Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Working_Mum

Well it definitely rained overnight here - the ground was soaking when Rome0 and I went out for our walk. The air was crisp and the breezes light and it's turned into a lovely sunny day. I'm working at my Mums so no chance of any gardening for a couple of days!



My Mum has an albino blackbird which visits her garden - I see it on most visits and always feel privileged to do so. He is such a cutie. Rome0 ran out into the garden yesterday afternoon and as he crossed the patio a flurry of about 6 blackbirds flew into the sky - they'd clearly been foraging for something on the slabs and he disturbed them! All of my bird feeders need topping up very regularly at the moment.

Loved your robin and his little bum PP

I've never really seen Medlars or quince tbh Less and  Dusty - I picked up a quince and apple jam at a local charity coffee morning and that is really quite tasty.

I moved 5 years ago  and really miss the coal fire I used to have in our lounge at our old house. I'd decamp there each December and loved the rigmarole ritual of setting a fire and sitting there all evening. There were times we'd re-light from the previous nights' coals. During the terrible snow of 2010 we had power cuts and the kids and I slept in there as it was the only place with any warmth!! I had a huge pine in the drive and I'd religiously clear the cones and kept them as kindling for the 20 years I was there. Good luck with your bungalow search 2P.

I'm with you Farway about GW - I found a couple of old episodes from 2006 or something and they were much more practical and inspirational. I liked the slot on Frances' garden this week though - felt a little  bit inspired for areas of my garden.

Hope you got your steps in wort and your dg'son isn't hurting too much after the visit to the dentist - not my fave place at all!

Have a lovely evening everyone,

((WM))

twopenny

The pages seem to have got a bit mixed up here and I had to go back and forth so forgive please if I miss something 😬

Just watching the Hairy Bikers on an autumn fruits programme and one recipie. Old one was apple pie with dribbles of quince jam which would be lovely I think.
Also a beautiful Victorian orchard on the show. Worth watching.
Farway they do a great pear and almond tart if you could persuade someone 🙂
Hope your tree comes good Wort. My apples took about 4yrs to start producing a very few fruits. Now 7yrs and suddenly it's profuse 🙂

Thoughts on the log burner good ideas. I know the small multi fuel ones needed little cleaning. In Australia they kept in all night and just needed a boost in the morning. Think I'll start asking now to keep me busy. I may have fuss free heating but it doesn't make you feel cosy on dark days.
Bungalow I saw yesterday online had only been advertised 5 days before selling. Mind it was a surprisingly low price. On an almost vertical slope though. 

Decided if I have to move I'm going to have a small orchard. I'd intended to. 
We used to be surrounded by small orchards when I was younger. So looking up seasonal, eater, keepers. I used to keep Bramleys till March so cooking all winter.

Love your sunrise WM. I've got a sunset photo today but it looks a lot chillier!

Dusty, I'd love to draw or paint those medlars, fascinating shapes. Sure I've tasted them as jelly. Obviously not memorable 😉

Sunny here but cold old wind. By the time I'd done house stuff and had a haircut decided to head for the moors to see if the deer had gathered and have a blackberry and cream ice cream while there. My excuse, they won't be there after the end of the week 😊

Farway

Morning folks, very dull & gloomy outside, expecting rain any time now by the looks of it

If I had one, today would be the day to get snuggled down near the fire, and if I had a dog, it could join me.

Great tree & sun pic WM, you certainly spot some good opportunities on your walks

greenbee said:

Farway's bird is known round here as an LBJ (Little Brown Job). 

That sounds just right, fits it to a T

twopenny said:

Decided if I have to move I'm going to have a small orchard. I'd intended to. 
We used to be surrounded by small orchards when I was younger. So looking up seasonal, eater, keepers. I used to keep Bramleys till March so cooking all winter.

Go for the mini orchard. 

I am along similar lines, very mini, two disappointing pears and five OK apples. 

But my apples were not well planned, started with whatever was cheap in Lidl etc, but I did refine it later, trying for more obscure, can't buy in the shops, but tasty, ones

Make sure to get a very early one as well, may not keep but great come July, crumble & cream time

Which reminds me, there are apple tasting days around now, maybe go along if one in your area?

I did try grafting, and failed. Was thinking dreaming of growing a cunning orchard on one tree. If I were younger I'd keep trying for that

OT, bit of a shocker, I grew up on the road where the latest London [Hillingdon] stabbings were   

I know sixty something years have gone by since then [1950 / 60s] but it was just an ordinary suburban 1930s  3 up, 2 down, bay fronted houses quite road, with privet hedges and front gates, where nothing happened.

No gardening again, but I'm off to dentist, check up only I hope, tomorrow first thing, so will be in Morries larter, see it any useful plants around. I'm thinking about putting some violas at the base of the newly panted daffs, but willsee what is available

picture failed again 

twopenny

Morning folks! 🌻 
Is the day just too gloomy to discuss today. Unusually quiet around here.

Woke to fog and rain. Feel like a mushroom. So plans written off, not a chance in the garden so I've resorted to house cleaning and found in some fancy pots, more poppy seeds! They are the proper wild sort. I've a few more seeds hanging around the kitchen waiting to be stored properly.

May make it to the garden centre in the folorn hope of finding some silver thyme which I use a lot in cooking. My plant didn't produce enough shoots in the baking heat and where as I usually have enough for 2yrs I'm running out already.
The plant at the front that went a strange shade of purple has come good so it's a point to put those things in more than one spot.

Not sure about the chives growing out of the drive drain though 😐

pink_poppy

Lovely photo, W_M - I love the gnarled branches on the tree.

Mmm, I like the sound of blackberry and cream ice cream, twopenny.
I'd love a Bramley in the garden - I paid 58p for ONE apple the other day.
Hope you feel less mushroom-like later    

Fingers crossed at the dentist, Farway.

