Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Dusty I like that Gom-whatsit, I'm going to look that up. Lovely Buddleia too. A much underated plant because of it's bad habits. Perhaps someone should breed one with infertile flowers.

The newer small ones can be good and civilised. DD has one. I think it's one of the 'Buzz' series. It stays small enough to go with the dahlias and similar things in pots.

The Gomphostigma is hard to come by, but easy enough to grow. I just chop it down near base level about once a year. Cuttings root as easily as Buddleia. It only grows to about waist height and doesn't self-seed. On the subject of self-seeding, I spotted this one a few months ago with silver foliage, so I left it to grow and pinched it out a few times. The result = no flowers! I'll pop a picture up when it does.

I like your Moon picture, pp.  Farway's very professional-looking, but doing something different may be rewarding, too. 2p's 'scary' moon picture is more memorable than most shots I've seen in the past few weeks. The pictures that stick in people's minds are very often unplanned and very much 'in the moment.'. I'd give examples, but they might be judged 'political' or 'off-topic.' Regardless, you all know what I mean.

twopenny said:

And I've just thought that a local village has a better gardening group than mine here, though that seems to have improved.

They're so bad at advertising since the pandemic and a lot of stuff has got cancelled since the pandemic.

A lot seems to be dementia, mental illness etc. I'm not there yet  

It's the Hamster Wheel effect. Middle-aged people seem to be are somehow busier than we were, years ago. It's progress.   

Lovely oak tree frame in your second picture, wort. No sign of autumn in either of them. Hope the walk was a good 'un. We were doing one today, but sudden visitors, the need for shopping and the thunderstorm warnings have put paid to that! :'(

YoungBlueEyes

Just a quick post this morning. Himself wants to go away this weekend (needs to decompress from work, and solving the situation by thumping the culprits is strictly verboten, apparently) so I need to shift to get my friday stuff done before he comes back this aft.

They've put trees in Dusty?! That's malevolent that is. They're not leylandii are they? Pretty flower arrangement, I like the white wosnames.

Ooh I love your 'barely there' moon pic pp, your mountains look a bit Turkey-ish  

Gawd look at the clarity in your moon Farway That's the difference of a proper camera I guess. Glad your car has decided to play nicely I'm sans Winnies and bears of all varieties so my Davies' Mining Bees will have to stop If there were fewer of them I wouldn't mind so much, but hey ho. Hurrah on your tree sit rep, almost the best possible outcome there eh.

That's a bu99er about your groups 2p, what will you do now? Is your council any good at keep folks amused with social activities? If you can't find anything could you start something? Art lessons or summat..?

Maybe stop dead-heading Less, the wild ones you see aren't messed with and they're always full and glorious... #Shawshank innit.

Ooh nice pics wort, you can tell it's sunny The tree has a bum in it's middle! I do like a wooded walk  

This is from yesterday, Handsome is used to me now  

The trees are starting to turn, it’s lovely  

I got my car back yesterday, so my car is happy but my bank balance is not They only did one cylinder (woohoo) but I've still got a chunky advisory list (booo). I asked the fellah should I start thinking about a new less old car and he said "no need love". As long as you've got a basic car like wot mine is - ie no bells and whistles and sensors and things constantly beeping at you there's less to go wrong and they're easier to fix. They're from the built to last era. He has a swift too and a clio and not part with either of them. And don't worry about mileage he said - I'm nearly at 100k - it's only half way through it's life if I treat it right. So that's something if anyone else is maybe thinking about perhaps looking for a car to consider upgrading to, possibly. The man's gotta be in his 80s if he's a day, so that's another good lifestyle tip  

Cloudy and mild and humid out there, for a change. Checking the weather last night to see what we're heading into this weekend and it's a bladdy thunderstorm and lashing rain If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all ha haa! 

YoungBlueEyes

Memorable "unplanned" and "in the moment" pics Dusty? You mean like my power showering pigeon? That wasn't political at all. Well me wee car is red but I don't think that counts

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Memorable "unplanned" and "in the moment" pics Dusty? You mean like my power showering pigeon? That wasn't political at all. Well me wee car is red but I don't think that counts

I was thinking about one in particular, which probably changed the way people here in the west saw a war in the east. However, on your theme, this morning I've just seen a video of a chicken swimming, which has also radically altered my perceptions!

......Which neatly segues into our very clean chicken shed from Wednesday. Air B&B anyone? Open views, fresh air and as much maize as you can eat! 

