Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

Lovely sunrise, working_mum and very pretty Nerines, Dusty - are they from bulbs?? I seem to remember buying some years ago and never got round to planting them. Thanks for the sea holly id, btw, I must have had a bog standard one from Asda different one.

Thank you to greenbee for the updated smart meter info. I've looked at our meter and it's got a sticker on saying certified 07 94, so I'm assuming that's the date it was installed. I suppose I'll have to contact our energy supplier.

twopenny, I only use Scottish Aurora pages on Faceache - Argyll Auroras and Scotland's Aurora Watch Help & Advice. I've heard of the Glendale app, but have never found it on the App Store on my phone so don't know if that's UK wide. The Scotland's Aurora Watch page was the one that said 'don't go to bed' on the night of 'the big one' when I was on Harris. It was also the one that predicted it and I remember I posted on here about it. There's another Aurora to watch out for 27th - 28th October (hoping it won't be cloudy). Hope your friend manages to find a local app or page.

YBE, I forgot to ask for 'fingers crossed MOT vibes' yesterday and have been landed with a £1k repair bill to get it through Hope your rattling car is an inexpensive fix.
I didn't know that about Gregor Fisher - I'll have to google him.

I was out in the garden yesterday and had a good look at our Hydrangea. I thought it was interesting how it had flowers at different stages...


OT, it was grey and dreary this morning, but it's brightened up now and I'm wishing I'd put more washing in...

twopenny

What a wonderful start to the day WM!  You are lucky

And love the hydranga photos, they really are lovely flowers when you look close.

Thanks Poppy.

Sky and gardening report on BBC all in one for a chuckle

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm20ng0m403o

Right, I'm off to finish hobbling round with the lawn mower while it's half dry. I think it might finish me off

-taff

Awol again I'm afraid, go the lurgy, been on the sofa for the last two days gnashing my teef at wasting good allotment time being as we are sans builders for a few days [ not sans electrician though, we now have power and lights, woop. There's lot of coughing and a snot factory going on with some added wheezing for fun.

That's a lovely morning pic WM, it does make you stand and wonder when you see the first blushes of dawn and it's quiet and you feel you're the only one alive.

YBE, sorry about your car, I did not snog it, honest giv...How's your lunps and bumps?

Glad mrs dusty is injected and well, I did a similar thing with OHs mum before, we totally lost each other because there's no phone signal around the hopsital and she went on a magical mystery tour and I just went on a neverending tour for about fifty minutes. I was a gnats wing from giving up and just leaving her there Huzzah for the van back too!

Farway, have you been osmostically [ not a rod but I like it] been given dustys knee through the ether?

and yeah, say what you like about HFW but he did manage to popularise traditional ways of doing stuff even if he's gone a bit off piste sometimes. His trad cider stuff and chopping up pigs did endear him to me.

PP, definitely infectious when one goes panicky and I am useless in a crisis. Good one to stop though rather than keep going.

greenbee, I read all that you said and then it turned into mush in my head...very informative though!

Dustyevsky

What a lovely series of hydrangea photos, pp! It's amazing, that's all on one plant at one time! The nerines are bulbs. Although allegedly on the tender side, they should be OK for you. The Sea Holly, whichever one it was, is an annual, but they usually self-seed for me.

Bad luck about the MoT repairs. It's always difficult, judging when to stop investing in a vehicle. I've usually been lucky, making that call, thanks to good local garages, but they, and I, messed up with our 4x4. I was slightly taken aback yesterday when YouTube recommended a video featuring Mrs Dusty's car! I'd forgotten that's how I found it more than 2 years ago. The dealer has since gone up-market in the hope of finding a better class of customer, but his recent offerings suggest the exact opposite has happened. We banger enthusiasts are far less likely to give trouble! 

No sign of Farway? We'll count him anyway.   So, with taff, 2p, Bluey, and me, that's 5 of us with sick notes. Hope you're soon able to return there to gloat over your allotment again, taff. Technically, I'm better, 'cos I've been outside again, this time pressure-washing the windows and gutters etc. I thought I'd better, since we'll soon have guests. Sorry, I didn't wear shorts, even though it was sunny at times.

