Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

Beautiful clematis, Wort.

Dave, love the sparrowhawk pic, but I’m glad the other birds escaped. Also glad you managed to save the field mouse. Cute chicks too, hope one doesn’t turn out to be a cockerel.

phoebe, your house and garden are just stunning. I’ve seen you post pics on the champagne thread and you have very good taste.

I’m fed up with this weather. We had frost yesterday morning and it’s cold and windy today. Too cold to be outside for long so I think I’ll just nip out and deadhead some daffodils. Show willing... 🙄

Farway

The runners & sunflowers went out to their forever homes yesterday, they'll just have to take whatever comes along now, but this morning was pleasantly warm & sunny

While sorting through I came upon a packet of yellow courgette seeds, intending to take a chance & sow them today, despite not being a great lover of them, however it seems I put an empty packet away.

Quick rummage & found a packet of green ones, sow by 20004 so not expecting much but worth a go I suppose, there's about a dozen in there & I'll sow the lot, which should ensure everyone germinates and I'll be seeking homes for them

At last the lounge window sill is plant free, the tomatoes have now moved into the unheated conservatory to acclimatise, bit too small for final pots just yet

Apodemus

Farway said:

The runners & sunflowers went out to their forever homes yesterday, they'll just have to take whatever comes along now, but this morning was pleasantly warm & sunny

While sorting through I came upon a packet of yellow courgette seeds, intending to take a chance & sow them today, despite not being a great lover of them, however it seems I put an empty packet away.

Quick rummage & found a packet of green ones, sow by 20004 so not expecting much but worth a go I suppose, there's about a dozen in there & I'll sow the lot, which should ensure everyone germinates and I'll be seeking homes for them

At last the lounge window sill is plant free, the tomatoes have now moved into the unheated conservatory to acclimatise, bit too small for final pots just yet

I hope you have better luck than me with your courgette seeds - I bought new seed and set them in peat blocks in an unheated propagator on the window sill at least four weeks ago but none have come up at all.  The tomatoes and chillies in the same propagator are up and away, with a second batch of tomatoes now on the go.  I think I'll give up on this first batch of courgettes and try again in the heated propagator.

pink_poppy

Turns out it was warmer outside than inside the house...

I’ve just harvested a stick of rhubarb. I’ve read conflicting advice on the right time to pick, some sites say wait until they’re red, others say you can harvest them when they’re still green?? This stalk/stick was green with a hint of red at the crown end, but it’s about 12 inches long, which was mentioned on one site as the right size to pick?! I think I’m just impatient for homemade rhubarb crumble 😋

phoebe1989seb

pink_poppy, thank you for your very kind words 😄 As we've still got so far to go, I sometimes struggle to appreciate the improvements we've made here (inside and out), so it's lovely to hear your compliments.....

Blimey, that clematis is stunning, Wort!!! Wish I had one as good!

Fab sparrowhawk pic, Dave! The closest I can come to that is the great spotted woodpecker that swooped past me in the courtyard whilst I was having lunch (no pic, unfortunately). He was intent on getting to the suspended bird feeders, but seeing me, he beat a hasty retreat back to the Scot's pine from whence he came, lol!

After yesterday's hail and rain showers, interspersed with some weak sunshine, it's been a considerably better day here today. Sadly, my *talents* have been required indoors - mist coating some freshly dried plaster in the upstairs hallway 🙄

If there's time when DH gets home I think we'll try to do a bit of strimming/tidying in the mini orchard where we still have a medlar and quince to plant.

Farway

Sun's out for the moment, quick check outside and my runners are still alive which is a plus at least

pink_poppy said:

I’ve just harvested a stick of rhubarb. I’ve read conflicting advice on the right time to pick, some sites say wait until they’re red, others say you can harvest them when they’re still green?? This stalk/stick was green with a hint of red at the crown end, but it’s about 12 inches long, which was mentioned on one site as the right size to pick?! I think I’m just impatient for homemade rhubarb crumble 😋

Me to, I have rhubarb begging to be crumbled and was leaving it until tomorrow, but the forecast of torrential rain by then convinces me to get it pulled today, which I'll do once I log off here

Apodemus said:

Farway said:

The runners & sunflowers went out to their forever homes yesterday, they'll just have to take whatever comes along now, but this morning was pleasantly warm & sunny

While sorting through I came upon a packet of yellow courgette seeds, intending to take a chance & sow them today, despite not being a great lover of them, however it seems I put an empty packet away.

