Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Sunny, but raindrops on leaves so I guess it was more overnight rain.

YoungBlueEyes said:

Good news that your red pears are nowt to write home about Farway, think how upset you'd be if they were mouth-wateringly delicious and you never caught them in the 20 minutes overnight when they were just right  

Baby Cooing party was good fun, I even managed to keep my mouth shut when the proud parents asked us which one of them we thought she most looked like (the correct answer was Clare Balding, same hair and everything!)

Saved again, another red pear went manky overnight,   I checked before I went to bed, come this morning one was manky. 

I'm going to eat the remaining two for lunch, with some cheese. If not manky, by then.

Maybe showing my age, but in my day, all babies looked like Winston Churchill.

Found the YT bit ref weather station fakery. You do have to DYOR and not rely on MSM for "facts". 

I was listening to something on R4 about a lake in Canada, Crawford Lake, that is so still it has layers relating to exact years in history, like a zillion year barcode. 

They can pinpoint, from pollen, when corn was first grown in the area [1268]. 

Now facts depend on who is telling them, from the layers some say we are in a new Epoch, Anthropocene, which is Age of Humans, others say rubbish, still in Holocene, interglacial period.

A rabbit hole that will take you gawd knows where.

Back on track, if no rain I hope to get out and finish off the apple pruning, need the long lopers for the tall branches

If it rains, then horizontal gardening with Monty & that BG woman with the strangled accent and some Japanese garden, I have an acer from Morries, so perhaps I can learn something

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Yep it is a shame about Illustrated Man Dusty, but we talked last night and we're for getting the house done up - all those little bits we didn't get round to yet - and get on the market in the Springtime. It shouldn't be like this, people like him should be the ones to accommodate the decent sorts, not the d sorts being the ones put out 

Well, no harm in doing the twiddly bits to your house, but you never know what may yet transpire.  He who sits on the weird bench and stares used to be a total pain in the erse with nonsense I won't go into now. I wanted out not long after arriving here. That was 12 years ago. I got angry, pushed back, and he moderated, so we stayed.
Now we're over that nonsense of last year, our neighbours aren't being problematic, but the good ones are leaving, or planning to, and it looks as if we'll be left with the dross + renters/holidaying folk. Already weak community spirit looks like it will evaporate, like in the village, where pals have moved away, or gone to join the choir invisible.  Their replacements aren't filling gaps. Good, positive things, like the village magazine and our annual dramatic nonsense for charity no longer exist. 
Being a bit philosophical now, but communities, countries, and empires go through natural cycles of birth and eventual decay. Your problem, and ours, seem to be symptoms of a dying culture where values have become irrelevant to many. Now, it's dog-eat-dog (pardon the pun! That might solve your issue, though ) If folks examine history, the outright lying, corruption and shenanigans we're seeing, have happened many times before. The division and unrest that follows, results in collapse, and eventually, re-birth. While ours might not be the best location, I can think of many places where I'd rather not be living. It's a bit late for Mrs Dusty and I to move to somewhere like Finland. 

Regarding your linked-to house, I don't think the flats next door are an issue. They seem dedicated to older folk, hence the 'No ball games' sign, Next to them is an old elderly people's home, and beyond, round the corner, older person's bungalows. I think I could tolerate that....I'd be surrounded by my own demographic! 

PS. Sorry about the weird smileys.  I got discombobulated in the quoting, nearly lost what I'd typed, so had to copy & paste through Word to get it back again. 

twopenny

Dusty the community spirit is a problem. My theory is that so many people are looking at screens and shopping for more stuff they don't need that they haven't got time to make a community 
Round here we used to volunteer for the little museums and upkeep of community buildings. It was all good fun, meeting people, coffees etc even with the disagreements. Now hardly anyone does. 

Ot it's windy and sunny, not very warm and it must have rained overnight because the moisture has penetrated the soil. Could only dig 2" down with gammy bits but that's progress.

Farway, I enjoyed the maple garden. She had some good points which are mulling around in my mind 😉

Dustyevsky

Right, after the sermon for Sunday.....it began chilly here at about 10c, so I put the wee heater under the desk on for the first time in months. Now, they're saying it's 17c out there, but it doesn't feel anything like that. There's a keen south-westerly blowing, and lots more rain blobs on the radar map to dodge today.

Yesterday, like 2p, we had mostly light rain on, and off, but my time was taken up inside the barn where our offspring had moved a very large ferret cage, ready for transportation to their new abode. Unfortunately, no one noticed the 6 large panes of secondary glazing the cage had been supporting, and with those strong southerly winds blowing through the Yorkshire boarding the lot went over, smashing all but one. Most were safety glass, so there were zillions of pieces to pick up. I won't be making any cold frames with those now! 

That's interesting about Crawford Lake, Farway. Another rabbit burrow to explore.  After a quick walk around, it seems the Iroquois were farming there first. It's not clear from the local info board when, (maybe deliberately?) but the presence of ragweed pollen indicates European settlement too....perhaps much earlier than 1492. Hmm, I can vouch for the persistence of ragweed anyway! 

