both xxx

Emptybox

looks like it is ant season everywhere, good job you got rid at the scout stage. OH has now put this ant dish down to try and get rid of ours.

Yes in a physical outdoor job like yours, you do need lots of extra fluid in summer, especially as you have this condition. at that hat, but no good to you as drinking tins would make it worse. Going on the same idea Hicky mentions, my OH had to up his water when he got kidney stones, so he got a belt clip that fits one end round a standard water bottle, and the other round his belt. So that might be of use to you whilst working?

Working today or day off for bank hol?

Hicky

I had cheese and tomatoes on toast for brekkie too. I grill mine in the halogen oven as it is so quick. I have been using that oven a lot lately as it has been too hot to keep having the main oven on.

If the cake tastes ok, it sounds like it was cooked ok then. Maybe it just looks different as it was cooked in the break maker?

What a shame you got the treatment ratio wrong for the grape vine, let's hope you don't lose it and it perks up soon.

I didn't know apples needed vit c to keep colour, although I had heard some foods do better with lemin juice.

Weather really hot and humid here today, too hot to sit out in till about 6pm. But I did get all 5 washloads including sheets dry very quickly.

I just had cheese salad and granary bread for tea, then strawberries and mascapone as our kitchen was swelteringly hot. Do you eat mascapone Hicky? I think it is even nicer than double cream with strawberries.

I did enjoy all the artists I saw on the bbc music weekend. Thought you would like Taylor's outfit, I thought she gave a great performance.

Lots of good tv tonight, so spoilt for choice with BGT as well.

I recorded Peter Kay and 24 hours In Police Custody as i watch both.

How odd we lost BGT for so long tonight. They said it was weather related, how odd, nothing but sun, then a dry evening here so far.

Have a good evening both. We have got the fans going in our house, as it is so stuffy. The dog has refused to eat today, she does that if real hot, might eat just before bed though.

The rabbit is lying stretched flat out looking done in, but I guess we would be if we had to wear fur coats all day in this heat!

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Hicky.

A lovely day here. My van was saying 26 degrees at one point, but it was 22 or 23 for most of the day.

Did work at home this morning. Strimmed the weeds and long grass in my garden, then washed my van. Then this afternoon I did a couple of jobs.

Yes I definitely needed sun cream as well today. I take 2 litre bottles of squash out with me, and also a flask of tea for my lunch, so I've plenty of liquid in the van. But if I'm cutting a lawn for 2 hours, I might not be able to go back to the van in that time. So rather than drinking a little often, I drink a lot every now and again. Not sure if that makes a difference?

Suppose I might look into something that fixes to the belt.

That's a blow, spraying the vine with the wrong concentration. Hope it recovers.

I didn't know you had to put vitamin C on apples before you freeze them? Mind you, I've never tried to freeze apples.

Watched BGT then '24 Hours in Police Custody', now the last Car Share episode.

Hi Mollie.

Hope you manage to get rid of the ants.

Sounds like it's really hot with you? It's really only pleasantly warm here, although I just shut the curtains in the bedroom, and it's quite hot in there.

That's a coincidence that both you and Hicky had cheese and tomatoes on toast for brekkie. Don't think I would fancy cheese for brekkie?

Evening Both.

Another rather nice day, 21c sunny intervals light winds of 6 to 12.

Just had Gammon and tomato sandwiches for brekkie, the Gammon i cooked o/h doesn't like the texture, the flavour or anything, it was oak smoked, it seems fine to me a 800g piece.

The vine is hard to read, the growing shoot doesn't seem to have died, yet, more small leaves have though, not sure if it will be ok or not yet.

Made a loaf today, added 7 seed mix to see how it is, going to have some soon, haven't cooked it yet, will take a picture.

O/H wanted some sizzling beef done on the BBQ when she came home from work so i had 2 as well, just put some chicken wings in the oven to warm up as o/h had her half before.

She brought 2 Strawberry tarts home with her as well, yummy.

Planted 2 of the grafted cucumber plants that came a while ago, have been growing them on in clear pots so i can monitor the roots, when i took the cover off the big tub in the greenhouse it seems ants have been building a city in the soil, anyway, give them some ant powder for tea and planted the plants, planted one in the raised bed as well with 6 tomato plants i grew from some seed i got from America a few years ago.

Have been looking at rather  a nice Breadmaker, think it's in the US though, the Breadman BK2000B Bakery Pro

Mollie, I think i should have only used half of the ingredients for the cake, it would have been ok then.

Didn't know a dog would not eat if it was hot, are you sure?

Emptybox, If you take plenty of drink with you then you should be fine, not sure drinking a lot at once helps though.

Yes, can't believe it, i was thinking that as i needed a quarter of a centilitre and for some strange reason used 2 teaspoons full, big mistake, it should have been half a spoonful.

I wanted to freeze the apples, after peeling, coring and chopping, it said to dip each piece in a mixture of vitamin C and water, 1.5g to 3 TBSP water, i need to freeze them as it's for making my Apple spring rolls when i get back to making them.

I've got so many programs recorded now need to make time to watch them, saw 3 episodes of Robot Wars last night, got 116 recordings.

I'll go get a picture of the loaf, be right back, i'll post this first. 

Hi Hicky.

Just a short post as my phone and broadband is down, so I'm posting on my mobile phone.

Very different day today. Cloudy and misty and only 13 degrees at most, so 10 degrees less than yesterday.

Got some jobs done anyway. The sun did come out for a time this evening though.

Your seeded bread looks good. Hope it tastes good too?

Pity your OH didn't like the gammon. Hope she liked your sizzling beef more?

Not good that you have ants in the greenhouse. Hope the cucumber and tomato plants do well.

I would get the hang of the bread maker you have before you buy another one.

both

Hicky

your loaf looks delicious, bet it tasted good too. I showed my OH your photo and he too fancies getting his breadmaker out too.

Oh dear at you too having ant problems now. HOpe you manage to get rid of them. We are still finding an occasional one in the kitchen, but not fully gone yet.

Those strawberry cakes sound yummy. But those fresh cakes always looks delicious in Sainsburys.

Yes our dog has never been a good eater, and every summer if it is hot, she won't eat her meal till she realises we are off to bed. In winter she eats about 4 times a day though! She is a tibetan terrier so fares well in cold snowy weather though.

Hope your vines recover ok.

Emptybox

how annoying you have lost phone broadband. Wonder why? Is it same reason BGT was off air for 15 mins last night I wonder? (thunderstorms they said).

Gosh that was a cool day in contrast to the day before, but good it was a day you could get a lot done.

OH just gone to collect daughter from Macdonalds and it is nearly midnight! She is studying in there late at night now, she has a big exam next week and lots of work to do, Poor thing.

A much nicer fresher day today, but it was sitll 23 degrees. so don't know why it was so opressive yesterday.

