The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

silvasava

I pretty well slept through the October storm - we just had a tile loosened on the roof,but when I drove to work through a lovely avenue most of the lovely flowering trees had been uprooted (that was when I realised the wind had been so strong!!) The January one started after I got to work. We had a beautiful pergola that DH had built over our patio that's halfway down the garden where it catches the sun. It had 9 inch brick pillars and reclaimed oak timbers and was about 15ft square. When I came home in the evening I checked the house- all OK. When I looked out the back window the pergola had dissapeared!! it was lifted complete (!!!!!) into next doors garden and still standing almost upright.
Just so glad no-one was hurt.
We seem to be getting quite a lot more high winds now - or is it me??

ivyleaf

I'd forgotten until you mentioned the January storm being in the daytime, but my OH was one of many who were working in central London and couldn't get home as all the public transport stopped.

I think you're right about more high winds now, though it doesn't usually get quite so bad here compared to further south and west, and I'm not sure how much of the apparent increase is simply that I'm more aware of the wind since 1987 IYSWIM .

mardatha

We get a lot of high winds up here, last winter a big gust sucked out the loft window. I get worried by winds, not flooding or anything else.

ivyleaf

mardatha wrote: »

We get a lot of high winds up here, last winter a big gust sucked out the loft window. I get worried by winds, not flooding or anything else.

I remember that Mar, I think your son did a temporary repair and you had to wait some time for it to be replaced?

Scary stuff :eek:

ivyleaf

The tree surgeons didn't come yesterday because of the weather, but came this morning instead. We were going to have the sycamore tree at the bottom of the garden reduced by about 30%, but then they noticed it was going rotten at the base, so we've ended up having it cut down to the height of the fence (which it actually forms part of, due to where it happened to take root when we had the old picket fence years ago.).

I'm a bit sad, it gave us privacy from the windows of the house behind ours and vice versa, and provided somewhere for birds to roost, but at least the house at the back now has a sunnier garden, and won't need to worry that the tree will end up buried in their roof after a storm :eek:

The trunk will sprout, and if left will grow about six feet a year; but it will be possible to keep it in check by someone going up a ladder with a lopper or similar.

Of course it has cost more than we'd bargained for, but we've paid the amount we were expecting today, and will pay the rest next month.

Jazee

Ooh hello fencers, bit quiet on here and not just because of the site being down for a good while.

I remember the storms too. October 87 when DD was one month old, I moved away from my seat by the window when I was feeding her in the early hours. One of our friends went into labour that night and what a journey to the hospital they had.

Jan 90 was the day time one. I'd promised a friend I'd pick up her daughter from school that day so put toddler DD and baby DS in their twin buggy and battled through the storm to get her - 3 miles across town with trees literally coming down around us. Very scary.

Anyway all calm here today and I've spent a couple of hours in the garden and am now enjoying my produce. We had some of the early leaves from the kale this year but the insects have had the rest so I've dug those up this morning. seem to have only one cabbage surviving, caulis are dead too.

Catch you all later.

mardatha

Am a bit fedup today - I cannot cook to save my life and everything goes wrong. the harder I try the worse it is. I tried flapjacks to a recipe I wrote in the back of a cookery book, I threw in cherries and sultanas and cranberries and thought it would be lovely - and I seem to have made Granola. We'd need a spoon to eat the bl**dy stuff. Anybody got a FOOLPROOF method for nice flapjacks?

CRANKY40

mardatha wrote: »

Am a bit fedup today - I cannot cook to save my life and everything goes wrong. the harder I try the worse it is. I tried flapjacks to a recipe I wrote in the back of a cookery book, I threw in cherries and sultanas and cranberries and thought it would be lovely - and I seem to have made Granola. We'd need a spoon to eat the bl**dy stuff. Anybody got a FOOLPROOF method for nice flapjacks?

I've never made a decent flapjack either and I make all sorts. I've got a good brownie recipe that never goes wrong if you ever fancy those.

ivyleaf

Phew, so glad the forum's back :j

Commiserations about the flapjacks, Mar. I've only made them once but I think it was from a recipe somewhere on here - they came out okay but very thin as I didn't have a tin the right size.

Anyone remember the pigeons we had stomping in the gutter? Since we had the big tree cut down the other day they've gone :j :j :j

Jazee Someone said on the forum the other day (I don't think it was this thread though) that the kale harvest will be very poor this year because of aphids. I suppose other green veg are affected too. What a shame after all your hard work

ivyleaf

Mardatha I've found the flapjack recipe I used,lurking in my recipe folder. I didn't add anything to it but that doesn't mean you can't

FLAPJACK

500g porridge oats

175g sugar

210g margarine or butter (I used butter, it makes it smell so gorgeous)

6 tbsp Golden Syrup.

Heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup gently in a large pan until all melted together. Stir in the oats.

Spread in a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before cutting, then turn onto a colling rack.

You'll notice there is no oven temperature given! I ended up googling other flapjack recipes, to get an idea, I think.

Mary Berry suggests Gas Mark 3/ 160 deg., or 140 deg if you have a fan oven.
ETA I have her recipe, but not sure if it's okay to post it on here, provided I make it clear that it's her recipe? The ingredients are same as above, but different amounts and cooking time.