Now the weather here is moderating, I hope to be emptying my cold frames where a variety of plants have been propagated from cuttings....some are now 0.5 m tall! 

Meanwhile, here are our pears, showing no sign of being ready, but perhaps we should experiment, like Farway.

LessImpecunious

There was definitely snow in June 1975, at least where I was - Midlands - though I'm guessing it must have been in the form of showers, as I remember walking round the corner from the bike shed at school (where I was parking my bike, no illicit goings on, having cycled in c. 1 mile) and being somewhat surprised to see the grass covered in white stuff - no sign of it on the ride in...

Heavy showers this morning, waterbutts all now more than full, except for the one with diverter that needs unblocking; and late summer transplants being nicely watered in, so please can we have a return to hot and dry again? I have outdoor (as well as GH) toms that it would be nice to pick before blight wipes them out.... Not to mention the undug tatties that slugs are no doubt homing in on now they've awoken from their slumbers...

Dustyevsky

LessImpecunious said:

There was definitely snow in June 1975, at least where I was - Midlands

I'm impressed you can remember 1975!    I can recall where I was living and working, but that's about it.  Hilariously, I couldn't possibly afford to live there today. 

I recall 1976 better, mainly because of the drought. Times were hard, and treats few, thanks to saving up a deposit with the Leeds BS. I remember telling my folks, “If I don't make sacrifices, prices will rocket again, and I'll miss the boat!” 

I wasn't wrong, but oh, if I only knew then what I know now! 

If I'd known the weather would remain dry this morning, by now I'd have cut a huge pile of logs. What's the betting I just get going this afternoon, and it buckets down? Still pleasant, if windy, out there.

Farway

Sun stayed out, so finally finished off the apple pruning, still lots of early apples to pick & stew, job for tomorrow?

Had the last two red pears for lunch, honesty, one looked fine but once I cut into it the mank had started, so only 50% useable flesh  . The other was OK, but grainy.

I do hope yours are better, Dusty. 

Mine, like yours, showed no sign of “ready” but parted easily from the tree, unlike my apples they came away with a long stalk, but not a struggle to pick, I just lifted upwards & the stalk snapped clean.

Enjoy the Crawford Lake rabbit hole 

AI chat is good for ferreting.

Commiserations on the glass, at least it was safety & not slice a vein open glass.

Snow in June '75. I asked my chum, Chatgpt, he says it came down as far as London, but there were flurries & flakes right down to Hampshire.

I remember '76, year of the drought. 

We went on holiday to Newquay, Devon, and it hissed down all week there. The rain started at Plymouth as we drove across. 

Sat in our B & B with rain lashing the windows while the rest of the country was melting.

Remember DS sat in his pushchair with a rain cover on, and a huge lake in his lap, nearly came home early it was so bad. 

twopenny said:

Could only dig 2" down with gammy bits but that's progress.

Farway, I enjoyed the maple garden. She had some good points which are mulling around in my mind 😉

Progress, slow but sure, is a start

Right time to check on Maples

twopenny

19756 the drought year. I travelled Europe that hot summer in a Fiat 125, a tent and one airbed between 2.
Drought not in Italy where we had to sit with our feet out the tent in the deluge, to wash off the mud.

I have a photo of me climbing a fig tree. Must have a look on the puter but very pre digital.

Watered some pots. Grass is showing signs of green. Showers.
And some good news at last 🙂

My bay tree is putting out new shoots 


And the witch hazel is flowering, sort of, but I feel in desperation 

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

1976 the drought year. I travelled Europe that hot summer in a Fiat 125, a tent and one airbed between 2.
And some good news at last 🙂
My bay tree is putting out new shoots 
And the witch hazel is flowering, sort of, but I feel in desperation

Well, that proves you were doing better than me in '76. I had to sell off my troublesome Hillman Imp to raise cash.:'(  At the risk of sounding like 'Four Yorkshiremen,'  I'd have loved a Fiat 124 then, but had to wait until I married Mrs Dusty, whose dowry consisted of a nippy 124 in blue, and a dog!  Sadly, I only drove the Fiat a couple of times, before her brother lost an argument with a tractor in it.  

I felt sure your bay tree would recover. Mrs D has done terrible things to ours in the name of topiary, and it's bouncing back well enough. I should have done some pictures. 

No experience with Witch Hazel, but from the name I'd expect it to weave some spells and outwit the reaper. 

LessImpecunious

Dustyevsky said:

LessImpecunious said:

There was definitely snow in June 1975, at least where I was - Midlands

I'm impressed you can remember 1975!    I can recall where I was living and working, but that's about it.  

Well, I only remember the snow and not much else, because it was so unusual (and I wouldn't have known which year without the reminder) I remember the 76 drought too, stayed in Youth Hostel, with a long wait for warden on afternoon of arrival, as he was fighting fires on the nearby hills, and ascended Pen y Fan via the long route in hot sun.  The weather broke on the drive home after our hol (not me driving, too young), in a trusty Renault 4, passed to my Dad from his sister when she upgraded to a fancier model, which a few years later later became my first car... I eventually got the fancier model too, when my Dad upgraded to a Lada Estate!