h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, that's rum. I was just looking something up in my journal and when I got to page 2 I found that all the formatting had disappeared.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, Folly, that by the sound of it, your MiL must have been the antithesis of mine. This item (which is what I was looking for in my journal) may have been written in jest, but there's many a true word... http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mother-came-too/

Still, she probably saved me from getting a dousing today, as Mrs T didn't get back home until nearly 3 o'clock, by which time it was too late for me to bother going out delivering. Apparently it took them three attempts to set MiL's fractured arm.

Well there you are, then, Tickle, every cloud etc. In fact, my own MiL would have had a giggle herself at that poem and then would have said, 'You will tell me, won't you, if I ever become a burden?' In fact MOH and I still laugh at how she'd be more bother trying not to be a bother!

Hi Team,tickle sorry to hear about the other half please wish her well on my behalf.
the prospect of yet another gloomy day here it's just over 55f here and already I'm looking at a jumper,cricket played in Cardiff tickle is this the future for English test matches?sounds like a duff en to me.
I cant get my parsnips seeds to germinate here in Brum as the weather has been absolutely awful without a single period without vast amounts of rain battering everything,I think next year I'll buy myself a small propagator what they call the plug type and try starting them of indoors on a sunny window cill as the small propagtors hold about fourty seeds.

Anything happening out there folks

Just off to work. We finally had some real rain yesterday afternoon and evening, but your comments, Rikii, make me wonder what continent B'ham is on.

Have a good day.

Hi tickle maybe you can tickle this I could do with a laugh?http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102

Aftrenoon all. That B'ham weather forecast is a bummer, isn't it, Rik? Especially when it shows a clear night That always annoys me intensely. I don't know about now, but NZ used to have the iodeasl cliamte, I was told, with sun most of the time, and guaranteed rain every 3 weeks, mainly at night.

It's dryish but threatening here with some sun. MOH has to take 30 9-10 yo's out to the local wood to see things growing in the summer - hope it stays dry for their (and, later, when MOH gets home, for my) sake

How do! Weekend again. Jobs to do, places to go etc.

Meeting with Parish council chairman this morning about a planning application that's a bit contentious - whoopee, exciting
Then the job of the day - the fishpond has a leak and the fish are in danger of flapping about in the sludge atthe bottom, so I have to drain it out, (after putting the fish in a bucket!), scrape all the sludge out and try and find the leak. I don't know what happens if I don't find it, other than keep topping up the pond from the hose. But the fish don't like tap water except temporarily, so, anyone got a spare pond they can send me?

Out to friends (yes, we have some ) for a meal this evening.
Tomorrow, with friends to The Stables (as audience this time) to see Jazz in the Garden - forecast is sunny intervals, so that's good and we're taking a picnic. Should be good - some good jazz guitarists.

Had my driving assessment tast for private hire work yesterday and I passed . It was exactly like an ordinary driving test, which I last took in 1964. A bit nerve wracking but the examiner was a good bloke and allowed me not to know a couple of road signs as I had a good stab at them!

Hope you all have a good weekend

Fol

Hi team,http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102

Still waiting for tickles tickling stick.

Good morning to each of you.

Well done, Folly. Have a on me. I hope it doesn't rain for your garden Jazz tomorrow. I'm out tonight too ~~~having a meal with 3 friends to celebrate the finality of a compensation case of one of them.

A**** worked for the council, and a few years ago he and his mate were out in the early morning in a work van. He got out of the van to pick some fly-tipping litter up and a huge lorry crashed into his vehicle. His mate, the driver, was killed instantly and A**** was hit and then thrown up into the trees. He fell from the branches and landed in a ditch....He wasn't expected to live. But after 6 months in hospital, and then masses of after-treatment, he was able to start looking after himself. He has numerous health problems now and walks with difficulty, with a stick. So tonight is a land-mark for him. And next Saturday afternoon we are having a huge party at church for him.

I was about to access that number for getting one's mobile number taken off a directory but the site has 'crashed' due to so many people applying. It says that it will re-open again soon to enable folk to become ex-directory. I must remember to try again.

Have a happy week-end.

What a terrible story, Polly. He's certainly due a bit of good fortune.

Sorry about the weather there, Rikii. Have you ever considered moving to England?

I was out trying to catch up on my deliveries today and it was rather drizzly. Quite pleasant, really. But it's raining quite heavily now. Still the forecast for tomorrow seems pretty good, which is just as well, as I still have some catching up to do.

