Awful weather - typical Brits talk

ArbitraryRandom

Sorry to read about the funeral Farway. Hope the weather was nice for you and good memories shared. 

Another hot one here today. I've now messaged four potential new gardeners to help me with the wild bit, with one getting back to say they were full. Not the best time of year, but the local gardener strung me along for a couple of months saying he'd turn up in the week before going silent. I know people like to blame the young, but tradesmen of all ages seem to have a tendency to ignore messages and hope you take the hint rather than just letting you know... hopefully one of the googled lot will have a space. 

Plan for today is to pot up some yarrow that are currently in small pots to 9cm. I also want to try an tidy up the peas. One of the things I've learned is that the beds are a touch too deep for me to comfortably manage the ones against the fence without sitting on the soil in the front - which isn't a huge issue as it just means I need to put the peas slightly more towards the middle next year. 

pink_poppy

Welcome back, AR. Lovely pics - your garden seems to have really taken off and everything is looking great

Dusty, I love those owl pics even the weird action one has something ethereal about it.

What a shame about your beautiful rose, twopenny, hopefully it'll recover. I really like the sign too.

Hope the city trip isn't too bad, YBE.

I've woken up to a miserable rainy day today - I didn't look at the forecast (it was gorgeous yesterday) so I sprayed some weedkiller last night and am now wishing I hadn't bothered...

LessImpecunious

Dustyevsky said:

Less, you're making me feel guilty for not doing the Oliver Charles Dowden stuff with cardboard and old manifestos. I keep meaning to, but the fact is, muck's cheap or free here. One day.....

The cardboard thing is what most folks associate No Dig with, but it's only used/needed if you're trying to make a bed on e.g., a bit of lawn, or a very weedy patch of ground - you'd dig out the worst of the perennial weeds (docks, thistles, etc), then put card down to smother the grass/annual weeds, then compost, or your free muck, on top. If you're just converting an existing bit of garden to no dig and its more-or-less weed free no need for cardboard, just a layer of mulch...

Arbs (I think that nickname has stuck!) - I once asked our builder (well, one who we knew quite well as he'd done a lot of work for us, and seemed a reasonable person!) about the stringing along tendency - his explanation was that you should never turn down work (because you're too busy, or don't really fancy the job) because potential customers wouldn't bother contacting you in future...Didn't make sense to me, because I'd be less likely to contact a stringer-alonger who wasted a lot of my time waiting hopefully for them to turn up (or not) than somebody who gave an honest answer... I suspect some secret builders (insert gardener, plumber, etc here) code which we are not privy to...

Farway

Morning all, back from my cross border jaunt. At least when you get near Salisbury, there's a very handy spire to assist navigation.

I think the spire is a well known, even in Russia.

Lovely sunny day yesterday & today is a scorcher as well

No vegetation stuck to me, or the car, in fact for a rural village it was quite bleak regarding plants, even the huge pub garden was grass and tables, nothing exciting.

I did admire some old apple trees near the church & chatted to some workmen loafing taking a well-earned break in the sun. 

We decided what was needed was some pigs under the trees to clear windfalls, and bacon to follow.

Before I forget, temptation time again . T & M have free P & P on seeds until midnight. With some seeds on offer.

 offer ends midnight, 21st June 2024 or while stocks last. Offer valid on specified packets of seed only. Please note, free delivery applicable on seed orders only. For all other items standard delivery charges apply. Use order code TM_TN5017W.

I've ordered some carrots 'cos DS says he can't find “proper tasty” carrots, were £1.99. Now £0.89, I'll give the seed to him in the vain hope it may just trigger a spark of green tinge. They are short, stumpy, so be fine in a pot.

Also added a packet of Koralik tom seeds, were 2.49, now 0.89. They are Polish so should be good for our short summers, blight resistant, bush & OK for containers outside.

I went up to the volunteer patch this morning, wanted to get watering before the real heat arrives, so far all is looking well and not dried out

Sorry if I've not responded to all the lovely pics, including ghostly owls & spud flowers. I have read everything, but it's a lot to take in.

twopenny

Not sure what the weather is today - bright, cloudy, hot southerly wind and stuffy.

Been deadheading the enormous climbing rose that I was trailing winter jasmine through. That Jasmin has gone wild twining down long branches of the rose. Not sure what I can do to get it more on top of the fence except wait.

Also watering because it's still bone dry. With the years going like this I'm going to have to reconfigure the way I garden and get out in the winter storms in wellies etc so everything is done before the drought

The other rose will recover Poppy, it's already pruned back to a tidy leaf node. Yes the flower heads were snapped at the stems so it wasn't just petals. But it's an easy one to care for.

Unlike New Dawn which is huge and rampant. Nothing else was available at the time and I regret it now.

Shame about the lack of plants in a new place Farway. You know where to go for apples come fall anyway

Love the flying owl Dusty. It truely lives up to it's image of the ghost. Great hobby and distraction trying to get it how you want to.

Oh the trades not answering or getting back after a visit - there are several threads on the DIY forum with people thinking it's only them.

It's disrespectful of another human being and their feelings/time. I think most people say 'just phone back and tell me your too busy/away etc' so others can move on.

Of course you can't win because if you employ someone else before you get there your names mud so you can't win either way.

pink_poppy

Quiet on here yesterday - hopefully everyone is just being busy bees.

Today is looking a bit nicer, weatherwise, although it's the kind of weather that brings out the midges, so I will not be going outside anytime soon!!

