Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

I was ages looking for a car Dusty, but I was evidently being too picky cos I had to keep widening the search area to get some results. There's a lot of ex taxi cars, and dealers in 'Ull and they keep the prices up - I wasn't looking to spend anything like the amount your link says   My 5 door 15 plate Polo, 70k miles, diesel, in good nick with 4 new good tyres, clean MOT's and no advisories, and hadn't been sat about the place, cost me £6k and I thought that was plenty. There was a nice little 3 door grey one up in Glasgow for £5k but that went between me spotting it in the afternoon and himself getting home from work Anyway. I took Minty Marco Frigg  up to my mate Dave (ex military mechanic) yesterday aft and he's gonna give it a good fettling and do any doings wot want doing   So for now she's called Schrodinger  

I feel your pain re the road works Dusty, they're all round here too. I think someone found a new copse of money trees or something. A good bit of huffing and puffing is good for your heart <--- not medical advice, but hooray for MrsD and a sack truck  

That's a beggar about your milkman's compost Farway, I remember you saying lots of good things about him last year... can it be saved with a few additives or mixing something else in? 

I like a heucra (sp?) 2p I'd be happy if it kicked out a few babbies. I have 2 but one was definitely head northwards last year and the other was doing a Ron Moody and reviewing the situation It's amazing the difference cutting the grass makes, really makes the place looked 'done'  

Those are beautiful views pp, makes up for the not great fish+chips. Perfect spot to get your big coat on and give the dogs a good run  

I meant to ask - why is your bed horse-shoe shaped taff? Is there a proper reason or is it because pretty? 

And also while my brain's on good form - who said about the Fireball whisky? You can get cinnamon lozenges that are pure lovely (no drink in them, they're only sweets) but I don't know where you'd get them over here. Cissie used to send me them sometimes and god but I do miss them. 

OT mist is slowly going, sun is rising, 7'c currently. I really ought to get in my garden today. I thought it felt very autumnal last night, which is fitting really as it's Winter next week  

YoungBlueEyes

My topless hellebore. The leaves were all growing out of the top of it so I took the kitchen scissors to it - 

… and this is what it looked like last night - 

My phone has obviously acquired a ‘Victoriana’ setting from somewhere. 

Also I have a daff out front, just the one mind, but it’ll do me rightly  

Edit - Congrats to Luna for getting Photo of the Week with that trig point :clapping:

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Congrats on the car Bluey, I had names to suit colours Buttercup/Primrose/Rosebu.....

Our Transit van was called Buttercup. It was bright yellow, and had never been anything else, but Ford UK insisted it was red. Now we have shortly-to-be-retired Bluebell; a Teutonic beast with little personality but great efficiency and a very strong will. If she could speak she'd say "I haf vays to keep you alert, like I give you backache after 100 miles, so you pull-in and haf a rest!"

Sadly, I could find no anagrams for Frigg, Bluey, so you may be stuck with the name. Now, if it had been an Italian model, you could have gone with Friggitello, which sounds nicer and has gardening significance:

https://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/product_info.php/peppers-sweet-friggitello-seeds-veg1000-p-20938

pink_poppy said:

I'm all behind too. Very tired after a five and a half hour round trip to sort more stuff at MiL's. We decided to come back via Largs for fish and chips (they weren't great) as it was such a nice day...

<Makes mental note not to buy F&C in Largs> Wow! That was some day trip! Glad you had a good day for it. Here,  as 2p said, it was warmish, but not sunny.

Some of you may recall my autumn battle with the laurels, planted to disguise the neighbour's barns and our own collection of carp. Yesterday, I returned to the job to begin lowering the remaining tree-like stems to eye level. This generated a huge amount of the poisonous foliage. Fortunately, as the field is currently dry, we could use Bluebell to transport it to the other end of the land, where there's a second wildlife area it can decompose safely. I'll put up a picture or two when I have them. They won't be pretty!

