Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

I've finally caught up  2p I like your veggie lady, I always stop for a good look at things like that. I love that people put so much time and effort into things that are just for a bit of temporary pretty, but I couldn't create one myself. 

Your Shoo Fly flowers are lovely Farway, I'd have a garden covered in them if I could. Them and some Lamb's Ears and roses, I'd be alright with that. Have you any more buds opened on your swish dahlias? And "swallow song" made me giggle, it really does look like sheet music eh. 

So your council/neighbour nonsense rumbles on Dusty? I was hoping you'd get an answer this weekend that puts them back in their box... Mind if it hadn't dragged on you mightn't have got hedging over fencing so, always a bright side   I like the Budgies on a Perch plant - I've mentally added it to my wish list. Congrats to MrsD on winnings and successes, any pics of the jubilant produce? And what about them sheep? Are they yours or are you having a borrow of them as lawnmowers? 

You sound like me wort - I want all these things because pretty/fragrant and I'll just have to find a way to squiggle them in somewhere Will you get everything in or will you have to sacrifice some things to free up space...? 

Well Carlisle was lovely, I can recommend it. Lots of history and interesting things to do and see But take plenty of pennies cos the book shops are full of good stuff, but even the charity book shops are dear! They must all be big readers up there. Anyway I got 4 books - Alan Titchmarsh - "How to be a gardener", Adam The Gardener - "Week by week gardening for the whole year", and 2 by Dr D.G.Hessayon - "The garden expert" and "The flower expert". The Alan Titchmarsh book is probably redundant tbh cos the other 3 cover everything I need I think. They've also made me realise how many things I've done wrong already, and that my whole garden wants redoing from scratch and starting again with a proper plan. I'll have a quiet read of them and review the situation. 

OT Well it seems we left the good weather behind, headed up into low cloud/drizzle/rain/murk/cold and then brought most of it home with us Jeez there's been some rain here overnight! I don't know if I dreamt it but I'm sure I heard what must have been a deep crack of thunder but honest to god it sounded like a sonic boom. I couldn't tell you what time it was except it was before 0515 because himself was still in bed and it was dark. Did anyone else hear it...? Bands of heavy rain sweeping across today with some thunder and lightning in there for good measure, but at least it's not cold. Far too humid to get windows open though  

Farway

Wet here, I don't know where the forecast comes from, but my mobile pop up told me yesterday evening that rain due at 10PM, and dead on time a flash of lightning, crash of thunder & down it came, now that is what I cal a weather forecast!

Still wet this morning, tipped down just as got back inside from putting rubbish out, so unlikely to get out in garden today

YoungBlueEyes said:

Your Shoo Fly flowers are lovely Farway, I'd have a garden covered in them if I could. Them and some Lamb's Ears and roses, I'd be alright with that. Have you any more buds opened on your swish dahlias? And "swallow song" made me giggle, it really does look like sheet music eh. 


Well Carlisle was lovely, I can recommend it. Lots of history and interesting things to do and see But take plenty of pennies cos the book shops are full of good stuff, but even the charity book shops are dear! They must all be big readers up there. Anyway I got 4 books - Alan Titchmarsh - "How to be a gardener", Adam The Gardener - "Week by week gardening for the whole year", and 2 by Dr D.G.Hessayon - "The garden expert" and "The flower expert". The Alan Titchmarsh book is probably redundant tbh cos the other 3 cover everything I need I think. They've also made me realise how many things I've done wrong already, and that my whole garden wants redoing from scratch and starting again with a proper plan. I'll have a quiet read of them and review the situation. 

A few more dahlia buds have opened, they seem to last open a long time which is good, but this year I'm trying to keep on top of dead heading

Carlisle sounds lovely, I don't think I've been there, one of those places that gets bypassed on the way to somewhere else, in my case it was a coach on the way to Gretna

Good haul of books there, the Hessayon ones are always good for practical advice, and I have Adam. I wouldn't get too worried about "wrong already" as it can be too prescriptive just following a calendar or plan

My cannas from seed, still no flower spikes appearing, very lush foliage through with the rain & warmth. I'll sort of over winter them but if they die I will not be heartbroken, they'd be great at back of a border, but I don't have such a thing

E-mail from T & M, oops they say, they've sorted out the free P & P glitch, so it seems I was not the only one to abandon the shopping cart at checkout. 

Too late now though T & M, offer expired Sunday midnight, however they often extend offers, so I'll be left with a quandary, do I buy the tiny plugs or take my chances at dead plant Morries?

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

So your council/neighbour nonsense rumbles on Dusty? I was hoping you'd get an answer this weekend that puts them back in their box... Mind if it hadn't dragged on you mightn't have got hedging over fencing so, always a bright side   I like the Budgies on a Perch plant - I've mentally added it to my wish list. Congrats to MrsD on winnings and successes, any pics of the jubilant produce? And what about them sheep? Are they yours or are you having a borrow of them as lawnmowers?

I've spent a delightful time this weekend examining other council decisions in a variety of locations on exactly the same theme, but nowhere can I find the wording applied as a rider to ours. It seems unique, which makes me wonder  whether there's an underlying agenda, or a simple mistake in the use of English. I know which I'd admit to if I found myself on the other end of my query! As you know from Shawshank, life's a journey and there are rough bits which test you, so I view this as an extended trial of patience and good manners. Mind you, if we don't hear within the week, I may modify this way of looking at things and turn up at their front desk!

