Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

Hailstones and rainbows here. We've just had a spectacular hailstorm - it actually looks like it's been snowing outside. Crazy weather, hopefully no flood risk, YBE.

YoungBlueEyes

Bluddy ell, all this time and I've been reading your name wrong pas, my (stoopid) brain has it logged as paspartu, as in him off Around The World in 80 Days but spelled differently. Mind I'm not gonna admit how long it took me to log that it's Farway and not Faraway, as in the tree  Fethiye is one of my favourite places in the world too, everyone goes on about Marmaris but for my money you can’t beat Fethiye. Or Sidē. While we're totally digressing, that's how I found my favourite author. Not ;ong after we'd just all (a dozen girls) come back from our first hol in Turkey I was perusing books in a charity shop and I bought one because the last line said something like "and that's why there are no longer any Greeks in Fethiye". It's Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières, and it'd be one of the books I saved if my house was on fire. It's a pure brilliant book from an astonishing author. If you liked Captain Corelli you'll like this too. 

That a beggar about your none-winnings Dusty. If I ever get a Morgan I'll come pick you up, how's that  

OT  ...raining. 

Farway

Was raining but stopped now, however the forecast is storms & tempest, once you lot have finished with them.

OT, cars, with insurance due I went searching, I need double ration of my heart pills now , gorn up by nearly £70 and I can't find any lower quotes. There goes the pension rise, and the council have not sent the new rates bill yet.

Before I forget, Free P & P with Brown's & Mr Fothergill, any last minute spuds, beans, onion sets etc? Now's your chance. >:)I'll be off for a browse later when the rain arrives

With the rain due, hole digging for the new apple tree is delayed again, tomorrow looks reasonable.

YoungBlueEyes said:

Not OT - I've got my car sorted. Bit of a saga but the gist is this (cos I learned something and I don't think it's well known) so to save anybody else getting tripped up by it here's the lesson - when you  move house and change your driving license you have to separately do your keeper's slip. It's not all in one like the Tell Us Once service. If those addresses don't match you can't tax or insure your car. The hole I fell down was my addresses didn't match (V5C still said my Lincs address) so that's where they sent the reminders and threats and stuff. But the address on my dl is right so the debt collection agency sent their letter here. The 2 depts don't talk to each other or check with each other, evidently. Seems like an obvious and easy fix to me but what do I know. The lady at the post office was very helpful though, she said it happens A LOT. So there you are. 

Also - no gardening. I think my ska tree has a bud on it though... if the rain lightens up a wee bit I'll nip out and try to get a pic.

Thanks for car tax tip Blue, DD has just moved, so I'll warn her, and the DGDs who only recently started driving.

How exciting a bud, I wonder if it will be a flower or leaf? At least it will be a double check on possible identity of the tree

Dusty, what a let-down with the Pools & Morgan , a life in ruins before you really started . These days, you'd need counselling & a good lawyer.

In my younger daydreams I wanted a kit car, was it Caterham you could DIY? Maybe still can, but these days I'd even struggle with a plastic model version.

Paspatur

YBE I read Birds Without Wings in Kayakoy which made it even better than it already is
On topic, it's sunny here but only 4 degrees

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

That a beggar about your none-winnings Dusty. If I ever get a Morgan I'll come pick you up, how's that

It's a deal.  But bear in mind that getting me out again without a hoist might be tricky in the future. X-ray result said 'moderate osteoarthritis.'

Farway said:

Dusty, what a let-down with the Pools & Morgan , a life in ruins before you really started . These days, you'd need counselling & a good lawyer.

In my younger daydreams I wanted a kit car, was it Caterham you could DIY? Maybe still can, but these days I'd even struggle with a plastic model version

I think the Caterham was based on Ford mechanicals and DIY in a box if you were strapped, but I lost interest in sports cars very early on. Had a ride in a friend's MG on Devon lanes and decided having bum 5" from the road surface here was generally a bad idea! Bought a Hillman Imp in racing green instead, then found out a Coventry Climax engine had its drawbacks.

On the subject of insurance, mine for both car and van went down by about £20-30 this time. No idea why. Mrs Dusty's went up, but she's an irresponsible young thing, not a pensioner.

OT: Still raining heavily. No flooding as yet.

