No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

[Deleted User]

Hi SM - Have consulted 'He who knows these things' and he recons the best answer is soapy water as it is virtually impossible to find chemical sprays that allow you to keep harvesting and not have to wait for a few days for the chemical to do its stuff. Hope that helps, Lyn xx.

scottishminnie

Thank you MrsLW. They will get a dose of soapy water tonight and hopefully that will drown the little blighters. Even if it doesn't drown them at least they will be clean greenfly:D

[Deleted User]

SM - at the end of the day aphids only eat lettuce!!!!!!! so they are practically vegetarian!!!!!! - We have a saying in our family 'they who eats most greenfly eats most lettuce' ! Cheers Lyn xxx.

scottishminnie

Evening all. I've been MIA for a few days now - I'm afraid my routine has gone to pot on account of the Olympics. I've been glued to the TV at the most ridiculous times, even watching sports which I wouldn't normally give time of day. Yesterday I lost track of a pot of stewing apples so now I have a badly burned pan soaking in washing powder:o

We had good enough weather up here on Saturday for hubby and I to dine outside. It was a little windy however I was determined we were eating alfresco so I could say we had done so at least once this summer. I'm thinking of having a barbeque this weekend - I'm frightened that will curse the weather though. I will leave the decision until Thursday or Friday before committing us. We are on holliday for most of September so I'm aware that time is running out, if I don't hurry the barbeque will not have been used since we bought it in 2010 which just seems ridiculous.

I also need to start running down the freezers so I can defrost at least one before we go away. I was thoroughly ashamed of the layer of ice on the top shelf. There was some filo pastry hiding in a snowdrift which I didn't know was there. Now I'm wondering how to incorporate it into the barbeque menu to get rid of it.

Hope everyone else is having a good week so far.

flowertotmum

Hello all...i have been away from bloggy land for a bit i had to take some personal time to deal with an issue that was affecting me and hubby,we were both so traumatized by the loss of our baby and kinda skirted around it..we are now dealing with it and i am back on track...
So in the meantime i am now a full-time home educator..i had a LEA inspector around and got the thumbs up with what we have done so far and feel immensely proud of myself,fern,iris and hubby...a great team.
We have also been on nature walks and had picnics and just chilled out and had a great time together...we have tried to sort veggie garden but its getting impossible now...everything has bolted and i am really pee'd off...thank god for our new shiny shiny precious polytunnel that will be arriving next week...i have'nt had enough soft fruits to make jams this year but i do have a few jars from last yr..i am thinking i may have to go to a PYO place not far from us..so i hope to get some jars done.
I have popped over to my neighbours and in exchange for half a dozen eggs..i got free range over her roses...me and girls picked a few from each bush to make rose soap and have dried some for sachets for drawers..today we went for a lovely walk in the woods and had a picnic..got home had a lovely cuppa and went straight back out to paint my window sills and front porch step..going to re -do the masonary paint tomorrow i hope..need to get some black exterior gloss paint for my gates...why is it that i start to winter proof the house in summer???????????
Had a great laugh yesterday..me and the girls made the 15 minute scones..took me 30 to clean up after them ..so i have renamed them the "mucky pup scones"..honest to goodness i found flour everywhere..
I did have some sad news..my brother and his (b*tch wife) have split up..or in the truth..she totally blindsided my brother and dumped him..and now expects him to pay everything while she swans off on holiday with the kids..o and she wants the house,kids,car,dog..in that order...i seriously think she has had a breakdown..she works 12 hours a week and has never ever paid a bill in her life..keeps her money and she seems to think she and the kids will be ok...the entire family is in shock..especially my brother..who sat and sobbed in living room...he had no idea..
Anyway we will all be there for him and the kids..who i feel for..poor things have no clue whats going on...
Right i have to go..hubby is doing tea tonight and i am off to make a cuppa...
love to you all
hope your all ok
ftm

[Deleted User]

Hello FTM - lovely to hear from you again. Huge congrats on the Home Education, so pleased the LEA People were impressed with all your hard work and planning, well done all of you!!! How very brave you both are dealing with all the trauma attached to loosing your little one - sending you both lots of hugs and peace in the hope it will help. It's a difficult one but I hope you end up in a place where you can accept and then move on with your lives and enjoy again.

