Does anyone want to talk about anything other than *The virus*

We do have some bright splashes of colour around the garden, in particular a white bush (name unknown) which is on the verge of flowering quite spectacularly.

The pigeons have knocked over some daffodils.

My answer to the title of this post is YES PLEASE!
DH is only talking of the dreaded CV so it's a joy to think of other things.
I'm smiling watching my regular resident pigeons going through the mating dance on the lawn. He's bowing and showing off his moves, she flies a few feet away saying 'not now darling' then she comes back to tease him yet again. Hopefully they will be nesting in our willow again this year.

Lovely thread BlueBelle. I took DGC to local playgroup this week while AC had a much-deserved meet up with friends. Only 2 of us grans this time, all others were mums, and lots of children running round excitedly and playing on the equipment. I was sitting on the floor with younger child, thinking this is why people my age don't have children - can't get up again! I guessed the other gran was thinking of a large gin by the look on her face! Mums of course were sitting serenely chatting and eating cake. Lovely couple of hours.

I had a lovely time yesterday day pottering outside after early visit to shop. I managed to give my potting shed a good tidy up (it is not really a shed but an old outhouse with the washing machine inside).

DH removed his old brewing bucket (he is thinking of making his own again as the price of a bottle of cider he drinks has gone up from £2.10 to £5 since beginning of the month. This is in Cardiff where the Welsh Assembly has put a minimum price of 50p per unit).

I swept up all woodlice for compost heap and got rid of a few black plastic pots and a general stacking and washing of pots.

Summer jasmine does have very small flowers and gets everywhere and is always being cut down here. Saw a lovely winter jasmine in LIdl but I am trying not to buy anything this year. Started off some lettuce and cosmos.

Like someone up thread I have been looking for specs. Lost since Tuesday. I know they are in house somewhere. I am down to wearing transitions lenses for garden and TV which go dark very quickly, giving me the Mafia look, Specsavers appointment next week.

A few years ago lost specs, got new pairs, and two years later found them, intact but a bit wonky, in a patch of long tough grass in the "wild"corner of the garden.

Haven't done much actual digging so far as had two deep cuts on fingers but both cleared up now and hoping for dry and warm weather as we have heavy clay here.

Enjoy the day everyone!

Soon be Shakespeare's birthday. He could have got a darn good sonnet out of the current Coronation Chicken Virus debacle....

My husband is in the kitchen making meatballs for tonight's dinner. My daughter and her little ones are calling for the afternoon. Life goes on.

I have 4 amaryllis plants including one I found thrown out on the side of the communal drive. I have had them for years. They remain in their pots year after year. I give them occasional drinks of water even when they are dry. Rarely ever give them plant food, maybe once a year. The one I found abandoned is on the point of flowering. All the others have leaves but no buds. Very easy to grow and reliable. Just keep them, and they will thrive for many years.

I don't ever remove them to a dark cool place. They are always on my sunny kitchen window sill. I believe they come from Mexico where my son saw them growing wild.

Bulb needs to recover and get ready for next year, plant food (pot plant feed is ok) light and warmth. It can sit outside when the weather is warm, but needs sunlight.

I am feeling a little bit down, family problem. And my husband just went shopping and bought me some lovely flowers. That's cheered me up a lot.

I'm not getting to visit DH in nursing home ( go almost every day ) so have more time on my hands. I started edging the back lawn yesterday - it's a bit like the Forth Bridge though, in that by the time I get round it all, it will have grown again. Mind you, I'm still doing it with shears, on my hands and knees. I must buy something that makes it easier. I it's raining today, so I can't carry on with it. I'd love to sit down and do my knitting, but hacks on my thumbs are making this difficult. No sooner do they heal, they start up again! Minor problem though, in the greater scheme. I also cleaned windows yesterday, so I'll go now and do the insides.

Callistemon, you must be unlucky with your Lidl. I find that cut flowers from my local Lidl last at least twice the time of flowers bought elsewhere - and they're cheaper too. I haven't tried their plants .

