Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

Oh dear, I really didn't read Less' last sentence correctly at first glance and thought there was a crude joke in there    

I love the lupins, they're really nice. I actually thought you'd put a pic on of my garden, complete with wonky bird feeder, it's spookily similar.

Hope the weather is kind for you today, greenbee.

A walk by the coast sounds lovely, twopenny, hope you're feeling better for it.

I like Spotty Dotty too, Dusty.

It's a nice morning here, but we're forecast rain this afternoon. I haven't been able to do anything in the garden for a week or so and I can see weeds and grass popping up all over the place.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Fascinating Dusty. I'm not sure if I do or I don't. It's unusual 🤔 
I shouldn't worry Greenbee. People like to meet the owner. You could do some bits on the day.

Spotty Dotty's a rather extreme example. Like everyone knows where they were when they heard JFK was dead, so true plantaholics probably know where when they first saw her! A penchant for shade, shelter, and dampness means she's from the Dark Side.  

When I visit open gardens, how well manicured they are doesn't interest me, unless it's obvious the weeds are winning. That happens when owners with more money than sense try to achieve too much too quickly.I see many gardens where no one dealt fully with the couch grass and bramble, before having the fun of selecting plants and getting them in the ground! That aside, large or small, I love seeing what kind of space the garden presents, and hearing how owners have responded to its possibilities.  

LessImpecunious said:

Seeing pic of Isle of Wight ferry reminds me, am intrigued to hear, YBE, does it really come out of Cowes backwards?

And is it brown & steaming? 

LessImpecunious said:

I think there's a place for flowers and foliage - wish I could get more of the former here but I think our microclimate and my favours the latter. 

From the photos, it seems you do have quite a supply of flowers.  Remarkably uneaten lupins to boot!  

Well, the promised sunny spells didn't materialise yesterday, but the rain stopped for a while around 18.00, so we headed off for fish & chips. Parked up to eat them with a view that would have been lovely in some sunshine:

That's Dartmoor in the background. Foreground courtesy of recently disturbed soil. They've done some building in this location, so it may be the last time we get in there.  It's spookily synchronous Farway mentioned formic acid this week, because I found a half-full 20litre drum of it on the site. 

twopenny

Forgot to say, brilliant bird shot Poppy. That's a keeper 😉 

Good luck greenbee. I'm sure you'll have a nice day with lots of compliments.

Dusty the look on that sparrows face looking at the wood pecker 🙂 
Why is a woodpecker looking at seed? I have pigeons eating mealworms.

Farway

The thunderstorms arrived with an appropriate Bang yesterday late afternoon. It tipped down, but not much funder.

I doubt YBE was at The Needles by then, but would have made a spectacular photo

Today I was up at silly o'clock again, sunrise duly snapped, sun out but may cloud over later, supposed to stay dry at least and getting warmer during the week.

Dustyevsky said:

LessImpecunious said:

Seeing pic of Isle of Wight ferry reminds me, am intrigued to hear, YBE, does it really come out of Cowes backwards?

And is it brown & steaming? 

That's Dartmoor in the background. Foreground courtesy of recently disturbed soil. They've done some building in this location, so it may be the last time we get in there.  It's spookily synchronous Farway mentioned formic acid this week, because I found a half-full 20litre drum of it on the site. 

Less / Dusty, Guffaw, chortle    

The one Blue used is the Fishbourne one, and it does come out backwards, 'cos it's a drive through, but I think it has to turn so they can look out of the front pointy bit windows when crossing Solent

Dusty, I wonder what they were using the Formic acid for? So many uses for it. Now I'm musing here, not a suggestion etc, I wonder what the effect would be on Vine Weevil grubs?

Would they think oi oi, ant around, time to clear orf?

Nice chippy scoffing view, is that Cow Parsley framing it?

Less, lovely Lupins. I can only admire from afar, because mine become instant slug feast.

Never sprayed weedkiller yesterday, due to weather. And today is a tad windy and I don't want any spray drifting.

