Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Kantankrus_Mare

Ewwww Blackcats!! Why are men so disgusting sometimes?

Nice to hear you had a real life meet up foxgloves and crazycatlady.:D

Must have been something in the air yesterday as I also got my garlic in. Was a bit of a long winded job as well.

My dad decided to meet me at the Lottie as it was a reasonably good day after all the rain we have had and brought his generator so he could cut the wood for 3 more raised beds. Of course.....where they wanted to go needed weeding so I set to and did that.

Dad is a bit of a perfectionist ("If a jobs worth doing, do it properly")
so earth was shifted about till the level of the beds were satisfactory to his eye! :rotfl: And then.........I got my garlic in. Yay :T

My back was really hurting rest of the day though. Always does when I spend too long weeding.

Anyway........sweetpeas got sown earlier in the week so now its just a case of an occasional visit to water in the greenhouse and do a bit more weeding as and when the back will allow.

foxgloves

Well done on the garlic planting, Kantankrus. The new raised beds sound like progress too. Ours will need replacing at some point & I think we'll have smaller ones next time, but more of them. I've no more veggie garden stuff to sow until Spring, unless I decide to get some broad beans sown in Nov. If I do, I'll start them in the greenhouse. I do have some nice sturdy little winter lettuce plants in modules, waiting to be planted into my greenhouse border. Variety = Valien. I haven't grown them before but I spotted the seed packet said for winter growing so thought I'd try them. Think they'd be OK outside, but our most destructive garden pest is...... sparrows, & I know if I plant them out into an empty raised bed, they'll get beaked to pieces in no time!
One more load of laundry to double-spin & peg out, then I'm going to get out in the sunshine for an hour of garden border clearing & planting.
Will also be pondering new mystery poo.
Different mystery poo from last time.
And quite a lot of it.
Hmmmm.........
F x

Dottles1

Loving the idea of investigating mystery poo. It reminds me of a French & Saunders sketch about 2 middles aged women who kept kennels, I'm sure you get the drift.
I picked the last courgette of the year yesterday and pulled up the plant. I certainly got my money's worth out of that 50p plant from FB. I was tempted to keep 2 but gave one away to a friend. Just as well because I don't think even I could eat that many courgettes.
I don't have anything planted for the winter but after reading your diary I might just put some garlic in this weekend. I'm guessing it will be ok in a pot ? I'm also waiting for pay day to get some winter pansies for the pots before it's too late.
I need to put away the garden furniture and weed the front border today while the sun shines. It is chilly here though.

foxgloves

Dottles - Hi, yes, I would think it's perfectly possible to grow garlic in pots, as long as there's sufficient room. I did once successfully plant an overwintering trough of Japanese onions, so I don't see why container garlic wouldn't work too. The cloves usually put up nice bright green spears of leaf before Christmas if you plant them around now, so I always think that's a bit of promise for sunnier times ahead. They do like a few consecutive days of below zero nights, which assists with the cloves forming properly, so I felt quite positive about all the frost on the cars first thing this morning......even thought there's no way any of our garlic can possibly have started sprouting since yesterday afternoon!
F x

DawnW

foxgloves wrote: »

Dottles - Hi, yes, I would think it's perfectly possible to grow garlic in pots, as long as there's sufficient room. I did once successfully plant an overwintering trough of Japanese onions, so I don't see why container garlic wouldn't work too. The cloves usually put up nice bright green spears of leaf before Christmas if you plant them around now, so I always think that's a bit of promise for sunnier times ahead. They do like a few consecutive days of below zero nights, which assists with the cloves forming properly, so I felt quite positive about all the frost on the cars first thing this morning......even thought there's no way any of our garlic can possibly have started sprouting since yesterday afternoon!
F x