YoungBlueEyes

Wow reading it in Kayakoy, that's a dream pas!

Re car insurance Farway, you could try my trick (sorry if this is egg-sucking territory). I spend a wee while doing the comparison sites and getting some quotes together, then ring my insurer and say "I've checked and I can get the same cover for this much, so if you match/beat it I won't leave you". I've done this for a long while, and recently they asked for the quoted amounts and who's they are so they obviously check them now. But it's still worth doing. I think I got that from a ML newsletter email thing. HTH. 

Yep Caterhams are kit cars, I'd have one of them like. That whip-round we had - will it stretch to a Caterham? I know someone who'd build it for us, then we could do like time-share ha haa! Specified to have crazy levels of hydraulic suspension obviously, and good cushions. 

I think it may be about to stop raining. Well it's brightening up a wee bit anyway. Did you get a hailstones+rainbow pic pp?

YoungBlueEyes

Bud! Au naturel and with an envelope behind it

It’s only wee like. The shoot plus fat erse bit is about the height of a 5p. 

ArbitraryRandom

Thank you for the book recommendation - I've added it to my electronic pile for next time I'm on a train and fancy something new  

The aqualigia I planted last year (when we were all doing it) sprouted almost immediately into recognisable little plants... but then between winter and the builders stomping around I can't find a trace of them now. 

On which note, finally got confirmation from the builder he should be available to start work on the 4th - and the quote has gone up (about 15% by my reckoning). No specific reason given, though he did confirm he was only coming to do my job. It's still affordable/within budget, and timing wise I'm back and forth to various events at the start of March, so when I'm ready to properly plant out/start gardening everything should be decently ready - so I'm counting it as a win  

Dustyevsky

ArbitraryRandom said:

The aqualigia I planted last year (when we were all doing it) sprouted almost immediately into recognisable little plants... but then between winter and the builders stomping around I can't find a trace of them now. 

On which note, finally got confirmation from the builder he should be available to start work on the 4th - and the quote has gone up (about 15% by my reckoning).

Aquilegias, once they reach a certain size, stay viable when the leaves drop away in winter., so don't give up on them yet.

We bought some large entrance gates on Monday that were originally quoted for last summer. They and all the associated hardware were still the same price. It's a traditional firm, out in the countryside, and possibly keen to retain business at a lean time. All prices are negotiable.

Rain's stopped and there's some blue sky. Stiff and cold NW wind, though. Brrrr! Off to take the shuttering from my concreting.

Farway

Dustyevsky said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

That a beggar about your none-winnings Dusty. If I ever get a Morgan I'll come pick you up, how's that

It's a deal.  But bear in mind that getting me out again without a hoist might be tricky in the future. X-ray result said 'moderate osteoarthritis.'

Farway said:

Dusty, what a let-down with the Pools & Morgan , a life in ruins before you really started . These days, you'd need counselling & a good lawyer.

In my younger daydreams I wanted a kit car, was it Caterham you could DIY? Maybe still can, but these days I'd even struggle with a plastic model version

I think the Caterham was based on Ford mechanicals and DIY in a box if you were strapped, but I lost interest in sports cars very early on. Had a ride in a friend's MG on Devon lanes and decided having bum 5" from the road surface here was generally a bad idea! Bought a Hillman Imp in racing green instead, then found out a Coventry Climax engine had its drawbacks.

On the subject of insurance, mine for both car and van went down by about £20-30 this time. No idea why. Mrs Dusty's went up, but she's an irresponsible young thing, not a pensioner.

OT: Still raining heavily. No flooding as yet.

Snap, my Imp was gloom grey, like today's weather . Snap again on the engine, constant oil leaks and the heating hoses running inside the sills, just wonderful. One of my worst cars, and I include my Agro & Maxi in there.

As compensation, I used to drive past the derelict Imp factory at Linwood when I was working in Scotland

YBE, insurance, yes I do that, but this year they all seem way up there, in fact I've just had postal renewal from my current company, and it's the cheapest, still up but less than the online quotes. Insurance is a magical mystery world.

And, I predict your Ska tree is a pear . That bud is the twin of my pear blossom buds, and the bark is smooth. If the blossom is white, I claim my prize

PS, now I've said that it's probably a Horse Chestnut