Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Not yet. Police, ambulance, doctor and undertakers yesterday. Got breakfast ready then just sat down and died.
An ex nurse in the Aussie outback and ,Africa.
They said they'd never seen a home so clean and tidy. She'd have loved that lol. A reaal character and so kind. I'll miss the sound of her ladder going up to trim over the 6ft fence and telling drivers of for parking on the pavement and me for smoking as well as her kindness. 
Now I feel the need to tidy up - in case she's watching 

Sunny start, down to 6c again last night grrr, cold again now. Clearing out the garage and repotting maybe. What a joy!

Hope Mrs Dusty is doing ok. How soon does the exercise start?

Farway

Bright but dull at the same time, and cold, my heating came back on & now frost is forecast, just as well those toms are back inside YBE

Commiserations on ratty still hanging about but seems good most have gone, or rotting away

Sorry to hear about neighbour 2P, very sudden, what a nice thought to plant a tree in memory. Choosing a suitable one will be difficult,

I know when I had so select one for the volunteer place in memory of a long time volunteer I was looking high & low, wanted flowering, fruit if possible for wild life, easy to maintain, not a towering giant

In the end, I selected a crab apple "Laura" which has performed exactly as on the tin

I like the Ying yang lawn idea, different as well as nice to look at. Years back when YY was all the rage I was put on the YY diet by 'er no longer indoors, gawd, brown rice, always tasted like soap to me not the subtle nutty flavour it was alleged to have

My Honesty seed has germinated, just one, but it's a start, if I get enough some excess can go into the volunteer border, but initially I'll have a few at the front of the house

I have high hopes for the small, red, plum tomato from Asda that I sowed a few weeks back, the seedlings have a dwarf look to them, a bit like my Yellow Balcony, so I'm hoping they are a small bush type

Dusty, funnily enough I noticed just how prolific the pear blossom is this year, not only my trees but next doors, giant "Concorde" is smothered in blossom, if frost leaves them alone should be a good year for pears.

Here's one of my Beurre Alexandre Lucas from T & M offer

Dustyevsky

Sorry to hear about your neighbour, 2p. “Died suddenly” is a phrase we're seeing a lot these days, and not just in relation to the elderly, but if one has to go, then suddenly is way better than slowly and with loss of dignity. Very hard on those who remain, of course.

The exercise regime has already begun. These days, it starts well before the knee or hip operation, so the patient will be building up strength in arms and core, as well as legs. Then, getting up and down, using crutches etc is easier. Mrs Dusty doesn't need masses of help, and if she were on her own, she'd probably be expected to cope by next week, unless compromised by other issues. After all, she's a blooming youngster compared with me!

I'm thinking of suggesting a tree for remembering my friend's son, who died from cancer last July. It's tricky because the perception is that a 'tree' will outgrow its welcome, but she has an undeveloped area still to do that requires something in the way of a statement plant. Here, we've planted Pyrus 'Chanticleer' in the lawn, and it seems easily pruned and not too vigorous, besides coming into leaf early and flowering well.

Bright here, but I'm told it won't last. Going to sow more courgettes and cues if I'm lucky!

YoungBlueEyes

Yep, “suddenly” is preferable in my eyes to years of deterioration from whatever disease. Such a shock for those left behind though. 

Is there such a thing as a tree/bush that grows neatly and tidily? That would seem fitting And I’m not looking up yin Yang lawn or I’ll be wanting one of them too! 

No pear blossom here, presuming I actually have a pear! The apple one has lost some that hadn’t even opened so I don’t know how it’ll do. 

Good idea to tell people to strengthen themselves before surgery so they’re a few steps ahead in recovery. So simple eh  

Himself is working - agency staff are total carp so he and a couple of other lads have gone in to get caught up cos they’re so far behind cos agency staff are carp. It’s not a woman that runs that place, that’s for sure. So I’m taking myself to a great big last-chance-saloon charity shop and then a garden centre, purely for looking and seeing and absolutely not for buying anything. Not. A. Thing. Truly 😇

Showery and dull here, not particularly cold though. That’s from tomorrow, they say…. 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Showery and dull here, not particularly cold though. That’s from tomorrow, they say…. 

Not here. Today is single figure temperatures, but then it's doubles all the way, slowly increasing to next weekend. Of course, that's only what the boozers down in Exeter predict, not anything real. We may have seen the last of the frosts, though. Hope so, we're on next winter's logs!

twopenny

So cold!  And wet. Had to put the heating on. 
Anything outside is definitely off!

Crimson and purple tulips with helebores and shocking pink geraniums at least are summery.
Driving over Exmoor the blackthorn is thick and white, sloe gin next winter   
And everything seems to be dense blossom. Don't know if that means they feel threatened by the last 8mts weather.

YoungBlueEyes

Them drunkards might be right this time I think, the wind has turned round today 😒 It’s not to reach you softy southerners on that side though, just down this east coast. They say. 

Mmm slow gin. Wanna do swopsies for some toms 2p? 😁

Went to garden centre, bought nothing. Went to charity shop, didn’t bought nothing. The books were 4-£1 😮 Really need some book shelves putting up now. 

pink_poppy

Twopenny, how sad about your neighbour - it sounds like you’ve lost a good friend there.
We still have wall to wall sunshine here (sorry!!) but it’s supposed to change to cloudy and colder tomorrow. We ran out of logs a while ago, Dusty and only have a couple of lumps of wood that a friend kindly gave us. We have some coal and peat left so that should keep us going if we get another cold spell 🔥

twopenny

Congratulations Blue! Self control

I'd swap for toms as mine have vanished and I have to start again but I haven't made sloe gin for a couple of years now. None on the bushes last year. But it's a good treat for the Jan/Feb dismal time.

Thanks PP, she was the first to greet me when I moved here, said 'if you ever need anything just ask' and gave me her phone number. But it was the passion for gardens we shared. Even the same plants. She was very knowledgeable.

Yes we have the easterly and the drop again to single figures and rain for the week. It's darn cold

YoungBlueEyes

Drizzly and dreich here this morning, not particularly cold though. Bit cooler than yesterday I think. I'd say we've seen the last of the frosts too Dusty, well I hope so anyway. 

Was it just blackthorn you saw on Exmoor 2p? Isn't there a saying about that? If the black is out before the may - something weathery something something, but if the may is out before the black - opposite weathery something something. Granny used to say it but I can't remember the pertinent bits (naturally)!

I did well to get out of the garden centre without buying bits - I didn't realise how much improved all the tat is now! Little wobbly tin frogs/birds on sticks, plasticy animals with big glowy eyes. Then all the lanterns and lights and fairies, the beautiful bird feeders and tables, and the fountains and big fake cherry/lilac trees. Jeez I coulda lifted the lot of it ha haa! But the charity shop was a different story. 4 books for £1, it'd be a shameful waste to let them go to landfill. Lucky I keep a couple of banana boxes in the car  

Anybody see Gardener's World the other night? Apparently the reason that magnolias are one of the first things to flower is because they aren't pollinated by bees, they're done by beatles. How about that?