Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

Be nice to see him back, but understandable if he doesn’t… 

I didn’t see the drunken magpie thing but I’ve heard of it happening. I’d love to see it in real life ha haa! 

Practically tropical here too, we’re up about 10’c these last couple of days 😀 Everywhere’s damp now though, not sure I like that but so much….

Acers are pure lovely, add my name to the ‘wanna see the pics please’ list 🙂

goldfinches

The temperature here shot up from -4 to +4 over the morning and then it began raining this afternoon just in time for my walking group! We managed 7,400 steps around the University Parks and then thankfully dived into the Ashmolean for tea and biscuits.
PS if you're ever offered Bahlsen chocolate orange biccies say Yes! Bahlsen Messino Luxury Dark Chocolate Orange Jaffa Cakes | Ocado

@wort - very impressive work on your acer and its pot, do show us the results when the leaves are showing.
@in_my_wellies - I'm in awe of your windowsill both because of your bargain hunting and your green thumb. Good luck with stalking the slug. Don't feel guilty, I use the photos as an incentive to get outside so knowing that other people enjoy seeing them is very helpful.
@twopenny - what a brilliant solution, I'm filing it away in my memory to copy if needed. Sorry to hear of your aches and pains, let's hope it warms up soon.
@Farway - thanks for passing on messages from the banished Devonian and if you manage to intoxicate any passing birds with your Pinovas let us know.
@YoungBlueEyes - no Magwitch here but it was so dank and miserable this afternoon I wouldn't have been surprised to meet a bad-tempered troll.

Best wishes to all for gardening and weather generally, see you soon, goldfinches.

wort

@Farway how are your streptocarpus? I am worried as one of mine is looking rather sad, I think a result of my cold house, both varieties are in the same place but on one the leaves have gone very dark and small  and curled up, I think it may be frost nip??! Anyway fingers crossed.

Farway

Brighter & warmer this morning, mist & frost have gone, and hazy sun could even become real sun given time

 

wort said:

@Farway how are your streptocarpus? I am worried as one of mine is looking rather sad, I think a result of my cold house, both varieties are in the same place but on one the leaves have gone very dark and small  and curled up, I think it may be frost nip??! Anyway fingers crossed.

Best I can say is they are still alive .

Like yours, I think they are suffering from the cold, and short daylight hours of course, plus whatever it is that is making the leaves mottled despite my spraying with this expensive recommended stuff

Better news is all the leaf cutting took and at least I have "spares" should some pop their clogs

I can sort of see new green growth at the base of some plants, takes a bit of imagination and would need a time-lapse camera to prove it

I've just started using diluted feed when I water now growth maybe starting up

PS your sad one, try for a leaf cutting before it becomes a corpse?

Only gardening has been looking through a fruit catalogue that arrived, now I want a "family" pear tree , well actually I want a bigger garden first, but I can dream

sammy_kaye18

Well I have just ventured out into the garden to hang some washing on the line and ended up going @rse over t*t because my delightful sighthounds have been zoomy-ing round the garden and with all the rain, my lovely lawn is now a giant mud pit. 

Seriously considering - if this is how it will be from now on - putting down patio slabs onto half the garden at least so I have somewhere to have stable footing rather than slipping and sliding everywhere and putting the washing line near the patio so the dogs can have the grass and it will be easy to clean with the pressure washer because quite frankly it looks awful at the minute! 

twopenny

Purely by accident I've got a gravel corner with the rotary in one corner, a wooden garden coffee table at the side and it means I can stand on the gravel, home and dry. The wash basket goes on the table so I don't have to bend up and down.
Much cheaper than slabs and quick to do. Less than a day.

I've grow my herbs around the edges.
Will post a pic later if I find one.

goldfinches

Hi all, I ventured out today despite being seriously stiff after yesterday's trek in the rain. I was rewarded by seeing my first heron of the year.



As you can see it's still bloomin' cold here and I rather got the feeling that the heron was a bit disgusted with the weather too. It walked up and down in the field looking for prey and after about ten minutes gave up and flew away.

In other news I've been reading this page Truffle Trees - Wiltshire Truffles and dreaming of owning sufficient land to grow my own truffles, does anyone know any single millionaires/landed gentry?

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh nice heron, very regal

I don't know any single millionaires/landed gentry, but I know a couple that have room for another mistress.... if that's any good to ya? Both really lovely guys actually - old money, ones late 60's, one's early 70's but they both look+act younger. Good fun to go drinking with! 

Farway

Dull & grey again, ideal for camouflaging herons. Nice pic BTW

2P, does your gravel area sub as the neighbourhood cat loo? I know they can at times which is why patio slabs may be a better idea for SK18, but there again with mad dogs cats will keep clear anyway!

Still looking through the catalogues, I've decided what I can do is try & train the fig cuttings I took last year into pot grown Standards. They are still dormant but gives me time to get thinking and finding decent heavy pots

growing truffles must be hard, I know it is the Holy Grail with all the profits but as i have never succeeded it growing mushrooms from kits I'll pass on that, and of course lack of a woodland is a setback

Sun's peeping out, I may mooch down the garden later to see what damage the frost may have done, and cut off the missed blackberry stem while I'm there

in_my_wellies

It's dull and damp here too today so just the minimum done outside. Feeding and cleaning hens then picking/digging some veg for tea now the frost has gone (kale, sprouts and parsnips)

I don't find the cats use the gravel but then I do have two large (guard )dogs

There's normally a few walkers out one a Friday so I put a tray of apples out. They're getting a bit old now so I put a notice saying 'for the birds'. Then a funny thing happened. I heard my letter box go a couple of times but thought it was the postman. It turned out I'd put the apples in a Lidl wonky veg box with a £1.50 price sticker on it and three people had paid me £1.50 for apples! I shall use it to buy bird food 

Then I had a surprise visit from my landlord. (Good thing the apples were gone by then) He knows I prefer a surprise visit so I'm not stressed cleaning up. Seemed happy with everything. He's trying to persuade me to stay another couple of years, I think he'll be retiring then. We shall have to see how our dates work out. Might suit you @Goldfinches, he's a single millionaire with a 5 acre woods bordering his property. 

I sorted my seeds today then spent a stupid amount of time watching an Italian woman cooking on You-Tube