Nice People Thread No. 14, all Nice and Proper

lostinrates

GDB2222 wrote: »

What sensible geese you have. How can you persuade the fox to go away?

We'll, I don't KNOW its a fox. I'll have a look over next few days and weeks for evidence. But the water is a big temptation for the geese, so if they don't want to head out there I must listen to them and see why.



The main difficulty regarding the cake is all the scrub. It provides perfect cover. There is little we can do at this time of year ( birds nesting etc) but sit and wait, armed or keep going down with kiwi. I can be certain the firmer will not happen. The latter happens ever day, multiple times. There are rabbits in their too now, so lots for a fox to eat.

If you were a fox would you leave? Waterside home, cozy, relatively quiet, free range bunny and chicken....occasional goose, hare,game bird etc for variety if you fancy some harder work...:)

lostinrates

bugslet wrote: »

Does Kiwi have any fox chasing genes in him?

Back from 2 days in the NP heartland and a trip to Goring to take some customers out - had one of the best meals I've had for a long time in the Miller of Mansfield - need to find an excuse to go back!

Yes, he does. He also killed a vixen he found in the chicken house. :eek:. Was as big as him, and not unhealthy. We were not allowed to dispose of it, he spread her out on the lawn as a warning to all predators of HIS egg providers. ( he nicks eggs, which is really where his concern rests).

bugslet

Ruby-woo has come over all unnecessary now; she thinks he's very macho:o

lostinrates

bugslet wrote: »

Ruby-woo has come over all unnecessary now; she thinks he's very macho:o

So does he. He does it all with his lamb trim though :rotfl::rotfl:

tom9980

lostinrates wrote: »

Yes, he does. He also killed a vixen he found in the chicken house. :eek:. Was as big as him, and not unhealthy. We were not allowed to dispose of it, he spread her out on the lawn as a warning to all predators of HIS egg providers. ( he nicks eggs, which is really where his concern rests).

What a top dog kiwi is :T

Yesterday we looked around some nice gardens first proper day off for us both this month. The garden was split into themed sections Alice in wonderland, Africa, Edwina the dragon, Italian and pirate were among them. The attached cafe served some lovely food too, a bit of a hidden gem that place.

lostinrates

Fir does get personal email / calls at work any more. But he can get wifi in a cafe next door, extremely popular with his colleagues ...all pouring in there for the wifi.

On Saturday we are meeting a friend of his and his partner for supper.

Friend had emailed that he'd made reservations for 6.

Fir: who else do you think is coming

Lir: I think he might mean us to eat at six

Fir: really? Like babies? How strange,

Lir: well, its healthier, they say, we do it at home when I can organise you in time to sometimes.

Fir: I know I hope its other people.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

...

While 6pm's tea-time for most people in my experience, if you're going out for a meal on a Saturday then later is the norm else you have to find shedloads more things to do after you've eaten - and run the risk of feeling peckish again by 10.30.

More a time for ensuring you get some "Early Bird Diner Deal", or people meeting for only the early part of the evening straight after work or Saturday shopping.

Spirit_2

lostinrates wrote: »

Fir does get personal email / calls at work any more. But he can get wifi in a cafe next door, extremely popular with his colleagues ...all pouring in there for the wifi.

On Saturday we are meeting a friend of his and his partner for supper.

Friend had emailed that he'd made reservations for 6.

Fir: who else do you think is coming

Lir: I think he might mean us to eat at six

Fir: really? Like babies? How strange,

Lir: well, its healthier, they say, we do it at home when I can organise you in time to sometimes.

Fir: I know I hope its other people.

Older people also prefer earlier suppers.

Yesterday we had guests for dinner. My sister, two of her friends and three of her in-laws. Apart from my sister, everyone was aged 70 +, all lively and good fun but we were warned they all preferred to eat "early", we have a reputation for eating "late". They arrived at 4pm, had drinks in the garden then sat down to eat at 5pm. I had planned on cooking cod loin, however learnt on Saturday that half of them were not keen on fish so a last minute switch to chicken casserole with sage dumplings. there were 10 of us altogether so I still have 2.5 kilos of cod in the freezer.

Felt like a noisy and jolly evening, they were all as much fun as I remembered, having known most of them since I was a child,but were no longer burning the midnight oil and it did feel very early when everyone left at 9pm. It would take an hour to drive back to the holiday house they have rented near Bournemouth. I had catered for larger appetites and we had five courses the ani pasti and casserole all went but thereafter several declared they were full. Fortunately they took most of the leftovers, Fruit salad, remains of Rhubarb tart, half a chocolate fudge cake, cheeses and a HM loaf.

lostinrates

Spirit wrote: »

Older people also prefer earlier suppers.

If I eat amply, I prefer to eat early certainly. Going to bed 'full' is unpleasant and exercise on a full stomach certainly not overly enjoyable.

Both my parents and fir's family would normally opt for a later supper normally. I think time of year as well as lifestyle etc can all impact.

ukmaggie45

vivatifosi wrote: »

http://en-gb.topographic-map.com/places/Cornwall-35462/

Gosh, thanks for that Viva, really interesting map. Old home at 144 ft, new home at 177 ft and caravan at 200ft. And yet it's the caravan that I had a really realistic nightmare about - the sea rushing out, way out, then the big wave and trying to run up the hill to get away... It's a 3 arrow hill on the OS maps so not an easy one to run up! :eek: . And that's just the road - the path is shorter but steeper. :eek: This is years ago now, long before the recent tsunamis. Must be over 20 years ago at least. Was there on my own with the kids, maybe aged 8 & 10 or thereabouts. I woke up completely panicked and out of breath! Felt as if I really had just run up that hill! :rotfl:

michaels wrote: »

We bought a flowering cherry and eating apple tree from Mr M this afternoon as they were marked down to 3.50, the choice of variety was based on which looked least dead....

Hope some of your neighbours have apple trees - not all apples are self fertilizing so need another one nearby in flower at the same time. I expect there will be some nearby as apples seem to be the most popular fruit tree for suburban gardens, but thought should mention. What kind of eating apple? The one we have is James Grieve, which is self fertile, but does better if cross fertilized. Eating apple, but you can use it as a cooker when it's not fully ripened.

PasturesNew wrote: »

So, tubs with composty stuff in seems best as I can move them about in the future more readily than digging a hole would allow.

Tubs of the size you need for those palms will be immensely heavy once they are full of compost and plants, and even more so once they are watered. So site them where you want them to be at first go or you'll have to invest in one of those mini fork lift things you can get in Aldi/Lidl every so often to shift them around. And even that will be difficult if you have the tubs direct on the ground.

Plus if you plant them into the ground they will need much less looking after! Anything in pots or tubs needs watering in summer unless it's our usual wet wet wet summers! But even then pots may need watering if the foliage in them stops a lot of the rainwater reaching the soil.

Not been around recently as we've been at the lottie weeding and planting seeds. Oh, and dosing with Nemaslug, plus some of that gone on garden too where the spuds and onions are planted. Taken some photos, but not had time to upload yet, or even look at yet! Tree peony in back garden is stupendous - 8 flowers this year. Other peonies here are very late, though the one at the lottie is doing fine and flowers out. Suspect our garden is quite chilly as the cold night air rolls down the hill into it. Frost pocket in winter. And the peonies are in a semi-shaded part too, we might move them come autumn, just leave the tree peony in place since it seems happy where it is!

Will put up pics when get time!