Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

Working_Mum said:

Does anyone watch Homestead Rescue?? It's reality tv about the Raney family who go to struggling homesteaders in the USA and they fix problems and equip the homesteaders with the skills to make a success of things. Marty Raney is the dad and he is a real chainsaw toting cowboy type - the pic of your fallen tress remind me of Marty Raney Dusty! Between that and the Real Housewives franchise I have terrible taste in television!

I avoid most reality shows Although they make entertaining viewing, that may mean they're not truly 'real.' The funds, skills, and temperaments required of people hoping to emulate those depicted are often glossed-over. I'm not saying people shouldn't follow their dreams; only that they should be aware of their limitations and the potential pitfalls before making a major lifestyle switch. 

This couple on YouTube are filming their smallholding journey, and their experiences are about as real as it gets. Even so, the lady has media experience, while her husband, besides being very tall, strong, and fit, possesses more physical and practical skills than the average chap, like me: 

https://www.youtube.com/@citytosmallholding

They're on the younger side, too! I find the series especially interesting, because the couple bought the sort of Welsh property we were looking at originally. We changed tack, seeing the serious down-sides of older houses, as well as their charms. Our 1970s bungalow represented the most extreme physical shortcomings we felt prepared to take on. It came as a shock to find a need to remove and replace 6 internal walls and all the ceilings! We could have left the roof as it was, but for long term peace of mind we stripped and relaid that too; a physically demanding task Mrs Dusty didn't fully recover from, unfortunately.

But hey, TV watching should be fun and allow an escape from the everyday grind.....I'm making it sound too serious!

Yesterday, we took a break to drive along some roads less travelled, pick up some fresh eggs (only one of our hens is laying currently! ) to end-up at the fish & chip shop. We ate lunch at a reasonably good viewpoint, but with the cutting wind and an indicated 2c there were no interesting things going on, or animals to spot. So, here's our crow again!

Today, it's warmer, but the 30mph wind means it still feels like yesterday and there's rain in the air. Maybe a recycling centre experience?

P.S. Your wind turbines still look good. I must try harder with ours.

twopenny

Blimey Bluey the weekends come around quickly. Lovely to see you.

Awww Dusty, he thinks he''s found a mate Or maybe he's looking longingly inside for shelter.

Well it's got even colder here, 3c with rain and a north wind

So definitely no gardening. I was hoping to get the mound of moss off the front lawn and put somewhere for the birds but it's too wet again.

I'm supposed to be exercising at table tennis but it's crowded now and I'm not in the mood for the fight for a table so it maybe coffee with a friend.

Too fed up with the cold and damp to even go looking for a chimney pot for my canes.

I'm having the urge to pull up my winter veg. It's flopped down on the ground and the broccoli is tough. The kale not growing new shoots fast enough. The strawberries look like they're barely hanging on and fruit canes in hibernation mode. Feel the need to start again but I guess I should go out somewhere and leave it alone.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wort

A lot to catch up on, and of course I can’t remember who said what.
Farway I love pea shoots , not tried to grow them though. Keeping an eye on your success.
Painting ceilings are a horrid job. I only started them after hubby died ,I loved painting and constantly would repaint rooms, that was before price of paint rocketed and my arms could handle a day of it. I have managed to do a ceiling each time I’ve painted so house done I’m hoping never to repeat the ceilings again.
The willow sculptures are so good, no room in my garden though. Dusty you certainly seem to be guardian of that stream , you put in a lot of work there, no wonder your knees are taking a hit.
still grey here and the wind looks quite strong as from my seat I can see the shrubs blowing around. My living room was 11 this morning..so the heating is on for a little to take the edge off. My dry eye is not liking the wind so loathe to go out in it, but hate to be cooped up .
YBE glad you enjoyed your meet up , a giggle and food are always needed.