Sorry, no photos of the produce and plants at the show. I was ferrying to and fro in the morning, then sneaked off for a kip between setting-up and the end of judging. By the time I returned, people were beginning to pack....Ooops! We've eaten most of the cooked exhibits.  Will do a photo of the cups and certs, but they're not very exciting.

Sheep aren't ours. We don't have the skills and kit to do all the worming, drenching, foot care etc. Once properly sorted, with a shearing too, they can normally stay here for around 5 months. Any who fall ill, partner farmer deals with individually, usually on-site, but that's quite rare.

YoungBlueEyes

Bladdy hell, a correct weather forecast?! Who was that then? Bet it was Ventusky, it seems more reliable than the other 2. 

Aye Carlisle was good, it did seem to cover all bases. We like history and interesting stuff so we did the cathedral and castle (both v good), but there was all the usual shops and commercial bits. It suffers the same problem as Hull I think, if you weren’t going to it you’d not go through it itms. But it’s worth a visit if you found yourself up there. We did the Roman thing at Maryport but that’s not worth a trip on its own. Alright if you’re in the area though. 

Your quandary - as T+M stuff is good in general I’d get the tiny plugs. Morries is ok but you might not see what you want when you want it. You’re better looking at it than for it  

Dusty don’t be having conniptions (I do like that word, you don’t hear it enough) at their front desk and undoing all your patient work. Go out and count sheep’s bums to keep yourself calm ha haa! 

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Dusty, can you paint your planting garlic with blue food colouring to keep it safe?

Looks like the weather is debatable.

I missed this earlier, being in and out this morning between various places and the garage, where my rust heap's now safely deposited. I think I'd be better planting the garlic straight away, 2p, and that debatable weather looks as if it may give me a chance this afternoon. According to the ale quaffers, we'll soon have two hours of dry before more unsetted conditions return.

Bluey, I've taken a snap of Mrs Dusty's prizewinning quiche + some apples, toms, and nuts that are from the show batch, but not necessarily the ones we used. These  were the nuts before processing; we have pounds of them this year, from 2 'proper' nut trees. One's a Cosford Cob, and the other....err....isn't!

Farway

Oooh, nuts, never any around here, squirrels have them way before a human gets a chance. I love Kent cobs, but Devon ones are probably as nice, in fact any will do TBH

The T & M Post problem, as I guessed the offer was extended until tonight, so I have shrunk my order to 24 plugs of Universal pansies, offer at 3.99 + free P & P, and reduced packets of tomato Balconi Red & Divinity' F1, reduced to 89P each, made me do it, honest

And take a chance on Morries  / Home Bargains over next few weeks

Rain stopped, not sure about tomorrow morning, plan is up the volunteer border with a couple of others for a bit of tidying, but it's weather dependent

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh a washing up bowl full of filberts! What I wouldn't give! Never see anything like that here, like Farway we're in squirrel-land and I never see sight of them even though I know where the trees are and keep a check on them  

Well it rained all day, with occasional bursts of absolutely persisting it down! But the drunkards said the show would have blown over by 4 so I put a wash on ready and just put it out there now and even though it's sunny it's just started raining again Well it can stop out there now for I've no tumble drier. 

It's given rain for the morning tomorrow and I bet it does too cos it's my food shopping day and I've a lot to get. 

Also I've checked my swish roses and they've survived. Well they've been further chomped but there's plenty left including a new rosebud Tell you what I did do (in case this helps anyone suffering the same...) I didn't check each leaf for a critter, instead I gave the base a bit of a thump and a few unseen ones dropped off Easier than nipping off individuals (wort). 

twopenny

I found a load of nuts on the ground somewhere and bought a couple home to try.
Trouble is I didn't get around to it and now I've forgotten where I found them 
I have 2 spots in town where i usually collect walnuts but covid made people more savey and the really hot dry weather and haven't had any for a couple of years.

Beeb was right today. Rain first thing then sun. I did some washing late as the wind was blowing a hooley but an unexpected shower scuppered that.

Saw a flourishing Canna in a trough in town. No flowers but the foliage massive. So it seems a thing this year Farway.

goldfinches

Popping my head round the door to ask for everybody's wisdom on how to root a twig from a sloe. I went foraging with a friend this afternoon and at the entrance to a pub car park we found a sloe that had much larger  and juicier fruit than the other trees and bushes so we nabbed a small twig in the hope that I could pick your brains and get it to grow on. Here it is with the other sloes and a penny to give the scale.



I've got it sitting in a small vase with some rather exhausted looking basil from Sains at the moment. I have some hormone rooting powder and some potting compost as well as some citrus compost and also have a seed tray with a clear perspex lid that fits on the windowsill. My windows all face east though but do get a lot of sun as I'm on the top floor of a block.
What do you think I should do to get it to root? I'm assuming I'll have to over-winter it indoors and then harden it off gradually next spring to plant out if all goes well although it will need some protection from deer while it's small. Should I plan to grow it on indoors for two or three years as if it was in a nursery instead?

ArbitraryRandom

With a cutting, I'd probably just put it in some soil and see how it does... But given you have ripe fruit, I'd suggest you try the seeds. 

AFAIK, you need to remove the pulp, then store them in the fridge until spring. Then keep warm, wet and well drained