Handsome looks very relaxed. You can tell he knows you won't run off now!   No, the trees aren't Leylandii, but they may suffer a similar fate to British Leylandii ! 

YoungBlueEyes

A swimming chicken?! I never heard tell of that before This place never ceases to amaze me. As for the trees, well not everything that's planted will take, not necessarily your fault Dusty That's a swish hen house, I have actually stayed in less salubrious surroundings! Will you miss the girls now they've gone..?  

I popped back to say my woolly sweet+tart apple is a Discovery Tescoii Farway. It gets good write-ups so maybe it's another victim of mislabeling... 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

A swimming chicken?! I never heard tell of that before This place never ceases to amaze me. As for the trees, well not everything that's planted will take, not necessarily your fault Dusty That's a swish hen house, I have actually stayed in less salubrious surroundings! Will you miss the girls now they've gone..?

To be fair, the chicken flew into the swimming pool accidentally. It was more competent fortunate than the Rhea, which was startled by a tractor and ran into the lake at a property we visited a few weeks ago. It drowned. :'(

Our chickens are still with us. Mrs Dusty is looking after them again now, having recovered somewhat from her pulled hamstring.

pink_poppy

I love your photos, wort, especially the first one. Walking (or driving) through a tree-lined path (or road) with branches overhanging is the nicest thing ever. I think I should have been a wood nymph as it makes me feel so at peace   Trust YBE to notice the tree bum   

Hope you have a lovely weekend away, YBE. Are you able to give us a clue as to where you're going?? My DD is going camping near Pitlochry so we are cat-sitting. We're hoping to get out for a few hours between feeding times because our weather is stupendously sunny at the moment. In fact, come up North this weekend - you won't regret it - sunshine and sublime sunsets   

That's a very tidy chicken shed, Dusty. I bet you'd have some takers for an AirBnB.

I tried taking more pics of the moon last night, but just got a huge white blob. I did look at it through my comedy binoculars (they weigh a ton) and wow it was bright. It was still there this morning (it had moved round, obviously) and we had a lovely pink sky to go with it.

I was going to post a 'framed' photo I took last night, but apparently it's too large?? I need to figure out how to change the sizing. I also took some photos of the sunset as we were driving over a bridge - the colours were amazing but I somehow managed to miss the actual sun going down because it's hidden behind the bridge framework. I'll never make it as a photographer...   

As mentioned above, we're having some gorgeous weather at the moment

Farway

Bright & sunny but a chilly wind doth blow

twopenny said:

Amazing photo Farway!!!!!!!

Your jalopy, could it be the fuel pump? Remember I had a car that started intermitently - or not. It's been on the blink for some time.

Rocking helped but aparantly you give the fuel tank a good thumping if it won't start. Bit like the starter motor in the old days when you could reach it. You used and umbrella or walking stick to give it a whack and were up and running again

Been looking for classes indoors in the warm for the winter as one of my table tennis groups may fold and the dancing is done without heating so not good for my 'intermitent starting' back and leg. But there's nothing much on, not like the old days when there were lots of active craft groups and such done through the government. I've got lots of crafts at home but would like some socialising in the winter. How exciting Maj Jong or Scrabble may be to some it doesn't do it for me.

Fuel pump does sound likely, especially with it working the day after . If I knew where my FP was it may be possible to check it, but with my creaky bones I doubt I'll be able to.

Ah, the starter motor thumping stick, I had a Maxi that often required a whack with a 2 lb hammer kept in the car as a starting aid. I still have the hammer, Maxi has long since gone.

Would Family History / genealogy groups appeal if any in your area? I'm an addict, but it is one of those things you can do as much or little as you like, plus again, can get very or not involved. 

Back OT, some of mine were gardeners by occupation, maybe it is in DNA?

Wort, good photos there, love the woods one

pink_poppy said:

That's an epic moon pic, Farway   Mine literally pales into insignificance   Did you see your rainbow pic on another thread is 'Photo of the Week'?? Well done that man

No, I missed that, thanks for pointing it out.

Dustyevsky said:

twopenny said:

Dusty I like that Gom-whatsit, I'm going to look that up. Lovely Buddleia too. A much underated plant because of it's bad habits. Perhaps someone should breed one with infertile flowers.

The newer small ones can be good and civilised. DD has one. I think it's one of the 'Buzz' series. It stays small enough to go with the dahlias and similar things in pots.

