Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Dry & grey, 

I did hear on radio the Aurora is up & about today, the sun's gone mad & ejecting stuff so if dark skies should be visible even down here. Of course it's grey & cloudy so fat chance

Another hoarder here, sometimes pays off when Our Betters decide some things we use are not good for us and change or remove them. I still get  frozen stuff from Bejams 

Dustyevsky said:

Farway said:

Dustyevsky said:

I've looked-up 'Vulcan,' and oddly, the photo I took looks nothing like what's pictured on the packets.  

After your posting I looked up Vulcan, seems it's not as we thought

My assumption is the blighters sowed Vulcan and then selected the purple seedlings

Cutting out a stage or chunks to achieve a desired result can get you in biggly trouble

First class detective work, and I love that last comment!  Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to sue the RHS for misleading me so cruelly. 

Back in the everyday world, I've sown 'Bright Lights,' costing just over £1 from Premier seeds, and I'm not selecting particular colours. My guess is they'll all taste similarly earthy, which is a quality I like, but recognise not everyone feels similarly. I have some outdoors and some in the polytunnel, hedging bets regarding the severity of winter.

Remaining with veg, here are the Fig Leaved Gourds (Shark Fin Melons)

"Bright Lights" was the one I grew, nothing wrong with it if space permits. 

I like the look of those gourds, could be on my list for next year as I'm thinking of growing some ornamental ones, but I see that one is edible, used in soup anyway

twopenny said:

Defied Dusty's warning and went to big town yesterday where it was mostly dry and the leg held up well. As did the phone but the battery drained out again last night so I'll get a cheapie while I look. New is cheaper than second hand it seems.
But I kept getting sidetracked by cameras which I was much more interested in 😬

Phones, I've driven myself mad by looking, the one I quite liked, good camera, Pixel, I now find runs hot and does not have long battery storage, so 'd be forever charging it, which is why I'm changing in the first place. The hunt continues, but I do have the luxury of more time

I dare not look at cameras, with my hoarding habit I have quite enough already, and some cameras are just too heavy for my wizened frame these days, maybe, once we move to Rottery Acres, clone Charlie & her Dimmocks could steady my tripod? 

Caught up with GW yesterday, and remained awake this time. 

The thalidomide lady was thinning out Jap anems with her feet, I've got all four appendages and my Jap Anems went North.

Plus an apple man, and for once I was with him, he trains branches down to horizontal, as do I. 

All I'm missing is growing cordons, I'd like to but space, and now time, are not on my side

Off to volunteers' annual "Thanks you" buffet this afternoon, I intend mooching into Morries on the way, still looking for something to put in my wall baskets / pots now Wallflowers opportunity has passed. 

Plus, if one around, Jingle Bells clematis

Probably full of dying Christmas trees by now

-taff

Day four of Christmas cake making looms, but hopefully the last two and I may squeeze out one more from what's left, and an apple crumble to take to OHs mums as she is providing the tea/supper/evening meal tonight. No gardening has occurred due to pretty much rain every day, but lots of looking and added/amended plans for things has been happening which I should have written down I expect or I'll forget them. The gladioli are now down for a move and maybe the thing whose name I have forgotten, deutizia sp? maybe...Sweet peas are still attempting to flower and the cheapie tubers of dahlia are flowring their little hearts out. And the arum lillies are attempting to flower again too. What is going on? 

I thought I'd try something different with the comfrey this year for next year, so experiement one is just the leaves in a sealed bucket to see if they break down to non stinky powder, and experiment two is leaves in a bucket with a very small amount of water to see if they will also crumb but be a bit more moist...Stinky juice is good but also....stinky....:) Beautiful colour on the misleading chard too.

Jesus, lookit the size of them peppers!! Here!! wta....

bantry house looks a bit posh doesn't it? Not sure I could cope with all that culture stuff, maybe I should live off the kitchens with some nice old wooden tables and stuff...Still can't see the link...

And look at you growing bulbs which were Norway bound Farway! Could this be a sign of good things to come? Nice bit of detective work too...Have a lovely meal! 

You're a bit busy wort, Did her bf know my parents by any chance? I had to stamp quite firmly on that gene a few years ago otherwise we would now be drowning in fabric and god knows what else...

greenbee, you can neverhave too many bulbs...because there's always the chance they want to go to Norway. 

