Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Blush Noisette
That's the name of the rose over the arch Farway 😊
Had to put it before I forget again!

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

DD has invited me over, so all is sorted

Horticultural DGD should be there as well, be nice to catch up & try to sus out just what she is studying.

I know it's Eco things, and I have this feeling it's one of those things that has grown from no where, like Climate Scientist.

Maybe it's tailoring the Kings new invisible suit or maybe it's real? 

Mmm... II can imagine the monarch in an invisible suit. It would go well with his invisibility in other matters.

I believe the climate changing is real enough. It's where we go from there that difficulties arise. 

For example, as mentioned a few days ago, Britain's climate was warmer 3500 years ago, without the aid of the industrial revolution. It's a very short time in geological terms, so we can rule out the effects of continental drift etc. We also know about the frost fairs, roughly between 1600 and 1800, when winter was like some of us saw it in 1963, only reliably. But hey, it's open season currently on truth, so I guess we can believe what we like, regardless of facts! 

Right here, right now, we have a very visible unexpected frost. I should have predicted it, but other stuff distracted me, and I can't even blame the media.  Nothing was covered in the polytunnel, so it's Shawshank. 

The major distraction last night was contact from a lady 4 miles away, who wondered if our Houdini cat was a stray she'd given a home, and who'd disappeared a few weeks ago. Our DD had put a message out on our local Faceache page about him/her/them. The jury is still out. Mrs Dusty fed him yesterday afternoon, but he didn't show on the camera last night. Nothing did, unless you count me leaping past to see if I could beat its reaction! (It got my foot.) If we can catch Puss, we've agreed to take him to our vet, who will scan him and has the lady's number.

Blush Noisette is on the list now 2p.....but the list is quite long! 

Picture. Carex 'Evergold' I think. £6 seems a good price.  I might buy it if it's still there next time! Famous last words...

Farway

Today is a blue sky day here, but it was rain earlier, so who knows?

Hope in some way the Houdini cat is the adopted stray Dusty, give the tail [geddit  ] a happy ending for Christmas

Thanks for the rose ID 2P, not sure mine is the same one now, the online descriptions say it has a good clove like, scent, mine is pretty but no scent worth mentioning

I'll tuck BN away in a memory hole so I can pounce if I spot one

Another non gardening day, just too soggy & dismal out there for me to bother getting togged up, but that sunshine is tempting for a mooch about, so who can tell?

Tried one of my French pears yesterday, I have them in the fridge salad drawer, trying to keep & not rot. This one had the start of a manky blemish on one side, so thought I'd eat it before it went right down the pan

It was surprisingly nice, juicy, a bit tart,but sweet at the same time. Edible and not rotten in the core anyway, so I'll call that a win for this year

twopenny

Blue, grey, some dry and cold. It really feels like midwinter 😕
I did actually do some work in the garden. Not sure you can call it gardening 

Chopped and pulled what's left of the tomato plants, cleared up the dead and rotting leaves of the brassicas and got the leaf blower out to clean up around the house. Hope I appreciate it later but it's such a state it's really just essential.

Might have to ask about pruning my bush rose after the drought. I think I should cut it back harder but they don't really need pruning. 
The plums are still swelling and one of the tomato plants had flowers on it!

Oh on the cheerier side, went to the park after shopping and there are daffodils already popping leaves up.
In fact I've got some already in leaf, the tall ones.
It's all very weird.

LessImpecunious

twopenny said:

I did actually do some work in the garden. Not sure you can call it gardening 

Chopped and pulled what's left of the tomato plants, cleared up the dead and rotting leaves of the brassicas and got the leaf blower out to clean up around the house. Hope I appreciate it later but it's such a state it's really just essential.

I'm sure at least 50% of my gardening is chopping things down or pulling them up... Best way to keep warm in the garden anyhow at this time of year!

Dustyevsky

The blue sky persisted here all day, Wednesday, but it was brass monkeys in the shade. The car said 4c, but it lies. The journey to the shops was beautiful, but coming home around 17.00, I began to regret the pretty valley route, as the river mist and standing water made driving treacherous. 

