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

Won't need brolly - according to Met office - and I'm going with my bro - so there won't be a dolly but we may choose some Bolly from the welcome drinks trolley . Golly!

Only just realised what you (W4aT) meant about me 'shouting'! In case you are wondering, Rick - I happened to say 'hello' to Frank using large letters.

It's a lot cooler this evening. And heavy rain forecast for Monday. I wonder if the rain will amount to very much.

I've been busy hand-picking blackfly from the clematis buds.

I hope you are all managing to stay cool during the heat-wave. Spain for the world cup?

The Proms start Friday 16th of July.

Yes, Polly, that's what I meant. And yes, Spain to win the World Cup. Another goal for Villa perhaps, Rikii? Unless Sneijder pops up with more of his freak goals, of course.

It's a shame Germany are out, in a way, because they have played some of the most exciting football, but it's nice that there will be a new winner, whatever the result. I just hope Spain play the way they did in the second half against Germany, when they suddenly remembered that the objective of the game is to score goals.

It has been a bit cooler here the last two days, and was very cloudy yesterday - although the promised rain did not materialize. For this relief much thanks, I say: it has been very hard work delivering in such hot weather. I even had to resort to wearing shorts, which, as a compassionate sort of chap, I am generally loath to do - these once admired legs of mine aren't much to look at now. Sadly, it looks like being v hot again tomorrow.

Hand-picking blackfly from the clematis buds? Now there's something I've never done.

Bon weekend - et bon match.

Hi all,well,I've had a very busy week workwise but I feel awful.
Mrs cut-out has been at my sister's and I thought I might have an abscess as I cant eat properly and I have a small swelling and pain in my jaw,I only went to see my dentist (nhs) about two weeks ago with a broken tooth which he fixed,anyway I got back from Wimbledon yesterday at around 6-15pm and proceeded to make myself some beans on toast and a cuppa but the pain was so intense I could barely swallow so that was it I jumped in the motor and went to my local A&E arriving a little after eight the casualty doctor thought I had some kind of tooth root pain and didn't think it was an abscess so he prescribed me some (giddy making)very strong pain killers and some antibiotics if the swelling gets worse,I got the prescription dispensed at my local pharmacy (which is open utill 10pm every day)and was back home just before 10.
At least I got a good night's kip,anyway Mrs cut-out is coming home tomorrow so I'll have to change the bed sheets and have a general tidy up before the seargent major's inspection.
'spose I'll have to try and get another dental appointment soon(jaw still throbbing)apart from that folks all is rosey
Hi Polly,I find the most effective way of removing aphids is with a small soft paintbrush(about a 2")as the David Belamy finger crushing technique is a wee bit messy'S all round.

¡Ola Mis amigos!

Returned from week in 35 deg + wall to wall sun and yes it was occasionally a bit unbearable. Good week's golf with bro who is recovering well from cracked shoulder and pleased that his golf is as bad as ever it was! Also well done Tickle - Spain won - just. We saw it in a bar in the nearby town - full of Spaniards of course but there was one large gathering of Dutch - we had mixed allegiances as our granny was Dutch.

Back to a lot of work as parish Council meeting tomorrow and lots of things on the go to get out of the way before my bro comes here for a few days next week to see an old aunt - our mum's one remaining sister - out of six altogether - and also to see a Chris barber concert at the Stables. I'll also take him to see my golf club as he hasn't been there.

Then the following weekend, all off to Dorset for our annual family camping week - about 20+ of us in total - always good fun. Follwoed by MOH and I off to France and Spain camping etc. So we aren't really around until the end of Aug.

That's the trouble with retirement - you sit around being bored all the time

Hope you all have a good summer - I may or may not reappear fromm time to time - depends on internet coverage etc.

Meanwhile, I'm posting this on Sin's thing too.

Adios

Bonjour mes amis

Just back in work after a long weekend in France for the Le Mans Classic 24. Temperatures around the 35-38 degrees and way to hot for me and Mr Toots; good fun though.