We were taking daughter to study in Cardiff today when we got stuck in traffic from an incident that happened a few minutes ahead of us. It ended up being rather upsetting. We had to pull to side of the by pass for around 7 police cars, 4 fireengines and saw several helicopters. They they closed the road opposite to let helicopter land. We sat there for nearly an hour ,peeople were getting out of their cars. No one complained as we guessed it was really nasty for someone. In the end we had a police escort turn us around and lead us the wrong way off the bye pass onto the motorway. I later read this...some poor sould had died.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/...between-two-14719277

So sad,

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Mollie.

Not nice day here. Cold, low cloud, mist, drizzle, heavy rain. Not necessarily in that order. Only up to 11 degrees. Useless for work.
I went into town to do some banking and get diesel, but everywhere I went was too wet to get any jobs done.

Phone and internet still off. I reported it, and they gave me the usual guff about "it may take between 2 and 4 working days...." blah blah blah.
No it's nothing to do with the weather Mollie. We haven't had any thunder storms here, and very little rain before today.
It's the usual "exchange fault" I bet. We seem to get 2 or 3 of these a year. I think they must make the connections out of paper, in the local exchange.

Luckily I now get a 4G connection of sorts in the house, so I can do internet on my phone. And I also have a 3G mifi (mobile wi-fi) unit that I'm using now to get on with my computer. So I'm not completely stuck.

Pity you are still getting a few ants. I've had quite a few big black flies in the house today, which is a nuisance. If I catch them gathering at a window I open it and try to shoo them out.

That's a lot of studying your daughter is doing. Why does she do it at Macdonalds? Does she meet her friends there?
That sounds like a bad crash. Glad you were only caught up in the aftermath.

Evening Both.

A cloudy day here, was at the eye clinic for 8.15am, had nothing to eat, was 1st in the queue for the injection, many came after i sat down, waited 90 minutes for the doctor to start, only took 10 minutes then.

Rang o/h and she picked me up, she had waited outside but decided to go home and wait, she had just got in when i rang.

Thats 2 of the 3 scheduled ones anyway.

O/H had 2 slices of the bread, no comment yet but no complaints either.

The Vine seems to be surviving, so far anyway.

The bees love the Raspberry flowers all right.

The Radish have gone to seed/flower, have a feeling they usually do.

The Figs are doing well, lots of flowers on the tomato plants.

Had a Tomato/Rice from the chest freezer, added more tomato and chilli slices, yummy.

Mollie, Haven't seen any ants today, but they could be hiding, they must have got in the tub from the bottom, have stopped their top exit so maybe that will make them go elsewhere.

You are the second one today to say they might get their Breadmaker out again, i really want the bigger Panasonic because they give you the recipes that match the machine, whereas this one doesn't give you recipes but using other recipes is becoming difficult.

Emptybox, Thats bad news about the broadband, whats going on.

Amazing how 1 day makes so much difference, yesterday i was boiling, today outside i put a jacket on.

I thought the sizzling beef was awful, it was tough, steak is supposed to melt in your mouth, normally we get a big piece of steak and slice it ourselves.

Hi Hicky.

At least you've now got the second set of injections over with.

Sounds like your OH approved of your seeded bread.

Pity the same couldn't be said for your sizzling beef?

That's good that it looks like your vine will survive your mistake. 

Yes, I think you have to pick radishes when they are fairly young, or they quickly go to seed.

both xxx

Emptybox

what a shame it was too wet to get any work done, very cool too. Hope it improves soon as I am sure you don't want to get behind work wise at your busy time of year.

Gosh how annoying your phone and internet are still down now! Good job you have a bit of alternative acess, else you would be feeling lost.

We too get a lot of flies and biting things, so OH has bought some of those fly screen sheets. I recommend them. We got a good choice from B and M, but you can get them on amazon. At least we can open windows/doors with no worries about flying insects. All we have to do is to see off the last of the ants now!

Yes odd how daughter prefers to study in cafes rather than her room or a library. But I do see quite a few students in these places. She doesn't meet friends there, but just buys a drink/snack, plugs into their special plug at the table and tries to get done what she can. She has gone again tonight so I expect it will be midnight before OH collects her again. She says she has 6 essays to prepare ahead of the exam next week, plus another big assignment to get in by tomorrow! No wonder she is stressed.

HIcky

Glad you have the 2nd lot of injections out of the way now and that you weren't there for too long. Pity your OH had just got home, then you had to ring her to collect you. How do your eyes feel now? Does the injection make them feel uncomfy?

That is not bad as OH had 2 slices of bread and no complaints, she must of liked it.

Sounds like your produce is all doing well. Let's hope the vine carries on being ok too.

Yes I can imagine having to adapt to a recipe for a bread maker is really difficult.

Watched and enjoyed BGT, and Corrie.

Helped OH move some of the stuff from mum's storage, there isn't much left there now. Good job as they want the keys by the end of the week.

HIcky... have you heard any more about going to your son's over Christmas? I assume this time it would just be to Australia rather than visiting other places?

It was only around 18 degrees here today, but don't mind as the other day it was far too hot at around 29!

Goodnight both xxx

Evening Both.

Lots of cloud today but some sun as well, 23c light wind of 7.

Had 3 fried eggs for brekkie with some of my seeded bread toasted.

Made a cake today, but think the Vanilla has turned it dark, got to tast it yet, got spring rolls in the oven for tea, still using up chest freezer food so i can start cooking again.

Planted the poor little Melon Plants that had a rough delivery, think they will make it, still hoping the toms will survive, one lost it's head but hoping a side shoot will take over, the other one seems ok now, i took off the damaged leaves.

On the vine, i pruned out the growing tips so the plant can look after the fruit, pinched out some of the baby grape clusters as not worth leaving., but pruned 2 of the shoots i should have left to grow as they could become new canes.

Just made a dip to go with the spring rolls, it's chillies, light and dark soy sauce with white vinegar and a tsp of salt.

My eye has got clearer during the day, the floating black blobs have slowly gone, last saw a small one about an hour ago. not sure what they are, quite bad yesterday, they don't stop you seeing, but as you move your head they float around in the eye.

My miniature scales came, only ordered them last night, just to weigh small quantities of ingredients as my other ones are for larger quantities, these go down to 0.01g and 200g max, it came with batteries but they wouldn't work, when tested one was low so put new ones in, the date on them was 2018 which means they are 10 years old.

Forgot to say, my Scarecrows came, Mr & Mrs, on 4ft canes.

Mollie, The injections don't make the eyes un-comfy, they put a plastic shield over the eye when you leave, it takes 6 hours to return to normal, they deaden it all don't they?

I really need to make bigger loaves though, looking at a Panasonic, but the prices vary so much.

Not heard any more about going to Oz, it might depend if he gets another place we can all live in, it's a pain when we are living in 2 places.

Emptybox, Yes, glad i was 1st in the queue, it meant i could get out, even so i waited an hour for the doctor to come i think.

