Daydream thread continues.....

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

ferretkeeper wrote: »

Rainbow, don't rule out allotments, cities seem better served than some towns - I got one in Reading instantly at Uni (12 years ago admittedly) then in a small Wiltshire town we moved to it took 3 years. Also Landshare and even guerilla gardening!

Yep - I was on the waiting list for an allotment here, for about 3 years, then all of a sudden I received a letter saying that as they had not received a reply to their recent letter (WHAT blummin letter??), I had been removed from the waiting list!!!
:mad:
Probably for the best though, as the nearest to me is about 2 or 3 miles away and would be £2.80 return on the bus...in hot weather I'd have to be there every day, and the cost soon mounts up. Now in an ideal world I would cycle there, but this is south London, there's no way I would have enough confidence to navigate the roads - that's if I wasn't built like a Womble, anyway :rotfl:

Guerilla gardening - there was a patch of unused ground about 100 yards up the road, and someone planted what looked like rocket, spinach and chard there. It sat there growing happily for a few months, until one day the council came along and strimmed it all down :mad: It is now - again - a patch of unused ground. Likewise, there was a pretty "hedgerow" of poppies by the local bus stop, obviously seeded by a passer-by, until the council turned up, dug it up, laid concrete and planted a bush.

No heart or thought

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Up the ranch today..

piggie pics
they love having a scratch:D

Ahhhhhhh, beautiful pigwigs This is why I could never be a farmer/smallholder, these animals would become my friends and it would break my heart to have to...ya know I just wish pigs produced something edable/sellable while they were alive so I could justify keeping some (if ever I had a little bit of land!). Love their smiley faces


.

Davesnave

Whoo! Lots to read here and think about!

I think you have a good chance of a home swap, rainbow, as demand is all going one way ATM. I agree too that its a no-brainer to stick with social housing if you are unlikely to buy. There is no security in private rented.

It's now officially summer, as we've turned-off the Aga and I've opened the side ventilation panels in the polytunnel. No going back now! :rotfl:

And it felt like summer today, with only a light breeze and sunshine, which they didn't forecast. In the front garden I could hear a cricket match, almost a mile away.

My peas are in too, another sign of summer. By a lucky fluke I'd kept just the right number of pea-sticks from the hedge cutting, and having burned the rest, that was fortunate.

Looking at the toms, there should be flowers opening on a few quite soon. I've not grown any of the super-early variety this year, so it will be interesting to see whether we can be quick with 'normal' toms.

Sorry to hear about your holly, lir. They can be a bit temperamental when young, as I've found when storing seedlings in pots.....I have one left!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

Ahhhhhhh, beautiful pigwigs This is why I could never be a farmer/smallholder, these animals would become my friends and it would break my heart to have to...ya know I just wish pigs produced something edable/sellable while they were alive so I could justify keeping some (if ever I had a little bit of land!). Love their smiley faces


.

Pity you couldn't try and start some sort of community/city farm in your area..

Make the most of this weather, it is supposed to change on Tuesday? but I am sure ITSME will know:D

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Pity you couldn't try and start some sort of community/city farm in your area..

I *think* there's one about a mile or 2 up the road, but have a feeling it's more of a 'petting' farm than a livestock/production farm.

Sadly, any spare land round here is gobbled up to build blocks of "luxury contemporary" (think: overpriced and small!) apartments (ie: flats). One lot went up over the road to the north, finished about 6 months ago. Now there's another 2 lots going up south of the block, one on my road, the other one road away. I am watching from my vantage point as these things get taller by the week, while my sleep is being disturbed by the workmen, cranes and concrete mixers/scaffolding clocking on at 7.30am (this might not be that early to many, but my work is often lates and nights, so 7.30am is the middle of the night for me!). One of the builds managed to purchase a third of the local playground (which was pretty small to begin with!) so that's even less green space serving this area.

Getting very claustrophic round here now.

I don't mean to sound so negative! :rotfl: It's just when I start thinking about options, I find this area doesn't have much going for me. I'm right by the Thames though, so that's a plus!

lostinrates

The way I feel ATM its tempting to go to London. Seeing dh mid week last week was bitter sweet. Wonderful to see him ( we saw each other every day bar one thanks to the Wednesday night stay over) but haes driven home how much we miss each other sometimes.

It's a fantasy of course, staying overnight is hugely different to being somewhere all the time. And we both need the space out here and the green.

rhiwfield

Lived in the centre of London for 10 years and it has some huge advantages. Availability of work, warm microclimate, brilliant transport system, services on tap, world class attractions, shopping to die for. But noise, light pollution/restriction and limited green space come with the territory.

TBH I enjoyed the walks along the South bank, Borough market, the parks and gardens, flower market at Columbia Road IIRC. You really dont need a car in London when there is so much to see within walking distance.

Still, I was glad to leave even though facilities in the rest of the UK pale by comparison and in the countryside can be non existent!

Itismehonest

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Pity you couldn't try and start some sort of community/city farm in your area..

Make the most of this weather, it is supposed to change on Tuesday? but I am sure ITSME will know:D

Periods of rain expected Tuesday evening through to Thursday evening here. I guess it's needed. Still waiting for it to warm up, though.

London wouldn't be for me now but I think r.a.i.n.b.o.w is sensible to want to stay in the SE both weather-wise & for decent facilities & infrastructure.
The more far flung "pretty" parts of the country have been increasingly neglected for years now. They may not have some of the problems that the SE (& city areas elsewhere) have but they still have problems & there's been no money go to the countryside infrastructure since long before the economic crisis began. Everything you need (shops, banks, public transport, schools, hospitals, fire/ambulance stations etc.) is increasingly centralised into the largest built up areas.
Add to that the Met Office moved to Exeter & still can't get Devon's weather right & what hope is there? :rotfl:

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

rhiwfield wrote: »

Lived in the centre of London for 10 years and it has some huge advantages. Availability of work, warm microclimate, brilliant transport system, services on tap, world class attractions, shopping to die for. But noise, light pollution/restriction and limited green space come with the territory.

TBH I enjoyed the walks along the South bank, Borough market, the parks and gardens, flower market at Columbia Road IIRC. You really dont need a car in London when there is so much to see within walking distance.

Still, I was glad to leave even though facilities in the rest of the UK pale by comparison and in the countryside can be non existent!

See, I can't stand the microclimate, anything over about 18 degrees and that's me in front of a fan and having regular cold showers, and feeling sick all the time and not being able to sleep. All the buildings just trap the heat, and usually there's no air/breeze so there's no relief.

The attractions are great if you're a tourist, generally, and I can see most of them from my window I do love the olde worlde London though, and the way that you can turn a corner from modern office blocks and instantly be in a medieval or Victorian side street.

I do feel claustrophic here. Not my flat, I'm lucky that it has generous proportions (bit like me then :rotfl: ) and spectacular views, but when walking around the streets it just feels so crowded, with everyone living on top of one another. Probably one of the reasons why I like the coast, so much open space, you can't build on the sea!

Itismehonest

Change of thought........ If it's less than 18 that you want then it's over this side of the country :rotfl: