🦞 The Lockdown Gang still chatting 🦞

We have been away for a night to see The Spooky Men's Chorale with some (old) friends

We see them rarely but it's always as though we haven't been apart
Every time we say "let's not leave it another six, seven, ten months this time.
We all laugh like drains. They are such a joy - and we are all so very lucky to still have each other
🥰

spookymen.com/

It was, Doodle.
Now I am catching up with everything that didn't get done today😉.

Moving house is so difficult Grammaretto. Everyone has their idea of what’s best. Stick to your guns and choose a place that’s right for you,

Is tennis on ixion. 🤣

Suggest DD finds you something, then point out the pitfalls.

Hey ho, back to the tennis🎾 .

You're right Doodle. I don't want to be stranded.
You should hear my DD on the subject. She thinks I am very foolish even looking at these unsuitable houses.
I have another viewing for yet another unsuitable house booked in. No harm in looking.... 😅

Doesn’t sound the sort of place for your Grammaretto . You need somewhere with more space. You’re used to big rooms and high ceilings. Something too small will be claustrophobic.
Please don’t get anywhere that isn’t close to other people or easy to get to local shops. The older we get it’s easy to become isolated if you can’t drive anymore. Sorry it’s not my business and you know all this anyway. I would love you to get somewhere you’ll be comfortable and happy.
Glad you’ve got a new helper coming.
Ixion we’ve had rain here today too. I was sorely tempted to go and dance barefoot on the grass……..but for the neighbours I might. 🤣

Being a tight fisted Scot albeit an adopted one I make my own slug beer.
A couple of spoons of dried yeast, some sugar stirred into water. I pour it into jam jars and plant them near the most vulnerable ones. It works well especially if I remember to check them often.

I tried the tens machine. It was tricky to set it up but I did and it pulsated as it was supposed to. I can't say I felt any improvement after an hour or so. The heated wheat bag is very comforting.

It isn't very warm here. I've just warned my French Helpers, who arrive on Thursday. I've told them to bring warm clothes and waterproofs.😟

I'm not sure how MM's crowdfunding is going. I know he's on holiday.🏖️

I've been watching the tennis. My old neighbour's DGS is Jacob Fearnley who is through to the second round. 😊

Oh poor Grammaretto☹️.
Has your TENS machine arrived? (Any problems, I will send you mine pdq. Just say). I'm not sure if or how they work, but the tingling sensation, if you ramp up the dials, provides a definite distraction from the initial source of pain!
Take your time over decision making if you are not 100% well in mind or body😉

Do you know how Music Man's crowdfunding is going? Is he a viable bidder/purchaser yet?

I was wondering, NfkD, whether you would be opening up your gardens again this year - it's every two years, isn't it? You have posted some lovely photos in the past!
And Kira continues to live the full and contented life she deserves❤️. Is she over her initial 'clinginess'?
Do you still have your camper van?

It's been raining quite heavily here since late afternoon- joy!
All doors and windows open at the same time but the smell of the damp on soil was indicator enough that rain was on the way.

It would be good if the puddles deterred a hidden brigade of slugs or snails which have forged a nocturnal path to my tall galvanised planter of finally planted delphiniums. Unlikely.
No beer for traps. Plenty of Scotch if they'd like that. Or sitting up all night waiting on target practice.

Can't believe I just wrote that. Joke, dear reader, joke

Well remembered Doodle about the cornice. It was indeed the same person and this time I met her lovely DH.

How interesting NotSpaghetti to watch the craftsman at work.

The wretched pain is getting me down. I feel for all you who are suffering too.

I think I will need to cancel today's viewing.
Not made a decision yet on the offer.

The cottage we saw yesterday (my pal who loves houses came too) would fit in one of my rooms. Also it was 2k along a country lane from the nearest village/shop/bus stop.

May I join in please with thanks ixion for sending our love and get well wishes to Kaimoana

And prayers🙏

Yesterday my kind friends, the book team came and tirelessly spent most of the day sorting and disposing of another swathe of books, papers and ephemera.

