Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Early start again, out watering the strictly necessary pots first thing, with today forecast and heat warnings, give them a fighting chance

I've been nibbled by something. itchy red lumps and bumps cropping up. One nasty one is on my right hand, swelling up near my thumb, it's shiny red & itches like bu66ery as well, and one over my left eye, starting to look toad like with all the lumps

My house is East , West, with shady street trees at front. The trees can be a nuisance but right now are a blessing, my lounge is relatively cool, unlike bedroom that is a sauna.

Hope car repair goes well Dusty & no surprises are revealed

Love the phlox, never grown them but have always liked them. I remember we used to pull the flowers out & suck the nectar from the stem. This passed as amusement before iPhones

Eclipse was non event, no pic and as Dusty DDs noted, better in 1999

2p I went to Morrisons looking for the pots but none here. Our lovely lady that watered the plants properly and on delivery left with I'll health and the plant sales have plummeted. In the words of one of the staff 'the store is a shambles That's a shame, the pots are a handy, just the right size. There were small troughs, window box type, also a quid. But I expect it depends on store & staff. They did have spring bulbs, not daffs, but squirrels food, like iris & crocus

2P I have a renegade tomato plant growing from the herb pot. Plum ones, whether miniature or San Mazano we shall see.

Dusty It's funny you should mention rogue tomatoes, because I spotted several plants last night, with baby toms forming, on our woodchip/chicken poo heap. I'll swear they weren't there a month ago! I'll get a photo. 😉

Ha, I'll show you mine if you show me yours 😁😈

Here's the self sown, out front in the cat poo trough. Honestly they look far better than the Tumbling toms I've nurtured and some of the so called basket types. Not quite ripe enough to taste just yet, but certainly one to smear & save

Photos taken this morning

wort

This is my best shot ,the bottom photo is dd2s. Very underwhelmed

wort

Haha dd2s now

Dustyevsky

wort: This is my best shot ,the bottom photo is dd2s. Very underwhelmed

But you both had an image of the eclipse in a lens flare. ☺️

So did I.

And it did become quite dark for a while:

Yesterday's insurance joy was short-lived. 😯They wouldn't accept my 9 years no claims bonus. It was a month out of date.😮 So, off to another insurer which would. 😛 It cost, but the principle's important, as was the extra £192 the original bods wanted from me!

Slightly better news on the car front. The garage say the (ancient) battery was kernackered. Who am I to argue? Oh, and an expensive-sounding banging noise was solved with a jubilee clip. Hurrah! 🤩 There are much worse noises coming from their van. I expect they know! 😂

twopenny

Sorry to hear about your lumps Farway. Have you got any antihistamine cream? I always keep some to hand. If you're not allowed to use it lavender oil is good.

Bumber about the van Dusty. But you sound quite upbeat about it.

Good picture of the sun Wort 😆

Anyone now looking at the stars?

Today's been another ridiculously hot day, too hot to even go to the beach and stand in cold water,and I forgot to plan a trip to the dark sky. It's cooled off now with a breeze. If I get enough sleep and it cools off I may venture out tomorrow.

Only excursion or gardening today was to go out front at 8pm to water there. It's a sad state of affairs.

Oh I did make some blackberry and apple jam. It was no hotter than just sitting down ❄️⛄🐻‍❄️🐧 does that help?

LessImpecunious

Yes, 2P, I looked at stars last night after haze had cleared, spotted c. 5 shooting stars in 10 mins or so…

Checked yesterday's photos and I also have mini-eclipse lens-flare images, not spotted before 🙂

After a clear start today more smoke from nearby fires arrived and we had an almost eclipse-like atmosphere again for 2 or 3 hours late this afternoon, as a big plume blew over us, obscuring the sun. With Wort on finding the looking-at-the-sun bit of the eclipse underwhelming, but love the spooky atmosphere … difficult to capture on camera though…

As is my rowan tree, this is the best I could do, too bright in morning sun, better in reflected evening light… it looked better a few days ago, but yellowing leaves have begin to appear, spoiling the red/green contrast…

Dying non-bomproof Crocosmia in foreground….

wort

Dusty, what a shocker they found a way to invalidate your no claims 🙄 good on you for moving your business.

Less I was at my dsis garden, and it only went slightly dull, and there were still birds in the garden a pigeon and blackbird came down for water. My crocosmia looks like yours I cut a bit back yesterday. I also noticed the rowan near the field the other day are absolutely full of berries. I’ll try for a photo.

Yesterday was a boiler, too hot to even sit in the shade so took myself indoors to watch Van der Valk. By the time it finished there was quite a breeze blowing, still hot but bearable. I did a hose water possibly only third time this year, as I’m on a water meter. I don’t usually bother with the beds just water the pots with a can. Or run out with washing up water etc, and slosh it on.