Courgettes now have flowers, naturally this being Pride month I have two females, let's hope one identifies as male and I get a crop.

Photo due of my self seeded borage, looking good so far

No sign of grapes, looking like a blank year 

Any way, here's sunrise for those who missed it

With my cherries following, the fleece is doing the bird proofing, still not really ripe yet

twopenny

Formic acid.
See David Attenborough Wild Isles probably the one that had puffins (or the next one) had amazing film of ants defending the nest spraying the acid.
A use for ants in the garden to deal with pot pests?

Farway

twopenny said:

Formic acid.
See David Attenborough Wild Isles probably the one that had puffins (or the next one) had amazing film of ants defending the nest spraying the acid.
A use for ants in the garden to deal with pot pests?

Trouble with ants in pots is the tunnelling and root disturbance

I do leave the ants to it in my compost daleks as a rat deterrent

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Dusty the look on that sparrows face looking at the wood pecker 🙂 
Why is a woodpecker looking at seed? I have pigeons eating mealworms.

Not my woodpecker, 2p, but ours do eat peanuts. Less may say what that one was eating. 

Farway said:

Dusty, I wonder what they were using the Formic acid for? So many uses for it. Now I'm musing here, not a suggestion etc, I wonder what the effect would be on Vine Weevil grubs?

Would they think oi oi, ant around, time to clear orf?

Nice chippy scoffing view, is that Cow Parsley framing it?

It was an agricultural storage type building, so there might have been a farming use. I left it well alone, so not able to experiment on the VWs. Something cheaper than the usual stuff would be good though!

As to the natural framing, I only know they were umbellifers, combined with vicious-looking thistles. Of course, the sun came out on the way home, and then it rained heavily as Mrs D put the chickens to bed. 

Today looks somewhat better, but still dull in the middle, and windy with it. Last night, while we were eating, the car was registering just 8c, so it's no wonder outdoor courgettes are slow. I'm getting some from the polytunnel, but none outdoors so far.

The internet was very sluggish earlier, so I didn't post a picture of Mrs Dusty's tomato support frame and the plants she put in on Friday. I'll try again now.    Most of the frame is made from the hazel I cut in the winter.

Last year's bed has kale in it, a couple of cucumbers, broad beans and a few other things. I shall build one each year until I've filled one side of the tunnel. 

twopenny

Nice one Dusty. I'm not jealous at all 😭 

So here's the cherries while they are still there. Not a huge crop so a fight to keep them.

twopenny

 Can't change pic size on the tablet but it's quicker to add the photos.
Also don't seem to be able to post under the photo on a tablet.

Apricots are still green and not swelling enough. Sun seems to be the answer but they are getting plenty.
Wonder if tomato feed would help? Or just plant food? Anyone know?
I have 4.

LessImpecunious

pink_poppy said:

Oh dear, I really didn't read Less' last sentence correctly at first glance and thought there was a crude joke in there    

Dustyevsky said:

LessImpecunious said:

I think there's a place for flowers and foliage - wish I could get more of the former here but I think our microclimate and my favours the latter. 

From the photos, it seems you do have quite a supply of flowers.  Remarkably uneaten lupins to boot!  

twopenny said:

Why is a woodpecker looking at seed? I have pigeons eating mealworms.

Having probs with multiple quotes again - thought I'd worked it out.... Plus my copy-editing failed somewhere - should have read "my lack of expertise" or something to that effect...

So, tackling comments altogether - Poppy, there was a crude joke in there, as others have noticed...but not mine, an old one...

Dusty, those were the lucky Lupins, you can't see the one which were eaten, as they are no longer extant... It's quite a large garden, and the flowers are widely dispersed - by contrast with your friend's seaside garden...

2P the seed is "blanched peanuts" which have had their testas removed - trialling them as we always end up with loads of the brown skins under the feeder - they're good from that point of view, but, due to the blanching, are softer than the usual peanuts, and disappear faster

Promised rain has just arrived in small brief quantities, think I will be pricking out in greenhouse for a bit (if I can get away with saying that...)