Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

A proper day was squeezed-in before the murk and rain arrived around 18.00. 

First, off to a 'big house' garden to look around with my walking friend + her sister and husband, all the way from Vancouver. I was told it should be, “more of an amble than a proper walk,” so I chose somewhere with plenty to look at.

But.... it wasn't open. The venue is now used for weddings at weekends, only catering for ambling in the week.   Nevertheless, since no one had stopped us parking in a quiet place, we went for 2 good walks saw, 3 follies and enjoyed some lovely views. As we'd not seen each other for over 50 years, my friend's sister and I had a lot of catching-up to do, so the absence of some rhododendrons and azaleas wasn't noticed. Anyway, we saw some of them from a mile away!

(Edited to remove mistakes)

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh proper milk 2p yummy yum yum   And boooo to rats, coming in off the fields so early 

I'd sooner have those toms than those cars Farway. You have the angular ones and I'll have the roundy ones I like the bright blue colour of one that's beside the american wosname on the right of your picture, I reckon that'd do me. Unless they start giving away Morgans, obviously.

Oh gawd, will your rasp survive gf? She should have taken you to the pub and bought you drink as an apology imo. Clumsy oaf I think seeing a charm of goldfinches is a sign it'll all be alright in the end   

That is a lovely view Dusty, beautiful bright pink colour of the azalea/rhododendron, and I spy follies 

Well we didn't get out yesterday, so more trench has been dug. I've not found a hand fork Farway, but I'm getting nearer - 

Also the new compost was a good move, I think it's too late for this year but your aquilegia seeds are moving along nicely now pp (and whatever the extra bit is that you sent me). Three cosmos have decided to live too - 



OT it's raining, it's been raining since yesterday aft, and it'll rain 'til kingdom come. Possibly. Mild still but humid with it, and we've a few hours of thunder and lightning arriving after lunch. They say. :fingerscrossed: 

Dustyevsky

Laggards in my sowing here too, gf. Spinach in my case. First lot failed altogether, and now I suspect molluscs, so blue sweeties here as well.

Your aquilegias wouldn't flower this year, no matter how kind you'd been to them, Bluey. They'll need to get big enough to survive in the border, and then do their thing next year. The suspense!

And yes, there were some lovely views at the parkland, but they missed out on £30 in admissions. By the time we left at around 15.30 there was still no sign of the wedding party. Not a car in sight. Perhaps it was an all-nighter!

Local open garden today, assuming Mrs Dusty recovers from her digging, I get the hoovering done, and it doesn't rain. Had some overnight. GC arrive this evening....hopefully! I still haven't got the top lawn into a fit state for rolling or football.

Farway

Overnight rain, now stopped, but it's thinking about trying again by the looks of it.

Good news on the rocket seeds GF, I think the ground must be warm enough for most gemination now, I've got tomatoes popping up from where last year's manky ones fell to the ground.

I don't suppose they will grow & fruit in time, even with Global Boiling.

Nice views there Dusty, what were the edited mistakes? Streakers racing across the field? UFO on the horizon? Nefarious goings-on near the white van?

Hope the top lawn gets sorted for GC rolling & footy. My GC loved rolling when younger, good cheap entertainment for kids.

Chance the rain for local garden open? What delights will you come back with?

YoungBlueEyes said:

Well we didn't get out yesterday, so more trench has been dug. I've not found a hand fork Farway, but I'm getting nearer - 

Also the new compost was a good move, I think it's too late for this year but your aquilegia seeds are moving along nicely now pp (and whatever the extra bit is that you sent me). Three cosmos have decided to live too - 

Not my Philips screwdriver, mine has a blue handle.

Was the new compost the Levington's? Looks similar.

My Streptocarpus cuttings I watered & refreshed yesterday have perked up a lot overnight. If the weather holds off, I'll pop them outside & give a diluted liquid feed.

Today is my clematis, the Lazarus one, arose from its roots after just collapsing last year, sounds like Wilt, but it's my first experience of it so could well be wrong, again.

The colours in the pic are not quite right, struggling to capture them, it's a deeper purple than on here

ArbitraryRandom

twopenny said:

Yup I;m here. Been sorting out filing etc so on the net. No answer to my question on the Feedback forum. I'll try a direct email eventually.

Sorry if I missed it, but have you tried the techie board? I remember a thread from a while ago with an old iPad and they managed to fix it by changing the Java settings I think (not a techie). 

Woke up to it raining here. Really trying to work up the motivation to clean. All I've done so far is emptied the bin (bin day Tuesday) and considered buying a new composting bin (my wooden one that was freecycled was a bit weather worn/rotten when I got it about 18 months ago and I think when I take this lot of compost out of it that it'll collapse completely and I'm facing up to the fact I'm really not a DIYer). 

Rain is currently about 1 a second on the window, so I'm considering nipping out to do a quick check for slug damage (and because the kitten likes patrolling the garden with me). Then I need to sort my recycling and decide which room I'm tackling today - before I make another cup of tea and spend the rest of the day doing nothing again...  

twopenny

Abs, I'm not fiddling with anything else. I did the suggested deleted cookies and history and now it's taking ages to get all my shortcuts back. It is only the MSE site and they've been fiddling with that again.

Farway I have a posidrive with a blue handle. Don't know where it came from but had it years. Were you ever working down SW?

Yes it's raining which is a good thing but the chilly I'm not keen on. I too am having a day off.

So I did some photographing through the window.

For those that don't know I started with thin grass and gravel that had not been touched for 20yrs. Not even a housefly flew over so insects were my first call. Now I have lushness and at last, lots of birds.

