Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Bank Holiday and the sun's out, at least I no longer have to try & fit things in before going back to work

Woolsery, the hare was part of a Hare theme, scattered around Winchester, all good tourist stuff going round looking for them, this weekend is the last, so I was glad to actually see them. There were large pigs some years back, Hampshire Hogs themed but missed those

Nothing planned for garden this BH, but I may do some dead heading in the hope the dahlias have a second flush in them, and there are free P & P offers from some seed co's so may just have an online peek, just in case something I never knew I wanted is there

twopenny

No rain - again.
I've got a runner bean! In fact 2.
I ought to keep them as seed but as celebration I think I'll have them for dinner tonight.

Oh and the winter veg seeds germinated super quick. Out of date seed and the last of the John Innes no 3. I may get winter veg yet!

Just pruning the standard lavender back as far as possible ready for the winter storms. In the shallow stony ground they can get pulled out.
Been having a lot of tidy up at the front as the temperature is lower there. Hoping for slightly cooler tomorrow so I can deal with the back.

Woolsery

No sign of rain on the horizon, 2p, but things may yet  change, considering we didn't have much warning of yesterday's showers.

Here we've been invaded by a dozen or so family members from London, Leicester and other points east, but they're in tents in the field, so apart from having to cut the grass around their site, it's not too onerous. They have basic 'facilities' in the barn, a fridge freezer full of food and a field kitchen, so it promises to be a calorie-rich weekend. It's barbecued fish tonight, though I saw someone sneak into our kitchen to make a pot noodle ten minutes ago!

I'm pleased to say there were no aches or other repercussions from the walking yesterday. It's a long time since I exceeded 5 miles in a day and it seems the supplement I began taking a month ago is having the right effect, I can't say what it is, but it begins with 'G'.

At last, the new Vorwerk chickens are settling-in and becoming used to our presence, so here's a quick snap of them in their isolation coop. (Farway, please note I can do the same trick as you did with the sunflowers!    )

twopenny

Beautiful woolsery!
But they look very classy. Are they high maintenance?

Woolsery

No, they're not at all fussy, 2p. We now source our birds/fertile eggs from a breeder who shows (although shows have been cancelled due to avian flu) and the birds we buy are the ones that aren't good enough for competitions. It's usually just some blemish in the markings, like the indistinct patch of dark feathers on the breast of the closest bird. Vorwerks were bred as medium-sized all purpose birds.

Warmish dull morning here. The campers are going to head for the beach,I think. I'm intending to do some more mowing and maybe add another barrow load of concrete to the polytunnel foundations where I skimped a little!

Farway

Sunny day but not too hot so far, nothing planned, but I have stewed a large pot of apples to freeze later, these are the non keepers so have to be dealt with ASAP

Nice pic of the chicks Woolsery, glad you mastered the photo technique, It's probably got some fancy name like camera shake is now ICM [Intentional camera movement]

The tablets beginning with G do work, I've been taking them for centuries for my arthritis, not a quick fix but keeps it at bay

2p a feast of runners, with the summer you've had a worthy & noble sacrifice I reckon

Today's pic is one of my Ferline toms, I wasn't expecting it to be this large [ooer missus ], old packet from Lidl pre covid days, mainly bought because they are supposed to be blight resistant, of course, they seem to work because I've not had any blight on any of my toms so far

Trouble is, as with many larger fruit, it's a bit bland tasting, nice enough but lacking any defining taste

50p for size comparison, weight in grammes

Woolsery

Lidl scales too, I see!

Good to know the G works for you too. I'm a sceptical so-and-so, but when so many people say something has helped them, I'll willingly give it a try.

twopenny

Wow! That's a wopper!

Cleared all the dead leaves, trimmed and tied back and mowed the lawns. Watered.
Although cloudy registering 27° in the breezy alley and it was exhausting and sweaty so no fun but it looks like it may be a garden.

Things have recovered somewhat but the continuing heat and bone dry they are mearly surviving.

The literally cherry sized tomatoes are in trusses like grapes and much the same size.
Deliciously sweet.

Woolsery

A very fresh breeze today has taken the edge off temperatures and it's been wonderfully sunny. Of course that means watering lots of pots tonight! One of them is currently occupied by a self-seeded tomato plant with hundreds of small and very sweet tomatoes similar to yours,2p. I've no idea what its parent was but I'm tempted to keep a few seeds, given that it's in a league way higher than the Tumbling Toms. Those might make green tomato chutney, but frankly I'm liable to put them out of their misery beefore that happens!

I have so many outdoor cucumbers I wonder why I ever bothered growing them in the polytunnel. The hens love them, especially when they get 40cm long and go seedy.

Our visitors have all departed, having enjoyed their long (dry!) camping weekend. Fortunately we're still on a fixed electricity tariff until spring, so providing 12 showers a day and three or four washing machine loads hasn't been too onerous. They ate out yesterday instead of returning to barbecue food, so the fridge-freezer in the barn is stuffed with all sorts of goodies which isn't  a bad exchange.

The grass has grown back well since the hay cut. I'm surprised and pleased.

 Round 2 starts tomorrow with DD1 and her lads, fitting in a few days before school and nursery start. Then, perhaps, an Indian summer, although if you look closely we may already have had that!

Farway

Ah Woolsery, back to watering, me too I thought I'd finished for now but noticed wilting plants yesterday afternoon, so I'm back to watering at least until weekend when rain may arrive

Don't mention cucumbers !!, my attempt this year is a complete failure, indoor & out. Actually I found the one and only fruit yesterday while watering, I'll take a photo, so you can see just how bad it's been. I'll try again next year of course having an unopened packet I may as well, can't do worse

On similar subject, my DD has been given some cucamelons by a client, so I've asked her to save some seeds for me to try next year, IMO they are gimmicky but from what I read quite easy & trouble free, and TBH can't do worse than my current non crop of cucumbers

I've some self sown toms coming along as well, sprang up in a flower trough and now in flower, they may ripen before the end of summer, but it's dubious

Your garden recovery is sounding better every day, 2P, let's hope it gets "normal" before winter draws on

My premonition about next door's rose & garden proved correct, since she moved the builders and handy men are in, the garden has been stripped of everything, shrubs, hedges, the lot, only thing left is a self-sown twelve-foot-high sycamore down the bottom of the garden

At least I have rose cuttings, and they are now starting to show leaf growth, so hopefully a few may survive, which would be nice for her & a plus for me