Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Good walk there, Dusty, and looks great. I was never a big walker, but I do miss the ability to wander if I fancied it.

Had to look up the Clone 20, sounds good, especially with your orchard. Hope it works well.

I've still got to sort my picked apples out for freezing.

Now it's pear time, they are starting to smell ripe, could this be my reward after ten long years, hope your Clone 20 is quicker Dusty

We walked as teenagers. It was cheap!  Walking was also quite fashionable at one point in the 60s. JFK was saying how fit the US Marines were, yomping 50 miles in 24hrs, so the young folk in our town took on that challenge. Those at junior school weren't allowed to attempt 50 miles, but a group of us did 25 miles in much less than 12 hours. The older ones did 50 by walking through the night. The town bigwigs were also into history, and citizens began 'beating the bounds' every year, like they did in ye olde days. Our town bounds were too lengthy to be done in one go, so a section was completed each year, and there was a picnic around the halfway point. It was a great way to bring young & old people together. 

Clone 20 was broken in a storm early in its life and reduced to a stump.  Since then, I've pruned the regrowth to form a bush about as tall as me. This is the first year we've had more than the odd apple or two, so we'll have to test them.

As for our pears, they were nowhere near ripe when I examined the yesterday.  Most of the apples in the far orchard are tiny this year as a result of the drought, yet that's the wettest place in winter.  Here's a red one (name unknown) which doesn't have such stunted fruit.

And while I remember, here's the fig harvest. 

OT: A dull, cool, misty morning will, allegedly, turn into a sunny day with a top temperature of about 23c. I'm moving furniture with the van, so I don't mind if it doesn't! 

PS. Love the miniature toms, 2p, and the bowl they're in. 

YoungBlueEyes

Thanks for the help re the lights folks. I did lots of reading, went down lots of rabbit holes, but essentially it's about the affects rather than any specific limits. So annoyed neighbours mean your lights are too bright/high but if no-one complains there's no problem and no-one to check these things. Seems erse about face to me but there you go. We went to Posh Town yesterday so I nipped into Marks for a box of nice biscuits and I'll wander round next week. Is that something you could try gb? Or is your neighbour a headnob? Depending how I get on I might have to mention it to BBM on Wednesday, see what he suggests. Himself's bro in law (farmer) offered to come round and shoot them down, I'm calling that Plan C. If all that fails I'll post on the house buying or in my home board and let you know gb. 

Anyway. I like yer coos Dusty, very silky looking That does look like a proper walk mind, not 4 miles and moderate. Does the writer of the descriptions have a sharp sense of humour and/or a drink problem  

Tennis court lights 2p Not like you can offer tea+cake an solve it that way. Have you blackout blinds up? I might be asking for a recommendation or ones to avoid soon. I like the colour of your wee toms, they do look more orangey than red. Another fan of your heart dish here Do purple gogs taste different to normal ones? (Which I also like the colour of btw).  I'll have a look for Pilgrim prog, thank you kindly.

My Lovely Neighbour is a fan of the pub garden look Farway complete with bunting that never gets taken down for a wash/repair. It's near ubiquitous I think, judging by the number of houses on MightMove that have it in their gardens... So what'll you do with all those pears?! Will you have time to eat one a day before their innards invisibly turn to brown mush? Woohoo for DD elderflower's prompt arrival

8 hours sleep pp! :clapping: Prolly cos your mind's cleared out the interview stress and can relax properly now  

Late on this morning, even though I was up V early. My ever-so-delightful etc neighbours had the fight to end all fights, and he slung all her stuff out the house about 4am, she loaded it into the car and drove off. Then he called a mate-with-a-van emptied the house into it and drove off (that was about an hour ago). So I did what any sane person any one on here would've done, I waited a wee bit to make sure they were really gone and then took my kitchen scissors out and cut the seed heads off all their aquilegias and poppies They're in jam jars on my kitchen windowsill, and I'm not a bit sorry! 

OT same still, but a bit warmer perhaps. It's to be a nice day today they say, 16'c currently and a high of 23' to come, possibly. I really must get cracked on gardening today, the mare's tails/bindweed/wandering thistles will be taking over the place if I don't curtail them. Also need to do apple tickling, berry checking, rose deadheading, and sweetpea removal. At the very least. 

greenbee

Good work on the seed heads YBE! 

