Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

Yesterday was pretty grim for an August B H. I gave up by lunchtime and spent the afternoon on research for our next planning submission. I picked out failures from the council list, to see why they failed. Also, a few were chosen that didn't seem like they had a hope in hell, to see how they swung it. Obviously, no brown envelopes visible , but the time spent was interesting and worthwhile. I'm encouraged.

At the same time, the nearby NIMBYS were having their annual conflab, where we were on the agenda. We will have to wait till the cup of tea with X, to find out what went on there. It'll be second-hand and abridged, though. X doesn't have one of those nifty pens that does recordings.

That was a super picture of the Moor, 2p. I'd be considering a trip there myself, but Mrs D has taken the jalopy to visit aged parents and I don't fancy grinding up Countisbury in my de-turboed van! Maybe later in the week, when the tourists have departed. Our guests have all gone now; their reserves of rurality topped-up. Those with children left a potty and several junior toothbrushes, same as last time. It's never an iPad or Apple Watch!

Your mound....err, hang on...The fertilizer enriched, walled-in area around your tree, Bluey, is similar to what I do with courgettes and squash. The latter have been incredibly slow this year, though. :|The courgettes are OK, with the new ones now taking over from the first lot that are going mildewed. With the weather as it's been, maybe I should have done a third lot.

You're going to be disappointed with the fuchsia fruits Farway, but at least it won't be a nasty taste, just bland.

On Crocosmia, my friend's had a waiting game this year. Her 93-year-old neighbour helpfully planted some for her in a 25cm gap she has between fence and path. We've been praying they weren't 'Lucifer,' as that goes to about 5' around here, before collapsing. Luckily, they're not, and seem to be topping-out at around 2'. I haven't IDed them, but they're nice enough.

OT: Pleasant weather here today, which will encourage the visitors to hang on until the last minute, so the M5 becomes a car park around evening time!

Edit: Oooh, arty window pp!

Farway

Sun out after a bit of drizzle first thing, supposed to stay fine.

Hope so, DGD is on her way Sarf and had to stop for the night at Stoke. 

Weather & wind was so bad apparently, fairly new driver with a light Fiat, so I guess getting blown around a bit. Aberdeen to Southampton is a long way for a fairly novice driver.

And today will be her initiation into a Bank Holiday around Spaghetti Junction

YoungBlueEyes said:

Aww those teddies are kinda sad, but funny too. Foxgloves ha haa! What happened the rest of the Fred Dinage story btw…? 

Speaking of edibles - George was tentatively eating Hot Lips last week on BG, tasted quite nice iirr. 

Farway said:

 I was Mingling with the Stars.! 

Fred Dineage, who lives locally, came along as well, nice fella, even gave me a steadying hand out of my chair.

How! You may ask?

You must be very young, or sheltered life YBE , The How was a not too subtle pun, Fred presented a TV prog called How! Complete with now un pc Red Indian How signs, it was OK in those days of course.

Fred is halfway through, I challenge you not to laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS1-aoUNBbE

I like the steps BTW.

Evocative wet window PP,

Once the sun gets a bit higher, I'll go out and check if I have any more overnight Teddys, and I have a fig which is just about ready, needs a bit more warmth & it'll be there

Today is my Rubylicous tomatoes, I think I'll get them fully ripe, even If I have to pick & bring inside should blight get the plant now they have started to colour up

Bottom right is my Canna leaf

twopenny

Still chilly and cloudy here but bright enough to keep the holidaymakers hanging on.

Finally got the fruit bags made. they look hillarious! May have to square them off over winter but they'll do for now. I could also wish for some more subtle colour than pure white but so far seems to have kept the varmits off.

I'm going to enjoy the day of relaxing mostly as tomorrow is the start of spending hours ringing for insurance quotes et al. Whatever happened to the old days where I walked into a broker and sat while they did the work? Things definitely haven't moved on.

Dusty the heather should be at it's best now and the drop of rain should keep it going for a couple of weeks so you have time. The Dunkery area is looking lovely  but it is a stunning tapestry all over this year.

Farway, I've done pottery a couple of times in my life. I can almost feel the pressure and frustration but could see what would happen from the off. I went to making slab and coil pots, modeling and such. So much better.

Wet overnight and dull with a NW wind but at least I can see!

I haven't had to put up the blackout blinds this year, not once. IN fact I'm going to take the black out curtain linings off the curtains as then the light will look sunny even if it's not.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

I'm going to enjoy the day of relaxing mostly as tomorrow is the start of spending hours ringing for insurance quotes et al. Whatever happened to the old days where I walked into a broker and sat while they did the work? Things definitely haven't moved on.

Is this car? Mrs Dusty uses the MSE tool, or whatever it is. Takes time, but she rarely needs to talk to a human until she's finished, when she gives the chosen company the 3rd degree! Quotes are held over from one day to another etc, so it's something she can work on without too much pressure. Seems to get a good result, too, moneywise.

