Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

I just had it as a bowl of stew pp, I did himself mustardy mash. It's wonderous how our brains work - I ate a bowl of stew and it was fine, but if I'd been eating a plate of mash-less shepherd's pie I'd have been looking for the mash. Itms? Celeriac mash I really like but I do that as a bed under a nice piece of grilled fish rather than on top of a meaty dish. I'll be topping up the leftovers with mushrooms and possibly some aubergine, that's always nice. I don't think the smal amount of carrot I did eat will be a problem tbh, plus you need a few for the vitamins  

I think they're still messing on with this place, the banner says it's only a temp format though which is a good job because I don't like it. If it helps I have one window and half a dozen tabs open for each board I like and just refresh them and read the new posts like that.

Farway

Blue sky, but darned chilly this morning. The car has been collected, to have its bonnet release fixed, so that's my main job done for the day.

Dustyevsky said:

wort said:
Dusty I buy the loo roll from farm foods, with the duck on . The more packs of 18 you get the better value😉

Ah, my nearest Farm Foods in terms of time is the one 41 miles away! Looking at the product, it's certainly cheaper to have a duck than a puppy! I note there's a more eco option, though, and that's to go bamboo. Yikes! I hope they process it well.

YoungBlueEyes said:

Oh aye, lobsters are crustaceans, thanks Dusty. You're a swine Farway, I believed you saying insects. Fgs :rolleyes: You've played with them on the Great Barrier Reef 2p I need more of that story...
Lovely and dry and sunny and crisp out there this morning, I love this weather. If it stops like this I could be out all day perambulating Handsome Mk1  

  Farway knows his classification, so I laughed when I saw that.

2p has been around. Was she employed on cruise ships, I wonder?
I like being a 'melt into the background' photographer, but my pointy-shoot small camera made a mush of nephew's wedding recently. Posh phones outclass it now, especially on dull days.  

Looks like it will be a mix of bright and dull here today, with rainy sprinkles. Last night it looked very dark over 2p's way, and we had an unpredicted downpour just before dark.

Here's the last image I have from our estuary walk. It's something I may have posted before, but bears repeating.

It's nothing to worry about. I like the rose's contrasty thorns!

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/robins-pin-cushion

The lobster / insect problem is one of those debatable things, if you go down a lot of rabbit holes, it all depends, and why let facts get in the way?

It's the exoskeleton and body joints, apparently the same as insects.

But if in doubt, you could always tuck into a cat or dog, I guess

Joking aside, when I was t'lad I briefly worked with a Dutch lady, and she used to tell us how a nice fat rat was a blessing during the Occupation in Holland.

There's a Farm Foods near me, but I've never been in despite meaning to, I seem to head to Morries instead. I have heard bamboo are not very good, good idea but in practice a fail, like peat free compost.

The small point & shoot cameras are all the rage now Dusty, Tik Tok influencers. I like my one for some things, but horses for course, and I think some modern posh phones have AI helping them along as well.

I like that Rose Gall pic, I can't find my pic of them, but I think hazel Witches Broom are similar cause, bitten by a lobster or summat like that.

Would you believe there is a Society for enthusiasts? https://www.british-galls.org.uk/  But given some dates it may have headed for the fiords.

That would be a bit of horticultural one-upmanship, putting member of BPGS after your name.

If the sun keeps out I'll have an inspection later, some Autumn Bliss raspberries, new this year from Morries, were ripening, as were some Helen blackberries

LessImpecunious

YoungBlueEyes said:

Oh aye, lobsters are crustaceans, thanks Dusty. You're a swine Farway, I believed you saying insects. Fgs :rolleyes: You've played with them on the Great Barrier Reef 2p I need more of that story...  

Carrots - well all root veg really. One of the sites I was reading (no chance of remembering which one) said that if a veg grows underground you shouldn't eat it because you're eating it's energy store = sugar/glucose/starch/carbs. You're better off eating peas or peppers etc. And sweet potatoes are neither sweet nor potatoes - they're yams - so they're a wiser choice if you really can't live without chips. It's all very interesting actually.

Saying sweet potatoes are yams is like saying lobsters are insects...plus they're also root veg...(as are yams). Does not compute! 

I would personally stick to sites/sources which have sources, IYSMIM - the likes of the ZOE Project and Michael Mosley, plus the NHS and Diabetes Association, if that doesn't constitute medical advice!

twopenny

You lot have got me measuring toilet rolls now

Tescos Andrex offer £5, narrower. Cushelle £4.95 for same narrower but bigger rolls - works out 1p difference per 100g or something.

Playing with lobsters, sea cucumbers, starfish and clams (they are beautiful inside the shell) on the Great Barrier Reef. Stayed there and watched turtles laying eggs, Red Tailed Tropic bird nestlings outside the challets. I stayed there quite a bit. Swam with turtles and a shark (that was unintentional   ) No phones, radios or tv,  I was on the island quite a lot.

Having had diggers outside my bedroom yesterday followed by the groundsman behind doing his thing till 8pm and the concrete delivered at 7.30 this morning I'm groggy today.

Weather is dramatic, was grey then bright and cheery then rained, then windy then rain. The northerly wind was not enjoyed.