The sizzling beef had been brought home by o/h so no blame on me, i thought it had been cut a bit thick considering the quality.

Oh, do i, thats the radishes gone then, they are in flower, will take them up.

Evening both.
A better day here. Still cloudy, but dry and much warmer. Up to 23 degrees.
Got a lot done as there may be rain on the way tomorrow.

Still no phone or broadband, and I went past the exchange a few times today, and no sign of any Openreach vans, so they haven't even attempted to fix it yet.

Mollie.  Are these fly screen sheets that you block the windows with, so no insects can get in?
I suppose it doesn't matter where your daughter studies, as long as she gets the work done?
That's good that you've now almost shifted all of your Mum's stuff out of storage.

Hicky. You could try some of the radishes, but I doubt they'd be much good if they've gone to seed.
Hope the melon and tomato plants survive anyway.

That's good that your eyes are getting clearer after your injections. You don't want floating black blobs.
Were these new scales that you bought (not second hand?). Bit bad that they were supplied with old batteries, if new.

Kirsty and Phil then Humans tonight.
Think I'll give BGT a miss tonight. Seen too much of it this week already.

both xxx

Emptybox

still no sign of your broadband connection yet I am guessing?

Hope the weather was ok for you to get some work done?

And hope your recent symptoms after that spell of hot weather have died down

Hicky

I can see you are really tempted to get a bigger breadmaker now you have the taste for breakmaking. I guess your small one was an experiment to see if you enjoyed breadmaking?

Gosh fancy delivering something with 10 year old batteries! No wonder they wouldn't work properly.

Glad to hear your eyes are gradually clearing throughout the day.

Can we see a photo of your Mr and Mrs please? Let's hope they both work hard and keep those cheeky birds off your produce.

Hope your cake tasted ok, even though it looked dark.

I met again with mum's ex carer in Sainsburys cafe today for coffee , which was very nice to see her again. We chatted over 2 hours today. It is odd for me having some spare time as looking after mum and organising all for her was so exhausting.

Helped OH clear some of mum's storage so we can return the keys tomorrow.

We only have empty boxes left in it now.

Daughter has been out studying at Mcartha glen shopping centre since noon, plenty of places for her to go and study and eat there. I will be glad when she finishes next week and can destress at last.

Enjoying watching BGT tonight, then Corrie.

Evening Both.

23c here, cloud and sun mixed, it's just started to rain, winds of 5 to 8.

Didn't do a lot, it was a bit warm so couldn't fasten the roof on the Gazebo, been waiting for a cooler day so it's not so hot on the step ladders.

Levelled some of the wooden decking tiles that are under the tub saucers so they hold the water more even.

Rang about the replacement plants, next week.

For brekkie had a slice of home made seed bread with crab paste on, for tea i had one of the 3 chicken curries in the freezer with some fresh rice.

I think i may be able to use the breadmaker to make dough for me when i start doing the Samosa's and Spring Rolls again.

The cake was awful, it was like a loaf of bread, it tasted like bread as well, have a feeling it doesn't make cakes too well, have watched some video's of them making cakes but not seen ant where they ate them.

Mollie, I now have doubts on whether to get a bigger breadmaker, can't see them making good cakes, have to try the Jam though.

The batteries were sealed in with the scales so they probably didn't even know how old they were, it's only 2 x AAA so no problem, i checked the batteries, 1 was 1.39v the other 1.55 which was probably ok but you should mix battery types when you use them.

Yes, my eye has cleared, the black floating blobs have stopped today.

Will take a picture of the Scarecrow tomorrow.

No, cake was like a loaf of bread, awful, and i used the recipe that came with the book.

Glad you have sorted out the storage units, another job out of the way.

It's good if your daughter can go and study there, ideal, can eat as well.

Emptybox, Some of the Radishes had been nibbled at, the outside had anyway, they are far too small to use, they are in the bin now.

I have planted the Melons in the final position, one Tomato is ok, other will be ok when a new leaf shoot grows, but i'll wait for the new ones to come.

Yes, the scales are new but of couse the batteries are in sealed covers which are in with the scales so it shows how old the scales are, but they are electronic so should be ok.

I've got BGT recorded so will watch at leisure.

Hi both.

Not bad start to the day, not much sunshine but up to 23 degrees.

Then about 4pm we had a thunder plump, with very heavy rain for a while.

Got a big job done anyway, before rain stopped play.

Still no landline phone or broadband.

When I came in this afternoon it seemed to be on, and I had a good dial tone, but literally 2 minutes later it all went off again, and it's been dead since.

Whether they'd tried to fix it, or whether they think they have fixed it, I don't know? Usually when Openreach tell EE that they have fixed the fault, EE then ring me, so hopefully they'll realise that it's still faulty. Or I'll have to ring them again.

Mollie. I've had symptoms again today, so no they haven't died down. It's obviously a drawn out bout.

That was nice for you, meeting up with the carer again.

Hicky. Pity it was too hot to do your gazebo roof.

That's good that they can get you replacement plants by next week.

Pity the bread maker doesn't make good cake. Doubt it'll make good jam either. Just make bread with it.

Watched BGT then Pompei.

Evening Emptybox.

Raining this morning, didn't do much, just watched the tv, it cleared up a bit this afternoon though, just checked the vine is ok and supported a few shoots with the special vine plastic fixings.

Had the watering turned off for the greenhouse and raised beds as they didn't need water.

Had bacon and tomato sandwiches for brekkie, and for tea had a ribeye steak and used up the last of the mushrooms from last week.

The raspberry canes are going to be loaded this year, these are the summer fruiting ones which the bees have been very busy with, they will now produce the fruit fairly soon.

Took a picture of the Scarecrows, one on each frontal post for the raised beds, one hiding behind the Fig.

It was 18c here lousy with light winds of 6 to 8.

I will test the Breadmaker with Jam, because they all seem to be using less sugar it seems to make the Jam softer, not really a problem, also it seems, using less sugar means it won't last as long.

That loss of landline is a joke, how could a business work like this?

I just want to put more special fixings to hold down the lower sections of the gazebo roof sanded felt tiles, the very strong winds tries to lift them and tear them.

Got my shopping yesterday, with lots of lovely fruit, plums, strawberries, nectarines, grapes, tangerines.

  both xxx

Emptybox

gosh as Hicky says, they are a joke thes people responsible for you having no nternet connections all this time. HOpe it does not carry on much longer, but I guess it will for awhile now as it is the weekend?

Sorry you are having symptoms again. Looks like warm summer weather could be the trigger? (so related to fluid intake maybe?). Could you try drinking plain water or just fizzy water instead of squash so you avoid the sugar in your drink case that is upsetting you? As well as being warm, it has also been humid, which might not be suiting you? Hope you feel a bit better today.

