Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

Woolsery said:

Paspatur said:

Might try some from seed but think might have to be indoor propagator then windowsill  since greenhouse in last month has varied from 37.2 to 0.4 and can hit between minus 3 and minus 6 in February

They might benefit from being outdoors through winter first, provided mice aren't a problem. I usually stratify hardy shrub seeds; after all, nature does!

I've read it can be done in the fridge, pretending it's a winter cold spell, that is. However, the couple of times I tried, rose hips & apple pips it was a failure, either just dried out or went manky.

However, found by accident it worked with spuds when I planted some sprouted salad ones for Christmas new ones grown in a bucket

Dull & mild morning here, if I get enough ooomph I'll check out the estate later, especially the grape vines [twiglets ] and maybe pick the remaining Pinova apples hanging on the tree. I tried one I'd picked a week or so back & had since ripened up in the conservatory, they are superb tasting so worth hanging onto after all, and late ripening can be a blessing, fresh OG for Christmas, along with the accidental spuds in a bucket

Woolsery

YoungBlueEyes said:

My phone’s not letting me quote for some reason, but I couldn’t agree more with your middle paragraph Farway. Too many people spending far too much money on worthless degrees that then cannot properly contribute to society. We need people who actually know what they’re talking about if they’re going to take up such positions. 

Who was it said - you get the politicians you deserve (or similar)?

Thomas Jefferson, but he assumed people would have a meaningful choice.

I'm not sure a person's ability to contribute to society hinges on what they do at uni. Attributes like their attitude towards work and how they face adversity are all formed long before then. "Give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man" is another quote. Maybe 7 is rather young, but by 13 the die is usually cast, which is why the transition to secondary school is so important.

Most youngsters these days work their way through uni courses, so they have plenty of real world experience. I don't believe we can say the same of our current Leader, or even that he was chosen by the ordinary members of his party..

And on that serious note, here's a picture of our chickens before Chicken Lockdown. The Vorwerks are now fully integrated into our chicken society, below the Cream Legbars and the Buff Sussex. No one voted for her, either!

[Deleted User]

Good post Woolsery, love your chickens too 👍

Farway

Hint of sun this morning, it turned out very pleasant yesterday after a dull start, so much so I did venture into the garden and all seems well, it's still there anyway and managed a couple of photos while at it

Mainly though I picked all my Pinova apples, they are not like "normal apples, they have long stalks similar to a cherry, so the gentle lift and twist method of checking ripeness & picking does not work. I watched a YouTube vid, and they were snipping them off which would work, I just yanked them, and they came away readily

Good picture of your chickens Woolsery, do they get curious and trot over when you are taking a picture?

Here's my a picture of my confused clematis flowering in yesterday's sunshine, it's the second flush this year

Woolsery

Farway said:

Good picture of your chickens Woolsery, do they get curious and trot over when you are taking a picture?

They trot over regardless, and those two inspect whatever we're doing very closely. I have to sit there a while in order to get a picture where they look 'natural.'   Vorwerks are very inquisitive and chatty. We like them for that as much as their looks.

Yesterday did turn out quite nice, but the tractor guy who cuts our big hedges here didn't show, so I cancelled a coast path walk for nothing....Grr! However, perhaps it was better I saved my energy, because by midnight I learned DB was in A&E 100 miles away, having had her poorly knee finally give out. She'd decided to spend a week helping the elderly Out-laws, but they ended up helping her!

A&E waiting time was 12 hours, though that did include an X-ray and results, consultation etc. By the time I got there, it was 13 hours. By then, I'd remembered exactly why we left the city, with its nightmare traffic and seemingly endless road works. DB's back here with me again now, learning to use crutches. I'm not sure how she's going to manage the hedge trimmer!

YoungBlueEyes

Oh Woolsery, I hope DB's knee is soon mended. Is it muscular, bonular, or nervular?

