Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Dusty, nice obelisk, and at last some cannas I can sneer at . 

You'll tell me now that since that picture they have grown to the top of the obelisk with huge flowering spikes, causing crowds to block the roads as they flock to the area to admire them.

Nope, perusal of other photos show very modest floral decoration, most years. At a busy crossroads, it needs a sponsor, though there's not a lot of room for a green surround when pedestrians' needs are allowed-for. Google's Street View of Feb 2009 shows the aftermath of a recent vehicle collision with the plinth, but the stone itself was untouched. A survivor, it's been around since at least 947 AD.

twopenny said:

Love the pots Dusty. That's one classy utility area you have there.

I'm busy trying to make a contraption to make sure my bg bay tree pot stays up in winter winds. You can't buy the pots now and if you find one you need a mortgage on it.

Our front area's far from classy. It was landscaped by digger in 2010, when we made some bays to display and sell plants from. Sadly, we found people were more likely to stop and buy if we put the plants on a table beside the road, so the bays became redundant. We also didn't have to buy expensive insurance to cover 3rd party claims in the event of accidents, even though they were more likely, with people slamming on brakes to see what was there and parking badly!

By the way, I remember the Greencombe compost pits; about 7' or 8' deep, built into the hillside. Most impressive!

Having no chance of any serious work in the garden today, we went shopping. It was still warm and very wet when we returned mid-afternoon, but now the sky's clearing and a chill wind from the north is bringing an autumnal feeling with it. And still some Crimson Crush in the polytunnel refuse to ripen! Quite large, but the similar Russian ones, Moskvich, ripened faster. 

P.S. We gave up with our standard bay trees in pots falling over, so we planted them.

greenbee

LessImpecunious said:

greenbee said:

So I'm now on a mission to work out what the best options are (on the basis of performance for spend) for composting the woodchip, bulk composting on an ongoing basis (I did have a look at a mega hotbin as I had a lot of success with my small one in hampshire, and wondered whether it would be a good way of accelerating the process in a 3-bay rotation), and raised beds. Sadly I have no access to old fence panels (my usual option for building large compost bays) so I need to find another solution. And wood has got very expensive, so I need to investigate options for raised beds. I think there will be a fairly significant capital outlay, but hopefully I'll be self-sufficient in compost and a fair amount of food once it's all set up. 

You could give the Berkeley 18 day hot composting method a go - could be ideal as you already have a lot of material, and doesn't require any kind of container... https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2010/05/08/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

Great idea... but I'm not sure I can devote the time to it. I'm away for work quite a bit, and when I'm not, I work long days. It all sounds good until you get to the 'turn every 2 days' bit! But ideas are all welcomed. I need to work out where the woodchip pile and compost bays are going to go fairly soon so I ca start building them and get the stuff out of the way and ready to go into the beds. 

goldfinches

Very envious of your lovely display @Dustyevsky and intrigued by the film suggestion @YoungBlueEyes so have made a note of it for later. The weather here was atrocious overnight, sunny and windy this morning and then torrential rain from lunchtime until mid evening, I'm expecting to need wellies for my regular walk tomorrow.

While I was walking before lunch today I spotted one of this year's calves showing off how thick and silky its coat has grown, unfortunately it moved just as I was getting it perfectly lined up on my screen but I think you can still see what I was admiring.

LessImpecunious

greenbee said:

LessImpecunious said:

greenbee said:

So I'm now on a mission to work out what the best options are (on the basis of performance for spend) for composting the woodchip, bulk composting on an ongoing basis (I did have a look at a mega hotbin as I had a lot of success with my small one in hampshire, and wondered whether it would be a good way of accelerating the process in a 3-bay rotation), and raised beds. Sadly I have no access to old fence panels (my usual option for building large compost bays) so I need to find another solution. And wood has got very expensive, so I need to investigate options for raised beds. I think there will be a fairly significant capital outlay, but hopefully I'll be self-sufficient in compost and a fair amount of food once it's all set up. 

