Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

I don't know about the seed heads Farway. It's the first year. But there's so much stuff for them to use around here I think that would be too small. I usually rake and dry moss for them, there's enough of that!

You have a lot of succession there and plans. Looking forward to the photos.

Busy today, swim hydrotherapy - always hopeful 😵‍💫 and calligraphy class. But I took some photos yesterday because stuff is coming out. Everything has popped up the last few days. Even buds on the prunus swelled just overnight.

This is my little woodland area visible from my sofa. That's essential these days 😏 bit different from Dusty's.

It's dry here, almost bright and not raining yet. Still mild 🤞

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all - Search Get ready for Valentine's Day 🤨

Your wild hedges and butterfly eggs link was very cheering 2p, I was ready for that. And your fluffity seedheads (?) hardly matters what they are tbh, they're a very appealing texture 😊 How was the bungalow? Any good?

I've never had a cactus flowering Farway, that's almost fuschia-like ☺️And look at your daff, happiness itself 😍 I'm praying for bad weather for you down there so you go hunting for your cherry blossom photos… When I look up where the River Otter is I'll be able to go 'Ah, that's where you got your name from' 😄 Have you kept all your broad beans in? Apparently it's a bit of bad weather coming this weekend…

How did your quiz go Dusty? Easy enough to get some right with a few groaners for good measure? Thanks for the beautiful snowdrops, it's as close as I'll be getting to them this year, again 🙄 I like the moss in the background of the second pic, I'd have that as a screensaver ☺️

It was a nice Spring day yesterday - no rain, despite my phone repeatedly saying things like "it'll rain in 7 minutes and last for 41 minutes" etc, and the clouds were a lighter shade of grey! Most welcome. 6'c out there currently, and a high of 7' to come, they say. More rain tonight though - boooo.

YoungBlueEyes

Pics!
Compostybag Carparkii is a goner, it is no more, it has set sail on the fjords -

In better news I have a cyclamen out the front that doesn’t give a monkeys what the weather’s doing ☺️ -

Which reminds me, I haven’t shared any pics from the Land of Poles from the other month. I’ll have to go through em and put up some good ones.

Dustyevsky

2p and Bluey have eclipsed my RHS Cyclamen photo with those lovely examples from their own gardens. 😇 Being honest, mine wasn't even in proper focus. 🙃 We had sunshine and rain last Wednesday, and the cyclamen picture was just grabbed in pouring rain as we headed for the shelter in the Stone Garden.

And it feels as if it's not stopped raining since the middle of last week.😪 Yesterday it didn't matter much, because I was still tweaking the quiz, but it looks like we'll have a 60-70% chance of heavy drizzle again today. As the weeks slip by and the essential jobs don't get done, I start fretting, because there's a limit to catch-up here. Nature might go to sleep for a few months, but as you're noticing, it's stirring early, and once it wakes there's no stopping it!😬

Last night's quiz went OK, thanks. The teams wanted it to go on longer, but 2 hours is enough for my voice, bearing in mind no one under 50 is present, and a certain level of deafness expected! 😄 Also, the important people who do the set-up, catering etc need 30 mins to pack up, before driving miles on awful country lanes in the dark…..and they're as old as me. 😕 However we organise it, 70 questions in various formats seems to be the limit, and with the top score at 56/70 it was probably pitched about right. No team got less than 40. Anyway, that's ticked off the list, so I can forget it until 2027! 😜

The sculpture exhibition had almost vanished at Rosemoor, but there were just a few left over. I wasn't much taken with any of them, but this one reminded me of someone, and recent events almost make me wish she was still around! 😈

Yes, blue sky, but not Blue Sky Thinking, or any of that nonsense! 🤡

Farway

Dull & damp still, rain due later, but nowhere near as bad as others, I think I heard snow mentioned for some hills. It's not over yet

Nice to hear the quiz went well Dusty, do you think compiling questions is job you could palm off get hints from to AI next year?

Just checked, damn it's good 😉, here's some.. And it offered to provide printer friendly sheets of Q & A, now you have a printer again.

In which sport would you compete for the Ryder Cup? What is the capital of Canada? Which vegetable is used to make sauerkraut? What colour are hydrangeas typically when grown in acidic soil

Cyclamen, very envious now, the one I have that popped up has leaves but no flowers. But it's a start. YBE, are the plants next to it Teasels or Polyanthus?

YBE asked Have you kept all your broad beans in? Apparently it's a bit of bad weather coming this weekend

Five planted up yesterday, given the forecasts I decided on one sprouted seed per small pot & let them grow on in the unheated conservatory for a bit, at least until green tops and a few inches tall. I have three more seeds not yet popped, any day now

No gardening again today, too cold & damp to get going

Looking through my photos for something flowery I came across this 2005 one, it's the River Itchen through Winchester, nice riverside walk, eventually leading round the back of the Cathedral

This view, for anyone who knows Winchester, it's the City bridge, the National Trust City Mill is the building behind the bridge, Bishop on the Bridge pub on left

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

do you think compiling questions is job you could palm off get hints from to AI next year?

Just checked, damn it's good 😉, here's some..

In which sport would you compete for the Ryder Cup? What is the capital of Canada? Which vegetable is used to make sauerkraut? What colour are hydrangeas typically when grown in acidic soil

Hmm…. Am I too critical for finding those rather…err..basic? Here's a a couple from last night for comparison:

Which fresh fruit has the highest number of calories per 100 grams?

The bark of which tree provides the salicylic acid from which aspirin was originally synthesized?

Whose garden did the Beatles sing about?

I have more convoluted ones. Those are run-of-the-mill. Or how about identifying a logo with the wording removed?

This one gave a bit of trouble, but people see it regularly. 😏

Farway

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81878283#Comment_81878283

I asked it for general knowledge 50 year olds, no pop songs, but I guess you can slant it, maybe give it your examples?

My rubbish in = Rubbish out 😁

twopenny

Are you having banana as a fruit? If not grapes?

Aspirin from bark.

Octopussys garden.

Pretty Farway. Good sitoorie there.

Dustyevsky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81878300#Comment_81878300

They're fruit, but it's not banana or grapes. Sorry! 😳

Yes, aspirin from analysis of bark. Which tree?

Octopussy was a character in the 13th James Bond movie. You're in the right part of the ocean. 😉

Wouldn't a sitooterie by the Itchen make you do a lot of scratchin', especially in the mayfly season. Oh, look, another question……” What is the shortest-lived adult insect?”

I forgot the word 'adult' last night. 😬Fortunately, no one noticed. The immature mayfly can live for years. Quizzes are a blooming minefield! 😨

OT: Drizzle has now given way to heavy rain here. 😢 Apparently, nothing good happens weatherwise for us until mid-morning tomorrow.

Anyone cracked the logo?

wort

have any of you bought or heard about Peter Beatles roses? I’m looking to buy a rose for my dd anniversary, and she likes peonies and had them for her wedding, but was erring towards a rose that looks like peony as I find peonies difficult to grow 😳😉