Groan, Moan! Chuckle!

I went to the garage with the car as we had a tyre problem and ended up buying two new tyres!
We (K & I) then went for my accupuncture appointment in Swindon, parked the car in the hospital carpark and realised we where losing diesel, lots!!! Went in had appointment, came out phoned the breakdown, went and saw the Caretaker guy and explained about the diesel spill which he said he would sort!
Got picked up by the breakdown guy, after an hours wait, who said, as soon as the car was on the back of the lorry, that he had to take a 1/2 hour break as he was on Tachygraph. So he went off to find a cafe and we sat out in the cold!!!!!
Eventually got back to the garage, who fixed the problem and we got home.
By now my hands are in agony, the accupuncturist, stuck needles in my feet, stomach and hands. My hands are by far the most sensitive and I could hardly grip anything, I could not have opened a jar! I was totally and utterley exhausted!
This morning after a goodnights sleep, my thumb joints are still quite stiff! I have loads to do, T has gone to college, Hubby to work to earn the 'crusty bread' and K is off to Worcester to do some filming. They will all be back tonight!!!

Fortunately I finished the bag I had been knitting the idea I got from Rooks Nest

I had fun knitting it, as you know I am a recent returner to knitting and was gaily knitting away following the pattern when it said 'ssk, yo' so taking it as it said I slipped 2 stitches, knitted the next and put the yarn over the needle and then carried on!! This bag seemed to be getting bigger and bigger and I couldn't understand why, I knew something was wrong but what??? So I re-read the pattern, got out my trusty new to me 'Knitters Bible' ah ha! So that was where I was going wrong! What ssk,yo roughly means is, slip two stitches onto one needle knit them together and then put yarn over!!!! Why the heck didn't they say that in the first place. So I had to undo the whole bag and start again! But I think you will agree not bad for the cost of some nice cotton yarn! Fun to do to!



These are on Ebay, you heard it first here on my way to Brugmansia domination of the world I am selling some cuttings, well one actually! You have to start somewhere!

My chickens


not that one!

Have laid all these in just 3 days


which is a relief as we thought they may have been for the chop this year!!!

Sunday 9th Day

I feel I have been really neglectful (is that a word) of this blog. In some ways I treat it as a diary something to look back on. As well as sharing with you what ever it is I have been doing.
After my last op, I have as you know been pretty unwell. My energy levels out of 10 are currently about 1 or 2 max. I am just about keeping the troops fed, but much more than that has not been occurring. I don't know if I have told you that many years ago I was an M.E sufferer, I have found over those years, that if I get really ill, it will be a long slow haul back up. Hence lack of blogging, as not alot going on here.
Recently the original problem that I had the first op for, is back with avengence and I have now been referred to a dermatologist. This has not helped my frame of mind, as you know I am prone to the dreaded 'black dog'! I have had enough and have made myself an appointment with my GP!

In the meantime, you know how unsuccessful we are with cars! Well the red one has been involved in an accident!! Not our fault I hasten to add. We, Me, Hubby and Tori where all in it, no one was hurt and to be honest if you looked at the car from 10ft away, you would'nt believe me, as nothing looks amiss. But the insurance accesser says its a 'write off'!!!!!!!!Costs between £1600 and £2000 to repair. Cue the man up the road, who repaired the dent last month, he is a Body Shop not a dodgy dealer and his quote £450 - £500 big difference huh! The car has an appointment with the insurance engineer on Monday!
We only got this car September 2006, 15 months ago, as its a diesel we use this for all our long journeys, which are many, if they do write it off and we can't buy it back that will be £2500 down the drain as we certainly won't get anything like that back. I'm not sure what we will do. I will keep you posted.

Greenhouse Erection Weekend with problems!!!

Hubby has taken Friday and Monday off, to enable us to get the greenhouse up!! We have the sleepers which will act as the base, the land is roughly cleared. We just have to level and erect!!!!!

The problem *

* is he's not in a good mood because he bent my car yesterday! I say my car but infact it might be mine on the registration document and insurance but its his as he always drives it!

* we have to go to Worcester on Saturday

* I have a specialist appointment on Monday plus the electrician is coming to price up for fitting electrics into the new greenhouse!!!!

As its currently raining I have left him to have a lie in, and taken a pic of the car so I can post it for all the world to see lol!!!!!!!!!!



I don't think its that bad actually, no other car involved, just an altercation with a lamp post in the works car park. He is very angry with himself, but hey! its just a car!!!

I will try and keep you updated with the 'erection' process. Bye for now!

