Chitchat thread #24

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Oh my…..we have sunshine!…frustratingly I have to do my grory hop later on this morning but you can bet your socks I’ll be out gardening later on

Good to see you rary. I’ll share a secret with you…..
I’ll have you know that it takes us women years of concerted effort to create a Stone Age Goddess type figure for you men to admire.
Te he….Some of us are still making huge daily efforts to achieve that

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-mys...g-new-solution

Thanks for the brew MH..Anyone fancy a another brew?…OH has just announced he’s making one to have with a chunk of almond , cherry and fig cake I made yesterday.

Enjoy your day peeps!

[greenishfing]

I've just spent annoying 45 minutes trying to get through to our doctor's surgery for Mr GF. Every time I do this, I start trying to ring before 8am, when I still get the answer phone, and then, when the overnight answer phone is turned off I keep getting engaged and eventually after multitudinous attempts end up at about number 48 in the queue to talk to a receptionist. I'd love to know what the secret is. But never mind I eventually spoke to a human and the doctor is going to ring back this morning. Thank goodness modern phones aren't hard wired to the wall and with no speaker option. I would imagine young people would find it inconceivable that that was normal not too long ago. If you wanted another phone in another room you had to install more wire and an extra phone jack.

After the doctor has rung back and, hopefully, sorted Mr GF's problem it's a trip to the allotment.

Snoop, I actually believe the hand/eye co-ordination test sounds a good idea. The husband of a friend, in his eighties, got in his car last week and somehow reversed through the garage door (not open at the time) carried on across the road and only stopped when he hit a neighbours tree. He's okay, but the car is a write off. It must be so hard to voluntarily give up driving though. Some old people in this area are still lethal on their mobility scooters however.

The doctor has now rung back. Not one I know ...... and hasn't really solved the problem but at least a temporary solution.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Snoop it does sound a good system, here there's some medical conditions that you can't drive with otherwise its just the self-declaration.

The best way I've found to get a GP appointment GF is to have the word clock counting down on my PC and my mobile ready to ring as the time hits 8am. even then I'm not the first but usually in the low numbers.

Looks like being a sunny day here

[greenishfing]

Well, just had a phone call from the physiotherapy department. After two telephone appointments with a physiotherapist for Mr GF I got a text with a questionnaire about the service a couple of days ago. I said yes the physiotherapist was pleasant, nice, blah, blah, blah but when it came to the optional comments section I said that I thought it was pretty pointless to have a telephone consultation with an old man you haven't seen and who is hard of hearing.

Anyway the phone call today is for a six week course of face to face classes starting on Tuesday.

[bramble]

Good afternoon all.
Taking a forced break from the garden due to the adverse weather.
Torrential showers with driving wind and lightening strikes not too far from us.
Put more supports up for my sweetpeas which are now in bloom.
Hope all are having a good day.

[Bren In Pots]

Afternoon, that’s good news about MrGF getting face to face physio I have normal hearing and found it frustrating. Luckily the rest were at the clinic.

It’s been a good drying day with sunshine and a breeze.

[Nicos]

Evening n’alln’all
I managed to get some driveway weeding done this afternoon- hopefully I’ll conquer the rest tomorrow

Sadly I’ve seen too many very elderly relatives and friends of theirs who really should have been prevented from driving far earlier than they personally thought the right time to stop
One person actually ran over and killed someone on a zebra crossing . Utterly heartbreaking, Snoop - your assessment scheme really should be implemented in the uk, I know there are arrogant and dangerous young drivers on the road too but the whole self assessment system should be changed in the uk

One very strange thing here in France - which I don’t understand fully- is that anyone who doesn’t have a driving licence or has had theirs withdrawn due to accumulation of points/ drunk driving etc can actually drive in special low powered cars without a licence
apparently the fines etc incurred if they break any regulations are humongous- including a potential prison sentence

Safety of the general public should always be the priority surely over in individuals need for independence?

Keep safe and keep smiling peeps,,,,, see you in the morn bright and breezy eh?

[mothhawk]

Morning all. Lovely and sunny out. Hope it lasts.

It must be very hard to make the decision to give up driving. I know whenever my car is at the garage for a day or two, I feel bereft and stranded, even though often I don't need to drive anywhere at the time. I hate to be constricted by a bus timetable, it means being far more organised than I really am.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

They have those low-powered vehicles here, Nicos, and a similar rule about not needing a licence to drive one. But the idea you could drive one having lost your licence due to infractions is bonkers. The number of near misses my mum had doesn't bear thinking about. And those are the ones I know of. We had terrible arguments about it.

