Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

Davesnave

Draingate.....this time it's in smell-o-vision! :eek::eek::eek:

Problem located after only 7 hours of digging and rodding!

From what we can see, the previous owners of our place put in a gate post, now removed, and damaged the original pipe, probably with a digger bucket.

Having pulled up and broken a fair section the 4" pipe, they then did a repair in 3", because that's all they had, literally just stuffing it into the original and throwing earth back on top. Thus they created two points at which no one can get a rod through, but loads of silt can get in. Idiots! :mad:

So we need to replace that 3" pipe, but another problem is that some of it runs alongside a heavy duty power cable heading for the barn.:eek: It's all 1metre deep.

We are up for re-routing the whole thing and doing the first 10 m in solid pipe with inspection chambers, thus keeping it all well away from our yew hedge, garden and leccy. Whether next door will buy that, remains to be seen.

lostinrates

Didn't have enough enough stain to do both central beds, but got the big one done, moved a few herbs about.

Suddenly all seems far too nice and twee and I hate it. Fir loves it still. I think I'll like it when its messy and lived in more again. ( the dangly bits were a mad buy, but fir loves them, and its our garden not mine! Thus I like them too. It does sound like a tinkers van out there though. )

Oh, fir thinks its amusing to have planted a Thyme Square.

Davesnave

That's a great colour.:cool: Could be what we need for our 3 obelisks, except that the obelisks aren't really top of the agenda any more.....

As for the dangly things, they're fun.

I'm thinking of getting something similar for Mr Dog to share when the breeze wafts gently though the trees, though they're cow bells! :rotfl: I'm not sure if yours 'ding' or 'dong' or what they do, but there's no harm in a bit of whimsy.

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

That's a great colour.:cool: Could be what we need for our 3 obelisks, except that the obelisks aren't really top of the agenda any more.....

As for the dangly things, they're fun.

I'm thinking of getting something similar for Mr Dog to share when the breeze wafts gently though the trees, though they're cow bells! :rotfl: I'm not sure if yours 'ding' or 'dong' or what they do, but there's no harm in a bit of whimsy.

The ones you can see sound just like cow bells. And illuminate in the dark ( though I haven't seen that) There is also a donger AND a dinger. the dinger I understand GLOWS in the dark.

In a previous era fir might have collected gnomes.

Alexelisey

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

oooo right Alex, I am a bit confused now, didn't you look at some houses with land, and were only hours away from emigrating to spain???

cant you sort of start from scratch.. like today is the first day of the daydream fund, and get a money saving tin, and start putting some pennies into it? as that is how I started... it can be done Alex it might take umpteen years lol... even if, you cant buy a smallholding. as Davesnave said a house with a large plot/garden can be just as productive or even more, than somewhere with acres... unless you want more than chickens.

think of the max amount of travelling time you would do, to go back and fore to work... and see what is in that area, so it will give you a rough guide of what the prices are, then look at what has sold in those areas at auction..

Its only you stopping you getting your dream... ok it might take ages, but it can be done one way for another lol..

Yes, you're correct. This time last year (!) I had said my goodbyes at work and was in packing mode. We pulled the plug on the Spain thing three days before the flight. In hindsight we definitely made the right decision not to go, although the first few months were excruciatingly painful.

We have a small amount of money already, it might buy us a field or two if we decided to go the route of starting from scratch. Buying a house with land near here for a commute to work is neither desirable nor affordable (commuter belt for the City and I only have a year's contract which ends in May). They may want to extend it, but I don't. I want to have time to do smallholder things, so generating an income outside of an office where I must do as I'm told is the way forward.

We WILL do it, somehow. And it has to be sooner than later, so we're still young enough to enjoy it. And yes, there has been talk of having more than chickens...

lostinrates

Foragers in picking from the internal hedgerows today. One of the girls who keeps a pony here saw them. She didn't gets to them before they scarpered so she couldn't tell themwe'd had some one spot spray there last week. I feel very bad, they could be very , very Ill, the idiots. Why do people do it? The road side had loads of blackberries or some where not privately owned and not roadside would be even better.

Rummer

Once the plants are established LIR it would look far softer. As you know I like the wood colour already

I would like to have planters along our back wall but I am not sure what type would be best, plenty of time to think about it though.

lostinrates

Rummer wrote: »

Once the plants are established LIR it would look far softer. As you know I like the wood colour already

I would like to have planters along our back wall but I am not sure what type would be best, plenty of time to think about it though.

Elsewhere we've used cattle water troughs. Problem is I don't think metal planters are as kind to roots. They look good but.....meh...tough when it freezes and tough when bakes. Had I thought more I would have lined them with something like polystyrene I think.

Rummer

Thats a good idea LIR and I like the look of them as we have smaller metal trough type containers in the garden already.

I have been busy listing things on Gumtree to sell and am quite disheartened by it all. Seems like a lot of effort for very little return however every little helps. I was a bit buoyed yesterday as I used some of the money I had raised already to get a few bits for Rumlet.

A very busy few weeks ahead so I am trying to get organised!

I_have_spoken

Lovely day with us, the sun shining for hours. But anyhow, I reckon the garden is now 'going over', although the asters have yet to flower. That said, pics show the progress over the season to encourage anyone with a new garden...

From ...



to...



I've surprised myself at the change, flipping through the pics on Photobucket :j

New lawn has perked up after I let it get seriously short of nutrients and water in June
The pergola is starting to get covered with greenery from both sides
Perennial beds have been great for months
Cannas have flowered (both in pots and in ground)
Back border is just starting to get going, the dogwoods in the back right corner are doing well in the gloomiest part of the garden
The (out of shot) area behind the conservatory has been cleared of shrubs and planted as the spring garden
Slight disappointment the ceanothus (extreme right) just grew in size season, no blue flowers.
Hopefully, there's enough evergreen to give some winter interest