400 visitors NfK that’s amazing. What a great turnout.
Ooh how lovely to have a dip in the sea especially with your DS and DGS . I haven’t seen the sea for ages and I miss it.
Grammaretto so sorry about your bad back. Hope your purchases help.
Lovely to have visitors like that. I remember a while ago you had the cornice rebuilt. Was that the one?
Thanks again Ixion . Please send love from us all back xx

Thank you!
Sending love for a steady recovery.

Message from Kaimoana -

Love to my lovely Lobstars

How wonderful Grammaretto to have watched a plaster expert at work.
I spent a happy few days intermittently watching master plasterers recreating curvy details on different cornices. In additionhat beautiful movements if layering rather than moulding.

Thanks ixion for sharing Kaimoana news.
Like NotSpag I hope it's the planned surgery. Thinking of her🤞

Crikey! 400 visitors Nfk I wish I'd been there 😊 must have been a wonderful if too hot weekend especially ending with your swim.

Quite a coincidence that your stomping ground was mine, if only for a year in my case as I went on to study ceramics in Kent.
I still see one of my house mates from those days who's an artist in Cambridge.

I've been feeling so bad with my sore back. I've ordered a wheat pad and a tens machine in the hope that it can't do harm and may do good.

Relief came briefly in the form of a sweet couple who rang my bell and she said "remember me?" I gradually did and invited them in for coffee and cake.
She was the plaster expert who rebuilt my cornice after my first ceiling fell down!
She asked her DH to see if he could guess which bit she did, he couldn't as the join is invisible.

They are both plasterwork restorers and work all over the country if not the world.

Night night Lobstars xxxx

ixion thank you for letting us all know about Kaimoana. I do hope it's nothing horrendously serious and she'll soon be back with us. And thank you for passing on our best wishes and that we're all rooting for her.

It seems strange to me that people think Norfolk (Nfk) is a lovely place to live. I've not lived anywhere else except Norwich and the Broads, but there are so many lovely places in Britain which, to me, make Norfolk look boring. But certainly there are many places here which would suit your description NotSpag. Although it's best to avoid the posh bit of the north of Norfolk unless you can afford a helipad!

It also seems strange to hear you reminiscing about Norwich Art School Grammaretto. It's huge now and apparently one of the best in the country. I lived (with DH!) in a flat at the top of Grapes Hill when we were first married and push started our old car down the old hill many times. We also watched those terrace houses being demolished, and the new big roundabout and dual carriageway being built. Must have been around 1970. I worked in St Giles Street. My grandmothers both went to the Quaker Meeting House in Goat Lane. It was very much my part of Norwich. We could have passed in the street many times!

I'm just recovering from our town's open gardens weekend. Including mine. It seemed like a good idea to volunteer it so as to get me off my backside and actually doing some weeding. It all went really rather well, despite the heat, with over 400 visitors over the two days. I thought all was lost on Friday when the temperature really went up, as one side of the garden was in full sun and everything wilted badly. The outside thermometer nearby read 43 degrees!! Incredibly though, with lots of watering, despite the warm night they all recovered!

Met up with DS and DGS at Mundesley this evening for a dip in the sea. Including Kira who swims very well, but kept trying to rescue me. It was bliss nontheless.
Now off to bed!

Oh poor Kaimoana I hope this is the "planned" surgery rather than an emergency

And hope you are doing OK too Naughtyneine

Great news ixion thank you for letting us know. I’ve been very worried. Hope that whatever treatment she receives is good and she’s well cared for,

I received a message from Kaimoana this morning🥳

She apologised for not replying to my missives but says that she is 'in hospital, more details to follow'.

I said we had been missing her and that we had been worried, and sent her 🦞love and hugs.

I hope this is OK - I don't feel that I have broken any confidences in sharing this and will obviously share anything more that I may hear.
I am sure she will understand.

