Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Farway

The clock timings have thrown me, plus I think my Covid jab has given me a tickly throat / cough, but who knows about that? As long as it doesn't get me pining for the fiords, I'm fine

Gawd it hammered down last night, plus thunder & lightning, so of course it's even soggier outside this morning, zero chance of me going squelching to plant up the new honeysuckle

I keep seeing mail order sale offers on bulbs, thinking about Jetfire daffs, but the P & P is the killer, no point 50% off bulbs then paying nearly a fiver for postage

I tried for happy pansy face pictures yesterday while getting the Covid jab, all pics failed :'( , I think I must have a vampire strain of pansies that do not come out well on photographs, all blurry & out of focus, plus the battery in my camera died as I was snapping away, drained of its lifeblood, ideal for Halloween

ArbitraryRandom

twopenny said:

I got two old fashioned dustbins with the house. 

Thanks all.

I admit, I'm thinking a wood bunker (to match the log stores), an old metal bin style, or rendered concrete (to match the house) are the three ideas I had in my head. 

I like the idea of a double function/hidden one - but the main benefit would be having a hatch I could scoop through/being gravity fed as scooping/pouring from bags isn't my favourite part of the process... 

I've seen a couple of bin type ones, but the reviews suggest they're quite fragile and they're a bit small; so I guess the sensible thing is to try free for a concrete one and if no luck seek out wood  

twopenny

Well! The sun did come out so washing on the line and treat the rest of the pavers because it wasn't going to rain by all forcasts..................yup, hands and knees there just finishing and rain spots - again! Most were just dry but not all. I dashed (in teeshirt it was so warm and sunny) under the sudden black cloud to grab the washing.

Temperature went from 10c to 19c to about 5c up on the moors this evening.

For reference - I tried some of the treatment in a hand spray bottle. Those things always go for a bit then stop. I got a bowl and cheap paint brush and painted it on. Worked a treat. Quick and easy and you knew you had covered it all.

I'm experimenting because it says you can use it on lots of materials so I put it on the concrete window sills and the wooden chair that I can't seem to waterproof. So we'll see. Would be brilliant if it worked.

Pressure washing did the job with a lot of effort, wet and dirt but then stuff came back. And the water bill!

Only plant based thing I got to do in the end was cut a rose and wallflower for a vase by the bed to cheer up the dark mornings.

At least it gets light so late I do get to see this from my bed. Makes me think I'm somewhere tropical

Dustyevsky

Hope your throat etc is feeling better now, Farway. I'm relying on much the same home-grown methods of lurgy- protection as I have these past few years, but I can't say much about those here. I might add the odd dram or two of something from north of the border this year, but I  make no claims to its efficacy, apart from an ability to encourage a state of relaxation known as 'sleep.'

I needed no special measures to find the Land of Nod last night, having spent most of the day in a very special hell formed by the largest garden centre I've yet experienced. It was big 15 years ago, but now, with all the franchises added, it's massive. Not only that, but somewhere on the A370, I must've slipped through a wormhole in time, because on arriving there, it was almost Christmas!

Honesty, I've never seen so much meaningless, tasteless, useless carp gathered together in one place! I would insert a photo, but my camera battery died on me, and I'm not sure how to disgorge the contents of my phone. It's 'smart' but not when I'm in charge of it.

Anyway, being a garden centre, at least in name, I found some plants. They were OK, though again, the time warp suggested we shall experience a sharp inflationary rise in November of about 35%.  :'(

I remembered the former huge collection of hard landscaping materials, so made my way there, only to find just one manufacturer represented. There was, however, a huge collection of Buddhist artefacts and an inexplicable presence of Easter Island heads, which were not selling well, judging by the discount.

All in all, it was a sobering experience. I'm unclear who exactly was responsible for choosing that place as a venue for a family get-together, but it could have been Xi Jinping for the great benefit it gave to the ailing Chinese economy. The food was plastic too. Never again!

 

Farway

Another wet night, foliage is still dripping this morning.

Sounds like an enlightening GC experience there, Dusty, and I note your camera is also suffering from a battery Vampire, I'd forgotten how awful GC and the like can be near a festive event, the one I use is not too bad as long as you turn right and not left

Left leads to Furniture & Festive hell, right is café passing a couple of singing reindeers egged on by a penguin or two [pun intended], they even sell some plants

I used to use the Scottish medicine, but now my meds don't mix :'( , and my Maker is close enough without me taking an express route

Nice morning view pic there 2P, nearly tropical

If it dries up a bit I hope to plant my honeysuckle, I have to slink out and read my gas meter, the French Electric folks want a reading now they know that nice Mr Hunt is bunging me a few bob this Christmas to pay for it

ArbitraryRandom

I've a bunch of bulbs and a new dibber to try out some time this week - but also have to dodge both the weather and at some unknown point the builder. I'm glad I did some laundry after getting back from my trips last month as I think it might be a while before I have a dry day in an empty garden if I need any more. 

pink_poppy

Love that pic, twopenny, very atmospheric  

It's a lovely day here and I have washing hanging outside on the whirly. There's supposed to be a nice drying breeze, but it's not hitting my back garden and the sun has moved round to the front now.

I was very lucky to see at least 5 Waxwings demolishing the now yellow crab apples on the tree near to us. Unfortunately they were spooked by a couple of crows before I had time to whip my phone out.

pink_poppy

Plants flowering, that shouldn’t be...

Should my yellow poppies be flowering??



Ceonothus?? Not a very good pic because the flowers are right at the top.

pink_poppy

Anyone know what these black berries are?? There were loads of them.

pink_poppy

And finally - the crab apple tree looking decidedly bare (& an excuse to show off the lovely blue sky we’ve had today 😎)