Sorry to hear about the tooth Rikki, Mr Toots is on his second course of antibiotics before he has to have root canal treatment, the trouble with that is that he has a very fragile bridge filling several gaps which is liable to break. Unfortunately when that happens there is nowhere else to go with a bridge and alternatives will have to be looked at.

Polly, I hope I haven't offended you in any way. I did reply to your PM over at Sin's place .

Happy Hols Fol.

Toots.x.

Hello dear Toots. Of-course you haven't offended me!!! Perish the very thought! I just forgot to reply to you. I most likely read your pm late one night/early one morning and was too tired at the time to reply. Here's a big hug from Wookie and me just to let you know that we deeply apologize for our (my) laziness.

Rick - I do hope that you start to feel a lot better very very soon. Poor you. You deserve a hug too! I did use a small paintbrush on the clematis blackfly (as well as my fingers). Far less messy.

W4aT, I always seem to get the wrong end of the stick, don't I! I'm just super-sensitive. Would you like a hug too?

As for jet-setter Folly - I'm thrilled when I'm on the I.O.W. ferry! I haven't been to far-off lands for years! Have a great vacation.

At last some decent rain. But my lovingly-nurtured hydrangea panniculata is now weighed down with water. I must go out in a mo and give it a little shake.

Just had a meringue with strawberries, blueberries, and thick cream. Mmm - so delicious. Toots, the meringue nests in M&S are now wonderfully chewy. They used to be so brittle.

Poor Pixie is very off colour today. I think he will have to see the vet. I hope everything will be ok.

Hello Polly, sorry for the delay in responding. I hope Pixie is feeling a little better; it's a worry when pets are ill. My only experience of being owned by a pet is when the boys were young and my friend’s two cats had litters within a couple of weeks of each other. She managed to talk me into having a kitten but he was run over when he was about 18 months old. I was devastated and swore never again – and we didn’t; we all found it too traumatic. My youngest had a steady stream of hamsters, gerbils and goldfish but it was muggings here that had to take them down to the vets when they got ill – the things you do .

Better go and do some work.

Toots.

Hi all,Sorry I've been rather busy of late,I'm working at a local school at the mo' so I can get some of the £140 my CRB certificate cost me back,even though the kids in Brum are off school now for 5 1/2 weeks.
toots it's nice to hear from you, all the others seem to be rather busy too.
Im swallowing pain killers like smarties at the moment as my wrists and knees are feeling the strain lately from the demolition tools I've been using to rip out the old windows in the school,Im not having a holiday again (have n't had one for 30 years)but MOH is renting out a cottage in Launceston for a week in September,Im hoping to get a lot more work if possible as the end of last year I had ten weeks with no work at all.
My garden is like a jungle at the moment and Im starting to harvest some of my home grown veg,peppers are now forming on the five pepper plants I planted in the black plastic buckets and there are plenty of green tomatoes on my four tomatoe plants some of my beetroots are the size of apples and I've lettuce,spinach,parsely,radish,broadbeans,runners,strawberrys (only a few)all ready,I twist the tops off the beetroots 'n' bake 'em yum.

Hello dear Toots and Rick (and Folly and W4aT).

Coming here to R4 is often a nuisance these days. One day I don't need to sign in and then the next day I do!

What a very hot day today has been. So often the sky was very dark and a storm seemed imminent but it never did arrive.

Toots, I feel a bit sad that my daughter never had any of the pets that you mentioned although we did have a few goldfish at times. Pixie seems to be a bit better but he is covered in horrid bites from the creepy crawlies in the grass. All he does is scratch. This never happened in my last garden. Last night I had to bring the dustpan and brush into the bedroom. Pixie was scratching so much that he was making a mess on the sheet. He can't help it and I feel so sorry for him. But there I was, after midnight, brushing up his little bits and bobs that he deposited on the sheet! Sounds awful I know but I love him so much so it doesn't matter at all.

Rick, you lucky thing having all that splendid home-grown produce. Can you please tell me how you cook your beetroot. I absolutely love beetroot although I haven't had much recently.
I'm concerned that you are having to take so many painkillers. Are the pains easing up yet? Are they due to overworking or to ageing joints? Do take care of yourself. I know that you need the money (don't we all!) and that you do overdo things at times.

