What are you doing today?

[LovelyLadyLux]

@MD - your plants sound lovely. I think Kalanchoe are the cutest little plant ever BUT how do you get repeat blooms? I've never had one outlast the bloom it came with from the store so need to know what you're doing or not doing to get THREE sets of blooms?

I love begnoias too. Don't have any right now but I love the leaves and all the colour(s) they add to a room.

I bought a coleus this past spring. Have it outside and it has done really well. Has gone crazy with flowering and until September I kept up with picking off all the flower stalks but haven't bothered for the last couple weeks. Am thinking about how I can bring it inside - not so much how to bring it in but where to put it for the winter. If it survives I'll start cuttings in the early spring to get everything put back outside for summer. This particular one has quite a range of red on it's leaves that are trimmed in green so hoping I can perpetuate it.

I also had a go with ferns this year. Am hoping they'll survive the winter and pop back up spring 2018.

As for today - am getting a Newletter ready for a club I belong to. I'm the Newsletter person, first meeting is tonight so I guess it'll go out tomorrow

[Mad Dilys]

Today has been very odd - odd enough for some folks to Read Something Into It.

The first was when I decided to put a new battery in an old bedside clock that hadn't worked in at least a year. As soon as the battery was properly inserted the second hand started to move, so I checked my wristwatch and they both showed almost exactly the same time - well there was 20 seconds difference. I took a photo in case I'd made a mistake and could look again later with fresh eyes as it were.................. and they were and are still matching.

It made me feel a bit odd.

The second one was too long to relate in full but basically PC World lost my USB for my mouse when the laptop went back to have factory settings restored. When I collected it today they couldn't find it so eventually gave me a complete new unit. However when I got home I found that it hadn't been put in the bag with everything else. As I had an odd USB at home and the shell of the one Ihad bought last week, I tried them together, and BINGO!

Never before have I been able to mix and match wireless Mouse parts. My very Lucky day!

[Grandad]

We are having to get used to using public transport so a trip into town means catching the 21a from the bus stop at the bottom of our road this morning.
Thursday shopping at Sainsburys calls for taxis to cope with usually 4 large bags of shopping.

I will be shortly considering joining the scooter brigade MD. I don't want one of those monsters but something in between with around 10 mile range.

Oh how we are missing the convenience of the car.

[Mad Dilys]

I couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth Grandad, but I do understand why the previous owner was intimidated by it.

I went for a walk with my daughter yesterday to the library, rather further than my limit on shanks pony. She wanted to get a taxi home but I insisted I could do it............ she suggested that unless I "keep it up" I would suffer in a day or two. At 1.0am I had cramp in my feet and calves - not unusual - then around 1.30 I was hit by severe cramp in the inside of my thigh and hamstring. That warmed me up for ten minutes or so and for most of the rest of the night it was threatening. I can still feel it now.

I have to admit that sometimes my judgement is wrong - but we did have a lovely walk together. Now I'm going out for a stroll as she suggested.

Like you Oh, how I miss the convenience of a car.

[Grandad]

Is something going to happen that I don't know about?
I have spent a lot of time yesterday and today sorting out, clearing out and throwing away. My #1 son will be disposing of my car so I have cleared out all my stuff. He is in the business and will get it valeted and sell it for me.

I now have serious difficulty with electronic camera viewfinders so I am selling my HS50 and listed it on ebay last evening. I had already given my Nikon and lenses to #2 son so I now have just the X10 and my mobile phone camera. I had already given my tripod to a grand daughter.

I have sorted a lot of junk in the garage and #2 son will take it all to the re-cycling centre next Tuesday.

While sorting the garage I found 4 Director style folding chairs. The students next door have a habit of taking their dining chairs out into the garden and sometimes leaving them out all night with a risk of rain damage. I gave them my chairs so they can leave them out in all weathers.

I think I have heard it said that pregnant mums have an urge to do some cleaning before the imminent birth of their child. I am not expecting so what is the explanation?

[Ruby Slippers]

I call it common sense, Grandad, and I just wish I could get DH to have a bit of the same! Good for you!

[Mad Dilys]

It's nesting for the winter Grandad, getting your den ready.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Wow - you're really clearing out Grandad. Lets hope you're NOT expecting!

