Awful weather - typical Brits talk

in_my_wellies

Good morning! Snow is gently falling so I'm staying in with my knitting today. Yesterday it was blue sky one minute and snow the next but today the sky is as white as the ground so it's here to stay.  

Over the weekend I added a second layer of plastic film to some of the windows - so I'm triple glazed! I'm always surprised how such a thin layer can make such a difference. The coldest spot now is at the bottom by the sill. Log burner is going already as the temperature was only 18.5 at 8.30am with the heating on since 6am.  Difficult to keep mum warm!

I did get to the allotment yesterday for an hour. Picked kale, sprouts and nearly the last of the carrots. The sprouting broccoli is looking very weak. Not a lot I can do but wait and see. I may have planted it too near the kale to fit it under the butterfly netting. 
Catsacor - The only reason I open the door is for the cat. He sits out in it, comes in covered and drips everywhere if I don't catch him quick 

Farway

Still snow on the ground, not a lot, enough to send you flying if not careful though

At a guess this weather will delay my apple trees being lifted, good job I got my order in when I did

Davesnave

Still dry here, and yesterday was quite pleasant from inside the car! This was travelling over some higher land on the way back from shopping:

No wonderful view I'm afraid. Every time I had one of those, there were other vehicles about and I had to pay attention!

Apodemus

twopenny said:

BTW I notice some potted items are wilting. The dry wind has dried the pots out. Keep an eye.

Good reminder, 2p!  I'm convinced that February is the peak month for me losing plants to drought.  However, it was -7C here this morning and not due to rise above about -3C for the next couple of days, so I don't think I'll be getting the hose out!

I put the laundry out on the line yesterday, as the air is really dry at the moment, but when I brought it in last night I could hold the towels out horizontally!  

I took some hardwood Escallonia cuttings on Saturday, stuck them in grit and left them in the cold-frame.  Probably far too cold and late for them to form a callus over the next couple of months, but there is little to lose.

With the nights due to be colder over the next few days, I am thinking I really should have covered things like my Bay tree with fleece.  I always used to do this, but have been lulled into a false sense of warmth over the last few winters.  When I bought the Bay the local nursery said to bring it inside each winter, which I did in the first year, but it has survived outside for nearly 20 years now and has even been flowering in the last couple of summers.  I'm guessing it won't be happy if we get the -12C that is forecast for tonight!     

Black_Cat2

Hiya all, yep a bit of very light snow here too. Not seen the forecast but hope a blizzard isn't on its way!  Looking forward to any snow pics from you guys, if you are lucky/unlucky enough to have some 🐈

twopenny

We're down to 1C here which is rare and that wind won't let up.

At least it shows me my little fruit trees are secure so plenty of root.

It was ok walking with wind proofs on, not biting at all but just grey and I can't get warm inside. I used to use clingfilm over windows in my old house and it did occour to me to try it over the old double glazing as the front is North and East facing so I'm getting the full force of the cold there. Thanks for the reminder In-my-wellies.

Had my vaccination last night and it was fine but a bit of dizzyness and stiff arm/shoulders/neck so taking time out. Not sure how much is the jab and how much sitting in dry stale air indoors and just general fed-up-ness.

Lovely photo Davesnave.

Davesnave

twopenny said:

Lovely photo Davesnave.

Thank you. It was a lovely sky, but I'd hoped to bring you Dartmoor in the distance too! I should really have stopped, but with 4 hours of driving/shopping behind me, I just wanted to get home. Statistically speaking, I'm safer shopping by going west rather than east, or south, while north is pretty useless, as there's only a tiny Sainsburys which doesn't sell my usual cereal, tea or bread and it's still a 22 mile round trip.   I'd rather do 45 miles, fill up the freezers and then stay out of the way for 9 or10 days. 

I weakened yesterday and bought more seeds. My eBay plants arrived some time ago and they were fine; in fact I split two of them straight away! Now I have to get some bare root trees and shrubs, but apparently stocks are low.

Farway

Cold & bright this morning, snow still around in the shadows though so I'll stick inside again

Dave, bare rooted trees, I found looking for apples it seems a very mixed bag, some suppliers nil stock, others loads, or so they say anyway

twopenny

Still hanging around indoors after a reaction to the jab. Had Covid before it was famous so my immune response was vicious.

But the sun shone today for most of the day. What a difference! And the temperature went up 3 notches to a balmy 4C.

I think it will be shorts and teeshirts if it gets up to 10.

I did wander out an look and briefly think, watered the pots a little with warm water while the temperature isn't freezing.

Half painted gate, half sanded gate (not same gate) old hose laying around because I don't know if I can find a use for it or should just dump it. I tried putting holes in one years ago as a drip feed. The holes just got bunged up with soil after a couple of rainy days.

Davesnave

It wasn't too bad in the sunny orchard today, dragging bits of tree to the bonfire pile and trimming bits off larger stems destined for firewood. Built up an appetite by lunchtime, nodded-off afterwards and then worked till dark at around 6pm. The last hour was splitting those huge rounds of poplar, which seemed easier when they were frozen solid. People seem to have stopped coming for those, so I'm claiming whatever I can split now.

All those nay-sayers who suggested poplar would be no good are wrong. Like someone else, I dried a piece by the wood burner for a couple of weeks and it burned similarly to the other wood. Having a good stove probably helps. Wouldn't be without our Woodwarm; made in Devon.

Had a win with a £2 Cistus purpureus bought in Morrissons on Monday; there were 2 in the pot!

Building inspector rang at lunchtime wondering why he hadn't seen me for about 2.5 years. "Come on Dave, I want to get this file filed!" I promised him I would finish the downspout gullies in the next 3 months and he seemed happy with that. Can't do them in this weather, but I see we'll be sub-tropical by the weekend. Good job I've no engineering bricks!