Don't envy you the driving 2p, dark+hard rain=squeaky bum time for me...

P.S I did laugh at canutes potential not-dam

greenbee

Farway - do you fancy a trip to Norfolk to give me a lesson in how to train/prune my fruit trees? 

Working_Mum

Hello everyone,
I hope you had a lovely birthday 2P - even if you'd like to forget it I hope you found some small way to celebrate.

I'd describe the last few days here as "sludgy" - the light is meagre and there has been quite a lot of heavy, persistent rain! I've had to shower Rome0 each day after his walks as he's been knee deep in mud! I took this pic of bramble blossom this morning - it seems the poor plants really don't whether they're on this earth or Fullers.



I loved the squeeeeeeezed squash Dusty - made me smile. I should add Rosemoor to my (ever expanding)  "List" of places to visit post retirement (58 weeks and counting!).

Just a flying visit today as I've got a bit of work on which has a deadline! Sending healing hugs to any poorlys.

((WM))

twopenny

Thank you WM 🙂
Nice to see you.

Dusty now you are an experienced hedgehog keeper had you considered planting for Dormice? Apparently they have declined by 20% in the last few years because of people tidying up so that should be easy to sort out 😉

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all, on World Kindness Day  

You swine Dusty, I thought they were your nails in the giant Red King pic That squidged squash is a good cheerer upper eh. You wanna put a caption on the bottom of it - something like "Just Keep Going" - and sell it as a poster to those folks that do inspirational life-coach teaching type talks. You'll be a squillionaire by christmas ha haa!

Less the houses big enough to theoretically fit us all in are all a bit/very posh.. we'll have to just lower the tone of the place  

Revenant hyacinths Farway, imagine that. Nice surprise at a gloomy time of year though I agree with Dusty's not-medical advice if you're fighting lurgy/ies. How did the Thanks You buffet go? Worth turning out for? Fully appendaged here too but I can't stop JapAns from sniggering and sprinting for the Norwegian Air departure lounge :rolleyes: 

Wort christmas is 6 weeks today so that's loads of time to get sorted as long as she just bins all himself's hoarded tat now she's got you helping her Hopefully backs and teefs and all are on the mend? 

Are you afflicted with squirrels gb? If not, buy more bulbs  

Are you sorted for a phone now 2p? If not have you tried v1nted? I don't know if those places have a tech section but might be worth a look..? Nice the weather + leg held up for a day, bit of a late birthday present from the universe    

Stuff's doing it wrong here too wm. I passed a something tree yesterday that's coming into bloom (pic in a min). It's more like early Autumn round here at the minute. I've stuff that should be over but isn't and stuff that's starting again *sigh* I don't know what they'll do in the low temps they say are coming...

OT 12'c out there now, they say, and a lovely mild sunny day to come, possibly. Jeez we had some rain yesterday. It did have the decency to let me get to work in the dry, but once it started it didn't stop. Me garden's a quagmire and no chance of it soaking away before the rain has another go tomorrow. I wanna be one of those people heads south for the Winter - the temps would be lovely, all different places and gardens to look at, the sea to swim in, no poxy work to go to *happy sigh*

YoungBlueEyes

Pics. Things I passed on my way to + from work yesterday - 

A close-up of the something tree 

A happy pair of flowering somethings 

It is Autumn though 

The sky when I finished work last night 

Ooh it let me do 4 pics :clapping: Well it is World Kindness Day. 

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Dry & grey, 

I did hear on radio the Aurora is up & about today, the sun's gone mad & ejecting stuff so if dark skies should be visible even down here. Of course it's grey & cloudy so fat chance

Another hoarder here, sometimes pays off when Our Betters decide some things we use are not good for us and change or remove them. 

I like the look of those gourds, could be on my list for next year as I'm thinking of growing some ornamental ones, but I see that one is edible, used in soup anyway

I looked for the Aurora just before dawn this morning, when we down here were possibly in with a chance.....but nuffink.  

Hoarding the right things can pay. Mrs D is currently going through books put aside years ago; some signed first editions, and a few still in the packages they were posted in commercially. Most are worth sending to auction, and the best discovered so far has been valued at around £400. Sadly, they're not ours!     Slug pellets that work, effective bracken killer or instant death for spider mites might have been other good things to hang onto, but I can't imagine who might have done that! 