When I was delivering yesterday I got to help a damsel in distress. She had popped next door to see her neighbour and locked herself out. So I very gallantly agreed to scale the 6' fence between their gardens and unlock the front door (the back one was open). Luckily, the fence was very sturdy.

The Three Graces made their singing debut as a trio today - singing 'Sisters'. Unfortunately, it was at St Alfege church in Greenwich, so I didn't get to see it. G1 says that's just as well, as it wasn't very good. Mind you, both G2 and G3 are suffering from colds, which wouldn't have helped. Anyway, they had a good day out. After the gig, they went to see Sister Act at the Palladium, and G1 said it was excellent.

Happy days (but not for English cricket).

Early morning all! Had a goo devening last night, but had to walk home in the rain. Forecast for today has changed andinstead of sunny intervals is now light rain showers so our picnic might be under umbrellas (That's the nearest smiley to 'rain')

Your friend sounds to have come through an awful ordeal, Poll. I do hope he continues to improve - I'm sure that being a friend of yours will help.

And Tickle - or should we call you St George? - what a noble chap you are Your daughters choice of song reminds me of evenings we as kids used to have when mum's family had get togethers. She was the eldest of 6 sisters (can you imagine what granddad went through?) and however nany of them were at the party, it would always include a rendition of 'Sisters' and what's more thay all had good singing voices.

Now Rik, I realise that the weather at present isn't quite how you'd like it, but look on the bright side - http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/06/27/floods_wideweb__470x229,0.jpg

I didn't get round to sorting out my fishpond yesterday so it's now my main job for Monday - I topped the pond up to save having fish flopping about in mud

Have a good day all of you whether you weather the weather or not

Hi team,61f here again today,cloudy with more rain forecasted,it rained here most of yesterday which for once did not affect me as I swanned off to Exmouth for a days work there,which was rather exhillerating as it was three coats warmer there with a slight drizzle for a few minutes.

Seeing folks all walking around in their shorts it actually looked like Summer there,I do have another days work this week in Warwickshire(Gaydon) I think that is by the Land Rover place which is only an hour away so after two weeks of sitting on my harris I feel a little better.

Whats happening out there folks?

Hi, Rick.

We had a few drops of rain this morning. And it was only a few drops! I was gardening at 5.30am! I needed to put two new plants (phlox) into the ground and prepare the soil. But the earth that I was preparing must have been used for burning rubbish plus hiding old bricks, metal etc. It is a nightmare. I don't know if anything will grow well in it! I got rid of some of the soil and re-filled the hole with compost and 'soil improver'.

I was hoping to put a beautiful hydrangea into the ground but I think I will first need to examine the soil. I also widened the border this morning ~ yet again. The garden looks so pretty and full of gorgeous colours. The globe thistles are just turning their metallic blue. And the Marguerites are so bold and brilliant white. I'm not a lover of fuschias but I have 2 large ones in pots. And everything else is looking healthy and pretty (in spite of very little rain).

But I have been bitten by those awful midges again. And yesterday a wasp stung my hand.

I feel like going back to bed now! Maybe a cup of coffee will keep me awake.

I hope you have a happy day, dear Rick. The Proms start on Friday.

Hi Polly,I often get bitten by flying things the experts reckon that when you get to 50 you emit a certain aroma that must smell like an easy meal to the pesky things.

When I do get bitten I stick a blob of this:http://www.superliving.co.uk/pharmacy/body-health/skin-hair-nails/itching-irritation/benadryl-skin-allergy-relief-cream-42g-p.html
on a sticking plaster and cover the bite for a few days and this appears to get rid quite quickly otherwise the bite turns into a hard lump and lingers for weeks.

I upgraded my PC memory the weekend so I now have a nice fat 3gb an extra 2gb cost me £21-84 so no I'm hoping my start up and close down proceedures will also speed up as since I had to connect an all in one printer scanner etc (for my invoices) my PC has been awfully slow.

It's nice to hear from you now and then Polly as I know how busy you can be these days,re the hole in the garden I buy the odd box of growmore which is a pellet type fertilizer which can be used on all types of plant including fruit,flowers and veg etc,ash is good for the garden but not in massive amounts

I buy the odd box of growmore which is a pellet type fertilizer which can be used on all types of plant including fruit,flowers and veg etc

Sharp intake of breath, Rik, from any eco gardeners around. Growmore is pure chemical. It used to be called 'National Growmore@ having been developed, I understand, by the government - presumably the old min of Ag and Fish, in or shortly after the war, as a do it all fertilizer for the home gardener or allotment. Nowadays, with the emphasis on organic this and that, manufactured chemicals are frowned on. But, hey - it's your garden, so if it works, why not do your own thing.