Dustyevsky

wort said:

Farway I love pea shoots , not tried to grow them though. Keeping an eye on your success.
 Dusty you certainly seem to be guardian of that stream , you put in a lot of work there, no wonder your knees are taking a hit.
YBE glad you enjoyed your meet up , a giggle and food are always needed.

I'm watching how Farway gets on, too. There are peas specially recommended for shoots, but is that just a selling ploy?

Mrs Dusty planted the primroses all along the streamside, and they make a great show in spring with the geraniums. I'm keen to keep as much light there as I can without spoiling the tree 'motorway' for the birds (and squirrels! )  Later in the season, other plants struggle there. I'm getting foxgloves to grow and seed, but meadowsweet fizzles out. Valerian does too well! It's a case of trying things and making sure there's a little sunshine at some point in the day.

Although we didn't see much of interest yesterday, Mrs Dusty and I reminded each other the countryside is probably at its worst-looking in February, and there are tiny signs now, like the primroses and late(....Cissie's right!) snowdrops that better times are just around the corner.   We even saw some real coos out in the fields, meaning the grass is there, and it's not been quagmire weather recently, despite the amount of mud on the roads.

Farway

It's a brighter shade of grey this morning, and the sun is hinting at outing itself.  

I spotted one of my Tete daffs has strong hints of yellow along the flower pod "seam". I think what we've been itching for is nearly here.

Goosegogs, worth 99p for a try. Until mine unexpectedly returned to Valhalla I found them very easy, one of those plants where you get something just by it being there, and you get more if you give a bit of TLC, pruning, thinning fruits out etc.

Even a bird poo seedling that arrived crops well

I get sawfly but easy to pick off, and TBH even with zero leaves it fruits

Stout gloves and thick sleeves [or skin] are a must though

Pea update, no signs yet, more patience required. Still not gone mouldy, so I have hopes.

twopenny said:

I'm having the urge to pull up my winter veg. It's flopped down on the ground and the broccoli is tough. The kale not growing new shoots fast enough. The strawberries look like they're barely hanging on and fruit canes in hibernation mode. Feel the need to start again but I guess I should go out somewhere and leave it alone.

Would it be worthwhile cutting the tops off, leaving just a short stump, giving it a feed of nitrogen fertiliser and hoping for fresh green [cabbagey] tops?

Unless you have something to get in the spot now, it could be worth a bash.

https://gardenseeker.co.uk/vegetables/brassicas/cabbage_tops.htm

FWIW your strawberries & fruit canes are same as mine, just brownly sitting there

YBE, those diddy blue whas names, muscari AKA grape hyacinth? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscari

Sorry about onion smelly grass, at least we know it's not some wayward allium in there

No crows, but Mr & Mrs magpie have settled in and are now terrorising next door's bird table

At last some colour outside my window, catkins. Only rough old ones but very welcome.

twopenny

Oh lovely catkins!!

I forgot to say that they are out around here too. I guess I couldn't see them for the fog lately.

And you posting the photos means I don't have to climb roadside banks to try and get a photo

Dusty I think they'd be too small to compete but Lady Smock was always one of my favourite damp spot plants.

https://diversegardens.co.uk/wildflowers/wildflower-gallery/cuckoo-flower/

wort

a few bits that are flowering at the moment

-taff

Every time you lot say something, I learn something new and realise just how little I know...I did see a Daphne in the ma and pa garden centre which is now a ways from me, [used ot be five mintues down the road] but it was £35 and I wasn't sure about that much...[I'm a cheapskate, what can I say?]

2p, do you think I could get some willow off him ? nice to hear your heating is working though! Shame about the painting, no one's got an apprentice who needs a few bob?

I've organised the delivery of a massive bale of hay, so thats happening Monday hopefully...This weekend will be source more cardboard, sow parsnips, put some more  onion sets in being the others seem to have disappeared..

pp, good luck for your daughter in her new house..moving is so blummin stressful..