I like your Moon picture, pp.  Farway's very professional-looking, but doing something different may be rewarding, too. 2p's 'scary' moon picture is more memorable than most shots I've seen in the past few weeks. The pictures that stick in people's minds are very often unplanned and very much 'in the moment.'. I'd give examples, but they might be judged 'political' or 'off-topic.' Regardless, you all know what I mean.

twopenny said:

And I've just thought that a local village has a better gardening group than mine here, though that seems to have improved.

They're so bad at advertising since the pandemic and a lot of stuff has got cancelled since the pandemic.

A lot seems to be dementia, mental illness etc. I'm not there yet  

It's the Hamster Wheel effect. Middle-aged people seem to be are somehow busier than we were, years ago. It's progress.   

I've got a Buzz one, stated out with three different colours, but two got Vine Weevilled, so down to one purple. But I do have a cutting from it growing, which I'll transplant this winter.

I'd say one recent "in the moment" is the one immediately after the sniper attack, with DT and raised fist with US flag in background. 

I listened to the photographer and although it was all unplanned he rightly anticipated the exit route would pass the US flag, and rushed to the position ASAP while the others were busy photographing the scene in front to them.

We are having trouble recruiting volunteers, like you say, everyone busy, and will get worse as retirement age creeps up

pink_poppy said:

I was going to post a 'framed' photo I took last night, but apparently it's too large?? I need to figure out how to change the sizing. I also took some photos of the sunset as we were driving over a bridge - the colours were amazing but I somehow managed to miss the actual sun going down because it's hidden behind the bridge framework. I'll never make it as a photographer...   

If you search for “Image resize” you'll find lots of free resources, just pick one you find easy

Today's photo is one of my Wisley ones, in the glasshouse desert area

twopenny

Oh that's beautiful Farway! Colours and shapes in different greens. That's worthy of a wall photo.

I gave in and bought some Garotta, probably enough to last a lifetime it's such a big box but the only one I could get. While there I saw a spray for Vineweavel but I guess you tried them all. It had very specific instructions about timing and leaves.

Wort, looks like a lovely walk and on a level too which is a bonus. I heard something interesting about the healing power of being in amongst trees the other day - but I've forgotten it Forest bathing as well of course.

Poppy you lucky thing, sunshine! It's dark cloud here with north wind. This was the day our group went for a last photo shoot of course with flat light everywhere. Be interesting what people got.

Bluey good news about the car - and a mini holiday. Start again when you get back.

Dusty, do you have any aluminum sulphate left from your hydrangas ? Or copper nails from building the hen house

Or perhaps you should put some of these at the entrance to the drive   

Tired out now with neighbours building delivery, lorry lights blazing in the bedroom window and the noise or the engine and hoist at 7am. Heck of a way to wake up And right in the middle of what was lovely neighbours treasured garden.

I may drag myself out to do the last repotting.

Made some Apple Chutney yesterday, funny shortcut method as I was pushed for time so it was sling it all in at a guess, drop vinegar bottle lid in and fish out, mistake 1/2tsp for 2tsp of ginger and so on. Surprisingly it turned to chutney very quickly without all the lengthly process of boiling off the liquid. So I may try that again next year.

Lavender pompoms on the way, Rosewater still fine and getting enough Kale/Broccolli/beans a day for one meal...........two of those shouldn't be ready and the one orange tomato that should be red. Supposed to be Gardeners Delight but the wrong size and colour.

Just one of those years I guess.

pink_poppy

I like the Wisley Desert pic, Farway. I bet it was hot in there though.
Good idea re the family history. I was looking at my Mum's side the other day. I'm a member of Ancestry, but haven't paid for full membership so don't get to see much.

Funny pic, twopenny   Someone has a sense of humour.

It's been a really warm and sunny day here and I've been for a couple of walks, including doing some more brambling, which was much more successful than last time I picked a couple of sloes, but they feel too hard. Brambles are currently soaking, with little maggots floating to the surface!! Yum    

Farway, I cheated with the too big photo and just took a screenshot of it, which worked, it just looks a little bit darker than the original...



I also took some photos on my walks today. Can anyone name this plant/weed?? I absolutely love the smell - it reminds me of peaches...


I spotted this wee fella crossing the road in front of me...


No idea what the caterpillar is, but he/she was lucky to not get squished by a car that had just driven by.

And finally, there are still flowers opening on the brambles/blackberries...


It's looking like another beautiful sunset tonight