Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

I had a decent night's kip last night, which may also reflect on how much cooler it is. Grateful for it. 

Pleasantly dull & mild out right now, the oak opposite is dropping acorns, so change is on the way

YoungBlueEyes said:

So the green fingers missed a generation Farway Mind, DGD is more than making up for it eh. Hopefully your rightfully earned slave-trade-victim cheque will have lots of 00000's and it'll be Rottery Acres Here We Come Ooh maybe I can claim a Famine one and we'll all be set for life Lookit yer dahlia - #Shawshank in action   Fingers crossed DD has a calmer time of it now and your gifts have chance to thrive  

Oooh, didn't know there was Famine cash as well.    

Great Granny, on paternal side, was born in Dublin 1848. Grew up in London though.

So, with Slave & possible double Famine compo are we now on the way to Rottery Acres? 

twopenny said:

Elders seed all over the place but I guess that would take too long.
Make sure you get one with sweet smelling flowers. Elderflower champagne is delicious 😋 

I can vouch for EF Champagne, I used to make my own, alcoholic, stuff. Using same method as real Champagne, even the sediment removal and wired on corks.

PP, the alky stuff is made like wine, from scratch, the cordial has various methods a quick search will show. Usually from scratch using flower heads, honey, lemons etc.

DD has in mind the EF cordial, non alky stuff.

Now gone down the rabbit hole, and found a specialist elder supplier who holds the National Collection and has been on GW. I remember seeing him there.

https://www.cotswoldgardenflowers.co.uk/collections/sambucus

Credit card is on Amber Alert 

pink_poppy said:

In other news, my DH peeled my red potatoes yesterday - I couldn't believe it - so now I've got boring white potatoes for dinner tonight instead of gorgeous red ones. Grr...

Sorry PP, but I laughed when I read this   

Not quite the same, but one year my saved & drying on kitchen paper tom seeds were “Tidied away” from kitchen top to kitchen bin. 

And my loo roll innards seed pots were also sent for recycling  :'(

Hope planning lady meeting goes well Dusty and you hear the “Right Words”

Not much gardening planned for today, may get hose out at the back, again. 

This is my Heritage raspberry, bought last year from Morries. 

Last year I thought the fruit was OK but not very raspberry, this year, same plant, the fruit is gorgeous, don't know if weather played a part or just age, but I'll settle for whatever the reason

twopenny

That's a gorgeous looking raspberry Farway. I want one 🤩 and there will probably be room as half mine have keeled over in the drought.

Poppy, don't know how to make elderflower champagne. I don't remember it being difficult. Will look in book later.
I had friends who used to make buckets of homemade wine back in the day when people used to do things rather than looking at a screen.
Parties were 'guess the wine' which I remember with great fondness 😋

We had 'rain' this morning. Well some drops of wet that didn't even leave any in my buckets but it was welcome nonetheless.
Shows potential.
Grey skies which is a blessed relief and very cool. Can relax for a bit.

Bluey I have throws and patchwork quilts over and above what is needed. I'm a sucker for them much like plants.
Still needs more hygge. I'll work on that in winter.

Off to do more domestic nonsense today. Has to be got done before the BH weekend where we hunker down and lock the doors.
The dreadful driving is way beyond what I've ever seen before. Some of it is unbelievable. They seem to be away with the fairies and clueless. Eating, drinking, vaping while driving. Seem to think they are fine and don't realise it's because others are breaking hard to avoid them.

wort

Pp there’s some lunatics around the roads , glad your dh is ok.
Greenbee my cat also complains about the catering😂 also about lack of attention, how dare I try to eat or read when he needs stroking.

My black lace sambuca was in the top of the fairies garden pic, I thought of making something with the berries but sounds like a lot of work , I’ll send the berries round Farway and you can send me back the champagne 🥂 It’s had a serious chop it grows like topsy.

Been in Tesco and remembered a cider I tried in the Lake District , it’s a perry like Prosecco. Bought some bottles to see if it’s as nice as I recall.Angioletti is the name.

my dad worked part of his life as a loom overlooker in the cotton mill up here, can I claim something ? And grandad came from Ireland and there was the potato famine. 

Much colder and very grey today , no rain forcast though. 

pink_poppy

Definitely lunatic drivers/motorbikes on the road   it took DH a few hours to get over his near miss. We've had one before, but not as high speed as Sunday - a car coming towards us in our lane as we were approaching a set of traffic lights - they had to reverse and then get themselves into the correct lane.  Also, when DD was visiting, she was driving behind a foreign numberplate campervan and when they turned left, they went into the right hand lane and continued like that for a while until they were nearing another junction - thankfully there was nothing coming the other way. Bloomin' scary and it's always in the back of my mind when I'm driving on our bendy roads.