Hicky

I like the photo of the scarecrow. Let's hope it does its job and protects your produce from those pesky birds nicking stuff.

that is good the vine is doing ok. How nice your raspberries are doing well again this year. From what I remember you had a good crop of them last year, didn't you?

Your fruit filled shopping sounds nice and healthy.

Pity your cake did not turn out well. We never made cake with our breakmaker, in fact I never realised you could do cake making with them at all. So amaybe they are not known for being successful at cake making? At least your seeded bread turned out well with them though.

Been busy last couple of days. Went to view auction yesterday as they had a few things I need, eg my vacuum playing up and they had lots of them, also micrwave door also not good, and they had lots of them for sale too, It is important as there are no returns that you check as well as you can if you fancy bidding on anything. I really enjoy looking at the old catering stuff too. From what I was told,  I reckon a fair amount of it was from Jamie Olivers places closing. They even had a bike with an icecream sellers thing attached to it.

As son was working and couldn't go,  I decided to use his ticket at the last minute and  went to this last night...

https://billbailey.co.uk/live/

You will probably know him from Black Books, he is very funny, a wonderful ad libber and great with all the instruments he plays.

Today my friend and I went for lunch in the pub, we had vegan shepherds pie, sweet potato chips, salad and peas. Delicous.

Daughter studying in macondalds again tonight, so another late night for her and OH who had to pick her up! Thank goodness she has nearly finished now.

A lovely day here weather wise, quite warm and sunny again.

Took doggie out early before it gets too hot for her.

Mum's probate still ongoing! And this is why....After I had done all the work getting all the info together, brother insisted on being 2nd executor as soon as he got back from his long overseas holiday. So now he has to sign everything as well as me.This naturlally slows everything down as it has to be posted to him. But to make it worse, then off on holiday he goes again for 2 and half weeks, meaning the forms the solicitor posted him, that he needs to sign are sitting waiting in his house all that time! This week I have had 2 letters from companies reminding me they need copies of probate. This seems to be never ending!

Just watching BGT results on catch up as recorded main show last night, then forgot to record the results.

Goodnight both xxx

Hi both.
Didn't post yesterday as I was across seeing my Brother.
Enjoyed myself, but it was very wet, with thunderstorms and heavy rain at times.
We went out for lunch to a garden centre, but otherwise stayed in the house.
It's raining here again today, so everything is now thoroughly wet.
Going to Sainsburys after lunch.

The good news is, when I came home late last night, I found that my phone and internet had been restored.
So they must have been working to fix it on a Saturday, which was unexpected.
At least it saves me from having to phone again.
The internet speed seems to be slightly down on what I was getting before though. I was getting 5 Mb/s download, but it seems to be only 3.8 Mb/s at the moment, which is only just enough to play an HD Youtube video.
Maybe in order to give me a stable connection they had to do something that decreased the speed?

Hicky. Your scarecrows look interesting, though I suspect they'll be more for ornamentation than actually scaring anything?

Not sure why it took Openreach so long to fix my problem? I suppose, as I'm not their customer as such, they don't really care.
Supposedly everybody will be able to insist on at least a 10 Mb/s connection by the end of next year. But I can't see Openreach getting their finger out to achieve that.

Mollie. Luckily I had no symptoms yesterday when I was over at my Brother's. It seems to go like that; a bad day followed by a good day.
Think it's a combination of the muggy weather, and me getting annoyed about my internet problem, and also just randomness.

Glad you enjoyed the Bill Bailey concert. Yes he's quite good. Don't think I've heard of Black Books though?
Hope you get what you want at the auction.
That was nice, having a pub lunch with your friend.
My brother made home made Cottage Pie last night. It wasn't vegan though.
Pity the probate on your Mum's will is being held up by your Brother.

I suppose I'll watch the BGT final tonight, although I'm not really bothered about any of the acts.

Evening Both.

A very nice day today, a beautiful Sunday, didn't have brekkie as o/h wanted me to make a lamb chop roast dinner for when she got home and put my washing in to wash and hang it outside on the wall mounted clothes hanger then fold it and put into my chest of draws.

Didn't do much in the garden as nothing much to do in glaring sun.

Am eyeing up what apples need to be thinned out as they are growing so fast, the Bramley has tons on which of course can't happen.

Mollie, I don't think scarecrows scare anything, but i like them.

The summer raspberry canes are loaded, bees love the millions of flowers, i am expecting a huge crop, like most trees etc they take a few years to get to full output.

Don't know what the problem is with the cake and breadmaker, it could be the fact that the area in the base is too small meaning all the mixture is heaped up so can't rise properly.

A good idea to use your lads ticket, hope you enjoyed the show.

Couldn't you stop your Brother insisting he was 2nd executor, it just messes things up, surely you could have avoided all these delays somehow.

Emptybox, Glad you got back online, nothing said about what the problem was?

Openreach has been split from BT now hasn't it, i usually lose connection for a bit every couple of days.

  both xxx

Emptybox

Pity you didn't get the good weather today. Hopefully it cleared up later. 

that's nice you had a visit to your brother. Shame the weather was so bad for that too. Interesting you went to garden centre for food. HIcky often does that too. I think quite a few of them have nice cafes now. What did you have there. Good job your symptoms kept away when you visited him.

Thank goodness your internet is back at long last. Wonder why it is slower though, when they keep tellking us they are going to make it faster?

Hicky

I see your OH kept you busy whilst she was at work today. It was a good drying day today. I bet she was pleased to have a dinner cooked for her when she got home.

What do you mean when you say you have to thin out the Bramleys?

Oh I see the scarecrows are just for fun and not really to "scare". I like them too, they look so good.

Solicitor said brother could insist on being 2nd executor, even though he didn't do anything as I had all the info as I looked after her and he rarely saw her.

Oh yes that is a good point, it doesn't matter Emptybox is not a BT customer as  Open REach is not BT now. 

Really hot and humid here again today. 

Today I met another friend who had moved back to Yorkshire and she came back for the weekend to Cardiff. So that was nice. We had lunch in an old 17century pub. It is odd for me to be able to go out when I want as I usually had mum to look after.

Last night son got in at midnight as he had been working in theatre, and OH had to collect daughter at quarter past midnight from Macdonalds. Only a few more days to go till her final exams! 

Enjoyed the BGT final.

Goodnight both xxx

Stayed wet all day here. 13 degrees at most. The house is still quite warm though.

Now I've got a problem with my bathroom light. It's got a pull cord switch, but the little spring inside that has broken, so it won't pull off or on (well it'll do one or the other, but not both ). Not sure whether it's worth calling the landlady, or whether I should just buy another switch and fit it myself? Should be a simple enough job. In fact, if I could find a spring the right size I could probably mend the current switch.
I've taken the switch off, so the light is permanently off, and am using a battery powered lantern in the bathroom instead temporarily.

