Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

You can feel the heat in the air, it was 73F in the lounge at 6 this morning. 

Going to be a scorcher, it's Armed forces Day down Southsea, and it will be melting down there.

Not for me these days, but I'll keep my camera handy, just in case any spare Spitfires go over me.

https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/spitfire-display-part-of-packed-portsmouth-armed-forces-day-on-21-june/

Luckily, I'm now up-to-date with my watering, but may have a quick squirt at the back, to ensure those peas & plums get plenty of moisture to swell up.

pink_poppy said:

Ooh, they look good enough to eat, Farway 😋 hope you enjoy/ed them.

My poor pineapple plant appears to be drooping 🍍 my DH has prescribed Viagra for it… 😂

Tomato plants behind - according to Beechgrove on Facebook you’re supposed to tickle your tomatoes when you walk past as it’s supposed to be good for them. So now you know…

Cherries, nice, but not as cherryfied as the ones I remember as a child. 

Not complaining, after all I've waited since 2009 to get more than a sample bite after birds etc have finished. 

We are getting exotic on here, pineapples, lemons, grapefruits

Was that from a pineapple top or came as plant PP?

I've always tapped up my tomatoes whenever I went by 

For some reason though it seems to be failing this year, my toms are just not setting  . I wonder if it's general tomato malaise I have here, heat, dry air, poor choice of varieties, carp compost etc.

Saw a first yesterday, a council lorry came by & watered the crab apple they planted opposite earlier in the season. It's still alive, so could make it.

If I were fit enough, i would have given it a drink now & then.

Council not all good though, my garden waste bin was not emptied this week, filled in the online form, ignored of course, and to twist the knife I have to cough up another £124 to continue for next 12 months 

Refreshed, hope the clutch lasts Dusty, but I believe you said the van is going to be binned before next MOT?

Good to see your nasturtiums are going well, Tom T has never done well with me, the long trailing ones like it here, dwarf not so much

I'm trying Chameleon this year, only just started to flower but looks good so far, and it's a trailing type. I have it in baskets on handrail

https://www.gardenersdream.co.uk/products/nasturtium-chameleon

twopenny said:

Anyone noticed this ste going wonky?
My photo disappeared.
I've missed a couple of posts when it wizzed me down the thread and had to go back to read when I saw them mentioned 

Working OK here, apart from verify I'm human & checking my security

More cherry pics

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Anyone noticed this ste going wonky?
My photo disappeared.

The site didn't check I was human today, but they still have a banner up saying there are technical issues. My interpretation of that is, "We've been hacked, and the attackers messed things up a bit."

Maybe the picture was censored by the new A I  Mod at MSE Towers, who covers the weekend shift. It saw your romantic novel on the seat, looked it up and read: " Lara has spent a lifetime trying to forget the traumatic events that led to her desperate escape from Dorset seventy years ago...." and thought, "Aye, Aye!"  Then it read the book and decided it was not too risqué, after all. 

Coincidentally, it's almost 70 years since traumatic events in Dorset made me extremely happy to move to Devon! 

YoungBlueEyes

I survived the coast thanks 2p, only cos I was there that early I had the whole thing to myself (nearly). There were a few dog walkers but not one of them were friendly "sure you can stroke my dog" types so I left them to it and kept going north. Scarborough was busy by the time I got up there so I wasn't there long. Once the traffic started really building I turned inland and ended up at my old house in Alnwick Bit of a mistake really cos 1) the new people don't keep it as nice as I did and 2) I was a long way from home by that point and didn't take into account that every mile I drove away I had to do again on the way back. It was a l-o-n-g  HOT drive back. Got up to 38'c in the car, jeez I was melted! #LessonsWillActuallyBeLearned.

I've been up since too damn early even by my standards o'clock, and I saw the sunrise but didn't get a pic. It was alright but nowt special. So my house is cleaned top to bottom, I've pulled a bucket full of mare's tails+thistles+bind weed, I've 3 loads of washing done and out on the line, and I'm not doing anything else today. I'm sat now with my coffee and the world can please itself out there, it's too hot to care.

Even though I've read all the posts I'm too mafted to properly go back and forth to catch up  

Instead here's a thought that came to me when I was brushing my teeth at 'this isn't natural' o'clock this morning - all the plants I've got in the garden that have body parts in their name. And then my delightful brain started singing Head Shoulders Knees and Toes Knees and Toes. I've no heads or shoulders or knees or toes out there, but I do have eyes and ears and mouth and nose (bit of a stretch of the old pig latin on that last one but still. Whad'ya expect at 0350). 

