Filling time as we Stay at Home

Hi Mandy,

You are the ideal candidate for cross stitch. It's so easy and it becomes addictive. It comes in full kit forms and there are easy projects for beginners. All obtainable online. Years ago I suffered a bad bout of depression not wanting to do anything but I had a go and I've been addicted ever since. You can also watch T.V. at the same time. Do give it a go, it's really worth it.

Best wishes to you and all fellow sufferers.

Deanne

What are you baking and do you have any recipes that you can share?

Used up a couple of bananas that had gone too spotty, making banana bread/cake, think recipe already shared here.

Also coffee and walnut cake if any one is interested

• cheese scones

Funny Deanne should say about cross stitch, tried to order it over the Internet,. NO wont /can't send it as it wont fit into an ordinary letter box so anything over letter box size is banned round here !!!! getting post once a week. A friend wanted to send me Easter chocolate from his local speciality shop but no again from Belgium, usually he and his wife are here on holiday as from next week in my holiday cottage, been coming to me since 2001 every Easter..

Interested to read what you take for mucus build up Larry as I am coughing up more and more and my nose is blocking up, not good when on oxygen, is that long term or just when necessary, think it is my Brochiectasis that is the cause, not sure..

I went out to get essentials yesterday, phoned the supermarket in advance and they let me in straight away instead of queuing, they had a girl (I get the same one each time, she is such a sweetie) to pack my bags and get me out as fast as I could. Hope I have enough now for a good couple of weeks. Dog food is the main problem with an allergic dog, she can only take turkey, veg and rice, not tinned food or biscuits I do have a supplement for her too.

The chemist even had kept hand sanitizer back for me only little bottles but told me to bring in my bigger container next time and they will fill it up. It feel so good to know most people are looking out for me, get the odd glare when told to queue jump by check out staff but as a general rule I am exceedingly well treated.

Tried to mow the grass this afternoon, 2,000m2 and it was long and full of moles hills, failed as my oxygen back pack wouldn't keep going with all the lumps and bumps so a neighbour kindly finished it off for me but I did manage a 1/4 of it myself. Looking at my front gravelled garden, a right mess, no way can I bend to weed, will try and think of something.

Take care folks.

Reglois,

Moles are attracted to their favorite food, grubs. I'm not sure if they are called the same thin in the UK. Speak with your local garden center to learn what they have to kill the grubs. Kill the ground grubs and you solve your mole problem.

Do you own a riding lawnmower or a walk/push mower? How sharp are your cutting blade/s? Any young people that could cut your grass for a reasonable price? What flowers decorate your property? Any future planting projects that you have been considering?

Gasoline prices in America are dropping dramatically. UK? Australia? S.Africa?

I too have a finite supply in my pantry. As a result I am taking extra care to eat fresh foods before they spoil (waist not, want not), ration my snacks to last as long as possible, and cut back on things like sugar in my coffee cup, excessive over use of condiments like mustard, ketchup, etc. Dial it back, make it last longer.

With people in America staying at home and doing the right thing, liquor sales are up 60%. Any favorite Gin or Rum or Vodka drinks? I like Bourbon and Ginger Ale myself.

All the Best

I had 209 mole hills, I have tried every known cure to man to get rid of them, nearly made it with one old grandma's cure but because my garden is walled with chain link fencing on top of the low walls on three sides with one gate and a river on the other, one or maybe two got back in via the gate or never left and have proliferated yet again. I have a sheep field on the right and a lane on the left and dogs, so two attractions there + water.

Ride on lawn mower, serviced every year, with the massive gradient nothing else will do. Hope this photo comes out

No one around here Larry, live in the back of beyond, 10 houses mostly retired or elderly. I had a gravel garden made 4 years ago before I got these lung problems, lovely it is when tidy, hopefully I can weed kill on a balmy day. Wish I could garden now, can't bend any more and get so out of puff even on oxygen, the only thing I really can do is walk albeit slower now, fatigue takes over fairly quickly. Hate seeing the place in such a mess.

Have to fill my car in a few days so will know about prices here then, hope they drop here too, Diesel prices are nearly on a par with petrol, they said 6 years ago when I bought my car that diesel was best, now electric is best, no way in this world would an electric car do here with the distances between places

Teetotaler me have ben all my life. Boring arn't I ???

Photo looks grand. Trust me on this, Kill the moles food source and they will leave. Your local garden center should have the special granulated formula to spread on your property. A gentle rain will transfer it into the ground and kill the grubs. It really does work, I've witnessed it personally.

