Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Another gorgeous Dusty ♥️ what is the viburnum in the first one? Having mine ailing I would prefer that.

Bummer Taff. Do what I do and garden on your knees 😊 you can do seed pots from that and put stuff in.

Interesting with the AI pair Farway. Gemini may be verbose but a lot of interesting information and quite poetic. I'm thinking this is like the Beta and other when we first had video recording. But won't be long before they are charging for the privilege. My friend, the second who is phone addicted, looked up how to use crutches (my latest attempt to get out and about) and it only gave one way and not the whole story. She believes it all.

I've been out and about using the too big crutches but it works well. If they fitted it would be even better. I'm tired from doing so much after so little but it's been a glorious day. Still not up to concluding with mowing the lawn 😉

Hopefully photos soon. Dinner and rest. Tomorrow I'm going to air ambulance talk. Have other nonsense to attend to also .

Just realised I got organized and remembered my phone

II parked here

Sitoorie beside the ponds

Bet Dusty knows this.

LessImpecunious

aaGlad one of your friends agreed with me Farway, though the only difference between altocumulus and cirrocumulus mackerels are the size of the cloud blobs and that's difficult to be sure of in a photo, especially for a disembodied AI, as distinguishing the two involves holding fingers up to the clouds and counting how many fingers are required to cover the cloudlets at arms length…😁

A good sunny day here, at last the crocuses opened, but, as predicted the first, yellow, ones had faded by the time the purples have appeared… used to be a much better display (on the few occasions they displayed), seem to be going the way of Pandora🫤

Close-up...

Sadly the aconite flowers had turned to a soggy mess without ever opening properly, seen in distance behind lungworts, inc a more unusual (here anyway) blueish one...

-taff

Well done on licence discovery Farway, much easier to find something than get a new one of anything these days. Cheaper too. I've got a dicky one too but this is a new and interesting development which is actually not much fun at all and unpredictably scary. I'd like to say I was made of sterner stuff and usually I am, but this is finding things to take my mind off stuff time. So maybe 2p and Dusty are right about seed sowing. I'll make a start sorting out seeds tomorrow and also posting some!

Dusty, cellulitis is no joke and this is in no way medical advice but people I know keep anti's in hand in case of further episodes should someone not be available to dole them out. Mrs Dusty definitely wins photo of wildlife of the day, that first one is just fabulous [ or in Welsh speak, faboolous] the flowers are so good all in their different stages. The second one is lovely too but can she take a photo of the first one sans butterfly? I can't believe they're out so early either. I saw my first fly of the year yesterday. The first bumble was last week but there was nothing for her to eat. Glad the sheep remain upright 😄

2p, you win sitooterie of the day too, looks lovely and calming and also warm…and it's far too wet still to mow grass anyway :)

Less, I admit, I chuckled at two fingers up to the sky and not even for obvious reasons. More, that it's probably the least scientific way I've ever heard of something being measured, unless it's in bananas [ IYKYK]

Weather was just lovely today..maybe tomorrow will join it…

twopenny

You know about John's weather stone?

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all. Change of plan - I'm not doing 'days' any more cos I've just spotted my pooter gives me 'On This Day In History', which is more interesting and doesn't make me go eh?! For today it says "422 years ago today Prussia ceased to exist". That's better innit.

I can't parse your riddle Dusty. I thought it might be half of "the alphabet" ie 5 or 6 letters, rather than half of the alphabet ie 13 letters. I even looked at the map on me phone 🧐 but I've got nothing… More importantly though, please be careful with your leg. My friend Shirl had cellulitis and it nearly cost her her arm. Once it finished spreading up and down it turned inward and that was the danger zone. It's a raging rampant beggar and not to be messed with. You'll have to sit on your bum and knit Easter chicks or summat 🐥

Sitting on bum required by you too eh taff? Is Dicky Ticker treatable or will you need a new one? It coulda waited 'til later in the year when the gardening is done with. I'll not ask any more how the lotment is going 🤐 Rotten ticker, when you've so much on as well.