Fixed, Preparations & Planning!

They have fixed the car!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Well it appears to be working so far!!!!!

The event of the year takes place this weekend! All children accounted for, outfits sorted, hat, preened, cameras at the ready, memory cards emptied, spare batteries packed! Wedding present wrapped, Oh Lord! I forgot the confetti! Now all we have to do is fit in a 'diddy' car! As you can imagine we won't be taking the new car!!!!! Just in case!

Then we are trolling on down to my sisters! Hubby and K are getting haircuts today! That should give me enough time to clean out the chickens and fit in a spot of gardening before I go, must remember to wear gloves! Its supposed to rain next week according to the weather forecast! Which as much as we need it, I wish it had waited till I had finished digging the jungle bed!!!! Hey ho! Keep your fingers crossed it doesn't go too cool this weekend as my softer jungle plants won't be wrapped up!!!

Another hectic week to come, take K back to Uni, T has an interview at New College Swindon, Tuesday. Wednesday I have to see my friend Hayley plus T has an appointment with her occupational therapist. Somewhere in the week I have to see Sue too (my other friend with MS) although she did tell me there was a chance she may have to go to hospital for the week, for intensive physio! So I may have to visit her there! Plus obviously I need to get on in the garden! Where on earth do people fit time in for work!!!!!!!

See you later with lots of pics ;o)

All go in this household!

As you can see I couldn't sleep!! As I have so much to do today I thought I would do a quick post!

Off to collect K today, apparently whilst Mr Motortrader, drove the car (80+ miles, so he said)yesterday, no red light came on! Hrmph! But he is apparently putting it in to Peugout today!! I shall probably pick it up on the way back!!! Maybe!
Then T has an appointment to check her eyes, then we start getting ready for the wedding!!!! Unless I can fit some more time in, in the garden!!!!

I pottered around outside yesterday


my first climbing french bean has emerged!!!



I have lifted a row of slabs



and started digging. This will be about a metre wide at its thinnest! It is a long time since this bed has been really dug, it is full of bind weed!! Which means I may have to take out the fennel and angelica as the bindweed will have interwoven into their roots!! The jungle plants I will be planting here are not cheap and I can't afford for them to be smoothered by bindweed, even if it does give it an authentic look!!!!!!! You can see how much sun is here which makes it very hot area to work in!



Look at the size of the caster oil plant now!!! I have 2 of these!





These are just 2 of the Elephants Ears that are coming along in the green house! I also planted some brugmansia seeds and the most beautiul morning glory seeds that are red, white and frilly, be interesting to see if they come through. I have alot of flower seeds on the go and intend to have flower beds full of flowers this year!!

I have ordered some 'ripstop nylon' from Ebay! Now shall I tell you what I'm going to make with this or not?????? MMmmmmmmmmm!!!! A Clue.... its for in the garden and I shall have to cut and sew it and if it works it will be quite big!!!

Don't Cross Me Mr Motortrader!!!!!!!

Things are getting very mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! can't think of the word I need!!
Tori has an appointment today, with Occupational therapist and tomorrow for a check up on her eyes. I also have to collect Kathryn from Worcester tomorrow. Friday we are off to the wedding, then on to my sisters Saturday night!

Guess what? we still only have one car!!!! You would have been proud of me yesterday...... the new car has stayed at the garage and was due to be picked up by G one of the partners from where we bought it and taken to Peuguot to be hooked up to a machine and sorted once and for all!!!!! I got a phonecall from S at my garage to say they had returned the car, this was about 1.00ish. They hadn't taken it to peugout, they had supposedly taken it back to Cirencester had their mechanic look at it and driven it all the way back, and guess what the red light had not come on! (Liars) I was furious about this because I had been lied too, so I took a leaf out of hubbys book and did not shout and scream and stamp my feet but stayed very calm, controled and extremely firm. I knew for a fact they hadn't been to Cirencester, the mileage on the car was not enough, they had only driven about 30 miles. I knew also that if I took the car and went to pick up hubby the red light would come on. So after alot of discussion!!! G gave me his mobile number and said if ever the red light came to phone him!
So I took the car, and pootled around, collect Tori then it was time to collect hubby! I hadn't even got to Swindon when the red light came on! So got to hubbies office and phoned darling G!!! and very calmly said, 'the red light is on and I hadn't even got to Swindon before it came on. I know for a fact you never took it to Cirencester becuase had you done so, you would have got the red light, plus the mileage was totally wrong. He jumped in and said he would collect the car tomorrow and take it to Peugout! I said, that is another day I will have been without this car, I paid £**** for this car last Tuesday and I have yet to use it apart from test driving it. Anyway it went on like this and by the time I finished he was groveling and calling me your majesty! Hubby was cheering in the background and said he was well impressed with the way I handled it!! So, they are coming to collect it this morning, leaving me a swap car and I have yet to hit them with the biggy!!! I want to see the paper work from Peugout when they return it!!! I will also know if they have removed the bulb, (just in case they stoop that low)and I am currently reading up on where we stand legally!! DON'T CROSS ME, MR MOTORTRADER!!!!!!!!!

