Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

Davesnave

Oh I forgot, my new easy-to-grow vegetable is celeriac. :j

It must be, because last year I bought some seedlings at a village fete and then promptly forgot them. They languished in their yogurt pot for ages, packed-in far too tight, and it wasn't until late in the summer that I planted a dozen.

Of course, in the autumn, they were the size of golf balls.

Yesterday, I started digging up the 'useless' celeriac. Lo and behold, with the mild winter they'd just carried on growing! No bugs either.

Nice when mashed into potato, but mild enough to eat on their own too.

pink_poppy

Better Days, I wasn't sure what you meant when you said you couldn't 'pull' the washing line up. I just use a long piece of wood (probably about 7 foot high) with a notch carved out of the top to fit into the washing line, then I just 'shove' the line up when it's full of washing. I'm not sure if I've explained that properly I think Arg0s do extendable washing line poles.

Dave, you can make celeriac into chips as well, although never tried that myself.

Better_Days

No nothing you said Dave ;)

I do love a beech hedge - and I think they look great in the winter too. Hope yours recovers well. I would love to have the space to plant up some trees, like the idea of a fruit orchard - the blossom in the spring would be lovely - I can dream.

Not tried growing celeraic - not something we eat a lot of, but I do like it in veg pies. I potted on my begonia plugs yesterday and some budlejia. I took some cuttings from the garden in our previous rental, some of which have survived and need to be cosseted, so they need to be sorted too. And seeds to be planted. Is a nice shelf over the boiler in this house and I think that will be a good place to start off the seeds. Chilly here again today.

Sorry pink poppy I ddin't explain the washing line situation clearly - doh. Both ends are about 15 feet up, and one end is fixed. The other runs through a pulley or the like down to a hook on the wall. You can let the line down through the pulley to peg the washing on and the idea is that you then pull the line up again to lift it high up so it gets a good blow and it isn't in the way in the garden. Trouble is I don't have a lot of strength in my arms and hands and it is very hard for me to pull the line back up with wet washing on.

The other option as you suggest is to get a clothes prop or the like but it is handy having the line up high out of the way most of the time. And I didn't want to buy a whirlygig if I could make the system that we have work for me (being MSE )

Having said that it is all a moot point atm with no bloomin' washing machine:mad::mad::mad:

moneyistooshorttomention

Better_Days wrote: »

My new washing machine should have been delivered today, but retailer contacted me yesterday to say it will be delayed by a week :mad::mad::mad:, so we will have a Mt Everest of washing by the time it finally arrives......and on the theme of washing.......

Could you cancel that order then? They'd have no grounds to complain, because you had done so because of their unreliability.

Then, re-order the machine from Boots Kitchen Direct.

I've used them twice now and got "normal service" both times, ie what most people would call good service (bar one call centre operator on the second item who didn't know her job properly and I didn't realise about one add-on being available because she forgot to ask me if I wanted it. Cue for second phonecall to more efficient colleague of hers when I realised and that was put right). As I'm someone who is quite specific about exactly what she wants, then I found it useful to be able to input every last detail of what my requirements were and the website narrowed it down for me to just ones that fitted every requirement.

I'll admit I'm a lot "faster off the mark" to replace anyone who has given inefficient service if I can find a "normal" standard firm to replace them, so throw unreliable firms overboard extremely fast personally if I see any other options...as in they probably have about an hour literally before I'm looking for a replacement firm if possible.

Better_Days

Thanks Money. I had a look on the Boots site and they do offer the w/m for delivery tomorrow - but it will cost another £45.

The chap I spoke to yesterday at the Gas Superstore said that usually Bosch are able to supply the w/m straight-away but Bosch have a delay on this particular model. So it is likely that Boots will also have a delay too. (He could have been fibbing of course, but I rang after office hours and he read out what was on the screen, and it sounded genuine).

