Awful weather - typical Brits talk

wort

I’m off a bit further south than YBE , hoping for a mix of relaxation (for the leg) and gardens , we are off to Madeira so hoping to check out the local grog😜🥂
Yes last night it bucketed down , dry and still very windy now not checked the rest of todays forcast. Have a lovely holiday YBE I’ve always fancied I O W , my grandparents went years ago and brought me a pencil filled with different colours of sand . I loved it. Simple pleasures then.
Dusty that’s a very attractive garden ,and so tidy ! I really should be doing a bit of snipping out there. The iris look lovely too.

Farway

Dull, windy, with spots of rain just arriving from Dustyshire.

YoungBlueEyes said:

Ferry from Portsmouth Farway. Apparently there are white ships and red ships, and the white ships are cheaper but their website is an absolute pig and himself couldn't get a ticket booked on it, so we're going red and they're outta Portsmouth - itms. Thank you very kindly for the info, I'll read the links properly tonight. Tbh I might just use your post as the week's itinerary  

Ventnor Botanic Garden is on the list too now, thank you Dusty  

Will you be coming down A3 [Londinium] or A34 [Oxford] ? Just curious, that's all, I shan't set tank traps.

I always remember one travel critic's review about arriving in Portsmouth, you'll go over water near the end of M275 getting on to Portsmouth [it's an Island], and see ships etc so you just know you are really on holiday.

Don't know when you are travelling, but ferry queue can be PIA at times, hope you avoid that

Ferry route is well signposted, get the right one, IOW not France 

Go on deck, or look out as you leave harbour. Some good photos to be had, Navy ships, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is in, and maybe see Hovercraft, on left, as you leave the harbour entrance, or during your crossing.

Ventnor, good choice, not been to that one. It seemed to always be featured on our local TV at one time, Portsmouth park's head honcho's son ran it back then.

wort said:

Have a lovely holiday YBE I’ve always fancied I O W , my grandparents went years ago and brought me a pencil filled with different colours of sand . I loved it. Simple pleasures then.

YBE, you can get one at Alum Bay, you used to be able to fill your own from the cliffs, but maybe not in these Eco, Elf & Safety days

https://www.theneedles.co.uk/landmarks/alum-bay/

My seeds arrived from Browns, not the dahlia, still on its way. That was the only thing I really wanted right now, to get planted ASAP.

Managed to get fleece over cherries & strawberries, looks quite like I know what I'm doing out there now, all under wraps

With wind today, the fleece should also help shelter them a bit 

No gardening, with the weather, but may catch up on Beechgrove

Here's leaf of my Red Filbert, I think it will be an attractive item once it grows up

twopenny

Oh lovely plants in Madeira Wort! 
But sounds like you won't be in a fit state to take notes 😉

Like the idea of the sign Bluey. I may copy that. A statement just a touch on the light side (hopefully)
And your description of the iris. Shame they don't last long for the amount of space they take up.

Rain hit us in torrents and battered everything. This is my magnificent rose now devastated 🤕

Dustyevsky

wort said:

I’m off a bit further south than YBE , hoping for a mix of relaxation (for the leg) and gardens , we are off to Madeira so hoping to check out the local grog😜🥂
Dusty that’s a very attractive garden ,and so tidy ! I really should be doing a bit of snipping out there. The iris look lovely too.

There are some super gardens in Madeira; much better than mine!   Have a great time, and give your leg a chance to really recover. You can always do the walking trails another year, provided you moderate the grog....some of the paths look quite scary! 

YoungBlueEyes said:

Ventnor Botanic Garden is on the list too now, thank you Dusty Gawd your garden's a belter D'ya wanna come up here and do mine thankyouplease.  Things I thought about at school did not include quadratic equations/oxbow lakes/the Roman Empire. They did include why didn't my dog eat his breakfast/will there be more calves when I get home tonight and can I have one to keep this time/did granny make wee fairy buns today. Much more important issues, obviously  

Ventnor won't be quite as subtropical as Madeira, but you will probably see plants most of us can't grow outdoors.