Things could get erratic on the posting front between now and next week, but even if its a short one I will try, so much to do, so little time!!

I did start digging the jungle beds yesterday, so if I have a chance I will try and get some pics. I still have to collect our other car from the garage as they are finishing off the service that was started last week. I also have to wash it and do a multitude of other things but hey ho!!!

Catch you later!!

Car-tastrophe!

I am exhausted! I haven't done much in the garden this last week because of the 'secret'!!!! It was really a surprise for Kathryn although it belongs to me! We have a new car, well we would if it worked!!! I have now told K because it has been so riidiculous you would never believe it!!
We are exceptionally unlucky with cars! Fortunately we have a wonderful garage only 40 mins walk away with 2 fabulous mechanics! If one car goes in for say a service, then without fail something will go wrong with the other car and vice versa!!! Out of all their customers, we return to the garage on the back of a breakdown wagon more in one year than all their customers added together!!
Anyway we had to buy a newer car, as Tori starts to drive in September and both our cars where far to big, engine wise! we had to get rid of the citroen 'stationwagon' (estate)which I loved, a brilliant motorway car, but a massive gas guzzler! So I eventually found this car, an X reg Peuguot 306, 1.4, only 31,000 miles on the clock! Brilliant! So took it to my garage, (bearing in mind we have taken a number to them over the last week or so) they checked it over and where quite excited that this was a brilliant car! So went back paid for it signed all the documantation and drove home!!!
Wait for it!!!!!!
1.5 miles from home it developed an electrical fault!!!! I limped to my garage! Who could not believe what they where seeing and their first words out of the mouths "I have never met anyone as unlucky with cars as you lot!" Now the guy who checked it over was feeling as guilty as anything, but to be fair, no one can see or predict an electrical problem!
Fortunately they had given us a 3 month warrenty. So phoned them up and they agreed for my garage to work on the problem and they would pay them! Now the only problem being this fault would only show after being driven 40+ miles! So thats what I have been doing, the garage have been going step by step through, trying to find the problem, and each time it has to be driven! They already have a full diary and each time I am being squeezed in! So they don't have the time to do the driving bit! It got to the stage where they had done everything they thought it was, so in agreement with where we purchased it, they got 'Auto Electrics' in! It now has to go to Peugout!
So we still don't have the car its at our garage, where it will be picked up on Tuesday to be taken to the Peugout garage by the people we purchased it from and then returned to my garage for them to check that these guys haven't done anything dodgy like, removing bulbs, so the fault doesn't show up!! I don't think they will, but we got this car for a very good price and with all the work thats been done so far there profit is 'zilch!'
So is it worth keeping, I hear you all say! Apparently, yes! Our mechanics say its a great car, the best we have had, if the electrical problem can be solved with supporting paper work from Peugout, then its definately worth keeping! I must admit this is the most we have ever spent on a car, it has ABS brakes, front and side airbags, power assisted stearing and of course nost important to teenage girls a CD player!!! I still await its arrival to our drive!!!!!!!

Yesterday I promised I would go out into the garden ....... I did and it looked lovely!!!!!! lol!!!!

I'm afraid we are a bit wasted! I know hubby has a motorbike but as you know he works for a building society, he is on a very high profile project and everytime he has to meet outside people he has to wear a suit! Suits and motorbikes don't go! So I have been driving him to work each morning which is 40+ miles there and back, then back again to take Tori to school(12+), then do all the driving on the other car, collect T from school(another 12+) then go back and collect hubby (40+ again)!!! So I think now, you might understand why I have blogged so little, and visited other blogs even less!

So just to end this and to prove I did go out and look round the garden yesterday a few pictures....

The peas are coming through...


No sign of the French beans though! Look what was buzzing around my greenhouse..





Its a hornet. This is the second year we have seen one down here so they must be nesting somewhere close by!

