Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Not raining at least, sort of bright grey and damp from all the rain

YBE, bold stuff, it's a kerfuffle PIA, highlight the word /s and a block appears with the bold etc icons in it, use as normal

Managed to pot up the Norwegian Eschi whatits from Morries, that's all I did, and from forecast I think it's all I will get done this weekend, maybe a bit brighter tomorrow but too soggy to start dragging dead plants around

Good news on my bird food half coconuts etc, the birds have found them and approve. 😊Yesterday a couple of blue chests & a robin were tucking in while I watched

Dusty, looking after DGC has many merits, apart from obvious ones, mine learnt Lego, Dad jokes, visiting gardens, and cafes therein, plus looking at ducks etc. Has Rosemoor got a kiddy area like Wisley? With climbing ropes, monkey bars, fallen trees etc?

Just updated, looks like Less has cracked th quote snips, I'll give it a go

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863238#Comment_81863238

Nope, failed. However here is a taster of a Haggis calendar, AI is carp at dates, so hope for us yet 😉

twopenny

Not sure about the haggie in the log basket. Looks like the other one is reading a recipe 😲

Dustyevsky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863586#Comment_81863586

Is he steaming or smoking? The other one looks like its wearing the Sorting Hat from Hogwarts. It's not clear if the younger one is going to end up in Haveapuff or Simmerin'. 😮

LessImpecunious

Brilliant! the calendar…well,sort of… particularly taken by the Hallowe'en/Xmas mashup. Given the presence of the aurora maybe it's some kind of Scandi noir Christmas, with something unspeakable waiting in the gingerbread house…. BTW, AI seems to have forgotten that Haggis (allegedly) have legs on one side shorter than the other…🤔

LessImpecunious

Think the forum may be spying on us…after mentioning the excessive number of email notifications I am now getting none…😮

twopenny

Ah the haggis don't always Less. "You may already be aware that the haggis (or haggii) are bred with one leg shorter than the other, to enable them to run quickly round the hills.

Sadly, due to a genetic malfunction, the 1991 season contained many examples of haggis with all legs the same length. You can't imagine the devastating impact this has had on the breeding programme."

And the year it rained a lot "It's being a bad year for haggi - it's been really wet so that means the left legged haggi have been sliding down Munros and so haven't been able to breed Therefore no haggi hunting until the 31st November

Scotland forum TripAdvisor 20yrs ago when we were allowed a laugh. 😉

Not a bad day weather wise, I noticed some brightness and shadows around lunch time which was cheering. And 9c tonight maybe.

I even found a well nourished all green caterpillar in the kale I cut for dinner.

From a human point of view though the winter veg is dire and scrawny. Still going to have to pot up seeds in a couple of weeks to get them going before the endless rain stops and the drought begins.

Don't see any snails despite the damp. They must have had their fill.

Farway

Yesterday's weather went rapidly down hill & finished up as torrential hail & freezing cold wind. Zero gardening was done.

This morning is just cold & wet, supposed to be Snow Moon tonight, ha,! fat chance of that

The Haggis calendar, AI does seem to get muddled, but as it is only make believe, this time it's allowed. Forgiven, not forgotten 😉

Quickie, without looking it up, who had hit "It's Only Make Believe"? 🤔 Clue, his only No 1 and a silly name 😎 On You Tube BTW.

For double points, name Forgiven etc. Also on YT

Another non gardening day, bogged down with weather, and too cold to even tinker in the conservatory, hoping all lurgy is retreating at least.

PS. Pinch punch, first of the Month

Dustyevsky

Right, no quoting today. 😐️

The calendar was great fun Farway. 😁 I think you pushed AI to its limits, mixing the mythical and the factual, yet unpredictable, seasons.

Bluey, the problem with hellebores and sheep is that the leaves are toxic. Sheep meet other toxic plants, like foxgloves, and avoid them, but that's probably an inherited thing. Hellebores aren't something sheep have a collective memory about. Having said that, most of what those escaped sheep ate was ivy, which also has some toxicity, but I notice they love the stuff.

Elm timber probably does fetch a good price, Less, but elm with lots of beetle holes, maybe not so much. 😕Either way, the farmer has the best access, and the kit to remove the trunks, so he's welcome to whatever use he can make of them. The surviving live trunk on our side has recovered, so it will be left for as long as it continues to look OK. The farmer's other actions are also very encouraging. I looked again yesterday, and he's planted 30 new saplings with rabbit guards in the field corner behind Mr Canute's place. 😝 He hasn't yet done anything in the woodland Mr C has annexed, but I believe that's 'under review,' so we'll await developments! 😏

On the plethora of lurgies floating about, I'm staying quiet. 🤐 It's not allowed to suggest potential reasons here, but data and theories exist. We're also forbidden to discuss supplements people take to counteract respiratory illness, particularly when older, so I find it heartening the BBC recently discovered the importance of vitamin D levels. Pity they couldn't have found out like I did a while back. I don't see those being measured routinely by the NHS, though! 🤑 Indeed, nurse didn't really want to know, a week ago.

The Sunday sermon ends here, except to say I hope all of you with persistent bugs banish them asap. 🤧 We gardeners probably get out in the fresh air more than most, especially those sitting in closed-box workplaces under artificial lights all winter. 57 years ago I walked into my first 'proper' job and discovered those conditions could be my fate for the next three or four decades. If I'd been as bolshy as I am now, I'd have walked out immediately and returned to rural life in Devon, but I stuck it for a year. By then I'd found a uni with real cows just outside the lecture block! 😊

Hmm. I'm still selecting quiz questions, but yours is a toughie, Farway. I can't hear the song in my head. All I'm getting is 'Puppy Love' by that Donny Osmond, 'cos the words would fit. From your clue, and the probability it could be before my sentient time, I'm going with Conway Twitty!

Nothing fresh on the Hog Cam, so here are some more naughty sheep breaking into the stream area 14 years ago.By heck, those trees have grown since then!

OT Edit: It was pleasant at 08.00, and then a mist descended. Now that's clearing, and it's raining yet again!😪

twopenny

Had a pootle round the garden but it's squelchy and everything is claggy so not good to do anything.

I'm still thinning out the plums which keep growing. There's even a blossom 😲

Found another little snowdrop out the back. There should be bunches of them but like the front garden it's curled up tight to the soil. Not a good sign. If possible I think I'll put some bfb on them in the hope it builds them up for next year because there isn't enough sunlight or leaf to build up the bulbs.

Potted daffs are looking a bit sorry for themselves too.

In the beds tulips have come up along with the daffs but nothing is blooming ☹️

Another mild day, had to remove the thermometer because neighbours fence post is collapsing. Right opposite my half glazed kitchen door!

Sunny over South Wales into the mountains. Wonder if Less got some?

Dustyevsky

I think we have to remember we're just out of January, and although it's been wet, there's no sign of nature having had a hard time. Indeed, last night I noticed the blackbirds going through their cheerful evening repertoire; a sure sign things are cheering-up.😀

No frosts on the horizon for us, but you do seem to have a very equable climate there, 2p! We had rain through most of yesterday, though skies cleared by dark. I managed to snap this photo of the moon coming up behind the oaks on the top field.

Babysitting today, so an early start.😮 At 8 months he's a bit young for Lego, but we'll get by…..