As a fellow COPD sufferer I too get frustrated with people that don't really understand the physical restrictions we deal with daily. Tonight I will take a shower, a full blown military operation. When done I'll sit on the edge of my bed 1/2 hour before I'll recover "normal" breathing.

I've tried to open up a place for kindred brothers/sisters to post. I invite all to post their COPD problems and concerns. Talk about your victories too. Tell us about baking that cake or that great book you just read. I quit smoking almost 4 years ago and still want one when I smell another's second hand smoke, but I know better. I enjoy cakes and pies, but know that moderation is the best policy.

I like hot and cold tea. I must have a cup of coffee to begin my days.

Let's all please be safe and support each other here, if but just a bit. Let's help each other to get through this health crisis and possibly make some new friends.

All the Best

No way I can spread anything on the ground Larry I have dogs and rural France is not into allowing any sort of poison, can hardly get weed killer now, I still have a little left which I shall use on my gravel garden area.

My showers are the quickest in the world as I have to take my oxygen off, hair wash at the same time. May sound odd but I find getting into bed absolutely exhausting, oxygen level goes so far down. Don't you have supplemental oxygen Larry? sounds like you need it.

Gave up smoking 30 years ago !!! now hate the smell, I used to stand behind smokers to get a bit of second hand smoke, did this for about 10 years lol.

Looks like I might need to get to the vet tomorrow, little three legged single back leg is collapsing, given her her steroid and hope that she is better in the morning, fingers crossed

OK, but until you get rid of the grubs , you will have moles. Perhaps there is a non poison that would drive off the grubs naturally and not upset the French. I still say contact your local gardening center , they may have the answer.

France? My brother has travelled there and raves about the food, I understand that the cheese products are hard to resist. I've seen good as well as bad about the french. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and credit them a civil. Paris I've heard is a case unto itself .

All the Best

Hi Larry, You may have gardening centres where you live but out in the sticks here I have a small enterprise selling mostly plants and trees, panting medium, pet foods gardening wear pots and very little else, oh LOTS of composting aids. I know I will always have moles so will never have a cricket pitch lawn.

Cheeses here? thousands of them, depends on your particular taste buds, I love Epoisse, made in a town not too far from me, very smelly, strong flavour, usually kept in a mesh cage hanging somewhere like an unused room !!! but when ripe, delicious, a lot of the cheeses are too mild or sour for me personally. French cheese should never be kept in the fridge, they are often sold unripe and kept in the mesh cage to ripen.

In the country areas as a general rule the folk are charming, welcoming and very helpful, there are hamlets that resent foreigners and that includes their own country men from the cities. Paris is like any other city I suppose, every one too busy and stressed to care, don't even know the name of their neighbours. The main holiday home areas south are far too full of Brits wanting a bit of sun and a second home and expect the French to be able to speak English and to cater to their taste buds, their behaviour makes me ashamed of my own country, to me that is not the idea of moving/holidaying abroad, we are in their country and should make every effort to live as they do and abide by their rules however much it goes against the grain and not expect the locals to change to suit them, that goes for every country , you move there you abide by their rules. This is my high horse as you can tell.

You sound determined to give up on your mole battle. I say that you may not have a garden center or such near to you, but in this age of the internet no shop/market is out of reach. You could contact a garden center near a larger city that could potentially ship to you. Many businesses have web sites as well as toll free telephone numbers to call. However if you love your moles, them be happy.

Cheese, fresh baked bread, sliced fruit, and a fine wine, Would make for a fine afternoon sitting by a stream/pond.

Yep think after 8 years and a love hate relationship with the little velvet jacketed creatures, and what seemed to be a success two years ago, I now just set the mower blades on low and off and flatten all the hills like that before I mow. Don't like using chemicals because of the animals and am scared it may run off into the stream at the bottom of the garden which then flows on to feed a pond and horses before joining the River Seine.

Used to do that by my stream, minus the wine, but now cannot easily access the lower part of the garden, was lovely when the water irises were in bloom with the huge dragon flies of various colours shimmering in the sunlight as they flew about. and the vivid green male sand lizards running over the walls and stones.

Evicting your grubs may not involve any chemicals. Sour the milk and the grubs will look for a new cow . An expert would know for certain.

France is famous for her wines. You said,"minus the wine". Do you not enjoy Wines?

What news of COVID-19 and other countries like Germany, Italy, and Spain? Have cases there started to diminish? Are medical supplies a problem in Europe as well?

Did you say you had a dog? What breed and pets name if not to personal?

All the Best