Awful weather - typical Brits talk

-taff

There are some damn good photo's moving around this thread...I congratulate you all, me, I just take photos of rubbish...literally...I showed my sister and cousin my tip run on Tuesday pile from the garden, ex shed and under stairs...Going to have a bootful.

I also decided to dig up some comfrey to move to the allotment. I have to say, I've never seen that before. It's kind of grown in a circle of very hard root, looks like a volcano with the dirt in the middle and thick crunchy root around the outside.  Made my day to see that but I didn't take a photo, too much mud made identfiying things difficult.

And I got round to emailing a farm about hay...Did a general tidy up of garden enjoying my runny nose and the dull greyness which has now changed into a lot of rain..

I'm loving the stories ybe...

I am just about keeping up reading you all...Mbe the sun shine is needed for get up and go ness

Dustyevsky

Dustyevsky said:

The birds have been very active, too. Great clouds of corvids at high altitude, and the feeders occupied 90% of the time. I have some photos, but most seem to be out of focus.

I don't usually quote myself, but it'll maybe save others looking back. Here are the photos.

The corvids were very high up and disorganised at first, but then they began circling less randomly, as above. Not sure what that was about. Maybe they were just deciding, "Where shall we go today?"

-taff said:

There are some damn good photo's moving around this thread..

Err....I'm not proud of the next photo , where the camera decided to focus on the background, but it was a 'grab it or miss it' moment.

Though blurred, I can count 10 birds, including the one just leaving, and I think that Great Tit I've been trying to catch for days is there. One's a starling, and I'm glad his numerous mates didn't come along! The rest, mostly Sparrows, but one female Greenfinch too. The one departing might be a male.

The big pile of grey hoggin's still present as well (!) but it's making its way slowly to form the bed of our uncompleted main path....honest!

This morning: dull, cloudy, occasional rain and 3c. Not unusual in February, but we have had a basinful of it already.

I wouldn't be without comfrey, taff. Pulls loads of minerals up from deep down.  Hope you have the non-seeding kind though! 

Farway

Dull and damp this morning, it started raining on the way home from DS yesterday, and I don't think it's stopped since, just the drizzly sort, not downpours

The GC was a waste of time, there were last year's seeds half price and winter woolly hats down to £3

Subbed a nice bowl of chips for my scone

In my chip defence, it was bitterly cold in the wind, I heard a Blocking High mentioned, which may mean same cold all this week

No circling birds here, unless above the clouds, at least “my” robin was around to greet me near the garage yesterday. The car disturbs the leaves & mud, so he gets lucky at times.

I need to sort through my seeds, looking for Pot marigolds, I grew them last year & hoping they've self seeded but just in case a fresh sprinkle won't do any harm. Now I've dug out the sedums, I have just the spot for a sprinkle.

During family catch up at GC DGS mentioned he had pea shoots on one of his meals in Greece, much to everyone's surprise he liked them. This is the vegetarian boy who picks tomatoes & peppers out of his meals.

Any way, set me thinking and after extensive [quick YouTube vid] research I'm going to have a bash

I've eaten peas shoots, but these were the tops of proper pea plants, grown for peas, not specially to provide shoots

So, stage one this morning, found an old packet of dried peas, best before June 2011 and set to work

Given the age of the seeds, germination may not be good, in which case I'll start again with real garden pea seeds, I have some in date ones around

Depending on how it goes I may get some pea seeds next time, it's free P & P with cheap seeds, could be cheaper than using dried cooking peas, daft as that sounds.

-taff

That looks like a good experiment. I have some carlin peas from about that lon ago I was going to try and frankensteins monster this year

Dusty, well done on the photo though, damn cameras , always focusing on the wrong thing  

Farway, chips are always an acceptable substitute

twopenny

Good luck with your peas Farway. Often it works.

Wonder what you'll eat your pea shoots with?

Taff you're still exhausting with your work but it's interesting to hear what the enthusiasm is doing. Hope for some photos of the plot before and after to inspire us.

Dusty that's a good haul of birds. I've had a few, one at a time. Even the pigeons are fed up with the weather.

