Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Back to rain this morning, with sun promised for Saturday, hope so then I can get my newly potted apple back to upright

Ohh, blossom buds already 2P, great close ups as well, can't see any on my plum, but mine is a sad object and is on borrowed time until i find something better to put there, meanwhile it continues as a clematis support

Can everyone shut up about Verbena bonariensis please. 😉That is another easy plant that never grows for me, must have spent a fivetune on buying them over the years, they just join the Queue to the fiords behind LIAM, radishes, erywahtsits etc

My kitchen remains beige & brown fake wood doors, if I were not knocking on a lot I would probably get it refurbed & updated with eye level stuff now bending is harder, but TBH, I CBA or bothered, just thinking of the turmoil it would generate is enough to stop me

No gardening today, not only the wet but I have annual Heart MOT this morning, I usually come away with some "Advisories" but appreciate the checks anyway

I have buds on my amaryllis 😊, photo in next few days. This will be it's third year so must be doing something right, or at least, something not wrong

Today is another from my archives, will it trigger any childhood / parent memories like the previous two? Your Granny was Randolph Turpin's sparring partner? 😂

Llandudno from Great Orme tram, used AI to remove a car from the road, otherwise as taken

Ref Randolph Turpin, one of those If you know you know hints

twopenny

I'm another who can't grow verbena b so you aren't alone Farway. One or two that I grew from bought plants had a vague wave before leaving so Pas is making me grind my teeth.

LITM took me decades of trying. Not sure if the last seeds were some that fell in my shoe when walking or from a packet but now they are seeding everywhere. So saying that should mean they disappear this year !

Yes prunus has 3 full flowers now. What is really annoying is my neighbours tree blooms all winter. I guess there are different varieties but I doubt I'll be buying another with all the nurseries gone and the garden centre is now charging £80 a tree 😵‍💫

Yes, Prunus 😐 autocorrect is persistent and resistant to change.

Went for a drive and a stagger yesterday and all the catkins are out plus a cream wild comfry. No photos as it was dark and gloomy. Daffs are popping out everywhere. Not as cheerful as usual because of the gloom.

Definitely seems we have everything a month early now so must plant accordingly.

Current kitchen is good wood cabinets with horrible worktop and floor that looks like the dogs been sick. On the other hand it doesn't show the marks and no, can't face the hassle of changing it. Maybe more tempted if we had actual shops where you could see stuff. It's one of the reasons to think about moving. Cookers at shoulder height.

Neighbours annoying son didn't return last night. I'm not holding out any hopes though. I can't see him doing for himself for long

Gloomy, bright wet and not a windy. It's anyone's guess what's happening out there. But still mild.

PS lovely view in the photo. Memories of summer and walking 🙂

Dustyevsky

If we're on kitchens, I can show you ours in the 'before' state in 2015:

At that stage, we'd replaced the ceiling, sorted the walls, added coving and had new electrics partially installed. We couldn't contemplate the task of building the kitchen….so many 'bits!' 😮 So, we handed that job to the pros, who dealt with everything, starting with the floor. In 2 weeks, it was largely complete, but the absentee electricians and the 'Naff' 😉 appliance manufacturer let us down. 😪 Weeks later, we were still using the old oven, propped up on bricks in the conservatory.

I hope the heart MOT went OK Farway. When I'm puffing up the hills in the summer, I take extra comfort from knowing my usual companion had 35 years in nursing! 😄 My results from the January general appraisal seem OK, but one really needs a medical degree to understand them. AI graphs them nicely, but it would be good if there was a simple note in the margin, like: "up = good, down = bad!"

I had a little guess about the causes of Randolph Turpin's demise, then did a small bit of digging….I wasn't wrong! 😏

No worries if you can't grow the verbena 2p. When we lived on limestone, there were huge numbers of desirable plants denied to us. 😪You also escape the worst frosts, which means borderline hardy plants are potentially in your repertoire. Here, we'd have got away with those this year, (so far!) but I'm still acutely aware of how slow we are up here 'twixt the moors.

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all, on World Radio Day 😊 I've got a radio in my kitchen and it's hardly off, I love it. Mind I only bought it (it's a digital one) so I could listen to BBC radio Ulster, but you can't get NI stuff over here any more. You can get 2 Welsh tv channels and 2 Scots tv channels and all kinds of everything from around the world, but not from the whole UK. Shipbags. When I emailed them about it they said it was due to the Windsor Agreement, but when I pointed out that that was for paracetamol and sausages and stuff they didn't reply. I tell ya, if they've got that wee bitty lang streak o pish presenting BG when it starts again I'm not for renewing my licence. It runs out in a few weeks…

Black kitchens aren't for me either. I'm half-heartedly looking on MightMove, but the number of places I see where I think 'well I know you've only put that kitchen/bathroom in but it'll have to go' is quite a lot actually. And I want rooms, with walls, and doors in some of those walls. You'd think I was asking for the moon on a stick!

