Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

I saw this on my beach walk this morning, I think it’s a type of orchid??

Hope you’re not in too much pain, Farway. I was popping the co-codamol last week after still suffering with arm pain weeks after my second covid jag. Thankfully much better now after doing some ‘frozen shoulder’ exercises.

** edited to add that the arm pain was caused by the actual injection, not the vaccine **

Dave, hope you’re happy with the conservatory floor when it’s finished and fingers crossed you don’t find any unwanted objects in amongst the hay 😕 hope the comfrey ends up nice and ripe smelling in this warm weather 😈

twopenny

I used to paint these on porcelain lace plates. Beautiful aren't they and don't deserve the name 'common'

Blisteringly hot again today, the beaches were rammed. I managed to get out on the moors and go for a river paddle in the cold river water. Also found a swimming hole so tomorrow..............

It was 6pm and 27C and I mowed both lawns with the sweat dripping into my eyes (stunningly green & lush thanks to this forum) but it's a mixed blessing as it's darned hard to mow. Lovely to walk bare foot on though.

Turned the hose on the pots or ladeled jugs full of water on them because they've gone from fine to poorly in 24hrs.

Davesnave

pink_poppy said:

Dave, hope you’re happy with the conservatory floor when it’s finished and fingers crossed you don’t find any unwanted objects in amongst the hay 😕 hope the comfrey ends up nice and ripe smelling in this warm weather 😈

The hay seems to be OK, but Pete the farmer didn't show, despite phoning to say he'd be coming. I expect it was a machinery problem, or similar.

The conservatory floor was 95% right, but I think our building guy began to lose it a bit in the heat and two tiles by the door weren't down level. He'd worked non-stop for 9 hours by then! By the time I noticed, he'd gone home, so I levered them up, cleaned them and the floor off and I'll have a go at laying them myself next week. It's not the first time I've done this; I relaid a couple of tiles our last builder guy didn't get level in the bathroom. It's important to keep a good relationship with builders and not complain if they've done their best. I can lay tiles, but I'm not quick and I don't have things like a 2.4m level etc.

Oh, and the shop miscalculated, so we're 4 tiles short.....

I managed to plant 3 Rheum palmatum near the stream today. It might be too wet or dark there, but I have around 9 to play with, all grown from seed this year and already huge so I thought I'd liberate them and see how they do.

wort

Just caught up, been reading a lot of books whilst sitting In  the garden shade, still have the boot on foot till next week.
Re the butterfly red admiral, small tortoise and painted lady are all very similar, especially if they are flitting around. The garden has been breezy enough in the shade, and I actually stayed out till 9.30 pm yesterday. Grandson cut the lawn for me, and I've borrowed a weed burner to do the paving /gravel  as I can't bend . 

Farway

Good idea of weed burner Wort, I'm another non bendy person but don't have gravel etc so no problems there

Beautiful orchid PP, looks very like the one I found, and as much as a surprise I think. My one has since seeded and vanished so maybe a colony will gradually grow there?

Aches and pains have gone thanks, in fact I'm thinking of doing a tad more before the heat gets going again, no wind today so could get uncomfortable later

Another lily has opened this morning, but these are pretty but non scented ones, and seem to have attracted the attention of snails nibbling the bud tips, could be a race between lilies & snails but I do my bit by propelling all snails over wall onto roadside verge and amongst the brambles.

Not quite photo time yet

However it was photo time yesterday evening, spotted this in the verge undergrowth and had time enough to get the telephoto lens fitted

Hawk Moth, which by coincidence was one used on BBC breakfast to publicise the butterfly watch. I wasn't taking part in the BF watch though

Looking it up I see one of the food plants is willow, and the verge has goat willows growing on it so seems good enough reason for it to be there

Davesnave

Smashing Hawk moth pic, Farway. Nothing much to report here yet, but we witnessed House Martins apparently going into the oak tree in the front garden to pick off insects, which I'd think might be unusual behaviour. I found this in an old bird forum:

"Today, something very weird happened, hundreds of House Martins appeared, wheeling and swooping all over the place. Particularly in one garden. They were swooping up to the apex, back down again over the garden and landing in a tree! Many birds perched in the tree for a while and then flew up again, swooping like mad all over the place again."

 No chance of hundreds here, but maybe the birds spotted easy prey, like ants?

Daughter's test was negative, so we can go for a village cream tea this afternoon.

phoebe1989seb

I'm still here, Poppy, thanks for asking 😄

Gorgeous pics from everyone!

Sweltering again today - a few days ago we moved my egg chair into what will be its final location in a shadyish spot, but even there amidst the massive bamboos and dappled shade it's too hot right now 😎

Have been planning the layout of that part of the garden, but haven't got much beyond clearing the mounds of bricks/stone we deposited there soon after purchase in 2018 when we were in internal wall demolition mode! It's so slow going in the heat, but mustn't complain, lol! Ultimately there'll be something other than unruly weeds underfoot and it will be a place to chill of an evening with a glass of wine etc, as it's well-positioned with a slightly elevated view over much of the garden. Perhaps we can even get use out of the firepit that was a steal in Wyevale's closing down sale two years back! An extension to the 'hot beds' (containing only red, yellow and orange plants) is part of the plan....

Elsewhere in the garden, my rather belatedly planted veg are thriving in the walled courtyard, the bed full of persicaria taurus is beginning to open and the pink astilbes on the rockery are looking lovely. The jungle-type area is going mad - especially the now huge clump of macleaya cordata that was bought as a single, small plant last year!

We have three reum palmatum rubrum, Dave, but the largest (planted 2018) hasn't flowered this year. It's pretty big though 😉

The roses are still throwing up new buds but overall the four rose beds are looking scrappy now as the foxgloves are going over.

We're on the verge of the next phase of building work here (DIY, of course 🙄), so I might disappear again!

I'm attaching a few pics from the past couple of weeks (the roses are Roald Dahl, Emily Brontë and Wedding Day)....

pink_poppy

Good to see you back phoebe. Stunning photos, the first one is almost ‘dewy’, absolutely gorgeous.

Wow to the moth photo, Farway. It looks like a dried up leaf, so well spotted. I would have run a mile if I’d seen it, I appreciate the beauty of butterflies and moths but they give me the heebie jeebies!!

Twopenny, sorry I forgot to comment on the seagull dive bombing. That must have given you a fright.

Dave, glad your DD got a negative result and you got to enjoy your cream tea.

Davesnave

pink_poppy said:

Dave, glad your DD got a negative result and you got to enjoy your cream tea.

She's quite pleased too, because she still has to take time out on full pay. Apparently, it's what happens if you work on a window display for 4 hours and you're one sheet of glass away from a busy restaurant!

Cream tea was nice and it was great to meet villagers old and new. 

This also happened today.....at last!

Farway

Another hot day ahead, I've watered the pots out the front already, trying to beat the heat again

Dave, good hay cutting, and decent weather is forecast ahead so looks like you chose a good time

I'm slowly reducing the loppings from the Judas tree into wheelie bin sized bits with not much more to go now, discovered a load of red currants hidden under Judas tree foliage, if they are still there later I'll pick them before the birds spot them. Normally I don't bother but there do seem to be a lot more than normal this year, make up for lack of plums I suppose