabouts are a problem, especially with the speed some of those fat bikes have. The worst roundabouts are when the cyclists can travel both ways!! As a car driver you certainly need your wits about you when approaching the roundabouts, on the way to DS1, only 5km by the way, there are 5 roundabouts , not bad during the day but in the dark or when it is wet I am always pleased when I am home!!

[Daisy]

Good Sunday morning, everyone.

Nanto, thanks you for the cheery graphic. I bet you're looking forward to getting the bathroom floor done on Thursday so you can settle back into normal life again. By the way, did you get any towels in the end? (Sorry if you've said and I've missed it.)

Gem, I hope you have a lovely afternoon having an early celebration of OH's birthday. Your family seems to have a lot of birthdays close together like ours.

Oma, you could write a script for your MIL knowing what she'll say about the lovely food you take for her. It must be hard to resist tiping it over her head sometimes - but I mustn't put ideas in your head. Your GS is so lovely. He clearly misses you and B when he's away, but I hope he enjoyed the golf with his Dad and it took his mind off waiting for his results. Has he got any plans on what he's going to do now he's finished Uni?

Lizzie, I was horrified reading about your near miss this morning. No wonder you were shaken, but hopefully the car driver will be more careful in future. Some of your roundabouts sound like accidents waiting to happen, but you're still far ahead of us in the UK on cycle lanes and space for bikes. Car drivers are supposed to leave a good space when overtaking bikes, which might work on main roads, but on our narrow Forest roads an overtaking car would be in the opposite ditch if they did that. And then when cyclists bunch together, sometimes 10 or 15 at a time, a long tail back builds up behind them. On the other hand, I feel sorry for cyclists trying to navigate round the millions of pot holes at the edges of our roads. Like Liz, cyclists fill me with anxiety as well. Not so much young lads as MAMILs around here.

I don't know where my time goes some days, and I didn't manage to get back online yesterday. We went to a nearby small garden centre for a plant for our neighbour's 70th birthday. When they moved in about 6 years ago, they started their garden from scratch, and J (neighbour) was often in our garden asking what various plants were and how to grow them. He's got a high opinion of my horticultural knowledge which is totally undeserved, but a new addition to his garden was the obvious present for him. We got a beautiful azealea - a lovely shade of yellow and nicely scented. I hope it grows well.

We had a great late afternoon/evening with them and their family and other friends. There were lots of children, who all played happily together, and the grown ups all proved we were rubbish at boules.

I still find busy social occasions leave me exhausted, and I went straight to bed when we got home. It's a bit frustrating, but could be so much worse. I slept until after 8.30 as well, but still feel tired. We need to plant the rest of the plants we got the other day. A job for this afternoon. It's dull and windy today but hopefully it won't rain.