I'm trying to do a quick post so I can get on with myself. I've mum+dad and Posh Friend to visit today, as well as DomNon and food shopping etc. And I need to find a new hairdresser too 😓, my one's on maternity leave. That was a bit of a shocker cos she's been a lesbian these last 10 years 😲

Thanks for the tip re foxes and BFB whoever said that, I'll bear it in mind cos we have foxes round here. There's a thought - why can't foxes eat squirrels? And pigeons!

OT raining. Fat little raindrops, not that mizzly drizzly slumpy cloud nonsense we've had these last few days. Quite mild too really. Naturally the sobers are saying right now it's 3' and snowing, Bless 'em.

Dustyevsky

Friday 13th and it's time for a health update to the car in the form of new front tyres. The old ones might have a few thousand left in them, but the roads are so bad, I'm replacing now with tough, all-season jobbies, like those on the rear. So, the forecasted calm, reasonably sunny morning, will be used-up in town.😕

Meanwhile, we still seem surrounded by lunatics. In recent weeks we've been in negotiations with the guy who has the big throne-like seat, overlooking our garden. I'll call him Mr King. 😉 He's planted a fairly substantial tree which should partially shield him from our gaze in summer, though it would have been easier to site the seat behind the existing mature oak trees. Now, however, he's worried we can see him elsewhere in his field. 😯 So, he wants to plant more saplings in the hedge beneath the oaks. This is despite us showing him those we planted 8-10 years ago, which are now about 1.2m high, being starved of light every summer. He can do this new planting, because he's decided he owns all the hedge, not just half, as agreed a few weeks ago.🙃 It's imperative we understand this, and don't cut any of the hedge back in future.

We've done our best to humour Mr King. Any kind of dialogue with him is a major step forward. I've never heard of anyone buying a field and expecting garden-level privacy. He seems not to grasp that his seat overlooking our garden is in a field, and its position was his choice. As for his claim to the hedge, we've not played our trump card, which is the ££ National Grid pay us annually for the power pole situated there. They must also be mistaken! 😂

More lunacy from Boiler Juice too. After their email telling us our delivery was aborted due to the tanker running out of fuel, yesterday we learned of a further cancellation caused by a mechanical breakdown. The email goes on: "Like you, many of us at BoilerJuice live off-grid, so we truly understand how important a timely delivery is." Off grid? Do they even know what that means? The only 'off-grid' we have here is sewerage….Load of carp! 😉

After that tirade, I'd better post something positive, so here is Sarcococca confusa, blooming and fruiting simultaneously last week, proving it is very confused! 😂

Farway

Misty start, at least not raining, and seems it's just me N Dusty in the tropical part of the country,, with the cold creeping down here tonight

YBE said

I tell ya, if they've got that wee bitty lang streak o pish presenting BG when it starts again I'm not for renewing my licence. It runs out in a few weeks

Thanks for the tip re foxes and BFB whoever said that, I'll bear it in mind cos we have foxes round here. There's a thought - why can't foxes eat squirrels? And pigeons!

Just for info, I've been licence free for over a year now, can't say I missed any Beeb stuff, but I'm not a come prancing, sport or quiz show lover anyway, it was only the garden progs really. I have found them on YT, a week or so behind at times, but they are there, maybe illicitly? So much on YT and I have Amazon P as well

Is Ulster radio on t'inernet streaming? Even my local old duffers station is on there so I'd say yes.

Foxes eat rats, I bet they would eat the others if they could catch them. I have foxes but never been bothered with the BFB digging, my foxes must be too stuffed full with rats 😁

Hope the day goes well YBE, busy at least

Exciting times Dusty, with hedges & fuel, no doubt it will get sorted in your own way. I'm smiling at the wails from Trumpland re cancelling all the Eco stuff. Heard on Beeb radio interviewing an expert who agreed it was good to cancel due to drag on economy etc, beeboid brought up Global Boiling and was promptly shot down by some facts and changed subject sharpish.

You Mr King sounds just the sort of chap who buys house next to popular 150 year old London pub & moans about the noise, Daily Wail link https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15553873/Neighbour-loses-popular-150-year-old-London-pub-shut-complaining-noise-live-music.html

Gardening today, not much, the remaining broad beans have germinated on their damp paper, so I'll pot them up

Tomorrow is supposed to be cold but sunny, so with luck I'll wrap up & get my apple tree supported & more upright

The beans ready to pot on

YoungBlueEyes

Gawd you're surrounded by erseholes Dusty, you must attract them ha haa! I foresee battles with this one and his hedge... Hopefully you've got your fuel delivery now and your tyres sorted, the forecast isn't great for the weekend :brrr:

Wot news re your ticker then Farway? Tickety boo or some advisories? Your beans look raring to go 🌱 Stories like that Daily Wail one are so dispiriting - if you knew it was there when you bought the house there should be no tolerance of whining about it. I'll bet that one gets his comeuppance 😈

Bu99er, I pressed Post instead of Save

Sobers are still saying 3' and snowing, FL/WoC -6 (Without a coat). It did rain a bit while I've been out but it gave it up after I got back. Naturally. Sunny tomorrow, they say, and the humidity will drop to 64% in the aft 😀

Right, pics next.

