Awful weather - typical Brits talk

wort

Morning all, Wild and windy here with promise of rain! Yesterday was promised dry and windy but didn’t it pour down the 30 mins it took me to walk into town! 

@Farway how wonderful for your granddaughter, fingers crossed for her ,proud granddaddy there 😁
sarcococca, smells beautiful there’s one near here and the smell carries across the street.

IMW last summer I bought some small bags of peat free from lidl, was not expecting much but it was lovely and dark . Wether it’s consistent I’m not sure.

I went in Wilko and they had bottles of ericaeous feed for 15p and seaweed feed for 30p also foliage feed for house plants . Couldn’t carry more than 2 , but a bargain of the year for me.

Farway

Sunny & mild here, of course now I want some rain to water in my vine weevil chewed primroses & the split up rudbeckia, typical gardener I suppose, never really satisfied

Mooched around Home Bargains looking for suitable pots to replace my frost broken ones.

No luck, plenty of pots but they were more of the "pretty" type, more showy than practical. I want large based, preferably square ones. All they had were the tall tapering ones that topple over in a puff of wind

However, there was compost in, and grow bags. I just couldn't lift the 50Litre size so had to settle on a couple of 40 litre ones, same brand as last year, so fingers crossed as we all know it varies so much these peat free days

I'll get some grow bags another week, I've only got a toy car [Citroën C2] with a boot big enough for a packet of sandwiches

No other gardening planned, if the sun holds it would be wise to do the grafting, but I've got computer hassle to sort out

sammy_kaye18

Well the weather has been alright here in south wales albeit a bit grey looking but it was dry so that's a bonus.
Making some progress in the garden and feeling accomplished at making my first veg bed from pallets. She ain't pretty but she will be functional and that's what matters. She's a big girl though at 2 pallet lengths long and 1 pallet length wide so its practically doubled my veg growing space which Im happy about. Now just need to fill her but I have been keeping bags of leaf mulch, grass cuttings etc and have manure on the way and top soil is being ordered next month to fill everything and refresh a few areas.

I spent most of yesterday moving rubbish, levelling off part of the grass, and covering it with weed lining and a few other bits that will do just as good a job, and now today I have moved old low beds I had made, laid a weed proof liner for under greenhouse, moved and reinforced the greenhouse frame (still waiting for cover to arrive) and levelled it off, cable tied the shelves to the frame so I cant have any wind related mishaps this year (learnt that lesson the hard way, put a few slabs as a base and moved wood from old beds into a pile to help with new pallet beds.

As you can tell today and tomorrow are mainly focused on garden. I did find a bag of compost in the greenhouse too so I may start my chilli and broad bean seeds on the windowsill to get a start on them but I need to check the garden focused page to see where I should be for my area

Absolutely knackered now though and my back is in bits - but tomorrow will be another heavy lifting day because I have a tonne bag of clean limestone coming to put down in the garden to help the mud pit that it was slowly becoming. So there will be quite a few back and forth trips for that to get done. At least Ill sleep well and Im hoping the weather holds off but we only have a 10% chance of rain tomorrow so fingers crossed. 

Also have pallets to retrieve from neighbours which I may get done tomorrow. 

twopenny

I travel some distance to buy mine from a company that gives you choice. Otter Nurseries if there's one near you. I combine it with just enjoying looking around, at the sales section and coffee and cake as an outing.

I haven't been to the others to see as that's more of a spring time jaunt.

No gardening today though the weather was bright and dry, cold wind. I'm dealing with no inside heating for another week, a bit of the garage door falling off, the washing line breaking for which I need a car - car wouldn't start this morning so in the repair garage.

I did a bit of looking at what needs moving  and thought about a bit of trimming while waiting but they didn't turn up so had to walk miles instead.

Farway, are you not going to Chelsea because of being there traipsing or the journey. You know I'm sure that they do wheelchair hire and whoever pushed you could go for free. Undignified but it may be worth it.

Blue do you know the name of your mums fushia? Could you buy one? Not quite the same but I plan to plant the families favourite roses in my garden.

YoungBlueEyes

Grey day here today they reckon. It's drizzling out there now but very mild. The wind's due back soon though so that'll knock the temp back again.

Well they say bad things come in threes so that's you done 2p, it's all downhill from here :fingerscrossed:. I don't know the name of the fuschia sadly, it was from a cutting that granda gave her from one of his. He loved fuschias and roses. I'll get one that's similar looking and make do with that  

I don't know about wheelchairs being undignified, daddy loved his - he felt like a king with people moving out the road for us. I'd give it a go for such a special occasion Farway, if you've a handy minion to do the pushing. 

The wee tomatoes I bought the other day are beautiful so I've kept a few back to have a go at getting them to grow. I'll be that happy if I manage it! 