Farway

Woolsery said:

Farway said:

Good picture of your chickens Woolsery, do they get curious and trot over when you are taking a picture?

They trot over regardless, and those two inspect whatever we're doing very closely. I have to sit there a while in order to get a picture where they look 'natural.'   Vorwerks are very inquisitive and chatty. We like them for that as much as their looks.

Yesterday did turn out quite nice, but the tractor guy who cuts our big hedges here didn't show, so I cancelled a coast path walk for nothing....Grr! However, perhaps it was better I saved my energy, because by midnight I learned DB was in A&E 100 miles away, having had her poorly knee finally give out. She'd decided to spend a week helping the elderly Out-laws, but they ended up helping her!

A&E waiting time was 12 hours, though that did include an X-ray and results, consultation etc. By the time I got there, it was 13 hours. By then, I'd remembered exactly why we left the city, with its nightmare traffic and seemingly endless road works. DB's back here with me again now, learning to use crutches. I'm not sure how she's going to manage the hedge trimmer!

Wishing her best of luck with the crutches, I never got the hang of them and opted for the Speedo Zimmer frame when I was laid up, plus a Zimmer will be handy for balancing the hedge trimmer on as she takes a breather, and also the Christmas turkey once out of the oven

Wet and windy this morning, just awful out there, not a gardening day at all.

Luckily, I dug up my tuberous begonia yesterday & got it inside before real winter arrives, I found bloomin' vine weevils having a good nibble at it so once the attached soil has dried off a bit I'll clear them out prior to stowing for winter. I have VW killer somewhere, so I'll check out the application details and try to get the trough sorted before replanting next year

Meanwhile, here's one I took on Sunday, in the sunshine with dew attached. Variety is Deep Secret. Probably rotted this morning

Woolsery

YoungBlueEyes said:

Oh Woolsery, I hope DB's knee is soon mended. Is it muscular, bonular, or nervular?

  A bit of all three. She's waiting for a knee replacement, but this was caused by sitting too long in one position, trying to de-bug the bug-gared installation of a new printer for the old folks. It's a dangerous place, the internet!

I like Farways's idea of the frame. Perhaps we could strap the hedge-trimmer to it, mount it on our platform trolley and I could pull her along with the ride-on?  Hopefully, a couple of days bingeing on Netflix will effect a cure, of sorts.

Misty rain and reduced visibility first thing has given way to dull serenity here, though we are due more cloudbursts later before things go downhill temperature-wise. I'm hoping to do some de-bugging of vine weevil larvae too this morning, starting with every primula I can find, and then the geraniums....

That's a mysterious-looking rose, Farway. I like roses, mostly in other people's gardens and at Rosemoor, as I'm very hands-on and don't use gloves much.

liberty_lily

Sorry to hear about DB, Woolsery....wishing her well with the crutches and not too long await for her op 💐

Very belated Happy Birthday from me, twopenny 🎂

Fab pics from everyone, btw 😃

We've had the usual mix of heavy rain and sunshine here - the weekend was mostly lovely and  after a wet start this morning, the sun is shining now.

It's been rather manic indoors here as we attempt to *finish* our living room ahead of Christmas, so despite the weather there's been little time to do anything garden related. I did manage to take a few pics of some of our trees whilst out collecting logs from one of the storage areas (the old privy 😆) yesterday....

twopenny

Mostly raining with a dry spell. More about gutters and shifting furniture today and just more gazing at the garden for ideas.

Probably best left along at the mo as the bedding roses are in full bloom which is really cheering. Even the Rosemary is blooming.

I have the bird table wrapped up because there is rot and that needs doing at the first oportunity. I wrapped the compost heap so it would be dry for painting but the tarp blew off in the first wind.

I have a large collection of plastic bottle to sink next to plants ready for the next heatwave. Seems a surpurfluous job right now with the rain.

What do you think? Should I sink them around plants and be ready or just expect to be able to cope next year?