WM your dawn was a lot better than mine.   It was grim letting the hens out here, but we've had no rain. Is that mistletoe in the branches of those trees?

2p your aurora story made me chuckle. I noted people called the tomato place a 'factory.' Probably not far off the mark!

YoungBlueEyes

Well I took the jalopy in for a fettling this morning, and Mike the Mechanic said it sounded like the backbox (?). Funny you should say about knowing when to call it a day with a car Dusty cos I think I'm about there. I don't wanna be throwing good money after bad, but if it is only the backbox and I get it fixed/replaced there'll be nothing else wrong with it really... so should it stay or should it go... *sigh*  Injecting into MrsD's hands sounds very painful, good thing it's worth the bother Somebody needs to make arthritis sexy fashionable zeitgeisty so it'll have a better chance of being cured  

Wm it still amazes me that we met because I put picture of a fellah's drain pipes on here. I love little plot twists like that. You do well for dawns there eh. I love Autumn too, the colours and smells and changes make my heart smile  

I like your hydrangea pics pp, especially the second to last one. My one's died a death I'm sure it has Re your meters - someone put up a link on the energy board where you could check the certified lifespan of your meter, and iirr they were all around the 25-30 year mark. So they might not be having you on, yours genuinely could be at the end of it's life. Do they want to change your meters or just foist a smart meter on you for their quota? Booo to £1k mot, that's a chunk of money Will you be looking for a replacement?

Your link made me chuckle 2p Tbh I'd have thought that was the aurora too, it's the season for it. 

Booo to lurgy but yay for power and lights taff. Lumps and bumps is alright ta Back's about sorted, wrist is 90%, Pride Stripe is a mucky khaki colour. Which I guess means me jalopy is gonna be beyond itself cos there's always gotta be something... Agree about HFW (although we always called him Huge Furry Whippingtool), he did good work making the old ways popular again. As an aside, Daddy knew his grandfather - rated him very highly. "Brilliant example of a man" apparently  

Maybe Farway's taken to his bed with his knee and is stopping there 'til we say something worth getting up for   Hope you're alright Farway. We don't need any more disappeareds! 

OT murky and dreich out there, but it has lifted a wee bit. It was full on clouds-slumped-to-the-ground weather when I got up. The sobers have given 17'c and sunny this aft  Ach yer hole!

YoungBlueEyes

A few Autumnal pics from yesterday. 

Just to prove that wosname was right, there really is nothing new under the sun - 
 

Also a blast of Summer - 

Oh and a dug bum  

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Well I took the jalopy in for a fettling this morning, and Mike the Mechanic said it sounded like the backbox (?). Funny you should say about knowing when to call it a day with a car Dusty cos I think I'm about there. I don't wanna be throwing good money after bad, but if it is only the backbox and I get it fixed/replaced there'll be nothing else wrong with it really... so should it stay or should it go... *sigh*  Injecting into MrsD's hands sounds very painful, good thing it's worth the bother Somebody needs to make arthritis sexy fashionable zeitgeisty so it'll have a better chance of being cured

Back box is almost consumables, though exhausts seem to last somewhat better than they did. I'd say stick, not twist. Besides, you can't flog an old car with it sounding like a tractor.

Mrs Dusty says she'll get 3 - 6 months pain free, then it's back in the queue for another jab. When bones crumble, it's no easy repair, so maybe prevention rather than cure is the way to go. Nanotechnology rebuild in 100 years, perhaps?

Could Bones do it on Star Trek? Probably. 

It appears the imbibers have called it right here, and we're about to have a goodish day after some overnight rain.   Just a few blue blobs to dodge. The wet's holding up the grass cutting, but I'll probably be on a ladder doing gutters and stuff on the conservatory anyway.

