Awful weather - typical Brits talk

goldfinches

Lovely sunny day here too but perishingly cold again so I had to go back into the half layer of thermals I'd daringly stopped wearing last week. I've seen the roe deer feeding in the Meadow every day this week and think that's because there is so little new growth that they are being forced out of their preferred grazing areas. Here they are in a photo I took yesterday.

YoungBlueEyes

Good morning moon 

That’s a lovely picture GF, such attractive buildings too

YoungBlueEyes

If I’m late feeding the birds my big blackie will sit on my side gate outside my kitchen window and give me A Look. It makes my heart smile 🙂

Farway

Took advantage of yesterday's sunshine & at last bud grafted some apples, and a pear. I's a skill that I think would need a lot of practice, I struggled and not really sure whether they'll take, but at least it's done, and I've tried it again. My last attempt was over forty years ago, and they failed to take

Beautiful sunny day again, I had to go out to post a letter so decided to use the post box in Morrisons. Hoping to find some plant pots or compost while there

Gosh, it's gone downhill, not even any live plants, used to be packed with spring bedding once upon a time.

However, I did find a couple of stargazer lily bulbs, and a tuber of a fancy dahlia, so not entirely wasted mooching around. I'll sort them out sometime this week

With it being sunny, I also had my new old camera with me, so went onto the churchyard for snowdrops and general clicking around. Loads of snowdrops as I hoped and a few photos of general bits while there.

The prize winning image of dramatic seed heads against the flint church and lichen tombstones has failed of course , too beige, and just blends in. A job for another day

However, these rose hips came out OK

twopenny

The last 2 days have been sunny and really warm on my back patio so I've been painting the wire bookshelves I used for seeds as they were going a bit rusty.
The paint I had to hand was gold or silver. I did gold and it looked very glam but not so when down the side alley so now it's silver. Goes with the grey trays I put the pots in.

I also at last got the compost bin painted thyme green and did the board separating the strawberry plants from the veg.
It looks so cheerful in winter I'm on a roll with more painting. Bird feeder old gold and dark stain on new bird table?

Also found my stalwart solid pots have started to flake and crack.
We've had/have a sucession of freezing nights which is very rare for here, the soft south so learning as I go

Love the photos and yes, like last year morrisons cut flowers don't last. Tescos and lidl do. Morrisons plants pathetic and more expensive. Tescos have some good bargains. Pink standard willow. Had to really hold myself back because don't know what the rootstock was. If willow could be a nightmare. 

goldfinches

Lovely photos YBE and Farway. Did anyone else see today's glorious sunset, it was gold, pink, orange and purplish here.
Your painting sounds very glamorous 2p, do we get to see the results?

It was a beautiful clear and sunny day today so a friend and I went for a walk at lunchtime with her dog and spotted the parakeets again, they seem to be paired up and looking for nest sites so fingers crossed they'll stay. No good photos yet but I'm improving with every attempt.
I did manage this entirely accidentally lovely shot of a nest that we spotted on the other side of the river, isn't the sky a marvellous colour?

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh the sky is a marvellous colour Hopefully the parakeets will get themselves settled. Any chance they eat squirrels? If so will you round a few up and send me them

Yeah I wanna see pics of your painting too 2P. Old gold and dark stain sounds good. 

I haven't been in a Morrisons since we moved up here. The last time was to get stocked up on those 'Nuii' ice-creams, god they're lovely. The whole store felt a bit ......despondant...? actually.

We've had some quite nice sunsets ad sunrises but my phone doesn't capture them properly

Farway

Another frosty but sunny, blue sky day

Oh dear 2P, I hope your flaky pots do not go the same way mine have, frost broken & bu66ered . Still looking for cheap suitable inexpensive replacements as part of the Morrisons trip yesterday

Still no parakeets, but I did spot a wren this morning, and squirrels sharpening their bulb eating fangs

I saw the sunset on Sunday, very impressive, and my mobile seems to work fine with those, so here it is, Sunday evening view from Farway Towers

twopenny

How lovely!

We had a strange one. Today weather even stranger. Freezing but sunrise red and the sun started to come out then a dark grey cloud very low down turned into a freezing mist for most of the day. Bitter even wrapped up.

Then it pulled away just before sunset with a watery sun.

Car wouldn't start this morning, missed a walking trip I was really looking forward to. Staying home in a freezing house or walking in the cold grey day. So I'm fairly miserable all in all and the photos requested aren't all they might be but here goes.

Wire bookcase was black but got a little rusty so now it's shiny silver. Used for trays for seed pots (40) and you water the trays.

I can store the trays and pots on there - or it will fold up.

I built a huge cold frame before but the garden is too small. I had to break it up

 

 

goldfinches

Sorry YBE, I don't think parakeets eat squirrels so can't help you there. Have you considered Red Kites as we might be able to send you some of those? My mobile is also very poor at sunrise and sunset photos so am now pondering the secondhand selection of cameras in the window of the local branch of Jessops.
Lovely photo of the sky F, same glorious colours as I saw so thanks for that. I did once consider wrapping ugly plastic pots in natural fibre rope secured with a few blobs of superglue as a way of making them more attractive. I never got round to actually trying it out but wonder if the idea might help you if only as a temporary measure. 
Very chic and overall attractive appearance 2p, clever idea with the trays too. 

We had another brilliantly sunny day here so I spent an hour at the Botanic Garden admiring all the crocuses which have suddenly come out. Here is an especially pretty clump.



Then I smelt this wintersweet bush which smells deliciously spicy and sweet together, I wish I could bake the flavour into biscuits or a cake. I reluctantly walked away fantasising about infusing sugar with the aroma by hanging bags of it on the twigs.