Hicky. I suppose it's better for the crop if you thin the apples?
That's good that you're expecting a bumper raspberry crop.

Yes, Openreach are on their own now, so I suppose the ISPs are their customers, not consumers like me. EE is my service provider.

Mollie. My Brother wanted to buy some bedding plants and compost, so that was why we went to the garden centre. I had an Avocado, Chicken and Bacon Baguette with some salad on the side. Very filling.

Yes, it seems a backward step to decrease the speed of my connection, but it did fail 3 times last year as well, so maybe wasn't stable for some reason. They may also have had to reroute my line round a longer way. Think they had to do that once before when one of the underground cabinets got waterlogged? But as i said, we hadn't really had any rain before it failed.
EE haven't been in touch yet, so if they do I might find out more then?

I guess if your Brother was named in the will as a joint Executor then there's not much you can do about it?
Another friend for lunch? You've become a lady that lunches Mollie.

Evening Both.

Not bad for a Monday, 20c light cloud, sunny intervals light winds 5 to 8.

Gave the apple and plum trees a spray for some of the little bugs that get on them, will spray against the codling moth next week

Just had a bacon sandwich for brekkie.

SIL & MIL came to visit, thought the garden was lovely, SIL took one of the baby Fig trees, only 3 to go now.

O/H bought some rather nice cakes in, i have 5, just had a Strawberry Tart, big, and a Custard Slice, rather nice, 3 for later.

Have ordered more strimmer cord for the supports as have used the last 100m i got.

Had an email from HMRC saying if i need any business help or need to know anything about my tax affairs i can log into my personal tax account, they are so nice.

Love Island starts tonight at 9pm, love it, so good last year.

Forgot to say, for tea i found a frozen portion of Butter Chicken so had that with some rice and chopped Jalapeño Chili's.

Mollie, Yes, it's getting a habit, arranging for me to have the roast dinner done for when she gets in, but first explained the washing machine setting, she's so informative.

Last year i had 2 apples on the Bramley tree, they grow so big, but this year it is loaded, no way could they grow, the branches couldn't even hold them, so some hard thinking needed.

So you eating out with a friend, that was nice, daughter studying late, son out late, all very active, thats nice, at least your daughter hasn't got so long to go now, hope she manages to do well.

Emptybox, Yes, nearly all veg and fruit trees have to be thinned, plums can manage same as cherries because they don't grow that big, but on most trees if you don't thin that will control the size of the fruit.

It works on the principle that the tree in any 1 year can supply the fruit with a fixed amount of food, if you thin the fruit then each one will get a bigger share so the more you thin the bigger the fruit will be able to grow.

I can see that looking at the Raspberries i am glad i have the chest freezer, i still have 1kg over from the last crop.

I'M a bit confused with Openreach as the Lines are BT, Openreach only handles software, and some of the communications don't they.

Hi Hicky.

Wet start here but it dried up through the morning, so I got a job done this afternoon, even though the grass was still wet.

Little flashes of sunshine here and there, but it never got above 13 degrees.

Did quite a lot of housework this morning. It was definitely needed. Dusting, hoovering and mopping the kitchen floor.

I actually moved the bed and hoovered underneath. First time for years. Don't know what came over me?  (I found 22p under there. Whoopee!)

That's good that you are keeping up to date spraying your trees.

Not surprised that SiL was impressed with your garden. Handy that she relieved you of one of your surplus fig trees.

Those sound like nice cakes.

I think I got a similar email from HMRC. They must be doing the rounds.

I think Openreach are now responsible for all the hardware and infrastructure of the network? BT are now just another ISP, as I understand it. 

Watched Police Interceptors now watching 'The Queens's Coronation in Colour'.  

Hi both xxx

Emptybox

oh dear not rain and cool again, not good for you to tackle your workload. Hope it was better today so you could get something done.

What a nuisance about your bathroom switch. Hope you can sort it out ok. We had a light problem for months and used those torches on the top floor as we didn't want to call the landlord out. Luckily OH eventually managed to sort it and we have lights again now.

I thought you might of had a baguette or panini as you went to a garden centre cafe. The ones round here usually do those too, and they are really nice with the bit of side salad you get.

Let's hope you get no more trouble with your internet connection now.

My brother was not named as executor, mum had a solicitor named, but he retired. So I took on a solicitor to help as I know she wanted a solicitor to do it to avoid conflict. My solicitor said me or me and brother then had to be executors as we were beneficiaries. Originally brother was on hols so solicitor said it would be easier for me alone, and brother told him he agreed to that. However brother  then changed his mind when he came back, even though the work had all mostly been done by me and solicitor by then. So thus we have had constant delays now. 

Yes it was a bit of Lady at lunch this weekend for me, which is very unusual. I usually just cook brekkie for one friend when she comes to see me, and the other friend lives in Yorkshire now so I hadn't seen her for a year. So just coincodence it was 2 lunches out on one weeked. Not complaining though, made a nice change.

Hicky

thats nice you had weather good enough to spray the apple and plum trees.

Glad your in laws thought your garden was so nice.

I love strawberry tarts, my OH likes custard slices. What were the other cakes you had?

Not sure I would trust HMRC's help.

That is interesting about thinning. Hope you can sort the Bramleys out ok.

Yes I can see your chest freezer coming in very usefull when your produce is ready.

Far too hot and humid here today. Horrible and so uncomfy.

Doggie had a funny turn, her body shook, then she went urnresponsive,couldn't stand or respond to us, and she wet herself which she never does. She was all out of it for a few minutes. Scary it was. 
Took her straight to vets and she thinks she might have a bit of heat stroke with a doggie black out, or maybe a urine infection. She prescribed these electrolytes in a drink to replace minerals they lose in hot weather. She said to try and video it if she blacks out again. She has black fur so it must be so hard to keep cool and our lounge is awful hot as the sun is on it in the afternoons.

I got all my washing dry real quick though.

We watched 24 hours in Police Custody and I recorded Love Island, as I am not sure if I will like it though.

I am hoping we will get a bit of Emptybox's cooler stuff tomorrow as I am sick of this heat and humidity now. (and so is our dog!)

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Mollie.
Luckily it's light till after 10pm at this time of year, so I really only need a light in the bathroom to brush my teeth before bed.
I've sent away for a spring of approximately the right size from Ebay for £1.85.
If that doesn't work I can buy a new switch for £3, so I think I'll try to tackle it myself, and only call in the landlady if I manage to fry the house's electrics in the process.

Oh dear, that's not good with your doggie. Does sound like a heat stroke or something like that. Must really be hot down there then. It's actually quite chilly here, because the house has cooled down again.
Hope the electrolytes do the trick.

My internet speed seems to have returned to near normal again tonight. Maybe it needed a couple of days to readjust?
Oh yes, I remember the trouble you had with trying to get the original solicitor to relinquish being the executor. Didn't realise he'd been the sole executor though.

Evening Both.