There is a cool breeze this evening. Rain is forecast for tomorrow (I bet it doesn't arrive though!). We have only had drizzle here and there.

I feel like a cup of tea. Oooh- I've just remembered - I have got a large bag of licorice in the cupboard. I bought it in a wonderful health food store in Dorset.

Evening all,

It's very quiet chez nous now that Grace II has gone off to France. She's been there for three weeks already and the last I heard, which was a few days ago, she still hadn't done any work at the winery where she was supposedly going to be employed - although I think she has given the winemakers' daughter a few English lessons. There was some talk of her labeling up bottles this week, but I don't know if anything has come of that. I hope it has, because in true French fashion she is taking most of August off, and she must be very low on funds by now. Still, I think there'll be plenty of work for her in September/October when they pick the grapes.

I'm glad to hear you've got plenty of work at the moment, Rikii - although it doesn't sound as if it's doing you too much good. It's almost as if you're a victim of that ancient Chinese curse - May you make a lot of money and spend it all on doctors' bills - except that you're probably not making that much.

We had a bit of a disagreement with school last week. Grace III has just finished year 9, so will be starting her GCSE courses in September. I think they get to choose 3 subjects and the rest - Maths, English, Science and a foreign language - are compulsory. I'm not quite sure how it works, but depending on ability, they do treble, double or single science. Grace III was very miffed when they told her she'd be doing the double and not the treble, and Mrs T and I were a bit surprised, given that she's in the top set and no-one has ever suggested that she's struggling. So I emailed the head of science to try and find out why it was. I got very little satisfaction, so I emailed again - and again and again. Most of my questions were sidestepped and most of my comments were ignored. Then, just as I was on the verge of giving up, the head of science agreed to accept Grace III on the treble award course. I can only suppose that she simply got fed up with my emails.

And you're all probably fed up with this post by now, so I'll bid you Goodnight and wish you a very happy Tuesday.

Hi all,Polly we twist or cut the stalks off the Beetroot leaving a good inch of the top foliage on,if the tail is still on leave a tiny bit of that too,then place the whole beetroot plant on a suitable sized piece of tinfoil baste the beetroot with olive oil then wrap the foil fairly snuggly around and bake with your meat(?)for about an hour then test with a skewer or fork,if the tine goes in and out of the beetroot easily then it's cooked,but at this time of the year you can just peel and slice the beetroot raw with salad.(yum)
Hi tickle,when my youngest went to Bordeaux uni he seemed to wolf loads of wine and never found time to pick any grapes.

Thank you, Rick. Grated raw beetroot is lovely.

Still no rain here. And a cloudless sky at the moment. I ought to be washing up and then ironing. But I did dust throughout very early this morning.

Hi all,I do hope you are all fit and well,I see postings across these boards from time to time as each of us has our little dabble here and there,perhaps in our own ways we all get a little too busy to stay in touch.
I guess our host Polly is not as comfortable with us all as she used to be,but hey I guess we are all moving in different directions,me I have had a few weeks work and I suppose I am feeling a bit tired and even my own contributions have been a bit sparse,I posted one small poem on my own thread today after a whole month braindeadednessif there is such a word.
I suppose Folderol is either still in spain or nursing his wounded kin(whom I do wish well as soon as)I've noticed Frank posting some rather good stuff around of late,still cyber friends if owt is happening out there Iam always interested in hearing it

Hi Rikii - and everyone else.

I think Folly has given up nursing and buggered off on holiday again - three weeks in France and Spain, as far as I can gather.

We're off on holiday too in a couple of days, but only for a week (plus two days travelling). £40 for the ferry and £140 for the diesel, but at least we'll have free accommodation when we get there - 'there' being Switzerland, where my brother lives. Grace II is already there and ran in the Sierre-Zinal mountain race today. She did pretty well by all accounts.

Grace III went along to our local pool for a free swim the other day - only to discover that the govt have withdrawn funding and free swimming is no longer available. Luckily, it's still free to swim in the lake near my brother's - and much nicer - so I imagine we'll be spending a fair amount of time there while we're away. We should be able to fit in a mountain walk or two, as well - who knows? we may even find some unpolluted water.