I grow garlic in containers every year, and find that it works very well if a) the containers are big enough, and b) you use decent compost - I use a good potting compost mixed with some stuff out of our own compost heap, and make sure you keep it fed and watered once spring comes. It pretty much looks after itself over winter, though if it looked dry (unlikely) I would water it. I use plastic box thingies that the council used to provide for recycling, with holes drilled in the bottom, and covered with netting to stop the norty birds digging the cloves up. The boxes are about 30 cm deep, but they could get away with being a bit less than that.

foxgloves

Foxgloves Intrepid Poo Investigator - Day 1:
As I am not Chris Packham, I need to begin by saying that I haven't picked it up, poked it into individual components with a pointy stick or smelled it. Nevertheless, I have had a blimming good look. There is quite a lot of it, so I'd say it's the result of multiple bums, or one very overactive one!
It is only on the courtyard, so as that is where we have our busy bird-feeding station, it is something which is coming to eat bird food. I am here in the daytime & spend a lot of time in the garden & kitchen. I haven't seen any unusual daytime activity except for a few weeks ago when a polecat scampered across our lawn, so it must be a nocturnal critter.
I've been looking at more online images of garden wildlife poo this afternoon than I ever thought I might........it is mammalian, not avine & it isn't any of the usual suspects, so I've ruled out squirrel, rat, mouse, deer (they are in our county but not locally & couldn't access our garden anyway), rabbit, hare, badger, fox, dog or cat. I would think that the polecat I saw back in the summer was an escapee & as I didn't see him again, that he found his way home, but I googled polecat poo just in case. Nope!
So it is indeed a mystery. We do like to attract garden wildlife, so I'd love to know what animal this is. The only way it could be one of the mammals I've ruled out is if it is eating something alien to its normal diet,(i.e lots of bird food & maybe squishy fermenting pears it's found under the hedge) & is suffering from nuclear bowel fall-out! I think I will try to remember to pop out to the conservatory a few times after dark & see if I can see any shadowy critters tucking into the bird supplies.
So that's today's mystery!
I've just updated our grocery budget which is all over the place following two farm shop purchases (meat & a big sack of potatoes) which are not just for this week, but have taken a chunk out of the budget. Hmmm. We do have lots of food in atm, so I think the way around this is to maybe start thinking about next week's meal plans a bit earlier, making sure I really prioritise our current supplies & meals which will only require a small purchase. This is perfectly doable,-it is just a case of sitting down & thinking about it properly.
Lovely to plant up another cleared section of garden border this morning just using plants I'd raised from free seed or from self-seeded freebies. Wish I could say I managed to get my three loads of laundry dry for free too, but despite it being sunny & windy when I pegged it all out, it soon succumbed to a really cold sharp shower, so all had to be fetched in where it's now on the heated airer - I honestly think that's one of the most useful household gizmos I've ever bought.
Looking forward to GBBO finale tonight & knitting some more of my new jumper which I cast on last night - 324 stitches per round - I think it will be a long project, so I will just enjoy it & think myself lucky that I didn't have to buy the yarn, which was a gift, as was the lovely pattern book.
Keep warm all - an extra layer or pair of socks really does make a difference on these cold nights.
Love & Peace,
F x

foxgloves

PurpleFairy - Yes, I forget that you don't live all that far away as the crow flies. I wonder if there have been any occasions where we have been at the same venue for a day out & passed each other without even knowing. It can be a surprisingly small world.
F x

PurpleFairy26

foxgloves wrote: »

PurpleFairy - Yes, I forget that you don't live all that far away as the crow flies. I wonder if there have been any occasions where we have been at the same venue for a day out & passed each other without even knowing. It can be a surprisingly small world.
F x

I'm sure it's a possibility at the Swedish emporium or one of our lovely NT places.

PurpleFairy26

Do you think the poo was related to potatogate??!?! And it was just visiting you for a second time :rotfl:

crazy_cat_lady

:rotfl:
The poo detective
:rotfl:
Anyway - hope you enjoye GBBO last night. I certainly did. I am just trying to survive today and make plans for payday tomorrow, and my budget for the month ahead.