Nice today, cooler though only 19c light cloud and wind with sunny intervals, a lot of the time, so i had swingies on the swing.

Planted the 2 grafted tomatoes that got bashed in the delivery box, one seems ok, the other has grown a replacement shoot to become the main stem, but of course it's weeks behind now, just waiting for the 2 replacements to come.

The bashed grafted Melons have recovered and ok now, have planted them in the greenhouse in a big tub.

Have been looking through the apples to see what can come off, good how the tree puts it's energy into certain ones, if the ones left are small i take them off.

Have taken some off the Bramley but some of the apples in a cluster are the same size so will have to be careful, need to leave them with room to grow and they grow so big.

Had a nice brekkie, sausage, bacon, tomato and eggs with toast.

for tea decided to finish the last 6 spring rolls, with the dip and chopped chilli, so good, can make more now, have really made a hole in the stored meals, just considering what to make now, i've got 2 curries left and 1 veg Biryani to go.

The Grape Vine seems ok, also the Kiwi Vine is doing ok so far.

Have got some tomatoes on various plants so they seem happy enough, had them a while though.

Mollie, Good Job i didn't eat all the cakes, i had 2 which was enough at that time but when i went back later to get some more, 2 had gone and 1 was left, it was a plain round sponge cake with that awful soft spread stuff on top, maybe butter icing or something, o/h must have had a raspberry tart and an almond tart.

Didn't know the heat could effect a dog like that, how awful, what country is it supposed to be in then? 

Emptybox, It's still quite cool where you are, when do you get the hot dry weather then, i know down South they get a lot more hotter weather than i get.

Good on you moving the bed, you should clean underneath every 10 years or so even if it doesn't need it. it's a long time to wait for £0.22p though.

Oh, you got an email from hmrc as well, glad it's not just me.

3 more baby Fig trees to go, might have to re-pot them as they need it now, could do that tomorrow, not much else to do.

Didn't realise BT don't look after the hardware and wires any more.

As long as you put the wires in the pull switch back the way they came out you can easily fit a new switch, just be careful the fixings go back in the same screw holes so you don't screw into a cable, check were the wood is while the switch is off.

Hi Hicky.

Much better day here, dry and sunny with just a little breeze. Up to 20 degrees at one point. Got a lot of work done. Much easier when the grass is dry.

We tend to get a lot less hot days up here compared to down South. And any warm spell tends to be shorter lived as well.

But then again, we never have any droughts, and the grass usually stays green not yellow.

That's good that it wasn't too warm, so you could get more done in your garden, and even did some swinging.  

Looks like most of your damaged plants will survive, and you'll have the replacements as well.

The replacement spring came, and it looks the right size, but haven't tried to fit it yet. I'll  know if it works before connecting it to the electrics, because the pull cord will click, which it wasn't doing before.

Yes, if the spring is no good I shall have to rewire in a new switch. I'll be very careful if I have to do that.

Watched The Yorkshire Vet then 'Bride and Prejudice' on CH4.

 both 

Emptybox

Gosh well done to you going on a cleaning frenzy...you definately deserved that 22p you found! 

hope you have some luck fixing the switich. Good job it is cheap to get the part you need.

That's good your internet is back to usual speed now. Let's hope it behaves now. 

Yes this damn executor business is a nuisance as it is so complicated and long winded! 

Hicky

that will be handy if one of the grafted tomatoes does ok, hope the replacements come soon.

Sounds like you are well sorted with those apple trees. 

Looks like you both enjoyed the cream cakes then. 

Yes I was surprised how dogs get heat stroke. OUr dog's breed was originally from Tibet. So well used to climbing mountains in frost and snow. She always likes walking in snow/frost. But doesn't do well in summer. Gets allergies to her skin and sore eyes so had to take anti histamine. 

Thankfully that awful humid sunny weather eased today, nice day as sunny and cloudy but fresher. 

So doggie was much happeir today, and I was too. 

Daughter has exam tomorrow so studied all day in Costa and is now in Macdonalds, expect she will be there till gone midnight. Good job my OH doesn't mind picking her up. 

I have a little job to do tomorrow, which is good as I'll like it.  
My neighbour has her mum age 88 staying with her. She hasn't long done the flight over here from India, and neighbour has a long trip to take her disabled hubbie to special physio tomorrow. So she asked me to pop over and check on her mum and have a chat/coffee with her to keep her company and to put the doggie out. 

Watched Hotel Inspector today. 

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Mollie.
That's good that you and doggie had some relief from the humid weather today.

I suppose because dogs can't sweat the same as humans, they are more susceptible to heat than we are. They can only lose heat from their nose and from sticking their tongue out and panting.

Hope your daughter does well in her exam, with all the studying she's had to do for it.
Yes, that sounds like the sort of job you would enjoy, chatting and having coffee.

Evening Both.

Another nice day, 19c sunny intervals light winds.

Had scrambled egg on toast for brekkie, decided to have another of my stored frozen meals, got a veg Biryani added some prawns and tomato and some chopped chilli slices, yummy.

Made a chocolate cake, the recipe was for another machine but decided to half the ingredients so the cake would be smaller, you make it in a bowl then add to the machine, take the paddle out and line the tin with greaseproof paper, i added some choc chips and some white ones as well, it seems fine to me, it could do with some icing but don't have any, haven't had an opinion from o/h yet, will offer her a slice, put it on the bake setting which has a default time of 1 hr so left it at that.

Oh, edit: o/h looked at the cake and said it's a funny colour, it doesn't look like a chocolate cake, that was that.

Had to re-pot the last 3 baby Fig trees as they needed it, Something is eating the bottom leaves of the cherry trees, will spray them when the sun drops a bit, don't want to spray the leaves in the sun.

Been looking for a dual paddle Breadmaker as it makes bread that looks like bread, found this Andrew James on which looks rather interesting and isn't very expensive, i'll post a link, see what you think.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Andre...ker+paddle&psc=1

Mollie, Oh, if your doggy is from Tibet no wonder it can't take the heat, can't you get the black coat shortened for the summer, does this dog moult?

That will be interesting, baby sitting neighbours mother, she will enjoy that, always nice to meet new people.

Hope your daughter does well after all this work, such a worrying time for her when waiting.

Emptybox, That was good, getting a lot of work done, you need that.

I suppose that is an upside, no draught, but webbed feet would be good as well.

Am a bit concerned about the longish growth of the new shoots on the Kiwi vine, i can't fasten them down and i can't secure them to anything as they are mainly growing upwards and are 2 metres above the ground of course.

Am wondering if i can put a horizontal trellis 8" above the Kiwi vine, i can do that, will look into it.

The replacement spring not only needs to be about the same size but also the same torque needed to operate it, or you will pull the switch off the ceiling.

Am watching Love Island at 9pm, such lovely weather, the girls seem rather nice as well.

Hi Hicky.

