What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

[gennepher]

Beautiful colours and a fabulous composition. I like the silhouette of the house.

Thanks very much @dunelm for the lovely compliment

 

[ianpspurs]

I should thank the staff of West Suffolk Hospital for their skill and care for baby OP. I should also thank God for his Grace in gifting those skills and qualities. The fabric of that building and morale of the staff may be crumbling but their dedication is unquestionable.

 

[gennepher]

09.09
7.40am. FBG 5.8
Am actually hungry this morning...Some virus sent me to bed for the best part of two days. Still feel a bit weak and shaky on my legs. Good news! NOT covid.
@ianpspurs and @dunelm am so jealous of your Apple trees, we had on arrival 24 Apple trees, 2 pear, 2 walnut and an enormous cherry tree. Turned out none of the fruit was fit to eat. We were instructed to cut down one pear, apparently too close to the fosse septique. I spent weeks testing all.of the different apples, hoping to find some good for cooking at least. But only three trees were barely passable. All lacking in flavour. Over the years some have fallen to nature, some have been deliberately removed. The trees have been neglected, are pest ridden and not even fit for cider. You can imagine the burden of collecting windfalls by wheelbarrowful(s) every day and taking to tip. Which is only open limited hours three times a week.
Of course it is easier to let them lie, MrSlim will happily chop them up with the mower giving every wasp, hornet or fruit fly easy access to the bounty. Making the outside space unusable. Also leads to further fruit fly infestations next year, which is why i dont want them dumped in our field. MrSlim still does not agree with me on this, but with far fewer Apple trees I can probably manage it myself. Once I am properly better.
@karen8967 belated Happy Birthday.
Glad you enjoyed it.

I hate those fruit flies @SlimLizzy . I have a wormery, in a dustbin, with tiger worms. They make soil for me from tea bags, vegetable waste, and fruit waste etc.. If I throw in bruised unusable shop bought fruit, there are no fruit flies. But if I put in even one spoiled apple from my fruit trees which have no insecticides or anything sprayed on them, then next time I open that wormery dustbin lid, a thick cloud of fruit flies hits me in the face.

So, what you must get from all your fruit trees and windfalls, must be absolutely horrendous. I am on your side with this. Mr Slim is outvoted...

 

[gennepher]

Excellent find - free air con. Reminds me of visiting a sister and family in Texas - oh the heat, oh the air con.

I will be making a trip back to that Lidl @dunelm ....

 

[gennepher]

Thanks Gennepher,
It was ok.
Hope things for you are improving, it's been difficult for you of late.

The toilets were open at Haydon bridge and the road was not too bad going east, we took about two and quarter hours to do the 80 miles. 160 in a day is a bit much for me now, certainly after almost two years of just local travel.
It was hard walking around in the heat near the Freeman hospital in up to 29 degree heat. Downside is I have to go back in three months to see if the battery needs changing then.
There are major road works at Hexham junction and coming west a long build up of traffic so we took the old military road from near Heddon, that goes along the Roman wall to miss this coming back. Then we cut across back roads after Hexham to be sure of the toilet at Haydon bridge the ones at tourist centres on the wall are packed.
It was a relative clear run back to Carlisle after Haydon and going through all the lights were green and we were through down the A595 back home by just after 1700 .
Still quite hot around here into the evening.

.......So I am having a long lay in this am, with cloudy skies here for a change.
We need the rain, if it comes the gardens dying from drought.
Have a great day Gennepher and all.
D.

Thanks. Things have to improve oneday!

Glad the journey was not too bad @lindisfel
And that loos were available.
160 mile round trip is hard especially when we have not been able to practice driving. But we have to keep that driving up.
Hugs for the downside of having to go back in 3 months to get that battery checked.
I love it when all the lights stay green...

I give you permission to spend the rest of today lounging in bed, lounging on the couch, or sitting in the garden this afternoon (if the rains haven't reached you by then). Watch the birds, or cloudwatch. Everything else can wait until tomorrow...

Take care. Today is chill out day.