We still have tomatoes hanging-on in the poly, and courgettes are also producing the odd one or two, but summer crops are fading fast now. I've germinated more broad beans and lettuce etc to experiment through winter, but there probably won't be any time to build an inner sanctum in the tunnel, like we used to.

I was going to ask Farway if he wanted any other seeds in exchange for his Judas Tree ones, so I hope he's OK.  

Sadly, no new photos from me, but here's the alternative closer view of our nerines I didn't use yesterday:

twopenny

I love Nerines because of when they flower but despite them being prolific in every nook and cranny in other peoples gardens I'e never been able to get them to grow.

Wow sunflowers Bluey! How lovely for this time of year. I tried to grow some after the rogue one planted itself here last year but of course, doing it on purpose was a non starter.

I did manage to get the lawns mowed and a bit of tidying yesterday but it's so wet and of course, more rain last night. Sadly not enough to keep the builders at bay.

Today is some blue, some cloud not cold. It's been a week of my back/leg/hip giving a new set of pains and some disturbed nights so I won't be climbing any ladders to finish the tree lopping any time soon.

Missing Farways posts. Going awol is either very good or very bad. Fingers crossed that he's just decided to get a job with T&M selling/returning seeds

pink_poppy

They really are lovely plants, Dusty (& YBE) I'll have to go Nerine hunting in gardens and garden centres.

Look at the colour of that sky and I love the waggy dug bum and sunflowers, YBE.
I think the car is only about 4 or 5 years old?? It's brake pads and discs that need doing asap, we're leaving the advisories (tyres) for another day, but they'll need doing soon.

Hope you survived the grass mowing, twopenny. My DH hates doing our lawns with a passion, although tbh our mower isn't up to the job so that probably doesn't help. He's wanting me to look into someone doing it for us, so that's on the to do list.

Hope you're feeling a bit better today, taff. That's good news on the electrics.

Farway, hope you're doing okay.

Here's the whole Hydrangea, Dusty...


I don't know if the crispy bits are weather damage, it looks a bit like it. Lovely plant though - I really like it.

I really like the spike-less holly as well - it's full of lush red berries at the moment. Here's a snippet...


I bet it's not like that at Christmas!!

That's just reminded me I have a pocket full of conkers from my holiday. There was a big old Horse Chestnut tree in the grounds of a church and after getting whacked on the shoulder by one as we were walking past (it really hurt!!) I gathered a few up for popping round the windows as they're supposed to help deter spiders. It was too late to stop the tarantula that greeted us when we got home on Saturday though - it was huge!!

OT, grey and cloudy, BUT there's a decent Aurora alert from midnight tonight if anyone fancies staying up for it

YoungBlueEyes

Thanks for the car info Dusty, but Mike the Mechanic reckons more stuff will be wanting on it soon. I asked him and he said battery and possibly exhaust soon, the seals are going, and it wants 4 but needs 2 new tires. He could rotate 2 out but it wants 4 really. So I said "well it's a good runner so d'ya wanna buy it off me?" When he finished laughing he offered me £300 for the MOT that's on it! Apparently a freshly MOT'd car is always worth £300. Who knew that was A Thing? So there you go. Turns out I was wrong (oh the shock), it's not a good wee car with nothing wrong with it really So I'm having a look what's out there... My mate Dave I got this one from only has a cream Mini in his 'Under £10k bargain basement sale rail'. Everyone needs their car to be no older than a couple of years evidently. I keep my pants longer than most people keep their cars!   Anyway I can't keep spending on it, it only cost me £1800 and I've spent double that on it these last few years. Enough's enough. And if I'm only getting £300 for it I'll not be sticking any nonsense about it sounding like a tractor! Ooh I wonder what wee tractors are going for these days...

Conkers do ward off spiders pp. It's the same gig as farting gas emitting bananas - the spiders stay well away  

Wm those sunflowers are outside the post office if you need cheering up after a long day at work  

Oh and Farway you and your knee need to get up and start searching for a Rottery Acres cos I actually bought a ticket this morning!