Spent most of the day yesterday and this morning getting prepsred for the parish council meeting tonight - its a big agenda and I want to make sure I have everything to hand. I've ended up with two boxes of paperwork, including our 'bibles' for parish clerks and councillors as there's a couple of legal issues on the horizon.

Popped into Bedford this afternoon for a saunter round and a bit of shopping at the art centre. Then to the library which has the best cafe in town and does a superb vanilla latte (how cool is that? )
As usual, as I walked round I had loads of ideas about things I would like to look up on the net, so nowadays I carry a notebook and pen and am now working through my thoughts. Trouble is, I can't always remember what the note means . Why on earth did I write 'Drawer handles'? I dunno.

hey ho, I'll prob think of it in the middle of the night

Driving again tomorrow and thurs and Fri mornings to earn a bit to cover the expenditure recently

Hi team,weather awful again:http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102
I did collect some veg out of the garden yesterday broad beans,runner beans and some baby spinnach leaves served up with fried corned beef 'n' onions 'n' basmati rice(yum)

I have started shopping at Netto now that my dough's getting a bit tight and they are much cheaper than my local tesco I googled on one of those supermarket comparison sites and the big four are often dearer now than my local shops,one of my local shops had a 200g nescafe for £3.00 twas £4.45 in Tesco,I'm probably living now like I should have been living before my wage packet was garrotted

Anything else happening out there?

Nice and bright here first thing, but cloudier now and showers forecast (and it's St Swithin's Day). I have to try and finish my deliveries today, so hopefully the showers won't be too frequent or heavy. Should have finished by now, but Mrs T keeps appropriating the car to take MiL to hospital. I took them both there again this morning, as MiL is going to have a plate put in her arm - if they get finished early they'll have to take a taxi home.

More or less given up on our garden, it looks like like a disaster area. The tomato plants haven't flowered and obviously aren't going to now, but I did lift a few kilos of new potatoes the other day - more than I was expecting, but not very many, really.

I'd better get going. Have a good day.

Good morning, Rick.

Thank you for the advice about my wasp sting. It's almost a hard lump now. And it itches so much.

Last night I was at my home-group bar-b-q in a beautiful old large garden. Everything was well under way - the men were busy with sausages, burgers, onions, and the women had the pizzas, salads etc layed out nicely, when the sky turned very dark and the rain started. We perservered bravely (some standing in the summerhouse) but the rain got so heavy. We put garden umbrellas up and also our own umbrellas. But the rain got steadily heavier. We were very brave and finished our meal - laughing at our madness before retiring indoors for puddings and coffee.

I just hope that my two lovely phlox plants survive. Phlox reminds me of childhood. I seem to remember a whole bank of them in our massive garden when I was about 4years old. I also remember lots of wasps in jam-jars.

I have got some granules of something good for plants (I have no idea what they are called as a friend gave them to me some time ago). I should have put some into the ground whilst I was planting yesterday but I forgot.

There has obviously been rain this morning but I have still watered my special plants. I ate a couple of my tomatoes ~~~ mmmmmmmmmmm.

Have a happy day, dear Rick. I must get dressed and put some things together as I am off soon for a couple of days.

Hello, W4aT.

You weren't here when I wrote my last message!

What a shame about your tomatoes. I wonder if they got too wet. Two years ago I lost all my plants due to rot. I was just telling Rick that I (foolishly) treasure certain of my plants. They get star treatment! If I knew what I was doing I should love to buy all kinds of shrubs etc. But my garden soil is so awful in places ~ lots of glass and pottery as well as bricks and burnt metal! As I am beside a church I often wonder if I might accidentally exhume a body. My garden was once part of the church grounds. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I came across a skull one day.

I do hope that the hospital visit has gone well.

Golly, look at the time. Coffee is needed.

Take care.

Hi Polly,

I really don't know what's gone wrong with my toms. When I have more time I must do some research - for next year.

The prospect of digging up a skull sounds rather gruesome - or should I say grewsome?

I hope you enjoy your break - MiL didn't enjoy hers.

Must hit the road.