Awful weather - typical Brits talk

ArbitraryRandom

Farway said:

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.

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

Sorry, can't be a pear - I already guessed pear, so it must be a plum  

twopenny

Nope, I plumped for plum and was told it couldn't possibily be.

But that's a fine bud there.

It's rained continuously just stopping with a little sunshine to tempt the unwary and then bucketed down again.

I got wet and cold 3 times yesterday so decided to stay inside. I've got almost nothing done but loved it. The joys of retirement.

You know that the business is saying £30,000 is the minimum you can get by on? Got my pension forcast. Someone forgot to tell them about that.

Took a photo out of the bedroom window to show it really is spring

Now I want another small columunar tree to go outside the other window. I've seen a white version but not small and slim.

And more proof it's spring

 

Hawthorn I think.                                          And !!!!!! willow. Sorry not clear but a long way in the middle of a lake

ArbitraryRandom

Beautiful - still sticks not even showing as much green as YBE's bud here. 

Hmm... have we ruled out fig yet? 

Dustyevsky

Here's one of my 'leafy' trees photographed today. Everyone will guess it. What's unusual is that it's in the shady frost pocket by the stream, so not exactly the best position for a quick getaway.

Like 2p, I dodged the showers this afternoon. I took the shuttering away from my concrete step into the polytunnel, planted some wild flowers down near the stream and managed to get about 10 hornbeams in to fill gaps in the elm hedge. By 17.00 it was too cold and I couldn't feel my fingers properly, so 2 bagfuls of logs went into the barrow and I headed indoors! It felt strange, not counting sheep at the end of the day! 

I'll use any excuse to post some more hellebores. Here's a nice one by the stream. I know they aren't very natural-looking, but at this time of year they really cheer the place up.

There you are, Farway; while everyone else was buying Minis, we two trailblazers were burning rubber in our Imps! (While they were burning holes in our wallets!  )

YoungBlueEyes

Arb anything by Louis de B is worth reading. I've got a core of books that I'd never get rid of and re-read them almost on a loop, and Birds Without Wings is one of them If you like the style of it I'd recommend anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Love In The Time Of Cholera was the first one I read and got me hooked, but honestly you can lift anything he's written and it'll be good.  Re your builders, I'd call that a win too too - you've got work to be done and now it's gonna get done - deffo a win. 

Ooh a fig, possibly, that'd do My wee bud looks happy enough, still only one of them but whether it's a leaf or a flower I'll not mind. Unless it's a conker tree then I'll mind  So we don't think it's anything swish then like a medlar or a quince or summat? 

Love your spring pics 2p, properly blossomy and cheering. Bet your pension forecast is in better shape than mine :O How about you slap on some good red lipstick and go find yourself a weak-hearted sugar daddy..? Or become a ootoob/TikTak sensation, film yourself doing drawings so people can watch? Or do them as tutorials so folks can learn, Bob Ross stylee?

That's a lovely hellebore Dusty, why do you say it doesn't look natural?

OT sun's out, sky is quite a pretty blue but that wind's got a bit of bite to it. Another sofa day here. I swopped the tea and buns for hot blackcurrant with a good glug of Eau de Vie in it, that certainly took the edge off it This is not medical advice. This is great advice! Do it, it works!

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

That's a lovely hellebore Dusty, why do you say it doesn't look natural?

You don't see them growing wild in this country, though there are other less showy kinds that are native. I try to make the stream area look natural, but of necessity, some plants there aren't true British wild flowers. It's a jungle down there, so if something survives and looks good, it stays!
OT: It's raining again and cccold. Walking friend and I have cancelled our planned outing, so I may take Mrs Dusty on a trip to the fish & chip shop, via the GC instead.

Farway

Rain stopped & it's a patchy blue sky

Took the opportunity and dug / prepped a hole in preparation for the Mystery Apple tree tomorrow. I'll take my phone along in case there are options on variety, so I can check them out before committing.

The hole space had Day lilies in it, so I've bagged them up ready for Volunteer Border planting on Sunday

Loads of buds opening now, certainly Spring now, even the Merton Thornless blackberry has flower buds arriving, tried for a photo but it's carp

The new Boysen berry is going well, a bit too low at the moment for me to bend and see if any flower buds yet

Plum, just peeking white in the buds, figs, just starting greening at the tips

And, a complete surprise, one of my analysis has a flower spike appeared, surprise because it's second year and I assumed it was in my Norwegian plant hospice

twopenny said:

It's rained continuously just stopping with a little sunshine to tempt the unwary and then bucketed down again.

I got wet and cold 3 times yesterday so decided to stay inside. I've got almost nothing done but loved it. The joys of retirement.

You know that the business is saying £30,000 is the minimum you can get by on? Got my pension forcast. Someone forgot to tell them about that.

Now I want another small columunar tree to go outside the other window. I've seen a white version but not small and slim.

And more proof it's spring

 

Hawthorn I think.                                        

I have those sofa days, great at times, just catalogue gardening and heavy YT digging

Small columnar tree, how about one of the crab apples? 

Your Hawthorn I think is Blackthorn, hawthorn is also May, which is when it flowers. I know this because DGD was born First of May, which is the one birthday I don't forget.

Today's bud is Beurre Alexandre Lucas pear, taken this morning. I retract & recant on my recent guess for YBE tree.

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

Ooh a fig, possibly, that'd do My wee bud looks happy enough, still only one of them but whether it's a leaf or a flower I'll not mind. Unless it's a conker tree then I'll mind  So we don't think it's anything swish then like a medlar or a quince or summat? 

Allowing different varieties present differently, this is the buds on the medlar my mum got me last year:  


... and I may not have mentioned this quite yet... but one of the 'too many trees' I squeezed in was a quince (Serbian Gold, as recommended by Bonnie)... hardly a surprise if we're being honest. This is what those buds look like: 



 Finally, because I noticed it's started to wake up in the last week, an updated pear shot: 



Still nothing green showing on the apples or cherries.

YoungBlueEyes

Judging by Farway's and Arb's pics then, my ska = apple. As long as it's a good eater it'll do  

Your stream area looks lovely and cool Dusty, just right for escaping into in the heat of summer. Even if the plants are foreigners ha haa! 

And woohoo for your hospice being a hospital Farway! Will that mean a bit of jiggery pokery and more hole digging to find it a place...? 

pink_poppy

Lovely moon tonight (had to delete several pussycat photos before my phone said yes to taking a pic)...