Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Lol Dusty, is that a bird feeder or a sculptural tree? 
Would do nicely outside my front window 🙂 solve a problem.

Love the photo. The garden and car adds well to the rainbow 🙂

Sorting out the garage and there seems more to go in the loft because if I'm moving then light bulbs, lamp shades are important because you don't know what you're going to find.

You were right. High winds and heavy showers so chores are on the menu.
Found the brooms I lost 😆
Gardening stuff is super organised already because that's what I enjoy. Household stuff is all jobs put off. 

twopenny

Seems there is another winter rose 😀
It's worth cutting them as there are only the odd one and no chance of being outside with the heavy rain and fog and inside it cheers me all the time 

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Lol Dusty, is that a bird feeder or a sculptural tree? 
Would do nicely outside my front window 🙂 solve a problem.
Love the photo. The garden and car adds well to the rainbow 🙂

It's the front bird feeder, but we're not feeding yet. You may have one too....and pay less than we did! 

https://www.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/enchanted-garden-bird-feeding-station.html

I'd have preferred a better view of the nerines than BiL's car, but I'm doing a kind of time-lapse on the oak tree shedding its leaves, so you'll probably see it again. 

Great excitement this afternoon. One of the ladies from the nearby complex of conversions somehow drove into the part of our front garden we recently excavated with the digger to remove huge bits of long-buried concrete. With all the rain, the area's basically a swamp, so she couldn't drive out again!  I won't elaborate, but her husband didn't respond to the situation well when he found out.   We have a superb recovery service in this area, who attended within the hour and freed the vehicle, apparently undamaged. However, I can't help wondering if we'll receive some sort of claim for owning a bog garden without due care and attention.   Knowing that lot, nothing would surprise us!

OT: The rain mostly went north of us and towards you, 2p....and Less....and just about everyone else, except Farway. It was just enough to make outdoor work unpleasant here.

LessImpecunious

Yes, thank you, rain received here, pretty much all night and much of day - resulting in a flood down woodburner flue   

Lit a fire to dry things off, which seemed a pity as it was the mildest day for awhile

So mild in fact that it was almost enjoyable scrubbing some old quarry tiles that we've been hoarding for years and now might have found a use for, in a water tank which catches the drips from an unguttered bit of roof... Luckily mostly during a slightly drier interlude this afternoon, before the return of more wet...

Your bog sounds a little like part of our lawn was looking at times today, Dusty - luckily (?) the bedrock is only centimetres below the surface so little danger of disappearing into swamp...

-taff

Dusty, is that a mince pie with the chilli? Might be worth a punt actually, chilli mince pies, they'd definitely warm you up. If your GC was clser, I might go there And yes, a 200ft fence is definitely a winter job...then a spring job..

I bought a couple called yellow banana that turned red, not much heat but good for a tomato soup to add a bit of pizzazz. Seeds are saving as I type. Nicely fading rainbow there. I would contemplate making more of it a bog just for the hell of it...

2p, they don't land on mine, they just stand next ot them and stretch their necks up. Sounds like moving is becoming more likely too...

Less, shame about the flood...how will you use the tiles in the tank? for what purpose? 

Did not get promised rain, had a mostly stressful day of one thing and another so I ate cake on the sofa this afternoon and was glad to see some rain. Had intended to go to lotment but was scuppered by cat rescue, vets who didn't want to take him, a PCN notice because I got lost and drove in a bus lane a couple of weeks ago and some other stuff...Hoping for a better day tomorrow. 

Does anyone have a guelder rose? What are they like? 

Dustyevsky

The 'bog' is a long story. Like the rest of that boundary, it began as a bank with a laid elm hedge on top. The previous owners let the elms grow upwards in a couple of places. When we purchased, those trees were already succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease. We cut them down, but it was too late, and most of the laid hedge in that length died. The bank became mostly grass, interspersed with dead stumps and the occasional half-alive bit. It looked a mess. 

A couple of years ago, we created the new access 90m further down the lane. One afternoon, just before the big digger left, we whipped-out this bank. Having had much aggro from neighbours and council over the other job, we presented them with a fait accompli....and no one said a word!  However, one section with no bank was the original front entrance, and under that lay huge bits of concrete.  So, when doing the recent septic tank drain field work, we also hauled those out. They're too heavy to put in a barrow, so they await my attentions with a breaker. Meanwhile, where they were, is now a muddy depression which collects water. No one needs to drive into it, but....

Hopefully, in a year or so, we can begin 'proper' work on the front garden, with its huge, stoned parking area. That was made to use-up all the rubble the previous owners hid in a 'burial mound' they created there, blocking the view!   We knew we'd need space for the lorries that would deposit stuff when we did the bungalow rebuild, but that's done, so grass would be much better now. The only thing that's holding us up is lack of £££. 

