Flowers By Air

Cliff at Dad's 90th birthday do, 21 July 2006

Cliff and Marion have both passed away, so I’m using their real names.

From Facebook Archives 

10 August 2013 at 10:05

What a lovely surprise.

Roused by postman ringing the doorbell. 

Flowers By Air from my Dad's old workmate Cliff Carter (and Marion).  

Cliff and Dad met in 1958 when Dad left the RAF (after 24 years) and started to work for the Pumpsaint & District Farmers Wholesale Co-operative Society (known as the P&D) in Llanwrda.   

Cliff must have been in his twenties then but had a car and regularly gave Dad a lift home, so I've known him since I was three.  

Dad taught Cliff how to swim in the river Towy at lunchtimes, and Cliff taught Dad how to drive.   

The P&D were lousy employers 

(even by 1950s standards).

Cliff left for a better job managing a Co-op in Llanelli, met and married Marion, and Dad became a postman, but they and the families always kept in touch.

DarkLady  Now I want to know.  Is it your birthday?  Why the flowers came by air?   

Is this stalwart friend Cliff living abroad or still in luvly, luvly Wales?😃 x

Bentonbag  They'd just got my marriage announcement card.  I think they used Flowers by Air because Interflora might not be available.  Cliff and Marion are still living in Llanelli.  

I remember a couple of days before their wedding Mum and Dad took me on a visit to Cliff's mum (probably to take a gift).  The Cake was on the kitchen table and Mrs Carter senior took us in to see "all the little stupids in the icing around the sides"

DarkLady  I love that... 'little stupids'!

That cake sounds Stupendous! 😋 x

 

Wasps

This Facebook thread was inspired by an article about wasps and how ecologically useful and important they are, as this is the time of year when they get a bit “radgy.”

9 August 2019 at 09.01

My Grandma used to put an unwashed jamjar with an inch or so of water in the bottom on the outside kitchen window sill.  A circle of greaseproof paper held by a rubber band as a lid, with a wasp sized hole in.  Wasps fly in, eat sugary stuff, drown, suffering over.  You can do the same sort of thing with a Coke, or other sugary soft drink bottle (they have no interest in diet drinks).   

She also used to say "If you kill a wasp six more come to its funeral"

Fester's tip “If you have a wasp in the house, turn off all the lights and open the window.  The wasp will go towards the sunlight.”

If you happen to have a feather duster you could use that to waft the wasp towards the window.  If you’re lucky (and persistent) you can get the wasp to grab hold of the duster and then shake it out of the window.  This also works with bees.

The good thing about the feather duster method is you're a good three foot away from the wasp (six if it's an extendable one)

The velux in our kitchen roof is an excellent insect trap so we've become quite adept at escorting them out of the window.

Miss Doozer  I'd possibly have more sympathy if one hadn't landed on my leggings as I walked past its nest on my way to the bus stop, then proceeded to repeatedly sting me through the material. I smacked it with a folder, cursing it to high heaven, then realized there was a group of school kids walking past who can now add "vicious stripy f*&king b&stard f#!Ker" to their vocabulary.

Bentonbag  The only time I was stung by a wasp was through leggings, must be something about the material that attracts and/or traps them. Vinegar is supposed to help calm wasp stings.

Miss Doozer  More research is needed. Just not on me.

Dr E  We use scrumpy in plastic bottles as wasp traps they love it. We tried using woodpecker cider and the wasps ignored it.

POST SCRIPT

Fester has made me much more wasp friendly.   

They had a nest near the back gate when I was pregnant with Thunderthighs.   

One morning eating breakfast at the dining table, which looked out over the back garden, I noticed wasps flying away from the nest carrying stuff.

“I can understand them carrying food and stuff into the nest” I said to Fester “But why are they carrying stuff away?”

“It’s shit” he replied “they’re cleaning the nest.”

I was quite impressed at this idea and decided the nest could stay as they were causing no nuisance.

Until Thunderthighs was a couple of weeks old and I was out hanging babygrows etc on the whirligig washing line.   

A wasp landed on and got caught in my leggings and stung me in its effort to escape.  

I could not risk this happening to toddler Ferretfingers or baby Thunderthighs so went off to B&Q for poison.   

That evening, scattering the powder around the entrance to the nest so that they would carry it inside, I felt like a latter day Lucretia Borgia.

 

 

 

 

 

Cushion Question

There was nothing in the archives for yesterday, and I had a busy morning, and afternoon.

From Facebook Archives

8 August 2023 at 09.30

Having a bit of a search and sort out I've discovered I have half a dozen clean, unused looking, cushions without covers.   

I suspect they came from Sheffield and were an abandoned craft project of Jean's (my would have been mother in law had she lived).  

I have no need of them. 

Any ideas?   

Free to good home...

Mrs Quilt  Check out if they're fire safety labelled.  Try one of them to use the stuffing for teddies and anything else produced at Knit n natter. Does LDNE teach sewing?  There was a desperate need for draft excluders from the Centre in Shiremoor last year.  

I could probably find you upholstery cloth to use for the cases. Otherwise a cat shelter?

Bentonbag  Actually I have some curtains that would do the job if you could send me the dimensions.

Mrs Quilt  I could send you my instructions to make cushion covers.  Overlapped backs so no need of zips or other fastenings.  That would leave the cushion inners intact so a quicker useful product to make a bleak home a bit more homely!

Bentonbag  Cushion covers and 'housewife' pillow cases I learnt to do at home as I come from a long line of repair/reuse/recyclers (Bigsister made our Scrabble bag out of the last bit of Granma's curtains).  It's the length, circumference and ends of draft excluders that I need.  If I were to cover the cushions where would be a good home for them?

Pink Shipskitchen  Cat and Dog Shelter possibly