Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2024

Afternoon folks, I agree @Blue arbour, definitely cooler today and a very fine misty drizzle, although hopefully the sun's now trying to break through.

I've been busy cleaning, tidying up and will do the beds later for our DIL and granddaughter who are staying overnight. OH has done the bathrooms. I've just been informed that GD will be cooking for us Tuesday evening before they go home, a pasta dish by all accounts. She can come again!

@LG_ GSon will be going to 6th form college next month to do his A levels, he's a very bright boy, not that I'm prejudiced of course. It will be interesting to see how he handles the transition because he's been attending a very, very strict secondary school and the new one is more relaxed.

I've just popped into Tesco's @Busy-Lizzie but your shopping list sounds more more interesting than mine!

Right, I'd better get on.

 

@Tui34 I hope that your appointment with the anaesthetist has gone fine and you have the green light for your op.
I've just been decanting my 40 Kg of bird food into the bin in the garage where I store it and I agree with those who mention the drop in temperature. I was glad I had put a fleece on. It also started spitting and spotting with rain as I tore up the cardboard boxes the feed came in but I got all the bits and pieces confined to the paper bin for its next collection day before it got too wet. That is me finished outside for today.

 

Good afternoon!

No castles immediately nearby here, @RowlandsCastle , though there are lots of crumbling bits of ancient castles, monasteries and fortified towers, mostly on private land and not well maintained. We're quite near Inis Cealtra, Holy Island, in Lough Derg, where the ruins are well looked after and quite a tourist attraction. They include an Irish round tower. The graveyard on the island is still in use - Edna O'Brien was buried there a fortnight ago.

Which choir does Trill sing with, @LG_ ? How wonderful to be singing in the Proms! And congratulations on the A-levels too.

Re the water butt: is it the right shape to be cut in two across the middle, to make 2 large planters? Correction, the bottom could be a planter, and the top (with no base) could be a leaf/compost bin as suggested by @Ladybird4 .

Hedgehogs don't like the rain, so I reckon they're snoozing under the shed today. I've made them a feeding station from a big plastic box, using instructions from the Internet, so the kitten kibbles don't go soggy tonight. I'll site it in the middle of the lawn, I think, away from the shed, because for the first time since I've been putting out food, a rat appeared last night - fortunately late on, when the hogs had eaten almost all the food (and upended the food dish!). Apparently rats don't like crossing open spaces to feed, and certainly last night's visitor kept its back end under the shed as far as possible, so hopefully having the food in the middle of the lawn will discourage it a bit. (I'll have to move the box every day or the grass will suffer...)

One suggestion from the Internet which I'll try if necessary, is to cover the food dish with an upturned plate. Videos showed that rodents and cats were confused by being able to smell the food but not access it, whereas the hedgehogs just pushed the plate out of the way. It would only work until the first hedgehog arrived to feed, of course...

 

My favourite castles are Caerlaverock (Scotland), Warkworth (England) and Crickhowell (Wales).

My favourite castle location is Cromwell's Castle (Tresco).

The one I have been to most often is Bramber (West Sussex). Not far from where my parents used to live, I did a lot of my courting there.

 

We once stayed in a holiday cottage on the other side of the road from Warkworth castle. It was lovely to open the curtains in the morning and the castle was your first sight

 

Heavy rain outside at the moment. Very pleased to see it, but I wish I had taken the recycling and bins down to the road earlier! I’ve had a busy few days. I had a day with my sister, lovely to catch up, and we did some shopping as well. OH collected me from the station, and we passed Screwfix on the way home. Still open, so I popped in to buy a micro mattock, to replace the one which has gone awol, and which I have been missing badly. I’m sure the other one will now turn up, I’ve probably left it under a pile of ivy somewhere.
No gardening over the weekend as the green bins are full. Today I met a friend for lunch at a posh local farm shop. I was nearly late, huge queues on the road leading to the M5 and the motorway looked to be at a standstill. Luckily all running smoothly when I came home, but it was another reminder why we avoid the main roads during the holidays. Good to catch up with my friend, we started school together as 5 year olds, a long, long time ago! Lost touch after we left senior school, but found out we were living only miles from each other about 5 years ago.
I’m going to have to get up off my rear end and get the rubbish out! No hedgehogs here, but I will make some peanut butter sandwiches to put out for the badger or the fox, whoever turns up first. Occasionally it’s a cat!

 

@RowlandsCastle, my first quick glance of this sentence and I read Tesco instead of Tresco. I was super impressed then spotted my error! I am defo a twonk!

 

@Ergates, when I was cutting my hedge the other day I spent an age in the garage attempting to track down my big, green plastic 'hands', that making picking up prickly trimmings so much easier. Could I find them? No! I'll have another good look tomorrow but I've a feeling they may have gone into the green bin another time by accident. Either that or they have disappeared into the black hole around my house where things go never to be seen again.

 

Meant to say @Ergates, it must have been a joy catching up with your friend, despite the heavy traffic slowing down your arrival. Its quiz night on TV tonight so I am signing out early to get my brain in gear. Enjoy your evenings whatever you have planned and I'll catch up with you all in the morning.

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Time to put on the thinking cap!

 

Evening folks.

It’s driz and miz out there, so not expecting to be able to view the Full Moon here, unfortunately.

I have about 15 castles all within an hour’s drive from me. Crickhowell is one of those @RowlandsCastle! May I ask why that’s one of your favourites?

Early night for me as I was up at 0530 and will be again tomorrow. For a certified ‘not a morning person’ - that’s a big ask.

Take care all.

 

Crickhowell, because having visited it, I bought my first Buck's engraving. I like the engravings by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, and now have more than 20 in my collection. It's a shame that my wife is not so keen on them. She says they make the house look like a museum. So I have two up. If I had my way, they'd all be on the wall, along with other 18th and 19th century engravings.

 

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Good morning everyone. I enjoyed all of the quizzes last night but as for seeing the moon - pah!
Cloud, cloud and more cloud - obviously similar to @AuntyRach's experience! Cant even see it this morning but there is plenty of rain to watch! I might have to nip to the SM this morning before researching plants on t'internet.

 

Morning all.

I saw the moon last night, big and shiny with shadows on it. Only problem is that the best window to see it from is the upstairs loo.

Man should be coming this morning to look at the dishwasher which has been playing up.

Log man suddenly appeared yesterday with another trailer load of logs, so more log stacking. OH made a start last night. His shoulder must have been feeling better.

 

Morning @Busy-Lizzie. I'm guessing that delivery of logs was somewhat earlier than you expected? Hope its not a major problem with your dishwasher.

 

We really could do with some. I didn't water yesterday evening, because I was certain we'd get some overnight.
How wrong I was!!