LessImpecunious said:

twopenny said:

I did actually do some work in the garden. Not sure you can call it gardening 

Chopped and pulled what's left of the tomato plants, cleared up the dead and rotting leaves of the brassicas and got the leaf blower out to clean up around the house. Hope I appreciate it later but it's such a state it's really just essential.

I'm sure at least 50% of my gardening is chopping things down or pulling them up... Best way to keep warm in the garden anyhow at this time of year!

Between shopping and going home, I also did some 'gardening' at my walking friend's house, whipping out unloved  shrubs from under the bay window with a mattock, ready for a spring re-plant. It was typical new build soil, but to be fair I didn't find any house bricks or other detritus. We filled a garden wheelie bin with the remains of viburnum, hebes, and lavender. Over the next few months, we'll improve the soil and choose replacements. I've a feeling that won't be easy.  

This morning I'm told sunshine and showers, but there's no sign of sun.   Overnight, those showers were heavy, so it's very soft underfoot on the grass. At least that seems to have stopped growing; one of the few blessings at this dark time of year.

The Houdini cat mystery may have been solved.   People living in the nearby complex went away for a few weeks, leaving a neighbour to feed their cat. If it's that one, it may have decided to seek a new owner, and besides, it's “very food orientated.” The owners are back now, and last night there was no sign, but instead.....

No hogs, though! 

Farway

Rain again after yesterday's sun, grey, drizzle & gloom, still got my lights on indoors it's so dim.

A new cat Dusty, is it one you recognise?

I also joined the chop & pullers association yesterday, with the sun out, it was too tempting. 

Chopped some brambles trying to make a home behind one of the apples, chop, chop  for that one

Pulled up some dandelions seeking to settle in one of my pots, rearranged to a less messy pile some manky frosted trailing nasturtiums.

And severed the umbilical from the Boysenberry tip cuttings. They are well rooted into the pots now, so they should carry on under their own roots from now on

I poked one of the severed branches back into a pot, just to see if that would root as well, even though it was not a "tip". Not bothered if it doesn't, but they do seem to root easily, so worth a go

twopenny said:
Might have to ask about pruning my bush rose after the drought. I think I should cut it back harder but they don't really need pruning. 
The plums are still swelling and one of the tomato plants had flowers on it!

Oh on the cheerier side, went to the park after shopping and there are daffodils already popping leaves up.
In fact I've got some already in leaf, the tall ones.
It's all very weird.

Roses, they seem to be very tough and will come back even if butchered down to stumps, but then again, if what you have is fine for the space then I'd leave well alone & tidy dead bits etc in spring

No sign of any plum buds, but I did notice I have next years apple & pear fruit buds swelling  , and the cherry has loads of swollen blossom buds, looking good so far

Plus, a fig has green tips just coming out, in time to get zapped by any passing frost demon

I've also got daff leaves, and bluebell leaves, popping up

Some flowers are hanging on, nasturtiums sheltered by a wall

Dustyevsky

Sorry, Farway, I forgot to say, last night's isn't a new cat. You folk have seen this one before:

We know where he/she lives, and our cats aren't troubled by this one, as it keeps a respectful distance from them.

No pretty nasturtiums here, or even on the north coast, where there was also a frost on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Theirs was the first this winter. 

twopenny

Cold, dark and chucking it down here so I've been catching up on jobs on the 'puter.

I've still got the cold or whatever it is, being woken at 5am didn't help. I'm almost constantly tired from living next door to someone with a chaotic life so decided to rest today.

Less, yes I noticed that gardening is mostly about cutting and clearing more than flouncing around titivating

Thanks for the rose advice Farway. It's a rose that always grows outwards too much. Partly because of any shade because the same happened in my last garden. I think I'll cut it back nearer spring to bush it up some.

Love the flower So bright and cheerful.

I did buy some seeds inspired by your plants but didn't get around to planting them because of the dry heat. As you do.

Love your hedgehog tales Dusty. It brings a bit of intrigue to the place.

Something that turned up as I stopped for a snack while waiting for Kingfishers that weren't there. Yes, I shared the snack

greenbee

I have nasturtiums flowering in my compost heaps Farway!