Daydream fund challenge part 4

Davesnave

Rummer! How lovely to see you here again. :wave:


It's grand to know that the fruit's done well, and the veg.... almost well enough too. You used to be so self-critical about your gardening! :rotfl:

Davesnave

Forgot to mention that we lost a local hero, Johnny Kingdom, last week.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/07/johnny-kingdom-wildlife-expert-dies-digger-accident-farm/



Maybe he didn't make a big impact nationally, but he did a lot to make the wildlife of Exmoor better known.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Davesnave wrote: »

Forgot to mention that we lost a local hero, Johnny Kingdom, last week.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/07/johnny-kingdom-wildlife-expert-dies-digger-accident-farm/



Maybe he didn't make a big impact nationally, but he did a lot to make the wildlife of Exmoor better known.

He was pretty well known following the TV series. It's very sad.

Davesnave

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

He was pretty well known following the TV series. It's very sad.

He was working on his own piece of the Exmoor foothills just north of here. He'd built ponds and hides etc. A warning to all those who like to play with diggers in their spare time....:(


It's the Garden Club Show tonight. I've been up there helping DW set up the exhibits and now I'm supposed to be cooking dinner.....




The standard looks good, so I don't think DW will be bringing home many prizes this time!

alfie_1

early morning to you all ...


I cant sleep !


my dads funeral was...yesterday and after 2 weeks of sorting and organising it was a splendid day for his memory..
the sun shone and the pipes and drums of SCOTLAND THE BRAVE rang out ... and vera lynn saw him off .
a variety of relatives and friends came including G grandkids.
mum was so strong considering ,
after we [mum, and a good friend and I ] put the flowers on my mums grandmothers grave in a tiny old church... which involved my mum gaining stability by gripping a headstone from 1893 firmly and waving her walking stick in a general direction of where she "thought" it was ! so friend and I were trying to find it [ only going along with the idea as mum convinced us she knew exactly where it was ! ] in the end having scrabbled around trying not to commit sacrilege , we discovered what we thought was it and placed the flowers... we still don't know if it was ! but it made mum have a giggle ...


now my brain wont shut off !!
I have to work tomorrow and will be in a blur !


anyway, a memorable day was had by all and dad would have been proud of mum xx

Davesnave

Hope you eventually got some sleep, alfie! Sounds like Dad was sent off in style. :AWe played Dame Vera for my Dad too.....Seems like a very long time ago.

You should give yourself some 'me time' now.


As predicted, no silverware came home last night, but then one person lifted about 80% of the silverware, if not more! We had 2 firsts, 10 seconds and some thirds. Next year, we'll have to go for quality, not quantity.

One of our firsts was ridiculous....a bunch of grapes, totally inedible because they are a decorative variety we grow along the ropes and posts that seperate the neighbours right of way from our parking area. If I was going to grow grapes, I'd do it against a south wall, not swinging in the air at 500'! Shows what a hot summer we had, though.

alfie_1

morning peeps


well after being a cold dank day yesterday, the sun is back today..


im being bombarded with tomatoes and veg from people due to surplus ! very nice if I was a vegetarian but no way can I eat this lot . don't like to say no as they are desperate to shift it. !! so im sharing it with anyone that is within 50 meters....


things are settling down here now.. seems strange not "visiting"


lame pony is still a bit lame ... had xrays etc and no fracture or anything but knee is still a bit swollen. hes on "bed" rest in with old Nellie and vet coming back Friday [also to check a broken tooth in Nellie which may need to come out ] never ending bills at the moment but considering the amount of animogs we have, cant complain really !


I emptied a fish pond for a couple last weekend .. got over a 100 goldfish ! ranging from 6-8inches down to 2 inch ones . so one large pond has the bulk of them and I put about 6 in the little pond in my garden near the house. they all have survived so far so was worth wading in silt and stinking like an old trawler man !

choille

Just lost a long post - how annoying is that.

Glad that dad got a good send off Alfie. It sounds like you were all very brave - the bit with putting the flowers on a grave was hilarious - so I did laugh at that.

Hope you get some rest up time & the vets bill isn't too bad & the horses are fine.

Dave sounds like sour grapes! But you did win quite a bit really - did you want to sweep the board. See you gardeners are quite cut throat at heart I think. Only jesting - a lot of hard work.

Down to Gairloch this afternoon to see neighbour who is in respite care & loving it. It's a great home & the staff are excellent. Such a relief that she's getting really well looked after.

Saw a white tailed sea eagle on the way home. saw one last week - probably the same one. Good heaven's they are huge.

Got soaked walking collie wobble on the beaches before & after.

Picked some brambles and added them to some plums & some cookers I'd liberated from a ditch & we had a lovely crumble for afters.MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Davesnave

Who knows, choille, maybe neighbour will be OK with living in a retirement home, or unable to move back. It could be fairer if you didn't become her 'care package' all over again.;)

We have visitors tonight and more next week. We don't even know how long for, so I'm caught between being hospitable and grumpily watching the summer-ish days ebbing away! :undecided

We're so far behind where I thought we'd be by now, I've decided to shelve further work on the road hedge this winter and build a proper path through our existing garden instead. Then I can link it to the other one I've not built yet! :rotfl:

I've sprayed, scarified and re-seeded the side of the field which borders the road, so if that all works out and we don't get a drought next year, maybe the big hedge won't matter. It'll stop more bottles coming over too.......

Theoretically, there should be more time in the dark months this winter, as it appears there are not enough people interested in sustaining the Panto. :(
Already, others are suggesting alternative uses for the costume cupboards, so it seems sensible to try and preserve what they contain in case the thing can be resurrected, Frankenstein-like, in a future year. We're offering our barn, which isn't wonderful, but those who hold the purse strings will have to shell out for some big boxes or the creepy-crawlies will have the lot!

Hey ho, I'm off to the guest en suite shower now to finish siliconing. Chose the wrong week to replace the old. Well, if you are as cack-handed as me, any week's as bad as the next!

choille

Dave - you are amazingly active & busy.

I know what you mean about visitors We had some to come this w/e but they aren't now as they got a soaking on one of the isles and their tent ripped in two so they've slunk back over the border.

I started to prepare for them but was a bit grumpy as it meant moving tons of stuff so they could camp out on the kitchen floor & they have two dogs. I love them all dearly but it would be better when we have upstairs finished & we are both in better health. So quite relieved but guiltily so.
Been hacking down trees - little ones that are out front & trying to grab back the view. Loads of sprag to die back & burn. It's everywhere but will stack it for a bon fire soon - or later on.

Varnished some stools I got out of B&Q - been dithering about stools & not that enamoured with what's on offer - all these chrome & faux leather ones everywhere, so got three plain wooden ones & have given them three coats of satin varnish & they do look good - even if I say so myself.

I have skirting boards to paint before they go on - easier to do them off, but it's making space upstairs to do so.

Must walk Collie wobble as he's becoming angsty. Windy here with heavy showers but bright btw times.

Neighbour is liking the care home so I think she will stay. It is making things easier for me as I felt she couldn't be left on her own. They offered no home care - It was a revelation how cut back everything has become.