If I stop posting next week you will know it is because my lappy has been buried under a pile of washing.:)

I do know what you mean about poor service though. Those where you have no choice such as water are so frustrating - Anglian Water rang me 3 times in a day a fortnight ago to discuss my account, and then sent me two bills last week both of which were wrong. Sod it I thought, I'm paying by DD it can be sorted when the meter is read in August.

And for anyone who hasn't lost the will to live listening to me rambling on about washing lines I think I need a winch like one of these (but not so heavy duty) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toolzone-1200Lb-Boat-Winch/dp/B000V3MRGG/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1395232080&sr=1-1&keywords=winch or possibly one of these if I could work out how an earth it works http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633957-Cargo-Pulley-Set/dp/B0015NNONG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=16PH9Y205MXWE&coliid=I1OXOUT3IZAIB0

Davesnave

I would go for the marine winch, Better Days. Overkill, yes, but there isn't anything out there which looks decently made. Avoid 'Silverline' too, as it's [STRIKE]sometimes[/STRIKE] often poor quality.

All the laurels and quite a few trees now planted down at the Dog End. I even managed to drive the van there across the field. Exactly a month ago, a heavy duty Land Rover got stuck trying to make the same trip. That's how much we've dried-out!

Better_Days

Thanks for the advice Dave. The winch does seem like overkill - really could do with a smaller one, but if it does the job it will be worth it. Handy to know the Silverline products aren't good quality.

Laurel is nice as it grows densely, if somewhat slowly. And it does give colour in the winter and is pretty hardy.

Davesnave

Better_Days wrote: »

Laurel is nice as it grows densely, if somewhat slowly. And it does give colour in the winter and is pretty hardy.

It's actually pretty fast once it has its feet under the table and it's also free for the taking around here. A good noise suppressor too.

On the down side, there's the small matter of being poisonous to sheep, which is why I have a new fence and a padlock on the gate to that area.

Very busy in these parts with tractors whizzing hither and thither till about 9pm as the farmers rush to get the arable, ploughed, harrowed and sown and the pastures well spread with dung. Lots of backlog to catch up. I expect it's the same over your way, BD. While the Devon countryside here is far from peaceful, in a few weeks the activity will die down and we'll return to 'slow.'

EDIT: I gave away a couple of the celeriac today, so we will see what my favourite cooking person makes of it. Interesting that it can be made into chips, poppy, but here we don't fry, so I guess most of ours will go into the mash. Or can they be done like oven chips? We do those.

phoebe1989seb

Better_Days wrote: »

How's your Dad doing Phoebe? In my thoughts.

BD - he is improving, thank goodness.....we've not visited today, but spoke to the hospital earlier - he was sitting up in bed and very alert! Think they'll be tiring of him soon and Thank you so much for your concern and good wishes.....and to everyone else too xxx

What a bummer about your washing machine.....and just when there's some good drying weather too :mad: Trying to remember what we paid for our last load of logs (in December) and think it was around £80 for a flatbed truck load......actually that seems a bit cheap so maybe I've got it wrong, lol! We need to get on with chopping more of our own timber as it seems daft to be paying for it when we needn't - there was a lot left here by the PO in an old carport - but something else always seems to get in the way

Dave - good to hear you're not letting the stones get you down and you're pushing ahead with the tree planting......don't over-do things though

CTC - loving the greenhouse set-up

Better_Days

Ahh, you must be better than I am with laurel :cool:

Davesnave Lots of backlog to catch up. I expect it's the same over your way, BD.

Yes it is busy on the farms here too, although not as frantic as the sugar beet harvest. Its a shame there is not much to be done with sugar beet, considering the number that fall off the lorries onto the side of the road. They are like lumps of concrete, not a good idea to drive too close behind a lorry full

Is it just you and me tonight Davesnave? People will start talking.

ETA: Ohh, just seen Phoebe has popped in, great news re your Dad, I do hope he continues to make good progress - you must be so relieved he is alert now after being so poorly.