You might bump into Polly a bit more if you came over to Sin's place, Rikii - although she still posts a bit on MC.

Frank has been posting a lot of good stuff lately, on MC and hootoo. He seems to have quite a gift.

We have lots of tomatoes this year, over 100 I'd say. Most of them are a good size and some are really quite large, but they show little sign of turning red. Is one supposed to paint them?

That's enough of my twaddle.

Bonne semaine.

Hi tickle,re the tomato plants,apart fron removing side shoots (these are the small offshoots between the stem that fork out)you should be reducing the main folliage by a least 50% to expose your trusses of green tomatoes to more daylight,this will speed up the ripening proceedure.

Hi Rikki,

It looks like you and me at the moment and neither of us have been very active have we . I put five tiny tomato plants into two large containers and I now have more cherry toms than I know what to do with. I only grew them a) cos my Mum wanted to, and b) cos I didn't think they would work! Thing is I caught Mum buying toms last week at the supermarket LoL. Just off to google a tomato soup recipe as I'm not to keen on tomato chutney . Might try to do "sundried" toms in the oven and pack them in olive oil, might as well give it a try, if I eat them all myself and will turn orange . Glad to see you are getting some work. Be safe.

Toots.

Hi toots,tomatosI quite like 'em fried with red onions,garlic and chopped up bacon bits and sploshed on top of a plate of spaghetti with lashings of ketchup.
But I suppose it depends where you live as I've only had a couple ripen so far.

Hi Rikii, I like the sound of your spag sauce, I hadn't thought of doing that and there are times when I don't fancy what Mr Toots is having for dinner. He is partial to skate and although I love fish in all its forms I can't be bothered with skate. My trouble is I have no imagination and I'm not a cook who can make things up, I have to follow a recipe religiously otherwise I panic. I'm also no good at substitution this for that. I am getting a bit better, it's only taken me 38 years! I live down on the south coast between Southampton and Brighton so getting stuff ripe hasn't been a problem. I might try a different type of tom next year; perhaps mum will eat those .
I’m looking forward to this weekend as this afternoon we are taking the granddaughters and their mum to the circus as Mr Toots has been given some free tickets, should be fun; and we also have two free tickets for tomorrow for the Goodwood Vintage event at Goodwood House so that should be interesting as well.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Toots.

Good afternoon.

"I guess our host Polly is not as comfortable with us all as she used to be..." Oh Rick! That isn't so at all! My excuse for not being here very often is :

a) because I find a bit more at Sin's place to join in with.

b) I still have my old computer and get fed up with struggling with it!

c) I'm not always here at home. I have been busy all week and haven't even been to Sin's place since last Saturday or Sunday.

I'm simply elusive at times. But I am very comfortable here with you and everyone else! Here's a warm hug just for you

I've got another horrid cough. I must go to my gp on Monday. Since living here I have had a constant chesty cough. So when I catch a bug - as I must have done a while ago, the resulting cough is far worse maybe than it should be. I can hardly breathe at times.

My poor Pixie had to go to the vet last week (£80). The vet didn't really know what was/is wrong with him - but it cost a lot! It is such a worry. He is my little partner and I love him so much.

How many of you watched the Perseids? I watched them on Wednesday and Thursday evening and saw many. Some of them were absolutely magnificent. A friend and I went out to watch them last night but the sky was too cloudy. Plus it was chilly and damp outside!

I'm in thick tights and a warm long skirt today! It is very chilly outside. But the grass is beginning to look green once more and I haven't watered the pots today. My white hydrangea panniculata - my pride and joy!, is looking stunning. It is now tinged with pink.

Just heard the weather forecast - heavy rain with thunder. I'm going nowhere today so I don't mind at all. I fancy a dvd this afternoon whilst Wookie lounges on me.

Love to each of you - particularly Rick! I wish, Rick, that you would come over to see us at Sin's place. There are the usual limericks/ verses. And chit-chat about fruit and veg, animals, daft things.....I don't do much there but I do join in a few things.