Farway

I'm worn out just reading what you've all been up to in the last few days, SK & 2P, me I'm head scratching with computer new photo editing programme that refuses to work, now I've enlisted the tech department help desk, and I'm really out of my depth, but they do seem to know their stuff by giving me simple, "press this, do that", instructions that so far I'm following

Meanwhile, no gardening, but there is a promise of reasonable weather so hoping to get on and try out apple tree grafting soon as possible

Chelsea, my attending problems start with actually getting there by train, I have been before, in my fitter days, and even using the Tube escalators would now be hard for me with balance & walking problems.

I did look into a coach, having used a day trip one before, but they no longer run , Covid I guess.

Car, no way, just driving along the Thames embankment having battled the traffic & ULEZ charges is not really an option

And lastly, for anyone who has not been, it would be nigh on impossible with a wheelchair, the crowds are horrendous, hard enough fit & able

Had there been more notice, maybe something could've been sorted out, but time's tight with tickets.

If she gets into Kew I may get to see her there, easier to get to and navigate

PS, no problem with wheelchairs, except for getting a suitable pusher, normally for Wisley I borrow an electric one of theirs and crash whizz around in that

twopenny

Well done for trying Farway. I agree about the crowds, the Birmingham show was so crowded you can't see the gardens at all.
Don't forget the Trampers at stately homes and scenic spots. I'd love to have a go at one of those.
Shame I'm not nearer. I couldn't do the drive but I'd be willing to push  I'd learn a lot from you too.

Off to pick up the car. Lots to do but need to clear my head so I'll take my camera and play a while.
What new software have you got? Our u3a camera group, the men love their editing software. The women not much. Makes me smile.

sammy_kaye18

@Farway
I am not going to lie my back is feeling it this morning - mainly from manhandling the pallets yesterday and then my bag of gravel turned up at 8am and I have been sat looking at it since contemplating if today is the day or not but I have realised that husband is away today until about 8pm so I have plenty of time to get it done although it looks daunting, but realistically he only ventures into the garden about 4 times a year so I want to get it done to surprise him that his wife is actually proactive when hes not around! 

Which reminds me - it made me laugh yesterday because I wanted to make the veg bed so I asked him how Id do it so he got me the tools Id need. He left me screws, an an uncharged impact driver - I think he thought Id try - realise I couldnt do it and give up so he would have to come to my rescue.  Jokes on him. 
I found his drill, several right sized drill bits, his recip saw and went to work  
I live by the quote that I tell me daughter - ' dont wait for someone to save you, grab a sword and save yourself '

So with that said, Im going to stop putting it off since the drizzle has stopped here and Im off to move gravel. 
Although Ive just realised I need to clear the gate first so I can actually get between gardens 

twopenny

OK but back this afternoon it was 11C!! So I did get something done.

Strimmed the edges to make it look neater - only vaguely worked.

Weeded all the veg areas. Tipped the last of the water out of containers and put the big pot to dry out so I can stick things over the hole and make a pond.

Just being tidy looks like someone cares. Found bulbs here and there that I didn't know about but as it started from scratch and I stuck them in first I guess there are some that didn't find their way to the main border.

Decided it would have been nicer in a small garden not to have bulbs in pots but in the border now there's more of a backdrop - but I resisted digging up and moving stuff and stuck to the basics.

Quite proud of myself for that

Sammy it's always easier to diy rather than wait for someone. I waited 2yrs for vine eyes to tie up a climbing rose in the front garden. That's when I decided to either do it myself or get someone in.

Like the quote. I'm going to remember that.

I have one.

"And you ask, "What if I fall?"
Oh, but my darling,
What if you fly?"

Farway

twopenny said:

Well done for trying Farway. I agree about the crowds, the Birmingham show was so crowded you can't see the gardens at all.
Don't forget the Trampers at stately homes and scenic spots. I'd love to have a go at one of those.
Shame I'm not nearer. I couldn't do the drive but I'd be willing to push  I'd learn a lot from you too.

Off to pick up the car. Lots to do but need to clear my head so I'll take my camera and play a while.
What new software have you got? Our u3a camera group, the men love their editing software. The women not much. Makes me smile.

The software is ON1 RAW 2023, or it would be, but my computer is not compatible for it to work , I was looking forward to fiddling about.

Refund on the way, so only loss is a bit of time. I did find the help desk very helpful, unlike some that are unhelp desks

SK, careful of your back, take care, wish I had listened to this advice when I was younger & lugging bags of this that & the other around. Good work on the handy crafts, most can do it, but some just don't want to.

My DIL is one of those not wanting to know, but she is having to learn now because part of her job is now teaching Design Tech, we males all laughed like drains of course when she fell for the Left Handed Screwdriver requirement.

Sun may be peeking out, slight dampness this morning, not enough to water in my new plants, but it helps

Promise of things to come, here's the first bud on my Amaryllis, Dancing Queen, I bought just before Christmas from T & M