My neighbours are part of a religious sect and don’t answer the door/talk to heathen neighbours, so we may need to get the parish council involved. There are already a number of issues with them using heavy plant late at night moving piles of rubble up the lane from one almost-finished building site to another currently-being-demolished-very-slowly site. The driving is being done by underage kids apparently. There’s also a lot of ‘tree surgery’ being done with poorly maintained noisy, smelly tools and no protective gear, and bonfires of newly-cut wood. So it appears that the rest of the population aren’t being considered and it’s creating a lot of friction in the village. 

Like Dusty we have cloud. I could do with some sunshine on the solar panels as I have laundry and cooking to do! Today will be a gardening day as the veg plot is disappearing under grass and squash vines, and the ‘lawn’ needs mowing, 

YoungBlueEyes

Forgot to refresh, look at your apples Dusty! They look like good eating Bound beating picnics sound like absolute heaven  
Are we having an orchard at Rottery Acres then? /me is nodding vigorously 

Farway

Arrived late, another one up earlier but sidetracked.

Sunny day ahead, nice & warm today. 

I got the hose out at the back earlier [my sidetracked bit], with the hot forecast, thought I'd get in quick. My raspberries seem to have a second coming, they do look tempting in the sunlight, I may wait until they get warmed up and then scoff later today.

Great foraging seed heads YBE, must have been some sort of heavenly recompense for being blessed with those neighbours. I do hope the seeds grow into beauties.

Your lights, plan C, oddly enough there was a bit on local FB about lights shining in, new factory etc. 

One person had the same with a local car showroom, complaints fell on deaf ears. Someone shot them out, after the second shooting the lights were adjusted.

Just don't get Rambo involved, RPGs may be overkill

YoungBlueEyes said:

My Lovely Neighbour is a fan of the pub garden look Farway complete with bunting that never gets taken down for a wash/repair. It's near ubiquitous I think, judging by the number of houses on MightMove that have it in their gardens... So what'll you do with all those pears?! Will you have time to eat one a day before their innards invisibly turn to brown mush? Woohoo for DD elderflower's prompt arrival

Until recently, I never realised Pub Garden was a style, perhaps one day at Chelsea? It would only need one of the trendy ones to start it off, like lumps of concrete statues and crates of pebbles.

Pears, had another one, rotten bits inside & a grainy texture  . I foresee me stewing them soon, before they are just compost.

With DD elderflower, I was looking EF up on YT yesterday, I never realised just how useful they are. If I had my time over, I'd grow them, so many uses & not just fizzy drinks.

Beautiful red apples Dusty, treat for eyes, hope they are better than my red pears

Apart from the older apple, all my other apples are midgets compared to previous years, drought of course.

And well done on the fig, one more than my grape harvest.

twopenny said:

Good news. Always worth getting the delivery before the excitement wears off 😉 
Farway did I read your post correctly? Do the nasturtiums take the cabbage white away from the greens?

And a small amount of gooseberry frozen. Lucky to get any but seems like the survivors are both purple and green which makes cooking them interesting 

Nasturtiums are loved by cabbage whites, used as sacrificial plant. I don't grow “greens” so I'm not sure if that would work alongside tasty cabbages.

I've got red goosegogs as well, but mine have never really impressed, possibly down to my husbandry & neglect

Here's DD Elderflower on arrival, supposed to be planted out this weekend, DD assures me she is watering the fruit every other day since I moaned informed her

YoungBlueEyes

Christ, am mafted Thank god for that breeze or I’d have got nowt done. 

How queer your fb is saying the same thing Farway. Mind you I’ve no guns now, and I’m more Rimbaud than Rambo anyway but the bro in law is deffo the tooled up type. I doubt it extends to RPGs but then I haven’t actually asked….  

Fingers crossed 🤞🏻 for your Jesus rasps, and that diddy elderberry tree is the very definition of charming ☺️ 

Having a read back to check speling errars and I’ve realised I got the Holy Trinity into a single post without even trying. Well it is Sunday  

YoungBlueEyes

I didn't refresh enough times and I missed your post too gb, sorry. They sound like proper neighbours from hell ironically. Does it fall into the 'keep lots of notes/videos/evidence' category then? Sounds to me like lots of open and shut cases, as long as they're just people and not a business/charidee. Mind, would business/charidee status mean they need licenses for that kinda stuff? Hopefully your council's website has useful info and/or lets you make complaints anonymously.  