Here's a photo of what the front garden looked like after we'd taken the mound away and separated-out the 'treasure' within:

This was 15 years ago. Our oak tree, then just a sapling, is visible in the centre. 

Dustyevsky

-taff said:

Dusty, is that a mince pie with the chilli? Might be worth a punt actually, chilli mince pies, they'd definitely warm you up. If your GC was clser, I might go there And yes, a 200ft fence is definitely a winter job...then a spring job..

Does anyone have a guelder rose? What are they like? 

I think it's one of the mince pies Grandma brought here for her holiday. I'm not a fan, so I don't track where they go!    The GC is family-run, and unfortunately for others, all 3 outlets are down here in the Westcountry. 200feet? I wish! 200 metres! 

I expect you know, Guelder Rose is actually a deciduous Viburnum. The fruits/seeds are available now if the birds haven't had them, and they germinate easily, but cuttings would be faster. There are better viburnums for the garden, IMO. GR is good in a natural setting. 

Bus lanes...commiserations. There's a new one in Barnstaple, and over the past year I've not seen a bus in it!   Coming from a city famed for its traffic problems, I'd not say Barnstaple has many, though I dare say Highways can create a few. I like the electrified signs on the A39 which proclaim things like "It's better by bus," and wonder if those who input this drivel have ever tried to reach our nearest town by that means! 

OT: Wow! We're forecast a good, dry day, with up to 17c! Tomorrow doesn't look bad either. 

Farway

Rained overnight, now damp & dull, but mild, luckily nothing requires my attention in the garden today so I can just glare at it through the windows

Cars in swamps, at my old volunteer place, we had a lady who accelerated over the old railway sleepers used as car park edging barriers, to finish up on a swampy bit. 

Of course, she was stuck and had to get towed out, but the towing folks were not as speedy as Dusty, took a few days, plus of course driving over railway sleepers is also not wallet friendly

Taff, tough luck on the Bus Lanes, easily done if not expecting. I was lucky to escape. 

The local hospital has two cars ins & one car out, but has bus only exit, which is like a mermaid enticing sailors onto rocks

I was lucky because when I went through it was pre-camera days

Like the old if it looks like, quacks like etc it is a duck, except it looks like car exit, but has sneaky Bus only signage

It was so bad it made the local TV with all the gotcha fines being levied.

Signage now amended, and the lack of fines may be where Our Rachel's Black Hole came from 

My garden inspection yesterday turned up some nice surprises, the dahlia in the compost dalek is in flower, large yellow ones, better than I remember it from its border days. Photo below

And, pulled two beetroots which I managed to grow at last, cooked, not yet tasted them

Plus, best for me, my Boysenberry has tip rooted readily  , I have one on purpose and one that it did by itself, and I've poked another in for a hat trick

Hope they taste nice after all that, next year will be the first fruiting year for me

Dalek Dahlia

LessImpecunious

-taff said:

Less, shame about the flood...how will you use the tiles in the tank? for what purpose? 

Sorry, my overcomplicated sentence structure strikes again - partly why I avoid posting too often (at least the words), takes me too long to untangle my own writing - I was washing the tiles in the tank, not planning to use them there They're going in our back porch loo, which is at last being refurbished, will make a nice change from the dusty concrete floor which has been there since we moved in (I won't say how many years ago!)

Dustyevsky

LessImpecunious said:

 I was washing the tiles in the tank, not planning to use them there They're going in our back porch loo, which is at last being refurbished, will make a nice change from the dusty concrete floor which has been there since we moved in (I won't say how many years ago!)

I keep telling Mrs Dusty, life's about travelling contentedly, not arriving at some place where the sun always shines and there's a surplus of plumbers. 

Having said that, I've (finally!) made contact with the central heating guy, who's promised to service ours, and fit a new tap before the month is out.   

It's not too late to take seeds from dahlias, Farway. I've restricted myself to the tall red one. Hope the beetroot are tasty. They're so full of good things, I'm planning a short row of the golden, non-staining variety next year in the hope of convincing Mrs D to use them. 

OT: Yesterday's promised sunshine didn't materialise, but it was warm, if windy. We had a tedious application for a Blue Badge to complete for someone, plus a dull AGM to attend, so I only got an hour or so of outdoor work done. Potted-up a couple of too-old rosemary plants from the frame, which will probably die! Looking around, there's still a fair number of plants still in bloom, or making a partial, confused, comeback.  Here's one that's done its thing quietly, at the correct time:

I just call it “The Japanese aster.” 

More sunshine promised today, but not being delivered yet. I may be going somewhere pleasant later...