Kitchen Garden Forum

Peter we are all so good you will never have reason to step in & moderate! Different story on some social media sites though.

I pop in most days.

I still pop in and out but the change in format has thrown me and I can't use the private messaging system to those who have contacted me because instead of a straight Reply facility, the system makes me search for the individual and I can,t get that to work.

Enjoy trying to keep in touch with issues even though it,s my husband now who is attempting to carry on with the veg growing under my tuition . I have to say, this is year 2 and he now knows when/how to sideshoot a tomato and a number of other things without being told!. He was pretty proud harvesting the first few cucumbers this year so think he,s gradually getting a small dose of the gardening bug. Pretty good for somebody who for 40+ years needed to ask "is this a weed or a proper plant?" before he attempted to dig anything out !!

I did message you a few weeks ago, just to check you were okay, Primrose, so that has answered why I didn’t get a reply!

Yes, I appreciated yiur kind thought oH and was frustrated couldn,t respond. If anybody needs to contact me via this route in future it,s probably better to leave an email address if anybody is happy to do that.
It may be I,m not using the technology correctly but I had similar problems earlier in the year.

I would normally log in at least once a day, often several times a day but I've not been well (anxiety/depression). Mainly because of appalling treatment we've had to put up with from the employer. Obviously I can't talk about it but how they've behaved is shocking.

I hope things improve for you soon Stravaig. .
I suspect there may perhaps be more forum activity on wet days when people can't get outside to work, unless they have greenhiuses to work in of course!

Dear Stravaig, I hope you are soon feeling a whole lot better…. Life can be so tough at times….

Stravaig, nice to hear from you again!

I was wondering where you were, assuming you were on holiday or the like. Certainly didn't expect you'd be having trouble from others. It is hard to shake off anxiety & depression, but you have made the first step. It is safe on here, as you have noticed we accept everyone & are not judgemental or nasty like some other sites & you have contributed so much that we are grateful for.

I hope you are soon back to your old self & feeling better, very soon.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery! x

Lovely to hear from you Stravaig. Sorry to hear what you are going through, we are here when you need us and feel like posting x

Stravaig Keep posting.! You will have noticed that quite a lot of us are battling with various health issues of one kind or another so you're in good company. I'd noticed your absence but it's that time of year when people are away on holiday so one assumes that's probably why some people are quiet for a while.

Thank you for all your kind words. Part of the problem is that it has gone on for so very long. It's wearing. No one listens, they just spout their (often false) opinions/facts at us.

We are thousands of quid out of pocket but no one seems to have any accounability. They want us to draw a line under it. We too would like to draw that line, but not while there are still so many unresolved issues.

Stravaig Is there no mediating body who can step in and intervene for you?. I don't know If your employer is British and whether ACAS could help?

Primrose, yes there is a mediating body and I contacted them. But frankly they weren't very helpful and we quickly reached the conclusion that we'd do a better job of representing ourselves. (Boast: I won top prize in Scotland for a law exam - yonks ago - and husband is a PhD so we're fairly articulate.)

We might hire lawyers to fight our case if absolutely nec'.

A big part of the problem is when we ask for some accountability is that the people we're up against run away shrieking that we are unkind, disrespectful and they've even accused husband of bullying. This is absurd. One of the guys even refused to tell husband what his problem with us was and went to David's line manager instead. The line manager was mystified as to why he'd been dragged into this fiasco.

These are just different departments of the same employer so why all this hostility? I dunno.

Oh well. At least I'm eating again. I'm always much worse when I can't eat.

My cousin visited us recently. Not seen him for 20-odd years (he lives in the Caribbean). We had a grand day out.

Sadly Stravaig the longer these processes go on the more retaliatory they seem to become!. Hope you get a solution soon. These kinds of stresses not conducive for wellbeing.
Are you retiring from the fray now and hoping to take up gardening again when you can regain access to your home? Sounds like it,s time for a calmer way of life after all your travellling around !