A nice day here. Mostly sunshine and quite warm, up to about 16. A little breeze, so very nice for work. Mowing, strimming and hedge cutting jobs.

Tried to fix the switch with the new spring, but without success. With the spring in the switch does click every time the cord is pulled, but the light stays resolutely on. Either the spring isn't quite strong enough or something else is wrong with the switch.

I've now ordered a new switch from Ebay at £2.99, so I'll see how I get on with that.

Pity your OH wasn't impressed by the colour of your chocolate cake. She could at least have tried a slice?

That's not good if something is eating the leaves of the cherry trees. Yes better to get it sprayed asap.

Sounds like a good idea to install a trellis above the kiwi vines to tie the loose ends to.

That looks like a serious bread maker in your link. But I have to stress, I'm no expert.

Watched Rich House Poor House now  The Reality TV Story.

Never tried watching Love Island. Doesn't appeal for some reason.

 both xxx

Emptybox

how are you? Hope your symptoms are not too bothersome now?

did you manage to get into your gardens today? Glad you got a good day yesterday. 

Hope you get the switch sorted. Yes you must be real careful working with electrics. 

Of course,.... never thought of that, dogs can't sweat like us so are more susceptible. Thankfully it is fresher again today weather wise, so more suitable for me and doggie. 

As you guessed, I really enjoyed my little "job" for my neighbour. Her mum was so sweet, they are an Indian family so she told me a lot about her life in India. They live in a sugar cane area. And I showed her some old photos of my mums, she was very interested in those as she was born only the year after my mum. I showed her some ration books, she said they also had to have them in India. 

Hicky

Glad your choccy cake was fine for you, but pity your OH did not like the look of it. 

Wonder what cheeky thing is nibbling your cherry trees? Hope your spray works.  

The breadmaker looks good, and has good reviews. I couldn't see it mention making cakes though. 

No our dog does not moult, as her fur is more like sheeps wool when we brush it. OH has cut her coat so it is not too long, but being black it does, of course, still absorb the heat. 

Hope you can solve your kiwi problem. 

Daughter finished her Uni year at last, she studied real late last night, then took the exam after travelling to Cardiff, so was real tired when she got home 

Lovely day today, just right, dried lots of washing, nice and sunny and not too hot. 

Watched A and E, recorded Love Island, only had chance to watch half so far though. 

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Mollie.

I wish you'd stop posting directly after me, as you keep missing my posts.

Sounds like you had a great chinwag with your neighbour's Mum.

Bet your daughter is pleased to be done with her exam, and finished Uni for the year.  

Symptoms seem to be settling down a bit now. Just getting the occasional twinge. But you've got to take it day by day, as it varies so much.

Evening Both.

Rather nice today, 21c sunny with light winds of 5 to 9

Didn't have any brekkie as o/h wanted to go for fish and chips later when she came in, so we went to Parkgate, not sure how they do the fish but it's wide like a place to look at when it's in batter, so whether they get small cod de-boned and opened out somehow, the most beautiful fish anyway, and the chips i love as well.

My 2 replacement plants came, not sure how they survived the journey, they had at least put a plastic bag over the pot and compost to hold it, then they pushed a sharp 5mm 12" round piece of wood through the bag to hold it in place, the problem was the cane was 12" and the plant was about 20" so they bent it round the box, it had a couple of pieces of air wrap to hold it, the pots were not fastened at all, but they survived.

Just made a salad for tea, fancied one, some spring onions from the garden, red onion from my garden last year.

Shopping list tonight, yippeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Looking at the manual for the new Breadmaker it can sure make bigger quantities, even of Jam, and big loaves, it looks great.

Mollie, Might have to spray the leaves a couple of times, annoying when you don't see anything on the leaves.

Program 8 is cake and it can make a big one, i just wanted the twin paddle so the bread will look like a loaf, plus it can make a load of Jam.

Yes, if the dog doesn't moult then as you say the coat needs shortening for summer similar to sheep.

Good Luck to your daughter now all the hard work is done, my lads never used to study for the exams as they say it stressed them out.

Enjoying Love Island, will be a problem when BB starts.

Emptybox, As you say, ideal weather for you to get your work done.

I think the pull switch will be an AC switch, they usually have 2 brass pieces of metal which are held together in the closed position the same as the sockets, the most dangerous sockets in the world ours, the pull switch in one position is supposed to push one of the parts away from the fixed one, when the switch beaks the circuit is closed, the part that has broken is probably the bit that opens the contacts, you will able to check when you replace the switch.

Remember, depending on how old the wiring is will determine the colours od the wires used, if it's old wiring you could have the live as red, and maybe a live looped to another room in red, if the switch is used as a junction box then it could have 2 black wires which are neutrals looped to the next room, the switch wires could be black with a bit of red tape on, that is the wire to turn the light on, it is usually a single wire, you could have 3 black wires not connected together to the switch but just as a junction, not playing a part with the light, don't separate and wires if they are in pairs or more.

The new wiring is Live being Brown, Neutral is Black Switchwire should be black with a red tape to show it's a switched live, the one that puts the light on, some wires could be grouped together in an insulated terminal, at a switch they would be Neutrals, at a light they would be lives, and earth's are either bare with a green/yellow sleeve or tape.

I did go to a house to sort some wires out when the man separated the 8 cores at the light and then didn't know how to reconnect them, it takes a bit of time to sort which is which.

I must have missed rich house poor house this week, darn it.

I rang about the Breadmaker to see why different sellers had different part numbers for them, it works out the numbers are just the storage facility numbers but they are the same machine.

both xxx

Emtybox

yes we seem to submit posts the same time, so I keep misisng yours lately!

Pity you had no luck wth the switch, let;s hope the other one you ordered does the trick.

Yes you have no choice but to take your condition day by day and hope for the best and not focus too much on it. So I best not ask you too often as to how it is!

Wonder if you got a nice day weather wise again today?

It was about 8  degrees cooler today here, don't mind though as at leasst it was not stuffy.

Hicky

that is nice you went out in the good weather to enjoy some nice fish and chips.

That plant company certainly do not seem good at packing the goods. Hope they survive ok now.

Sounds like that model of bread maker is just what you are looking for, but it is worth checking, as it is  probably best only to buy t if you are sure you will make good use of it. At least you have worked out what the different part numbers mean now.

Daughter much more chilled today now she has finished her course year. She went to Cardiff comic shop and coffee bar with no studying at last!

No sign of the sun today, didn't mind as at least it was not boiling hot

Took doggie to vets , she is doing ok but back for check up in a couple of weeks. Not nice when pets get old and they need checking on. But she is doing ok for her age, so fingers crossed.

Watched Love Island, but am not that keen on it. Find it hard to work out which girls are which, as they all look similiar. Was not keen on the tasks they did either.

But why no sign of BB? I thought it usually starts in June, or we should at least have the start date by now?