Anyway, done a load of strimming this morning. Fortunately the battery ran out when I was starting to flag, so I felt I'd done my duty. Lots more to get through. Off out to water now. It's going to be a hot-hot weekend, and not just during the day. Hot nights are worse than hot days, as it's difficult to sleep and the building doesn't cool down that much. Night-time temps in the nearest town forecast to be in the mid-20s this week. We'll be cooler than that in our valley, but still quite a bit hotter than usual. I guess some of the plants will like it, but I won't.

Mr Snoop is making progress on the irrigation system. Pump now tested using a battery. Hosepipes in position to both the top patch and down in the fields. Today's job is to get the solar panels in place. Tomorrow perhaps the main supply pipes for the fields can be sorted and then eventually the seeper hose can go down as and when. This will make an enormous difference to my gardening next year. Anyone else think I just have to have a greenhouse to maximise on all this?

Right, better hop to it. The smiles are long gone - they don't like the strimmer, too noisy and too much debris flying about - and I'd better do likewise and set off with my trusty watering can (don't want it to feel unloved and go permanently AWOL rather than just missing when I put it down and can't remember where).

Have a great day everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Its sunny here as well GF with the same breeze as yesterday making it feel a bit cooler than it actually is.

Snoop if you've space for a GH I'd say have one if its just for seedling and toms I think you said you don't have much in the way of indoor window sills.

No real plans for today a stroll to the shops then some gardening.

Enjoy your day.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Oi…you two…stop hogging the sunshine!
Although at least it’s warm and humid.

We’d be totally lost without our cars too - no local bus or train service although the school bus will pick up passengers for 1€ each way so it’s a commitment to be out from 7am- 6pm . Yup…very long school hours here
I guess when we’re much older we’ll be dependant on younger locals taking us into town and back when they go . I best start being extra kind to them!

Domestics and gardening today for me plus a small amount of ironing.
Hope everyone has a rewarding weekend!

[greenishfing]

Good morning..... I managed a good night's sleep and feel all the better for it.

17°C already here and climbing. Not sunny but definitely windy. Given half a chance I'm off to the allotment early before anybody waylays me.

I would be lost too without a car these days, even though I didn't pass my car test until I was nearly 30. I had a motorbike in my early 20s. I just wish the roads here weren't so busy with constant traffic jams and a lack of parking. Just too many people.

See you later. Don't burn!

Just got an email from the seed company which does not deserve my future business. The plants I ordered on the 25th May which said on the confirmation email had 24 hour despatch are finally supposed to arrive today!

[bramble]

Good morning all, sunny and breezy here.

Regarding driving rules here, when you turn 70 you must go for a licence renewal every three years.
A medical, an eye test and an interview with a sheaf of forms to fill in.
The area I live in has a good bus service but there a lot of places that are hard to get to.
Plus it's a bonus to throw everything in the boot instead of having to carry them.

No plans for the day summit will be gardening and a walk between the showers.
Have a good day all.

[lottie dolly]

Hi all,nt a bad day weather wise,done a bit of weeding,and thined out the snips,but the swede look awfull,looks they they been attact or dying,will have a proper look in the morning,i feel really disapointed with growing this year,some squash been in the ground for a few weeks,not grown,but behaving like it is in a restricted pot with little flowers on,most of the toms,chillies and peppers have not got above 2 inch,so a big waste of space time and money,plus they never left the poly tunnel,my six sweet corn are not growing,but haveto say,i seen a few tiny broard beans developing,as for the 2 apple plants,it was were initially covered with blosome,but now very few apples,i wonder if the hale we had several days ago it the culprit,it's such a shame,all the time effort and money spent,never mind hoping to fill the freezer,i have never had such bad results ever,was trying to think of sumat that WAS ok,but no luck so far,never mind,and all the work that was done to prepare the space for growing as well,have a good evening everyone

[Snoop Puss]

LD, the weird weather is playing havoc with my plants here. My lettuce are all bolting. I expect this in July and August, but not at this time of year. The peppers and aubergines are just sitting there, though to be fair they've only been in the ground a couple of weeks. Ants are gradually destroying my potato plants, one after the other. The onions - a crop I usually have tremendous success with - look they'll be good as spring onions but no bigger than that. The bean plants have basically withered in the hot wind. Things that are going right: my squash plants and one lot of leeks. (Might your squash plants actually be melons, by the way? They have small flowers.) And like you, I'm putting in a huge amount of effort to get beds ready, but the weeding is tedious and not very effective. I've taken the line that I can't expect much this year, but that I'm working towards next year. There's always next year.