Yes Friday money is earmarked for a jolly holiday/road trip. Next month we're taking a run up to Scotland to do the Drive All The Way Round Our Coast thing, cos I love driving my Swift and we both love sea views. So that's where it's going   I need to sort out some details and an actual itinerary tbh, and book places to stay en route. If anyone's done it or has tips I'll accept all suggestions  

Cissie's fallen out of love with the llamas. She says they have mean eyes and dark hearts and she's not going up to them any more. I don't know what's happened there - most likely she was told off for feeding them or something but that'd hardly stop her going at all.

OT nice again out there atm, 16'c currently but 27' to come. The clouds we have now will melt off soon and then it's scorchioooo  
I got the bulk of the garden work done yesterday, buckets full of weeds and deadheads and sweetpeas, and a cherry tree. I forgot I'd planted a something to grow along the fence behind it, and it was struggling for light/water so I took my bread knife to the cherry in the hopes it'll thrive now.  

OffT here's a bit cheer for anyone in need of it - https://www.thejournal.ie/international-corgi-race-6797995-Aug2025/  

greenbee

Llamas are grumpy sods, YBE. They may have spat at Cissie 😈 

Enjoy your road trip. Maybe pack a tent and sleeping bags in case you forgot to book all the accommodation?

Dustyevsky

Love your reaction to the neighbour's latest bust-up, Bluey!  I'd been fantasising about doing things the other way around, by distributing a seed mix of undesirable, or non-horse-friendly plants in the vicinity, but my heart's not in it.   To mix metaphors, the difficult neighbours (we have some nice/harmless ones too!    ) are currently reaping the rewards of their own awkwardness, arguing amongst themselves. I suspect the frustration of those who want to leave, but can't sell at their hoped-for price, is driving some most of it. Anyway, we have plenty of American willow-herb seed floating about, thanks to the commercial neighbour who specialises in that and convolvulus. At least with the laurels now reduced, we can see those coming and zap them! 

Hmm, thanks to your elderberry exploits, I went a long way down the Cotswold Flowers rabbit burrow, Farway.  The experience reminded me of that old radio programme, "These You Have Loved." Richard Baker could exhume classical favourites at will, whereas I can't do the same for all the lovely, yet temperamental plants from Sands Lane! Back in the day, Mrs Dusty and I would head there to see what new treasures we could find to tempt our customers, and it was Bob Brown who would cheerfully supply them. Eventually, we worked out why some treasures were rare!    However, it could also be argued our conditions weren't always conducive to good husbandry.  Whatever, we still have some plants purchased there, as not all proved too demanding. I suspect your DD will be safe enough with the Sambucus! 

By the way, pub gardens must be a style. The latest copy of The Garden features a number of them. I also heard on our otherwise fairly useless weekday local radio, Riverford are still not able to produce lettuce without peat in their compost. That was rather telling! "Hopefully within 5 years, we were told." For those who may not know the org. to which I'm referring:

https://www.riverford.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOopfgxbdzmvunmTrF_zcGHFKDdRNS41RH7N1HlDOY2wG0OuiT2xU

OT: The last day of Scorchio here, so Mrs Dusty is heading out early to give the hen house its mighty annual clean, with disinfectant blasted into every orifice.  I may give our posh gates another coat of expensive stuff too while they're tinder-dry. Tonight.....heavy rain moving in for a few hours, we're told, then sporadic showers to follow through the week. Suits me. We're less parched than most, but I don't like to see the trees and plants struggling. This is our willow grove a day or two ago. Lots of leaf fall...

YoungBlueEyes

Funny you should say about them spitting cos that was my first thought. Aren't they members of the camel family, so would spit with impunity. Filthy beasts.  Himself did have a lovely big tent but he lent it to his niece last summer for Glasto or summat and never got it back :rolleyes: Good ones are a bit spendy for people who don't ordinarily go camping. Might see if we can borrow one from somewhere... I'll nip across to The Oracle in a bit