Awful weather - typical Brits talk

LessImpecunious

Puzzled by all this talk of dull weather - we've had fabulous blue skies (for most of the time at least) for the past 4 days, and started well again today... can't last can it?

Fab moon and ? Venus or is it Jupiter shot too Dusty - I tried for one yesterday but moon just came out as a circular blob without the crescent showing, not sure why as I managed one before...

LessImpecunious

twopenny said:

Dusty have you seen all 5 planets in alignment. Think that's what I read last.

...

Any idea what makes this strange estuary?

I could see three last night, plus moon - Mars, Jupiter, Venus, I think...

Guessing that estuary here is just at the balance point where the mudflats don't get inundated enough to wash away, so that vegetation can develop on top (which then helps to stop erosion)... 

In my youth I had on semi-permanent loan from the local library a slim volume mainly of maps and diagrams showing examples from all round the world of how various topographical features developed, which could probably have provided a better explanation - would love to find a copy but of course kept no record of author, title, etc, think it was a publication from across the pond rather than UK....

Farway

Frosty start, but now it's bright sunshine & blue sky, hoo bluddy ray

If it keeps up, I may get out there with my litter picker upper and get some dead Lucifer leaves up. Their fresh growth is just starting to appear, so once I clear the old stuff my robin & blackbird can get in there for any tasty snails.

Perhaps even sort the dead ferns while I'm out?

Definatley need to tie in the new blackberry growth before it gets going

I have a pair of magpies getting acquainted in the tree at the front, they seem interested in the lichen growing, not sure if for nesting or just display / courting. What a present, some manky lichen, I suppose it beats an ironing board.

Despite the posh choc I never managed to get to the Scottish gardens on TV, finished up in Gilead, Praise be!

Finally finished the box set, started years ago when it was on bog-standard TV

Nice Moon shot Dusty, never saw the moon here at all, too cloudy, but maybe it was out last night with the frost? Never saw it though.

The bent amaryllis flowers opened, and here they are.

Four flowers, two still to open

pink_poppy

Beautiful amaryllis, Farway, I hope the one I'm growing for MiL is that nice when it opens. Still a long way for it to go, but I can see two buds on it so far. The other two amaryllises... one plant is definitely just leaves, but maybe a bud forming on the other one??

My DD came across a dead dogfish, Dusty, so they're definitely still around. I did a double-take when I saw the 'fin' twopenny    

Lovely moon pic - my first thought was Venus for the planet. No chance of seeing anything last night, it was just constant rain. It was lovely and starry on Friday night though - could see the Plough, Orion's Belt etc. The aurora has been visible in the early hours (when it was clear skies) but I was in bed.

Rainy here this morning, but due to dry up later this afternoon.

twopenny

Well there's a turn up for the books!

Went for a quiet river walk, a few photos   chats with dogs and their owners.

While standing in the car park a massive 100 Tractor Run went down the narrow roads. All lit up and with Colonel Boggie horns. A bit startling at dusk in a quiet valley. Couldn't see them for the hedge. Shame.

And - Snowdrops on the banks

But this cheered me up on end. After the flooding and felling I checked the little ponds from a height (no chance of me climbing down at that point) and this is what I saw - bottom right in the water.

Know what it is yet?

And I got some gardening done. Strimmered the edges of the borders, emptied the old pots that were full of water, gave the beds a bit of a hoe, planted a few more of the 'dead' onions that are rooting and swelling and got the leaf blower to send the rotting leaves to the back of the borders.

Nothing wild but it does look more like a garden someone though about now.

Dustyevsky

LessImpecunious said:

twopenny said:

Dusty have you seen all 5 planets in alignment. Think that's what I read last.

...

Any idea what makes this strange estuary?

I could see three last night, plus moon - Mars, Jupiter, Venus, I think...

Guessing that estuary here is just at the balance point where the mudflats don't get inundated enough to wash away, so that vegetation can develop on top (which then helps to stop erosion)..

That looks like part of Northam Burrows, where Mrs D and I were just over a week ago. The estuary mud flats are also like that further up-river, at Yelland. As teenagers, we'd go there to dig bait, or sometimes trap the small bass that would come into the intricate little inlets on the tide. I think your explanation of their formation is fine.

I only saw the one planet when I took the photo on Friday evening, but I wasn't studying the sky to any great extent. My jobs of fetching logs and making sure the hens were locked up safely took precedence.That's when pp was also having clear skies and seeing constellations.

The frog spawn is pretty much on time for a mild winter. We always reckoned it would arrive around the end of January when we had a pond, frosts permitting.

Bent or not, your amaryllis is wonderfully exotic Farway. Our slug-chewed hyacinths are blind, but then, we didn't feed them.

Here's a 'different' sort of photo, taken at the start of our walk on Friday. Can anyone guess why I took it?

LessImpecunious

Dustyevsky said:

Here's a 'different' sort of photo, taken at the start of our walk on Friday. Can anyone guess why I took it?

My best, very speculative, guess is it's a modern building, with what looks like two eyes... YBE!? But then, I failed completely on the quiz question...

No frogspawn spotted yet, but our local snowdrops opened today!

twopenny

No gardening today.

Heatings gone completely, can't get anyone, plumber and aerial man coming so I can camp out in the bedroom.

Aparantly I have an alarm on 'new' car and I set it off and couldn't stop it.

At some point I have to get my BP checked. I don't think now is the time

But it's supposed to be a half decent day weatherwise, about 8c and the trim the garden got yesterday has bucked it up for viewing.

See you

LessImpecunious

Sorry you're having a difficult day 2P ... remember its only c. 10 days until light levels increase faster (not sure exactly why this is, needs more research on timeanddate website - but it's a Charles Dowding mantra) and gardening (at least, if nothing else!) should only get better...

Farway

Back to dull & grey after yesterday's high hopes, it was glorious yesterday, and like 2P I cracked on in the garden

My bendy bits bent for once and the Lucifer stalks are now on the compost, which enabled me to get in & prune the couple of straggly HT roses behind them

My cherry is bursting with fat potential buds, oh if only I could get to eat the cherries one year . I may try my “new” fruit net bags on them, I never had them in time last year.

Talking of which, I found a few gnawed net bags tucked away in the bushes, presumably where the rats / squirrels had taken them to scoff the contents in peace.

Then I tied in and sorted the Merton Thornless blackberry, looking a bit like the diagrams in books, with branches tied in left & right. This has uncovered my currants, so maybe I'll bother with them this year, normally I CBA.

Took down one lot of runner canes, not sure about replacing them, toying trying peas in that pot this year

twopenny said:

Nothing wild but it does look more like a garden someone though about now.

Yep, that sums up my efforts as well, just needs the dead ferns cutting down and then sit & wait

I never checked if my sludge pond had spawn, it never has in the past but worth a look I guess

The foxes were yelping last night, looking for a mate, so the animals know Spring's on the way

Maybe, if sunny weekend, I'll go on snowdrop hunt up the churchyard

Rotten news on heating etc 2P, thank heavens for a garden and able to get out walking and dog chatting

Dustyevsky said:

Bent or not, your amaryllis is wonderfully exotic Farway. Our slug-chewed hyacinths are blind, but then, we didn't feed them.

Here's a 'different' sort of photo, taken at the start of our walk on Friday. Can anyone guess why I took it?

My hyacinths from last year are bud free so far as well, only two left out of five, so looks like something had some good meals

You took it 'cos Amazon / Evri etc have left someone's parcel in it and claimed it as delivered

Next door is replacing double glazing, hoping I don't have lots of hammering all day, there's a hammer drill going at the moment.