[Grandad]

My son came as promised and took all my garage rubbish to the re-cycling centre. The council anoy me intensely. In our weekly kerbside collection, one of the bins has a space for plastics re-cycling which we duly sort. Most of the stuff that I took to the tip was plastic but too large to put in the kerbside bin but all clean plastic materials. I asked where the plstics container was and the attendant said 'it all goes in the domestic rubbish bin, mate'
So much for sorting plastics in the home

My son also cut the grass and strimmed the edges for me, can't do sloping banks or ladders any more.

The fortnightly garden waste collection comes again this week so we have started pulling out the plants that are already past their best. A true sign that Autumn is upon us. The sweet chestnuts from the huge tree on the railway bank have started to fall so a bit of roasting and boiling chestnuts is on the way.

Horus gave us leave to play nicely while he is away, but where is everybody? We should be partying by now.

[LovelyLadyLux]

"I" have been waiting for the Internet provider guy to arrive to replace the Modem (AGAIN X3 in 3 yrs) so that I can be reliably ONLINE!

I also have a neighbor lady coming to dig out a few old azaleas that I don't want She is making a community garden and asking for plants soooo win/win She gets the plants I don't want and I get them dug and disposed of for free

Tomorrow I'm taking a quilting class to learn how to make a quilt piece by piece. I don't know this technique and I'm really hoping it'll be informative and something that works well easily. The daughter is coming with me too to take the class so we both will know how to do it.

Was over Sunday in Vancouver with the daughter for a day. Went to the Granville Island market where I happened upon a man who made birdhouses so have another one to add to the backyard. Wasn't much fun lugging it about for the trip home but ??? Between us we passed it back and forth and got it back here in one piece. He made it out of driftwood so it is rather substantial (Photos to come soon - once the sil has it mounted on the post outback

[Horus]

Hi Guys, I'm back from my little sojourn, nice to see you have all been behaving, but then again I knew that you would

[Kiya]

Good to see you back Horus, now waiting to see your photos

[Grandad]

Welcome back Horus. Hope you had an enjoyable break. We have all behaved ourselves

Sadness last evening when my #1 son took the car to get it valeted and then sell it for me. After 65 years of driving that is a real wrench.

[Horus]

Thanks Kiya, yes I will post some pictures once I get myself sorted out, couldn’t believe how much washing I brought back, I did three loads after I got back yesterday. And where have you been hiding yourself lately? We don’t hear so much from you nowadays, how is Roy doing is he still in Canada?

Grandad it is always sad when we have to give up something we enjoy doing or makes our lives easier, but life is all about change and sometimes we just have to accept it, in reality it will just mean that you will be doing things differently.

[Mad Dilys]

Welcome back Horus. Hope you had an enjoyable break. We have all behaved ourselves

Sadness last evening when my #1 son took the car to get it valeted and then sell it for me. After 65 years of driving that is a real wrench.

I totally identify with that Grandad, though I gave up after 53 years. But only because of lack of local parking and the cost of official car parks here

[Grandad]

[quote="Mad Dilys"I totally identify with that Grandad, though I gave up after 53 years. But only because of lack of local parking and the cost of official car parks here [/quote]

Actually MD, we have a parking problem throughout the city and in my area we have students parking on road AND commuters because we are a short walk from the mainline station for London.

BUT, it may have opened up a small business opportunity for me to let my frontage for two parking places and gain an additional monthly income. It is very attractive for commuters to have reserved parking places and avoid the need to crawl around the streets looking for a space and risk missing their train. Might give that some thought

[Horus]

Go for it Grandad, someone will snatch your hand off And make sure you check the going rate and park them so close you could fit in three cars, small vehicles only need apply, Mercs pay for two places, these city types can afford it

[Ruby Slippers]

Lots of people do this in London and it seems to work well for both parties involved. Go for it Grandad!

[Mad Dilys]

I agree - go for it Grandad, but just make sure you can get in and out of your house!

[Horus]

And make sure they pay 1 months parking fees in advance, none transferable and none refundable issued against vehicle registration, weekdays only, Saturday & Sunday extra charge.
Illegal parking will be clamped, £100 release fee.