 

[gennepher]

Another fantastic piece of artwork @gennepher and Lidl sounds like a real pleasure. Baby OP now out of hospital, feeding as per but will have a cough for a few months. Seems this virus does that to all lucky prize winners. Nanny London staying put until she eats and drinks like a good gel.

Thanks @ianpspurs
It nearly didn't get done before midnight...I fell asleep before I posted it and woke up at 1150 pm

I will most definitely be taking a trip to visit that Lidl again (my local one does not have air con).

Glad baby OP on the mend.

 

[ianpspurs]

Thanks Gennepher,
It was ok.
Hope things for you are improving, it's been difficult for you of late.

The toilets were open at Haydon bridge and the road was not too bad going east, we took about two and quarter hours to do the 80 miles. 160 in a day is a bit much for me now, certainly after almost two years of just local travel.
It was hard walking around in the heat near the Freeman hospital in up to 29 degree heat. Downside is I have to go back in three months to see if the battery needs changing then.
There are major road works at Hexham junction and coming west a long build up of traffic so we took the old military road from near Heddon, that goes along the Roman wall to miss this coming back. Then we cut across back roads after Hexham to be sure of the toilet at Haydon bridge the ones at tourist centres on the wall are packed.
It was a relative clear run back to Carlisle after Haydon and going through all the lights were green and we were through down the A595 back home by just after 1700 .
Still quite hot around here into the evening.

.......So I am having a long lay in this am, with cloudy skies here for a change.
We need the rain, if it comes the gardens dying from drought.
Have a great day Gennepher and all.
D.

Winner for the result and finding the working loo but hug for the journey and walking. Still, a win is a win and I'm big on wins - my enemies say obsessed by. Not sure how I missed your post since it is just above mine but honestly it wasn't there earlier. Hang tough chief. We Fen Tigers need to keep this lot on their mettle.

 

[karen8967]

Belated happy birthday @karen8967 and wonderful to hear you had a lovely day. Me no Swipey right now bandwidth occupied by useful staff. I was 4.9 on Stabbington this day in 2015 and still thought "this WOE is alright" . Moving on. Hug for the loss of £s @dunelm - was violence needed? I'm sure a canny accountant can write that up as tax deductable or even claim a refund. Hug for the rogue ear infection, winner for the Magpie in the tree. @SlimLizzy hug for the illness and fruit tree issue. Apple wood has an amazingly wonderful smell when burned. couldn't the trees be felled, logged and used that way? Another fantastic piece of artwork @gennepher and Lidl sounds like a real pleasure. Baby OP now out of hospital, feeding as per but will have a cough for a few months. Seems this virus does that to all lucky prize winners. Nanny London staying put until she eats and drinks like a good gel. Good for Drs and nurses to be ambitious but a sense of realism helps. Dear friends, won't you join me in a large mug of Assam in remembrance of Charles Fuge Lowder?

Thaanks ian x

 

[gennepher]

Winner for the result and finding the working loo but hug for the journey and walking. Still, a win is a win and I'm big on wins - my enemies say obsessed by. Not sure how I missed your post since it is just above mine but honestly it wasn't there earlier. Hang tough chief. We Fen Tigers need to keep this lot on their mettle.

I am finding this a lot recently @ianpspurs
Usually, every morning I will check all posts and do responses etc.
Then later that day, I find exactly as you have done, and it was not there earlier as you have discovered. And there might even be a few....

 

[dunelm]

Thanks Gennepher,
It was ok.
Hope things for you are improving, it's been difficult for you of late.

The toilets were open at Haydon bridge and the road was not too bad going east, we took about two and quarter hours to do the 80 miles. 160 in a day is a bit much for me now, certainly after almost two years of just local travel.
It was hard walking around in the heat near the Freeman hospital in up to 29 degree heat. Downside is I have to go back in three months to see if the battery needs changing then.
There are major road works at Hexham junction and coming west a long build up of traffic so we took the old military road from near Heddon, that goes along the Roman wall to miss this coming back. Then we cut across back roads after Hexham to be sure of the toilet at Haydon bridge the ones at tourist centres on the wall are packed.
It was a relative clear run back to Carlisle after Haydon and going through all the lights were green and we were through down the A595 back home by just after 1700 .
Still quite hot around here into the evening.

