Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

Thank you Farway, I'll leave it all to nature then.

Oh gawd - I have squirrel, possibly 2, and it/they decided my pots are just the very things for burying goodies in. I'll have to see about some sort of covering for them then. My bird feeders are giving it/them plenty to eat, I'm not giving up my bulbs too!

This garden is completely different to my last one.  I had birds galore and a few hedgehogs, great aspect, manageable size, now I've only a couple of pigeons and a squirrel, larger garden and it's the wrong way round.

Learning curve and lots of research in my future!

Woolsery

Welcome YoungBlueEyes. We have met elsewhere and it's nice to see you on this thread too.

Yesterday's funeral was at a natural burial ground and, as predicted, not at all a dour event. The person being interred would never have wanted us to be miserable, although most shed a few tears at the service beforehand. The rain and gales arrived on cue around 1pm, just as we left the assembly room and headed into the valley. About 1/4 mile later we reached our friend's final resting place; a spot with an incredible view, despite the restricted visibility caused by slashing rain.

Once friend had been buried, we headed for the local pub which also had a stunning view, even from indoors. That didn't last long though, as the windows were soon steamed-over, thanks to 50 wet people tucking into a late lunch.

I'm not providing any close-up shots, but in contrast to a certain other burial that took place recently, the coffin was decorated not with flowers, but fruit and veg! Our friend was accomplished in many areas of human endeavour and wresting large amounts of produce from his plot was a particular skill. He never fully understood my 'conversion' to growing flowers, but back in the '80s we used to compete to see who could grow the biggest carrot of the variety 'Flak.' Somehow, he always won!

twopenny

Hi ybe, they'll be fine.
Never cut the leaves off bulbs. They may rot or get disease....it also means they have to use up more reserves to grow again.

Bulbs often grow in winter. I plant mine in pots now for just that reason. They put up leaves andd can make more food before they stop growing in short cold days. Then they will start again with the lengthening light and flower.

Still fairly mild here in the sw bit of rain each day. I need it to dry up for a day or two to get out and prune, dig over and get my pathetic excuse of winter veg in.
But at the moment it's too wet. The grass is growing like mad too.

YoungBlueEyes

Thanks Woolsery and Twopenny. I’ll leave them be then.  The whole issue may resolve itself if the squirrels take a liking to them! 

Yeah I’m wandering around looking at new areas of the forum cos I keep getting told off on other boards 😳

Woolsery

YoungBlueEyes said:

 Yeah I’m wandering around looking at new areas of the forum cos I keep getting told off on other boards 😳

Is that the management or other posters keeping everyone 'safe?' Safety has become a Thing in the last few years. Apparently it's dangerous to offend others, especially with unfashionable thoughts.

YoungBlueEyes

I’ve only had 1 post reported (the one about the girl in the job interview and the languages…) but the rest were management deleting whole sections of threads I think. Anyway. I’m all kinds of unfashionable, never provocatively offensive, but can often be disagreeable!

goldfinches

@Woolsery - what a lovely idea to add fruit and vegetables to your friend's coffin, I hope it becomes fashionable.
@YoungBlueEyes - welcome to this thread. Chicken wire stretched over the top of your pots may frustrate the squirrels as well as stopping neighbourhood cats from using them as a latrine.

I took this photo last Saturday to show how tall the dahlia has grown, I held the camera horizontally at my eye level so about 5 feet from the ground and the flower at the back of the border is almost at the same height.



I couldn't find a label but it doesn't look as though it's especially unusual. 

YoungBlueEyes

Thank you goldfinches.  I bought some while we were out yesterday, singers crossed it works.

I love the fruit and veg idea too, much more apt for some people so I hope it catches on.

I'm envious of all the beautiful garden pictures - I'm itching to get on with mine (hence the bulbs in pots so at least there's something come spring). We've only been here a few weeks tho so I'll leave it to see what the lay of the land is next year. Plenty of weeds and nonsense (some of which I've dug up cos I don't want them), but also a couple of rasps I think.

I'll mention the weather as this is a weather thread..... it's a beautiful autumnal morning here (east Yorks).  A breath of a breeze, the sun is shining, clear skies, and eleventy squillion geese all heading off. Jeez but they're noisy! My front faces SE so they're all streaming past.  I did just take a picture with my phone but you have to zoom right in to see them.

Goldfinches - One of the first things I did when we moved here was join the library and ask for a copy of The Devil's Dictionary. After an ever-widening series of searches round other libraries, from a healthy total - there's not one to be had cos they've all been "lost". Must be some book!

Woolsery

goldfinches said:

@Woolsery - what a lovely idea to add fruit and vegetables to your friend's coffin, I hope it becomes fashionable.

I think field burials are becoming more common, as are wicker coffins, which is good for the willow industry on the Somerset Levels. Also, the carrots, apples, leeks and pears may come in handier in the after-life than flowers, but knowing the family, they probably went home to be eaten later!

I shall be scoping-out the potential natural burial sites locally....or there's always the top field!  That's not too near the stream, which after the deluge overnight must surely be running now. It wasn't yesterday.

It seems the Met Office has done another volte face, so the dire weather they promised today, causing much hoovering and other drudgery, may now be postponed until tomorrow. It's sunshine all the way, though it certainly wasn't when I woke the hens at 07.15!

Since we're on dahlias of the larger variety, here's one of MiL's. No idea what it's called either:

 While at MiL's last week, I half inched some seedlings, being prime candidates for growing under the elm hedge where little does. I popped them into the boot of the car and only remembered two days later.....but they'd vanished.

"Did you see the seedlings I left in the corner of the boot?" I asked DB.

"Oh, were they there intentionally?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Oh, I saw them when loading up the wood shavings at Mole Valley and thought they were weeds. I threw them onto the verge!"

41 years married and she still doesn't know me!

Farway

A wet morning, very dismal looking out on my soggy patch, only gardening today will be catching up on Gardeners World & Beechgrove

What a lovely dahlia Woolsery, that's a flower that goes in & out of fashion, but I like them and was thinking about getting some "dinner plate" ones for next year, probably easier than my Canna plan, I may get my horticultural student GD roped in as she has part-time job at Dobies and maybe there will be summer clearance?

There's a natural burial spot near here, lovely overlooking valleys etc. Never been there due to my waking problems, but I reckon it would be very tranquil there

Woolsery said:

 While at MiL's last week, I half inched some seedlings, being prime candidates for growing under the elm hedge where little does. I popped them into the boot of the car and only remembered two days later.....but they'd vanished.

"Did you see the seedlings I left in the corner of the boot?" I asked DB.

"Oh, were they there intentionally?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Oh, I saw them when loading up the wood shavings at Mole Valley and thought they were weeds. I threw them onto the verge!"

41 years married and she still doesn't know me!

I can sympathise, my carefully saved seeds drying on kitchen roll met the same fate while I was in hospital and relatives came round to "tidy up"

I had to look up "Devil's Dictionary" sounds like the Uxbridge English Dictionary of radio 4s "I'm sorry I haven't a clue" which has had me gasping for air as I laugh

Barbecue A long line of plastic dolls. http://www.alspcs.com/main.html