Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Murphybear

Dustyevsky said:

Love the HRT's 'collar.' Ours have permanent fluorescent ones with bells, which they don't mind now. The woolly one manages to detach hers sometimes, but I can usually find them with a torch in the dark!

Murphybear, we tried to live close to Yeovilton, but failed.Couldn't sell our house in the time frame the vendor gave us, so she sold to a rich neighbour whom she hated. I'm not sure what the moral of that story is, except 'things happen when they're meant to!'

Never been to Portland Bill. I've heard it's windy!

Yes it can be windy but when it’s hot it’s lovely 

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Well hi, reading along here. Yes I'm back from a fabulous walk along the ridge of Dunkery with 360 views down to Dartmoor looking south and I waved to Dusty.

 

Ground still bone dry and no indication of good rain though I'm thinking it would have to be more than a week of heavy rain to get down into the soil now.

I couldn't see you, due to all the misty rain here.   But Dunkery Beacon and Exmoor in general are your problem; you're in the rain shadow area behind it. Here we're back to normal with the moisture levels, and don't I know it with the rate at which the grass is growing!

I did go back to working yesterday pm. So did Mrs Dusty, who picked all the outdoor tomatoes that were ready, in case Storm Betty got them. No sign of blight here yet.

No new photos ready, except this one where the camera slipped whist I was shooting a rural scene near Glastonbury. I can identify Elderberry, Bramble, Nettle, and Cow Parsley, but who are the humans, and what do they have in common? All most puzzling....and it seems the poster erector doesn't like them. Well, I'm sure someone will know....

Farway

The forecast storm Betty never arrived here, or if it did, I must have blinked, very close though which meant I was wake a lot of the night, or so it seemed to me

Because it was not raining I went up to volunteer place & watered the pots, I think they would've been OK, but it would only need a few days of hot sun before there were problems

Potted on the Cape Primroses that were in the bio net bags, not much in the way of roots after a year, so I'm assuming the bio net pots are carp, soon find out now they have been potted on

I have been to Portland Bill, RN used to "work up" ship's crews there, steam around a bit & play war plus aiding civil power, it was so along ago the solution to a civil riot was shooting the leaders. Gulp, I don't think that's allowed now

Nice photo of wild flowers there Dusty, the poster that slipped in, I think one of them is a crooner?

For Arbs and anyone in a nasturtium mood. Taken this morning at the volunteer place, to demonstrate just how tenacious self sown nasturtiums are. This is growing in the crack of an old railway sleeper

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

The forecast storm Betty never arrived here, or if it did, I must have blinked, very close though which meant I

Nice photo of wild flowers there Dusty, the poster that slipped in, I think one of them is a crooner?

Betty was more hype than hurricane here too. Rain is falling as I type, between the sunny intervals, so I guess that's concreting and lawn mowing out. However, I can carry on re-potting in the polytunnel and slipping down to the wild area to plant out next year's pollinator-friendlies in the dry interludes.  

Mmmmm.... I think one of the guys on the poster is easier to ID than the other, though it's my belief the less conspicuous one has had much more effect on people's lives worldwide. I've done some research and they do have something in common, though in itself that's not remarkable.It's something most people do, and those who don't, often should!  I shall leave it there for a bit and maybe drive Arb mad !

ArbitraryRandom

You can try Dusty dear, but unfortunately most of the goings on of man confuse me so I tend to tune it out  

We had very little rain (judging by the level of the waterbutt) and I heard the windows rattling, so I'm getting it got a bit gusty. Went out to look for any damage this morning - and to water the squash, as is my habit - and I was very pleased to see I have an embryonic female finally! 

I made a very impulsive decision to trim back the plant to remove some of the other vines and hopefully get it focused on fruiting; it does mean I now have a half dozen male flowers (as yet unopened), a few yet to be gendered buds, and at least one female... so my hopes of reaching pollination this year have risen again. This gardening lark is exciting  

Any advice on if this trimming is a good idea... and how much I could take off/how many leaves does a squash need to mature fruit (are they like tomatoes?) would be appreciated. 

Dustyevsky

I would say squash are not quite the same as tomatoes in regard to getting fruit. A  fair quantity of leaf seems beneficial on mine, so I just wait till the plants wither naturally.

