Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Oh my that's a lot of news!!

Went down to 3c last night and wet but woke this morning to a weird grey and pink sunrise and it's 5c and sunny

Wouldn't you know it put the heating on ready for the guy and it has worked perfectly - and I'm having to strip off the thermals it's so warm.

Love the birds Poppy, they are smashing photos. Perfect in those bushes.

Greenbee!!!!!! How did I miss the coming of a puppy Photos please. That will bring you laughs as well as a lot of exasperation. They're darned hard work as babies but adorable all the same.

Bluey there are benches all around that area so sitorie already in place. Mostly they are occupied by seagulls or ducks keeping off the cold wet ground.

Off for coffee with a friend this morning. She's driving and it's set in thatched cottages, gardens and sweeping views so we'll see whats there.

Thought I may get a bit of sorting out done in the garden but grey cloud and wind coming in as we speak. Anything could happen today.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Anything could happen today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3qfXpoScxw0

See 0.45

Sorry, couldn't resist!  Mrs Dusty's Dad used to have a hand in some of these!

Farway

Our first frost of the winter, white roofs & lawns, farewell nasturtiums, fuchsias, shoo flies & dahlias, it was nice knowing you, we had some good times while it lasted. See you all next year?

Blumming cold out there, lovely blue sky & sunshine though, but I will not be outside today, but ideal stomping about day for YBE I'd say

Duck house, I've no room or call for one, it was a local MP that made them famous, bought on expenses natch. These days they stick to claiming ear pods, poppy wreaths, heating second homes, group photo shoots and parking

Nice bird pics PP, the robin in the berries could be a Christmas card. I don't have berries his year, normally the pyracantha is laden but very few this year, despite loads of blossom.

Sounds like the Whitby snicket could be an interesting photo, I've never been to Whitby, but I wish I had. I think it's a place I'd like to wander around, one I unknowingly missed off my UK list, despite me getting to nearby York. I blame the coach driver.

Heat pumps seem a love or loath item. I was watching a YT about them, like a lot of things, “it all depends.” and getting unbiased advice is difficult, especially if a potential sale is in the offing.

I wonder if my 2025 chillies will look anywhere as good as the Rosemoor ones Dusty? Even close would be a plus, but I'd only grow for decoration, I'm far too wimpy to eat them, stick to good old 1950s cheese & pickle, but could venture into mustard pickle on festive occasions.

As said, no gardening today, just keeping warm & cosy will do.

I watched the recent GW winter special, and it covered fruit tree pruning in a bit of detail, just in case anyone is thinking about it, and I think I will have to try decorative gourds. I have grown them before, so know I can, just a case of getting my finger out.

Just refreshed, I like those gulls on a bench 2P, look like they could be chatting to each other, best chips in town etc

Ahh, Stingray, mixed memories, I used to work on Sting Ray development trials, the torpedo, not puppets.

It had to be separate words, Sting & Ray for logo and nomenclature because Gerry A had copy write on the joined up Stingray version

Naturally when we had our Safety glasses on, thick framed specs, it was always Brains this etc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_Ray_(torpedo)

Working_Mum

I loved your thrush and robin pics Poppy - I have a robin who visits my garden but I can never get a pic of him. I should dust off my camera and see if I can get some bird pics as my phone camera doesn't cut it really - the birds are too far away from me inside the house.

Those seated gulls (??) look so cheeky 2P, iare not daft at all are they.

I am thrilled with your puppy news Greenbee - I don't think I knew you were getting one. Spill the beans ....I adore dogs and puppies are my fave. They're so adorable.

