JenGog's Guestbook

Exeter
the plan is there -hopefully it will work out . will look out for the village . sadly for most of us here we are never lucky enough to be able to trace very far back . . we always get stuck at 1780 and that is a miracle . we have a visit to a gun shop - going to see the cathedral , probably off to caerleon to see the roman fort and then drop in Hay on Wye and Ross on Wye . I hope it works we are going stir crazy

Wild garden
The garden sounds lovely and the champagne = well what can I say? We have lavender and the bees are all over it this morning. We had two but other half dug the other one up when he did the drive for Gabby. We have foxgloves but the teasel I had last year must have been from a seed dropped by a bird and we have none this year . Got buddleia and also pyracantha (I think ) the bees love it in Spring . Loads of clover in the lawn . Not much else . Potatoes being harvested got too many really . Glenns tomatoes are just colouring up . I love the smell hate the taste . He hates the smell but loves to eat them with a bit of salt on . Yuck . I wonder what a hatred of tomatoes is called . Saw another garden taken over by poppies aand cornflowers this morning on my walk . It was a bit of a surprise . But very pretty . Seems the fashion these days xx

lessons learnt
Me too Bob . It has been a long time and now we cannot go to Spain for the foreseeable future . A lot of people just gone out for their 2 week summer holiday and will have to isolate for 14 days with possibly no pay. It is a mess . Not sure how long it will be before France and Spain shut shop again . Been swimming this morning - booking in advance is a real pain . I too swim more backstroke mostly but it is not easy the way the lanes are arranged . We have a reasonable sized pool with normally 6 lanes . Now there are three double ones marked out. I ended up in the slow lane this morning . Sadly there is slow and very slow . I am a medium swimmer and got really clogged up . Still better open than not at all . It is free to swim this week apart from us who pay the reduced £19 a month old age pensioner rate . I had to pay yesterday whilst the young who pay by direct debit have free sessions . They are even reducing their rate for August to £12 from £30 which is a bit of an insult really . At least we dont pay when we are on holiday so I guess it is swings and roundabouts . Just heard that Blackpool are keeping their lights this year over the Winter . Normally they start around September and end early November . Makes sense to extend the season . I wonder whether our National Trust properties will latch on to the same idea . I hope they do .

gardens
We love unusual gardens and have earmarked Caldicot now . We had never heard of Felley so we had it to ourselves . It was lovely . We like different and have been to a few strange ones in France . Had planned the bamboo garden in south of France - cant remember why we never got there . What a pain with the PC. I dont like PC World . they rate up with Sportsworld and Weatherspoons in my mind. I hope they are more reasonable in the end and you manage to sort it out. I broke the screen on my last laptop and had to buy a cheaper one from PC World . It is not brilliant if I am honest. we have a problem with the new windscreen on the van. The reversing mirror is in the wrong place and the Remis blinds wont close . the company are quibbling saying it is the only windscreen they can get however we had a new one from sheffield last summer and they got it right . We have harvested the last of our peas. They never hit the pan . We ate them out of the pods . Our strawberries have finished and we harvested the first of the new potatoes yesterday . Lovely with mint sauce . runner beans a bit slow but they are growing . No apples on the tree this year. Let me know what Duffryn Gardens are like . We love Wells and stayed there before we had the van . Lovely city and loved the cathedral. One of the nicest we have seen in this country . Spain is a bit iffy at the moment . I can see it closing up again if things carry on the way they are . Have a good weekend . Oh yes heard my son in law - well he has lived with my daughter for over 20 years (they wont marry) had a mini stroke last Saturday. they kept it very quiet . He lost his speech and was slurring last Saturday morning . Had a couple of days in hospital - clot in the brain . On drugs now but the worst bit - he is 41 . Overweight but a long way but then all his family are . It makes you think . xx

simple pleasures
getting in the motorhome and driving , glass of red wine or white or rose. Sounds like you are getting organised with the trip to Scotland . Hope you get to see the family - we hear a lot about Covid in the States from our cousin in Missouri . Sounds bad . Spain may be closed again - the foreign office are thinking of stopping us going . Just hope France stays OK . So complicated over here . Never been to Antibes . We ought to get more planning done but we keep putting it off as we might not even get out of the country by September . And then there is Brexit . The EU are trying to punish us as best they can for leaving . Argueing now over fishing . The poor fishermen of France Holland and Spain cannot be denied their living fishing our waters but they dont seem to remember decimating the Cornish fishing fleets and the ones out of Hull , Our fishing industry went down the pan with the Common Fishing Policy . Same with our agriculture . I just dont know where we are going with the EU or as a country . Lots of driving - not flying Bob ?