ArbitraryRandom said:

You can try Dusty dear, but unfortunately most of the goings on of man confuse me so I tend to tune it out

That's an excellent answer, especially with regard to these two.

LessImpecunious

No idea about the two in your photo Dusty, so thought I'd give one of those plant apps a try - first one I came upon was Pl@nt net, and the answer it gave was "Not a plant. May be: Homo_sapiens_L.". So correct to species at least, if not variety 

Dustyevsky

LessImpecunious said:

No idea about the two in your photo Dusty, so thought I'd give one of those plant apps a try - first one I came upon was Pl@nt net, and the answer it gave was "Not a plant. May be: Homo_sapiens_L.". So correct to species at least, if not variety 

I had a feeling it wouldn't be easy, especially for those flashing....or probably crawling....by on their way to Glasto. The guy on the left isn't likely to be on many radars in this country. The other one; household name. Being in the land of Love n' Peace, no one's vandalised it, but an advert for a local cider event has been pasted tastefully in a blank corner. The farmer who owns the field seems to be quite a character. They've  acquired some rolling stock over the past few years, and are now making the farm entrance look like a station.

I'm all in favour of those phone apps. Tried one a few weeks ago that guesses estimates your age. Had me as 64.  If only!

On topic: sun's out and it's lovely here now. Here's something I can ID easily, 'cos MiL has propagated these Frank Headley pelargoniums for donkey's years. Not sure about the ram's head from a junk yard...at least it's not a goat! https://www.allwoods.net/online-store/Frank-Headley-1957-p83926684

twopenny

That is a beautiful arrangement Dusty, I'm quite envious.

Still no gardening done. Been working on the house and relaxing so nothing new to post.

Indeed the same applies to the weather - had a couple of showers today. One tiddly drops more like mist then this evening it hammered down - I got all excited, proper rain. But it lasted 10mins only. Still dry as a bone

Everyones not enamoured of it. It's cool then hot and humid then cool................there was a gust or two last evening but it was just wind.

But still reading your adventures.

Bluey, keep an eye out for slim paperback books by Dr D G Hessayon.

Be Your Own Gardening Expert

Be Your Own Garden Doctor

Be Your Own Vegetable Doctor

There's Vegetable Plotter, Rose Expert, Tree, Shrub, Flower etc.

They are really easy to find stuff quickly and simple answers so easy to remember. I started with them and moved onto the thicker ones on the same lines. They were very popular in their time and still crop up on second hand book stalls.

Waterstones £8 ea - Abe Books 0,98p - Amazon £42!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to see if I can sell mine and pay for the bathroom

Doesn't matter if they're tatty the info's the same and by the time you've put your gardening hands on them ...........

Because I was busy working I got a note book and wrote down the things like what plant food for which plant and when, when to prune etc for just the things I grew. That was really useful.

I eventually grew into  Mrs Beatons Book of Gardening and some of the old 1920s ones which had the good old knowledge without the complications of glossy salesmanship that seems to be the theme these days

YoungBlueEyes

Thanks 2p, that's really helpful I'll keep my eye out. I don't tend to look round the gardening books but I lifted one yesterday cos of the title. Monty and Sarah Don - The Jewel Garden, A Story of Despair and Redemption. I wasn't despairing over my blighty tomatoes but it struck a chord so. I didn't realise exactly why it was called the jewel garden (pic in a min when I've typed this), it's probably a contender for the most 80's picture ever ha haa! Also, thanks for the reminder about Abe's Books, I'd completely forgotten about that website  

Those geraniums are lovely Dusty, I like the variegated leaves. I wouldn't want the ram's head either, but I'd happily have the trough, that proper old wall and the path And what's the plant on the left? I found a few of those ...petals/leaves....? in my garden years ago and planted them but nothing happened. Are they crispy and papery with a black seed suspended in the middle?

I don't know who the skinny fellah is in that poster. Something in my head says yank politician but I can't get a name. Considering the other fellah I could guess at the subject matter but maybe that's too obvious 

OT warm yesterday, warm today again. It's almost cool enough overnight but too humid entirely. At least we're getting a breeze in the day, that helps