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Hicky.

Another nice sunny day here, similar to yesterday. Got plenty done.

Glad your new plants came, and are in not too bad a condition. Seems a bit precarious to send plants through the post anyway.

Your fish and chips sound nice.

Yes, the pull switch is just as you describe. It seems to all be there, but it's obviously not pushing the contacts apart to turn the light off.

The two live wires are red, and the earth is greenish. There are also black wires which seem to be looped and not connected to the switch, so it seems to be looped to another room.

Watched 'Get a Holiday Body' on CH5 which featured Zoe Birkett, then watched Humans on CH4.

Hi Mollie.

Seems like it's getting much cooler for you, which is good,but would have been better if you had the sunshine.

That's good the your dog is doing OK, but yes, I guess she'll need checkups from now on.

Not surprised your daughter is more chilled now she's finished studying for a while.

Evening Both.

Cloudy today, 19c cloud and hardly any wind.

The Royal Mail tried to deliver a small parcel yesterday while we were out and i have to go and collect it, will get a taxi in the morning, it's only the new pack of 100m of strimmer line, in red as the other yellow is out of stock.

My new Breadmaker came today, only ordered it yesterday, it looks good but the plastic cup measure is broken, i rand them they will send another, have ordered some from Amazon as they are handy to save getting all sorts of containers out as you are supposed to have all the ingredients ready before you put them in the machine.

With this machine i can take almost any recipe and put it in the machine as it can make a 1500g loaf so it holds a lot.

Just finished the last of my cake, i thought it ok and know what to change next time.

Sprayed the apple trees against the codling moth this morning because we had no sun, also sprayed the Kiwi vine as something has eaten a few leaves on that.

Had Bacon and eggs for brekkie, wasn't sure what to do for tea then decided to have another meal from the freezer, another chicken curry, had some frozen rice, put that in the micro, only got one meal left now so can start making some more, got a pack of stir fry veg in the shopping so will start making some spring roll mixture tomorrow.

Going to try making some paint on wrappers, thye worked ok when i saw them made on a video, if not a success i can try and make the dough in the machine.

Mollie, I find it hard to believe they could send out plants in a box with the stick 6" shorter than the box and the plant, who in their right mind would do that, and with a loose pot.

When i made that last cake, o/h didn't like it, she took a recipe book down off the shelf of food books and showed me a chocolate cake recipe, there you are, that how to make a cake, what could i say.

Glad your daughter can relax more now, she deserves it, but still a worrying time over the results.

Glad doggie is a bit better, thats one problem with pets, they have such a short life, i find that hard to understand really.

I don't bother who is who on Love Island, they change too often, i just enjoy watching their antics, so cruel really.

I know BB was put back because they didn't want it to collide with LI, but will they wait 8 weeks for it to finish?

Emptybox, Yes, can't understand any company sending live plants out like they do in a cardboard box, of course this box was half the six with only 2 plants, which was better, but they really need lessons in packing, i will ring them next week and suggest how they should pack them, i can't do nothing.

On the swith, if 2 red wires are connected together then on a switch they are lives, one in and one out looped to another room, if 2 blacks are connected together but not to a switch contact then they are looped negatives which just pass through switch points to the next switch to go to the next light, with the light cable to the switch being a 3 core including earth the black is the negative not connected to the switch, the red then is the switch wire that connects to the other side of the switch which becomes live when the switch is on to light the lamp.

There are many ways of house wiring/flat wiring, you can use the light point as a junction box and then the lives are connected together and not to the light , the negatives loop and the switch wire and live run to the switch in a 3 core including earth..

In tubular systems the red lives loop from switch to switch, the negatives loop between lights and the switch wires go from light to switch with the red live down the same tube, the switch wire would have a marking to say it's not a live feed. 

Hi Hicky.

A gorgeous sunny day here. And with no wind it felt really hot. Forgot to look at the temperature in the van though, so can't enlighten you on that. But I'm wearing shorts tonight for the first time this year.

Got a lot of grass cutting done. Will have to work tomorrow as well.

Funny you should say you had strimmer cord ordered, because I had some strimmer cord delivered today as well. But it was only 15m, so it came through the letter box.

The new switch came as well, but the postie had to leave it in the greenhouse, as it wouldn't fit through.

I've got the switch fitted and it's working fine.

Luckily it was exactly the same diameter as the old one, and the screw holes matched up, so I was able just to leave the old base on the ceiling, and only had to attach the two live wires to the new switch, which saved some wiring up.

(good job really, as your description goes over my head a bit. Home electrics not being one of my strong suits )

The only other things I had to do was to drill the screw holes a little bigger so the old screws would fit through, and replace the plastic pull button (or whatever you call the thing on the end of the cord?) with the wooden one that my Dad made.

You'll really enjoy your new bread maker I'm sure, as you'll not now be limited in which recipes you can follow.

Well done getting your apple and kiwi vine plants sprayed.

Not sure what a paint on wrapper might be? Is it a foodstuff or something for the garden?

Sounds like the plant company do need your advice on how to pack their plants for posting.

Watched Cruising with Jane McDonald.

Evening Emptybox.

A love day here, 21c today, sunny intervals and light winds of 6.

With there being no sun this morning i decided to do the fixings on the Gazebo, cleaned the gutter out, had lots of the sand that is part of the red and green tiling material.

Used the fixing which are similar to what i used on the new garage steel roof, i had bought penny stainless washers to spread the torque and to stop the fixing damaging the tile material.

My rainbow windsock arrived, that is fitted now as well, also got a taxi to the post sorting office as the regular postman is off so he couldn't get it through the letterbox and took it back, the regular one would have opened the porch and put it inside, o/h was working and they are only open till 11am so the taxi was £10.40, the strimmer was less than that.

I was using 15m packs but 100m is more economical when you need a lot.

Decided to make some spring rolls as i have all the ingredients, got some veg from the garage, opened the pack of stir-fry veg, defrosted a pack of raw prawns and got some spring onions from the garden, fried each lot separate in the wok then put some other stuff in the wok to bring all the ingredients together, those are oil, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper, cornflour.

I then tried to make the thin wrappers i mentioned by putting batter on a hoplate with a food brush, sadly it didn't work so used more Blue Dragon wrappers for now, made 7 spring rolls, baked them for 20 minutes and i've just had them, super, using my #dip of course, very very nice, will make more tomorrow as i have a pack of the wrappers left.

Might make a cake in the morning with the new machine, might try the lemon drizzle cake as i have some lemons.

Glad you sorted the switch, i get confused when you say you connected the 2 live wires, if they were 2 live wires they would be connected together, one is live the other must be the switchwire going to the light, we call it a switched live as it's only live when the switch is on.

Yes, the paint on wrapper was when i brushed batter onto a hotplate to make a wrapper, but it's a pain, could get it to be successful.

I've got so many recorded shows to watch, 124 anyway.