Meanwhile, in other news, my 'Bishop's Children' dahlias germinated in the propagator in 2 days! Not far behind them, were the 'Rustic Dwarf' rudbeckias, soon, no doubt, destined to be re-named.   It's early days, so the huge number of seedlings in just two pots will probably reduce, but it's a good start. No sign yet of my 'Bishop's Hat'  chillis from seed collected in 2018, and planted before all else. Maybe a less virile Bishop, or just old age!

Another picture of that hellebore which looks outwards and up with a nicely cleared bank behind it, courtesy of Mrs Dusty.

EDIT:

Didn't refresh and missed posts....again. Well done Luna - well deserved.   And sounds like a good-un, Bluey. I'm sure it will have a cat (alytic converter) so Schrödinger sounds OK!

-taff

I'm liking the new name of the car ybe...I assume it's because you don't know if it's alive or dead until you open the bonnet...or something My current one is called the BBC... It's big and brown and a see you next tuesday.... And the bed...it's not horshoeshaped, it's keyhole shaped, they're beds that were originally made in Lesotho to try and keep a quantity of earth or whatever damp, with it's own compost bin in the center to feed it as it went, like a one stop circular plant economy. I've just always fancied trying one since I read about them..Same with rocket mass heaters...one day I will make one...And they're called keyhole beds because from above, they look like a keyhole Victoriana setting ::snort:: loving the bulbs popping up...I was very despondent last week, I thought all mine had died but they're all coming up now, so much happier...

So happy I did a t&m thing for dahlias just to see what the fuss was about and then got some echinacea corms [?] from BM because mine have always been eaten from seed so far..

Farway, that was some of my compost last year...they just sat there looking upset with me that I'd provided such poor living conditions.  Love the jetfires [ not normally a fan of daffs] what's springing up in the middle of them?

Well done Luna!

2p, your misty pic really gives me the shivers..well done to the hardy people out in it anyway..or were they not expecting it? COngrats on your work in the garden despite gammy legs..

Dusty, I like your road closed style...

Noted RAS...didn't see anything like the last time I went but I'll check again...you know, I'll have ot make a realy effort to go [ nont! I love the middle...especially now they gardening stuff is out]

Weather is mild, sort of sunny, today I'm picking up bags of rabbit poo and some perennial leeks from a gardening friend...and a trip to the allotment to spread the poo on the keyhold bed...

Also did not refresh...very nice bank Mrs Dusty! Buttercup!

Farway

Sunny and set fair for the day, so mild my heating did not come on this morning, which is both good & bad, 'cos I have some seedlings on the window sill and use the radiator heat as cheat bottom heat

YoungBlueEyes said:

That's a beggar about your milkman's compost Farway, I remember you saying lots of good things about him last year... can it be saved with a few additives or mixing something else in? 

I like a heucra (sp?) 2p I'd be happy if it kicked out a few babbies. I have 2 but one was definitely head northwards last year and the other was doing a Ron Moody and reviewing the situation It's amazing the difference cutting the grass makes, really makes the place looked 'done'  

Those are beautiful views pp, makes up for the not great fish+chips. Perfect spot to get your big coat on and give the dogs a good run  

The compost, it's looking even worse this morning , I think the dahlias I forgot about are starting to damp off  

Hard to blame compost 100% when I forgot the blighters & they went leggy in the dark airing cupboard.

I may sow some more, in cells this time, just in case. Of course, I'll now be giving them away come summer.

Another Heuchera lover, but my vine weevils like them more, so pointless me struggling.

Nice pics of Largs view PP, one I can relate to because I used to stay in Largs when I was working near there, stroll along seafront, passed the ice cream shop.

My memento, still have it and spreading it far & wide, is Toad flax, it grows in the walls along the front, some stuck to me and has thrived here ever since.

I was there when the train went through the buffers & finished up in the road,   Injuries but no fatalities.

Now that was a road diversion you could see the need for !

https://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/18559448.photographer-recalls-scene-like-bomb-gone-off-25th-anniversary-largs-train-crash/

twopenny said:

I like that Jetfire Farway. That's a little treasure. I may have to find a space for some.