Sorry to hear about your brother but I cannot think of anyone better than you to help him through a very traumatic time, you understand stuff happens and can be his rock in an uncertain world. Hope things get sorted out peaceably, and very quickly.

So thrilled that your polytunnel is coming next week, ours is going bananas at the moment, the courgette has turned into a Triffid and we have so many set and developing I'm having to get very inventive with recipes. The french beans are cropping very well and DH has planted a row of Runners in there as the outside ones are still only half way up thier poles and not setting many beans. Picking tomatoes by the colander full and the thornless blackberries are producing masses this year, all going into the freezer for the winter as the stone fruits are cheap as chips at the greengrocers.

Hope all is going well with Heather and little Emma and that you are all enjoying the summer, we have had a beautiful day down here, it's just starting to get a bit cooler and less humid so we might get to sleep tonight. Stay in touch, it's always good to hear from you Love Lyn xxxxx.

scottishminnie

FTM - it's good to "see" you back. Time can't change what happened to you but it does become less raw eventually.
I'm glad your visit went well, Iris and Fern have lots to look forward to now!

Mrs LW - does the thornless gooseberry need another or is it self fertile? We finally planted up the raised fruit tree bed today:j and the gooseberry I've picked is certainly not thornless!
In the fruit bush bed I have:
1 Gooseberry bush (prickly!)
1 Raspberry Bush
1 Redcurrant Bush
1 Blackcurrant Bush
1 Blueberry Bush (with fat juicy berries)

I have room for one more bush - any thoughts on what to plant - should I go for a second bush of the same kind as I have or is there something else I should try? I will also have room for strawberries round the bottom.
I ordered my fruit trees today too, being delivered next week -4 apples, 1 plum, 1 pear, 1 cherry and a cobnut? I think it was a cobnut. The plum and pear are dual variety, I can't remember which though! The local nursery is also going to order me a few more plum trees.
I also picked up 2 sacks of daffodil bulbs and around 100 crocus bulbs. I figured as we had the soil up to plant the trees we should throw in the bulbs before the grass seed goes down and hopefully in spring we will have a nice show of daffs.

My grandmother died a few years back and left me some cash, not a huge amount but enough to buy myself a Kitchenaid food mixer at the time and keep the rest to pay for the fruit trees when we finally were ready. I spent a lot of my childhood baking under her instruction in the big farm kitchen and picking fruit from the orchard so I couldn't think of a better way to remember her.

On that note I'm off - too much sun and a beer while the dinner is cooking seems to have made me far too sentimental:o

boultdj

Scottishminnie blueberrie's need another one to pollenate each other. hth

nuatha

Scottishminnie, your raspberries will spread like weeds given a couple of years (don't ask how I know this )
Your gooseberries and currants are easy to take cuttings from if you decide you need more of any of them (basically plant the autumn prunings).
There are self fertile blueberries, but you will get larger crops with two different varieties, however you don't want them in the same bed as your other fruit crops - they need a more acid soil, look for a moisture-retaining ericaceous compost and put them in containers. Or if you grow heathers then you could put them in with the heathers.

Sounds like a wonderful way to remember your grandmother.
HTH

[Deleted User]

SM - We have no fruit at all this year on either the gooseberries or the redcurrants, also the blueberry so I'm not sure if the gooseberries are self fertile or if it's just this horrid weather we've had. KITTIE has grown 'Pax 'in the past so she might know if you need a different type to pollinate, Will look out the paperwork later and if I find out will post again. Cheers Lyn xxx.