I’ve only been to Norfolk once. DH and I went with our sons and dog on the Broads. We had a great time but just as we were packing to come home Dh bent to pick up our little dog and put his back out, he had to have a pain killing injection for a local doctor and I had to drive all the way home in our new car. I was terrified.
ixion I’m so pleased we moved. Our elder son was saying recently that many of his friends have parents in their old family home and are struggling to cope. Maybe one or other or in some cases both have health problems and need a lot of input from their family.
I realise we are lucky in that both sons and families live very close by. There is a lift so if I can’t do stairs I can still get around. Being a flat everything is in one level. The doorways are wide and would accommodate a wheelchair. The ensuite has a walk in shower. The rooms are big so plenty of space. Someone gets paid to do the garden, the cleaning and sort out all the building problems like roof and gutters. All we have to look after is what’s our side of the front door. Gated entry system and so I feel quite safe here. Neighbours are great and we get on well.
Grammaretto i Hope you find your safe place where you are happy. Sorry about the pain. Glad the codeine helps. Please make sure you drink a lot of water and have lots of fibre though.
I too am really worried about Kaimoana . I wish we knew how she was. Just hoping somehow she will be back in touch.

Quiet night, Grammaretto. Here's hoping x

I know you live in Norfolk Jan. Lucky you! I was just going down memory lane.

I have had the laziest day in a long time. My lodgers are still on holiday: no house viewers: I donated some books to the local museum and had tea at the Gaelic café. Now watching something on Netflix and wondering if it's too early to go to bed.

I'm sorry you're still sweltering. Ixion
I think tomorrow is supposed to be cooler. I hope your delphinium survive.

It's wild and windy here so I am getting worried about falling trees as well as a leaky ceiling. I'm trying to pin down a roofer without success.
Right. Bed it is.
Night night Lobstars

We should have moved 20 years ago, I maintain. Downsized, settled in something smaller, easier to manage and not somewhere always needing something to be done on it. My dreams were always a Manhattan -style loft apartment or a coach house with a cobbled courtyard. Room for a steamer chair, table for a G and T and a good book and a tub with a palm and very little else.
DS says before any thoughts on moving, I would need to consult a map showing the proximity of a nearby Waitrose.
How rude.

However, where else currently gives us the luxury of being four floors apart when we are I am hot and crotchety? Me in my top floor sewing room eyrie, Mr.I in the basement with his trains and wine cellar.

I am sorry your back is giving so much pain, Grammaretto. Were you not having another helper? I hope you find something that you fall in love with.

I have messaged Kaimoana on several occasions but no reply.
There again not surprising if she can't see to read.😢

Special thoughts for NN🌷

Hopefully showers and cooler temperatures tomorrow so looking forward to at least getting my delphiniums in, they are looking a bit woebegone.
Maybe they are a tad disoriented being sat in ice cream tubs in the downstairs cloakroom. 🚽

Actually live in good old Norfolk!!!!

I miss Norfolk. I spent a year at the school of art in Norwich as a teenager. My first proper time away from home, fending for myself, paying bills and always poor.
I shared a room in a tiny terraced house off Grapes Hill. It's all been demolished now.
My furniture was an orange box (wooden crate) from the market.
There were a lot of pubs to frequent. Also churches but I went to the Quaker meeting in Goat Lane (love the names) where often a kind Friend would invite me and my pals home for Sunday lunch in Unthank road.

I used to get on a train or bike out to one of the villages on the Broads and sketch in the Summer. Years later, on studying my family tree I was spooked to discover that my dad's great grandparents came from that same village! Loddon, Hales, Berghapton some of the places.

Hi Jan,
I know you love Norfolk but sadly it's not for me.
We did live there for a couple of years when my husband did his MA many moons ago

But I do keep seeing places for sale over there - and my friend on the Norfolk Suffolk border is happy there.

I really appreciate the suggestion
Thank you