I like them, showy, short, sturdy, and a bit different. The bulbs seem to sell out quickly, so grab some if you see them, they are not normally silly prices.

Thanks for Lidl tip RAS, doubtful I will take advantage though, due mainly to lack of bendy people to plant them.

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Just refreshed, The thing in the middle of Jet fire daffs is dwarf buddleia.[sp?]

I like the BBC name Taff, very apt.

Didn't Our Elon name his rocket BFR? Big F*****g Rocket Then had to change the F to mean "Falcon" when people swooned clutching their pearls.

Dustyevsky said:

Meanwhile, in other news, my 'Bishop's Children' dahlias germinated in the propagator in 2 days! Not far behind them, were the 'Rustic Dwarf' rudbeckias, soon, no doubt, destined to be re-named.   It's early days, so the huge number of seedlings in just two pots will probably reduce, but it's a good start. No sign yet of my 'Bishop's Hat'  chillis from seed collected in 2018, and planted before all else. Maybe a less virile Bishop, or just old age!

Good start to the seed sowing. Dahlias do seem to be PDQ germinating, and chillies, mine are also backward, despite me frowning at the pot daily.

YoungBlueEyes

Schrodinger is only a temp name while Dave's got it, cos I currently do and do not have the car. I won't tell you what himself suggested as a name for a) it wouldn't get passed the censors on here and b ) it's something only a 15 yo yanqui boy would say. (Anyone's who's seen Kill Bill, transpose the cat term with one that sounds like beech, kinda, with Wagon on the end.) :rolleyes:  It's a work in prgress.

BBC taff, We used to say Cambridge United Netball Team, but in every day speech it was "I think he plays for Cambridge". Hooray for your bulbs deciding to give it go  

I like your hellebore Dusty, aren't the contrasting colours attractive   I'll be thinking of my car talking to me in that accent now you've said that... maybe I'll call it Helga.

/me makes a mental note to check out offerings in Lidl, thanks Ras   Is someone working on squirrel-proof bulbs...? 

Jeez that train crash must have been scary Farway, you weren't on it were you? It's a wonder there were no fatalities  

Bishop's seem to be getting a lot of action on here at the moment   Which reminds me - my Great tits were lovely and squeeky and puffed up and happy this morning, and long may they be so  

That's enough nonsense, I need to get in my garden now the sun's properly up and it's warmed a bit out there. 

twopenny

Everyone's been busy it seems.

Lovely helebores Bluey.

Interesting about the compost Farway. I'm still using up last years which looks normal at the moment but I remember it dried to a crisp last year.

Taff, I must read up on that. My compost heap is right under the apple tree so I'm hoping it's doing it good.

I was watching about growing flowers and veg together on GW, from somewhere far away. I liked that idea.

Ras you can never have too many bulbs. Easy plants that need no attention. I'll have a look but I doubt ours will have them.

Dusty there is an anagram of sorts - Grif

Poppy, that brings back memories. Had a love day driving all over Arran. Could have made it much longer.

T&M strawberries sprung into life and are producing new leaves already.

I had every intention after reading a book in the sun at lunchtime to just go out for an hour and come back and garden.

So 3 hrs later, here's a counter to the bee bum photos

A ducks bum

Feeding lots and doing other things that say 'It's Spring'.

A bit early but lovely just the same.

Bit of a busy week coming up but must try and get some garden odd jobs done at least.

Sunny and warm today. Just lovely. Storing it up and hoping next week isn't as bad as they say.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Everyone's been busy it seems.

Sunny and warm today. Just lovely. Storing it up and hoping next week isn't as bad as they say.

We were busy, and it was so lovely out there, we overdid it. We still didn't get all the laurel down, but the van's half full, and I think we'll try our luck at the recycling centre this time. I've half a van of scrap iron to tempt them with.   It's all or nothing! I'm hoping for a short break tomorrow, and maybe a garden visit, or a shortish walk. Apparently, it's the last warm day before the 'bad weather' arrives. For us, that translates into 8c daytime and around zero at night. That's hardly awful, considering little rain is forecast. I shall have some more bonfires and make another deep bed in the poly. The present one is keeping us in salad leaves now, saving about £3 or £4 a week on supermarket bags of those. Ours are tastier too!