 

Two baby birds sheltering from the rain

Mother feeding baby on my bean canes

One baby got the hang of the feeder, they seem to like the old one

Two found the easy pickings from the fat block

  

And coal and blue tits. The little birds have cleared the garden of greenfly and box moth so earned their keep

Been my entertainment watching. I knew heavier rain was coming when they headed back to the trees.

I mowed the lawns yesterday. Seems that the front cooler lawn hosts some insects if alowed to grow, the back hot one just brings unflowering weeds and rats so I may let the front grow again and keep the back clear.

And I succumed to another plant! A bay with a twisted stem. Always wanted one

Dustyevsky

Farway said:

Nice views there Dusty, what were the edited mistakes? Streakers racing across the field? UFO on the horizon? Nefarious goings-on near the white van?

Hope the top lawn gets sorted for GC rolling & footy. My GC loved rolling when younger, good cheap entertainment for kids.

Chance the rain for local garden open? What delights will you come back with?

Cloned out the head of a cow and a branch, but the real mistakes were in the writing. Hopefully the guy with boot open wasn't emptying the village hall of treasure, or gun-running. I'm still wondering how a wee village like that affords a swish new hall, when ours has something cold and drab from Victoria;'s reign.  

Sun's still out, but there have been sharp showers, fortunately none during our 2-hour garden visit. It's a fabulous place, and only a couple of miles as the crow flies, so I can't tell you what it's called. Here's a quick sampler: Mrs Dusty having hysteria over a white wisteria!

Note: Wellie boots advised!

greenbee

Glorious wisteria Dusty. I'm trying to work out where I can put one here, given the 'blank canvas' (rectangle of grass surrounded by shrubs that I've mostly taken out and a VAST ugly patio) that I've inherited.

Of the shrubs I've left, there is a skimmia planted far to close to a camellia, and several hydrangeas in the wrong places and too close together. Given how soggy it is at the moment do you think I'd get away with moving them. If I do it quickly maybe they won't notice?

I've got a lot of space to fill, and no budget to do it with, so as each section is weeded (and in some cases dug over as there are lots of roots to take out) it'll be filled with cosmos. And possibly nicotiana, hollyhocks, foxgloves, and poppies if they all make it. 

Veg garden is under construction (all part of the plan to have less to mow). It looks like the asparagus crowns haven't taken - a few of them have managed to throw up one or two spears, but otherwise there are no signs of life. The gooseberry, blackcurrant, strawberries and autumn rasps are all healthy. The summer rasps less so. Broad beans got a bit dry at one point but seem to be mostly OK and flowering. Germination of climbing beans and french beans was poor (possibly rotted) and now it's a question of protecting them from slugs until they are big enough to cope. Slugs have been found in the greenhouse  

Billions of tomato seedlings germinated, so i'm tempted to shove the spares in flowerbeds and see what happens. I've also seen that tomatoes and asparagus make good companions. As the asparagus doesn't seem to be doing much I'm considering sticking some in there. 

Peppers and aubergines are doing OK but pretty small. Cucumbers are looking good so I need to work out what size pots they need and where they are going. 

Courgettes are doing OK. I have climbing courgettes and squash still to plant, so need to build a bed and supports for them. 

I have about 3000l of commercial compost left, and have stopped using my own as I'm concentrating on making next year's (and it's looking like it's doing well). I do need to check the hotbin though. I think the bottom half either needs using, cycling back through the top, or shoving in the main heap. 

Gardening is a full-time occupation!

YoungBlueEyes

Your clematis is a beauty Farway, my cousin would love that cos she's into all things purple.  I couldn't find any Levington's (they must have all heard you and cleared the place out) so I lifted 3 veg growbags from Aldi and they seem to be working so far. No fence posts or dibbers even and it does hold the moisture. Well it's had days of pouring rain so it didn't really have a choice ha haa!  Possibly a mistake replanting everything into it though cos what am I meant to do with the diddy stuff that's too small for this year..? Will I plant it all out anyway when it gets a bit bigger and let it take it's chances..? Or let it grow up and keep it indoors over the winter ready to go out next year...?  

Did you get any room sorting etc done Arb? Is kitten a help with that?  

You’ve a cracking garden there 2p, birds are such a joy and the babbies especially Are the ants still swanning about like they own the place? 

Bluddy 'ell, that's a wisteria and a half Dusty Knocks my neighbours' one into a cocked hat!

Jeez you're a busy bee - you planning on feeding the 5000 gb? Or are we all coming round for our dinner lol:

Lovely and sunny and mild here this morning. I've a wash out and another on. We didn't get the storms they promised yesterday, it grumbled twice while I was ringing Cissie and that's all it did Goddam liars messers. Warm ish today with a nice breeze but cloudy in an hour or so. They say. 

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

Did you get any room sorting etc done Arb? Is kitten a help with that?  

As if... I don't know what happened to yesterday. I swear I didn't even sit down to read my book. All I did really was a bit of gentle weeding when there was a break in the rain. But today I NEED to get my finger out and sort the bins. We only get a monthly collection and I was away last time so because the bins weren't full I decided to leave them - now they really need to go or I'm going to be in trouble before next time.

Thankfully I think it's dry today so I can also hopefully get some junk that's knocking around the house after the builder's visits out to the shed. One of the biggest problems I have with housework is when there's just random stuff around that doesn't live in that space. I'm also hoping a dry day means the cats will leave me alone

I hope everyone else has a lovely bank holiday.