Quick rummage & found a packet of green ones, sow by 20004 so not expecting much but worth a go I suppose, there's about a dozen in there & I'll sow the lot, which should ensure everyone germinates and I'll be seeking homes for them

At last the lounge window sill is plant free, the tomatoes have now moved into the unheated conservatory to acclimatise, bit too small for final pots just yet

I hope you have better luck than me with your courgette seeds - I bought new seed and set them in peat blocks in an unheated propagator on the window sill at least four weeks ago but none have come up at all.  The tomatoes and chillies in the same propagator are up and away, with a second batch of tomatoes now on the go.  I think I'll give up on this first batch of courgettes and try again in the heated propagator.

I think I'll follow you and bung mine in a heated propagator, especially as the seed is years old but at least I will have tried and no excuses

I'm pondering thinning my gooseberry out, my head tell me I must to get big & juicy goosegogs, my heart sees the branch full of gooseberry babies wanting to get into a crumble.

I think I'll bite the bullet & thin them, it makes sense even though it's heart breaking to remove potential food crops

I do thin out apples without a second thought but the June Drop does give a clue as to requirements

pink_poppy

Enjoy your rhubarb crumble and future gooseberry crumble, Farway. Are the gooseberry babies edible?? The reason I ask is that I was watching Beechgrove yesterday and turnip seedlings were being thinned. The presenter was snipping the tops off rather than pulling them out, with the intention of eating the tops later, apparently they taste of turnip 🙄 I know gooseberry babies grow differently to seedlings, but thought I would pose the question (clueless here 😂).

Lovely weather today, cool but sunny with not much wind. I spotted a cuckoo when I was taking my DD to work this morning.

RAS

I wait until the gooseberries are fingernail size and thin then. The thinnings go into pies and crumbles, and sometimes chutney. They are a bit tart and have a higher skin to body ratio so cook well before adding any sugar.

I might thin down again, and if I can keep the flaming pigeons off, have some as "dessert" gooseberries later in the season. Mind you, they can split horridly if we get a dry spell followed by downpours.

Farway

pink_poppy said:

Enjoy your rhubarb crumble and future gooseberry crumble, Farway. Are the gooseberry babies edible?? The reason I ask is that I was watching Beechgrove yesterday and turnip seedlings were being thinned. The presenter was snipping the tops off rather than pulling them out, with the intention of eating the tops later, apparently they taste of turnip 🙄 I know gooseberry babies grow differently to seedlings, but thought I would pose the question (clueless here 😂).

Lovely weather today, cool but sunny with not much wind. I spotted a cuckoo when I was taking my DD to work this morning.

By babies I meant small gooseberries, a bit of inadvertent misdirection by me, sorry

RAS said:

I wait until the gooseberries are fingernail size and thin then. The thinnings go into pies and crumbles, and sometimes chutney. They are a bit tart and have a higher skin to body ratio so cook well before adding any sugar.

I might thin down again, and if I can keep the flaming pigeons off, have some as "dessert" gooseberries later in the season. Mind you, they can split horridly if we get a dry spell followed by downpours.

Nothing changes does it?

I have grand aunt [long since dead] who was in service in a grand house, http://www.swakeleys.org/ she wrote a journal where she mentions the Master loved the small tart gooseberries, and it was her job as kitchen skivvy to top & tail mountains of these tiny gooseberries for his meals

RAS

My mum was brought up by an evacuation mother; making everything do twice if possible. Rose learned her skills in service and it served her evacuees and my own family well when things were in short supply.

It does emphasis that although the "better" classes were could employ staff, many still had to run a tight ship at times. And no doubt the cook or housekeeper was assessed on their skill in extending the budget.