No point saying to you to sit on your bum 2p 😆I'm glad you had a Grand Day Out. You have such beautiful scenery down there, your parking spot and sitooterie are just right ☺️ I love John's Weather Stone, makes me smile every time 😀

Thanks for mackerel sky info Less and Farway, and Mr Gemini. I wouldn't have guessed that tbh, I think of that as those beautiful herringbone sheets that you sometimes see. It was the edge on this one that made me think of a feather. So you got your friend sorted with the driving licence then? Comical is that, but better than the rigmarole of a new one 😄

I didn't go to work yesterday in soggy shoes (they still had a bit of squelch in them), I went in my dry unprofessional lovely turquoisey jobbers. She spotted them, and I waited for her to say something but she didn't. I think she's given up on me…

Anyway OT foggy and miserable and dreich out there this morning, but they reckon sunny and breezy this aft. It was lovely yesterday if you could get in the sun, there's a wee bit of heat to it now and it makes such a difference. 9'c currently with 15' to come. According to the news you suvveners will get it warmer today than Athens! 18'c -v- 16'c. Possibly. Good enough too, yous have had all that rain and deserve a break 🌞

Farway

Morning folks, stand fast the halt & lame 😁🤕

Lovely morning getting ready out there, today is booked for Spring.

Some great photos as usual on here, nothing I can match, although I did spot a humming bird moth yesterday it was far quicker then me + camera

Also saw first bumble bee, and flying ladybird. but worse spot was first Lily Beetle, which was much quicker than my death dealing claws and escaped it's fate this time round

2P said Bummer Taff. Do what I do and garden on your knees 😊

Could be dodgy, if like me you'd never get up again, just squirm about like a beetle on it's back. Pottering around and sowing seeds in pots is OK, maybe even a light stab with a hoe?

I did manage to give a liquid feed to some plants at front, now growth is starting. Rosa Car Parkii has fresh growth so that got a dose of feed, as did a fuchsia cutting and Jazz buddleia cuttings

I have to go out soon, so will cut this a bit short, with luck I'll go along to H bargains after for some BF & B, and see if any tempting plants there, I expect they will have tomato plants out already, it's the end of Feb after all 😂

At last, the DS has asked me round to guide DGS on pruning his, DS, apple tree, at long last, he normally hacks it about at "wrong" time, like in full blossom etc. It is just about in time, still dormant but cutting it fine. The deed is set for Saturday morning and I'm taking lopper, pruning saw etc

He has nominated DGS to do the nimble, climbing, bits and earn his keep

Dustyevsky

2p said:

Another gorgeous Dusty ♥️ what is the viburnum in the first one? Having mine ailing I would prefer that.

You know about John's weather stone?

Yes, know John's Stone, and used to ken John Peel too, but Mrs Dusty disappeared him in the attic. 😥 I know where you were on the beach, but the ponds defeated me. As for the Viburnum, I think it's Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' but you may have to DYOR and check carefully when you see one. Our shrubs have come from.. ahem…'many sources.' 😉 Mrs Dusty is 'almost certain' the white V. tinus we have, came from her Mum, and is 'Gwenillian.' I have just been charged with producing 15-20 of those for a front hedge….better late than not at all, I suppose! 😒 Anyway, I'll grab another photo of supposed 'Eve Price' for -taff. It takes on an overall pink flower appearance as winter progresses.

Thank you -taff and Bluey for dire warnings your concern about my recent condition. 😲 I promise not to be silly, but now I have it on the back foot, I hope to get out and about while this better weather holds. Sitting inside while all the undone jobs pile-up will only raise my stress levels….as if those aren't high enough already. (Mr King is being a duplicitous erse, but that's for another day! 🤐)

The best news, apart from feeling reasonably OK, was a phone call yesterday from Lawnmower Repair Man, whom I've been attempting to contact since before Christmas. He has a secret base literally 100m away from here, and last night we met there. He's going to service and fix bits on the ride-on, hopefully within the week. This is a very big deal, as having one of the big firms out means paying them for many miles of transport both ways, before they start work at £60 an hour! 😰

Other good news includes the first Sungold seeds germinated. No sign yet of Jimmy Improved., which is my wild card for '26. Got 'em cheap.