My Disneyesque bird population has decreased, although the blackbirds are still there every time I open the back door unfortunately we have gulls coming down every time I throw food outside now, so I think they're scaring the smaller birds away I even saw one herring gull practically on it's tiptoes trying to reach the suet block that's hanging up - that would have been gone in one gobble if it had managed to reach it...

YoungBlueEyes

Wow cracking owl pics Dusty, even the smudgy first one. I do like owls, they look so elegant and peaceful. Good luck with your barn - will I cross my fingers for a huge SE crash so you get lots of prospective buyers and can take your pick...? 

I reckon tradesmen are a law unto themselves cos there's never a shortage of work, so what annoys one person is bearable for the next person. Grrr. I'm another one who'd rather hear "ah I'm that busy love, you'll be waiting months" rather than "yes next week ok?" when they know they're stacked out. It isn't decent imo. Fingers crossed your options provide a reliable one Arb  

That's a bu99er about the rain pp, they really don't care do they. Plenty of hot dry weather to come these next few days, they say.

More toms Farway I thought you were a fully tom'd person. Shame that the village was bereft of sticky plants, or interesting plants in general Russian spire <snigger>

It was me asking after your rose 2p, I'm glad it'll recover  

The city was.... yeah. Considering it's literally a only few miles away it should not have taken over 2 hours to get there, return my thing, and get out again. Properly dispiriting it is. Not helped by the fact that the first words out of the shop girl's mouth were "you can refer to me as they". Pause. Unblinking stare. Me - "are you actually more than one person..?" Pause. Unblinking stare. Lucky it went over they's head and they were really helpful.

OT another warm one today, but perhaps a little cooler than yesterday with the breeze. Hopefully. 

A couple of pics, one from last night and one from this morning. 

Finally! Himself can ring Bob the builder now and we can get the wall done. When he’s finished golfing his way round Portugal. 

ArbitraryRandom

Farway said:

Before I forget, temptation time again . T & M have free P & P on seeds until midnight. With some seeds on offer.

Thank you kindly. I was given a £10 gift card for T&M, so managed to find £11 worth of discounted seeds  

One thing I'm enjoying growing this year (so far at least) is corn. It's about knee high at this point and satisfies my need for orderly lines Definitely want to grow more next year. I also picked up that tomato variety you recommended. 

Hope on the horizon re gardener - someone has gotten back to me saying they have availability. They asked for pictures (rather than coming around) and are now tying to work out a price... which is a little concerning but given this seems busy season for everyone I guess beggars can't be choosers. Hopefully if they're reliable then it won't get this overgrown again. 

In other news. It's hot... Thank the lord for antihistamines or I'd be fit for nothing (not that I'm fit for much anyway!). The agenda includes more watering and scouting for bindweed. Hope everyone has a good day. 

wort

Good morning all, YBE the flowers with bee is Escallonia, knew I’d remember eventually 😂 Dusty if there was someway to send you a cutting of the geraniums I would. Also even your worst photo are better than my best! Remind me not to buy anymore seeds I don’t have any luck with them, apart from Dusty’s hopefully white aquilegia.
it was a lovely day Thursday and a friend called to take me back to the nursery, I picked up an orange koi geum at last, a pack of busy Lizzie’s, a yellow plant no idea of its name and forgot to ask ,and a chaenorhium blue dream, which I’m hoping slugs don’t like as I’d like to plant under the B Baby.
yesterday was a day of sun early , followed by grey not very warm, then rain 🌧️ 
Today  I woke at 6 with my back sore with sitting up in bed, Thank you for the V pillow recommendations I had already asked around about getting one and my dd turned up with one when I’d had my op, I am not sure if they do them for children but this looks about the size they would use 🫣 After going down for a brew, I decided to go for a walk around to ease the pain, didn’t get too far when it has started with rain. So back for breakfast.
Yesterday I went back again for dressing changed the bulk of which has been removed just a couple of smaller ones remaining. The nurse said to call back today to see surgeon about when I will be fit to work, as I still can’t push,pull or lift anything it would be quite difficult. I’m allowed to have a full shower from tomorrow, woo hoo.
Hopefully today the weather improves as at the moment there’s a huge black cloud hovering in the west ! I can try to blow it your way if you like.

Dustyevsky

Mating shield bugs on a raspberry, Bluey! Whatever next? Although they all look alike, there's no pronoun problems there! No one can say this thread lacks diversity, either!

Wort, your cloud is already here. I was expecting a lovely, bright June afternoon for a walk today, but no, it's to be overcast now, though not actually raining. They cut their hay in a nearby field this week, and the last bale literally tumbled out of the baler as the first drops of rain fell, bang on cue, at 18.00 yesterday. That was cutting it fine!

We didn't get enough of the wet stuff here overnight to make an appreciable difference, but it's good to hear you're now able to have a proper shower of a different kind, wort. Mrs Dusty knows how you feel! She's more mobile again now, but summat ain't right, so a trip up the motorway to the posh hospital for an X ray will happen shortly.

We don't want a crash or anything like that, Bluey. We just want to get our planning watertight, so the NIMBY neighbours can't hold anything up again. There are processes to be worked through which should produce a better result, but we have the skills in-house to do many of those, or we've already done them (Think access, bats, newts etc!) We just need a local chap with the planning knowhow to steer things along the best route, based on decisions in the last few years. It's roughly what we imagined, but there are little twists we'd not thought of.

Speaking of showers, leads me nicely to today's bathing picture. We have a tin bath out front filled with rocks and about 3" of water above them.

And then, a nice dry off in the sun. Ooops! Photobomb!