If you could look out the window at school, you were luckier than those of us who suffered in Victorian buildings. They almost always made the windowsills very high, to prevent pupils from being distracted by the real world.  Couldn't do anything about our imagination, though, could they? 

That bit of garden is close to our bungalow's back door. Mrs Dusty keeps it neat, as it's the first thing people see when they walk out there. It's also the only legal piece of back garden, because originally there was a field behind, starting where the trellis is. The people before us took the fence away and gradually turned the field into garden. As our deeds don't show the original boundary, we didn't know that when we purchased. It was only during last year's hoo-ha over the new rear driveway, the council finally confirmed most of our garden is still officially 'agricultural land.'    Gladys is really standing in a field, so no wonder she looks a bit downcast! 

Todays plant picture is a pink in the herb garden which T&M tell me has an AGM. It's a trifle shouty, but Mrs Dusty was the one who purchased it....not at T&M prices! 

Farway said:

Dull, windy, with spots of rain just arriving from Dustyshire.

It hasn't lasted long. Clearing-up here now, but a useful couple of hours worth. I know 2p's garden has been hammered by the wind, as has ours, but recovery should be swift. 

pink_poppy

I do love that bit of your garden, Dusty. How do you get the curved pergola bits?? Do you buy them like that or did you use your woodworking skills/tools?? I think I've seen pergola kits for sale in the past, but I'd like to try and knock one up myself.

YBE, I usually do take a daily antihistamine, but because I'd been ill and not been out for a few days, I hadn't bothered taking them. I'm also running out of tea tree oil, so must buy some more. I've got a bit of the Avon Skin So Soft spray as well, but I really don't know how effective against midges it is these days - I wouldn't put that on my face anyway (which is where the wee b*ggers tend to get me).

Have a lovely time in Madeira, wort. Lots of rest and recuperation. And grog   

Nice pic of the Red Filbert leaf, Farway.

Your poor rose, twopenny. Hopefully once the wind dies down and things dry up, it'll recover. It still looks very pretty though - is it your Gertrude Jekyll??

That's a very vivid Dianthus, Dusty. I'm thinking I saw some in Lidl this morning (not that colour), but I didn't get a good look. Whatever they were I was thinking they were a bit expensive - £7.99 rings a bell??

I'm absolutely shattered today and all I've been doing is shopping. If anyone has any shoe recommendations for achy feet, please let me know. Fallen arches and dodgy achilles...

OT - it was wild, wet and windy this morning, but it's calmed down a lot now and we've even had some sun.

wort

At this time of year PP I wear FIT flops ,they have a rocker sole so work for me they have gone pricy though 🙄 I hear new balance do a similar sole.
I ended up in the garden this afternoon, started on the front and moved to the back, chopping and trimming looks much better. Funny how an hour turns into 4 , oh I’ll just do this bit and then see something else.
Green bin full and out ready for the bin men.
OT just got in when the rain started it really chucked it down .

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

I do love that bit of your garden, Dusty. How do you get the curved pergola bits?? Do you buy them like that or did you use your woodworking skills/tools?? I think I've seen pergola kits for sale in the past, but I'd like to try and knock one up myself.

It's home designed and constructed, but I have no great woodworking skills. The fancy parts were all made by Mrs Dusty's Dad, who's a proper carpenter & joiner. All I did was make the trellis panels and buy the uprights from Jacksons, the only firm I know who guarantee their posts not to rot for 25 years. They also let me pick my own, so I could ensure they were straight, not twisted etc.

Kits will vary in quality. Jacksons do them, but they'll be expensive!

£8 sounds pricey for a Lidl Dianthus. They had some cheapie annual types when I was there last, buying my telescopic fishing rod that packs down into a rucksack in a few seconds. One minute a harmless, rambler, the next an inconspicuous pecheur! 

-taff

Dusty, no fire it, I've got a free metal chiminea to do that job, it's quite big too. It doesn't count though because it's a last year freebie.  Has the feral cat come back now? How awful that they stole a plant from you. Did you do any nefarious stuff in revenge? And I think a child giggling while repeating Chaos Theory would definitely put the sheets up me...Totally agree with speaking to them in a normal voice though..only the cats get the special voices Your wood looks like what me and my sister have dubbed Murder Forest [ in mid-ish France - driven through it a few times on the way home from Italy] And I AM impressed with your haul...I did have a giggle at destructible bamboo. Love your statue at the back. That is quite shouty, my sister would love it, she's an all things dianthus. 