But the garden looks more alive. The idea of growing the winter clematis through the climbing rose wasn't the best, sometime I'm going to have to prune the rose back and disentangle the clematis and a ladder will be involved.

The rose is amost entirely black spot.

This evening the sky was dramatic cloud, white and black with the sun glowing through. Blackberrying will have to be tomorrow - maybe.

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

The small point & shoot cameras are all the rage now Dusty, Tik Tok influencers. I like my one for some things, but horses for course, and I think some modern posh phones have AI helping them along as well.

Would you believe there is a Society for enthusiasts? https://www.british-galls.org.uk/  But given some dates it may have headed for the fiords.

To be fair, I think my unobtrusive camera's seen better days. It's been superseded. 

It doesn't surprise me at all about the Gall Enthusiasts; I'm closely related to a renowned expert in liverwort hunting and classification!

Here is the 'framed' photo I mentioned yesterday. I thought it would be good, but ...meh, nothing going on.

2p's dramatic sky above is how it should be done!

LessImpecunious

Hope I didn't offend with my rant about roots this morning YBE - apologies if I did (it was one of those pregret posts)...I am too easily riled by bad botany, and it is even more easily propagated (ahem) now we have t'internet... Of course, I fell into my own trap by using the term "root veg" ... but perhaps I'd better not go there...

Hope everyone survives tonight's threatened frost; I have fingers crossed for beans, courgettes and squashes, plus most of my houseplants which are still on their summer hols outside...

Dustyevsky

LessImpecunious said:

Hope everyone survives tonight's threatened frost; I have fingers crossed for beans, courgettes and squashes, plus most of my houseplants which are still on their summer hols outside...

Crossing fingers didn't work here. We had quite thick frost on the cars, and although the courgettes and squash look OK now, it may be different by lunchtime. The toms in the polytunnel are a greater concern, though. Those whopper I've grown are just turning....

I've said it before, but do make sure you're prepped-up. The signs are all there, we may be in for a 'difficult' winter. I'm not elaborating or trying to scare anyone. I just know it feels better to be prepared for emergencies, whether it's checking insurance cover, having 300 tea lights or lots of ghastly tinned goods no one likes!

Mind you, a headline I saw from that bastion of truth for many OAP's, the Express, takes some beating: "Every house with a chimney faces £300 fines in September." This is actually about emissions in clean air zones. So, by the time we rule out all the non-operative chimneys, the ones carrying gas exhausts, the ones in the countryside and the ones with compliant fires and fuels, that probably doesn't leave many. Certainly not “every” house!  "Don't burn the furniture, Gran, you might be fined!"  Besides, it's supposed to be warming up now, here in the south; double figures night and day for the next week or so. Such a pity about last night with the Autumn Show on Saturday.

Turning to lighter things, Farway often mentions companion planting to confuse, lure away, or encourage the predators of pests, so here's some I spotted in the walled garden visited on Monday.

My rhubarb's full of holes!

greenbee

Predicted to be down to 4C here tonight and I'm also trying to work out what to do about my toms in the greenhouse as they're just starting to ripen, and if they can make it through then next week looks good. I do have insulation (which is in the shed, and was originally for a smaller greenhouse, but it's there). Or I could dry the tealight in a terracotta pot heater thing. 

YoungBlueEyes

Don't worry Less - it takes a lot to offend me, I'm not an easily upset sort More gullible than I'd like to admit? Evidence points to yes. But a sensitive flower? No. Just goes to show Abe Lincoln was right when he said in the 1400's - you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I think I've got my main sources of info sorted, and tbh all the proper ones say the same things. It's just a matter of tweaking bits and getting used to new things. And not believing everything you read on the internet ha haa!  Anyway so what's wrong with "root veg"? 

Nice 'framed' picture there Dusty. I reckon I could spend a lot of time sat watching all that nothing going on I've never seen or heard of rose gall, but I quite like that too. It doesn't harm the rose does it? 

2p have you ever thought of writing a book? The things you come out with on here, honestly you must have a head stuffed with great memories. Sounds like the workmen are going full pelt eh, hopefully they won't be long in finishing. Did you manage to rescue any anemones..? Love the pic too, that's another calendar entry there  

I think my Autumn Bliss (the 4 that are on it) are ripening too Farway, well one deffo is. Are they delivering your car back today..? 

Cold here last night but no frost. Mind when I got up this morning it said the 'feels like' was 2'c Maybe they've got a parrot stabbing away at the keyboard or summat... They said it would be 10' yesterday and a nithering NW wind so I put and jumper and a gilet on to take Handsome out. Well it was a glorious walk - sun out, breeze dropped, felt more like 16' to me. Walking through the woods I got a nice 'framed' pic, I'll put it up in a minute. Today is the last of the cooler weather, they say, and the higher temps are on their way back, possibly. I never thought I'd say this but, good!  

YoungBlueEyes

That doesn’t look as good as it did in real life

Also - 2 mysteries. I thought this was a cherry but the fallen fruits had no stones in them so I left them. I was gonna pick a load of them but didn’t when I realised the tree was covered in them still. If they were something yummy they’d have been got at surely? 

I’ve 2 diddy wee things growing up in my rose pot. They wiggle very slightly when you touch them and they’ve no smell. Should they stay or should they go…?