You could give the Berkeley 18 day hot composting method a go - could be ideal as you already have a lot of material, and doesn't require any kind of container... https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2010/05/08/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

Great idea... but I'm not sure I can devote the time to it. I'm away for work quite a bit, and when I'm not, I work long days. It all sounds good until you get to the 'turn every 2 days' bit! But ideas are all welcomed. I need to work out where the woodchip pile and compost bays are going to go fairly soon so I ca start building them and get the stuff out of the way and ready to go into the beds. 

I know what you mean! - I tried it, starting with good intentions, but after the first few two-day turns things slipped and composting soon returned to (old-style) normal...

ArbitraryRandom

First trip over with - I think I left my executive function on the train, but I've spend a few hours now slowly decompressing with a cuppa. The rain followed me the whole time, but after the event yesterday I needed to be outside so walked back to the hotel in the drizzle. No 'amazing' pictures, but did see some nice blooms in the park. Now a couple of days to do laundry and eat some real food, then packing the bag to do it all again next week  

YoungBlueEyes

That was a good link 2p, I enjoyed that Especially the daisy one and the stepping stone one. And the shell one, coulda done with that earlier in the year!
How's your works going? Misting and sealing all ok? 

I like those pots too Dusty. Is that what's flowering now? What's the tall skinny purpley blue things on the left..? Something like that would get a bit of height in my garden... 

That's a cracking pic gf. I think it's near perfect the way their tails are swishing away from each other. Couldn't you just get your fingers deep down in their coats, it looks so soft and warm...  I love coos Yep definitely look for that film, it's worth a watch. There's a little voice in the back of my head wondering if everybody else already already knows the story and the twist and I'll end up looking like some class of a heathen ditch-dweller  

Did you manage to fill your train hours then Arb? I like all those flowers, the petals look so delicate and silky.... what's the last one? The spaced out petals and the ball middle are unusual eh. I could go for some of them...

Cold here this morning, like actually chilly. I was half expecting to see my breath when I was out there first thing, gazing at the stars. Dry and sunny today they all agree so I'll hopefully get my last bag of daffs in. I just hope it's not too late and they'll all die on me cos I do love daffs. I might even get a few nice pics while it's sunny  

Edit - And the most important bit - Handsome is fine! The blood tests showed he was in good shape all round and he just needs his teeth scraped and cleaned but it'll have to be a put-him-under jobber because he ...errmm... hasn't been disciplined (she's very soft on him) so he'd have the hand off anyone who tried anything more than a stroke of his head. And that'd be £600-£800 thank you please  

twopenny

OMG! It doesn't cost that to have my teeth fixed!
The price of love 

I have a photo of cows backsides too. One of my favourites but no one else sees it. I'll post iit one day when I don't have anything else as it might be appreciated here 

Love the white with pink edged petals, cosmos I think.

Predicted sunny spells here. Fat pigeon sitting on the fence in a bit of sun after a cold windy night.
As for the painting plans may have changed. 
Going to the apple fair to try and get some apples identified and hoping the honey fudge stall is there.
Then if the sun is still out maybe deer watching on the moor. Had some large hinds pop onto the road this week on a hairpin bend on the steepest hill in England. I braked and gave a scare to the guy behind.

You've got to take each day you can at this time of year.
Washing can do, painting can wait. Will try and invent a prop for the beans. No point in putting them back up in this wind.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

OMG! It doesn't cost that to have my teeth fixed!

It could. Root canal tunnelling on the NHS is relatively cheap, until the dentist cries and says she hasn't enough gear to finish it. Extraction or nice man with flash car? Tough choice ....Enter travelling dental guru with fancy cameras and kit. 45minutes in his chair and that will be £1200 please. ....Oh, and the fillings are temporary. Back you go to the NHS lady who will do that basic stuff properly!

Heard Rishy Washy saying he's registered with the NHS last week. Aren't we all?

I have lots of sheep backside pictures, but no coos. For the first few days, the woolly beggars are alert and interested in you. Then you're old news, so by the law of averages, there are always some facing the other way. This lot have now found the fallen cider apples:

At least they can't sing! And if they could, we're far enough away not to hear them! 