I started making pomanders about 10 years ago - I was so skint I couldn't afford to pay the £50 to buy one. So I thought "I can do that" , invited a few friends and we made our first pomanders in my kitchen. I found a video from Martha Stewart (which I can't find now) and adapted my process. There are recent videos for making ki55ing balls 

You need:-
1 x styro foam 15cm sphere (you can get 2 for about £11)
1 x wide straw (for piercing through the sphere)
1 x 2m  length of wide ribbon
2 x matchsticks or lolly stick (acts as a 'stop' so the ball doesn't fall through)
masses of greenery (yew and laurel are great as they stay green for a long time)
baubles (plastic), ribbons and decorations in your choice of colour
floristry wire sticks 

Take the styro foam ball and drill the wide straw through  the centre of it - leave it in place - fold the wide ribbon in half - thread the ribbon through the straw - at about half-ish way down tie a knot - place the matchsticks or lolly sticks in a cross shape and tie them in with a second knot.

Soak the sphere in water.

Now it's time to start sticking in the greenery - imagine the ball will have a massive hair do - so cut each of the base greenery stems to an even size - I strip away a couple of inches of the stem and then stick it into the styro foam sphere - I work from top to bottom and then move the sphere, try to work evenly round so that you have a fairly even base covering of green - you can do patterns i.e a column of yew and then one of laurel but it doesn't have to be neat and tidy.

Once you've got your base layer done you can then add in baubles, hyacinth heads, variegated foliage etc. just squeeze then in. I attach them to the floristry wire stick and then slide the wire in and push until the object nestles snugly in the greenery. Keep doing this until you have the look you want. Mind you I would keep adding to mine for a few days afterwards.

Bear in mind where you'll be hanging them so make sure that you step back regularly and take a skeg to make sure it's looking how you want. Often the undersides can be ignored and when you hang them up they can be a bit bare.

If you keep them watered they will last months - I added Easter decorations in one year! I'd love to see pics if you make one. 

OT it's 3' here and  I've had a snow flurry or two already. It's so chilly I have my heated throw on my knees as I work!

Might have an early lunch to warm up!

WM

wort

Blue sky and sunny here, bit of a breeze but desperately cold. Minus 2 but feels much colder.

Another day of shopping, in 2 days I’ve spent a fortune. And don’t have much to show for it.

love the wee birds that co- ordinate with the shrubs.

Farways pic is one of those you wish you could see the outlook from the end . I think you would have enjoyed going to Whitby a lovely old style place but gets rammed with tourists now.

WM great job with the pomanders, I like that you can change it up depending on the season or event.

greenbee

Thanks for the pomander details WM! I might give it a go. No shortage of laurel here, despite having cut down a couple of dozen of them!

Puppy is a 16-week-old lab. Fairly short-notice decision as it was on the 'maybe next year' list to seriously look at, when I was offered the last of the litter by a family friend whose dogs are always very well behaved! So far he's turning out to be very sweet-natured, and I've just got in touch with a trainer to make sure that I get things right as it's a long time since I last trained a puppy!

pink_poppy

Happy new puppy, greenbee what colour lab is he??

Love the chatting gulls pic, twopenny, I wonder what they were talking about... maybe fish & chips like Farway said   They're a nuisance in Whitby, btw, loads of notices up saying DO NOT FEED, but the tourists do it anyway. It's been rammed full of tourists ever since I can remember, wort, I still love it though.

W_M, my photos are generally taken through an upstairs window and I just zoom in if I see any interesting birds in the garden. I use my phone because I don't have a camera.

Farway, I've heard good and bad things about heat pumps, which is why I'm still dithering.

The birds (I think they were probably mistle thrushes again, Dusty, although I'm sure these ones were smaller and the tails were shorter??) were in the crab apple tree, or at least I've always thought it was a crab apple?? It's a tree and not a bush or shrub. This is the fruit from it that I picked up on my way back from a walk earlier...


They're only tiny, but not berries. I should have put something like a £1 coin next to it for size, as that's about how big they are.

Talking of my walk, i picked precisely the WRONG time to go out. It was lovely and sunny when I set off, but I'd only been walking a few minutes when there was a flurry of snowflakes, which then turned into a snowstorm. Slight exaggeration there, but I did end up looking like a snowman. Of course, as soon as I started walking home it eased off, but I was soaked and frozen when I got home.

Pic of a snowy fern on the walk back...