It's supposed to be heavy rain here this morning, but it's dry and the sun is trying to come out. Feels cold though...

Dustyevsky

Wonderful tree in the sunrise, complete with mackerel sky, WM.  You certainly have a super eye for composition.

twopenny said:

Morning folks! 🌻 
Is the day just too gloomy to discuss today. Unusually quiet around here.

Late on parade today.  We had a 90th birthday at home and in town yesterday, so I'm still recovering!  Here's an off-topic photo of one pudding I enjoyed, chocolate orange cheesecake and ice cream:

It seems the chef had a very unsteady hand and poor sequencing skills. The sauce obviously went on before the pud!  Tasted pretty good, though!  Not blackberry ice cream, unfortunately. 

pink_poppy said:
I'd love a Bramley in the garden - I paid 58p for ONE apple the other day.

That makes me feel a little better. Our wee Clone 20 Bramley shed a high % of its crop, but we had one large fruit, which I enjoyed, baked with Demerara sugar and cloves a few days ago. It was definitely superior to the other cookers in the orchard.   

Farway said:

OT, bit of a shocker, I grew up on the road where the latest London [Hillingdon] stabbings were   

I know sixty something years have gone by since then [1950 / 60s] but it was just an ordinary suburban 1930s  3 up, 2 down, bay fronted houses quite road, with privet hedges and front gates, where nothing happened.

picture failed again 

I'd guess, over time, many places develop an unwanted reputation. Back in the 70s/80s, my uncle and aunt found they'd been living next door to the infamous Denis Nilsen.I'm not sure if it negatively affected their house sale. A house in the city where we used to live certainly needed a name change; a murder that remains unsolved made it a macabre tourist attraction. 

OT: Brightening-up now after a rainy start that was slow to clear in the calm conditions.  I may get to do something vaguely garden-related this pm, but hedgehog catch-up and our nonagenarian visitors are keeping us on our toes! 

Now, can I post a second picture?

Looks like that's a 'No!' 

Well, for now, you'll have to imagine a Siamese twin apple! 

LessImpecunious

twopenny said:

Woke to fog and rain. Feel like a mushroom.

I hesitate to say this, but no-one else has beaten me to it - maybe you just need to meet a fungi...

Two days of sunny weather here, so apple picking and pruning has been done... and I also decided to pick medlars, as a couple had fallen (or possibly been knocked off by over-excited dogs chasing ball, as the branches are so low... ). No chain-saw needed for removing spindly quince growth from the base of our tree Dusty, but I probably should take secateurs or loppers to it - however, I retain hopes for future quince, as suckering seems to have happened into a flower bed c. 3ft away...

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all, on "Search - Spooky destinations" Day.

I love your RobinBum pp, that's deffo a keeper, and your choc pud (even if it was sauced wrong) Dusty. Your sunrise was beautiful wm, and fingers crossed for your quince Less. Mmm fire-toasted toast wort So you still haven't shot that ignorant get next door then 2p? Hardly seems right that his mum isn't talking to you when it's her son's fault  

Me and Posh Friend have found a rhythm, and she’s talking about going home for the weekend. That shipbag cat will be pleased cos he hasn’t been round for days, he just sits on my car roof meowling at me and follows me to work. It has to stop or people will be thinking I'm a cat person for gawd sake!

I got my apples in but it won't let me load a photo Do I need to top up my social credits for them to work or something...? *sigh* 

OT Well it was cold on Sunday and they promised cold on Monday, so off I went to work in my thick tights and Big Coat and I was mafted. It wasn't very warm but it was hardly cold 🙄 5'c out there currently, and a high of 11' to come, they say. Lovely and sunny and not a breath of wind, possibly. Feels Like are a bit lower but it is Autumn  

YoungBlueEyes

Maybe it’ll work on its own. Here’s my any-bigger-and-they’d-pop apples. I'm sure there were 9 on the tree mind 🤨

Ooh giggidy it worked! 

Dustyevsky

If the theme's still apples, (and yours look splendid, Bluey  ) I’ll jump in and try again to post the Siamese twin specimen originating from our seed-raised tree: 

Hmmm....well it looks like I succeeded there, but after failing to upload x3, a quick resize of the image was required.   Whether announcing it or not, MSE seems to be imposing a picture file size limit. 

Anyway, as you can observe, the apple wouldn't win any prizes for beauty, and if it's like others on that tree, it won't taste particularly good either!

Hope the dentist is as kind to you today as mine was at the last visit, Farway. It's always seemed particularly unjust that the most lengthy, unpleasant treatment becomes a double whammy when paying-up.

Wort, your mention of toast heated on a gas fire took me back again to my days in a London hostel. Being enterprising lads, we somehow became owners of a duplicate key to the pantry, and thus overcame slow starvation with toast and butter. Being illicit, it tasted ridiculously good! 

No major news from here, I'm afraid. We lost internet at a crucial moment yesterday. I was attempting to advise the Big River chatbot, black face paint was no substitute for certain substances I take to maintain my health and good looks. Then, when alternative telephone contact was achieved with a human, I couldn't understand most of what he said!  Technology, eh? The upshot was a loss of what gardening time I had, and that was fairly minimal. 

Today, who knows? It's drizzling currently. I don't think our guests will want to visit Rosemoor in the showers forecast to spread slowly through the area today, so it'll probably be another lively round of crosswords.  At least the wet weather has brought the grass-seeded area I showed a few days ago into life, and I also have an excellent excuse for not cutting our neighbour's half-acre. 

The hedgehogs are all fine. There was a large, dead badger on the road near here yesterday, which was a little worrying. They won't have culled them all, of course.