-taff said:

this is a new and interesting development which is actually not much fun at all and unpredictably scary. I'd like to say I was made of sterner stuff and usually I am, but this is finding things to take my mind off stuff time.

I'll just add I had heart rhythm and totally out of control pulse racing problems when I was 41. It was scary as hell and knocked me sideways, but it turned out OK. Hope you get a diagnosis, plan of action, etc etc, very soon. Waiting's the worst. 🤢

Arrgh! forgot the picture. I found a blacker hellebore:

YoungBlueEyes

Morning all. My laptop's turned against me - it hasn't given me an On This Day, it's given me a 'day' - World Pistachio Day.

Really quick go this morning cos work was an absolute shipshow yesterday, I'm going in early so I'm not starting on the back foot.

Here is this week's absolutely solid, free legal advice. When you're moving house and everyone agrees a completion date, it really is up to you to tell your sol if it needs changing. If you're moving the Friday but 2 days before it your mortgage payment is due you have to make sure you can afford your payment. No your sol will not pay it, no not even as a goodwill gesture. No it won't matter if you ring back in tears. No it won't matter if you ring back 10 minutes later and say you're neurodivergent. Yes I can tell you our complaints procedure. No it won't make a difference if you come in. * sigh *

OT mild at 10'c currently but that wind is to get up later - it'll gust around 40mph this aft. Possibly.

Dustyevsky

I took a few more Viburnum photos yesterday for 2p and -taff, but light levels weren't great. This is the one we think is Eve Price, minus butterflies. Fewer insects were about, compared with Tuesday.

The flowers open white and fade to pink. Having bloomed all winter, they're starting to go over now. The next photo shows the difference between the one we think is Gwenillian and the rest of the hedge.

Again, dull weather didn't help. 🤔

Being dry and not too windy, I spent about 90 mins cutting back the bits of our long elm hedge on the private lane which the tractor flail couldn't do. This was becoming urgent, as it won't be long before the buds swell. I should get in there now with the sprayer and zap the sticky weed. It germinates and grows through mild winters, so timing for that is crucial. It can't be eradicated, but early control on the roadside stops it taking over. 😉

After lunch and a little sleep, I told Mrs Dusty I was going to use the calm day to remove a tree in the mini-woodland. She'd help me after I'd tied ropes on to prevent it from falling on Mr Canute's caravan. 😮 This is all part of a plan for new tree and hedge planting to ensure greater privacy. (see photo below, which I'll remove in a day or so. 😉)

The Alder tree I'd to cut down is on the right. There's a hawthorn growing away nicely just to the left of the caravan, but we want to plant more trees, hence chopping down the Alder first. We won't let the existing hedge grow to block light from the caravan, but planting trees and a new hedge at a distance will give us privacy. The existing hedge is struggling, due to frequent cut backs and the reduction of light from the plastic screening. It will never look attractive now.

That was the set-up, and the tree looked easy enough to deal with, (about 1' thick at the base and leaning the right way) but things didn't go exactly to plan….. No, it wasn't a disaster 😛, just an example of nature's unpredictability. More photos tomorrow…

OT: Fine rain is drifting in now from the SW, so although it's warmish, there might be little action outdoors today. The wind is due to increase later, then it's back to squelchio, with some heavier rain through the night. Spring was nice while it lasted. 😥

LessImpecunious

• Re. Dusty various:

Hmm, would seem fair that your hedge could be allowed to grow up above the screening if that is causing it problems…might lead to an arms race though…😁 Do Canute and Mr King abut each other at any point? Or are you the buffer?

Await the conclusion of tale of the alder tree with bated breath, having tackled similar here on occasion… One problem being that they're always much bigger when they come down than they were when they were up there - but sure you're familiar with that!

Vburnum looks lovely, and tempting - we had a nice one in front hedge in big city in the SE many years ago, no idea which var., think it might struggle with cold and winds here though😕

Couldn't you get your now-found-useful DGS to remove your stickyweed at the appropriate time? - think I remember Monty D or someone saying they used to be paid by the sack for pulling it up in their youth… (Could do with a DGS here for same purpose…)