I will try getting out into the garden today, but I was not impressed with Big Bird, one of my chickens, 'Bedawking' at 06.15 this morning! Its her alarm call, so I shot out of bed and down the garden, to find her 'bedawking' away and everyone else happily scratchin around! Well at least I stopped her and hopefully it didn't wake any of the neighbours this Sunday morn!!

Flying Visit!

Is it only Tuesday??? It feels like Friday, I seem to be in a total spin at the moment, so much going on not enough time for gardening even!!!!! But I managed a quick hour this afternoon as I was having withdrawal symptons!!!

I recieved this in the post today...



its part of my 'soon to be jungle' a Colocasia Burgundy stem! It has the potential to reach 4 - 6 ft this year!!! Yee ha!! bye bye neighbours!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are all my Ebay buys recently, all potted up and coming along nicely...



I have potted on alot of my tomato plants and one or two others! I really need to get on and finish the edging of the beds at the bottom and the digging of the jungle beds! Everything in the veg patch is behaving at the mo, so only bits of weeding to do there!

So a few pics from around the garden..


Harebells


My Bluebells, which I am terrified of splitting in case I lose them!!!!


My lone black tulip! I bought a net of 12 black tulips only one came up black the rest where white!!!! I never used to like them and only got them cos hubby went on & on! But I must admit I have been well impressed and will buy some more for next year as they last far longer than the daffs!


Can't remember the name of these, but they are lovely and they seed all over the place!


Solomans Seal which gets devestated every single year by caterpillars!!!


On the pond before disaster struck this afternoon!

Whilst I was out getting Tori from school we had a visitor and as I opened the back door on our return the 'Heron' took off from my neighbours pond. I knew instantly where it had been first and sure enough a large plant that had got over grown was squashed flat in the middle of the pond, the netting was all over the show, so out came the secatures chop, chop snip, snip tighten the netting back to where it should be and all I have seen is one fish!!! One fish out of 16!!



But looking on the positive side the heron has visited in previous years and the fish go really deep and you don't see them for weeks so providing the netting is up it should prevent any further visits and we hope only minor damage has been done.

Thats all for now, I will be driving up and down to Swindon tomorrow as hubby needs a car (its a suit day) and can't go on his bike and the Peugout is in for a service, it should have been in today but we had problems with the other car and that took its place today! The garage laugh at us (not nastily) they say we are the most unluckiest family when it comes to cars!! I think we are there best customers, they always give us a bottle of wine at christmas!!!!!!!

'Honey I'm Home'!!!

Phew! What a lot has gone on, we actually left Saturday evening, picking Kathryn up on the way. When we arrived Kathryn, hid and then gave my mum such a surprise as she had no idea she was coming! Sunday we spent with mum and my middle niece, Amy who came round with her boyfriend Mark! It was a beautiful day and it was spent out in the garden!

Monday I met for the first time my Great Niece,Madison,



here she is with her mum.



with the girls



and me! She is totally adorable, chatters away and her head is permanently on a swivel! We spent a lovely day at the seaside,



this is looking out over the marine lake at West Kirby, out towards 'Hilbre Island'. I used to walk from my house down here practically every day with our dog! It was like coming home, the thing that got me where the amount of houses up 'For Sale' along the prom! Tempting!!!!





I used to sail on this lake, when it was alot smaller, they have since expanded it and it is now huge, I would imagine it would be really fun to sail there now! Having had a long walk and a picnic, which was lovely. We then drove past where I was brought up




It now has new UPVC windows, but ironically the original wooden garage doors are just about hanging on, the tarmac path is all crumbled but yep! original to my family! Those rosebushes where put in by my mum, the big one under the window is a Queen Elizabeth Rose and used to have the most beautiful perfume, that wafted in my bedroom window at night (window top left). Also all the bushes and tree where also planted by us! Sad really, it was such a lovely place, I lived there from when I was born till I left home when I was 17!

We had a really glorious day, but boy where we wacked!

On Tuesday we spent the day out with mum! Again we had another lovely day, but it ended on a sour note as the school had phoned and left a message at home saying Tori had not done some of her Drama course work!! Poor girl got really, really stressed out because she believed she had handed it all in, so that wrecked the break I was trying to give her!!

So we left really early and made it to Worcester Uni to pick up some more of K's stuff and wait out the rush hour. K then drove from Worcester but as we where climbing a steep hill, smoke started pooring out from behind the steering wheel she managed to pull in and yes as unfortunately often happens to the girls and I, we came back home on the back of the 'Breakdown Wagon'!

So we are home, worn out, stressed out and soon to be 'out of pocket'! But hey ho, it was lovely to see everyone again!