Daydream fund challenge part 4 4 October 2014 at 9:37AM edited 4 October 2014 at 11:24AM in Greenfingered MoneySaving 10.7K replies 828.7K views

RAS

Dave, I know almost nil about Cream Legbars but the pale one continues to look dodgy based in the RBST description. Is the spot on it's head yellow?

Davesnave

The pale one is just paler all over and there isn't a distinct yellow spot, RAS. But if the breeder is wrong and it turns out to be a male, we'll not panic too much. We just don't want more than one male!

Speaking of gender confusion....where's Ted? (S)he hasn't signed in for over a week. Hope it's just too much moggy fun!

Davesnave

Well our land improvement for the herb garden has faltered somewhat in its latter stages as I discovered what I first thought was a soak away I'd constructed in 2015. However, it turns out even I'm not that daft, as examination of photos shows my soak away is outside the garden area. This stuff was therefore the very substantial dump for the previous owners discarded rubble and building materials and must have been hidden under the shed. It was a big shed!

greenbee

Sounds like you've got your work cut out Dave. Unless you want to change your mind and build a rockery?

I'm feeling very pleased with myself - I'm not hugely good at practical stuff and inclined to lose patience with it! However, there were various bits missing when the greenhouse was delivered (apparently not unusual) which the fitter didn't work out until he was almost done. Some of them were delivered last week, and I fitted the last pane in the door at the weekend, plus the 'I don't know where that goes' bit (easy enough to spot on the diagram). The last bits arrived today, so I fitted the pane above the louvre vent - which meant taking it out, repositioning it, and then dealing with the fact that the fitter had turned the seals over rather than cutting them off, adding vital millimetres. So all I have left to do is the back apex... which requires a ladder and is going to be complicates as it has to be glazed from the outside but is pretty much on the edge of the river bank. I do wonder whether that's why he did the front apex and not the back... Something to do when I have someone else here I suspect!

in_my_wellies

Davesnave - I'm sure many herbs enjoy a well drained position
Greenbee - I still remember being excited about my first new greenhouse. What will you use it for? 
I renovated mine two years ago, a cedar wood one. I removed the glass, windows and various panels and other bits. I cleaned and painted everywhere and reassembled it. Then I found a piece 1" x 1" x 6' long. I have no idea where it fits even after looking at the expanded diagram on the instructions. But heyho, it's still standing. 
This week I've started harvesting strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants. The strawberries are slightly disappointing, many being eaten and many oddly shaped. I've set 5 mousetraps, 4 have gone off or moved but nothing caught. My next project is the pond as there's only about a square foot of water still showing. 

greenbee

@in_my_wellies - the greenhouse is mostly full of lots of very leggy Gardener's Delight cherry toms. I should probably move some of them outside. I thought I might extract some seeds from some peppers and see whether they do anything. I've also got a basil factory and chillies in there, as well as some very neglected peace lilies from one I split earlier in the year which are MUCH happier in there than they were in the garage or outside. 

Large gravel trays arrive tonight, so I can get the layout a bit more organised and watering should be easier. I will have to look into watering systems as realistically I will be going away for days at a time (if not weeks) so need to think about how I can avoid coming back to crispy plants!

Davesnave

in_my_wellies said:

Davesnave - I'm sure many herbs enjoy a well drained position

Yes, but we have that already, especially with my soak-away running parallel somewhere nearby.

But it's OK because we're intending to build a shed on the opposite side of the garden, not in the direct line of view like that of our predecessors. So I'm shunting the hardcore over there.

With the lockdown relaxed, no sign of the predicted roadworks and traffic back to almost pre-Covid levels, we're returning to plant sales again. The tomatoes and cucumbers etc sold so well this year we felt quite guilty, so we're sending the profit we made on those to a local children's charity. I doubt if any of those are going to make up for the losses of the past few months though.

The_Warned

Davesnave said:

Speaking of gender confusion....where's Ted? (S)he hasn't signed in for over a week.

Banned again I'm afraid. Matron says it was a case of one too many double entendres, but I wouldn't say that's Ted's style at all. (S)he'd be more likely to give an annoying poster a sharp kick in the Trossachs .

Davesnave

The_Warned said:

Davesnave said:

Speaking of gender confusion....where's Ted? (S)he hasn't signed in for over a week.

Banned again I'm afraid.

Persecution is rife! Here, our woolly cat, Lila, is still being hotly pursued by blackbirds when ever she steps outside the door. Izzy walks about unmolested, so it's a blatant case of discrimination. Maybe the thick tail makes the birds think Lila's a fox?

RAS

Dave, I remember the photo of them as kittens, when they moved in with you. Handsome moggie, Lila. Quite strange how the blackbirds chase her.

There are four cats in nearby houses and the blackbirds sing in my bush and the nearby trees every evening and I've never seen one chase a cat.