Edit2 - Yep I can get my radio station through the bbc sounds app on my phone Farway, but it chews through my battery so I don't do it anywhere near as often as I'd like :( Also, is your Confusa plant also called Christmas Box Dusty?

YoungBlueEyes

I won't do lovely old buildings cos you see them everywhere, so here's the queer stuff 😊

These looked impressive in real life, the photos don’t do them justice -

There were so many cafes around we were never far from tea and buns. I asked for a decaff tea but got met by a blank stare. Do you mean Winter Tea said the girl? Umm yes? And this is one (I drank at least 3 a day the whole rest of the time we were there 😍) -

Yes himself drank hot choc with 2 cakes 3 times a day. And yet he wonders where his belly comes from 🙄 Microslop translator wasn’t great but I think it was a pomegranate and rose jobber with pomegranate seeds and orange and lemon slices and a stick of rosemary in it for stirring. God they were good!

I hope this next one comes out. Everyone remember that farmer that wouldn't sell his land for them to build a motorway on, so they built it round him? (I know it wasn't true but anyway.) Well here's another one. I don't care how much money you offer me for my riverside plot, you ain't having it! Fine, sit there and we'll go round you then -

I've got more but they're all on a 'well I think they're funny' theme so I'll ask before I put them up. Have we got any sensitives or vegetablists on here…?

twopenny

Interesting weather which I wasn't able to photograph. I was looking at the hills across the bay and a huge white proper cloud landed on one a slid down into the houses. Fascinating for ages as it changed shape.

Dusty, neighbours, I'm with you on that. Son is back with mummy. He must have gone to see his brother for a couple of days. Made me realise what a difference it was when he wasn't there and that it's not my imagination.

And Bluey, what is it with taking doors off? I gave up having kitchen smells in the dining room when I stopped being a student 😏 !! More black kitchens and bathrooms. One was grey and black right through. No wonder people are depressed. Another a sheer drop for a back garden 😬 and that food looks delicious. All warm and cosy.

Haven't got any gardening news because it started chucking it down by the time I was home. Tomorrow, sun? Maybe get some seeds in pots, you never know 🤞

Impressive those beens Farway 🙂 you are well ahead. Far enough to beat the blackfly 😉

Dusty is that plant as big as it looks? Mines in a pot and isn't getting bigger but I've nowhere left to put it.

Right got to get an early night to make the most of a dry day tomorrow.

Oh, saw a 'yellow snow warning ' ... Was it childish that it made me chuckle 😁 did they think that through when they came up with weather warnings? Bet they did.

Dustyevsky

Bluey said:

Gawd you're surrounded by erseholes Dusty, you must attract them ha haa! I foresee battles with this one and his hedge...

Mr King has never been what I'd term 'rational.' He used to be a very scary figure, with a demeanour that left no one in doubt of his physical capability. However, when Mrs Dusty saw him a few days ago, she didn't recognise the 'old man' in a flat cap. As his appearance has changed, markedly, I've a suspicion all is not well. 😮 We'll just humour him and see how it goes. He'll need trees 5m high to screen most of his land, and those aren't going to pop up overnight! 😉

It felt almost tropical when I dropped the car off and went for a walk this morning. 8C! I managed about a mile in the sunshine before reaching a section of footpath that was still impassable. 😕 Some very large celandines were already in full bloom, and the arums were pushing through everywhere, zombie apocalypse style. I saw an intriguing notice on an electrical cabinet, which read: “WARNING! Inherently safe circuitry within.” I think it may have been designed to scare the illiterate, or kids. It certainly puzzled me! 😄

Returning to the car….more nonsense. They'd fitted someone else's tyres! 😠 Profuse apologies. Off to Lidl I went, only to queue for ages at their loo. Eventually a young assistant noticed me and asked if I wanted the toilet. I replied, “Yes, but someone's still in there.” and pointed to the red indicator on the door. “Oh, says the guy, that means you can go in….they fitted the lock thing upside down!” Utter madness! We're living in Dystopia!🤪

No, the oil didn't come, the log man has been seen delivering, but not here, and the mower mending guy's phone is permanently on voicemail. 😪 I've also given up on Evri's robot, which remains convinced I've not picked up my printer, despite me telling it I have, several times.

Bluey said

Also, is your Confusa plant also called Christmas Box Dusty?

Yes, smells nice, and it gets to about 2m eventually, 2p, but I think it will take pruning OK. I find it hard to grow here. That one was in Rosemoor.😕

Loving the photos, though Farway's head start on beans is making me nervous. My 'early' toms and chillies have not shown yet in the propagator.