That's a proper duck's bum...and what red legs he/she has!

YoungBlueEyes said:
Bishop's seem to be getting a lot of action on here at the moment   Which reminds me - my Great tits were lovely and squeeky and puffed up and happy this morning, and long may they be so  

My Great Tits annoy me. They whip into the feeding station, grab one sesame seed, and they're off again, all in 2-3 seconds. I've no chance of snapping one to upload here. Someone here has a Bullfinch, but that's another bird that seems timid here. They never seem to come near the house, and they're not common.

Farway, although I'm using the Erin non peat-free compost, I always add sterilised soil and other stuff, like grit or vermiculite. It's the drying-out on top which catches me out with the eco-mixes. Then, overwatering is so easy.  

Dustyevsky

This was yesterday evening....but the fairly red sky has not indicated a fine dawn. We're grey and mild today, just like me!

Three removal vans have just passed my window here, and then re-passed! It's a very local firm, but they can't find the people they're moving today, despite it being a farm of 30 acres. Well, it was 30 acres, but it seems a couple of local deals were struck prior to the main sale. An acre or so has gone to a neighbour of ours who only had a 8m boundary with us. Now he has about 140m. I will reserve judgement on that, but there's a reason the 8m is hidden by numerous trees and bushes!

YoungBlueEyes said:

 I'll be thinking of my car talking to me in that accent now you've said that... maybe I'll call it Helga.

Some people think vehicles don't have any character. The old Ford van was definitely an American design, with its comfy seats, powerful engine and scant regard for useful features, like ABS. The German replacement told me right from the start, "Ve are going to do business in a verry calm, sensible, secure manner, vis no monkey business!" It even has a speed limiter. I'd watch similar vans go past on the motorway at about 85mph, but ours only does 75 downhill with the wind behind it. OTOH, we've put an entire patio, or 650 concrete roof tiles inside it, and it's just shrugged. "Yah, we shift these, no problem!"

Farway

Another one here with a grey & mild morning, but it's supposed to be downhill from tomorrow

It was a gorgeous weekend though, managed to get the Japanese anemones planted out, three different names but T & M had just bunged them in unlabelled so goodness what has gone where. Not that it matters too much, I am to colour palettes what British Leyland was to rust proofing.

twopenny said:

Interesting about the compost Farway. I'm still using up last years which looks normal at the moment but I remember it dried to a crisp last year.

I was watching about growing flowers and veg together on GW, from somewhere far away. I liked that idea.

T&M strawberries sprung into life and are producing new leaves already.

The compost, hoping it's not too bad in the long run, I'll just have to wait & see. Meanwhile, I've taken to sowing in cells instead of trays

Isn't the mixing of flowers & veg just a cottage garden? Or has it been renamed and is now a wonderful new method?

I used to sow beetroot as a bedding plant, along the edges, red leaves etc. And last year tried, & failed, with sweet corn, tall & wispy style.

Good news on the T & M strawbs, always a plus when green shows up.

Duck bum, good pic

Fingers crossed for new "old" neighbour and boundary Dusty

Spring is about here, the neighbour's magnolia buds are about to pop, and the ornamental cherry on the road verge has a pink haze on branches

Probably waiting for the arrival of the Polar Plummet or whatever is due

Either or both of the erg whatist or lobelia dust seeds I sowed a few days back have germinated, small green leaves showing along and around areas where I sowed.

No sign yet of the Love ITM or radishes sown at same time.

One of my new dwarf dahlias from seed is a bit exciting, or not. It has yellow / red leaves, so it could be my ticket to a fortune or manky lack of nutrient compost in that cell.

I like the sound of Farway's yellow Dwarf, ticks all the right wrong boxes

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Ta Ra, spotted a shove a pruning in and wait & watch what's coming up. It could be Car parkii, or maybe Neigbourii

The twig underneath is a fig