Changing the subject, if not the theme. I write a short column in our local paper every couple of months, on any topic I choose. It's often a bit of a rant - cashless society/ dangerous cyclists/ screaming or grunting tennis players). The next one is due soon and I'm struggling. In this climate I would like to write something positive, but finding it hard to think of anything. Any ideas?

I agree. It is starting to get on my nerves. My DH is obsessed with it and keeps telling all sorts of information that i really dont want to hear. I am just getting on with my life and doing the extra handwashing etc. I havent done any panic buying, dont have anywhere to store lots of things, or the money come to that. Have just bought my seeds to start in the greenhouse so going to hide in there for a little while with the propegaters , compost and seeds. Iwill take my little radio and tune into some nice music and shut out the world for some peace and quiet.

I was given an amaryllis bulb for Christmas. Planted it 29th December. By the end of January it had grown two feet produced two huge blooms which lasted only a couple of days. Is it worth nurturing it until next Christmas for such a short blooming period.?
At my age, eating and drinking are some of the few pleasures left to me. I am sorry that I cannot do the amount of cooking that I used to do but I do enjoy my daily Guinness and glass of red wine.

Only just seen this thread - you made me laugh with this Merlot
DH is repairing the ride on mower thanks to pesky mice nesting in the air filter. He's had me making a fiddly carburettor gasket out of an old inner tube this afternoon.

I think MrMerlot and MrA have quite a bit in common.

It reminded me of a book my mother had, called ‘The Practical Home Handywoman’.

It was dedicated to the woman who wanted to be ‘content in the home of her own making’ and full of advice about things like how to make your own lampshades out of old silk night-dresses ?

Oh yes please. Wouldn’t that be lovely. Enjoy your week.?

I've always been lucky with Lidl's cut flowers too, they last for ages. I don't need any at the moment as our beautiful daffs are in full bloom along the length of our half mile drive so I've always got a big vase full in the house. I love the spring flowers - the tulips are on their way too . My Dad's garden is very sheltered and he has 3 gorgeous camelias in full bloom, one of which is cream and so very beautiful. Going back to Lidl, DH bought a 50p packet of water melon seeds there last year & we had some super little water melons from the greenhouse. Giving it another go this year.

Love this thread. There is lots of good news around. I am looking forward to lunch with a very dear friend in our home city on Monday, Lunch out with my mother on Thursday for her 89th birthday and lunch out again next Sunday, eight of us, including mother for Mother's Day. Oh dear, I do sound very greedy. I don't usually have so many lunches out in the same week. Will begin the diet the week after

I'm not green fingered, I can't offer any assistance in that department.
I have recently found my appetite and love of food and cooking again. I had months of eating little and not really cooking. I wish I could say I lost weight, sadly not.
I have no idea of the cause either. I must say I had completely forgotten how tasty beans on toast is ?.

Nanamac - drivers who don't use indicators!

Sorry no I can't focus on the normal things we take for granted, don't fancy planning anything. Feeling really low and now I have an actual reason to be so.

I just leave mine in the flowerpot in the compost as the only time I took it out the bulb just disintegrated. It seems to flower every year and has been sat outside my door since it stopped flowering and will see what happens later this year.

Oh, BlueSky, sorry to see you down in the dumps. Small compensation, I know, but here is a little bouquet to cheer you up - and please know that we Gransnetters will hold you in our thoughts xx

I've never grown an Amaryillis and I don't have room nowadays for any indoor plants (I presume Amaryllis is an indoor plant?) but I do love hyacinths. Would they grow outdoors? Oh, and on the subject of gardening, I heard that snowdrops need to be planted when they are in flower. Is that correct?

I know this isn't a gardening post (although I have picked up some useful information thus far), so I would like to announce that this afternoon I shall mostly be making a Swiss roll. Jam filled, because I have no whipping cream and can't be doing with faffing around making butter cream.

A different direction here. The badgers are back! Must be Spring. Wish they wouldn't dig up the lawn though!