I went back to bed this morning and slept for another couple of hours. My first interview was yesterday, YBE (the morning after the hooting owl) and it didn't go well   I've got another interview tomorrow that I'm thinking of cancelling. The only problem is, I've got three other job applications in, one of them for the same organisation as tomorrow's interview, so it might not be a good idea to cancel. I've got to the stage where I cba though - I feel like I've been applying for jobs for weeks, filling in application forms, tweaking my CV, writing cover letters etc. Lack of sleep is probably not helping...    

I've been for a sweaty walk this afternoon. It didn't look too warm when I set off, but it felt very close when I was walking and I was wishing I'd not bothered tied my hair up. Lots of lovely looking brambles, but unfortunately I didn't have a tub with me - maybe I'll go back tomorrow if I decide to cancel the interview. Hmm, bramble crumble or a job??... Decisions, decisions...

Fingers crossed for your meeting, Dusty, I hope you get the result you're after.

Elderberry champagne from scratch, I'm not sure I could do that. I'm curious to know if it's fizzy though. Guess the wine parties sound fun    

Lovely looking raspberries, Farway, will you be freezing them for another time or scoffing now??

I'd love to have fairies in the garden, wort   Is that you on your hols now?? We've got Irish ancestors too.

OT - It's deceptively warm today, even though it's grey and cloudy.

YoungBlueEyes

Lol that's cats for you gb, never happy even getting what they want Glad Anonymous Dog had a good time though  

Hopefully Planning Advice Woman gave you the right answers and things can move along now Dusty. It was distinctly cooler here too yesterday, honestly I almost put socks on  

Ooh Compo Cash all round Farway, doesn't matter where it comes from as long as we're not spending our own ha haa! Now your back's better are you gonna go get your rasps in before the wasps smell 'em - mine were decimated in a day, well an afternoon really  

Are you fully DomNon’d now 2p? Before the grockles arrive? (Love that word.) I love a patchwork quilt n stuff too, I've candles and hyggeyness galore here  

I'll have a look for the Angioletti, ta wort I like a drop of perry Was it as nice as you remember..?  

Gawd that sounds frightening pp, I spose you're knee-deep in tourists up there too I vote go for the interview cos if that one doesn't pay off maybe the other one in the same org will Is it something that comes up all the time..? You can't give up now, you'll have wasted all the research and prep you did, and you'll be no nearer a wee convertible/boatplane if you don't get the money coming in  

Elderflower sparkling wine recipe - https://rivercottage.net/recipes/sparkling-elderflower-wine/

Also a poss Rottery Acres could be up for sale soon (well he is known for being a bit pi$$y) - 
https://www.thejournal.ie/neighbours-of-billionaire-james-dyson-appeal-against-planned-helipad-6794132-Aug2025/ 
It's only an acre but, which is a bit small really....

OT lovely and cool again, currently 14'c and a high of 18' to come. That NE breeze is picking up though so the feels like will only be 15. It gave dry all day yesterday but it drizzled and mizzled until about 1600 :rolleyes: 

Oh and that couple and their dignity got moved out of the AirB+B yesterday and into their house. Cost them a fortune apparently cos they were on a day rate in AB+B. Well that's what you get for taking legal advice from a removals man *shrug*

pink_poppy

I cancelled the interview first thing this morning after being awake during the night for at least two hours It looked like I could rearrange it, but it was only showing an earlier time for today. It looks like they're interviewing at least one other candidate, so I'll see what happens. I'm not too bothered as it was only a zero hours contract thing. Anyway, the relief I feel is telling me I did the right thing in cancelling. I'm going to spend the day not thinking about jobs, failed interviews etc and just have a day off. I might go brambling later, but it's drizzly at the moment so will see what it's like this afternoon. I have the car today, so I might even take myself off somewhere (a garden centre would be nice), just because I can.

I've got a JD vacuum cleaner and I hate it. Well, I hate the ridiculously long cord on it which gets tangled if you so much as look at it the wrong way. I'll get a Sh@rk cordless next time as I've heard they're good. I do think we need more than an acre for Rottery Acres though - is the acre the proposed helipad land??