And my poor Hydrangea - it was still flowering and lovely and blue just a couple of days ago...

twopenny

I saw a blackbird in a crab apple tree eating away. But he flew away before I could get the camera.

Love the frosty fern - as long as I'm looking at it from a nice warm room

Temp dropping from 6c back down to 3. Still no real clear skies and just a smattering of stars in between.

Sitting here STILL waiting to hear from the gas man. Dinner out ready to cook and I'm desperate for a bath. The cold makes my leg ache all day. Fair enough they're busy but just a text to say can't make it would be nice.

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

Farway, I've heard good and bad things about heat pumps, which is why I'm still dithering.

The birds (I think they were probably mistle thrushes again, Dusty, although I'm sure these ones were smaller and the tails were shorter??) were in the crab apple tree, or at least I've always thought it was a crab apple?? It's a tree and not a bush or shrub. This is the fruit from it that I picked up on my way back from a walk earlier...


They're only tiny, but not berries. I should have put something like a £1 coin next to it for size, as that's about how big they are.

I don't think I'd install an oil boiler now, but it made sense in 2015. We're so glad we didn't go down the wood pellet route, which was being hyped then. Bleeding edge technology in the UK, but not in some other parts of Europe. It's still not caught on around here. Nevertheless, the eco-zealots will soon be gunning for oil in their relentless pursuit of net-zero. Maybe look at Daikin for heat pumps; they've a name for innovation. That's not a personal recommendation, just what I've picked up from discussions here & there.

Those are definitely crab apples. Maybe Golden Hornet? 

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/80907/malus-zumi-golden-hornet/details

That's some ivy stem in the background, 2p. Whoever looks after that spot, they know the wildlife value of a mature ivy! 

The Sting Ray you worked on, Farway, and the one Mrs Dusty's Dad got involved with, had one thing in common; things were blown up on a regular basis!
The sunny day here was much colder than it looked. I tried-out a cunning plan to get all the cut hedge material to my bonfire site by dragging it in dumpy bags with the ride-on. Given the gradient, I wasn't sure if this would work, but there were no problems. I'll take the camera next time.

YoungBlueEyes

A puppy gb!! My god what a treat, good early christmas present is that.  And a lab too Is he a skinny foxy one or a big meaty one? Colour? Lovely big paws? Are his ears heavenly silky? Lots of pics and stories and sharings and pics thankyouplease (Being serious, if you want tips on training you can ask me anything - I used to be a dog trainer ) 

And now I've forgotten what everyone else said I did get out stomping yesterday, the whole place is frozen and crisp and fresh. Bluddy windy though, cut right through ya :shiver: It snowed a bit but it didn't lay, I think that's our chance of proper snow finished for a while now tbh. 

2p that pic makes me want that whole thing even more. I do like that fencing, you don't see it so much any more. Also I wanna change my answer (having read what Dusty wrote) and say I'll fill it with hens rather than ducks. I'd forgotten that duck poo is devilish greasy   

I know that snicket you mean pp, we do it every time we go We don't get up there as often as I'd like cos it's a long old poke up there and the place is always rammed. Maybe on properly cold days when there's no festival on it might be ok, but the first hint of heat and the tourists flock in. I would say those are wee crab apples too - cut one in half and see what it looks like. Or just take a bite... 

Farway ask Santa to bring you one of those motorised gadabout chariots and we'll all go up there. With our big coats and sturdy shoes on, and hip flasks to keep out the cold 

Oh and heat pumps. Remember my boiler was messing on a wee while ago? I said to the fellah outright "please god don't tell me its beyond repair and you're putting in a heat pump". He laughed said you'd not get one of those in here, your insulation isn't up to it. Apparently only houses built in the last few years would really be suitable, and the rest probably wouldn't make economic sense with all the alterations you'd have to do. And anybody that tells you any different is on commission. That's all I know about heat pumps. That is not legal/medical advice, ymmv.

OT bright and cold and still ish, and it's a balmy -4' out there Today would be a good stomping-about-the-place day, which is good cos it's Handsome Perambulation day