Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

However .....didn't take into account a pandemic and blazing inflation so perhaps replace with grow your own    

One was bound to follow the other, if traditional economic theory is followed. Printing extra money to pay people for being unproductive, increases the supply and reduces its value. Look now at M2, the available money in the system, and you'll see a fairly massive contraction going on, the result of which has always been a nasty deflationary period called a recession.

Boring stuff, but what it means on a personal level is get your house in order by repaying debt, and diversify your 'portfolio.' For many, that means using assets differently, or creating new ones. For example, we bought fence posts, now £3 more for each one. In the garden, it might indeed mean digging up a lawn to make deep beds. In our garden, we rebuilt the polytunnel, rather than erect a 8 x10 greenhouse at around the same cost, but others with more energy might do both, especially if second-hand is available.

The worst that can happen is that the predictions and signs are wrong and you have a surplus of fruit and veg!

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

I'm glad you got your polytunnel windows sorted, Dusty, is that it finished now??

I remember Vesta curry, Farway  

Enjoy your day out with friends, twopenny.

We had hailstones, thunder and lightning last night - so heavy it made the alarm on the car go off and when I looked outside it was white, as if it had been snowing, but it was just the hailstones. Complete contrast today - it's dry and sunny, but definitely a bit on the chilly side brr...

The polytunnel build is all done, but the sliding doors would be hanging 10cm in thin air at present, so we've removed them after checking  levels at each end. We're recycling the railway sleepers used as thresholds previously, but these have to be set in concrete, and there's no way we can make/lay that in this weather! We had your hail half an hour ago, driven by a brief gale force wind. I took a few rushed photos that I'll look at later.

Vesta curry and chow mein still exist. I remember the chow mein was particularly demanding, requiring a couple of pans; one to re-constitute the sauce and the squidgy noodles, plus frying the crispy noodle things. It was all touch and go on a Baby Belling!

Hope 2p isn't out there in the weather we're having!

Dustyevsky

Stuck indoors temporarily, I'm experimenting with Farway's AI signature generator idea. It's not working.

Best so far: Nothing makes sense unless you have the power to eat colours.

Most appropriate:The thick foliage and intertwined vines made the hike nearly impossible. Only nearly, though!

Most unlikely:Smoky the Bear secretly started the fires. That'll be the official reason, then.

Another unlikely story:The teens wondered what was kept in the red shed on the far edge of the school grounds.

I'll end while I'm winning with this one:Best friends are like old tomatoes and shoelaces.

ArbitraryRandom

Happy to say the work on 'my' garden is nearly done (which is to say, it's a muddy mess... but flat and with a fence) - just a gate to fit tomorrow morning, with the frame built last thing today - and about half of the neighbour's fencing has gone up. The rain hasn't helped, but I'd expect they'll be done by Tuesday at the latest. Then things should be quiet for me until I have them back in Feb/March to build the raised beds and do the concrete pouring (assuming I've managed to get the cash aside by then!) 

I need to get my finger out this weekend to sort the rubbish to go out for collection next week, and I'm hoping (if I keep making them cups of coffee in the morning) they'll take some stuff that needs to go to the tip when they're doing the last clear and tidy up. It's stacked in a nice obvious place by the shed, just in case  

While they were working, the neighbour at the back was being very watchful - concerned about her boundary and if she had enough space to get behind her shed. Builder told me that she's just asked for a quote for some work in her garden. And the neighbour to the side is apparently considering a patio - much larger than the one I have in mind - and it's going to cost something like £17k (about 100 square feet)... so either way I get the feeling I'm going to be seeing these guys again  

-taff

Dusty, I did have a snort at old tomatoes and shoelaces. Both very useful objects...Glad your trip was successful ybl, and your choice was mostly approved of...also good to see Dustys almost finshed polytunnel and arbitrays garden. They must be good if the neighbours want to use them too.