I've gone with RIAS most years, being somewhat lazy. I used to play them off against another company, but I can't recall which one. Right now, no car. Mrs Dusty owns the van.

pink_poppy

I don't know why people give back-handed compliments, YBE. I don't take them to heart and they usually go over my head anyway. One example is a Faceache friend commenting on a pic of my eldest DD - she said how pretty my DD was and that she reminded her of one of my sisters   I only 'got it' when I came across the comment again a couple of years later - I'm obviously a bit slow on the uptake    
The weather did improve a bit last night, but too little too late and we had the fire on again. Fingers crossed Cissie is right and we're going to get better weather this week.

I really like that crocosmia or whatever it is, Dusty. It reminds me of... I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but we were talking about them on here a while back... they have a peppery smell and used to be sold in supermarkets as cut flowers??...

Wow to the number of tomatoes you get on one stalk/stem, Farway. The most I've ever had is five.

I went shopping this morning (didn't have to wait until 10am ) and it stayed dry while I was out, but when I got home it looked like it had poured down here. It's dried up a bit, but it's very grey and cloudy. Put it this way, I won't be hanging any washing outside today...

twopenny

Yes car. It's the age that does it. Be interesting this year as I see a lot of small old cars around replacing the gas guzzlers of old.

I'm leaving it till tomorrow. Playing off against each other seems to be a thing of the past now though I know that they are more generous if you have time before renewal so they know you can go elsewhere.

Poppy, I wish some decent weather for you. I think you've suffered enough. Though we seem to be in the same boat here only too damp to garden and soil dry and the cold. Nearly put the fire on yesterday  

Yes, I love that colour of Crowhatsit.

Farway

pink_poppy said:

Wow to the number of tomatoes you get on one stalk/stem, Farway. The most I've ever had is five.

Unfortunately that's down to the variety, not my great gardening

However, I was impressed by the number of toms per truss, and the blight resistance seems to be working. I may grow them again next year if taste is OK.

Teddy bear check of garden completed, no extras today. 

I looked a bit more closely at the toys, there's warning label “not for children”, seems they are pet toys . Zoon make.

Seems a postman's leg is not enough for today's pampered pets

The nearly ripe fig was ripe, so scoffed that, plus a couple of raspberries. The fuchsia berries still have a way to go.

twopenny said:

Finally got the fruit bags made. they look hillarious! May have to square them off over winter but they'll do for now. I could also wish for some more subtle colour than pure white but so far seems to have kept the varmits off.

Just in time 2P, this morning I found two, un netted, apples pecked and ruined, I never netted them because they were very low & I thought bird proof, wrong .

I'll post a pic once I have it sorted

pink_poppy

Do you scoff the whole fig, Farway, skin and all, or just the inside?? I've never had a fresh fig. A packet of fig rolls on the other hand...
Truss - I knew there was a proper word for it.

Freesia was the flower I was thinking of earlier. I blame lack of sleep for my inability to remember anything today...

twopenny, I looked at our forecast earlier and it's not great. Saturday is looking okay at the moment. Fingers crossed your weather improves too.

It's chilly again tonight, so DH will probably be moaning about me wanting the fire on again.

twopenny

Went from 15c and cloudy to 20c and cloudy so suffocating not nice

Looked up from my dinner to see an amazing sunset. The clouds had cleared on one side only to show the fire of orange glow. Should have driven up on the hill. Next time

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

I really like that crocosmia or whatever it is, Dusty. It reminds me of... I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but we were talking about them on here a while back... they have a peppery smell and used to be sold in supermarkets as cut flowers??...

The name I think you're looking for, is Freesia. They do look quite like those. Just grateful they're relatively small.

twopenny said:

Yes car. It's the age that does it.

I think I've covered my age problems on here. The van's 22, and I'm much more than 3x older!

pink_poppy said:

Do you scoff the whole fig, Farway, skin and all, or just the inside?? I've never had a fresh fig. A packet of fig rolls on the other hand...
Truss - I knew there was a proper word for it.

Freesia was the flower I was thinking of earlier. I blame lack of sleep for my inability to remember anything today...

It's chilly again tonight, so DH will probably be moaning about me wanting the fire on again.

Perhaps 'Truss' would be a good name for a new variety of long-standing lettuce.

I scoff the whole fig, or rather I'd scoff them if I had any!

Ah, I see your memory is there, after all. I'm also finding sleep elusive. Lots going on.

A certain pair of rather inebriated relatives 'borrowed' some of our wood for a camp fire by their tent at the weekend.

I'm pleased to say they took the oak, cut by the electricity bods only a few weeks ago. No fire, and we still have our wood!

twopenny said:

Looked up from my dinner to see an amazing sunset. The clouds had cleared on one side only to show the fire of orange glow. Should have driven up on the hill. Next time

Missed that bit. This is what we had:

The good news: our NIMBY neighbours have decided to end their dispute with us. The bad news: if we accept we did wrong and don't do it again.  I left school in 1969. Here is the proof:
Caption: “Well, we tried!”