The gourds are an acquired taste.  The chickens liked them!  Me, I'll stick with my Urchiki Kuris.   

-taff said:

I thought I'd try something different with the comfrey this year for next year, so experiement one is just the leaves in a sealed bucket to see if they break down to non stinky powder, and experiment two is leaves in a bucket with a very small amount of water to see if they will also crumb but be a bit more moist...Stinky juice is good but also....stinky....:)

Let us know how it goes. My money's still on pongy sludge!  However, having once bottled some noxious comfrey liquid and kept it for a while, I seem to recall it lost quite a lot of its aroma. Whether it lost effectiveness I can't say, or even how long it was stored, but there must be a way to reduce the olfactory unpleasantness. I bet there's a YouTube video by someone with a beard and sandals in New Mexico.....

YoungBlueEyes said:

You swine Dusty, I thought they were your nails in the giant Red King pic That squidged squash is a good cheerer upper eh. You wanna put a caption on the bottom of it - something like "Just Keep Going" - and sell it as a poster to those folks that do inspirational life-coach teaching type talks. You'll be a squillionaire by christmas ha haa!

I was thinking more of those anti-motivational posters with a suitably negative caption. Most I can think of would get me instantly banned, though!  The least offensive I can think of is, "Digital ID, they'll have you by the..." No, on second thoughts, I'll settle for, "Your country loves you!"   

Sorry, about the nails. I can't afford those, nor operate the camera and hold stuff at the same time. 

Lovely autumnal photos, especially as you took them on the way to/from work.

If you come down this way, I'd be happy to accompany you around Rosemoor WM.  I can even get you in FOC as a guest. 

twopenny said:

Dusty now you are an experienced hedgehog keeper had you considered planting for Dormice? Apparently they have declined by 20% in the last few years because of people tidying up so that should be easy to sort out 😉

We have them in the road hedge.  I know, cars, lorries, and tractors all day long, and we must cut it annually, but they're still there, though not in abundance. The hedge is quite thick, and all hedges nearby are similar, so it's Hobson's for them. Down in the stream area, away from the road, we have oak trees which shade the hedges there so much, they're too thin to provide cover.

OT: A fine day, dry until dark today, so Mrs Dusty is on hedging. I am too, but no doubt I'll be doing the picking-up.  Yesterday, with an eye on the dire warnings about winter approaching, I closed off all the side ventilation on the polytunnel.   

A quick photo of a fairly new, smallish Escallonia snapped at Rosemoor's sales area. We were looking for well-behaved evergreens that flower well for under a window. Fits the bill.

greenbee

One of the cats catches and kills squirrels YBE, so they'd have to be very brave to come after the bulbs. But I'm going to wait until I've received and planted the ones I've ordered before I risk ordering any more. I don't want them to end up rotting. 

Lovely sunny day here - Stinky and I have been for a walk and now I'm waiting for the plumber and avoiding work. I have a feeling the plumber might be avoiding work...

Farway

Sunshine right now, I'm sure I saw some forecast with yellow rain everywhere, maybe it was Fake News?

Actually the Beeb, R5 early this morning played a weather forecast that was end October one, I was in bed and thought it was wrong, an announcer came on later and apologised, it was a wrong 'un, he didn't add it was a right-wing plot engineered by, what sounded like, some Kentish member. 

YBE, I love that pic with church & trees, very atmospheric, and the leafy one as well.

greenbee said:

Farway - do you fancy a trip to Norfolk to give me a lesson in how to train/prune my fruit trees? 

I like Norfolk but to far these days  . Actually training / pruning is not too difficult, once you realise it may take take years & not overnight joy. You Tube is good though, assuming you can find UK one and not some homesteader in New Jersey, or Dusty's beardy bloke in New Mexico

It's only been the past few years I've gone over to horizontal training, before I used to let them grow up & up and struggled to keep them in check

Have a search on "Growing a little fruit tree" It's a pruning / training method, which is easy to follow

The volunteer buffet was OK, finger style posh sarnies, scones, fancy cakes etc. No special plants spotted in the grounds that required a bit of trimming, but all in all, it was fine

I did check on Morries on the way, it's worse than normal, dead everything, just not been watered, so nothing from there except some pork chops and another cauliflower

Here's my hyacinth, and now the other one in the pot is also showing green 

Probably grow just leaves but hey ho, it's progress