Farway, the nice folks at NWide probbly heard about the free posting offer and felt you could use it constructively Haven't seen GW yet but it's on the list...that is a super red red leaf too.

2p, that's pretty annoying about the dumping of stuff. I mean, you'd be within your right to dump them back again which I would do if I wanted to make a point. Nice to see someones sage is blooming. Maybe it needs different conditions and it has it too good where it is [mine that is] Cute nailbrushes! Do your signs tell the postie to fork off? Shame about the rose, it really does look battered. 

Less, loving your aquilegias, I'm a fan of pretty much any colour of them. Great bee bum...what is the second flower form the end? Is is a passion fruit of some kind? 

ybe - good luck with getting Fridays off again. Morries serving Tetley? Orf with their lilly livered heads! [I'm sorry to say the best cup of tea I've had was in Blenheim Palace and when I looked it up it was something like 40 quid a packet...it tatsed like it though so if I win  the lottery...] Love the running man photo. And have a happy holiday yourself too. Jackie O from the Old Style forum lives on the IoW if you need some frugal tips I think you should write articles with your turn of phrases too. Like the sign, i may use it. But I have one that sas Place de Fetards only I was going to change the f to an r. 

wort, hope it's a lovely booze flled holiday. 

pp same with Fitflops, I pretty much wear them exclusively. Buy summer in winter and vice versa for best prices or ebay is good, they are not cheap even secondhand but you can find bargains.

Did nowt today, it hammered down. Pkanted out pumpkins at the allotment on Sunday, along with some tomatoes and other stuff. Will check on them tomorrow evening maybe or Thursday.

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh it feels a bit nawty being on here in the evening *giggling*

Your garden looks an absolute delight now I'm on my laptop Dusty, it all looks .....right. And yes, please stay around. Learn to houl yer whisht as Cissie would say I don't know where the mods are atm, I see Crashy's still on the housing board so they're not over there  

Maderia wort!  Have an extra fab time and come back with lots of good pics and stories It's somewhere I've always fancied since seeing it on one of those 'We wanna free holiday/be famous for 60 minutes buy a house abroad' type shows. Isn't there a mountain up the middle of with a botanic garden at the top of it..? 

I've opened all your links into a new window, thanks very much Farway. I've got a page for Ventnor too, thanks Dusty I'll have a good read and draw up an itinerary when I've seen the weather 'forecast'. I love the richness of that filbert leaf, I want stuff that colour in my garden #PlanForTheFuture

Gawd your roses 2p  Will they come again if the weather calms do you think? :fingerscrossed:

I've heard that that oil is anti-midgey too pp, but I've not tried it myself. As for shoes, I couldn't tell you a thing about achilles, but when I still had daddy I had a beggar of a job finding him shoes (hammer toes and falling arches). The quack decided he was too old to bother trying to properly help and told me to go to the chemist and speak to the pharmacist about insoles. There's all manner of problems can be solved with the right insoles apparently. If that's any help?

Taff I watched GW earlier and it's worth the watch. The ex model now gardener was an inspiration, she had a lovely calmness about her. Very watchable. I thought her with her cut flower garden would get on yer teets in real life but she's not on long. And Ned gets plenty of air time  

Anyway that'll have to do for it's nearly bedtime. It's darkening and raining out there and 12'. Beloved Cousin's only back from Spain and she said the feels like was up into the 40's   Bit much is that.

LessImpecunious

Plenty of rain here thanks YBE! Pond topped up (it leaks badly), and cracks in ground shrinking...It was hammering down c. 7am, almost a lake in front yard where usually just a river...but all seems to have soaked in with a dry but breezy day since c. 8am...

Second plant from end is a tree peony Taff, flowers are (well, were, long gone now) enormous maybe 6" across, should have tried for bee bum for scale...