Support and friendship for those whose lives have been affected by estrangement.

That's good news Whiff, sending hugs to Babs x

Whiff sounds like an exciting time you had. You are brave!

Estrangment is painful and mine is ongoing. ExDH has relayed to me that our EstDS is afraid that his now adult daughters will try and see me (Yey) and allegedly started turning things around to say that I refuse to see them.

Some people…

Garden very green with No Mow May long grass..

My new Rowan ‘Copper Kettle’. For autumn interest. Gardener planted of course.

Happy Bank Holiday everyone.

SparklyGrandma Rowan's are beautiful. My daughter and family gave me a £40 gift voucher for garden centre so going Wednesday as there is a bus that stops near by as I am at my GP appointment for 9 so will have most of the day out.

I do hope your adult grand daughter's get in touch and see for themselves you are not the monster their dad makes out .

I am not brave but very stubborn and have a temper. But haven't lost it at anyone apart from myself since my husband died. Unfortunately since my stay in hospital in January I can no longer do something things and other things have gotten worse . So phoned my neurologist secretary and got an appointment to see him in August by then with probably have more to report . I am still classed as under review so don't have to go through my GP to see my neurologist.

Any new plants my gardener will plant for me . As the last time I planted 2 hebes he took one look and said I had better replant them 🤣.

Have a good bank holiday everyone.

Nice new tree Sparkly, it will be good to see it once it's grown. I have a Honey lotus tree in my garden with similar leaves, but very pale green. I'm really into my garden at the moment, with watching all the episodes of 'Chelsea flower show'. Off to B&Q this afternoon .

Whiff I have a £25 gift voucher to spend too.

Have a nice day everyone xx

I have an unfortunately large garden and struggle to maintain it. Perhaps retirement will bring me that joy.

Luminance where I used to live had to have a gardener because I couldn't do it after my husband died. 2 large lawns and boarders. When I moved smallish front and back gardens . Fake lawn and could manage the boarders but last year had to admit defeat . My balance isn't good enough for weeding . I sat on a stool to do it but parts had to stand on the boarders . Just not safe anyone . I can look after my pots and raised planters and grow my veg in my greenhouse and in the pots . But hired a wonderful chap who even knows the Latin names of plants plus gets on his hands and knees to do the boarders he comes every 2 weeks . Plus he's a nice person to talk to and my gardens always looks lovely.

You are indeed fortunate where you live Whiff. Getting workmen here is not easy. If you get anyone who is reliable and can do the job without it costing a fortune it's a red letter day. The first hurdle is finding someone the second is them actually turning up. I paid someone 2 ago to paint the front of my house, I bought all the materials, he said he wanted half up front the day he started. He worked that day, it was a heatwave and he said it was too hot and would be back, not seen him yet. Only a mobile number which he never answered.

Morning everyone.

Wonderful news about Mr. B. Babs, you must be thrilled and so relieved after all you've been through.

We leave my cousins today after a very busy few days re visiting the places we and my GP's lived and the schools we attended. The highlight was seeing my gran's niece, our great aunty Betty, who is 95 years young. We had a lovely afternoon and I couldn't help thinking how pleased granny would have been to know we were all together.

Mr. S. drove up to Oxford yesterday for his sister's funeral today and when he gets back, we'll be going to my dear friend's in Portsmouth for a few days, returning home on Sunday.

Glad to see you enjoyed your holiday Whiff and you all get pleasure from your gardens.

Take care everyone xx

Whiff we do have a man that comes to do the lawns and things that need cutting back but I crave some beautiful flowerbeds. You all seem to have such a good eye for it.

Luminance I love the way Gertrude Jeckle did gardens all highly piggly like mine . I have a Gertrude Jeckle bush rose which has pink flowers and smells lovely and have lots of flowers . Thomas a Beckett rose which is red but no fragrance. Plants have 2 choices is my garden live or die. The only time I brought the correct compost was for 2 blueberry bushes and really looked after them and they died . The one 1 gave my daughter she just put into the ground and has lots of blueberries every year. I learnt my lesson never pamper any plants .

Smiles glad you are having such a good time . Hope Mr S was ok at his sister's funeral . Portsmouth is a lovely place . Hopefully it's not to wet.