.......So I am having a long lay in this am, with cloudy skies here for a change.
We need the rain, if it comes the gardens dying from drought.
Have a great day Gennepher and all.
D.

Another long day traveling in the heat and thank goodness for those toilets at Haydon Bridge. One of the great rules of life, “never pass up an opportunity to pee.”

 

[mojo37]

In iPastels.
Painting for today...
View attachment 51083

Beautiful

 

[Krystyna23040]

In iPastels.
Painting for today...
View attachment 51083

Lovely painting.

 

[gennepher]

Beautiful

Thanks @mojo37

 

[gennepher]

Lovely painting.

Thank you @Krystyna23040

 

[SlimLizzy]

Oh dear, those fruit trees - if they are not of use then perhaps try gradually pruning them back each winter over a couple of years (they will be useful for wild life), then plant a new orchard on dwarfing rootstock so that they fruit quicker. You could of course try taking cuttings and trying to revive them - might be someone local who can do some grafts for you. If you fancy it, RHS has some good advice about this subject: https://www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/apples/renovating-old-trees

If the fruit is inedible - I don't want them renovated. We have already reduced the 24 down to 11.
When I say we had 24 Apple trees, these were in the immediate environs of the house. There are another dozen or so in the paddock. We only cut those if they fall over.
Plan is to plant some new fruit trees and to hope we will be more successful than last year. Planted 5 different fruit trees and all but one have succumbed. That one is in the wrong place and might have to be moved. Have been mowing over the veg bed to avoid it.
@ianpspurs dont worry any logs will come in very handy. Last year we were getting very low on wood so I have been working on splitting etc. Just a few a day. Couldn't do a lot of it anyway, my shoulder would complain

 

[SlimLizzy]

I hate those fruit flies @SlimLizzy . I have a wormery, in a dustbin, with tiger worms. They make soil for me from tea bags, vegetable waste, and fruit waste etc.. If I throw in bruised unusable shop bought fruit, there are no fruit flies. But if I put in even one spoiled apple from my fruit trees which have no insecticides or anything sprayed on them, then next time I open that wormery dustbin lid, a thick cloud of fruit flies hits me in the face.

So, what you must get from all your fruit trees and windfalls, must be absolutely horrendous. I am on your side with this. Mr Slim is outvoted...

@gennepher dont know if you would approve but i use sticky pads impregnated with pheremones to attract only fruit flies...in the garden, not in the paddock.
There are more than sufficient windfalls in the paddock/orchard/field without creating an even bigger fruit fly farm there.

 

[SlimLizzy]

Thanks @dunelm
I am still doing the rest and sleep thing today...
The garden birds are entertaining me...

Am doing a bit of the resting thing too, but there us so much needs doing...

 

[lindisfel]

I hate those fruit flies @SlimLizzy . I have a wormery, in a dustbin, with tiger worms. They make soil for me from tea bags, vegetable waste, and fruit waste etc.. If I throw in bruised unusable shop bought fruit, there are no fruit flies. But if I put in even one spoiled apple from my fruit trees which have no insecticides or anything sprayed on them, then next time I open that wormery dustbin lid, a thick cloud of fruit flies hits me in the face.

So, what you must get from all your fruit trees and windfalls, must be absolutely horrendous. I am on your side with this. Mr Slim is outvoted...

Where would science be without fruit flies?

 

[gennepher]

@gennepher dont know if you would approve but i use sticky pads impregnated with pheremones to attract only fruit flies...in the garden, not in the paddock.
There are more than sufficient windfalls in the paddock/orchard/field without creating an even bigger fruit fly farm there.

I approve of the fruit fly sticky pads @SlimLizzy
You need at least an area free of the the little blighters....

 

[gennepher]

Am doing a bit of the resting thing too, but there us so much needs doing...

Never enough time to rest @SlimLizzy the doing list multiplies ten fold during resting...