Bluey, the purple flowers in the picture are Salvia 'Amistad.' They're not reliably hardy, but they survive in my friend's garden on the coast and in our polytunnel, if well fleeced. Easy from cuttings. Like the dahlias, they'll flower until the first frost hits us.

Cold enough to trip the heating this morning for the first time since last April, probably. Log basket will be filled and wood burner pressed into service tonight. It's lovely out there now, but a cold wind and soggy underfoot. Mrs Dusty is hedge trimming again and I'm looking for excuses to be in the polytunnel!

Farway

Cold & sunny, foretaste of days ahead I guess

'Flu jabbed first thing but will manfully soldier on and try to get my daffs in this afternoon, and maybe the clematis as well. Nearly planted that yesterday, but fortunately it rained, so I was able to carry one loafing around indoors

YoungBlueEyes said:

Think I’d be getting cross about the bin situation by now Farway. Is it just your one not collected or is it the whole street? 

Possibly helpful rambling alert - when I moved into my last wee house I left the bin out at the right time in the right area on the right day and they ignored it. I rang the council who loosely promised the van may return for it before/after 4pm today/tomorrow or not. After a few times I ran out and asked the guy why they were leaving it, it was because the handle side wasn’t at the front! They’re too busy/elf’n’safety/mental health/brexit something or other to turn them round. If you don’t place it just right they don’t lift them. If that’s a help? 

Just me, but we pay for garden bin collection, so it is only my bin out on the day. The lorry was here, it's just that the binmen waste recycling operatives failed to get out and really look for my bin, it's not visible from a warm lorry cab, requires a pair of eyes, legs and some walking

twopenny said:

Aw the bin thing  ours are so kind they go right up to my elderly disabled house, collect her bin and return it up the slope to near her door. 
No idea how they know she has problems but they do. I try to put the bins and stuff back but not always there.

Mine are usually decent enough, but the garden waste is subcontracted, and I think it's a different bin crew to normal household crews, I know the Council were having difficulty getting garden waste collected and there is a waiting list to get onto the collection round, so it's a bit of an exclusive club that is not worth flouncing out of, plus there is no way I am physically able to get my garden stuff to the tip even if I wanted to

Dustyevsky said:

Farway said:

Dusty, nice obelisk, and at last some cannas I can sneer at . 

You'll tell me now that since that picture they have grown to the top of the obelisk with huge flowering spikes, causing crowds to block the roads as they flock to the area to admire them.

Nope, perusal of other photos show very modest floral decoration, most years. At a busy crossroads, it needs a sponsor, though there's not a lot of room for a green surround when pedestrians' needs are allowed-for. Google's Street View of Feb 2009 shows the aftermath of a recent vehicle collision with the plinth, but the stone itself was untouched. A survivor, it's been around since at least 947 AD.

And still some Crimson Crush in the polytunnel refuse to ripen! Quite large, but the similar Russian ones, Moskvich, ripened faster.  

There was a very scruffy roundabout near here, full of weeds, not rewilded either, different council, adjacent council have sown wild flowers on theirs which are gorgeous, however this one was a disgrace, next to Morries and one would have thought Morries would have sponsored it, but seems not.

Plus, 'elf N Safety means road has to be coned off to work on roundabout.

Works done now, shrubs planted and will probably be dead come Spring when the cycle can be restarted

Sorry, no cow bum pics to post

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

There was a very scruffy roundabout near here, full of weeds, not rewilded either, different council, adjacent council have sown wild flowers on theirs which are gorgeous, however this one was a disgrace, next to Morries and one would have thought Morries would have sponsored it, but seems not.

Plus, 'elf N Safety means road has to be coned off to work on roundabout.

Works done now, shrubs planted and will probably be dead come Spring when the cycle can be restarted

There are roundabouts on the main through route in Barnstaple, grandly named  'The Atlantic Highway.' They're sponsored and lovely. Of course, there is 'Barnhenge'...but we won't talk about that!