Allsorts I have been very lucky with my tradesmen. And have lovely delivery drivers as I do a lot of shopping online. But I do worry about the young woman especially in the dark so when I know she's delivering at dusk or in the dark make sure all my drive is lit up.

Whiff just stunning, so lovely. What a wonderful inspiration.

Good afternoon.

Yes, we're having a great time here in Portsmouth Whiff. Went to Gunwharf today, fabulous shops and Mr. S. treated me to a lovely bag and Radley watch . Both came as a complete surprise and those make the best gifts don't they.

The funeral service was lovely and he coped with it very well Whiff; thanks for asking.

The sun is out and we're having a G & T in the garden before taking the dogs out for a sedate walk along a stream. Not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow but after today's shopping spree shops may be best avoided .

Glad you are enjoying your time in Portsmouth Smileless. It a long time since I visited it.
My garden became a bit overgrown but I have paid a firm to tidy it and I should be able to maintain it again. That's the trouble with a big garden, you only need leave it a few months and it's unmanageable, I honestly don't know what I would do with myself without my garden. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. Booked another holiday, just a week plus a few days out, They are all in the UK as I mostly went abroad in the past but we have such a beautiful country and I want to see the places I haven't been to.

Morning everyone.

You did the right thing getting someone to bring your garden back to a manageable state Allsorts. I'm very fortunate to have an excellent gardener; Mr. S. .

Glad you've booked another holiday, where are you off too?

Afternoon everyone.

The U.K. has beautiful areas and towns to visit. Before c** I would have holidays in places with a cathedral. I had not visited many and I visited about 11. The mix of peacefulness, spiritually , history and beautiful medieval art - coloured glass windows, fonts, chapels, stonework was soothing to my estranged heart.
And I do love a target and had to set myself tasks after retirement.
I had never been to York, so in 2018 I set off (I had a first cousin nearby).
The whole of the cathedral was magnificent, the town itself was quaint.
Ones of note that I visited; Exeter, York, Winchester ( I visited the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death), Llandaff, Leeds RC cathedral, Hereford, Gloucester, Wells. Halifax Minster.

Smileless your trip visiting relatives and friends sounds like a real boost?

It has been Sparkly and exhausting too. It's been wonderful but we'll be glad to get home .

Morning all

Lovely to hear about all the gardening. Glad you had a good trip to PortsmouthSmiles and that Mr.S was OK at his sister's funeral. I too have decided to holiday in the UK from now on, have had enough of airports, and as you say Allsorts; so many lovely places here and good weather too.

Went to a 'Hoe Down' on Friday, good fun with lots of dancing.

I am so angry have any of you been on the Chat forum . Family versus individuality. And read DARVO 10.55 post . Guess who is back. Have reported her . 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

It's rather frustrating. Even when Gransnet removes her people continue engaging with her and tempting her back.

Luminance found an old post of hers and DARVO stands for Deny,Attack Reverse, Victim and Offender .
That says it all.

I feel the forum just isn't for me. I appreciated the experience and it helped me gain some insight into my own family issues but I don't think my input is needed or wanted here otherwise. All the best.

Afternoon everyone.

I've just reported her too Whiff because I've only just come on GN having got home and put everything away from our holiday. It's obvious who DARVO is and as you say, the name says it all. If only she could see the irony .

Hi everyone 💐💐💐💐

It isn’t hard to work out who the latest disrupter is.

I’m sure other forums would be better for her, but hey, ho, no accounting for what folk do.🙄

Hope everyone is well x

Morning everyone.

Good to see you DL . Yes, it's pretty obvious isn't it and what better place to vent your spleen, to project your anger and bitterness than a forum where EP's read and post.

It was lovely to get home yesterday, despite having a really great holiday.

A heart stopping moment just 10 minutes after we got back when DS face timed us from hospital . He'd come off his bike and had just had a dislocated finger put back into place.

A serious cut to the same hand and despite being battered and bruised, no other injuries. Thank goodness he was wearing his proper helmet and was biking with a friend, rather than alone.

I made him promise that he'd always wear the better of his helmets and not go biking alone again. Instead of the 'yeah OK mum' half hearted response I usually get, he looked very sincere when he said 'yes mum, I will'.

My hairdresser and dear friend is coming this morning to cut my hair and Mr. S. has 2 bowls matches, one this afternoon and one this evening.

There's something rather nice and comforting slotting back into your routine again isn't there.

Have a good day everyone x