OT 24' for chrissake. The hiccuppers have given a 12 hour thunderstorm warning from this aft, but the sobers aren't entertaining that nonsense. A high of 29' to come, they both say. 

Oh and my garden is turning against me for neglecting it. I've black spots/patches on the leaves of my apple tree, my roses have something wrong-looking going on on the branches, and my tom forest has caught blight. Shipbags. After all the work I did potting all of them on and buying the 'good' fingerscrossed; compost and all. Maybe I didn't top up it's additives enough or something *sigh*

wort

Farway I sowed nasturtium seeds cos you always do them , I’ve 2 flowers and slug eaten leaves , at least it keeps them off my other flowers 😂
The palm went black on the trunk where it burnt but it recovered, I was so worried as at the time it was next to tiger grass ,touching distance, and the way the fire wooshed up I could see it taking the whole garden like a bush fire. 

The cat was allowed back in , think the mouse escaped. Cat sat here next to me now making me roast.
Nice bench and book scenario there.

Ybe didn’t envy your trip back , just the drive from work yesterday had me exhausted.

Dusty I would be stroking those velvet petals every time I walk past. Please dont send the thunder my way , I have a Do in the big city and the forcast is thundery showers !! Typical which causes all kind of what to wear problems.
At the moment it’s boiling with a strong wind , it’s dried a blanket out there .

twopenny

Thank goodness your not my neighbour Bluey! 
Getting the washing out at 3 in the morning 😬
Did you open the back windows of the car as well as the front? The back is where the draught comes from.

Dusty, the book isn't riveting but it's about a young woman Italian garden designer with a secret Dorset garden of her grandmother to crop up. So lots about plants. Think I've read it before.

Farway, that's good news about the council watering the tree. Must be someone who is interested. 
Could you not stand out there looking frail with your watering can, say 'Wish I'd got one of those ' and see if they'll water your front garden? My grandmother would have done. She was great at the 'poor old lady ' act 😁

Btw, I used to hover with a black bin bag when they were replacing flower displays and ask for the ones they were digging up. Got lots of winter pansy that went through 3 seasons. They were happy to do that because they didn't like composting good plants.

Mucking around here because I've defrosted the fridge and cleaned and half the freezer. It's dripping with rain and I can't get stuff dry.

pink_poppy

The pineapple plant (and pot) came from Lidl - £12.99 iirc so I don't want it to die on me. I've googled and it's either just top heavy (I'm saying nothing), overwatered or needs food. I've been really careful with watering, but haven't fed it for a while, so possibly that. It's got babies growing, but I'm too scared to cut them off, even though it's supposed to be quite easy to do.

Farway, can you channel twopenny and steep your cherries in brandy or something to scoff at a later date?? They do look really nice - lovely pics.

YBE, that was a long trek for you yesterday. My DD went to Whitby and went on a boat trip - so jealous.

Your Tom T (steady on, Farway   ) is lovely, Dusty.

Glad the palm recovered, wort.

Another hot and sticky one today. I think it's in the 20s again, but due to cool down tomorrow...

LessImpecunious

You beat me to it with the cherries Farway - mine are Stella, haven't covered, just picking the odd one every time I pass, beating the blackbirds to it some of the time, slightly underripe but they ripen up inside...

...and in other fruit news, here's my multicurrant bush...

On the topic of body parts (sort of) one of my non-bog-standard foxgloves...

Last one for now - a small section of overly-rampant Paul's Himalayan Musk rose, now completely shading out Egremont Russet apple, as it has ascended a birch tree which I planted at what I thought was a reasonable distance, and on the north side, of the latter...

OT, warm but dull start, have had slight sprinkle of dampness, might be good for planting out some brassicas which have been waiting for boiling sun to diminish....

Highlanddream

I've been in the polytunnel trimming tomato plant leaves below the first truss. It was only when I was pulling some weeds I realised quite how many tomatoes are there.

twopenny

Sheesh Dream! What's the weather like where you are because it was 30 in the sun here and I couldn't guess what it would be like in a Polly tunnel.
Do the tomatoes come ready cooked 😁

wort

We didn’t get the storms or rain, though it was slightly cooler , but not in the bars nowhere to sit outside and sweat boxes inside. 

Less ,that’s a massive rose beautiful 😻 
Sunny and hot already, not much sleep last night and in work now early.