Still waiting on cafe au lait to show up. The toms need to get bigger, and start to ripen please 🙏🏻

wort

This is the second flowering of this tranquility, wish you could smell it it's lovely.

Yesterday I felt like a real gardener as I collected seeds from my annual mallow. I sat and put them in an envelope and even labeled it ! I usually just cut the top off a plant and throw it where I want it to grow. Not the best idea.

Any idea when best to sow these seeds, I was thinking to do it straight away, as that would be the natural order in nature. But Google thinks to save till spring 🤔 I might do half an half. If this heat wave has done now ,I could sow a few.

It's overcast and much cooler today, 10% chance of rain .

Dustyevsky

2p: Bumber about the van Dusty. But you sound quite upbeat about it.

Sorry, I've written some confusing stuff. The van making banging noises sounding like the back axle was about to fall off, was the garage 'courtesy car.' They'd run out of proper ones, but they knew I wouldn't care. Our car had a small banging noise too, which they fixed with a clip costing £1.😇 The reason our battery passed my multimeter test was because I measured volts, not amps. All the circuitry and other parts were checked, and it was given a road test, so being charged just 1 hour's labour (with discount) was a bargain. 🙂

The 2-year rule for acceptable no claims discount is commonplace, wort. I've been a named driver on Mrs Dusty's 2 vehicles since scrapping my 4x4 just over 2 years ago, so it's not like I've not been driving. However, it was still much cheaper going with a company that accepts a NCD letter up to 3 years old.

And I'd do what you're doing with the mallow seeds.😉

I doubt if your Crocosmia will die, Less. It's a survival strategy. As for the Rowans, mines going the same way, but the fruits are shrivelled, so possibly not so attractive to the birds.

Little gardening news, My courgettes have worn themselves out, and although I have replacements coming along, it might be too slowly for our Autumn Show. I don't care about the toms. I want someone else to win with those, as he was robbed last year! 😄

Hope the itching has subsided, Farway.

I've probably posted this plant many times before, but it really is bombproof in drought, or flood! Lythrum 'Rosy Gem.'

Last night, at about 20.00, the blue skies suddenly turned very dark here, and it looked like rain was falling on the nearby hills. We had no such luck, but the grey is persisting so far today. I believe we might see some thunderstorms soon.

Farway

Scorcher yesterday, never really cooled own overnight so not a lot of sleep around here. Up early to get feeding & watering in before the oven door opens again.

The bite itching has eased and puffiness gone. I'm on the mend. 😁

Fed all the front pots, sad news Wort Still waiting on cafe au lait to show up. The toms need to get bigger, and start to ripen please 🙏🏻 My cafe is super duper, with five large flowers and buds to follow. Pic at the end to prove I'm not a Cambridge Professor

Most of toms are ripening now, in dribs & drabs, which I suppose is best rather than a glut. One I'm looking forward to is Paul Robeson, he has turned blackish 😮, somehow I never knew that. Not a large Beefsteak size, but on YT some are and some are not. I suppose it's linked with being Heritage & open pollinated. On YT it looks nice, and taste is reported as good. Tonight is crunch time. Photos tomorrow

Any idea when best to sow these seeds, I was thinking to do it straight away, as that would be the natural order in nature. But Google thinks to save till spring 🤔 I might do half an half. If this heat wave has done now ,I could sow a few. My self seed foxgloves & Honesty do it now, the only snag can be losses over winter, weather, slugs etc, but if you've hundreds of seeds to sprinkle around a few gaps will go un noticed. If you think of it, even toms pop up in Spring from discarded fruits, and they are real snowflakes.

Lovely Tranquillity BTW

I'm also a member of the crispy crocosmia club. If were not so hot I'd clear them away

So good & bad news on the van Dusty, how annoying on insurance, but at least you are OK for another year. I have MOT on Monday, should be OK but car is twenty years old so who knows what hidden failures may be lurking. At least I trust the tester, not one to drum up work at every opportunity

If it passes I'm giving a birthday treat, change the fuel filter, no record of it ever being done, and it has "coughed" at times, which according to AI is one sign. It's diesel so at least it's not ignition related. Who remembers the whiskers on the ignition contacts? Standard tool kit item was some crocus paper, or side of a matchbox if really stuck. The Good Old Days when common folk could fix cars

2P Oh I did make some blackberry and apple jam. Well done, not made mine yet, too hot to go out & pick the next lot of blackberries & apples. Supposed to cool off this weekend so maybe then

Cafe Au Lait, this morning