Nothing really to report beyond a proper daffodil bud in the bed outside my bedroom. I figure when it blooms it will mean warmth and sunshine.

Dull and grey, wet and still around 4c with some easterly winds. It seems to have been forever!

-taff

Oh my god, now THAT is a proper feel the wind and rain photo...::shiver::::

twopenny

Morning folks

Nothing to report just up and about. It's still 4c but no wind and rain - yet.

No birds flitting about, perhaps they are still in bed like many of us just had enough of this weather.

No people flitting about either.

Too wet to do anything in the garden, I've a pile of moss out the front set there to dry for the birds nests but it's too sodden even to stick in a tub and put somewhere.

Taff that's just freezing cloud........it looks enchanting except after months of the same it looses some of it's magic.

This is some idea how wet it is - overflow from a small river come stream.

I have one small Tete a Tete almost blooming but hanging it's head down waiting for a touch of brighness. I'll snap that later for a touch more cheer

Just checking out day trips where there's some 'inside' bits just in case it stays like this. Buckfast Abbey looks like a goer. Anyone been?

It says 'and gardens' but not sure what I'll find this time of year.

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

The GC was a waste of time, there were last year's seeds half price and winter woolly hats down to £3

During family catch up at GC DGS mentioned he had pea shoots on one of his meals in Greece, much to everyone's surprise he liked them.

So, stage one this morning, found an old packet of dried peas, best before June 2011

Can't have too many woolly hats, IMO.   I had pea shoots somewhere and liked them, but can't remember where. It was somewhere cheap & cheerful, and I recall thinking how adventurous the salad was, considering the prices. Your optimism using the 2011 seeds might appear misplaced to the uninitiated, but dock seeds stay viable for up to 70 years, so why not?

-taff said:

..Did a general tidy up of garden enjoying my runny nose and the dull greyness which has now changed into a lot of rain..

I hope the runny nose moderates soon with all that fresh air it's getting.  Here, I encounter many coughing and sneezing during the weekly shop in town, but last night, in a village hall, packed full of oldies, I didn't hear one cough or even see anyone with a hankie. We older, outdoor types, seem to be faring OK. The gardening quiz, which was watered down with other nonsense, was surprisingly popular and very good-humoured.

Lovely evocative (I'm guessing moorland) photo 2p. I might be able to conjure-up something grey today myself, looking out of the window....  

Meanwhile, here's a snap of my oriental winter sandwich filler greens in the poly. Don't ask me what they are. They taste better than the supermarket stuff, though, and they're almost free! No pea shoots.

Sticks are cat-proofing. Some beans in there too.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

It says 'and gardens' but not sure what I'll find this time of year.

It looks like a very comprehensive set-up, and probably lovely in late May or September. I prefer the Garden House another few miles further...... along the (A384 I think? ) Horrendous busyness in peak season.  

More local, have you visited the Walled Gardens at Cannington? RHS partner, so we get in cheaply. We've had a nice early season wander there, but not this early! Lots of cheap salvias etc for sale there.

If you can appreciate the ecclesiastical wonders, Buckfast might not be a bad shout for February.....especially if the weather turns wetter and windier!

Farway

Dull, damp & grey again, not inspired to go outside at all

twopenny said:

Just checking out day trips where there's some 'inside' bits just in case it stays like this. Buckfast Abbey looks like a goer. Anyone been?

It says 'and gardens' but not sure what I'll find this time of year.

Went years ago, DD lost her cloth comfort Clown there and wept the rest of our holiday . If you find it perched on a wall waiting for the owner, please grab it. Ta in advance.

It was raining so never looked at any gardens, you could always get a bottle of Bucky from the source so to speak, for livening up the day.

Nice weather pics, 2P, sums it up. Buckfast would look nice in the misty gloom, suitably solemn, with perhaps your a discarded bottle in the foreground?

The peas are now onto damp kitchen roll, I'll wait & see before next stage

Failed to find the pot marigold seeds I thought I had, but did find more real garden peas to try, should the current ones fail