Awful weather - typical Brits talk

YoungBlueEyes

Another lovely pic 2p. When you're parcelling up that dinky greenhouse and stone wall, will you pop that bench and gorse bush in too please Your wild flower seeds - are they the box ones that you just scatter about? I've not seen them for ages, I used them in my last garden and they were good.

I was wondering about your DGD when I was looking at the weather Farway. I've nothing to moan about really when you see how bad they get it up there. Did Santa not buy her a shovel/salty grit for christmas? She looks like she's kicking the snow out of the way in that pic Beautiful spot to live though, look at that view. Heaven. 

Arb I sometimes get a swishy+fluffy head if I get up too quick because I've got low blood pressure. Is it maybe that? Don't be coming down with something when you've got the cirque du soliel to see :fingerscrossed: 

How did your MOT go Dusty? Your welding comment made me chuckle. None required, hopefully.

Cold out there again this morning. Phone say it's -3, feels like -6. It does feel slightly less cold than yesterday tbf, but there's less wind so it would do. Bit more humid too. And they've decided not to give us any snow!   Swines.

YoungBlueEyes

My pic contributions. I’ve just put food and water out for the birds and my 3 blackies came out to investigate. Not the clearest pic but - 

Also, Schrödinger’s hydrangea - 

twopenny

Ohhh lovely picture. And 3!
How's the toe Bluey? It's nice to see you up and about at your usual time, is that a good sign?
Looks lovely and warm in that pic. It very definitely wasn't!
Nope, seeds in packets. But it's an early day for gardening stocks in the shops it seems 

Arbs, can be an ear problem. Stuck in with too much central heating plays havoc with the sinuses. 

Dusty, I feel sorry for the rats. They are just doing their thing. Surviving the winter. Aparantly thats when they come close to habitation. Aren't there any natural preditors you can get to add to your menagerie?

Farway, I may join you for a day or two indoors. This winter seems exhausting and there's not much fun to be had.

I guess Wort is busy digging. Poppy seems to have a lot going on.

It's 2c still, grey cloud today, hardly daylight. The sort of day to hibernate untill it all goes away.

YoungBlueEyes

Toes are ...bearable... thanks 2p. I'm hobbling about slowly, but at least I am hobbling about  

2' is practically bikini weather Come up here and see what cold feels like ha haa!

That's an interesting idea about rat's predators... could sink into "swallowed a spider to catch the fly" shenanigans though. Do it Dusty and report back!

pink_poppy

I'm still here. We have snow this morning - not the thick Aberdeen stuff, but it's still falling and at the 'looking pretty' stage. When we first moved here we were told by the locals that we don't get snow here...

I like the sound of the perpetual leeks too. Just need to get some seed potatoes that are being advertised here and I have the makings of soup.

Regurgitated rat anyone?? Our last cat left that for us outside the back door a few years ago. Apologies if I've put anyone off their breakfast.

Yay to the blackbirds, YBE. I can see a little wren dotting about outside my window. Btw, I love that tower structure thing you have in the background - looks posh.

YoungBlueEyes

That's the old school pp, and the whole thing's beautiful. It's part of the reason we bought this house rather than a very similar one in another village actually. They're currently turning it into flats (naturally). 

wort

I won’t be digging today for sure 2p , I’ve got YBE s SNOW🥶⛄️ quite a shock when I woke this morning, thankfully not working today and don’t need to leave the house.
Yesterday was sunny but chilly , and if I hadn’t been working would have done washing.

YBE hope you are getting treatment for the gout now. If not Nettle is supposed to get rid of uric acid which causes gout, either tea or tablet may be worth a try? 

Dusty hope you got shut of the ratty and co. Yuk.
Farway good luck with forsythia, I have a huge forsythia never sure when to prune so randomly hack it back. It’s the bog standard one though, didn’t know there was others, doubles sounds nice. Mine would of been a cheap Morries before they shut down or a dead thing in the garden centre reduced section.

Farway

Blue sky and bright, but very hard frost, another day indoors looking out I think

ARbs, light-headed / dizzy, I find it's linked to my blood pressure, in my case it's sometimes a sign of cold / lurgy on the way. DIL has just gone down with Covid, so it's around. 

And I know someone who is actually training with cirque du soliel, they were / are a young gymnast. Not actually running away to the circus, but it does show what opportunities youngsters have these days, lucky them I say.

The weather boozers have our forecast as maybe disruptive snow tomorrow, but being Southern Softies more than two flakes counts as a blizzard down here

twopenny said:

On the same subject, used to have Japanese spring onions. Same idea. They grow in clumps so you harvest some and leave the others to reproduce.

Taste isn't quite as good but a lot less work and they're always there.

Nothing done in the garden but there's a sale of trees at the garden centre and a nice little James Grieve for £30. I need to consider.

I used to have the Japanese onions, but mine were called Welsh, same idea by the sound of it. I grew some from seeds, but the clumps fizzled out after a while. 

James Grieve apple, yes, go for it, a lovely early & juicy apple. Never in shops because it doesn't keep or travel well, and a great pollinator for the rest of your [any] apples.

And back on your wobbly feet YBE, that's the problem with gout, it comes & goes but when it's absent is a blessing.

Dusty, thanks for permit advice, but at the moment I'm in the can walk, slowly but upright and not topple over. I may qualify under walk but could harm someone, but that would be just me whacking some clown with my stick.

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Dusty, I feel sorry for the rats. They are just doing their thing. Surviving the winter. Aparantly thats when they come close to habitation. Aren't there any natural preditors you can get to add to your menagerie?

I think these rats have been around here for a while. Neighbour has had them in the kitchen, but neighbour's house hasn't had the same 'inward investment,' has faulty drains and is overpopulated with junk. Also, we've had the chickens 14 years and never had this problem previously, even in hard winters. Sadly, our ferrets are tame ones and would probably want to play with the rats, while our cats are middle-aged and used to good food and a sedentary life. We've picked up one of the cats on camera, watching from behind the wire, but even if she went into the run, the rats would scarper as soon as she began climbing the fence.

So, it's down to us and a bait box, which is now in the rat run. Camera didn't function last night. 'Someone' was tired and didn't set it correctly.

pink_poppy said:

Regurgitated rat anyone?? Our last cat left that for us outside the back door a few years ago. Apologies if I've put anyone off their breakfast.

We get the odd mouse head and whole shrews. Nothing, it seems, eats shrews!

YoungBlueEyes said:

Arb I sometimes get a swishy+fluffy head if I get up too quick because I've got low blood pressure. Is it maybe that? Don't be coming down with something when you've got the cirque du soliel to see :fingerscrossed: 

How did your MOT go Dusty? Your welding comment made me chuckle. None required, hopefully.

It was dentist yesterday; a quick bit of filler and a sanding-down. Nurse is Thursday for the MoT, and blood pressure stats/weight is A-OK, just about. 

Agree with your comment about low BP. When I was a young man with low BP and keen on telly, I used to run upstairs to the loo during the ad breaks.....until one day when I reached the landing and everything went woozy. Next thing, I'd crashed backwards, unconscious, and did myself a mischief. Bruised coccyx. Didn't learn and repeated the same about a month later, which was excruciating. Mrs Dusty still has her low BP and takes care, but still has bouts like Arb describes.

Schrödinger's hydrangea!

pink_poppy

I managed to capture the robin waiting for his breakfast this morning...



And a pic of my quince looking a bit wizened...



It’s currently 13.9 degrees in my front room, which feels positively balmy in this house 🥶 unfortunately I’m working extra hours this week, so it’s “Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to work I go”... 😢