OT - looking at the forecast it's going to be a drizzly morning, but dry with sunny spells this afternoon    

wort

Oh Pp it’s probably your subconscious nerves waking you when job interview is due. I know I have that problem plus teeth grinding! I don’t feel like I’m nervous but it’s obviously deep down.
Garden centre should calm you down, cordless vacuums are much easier but not as powerful, I’ve had Dyson and now shark, they are ok for me I’m a fairly tidy person ahmm maybe ocd sometimes ,so I find them ok.

love the raspberries Farway my favourite fruit,those look delicious.

YBE not tried the drink yet, it need’s thoroughly chilling though.

Off for the week now and got the gate painted , going to check if it needs another coat today. Also get a wash on, it looks similar to yesterday grey and colder than of late.

Farway

Warmish, mixed sun & cloud. OK really.

Up to Morries first thing, so took opportunity to look for the long handled thingy someone mentioned. There are some tools on offer, clear out, but not needing a snow shovel I left them. 

Plant selection is back to poor, but large Melton M pork pies were on offer, so consoled myself with one of those 

pink_poppy said:

Elderberry champagne from scratch, I'm not sure I could do that. I'm curious to know if it's fizzy though. Guess the wine parties sound fun    

Lovely looking raspberries, Farway, will you be freezing them for another time or scoffing now??

The EF champagne I made was fizzy, just like the real thing

The recipe was similar to the Hugh one, but I think more flowers

The fiddly bit is getting the flowers off the stalks, stalks can taint it. 

I've not got enough rasps to freeze, or jam, Mine are scoffed when seen

I use the blackberries for crumbles, jam etc.

Hope the job, of some sorts, arrives. Reading here makes me very happy to be beyond working now.

All the cider talk, I did make cider one year, but TBH even Strongbow was better than mine turned out. 

Obvs my taste is more the Champagne end of booze.

Still on drinks, I carried on looking at Elderberries with DD in mind. Then remembered it's her birthday next month, so ordered one of these.  

https://cotswoldgardenflowers.co.uk/products/sambucus-florence

Sounds like it will make a lovely elderflower cordial, and be a nice looking shrub in the garden as well. 

My gardening today is just watering, some drooping spotted at the front as I came back from Morries

Pic is Jersey Tiger I found on my garage door, adjacent to a buddleia.

I know one was posted the other day, but thought I'd show it's getting around

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Hopefully Planning Advice Woman gave you the right answers and things can move along now Dusty. 

A poss Rottery Acres could be up for sale soon (well he is known for being a bit pi$$y) - 
https://www.thejournal.ie/neighbours-of-billionaire-james-dyson-appeal-against-planned-helipad-6794132-Aug2025/ 
It's only an acre but, which is a bit small really....

Thanks for the kind wishes, everyone.  As is often the case, there was good news, and bad.   There's been a legal change, arranged by the previous administration, plugging an obvious loophole exploited by well-off people. I understand the reasoning, but it's made things more difficult for us. :'(  Creativity may now be the name of the game  I've also noticed the way life sometimes throws up 'pauses,' which later turn out to be fortuitous, so there will be no knee-jerk reactions.  The good news: other plans we have can go ahead; in fact, we've already cooked-up something for the longer term! 

I'm sure the Palladian structure owned by Mr Suckitup has more than an acre. The house and its terrace alone would cover that. I expect the reporter meant to find out how many go with it and then forgot to fill in the blank.

Anyway, I like the other photo of the inventor demonstrating how he can change his own light bulbs, like the genius he is. Personally, I didn't get on well with his most famous product, but then even geniuses have their off days; just look at Sir Clive Sinclair and his electric buggy for example! 

Speaking of things driven, and bad driving, has anyone considered mental acuity may have been affected by a number of factors in recent times, some mentionable, and some not? Dementia is on the rise, and some suspect it's not merely a product of the Boomer bulge. There are 3 organs with high energy demands, the brain being one, and several ways in which its needs may not be fully met. Also, there's stress, and its progeny, tiredness. Yesterday I failed to identify an M5 slip road and set off for the south coast.  That might have been a nice idea, but as I explained to the ever-patient (?) Mrs Dusty, my mind was still in the planning lady's office.  

OT: Cloudy here, with the old easterly still a'blowing. Max of 20c, they say, but that's fine for gardening. 

Today's photo: a well-behaved Crocosmia with short, bronze foliage and rarely even 50cm tall in our garden. It's a winner!  

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

I cancelled the interview first thing this morning after being awake during the night for at least two hours   Anyway, the relief I feel is telling me I did the right thing in cancelling.    

Like 'pauses' to plans, which later prove fortuitous...above.    Something that feels 'right' will turn up!