Big log Dusty... Someone should make draft horses, harder to get wrong...I thought it was the robin that was the pita not the crow?

Luna, you and thousands of others Never used to hear English accents in my part of Wales at all, now it's at least 40 60...Decent places are easy enough to find but then you're talking not cheap

I may copy you Farway and get the propagator out. It's not a big one, just a4 ish size, might try some early chillies or tomatoes. Such a shock of colour even if it's muted compared to everything looking grey...

Love the wind turbines wm. Whenever I see one now though I am always reminded of the patterns they make thanks to the autistic gardener blokey...can't remember his name but I remember his design.

ybe, your garden sounds great, ticking by itself...mine is uxb...:) keep the cissie anecdotes coming...and the work stories Happy being in charge of everything week...

what's the second pic wort?

And it's 2 degrees and windy, grey with a very very tiny hint of sun, feeling colder than 2 though, so I did the decent thing and stayed in today. I'm going to go through my seeds in a minute and make a plan.

Dustyevsky

-taff said:

Big log Dusty... Someone should make draft horses, harder to get wrong...I thought it was the robin that was the pita not the crow?

I may copy you Farway and get the propagator out. It's not a big one, just a4 ish size, might try some early chillies or tomatoes. S

The robin is too busy being amorous now to be a serious PITA. SiL is parking in his territory. We chose a neutral spot, now favoured by the crow! C'est la vie naturelle!

I've had similar thoughts to you and Farway, but with grandchildren descending imminently, I may hold off until things stabilise again. We've perennials' seeds overwintering, and I'm already monitoring them for signs of growth. So far, only Nectaroscordium siculum ( now helpfully renamed) has come up.....well, it's an onion, innit?

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/89862/allium-siculum/details

Mrs Dusty isn't enamoured, so those may be heading for the streamside eventually.

Although we were promised a dry afternoon, that didn't happen. It's just as well we decided to head for the dump recycling centre for our first experience under their new rules for vans. Apart from the fact that they make it almost impossible for anything of 3.5 tonnes to negotiate the weird angle at the gate, things went well enough....at first! We had our pass scanned, unloaded various bulky items and made our way to the metal and non-recyclable section where a second materials inspection personage of the grumpy jobsworth variety took over. He took one look inside and cried, “You got racking!” One side of the load space has primitive shelving. Apparently, that makes us 'trade' though I can find no reference to this rule on the council website. Detecting BS, we said nothing, so he continued, “I'm supposed to take a photo and have your pass deactivated!"

"But we're not trade, and we didn't know about this,” we replied. He relented, but only until he spotted the electric car mirror. "Can't take car parts!"  Then he wished he hadn't said that, as the next thing out was a complete Ford Focus clutch assembly; extremely heavy and great scrap metal value. He took that, but still refused the mirror.

Anyway, Mrs Dusty's no fool, so she offered him a cheap, but complete, badminton set. While he beetled-off to the shop with it, we lobbed our 'naughty' items into the non-recyclable bin, and drove off!

Returning home, my heart sank when I saw there was an email from the council.....but, whew, it was just a note acknowledging our visit and saying we had 11 more left in this year's quota.  

Wort, you've found quite a variety of colour in your garden! No daffs here yet, and the snowdrops are mostly at the other end of the field. We have the Viburnum, and it's a winner at this point in the year.

twopenny said:

Oh lovely catkins!!

I forgot to say that they are out around here too. I guess I couldn't see them for the fog lately.

And you posting the photos means I don't have to climb roadside banks to try and get a photo

Dusty I think they'd be too small to compete but Lady Smock was always one of my favourite damp spot plants.

https://diversegardens.co.uk/wildflowers/wildflower-gallery/cuckoo-flower/

The catkins are way ahead of ours. Farway has it mild.   We have the Lady's Smock naturally in the field, but never as much as I'd like. Maybe this year....

-taff

errr...what do you mean Mrs Dusty didn't recover?