Distinct lack of any type of gardening here, it's too wet and too cold to do any of the jobs I would like to do. I'm just about keeping up with my compost but the hotbin is definitely not hot anymore. The other one has some delicious stuff in the bottom to use when it does eventualy [ surely it must!] stop raiing for long enough.

And er...I've splashed out on a medlar and a quince. The latter, because I really want one that will grow instead of my rubbish bush, and the other, because they sound like fun.

I did buy some epazote seeds to give it a go, I made refried beans for sizteen people last week, and I used dried in there, I must say, it did not have the desired effect of less wind, but it tasted nice as an undercurrent. I foresee more beans in my future now i know how easy they are to make so went a bit wild with the seeds, got some yard long beans to try, some black chillies, so called for the foliage and I'll grow some tomatilloes again, in the front garden probably. Inspired by De mi rancho a tu cocina no doubt. I don't undertsand half of what she's saying but I do like the different foods that can be made with the same ingredients. And I'd love a cooking set up like that. with pots.

twopenny

Woke up to brilliant sunshine and 16c!   
I'm going to get out there as it will have dried up and get on to whatever job takes my fancy and then sit and read a book, top up my tan     

No, woken up by rain hammering down and its too noisy to get back to sleep.
Just wondered what it would be like to imagine it.

They promise sunshine later this morning so the washing is loaded ready to go.
Don't think it will dry though.
And as its happening at the mo, whenever it stops raining I due to be indoors doing something. Today is no exception.

Interesting all the different foods people are growing.
If only we were near enough to taste them.

wort

I would love to meet up with all you lot in the pub, I’m sure we would have a right laugh.
Taff the episode of Gardeners world I watched last night had quinces and Monty waxed lyrical about the smell. I’ve no room for nothing but I keep saying that !!! 

Also on GW was a piece on artificial grass and after a great chat about how bad it is for global boiling and plastic in the sea, the presenter then went to speak to a guy who sells it ! I know they can’t be biased but really ? 😫
I rather liked the lady who had the Japanese garden who said she liked pruning, my type of gardening, oh if I had the time and it stopped raining. I put washing in at 7am in hopes the forcast was correct but it’s currently misty and wet looking. I managed to fill the green bin for collection and had a dog come and wee on the underplanting whilst I was stood cutting the shrub! 

A busy week for me ,my long weekend in work and rush to get ready for my hols. Only a week off then 2 weeks in the sun 🙏🏻 already dreading coming back to the cold ! 

pink_poppy

I woke up to -2 and a hard frost - looks beautiful though. I went out to take pics of the rolling mist on the loch and my phone turned itself off - it couldn't cope with the freezing temperature...

YoungBlueEyes

As long as we're only using AI to write sigs we're in no danger are we. Best friends are like tomatoes and shoelaces reminds me of a birthday card I got years ago - Friendship is like peeing yourself. Everyone can see it but only you can feel it's warmth  

You sound like a good cook taff. Get cracking on a big pot of something and we'll all have a virtual plateful  

One more wash on here too. They said sunny and breezy, well the sun is out but it's only weak and watery and the breeze is barely moving, but I'll take it over the rain. On the local news last night was a whole thing about Venus being behind (?) the moon at something o'clock in the middle of the night, so that wee star I saw under the crescent was Venus. Shows what I know ha haa! 

Where you off to wort? Somewhere exciting…? That’s the worse thing about going to warm places in winter, when you get back the cold feels colder for the lack of heat that’s in it

Doing a perimeter check of Shawshank Patch this morning, I've got a mushroom in my grass. Lovely creamy colour it is. The Holey Roamin' Terror threw himself over the fence when he spotted me and kinda hissed at me, and then growled, and leapt back over the fence. But I've a pair of blackies (possibly my ones, but yet to be established) and a cheerful clicking robin. So I'll call that a good swop :happy: 

YoungBlueEyes

The mushroom. I gave it a nudge and it wobbled like it’s made of over-firm jelly.