Autumn bits and bobs

A place to chat about anything you like, including non-gardening related subjects. Just keep it clean, please!

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oldherbaceous
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It was nippy out there first thing, Pa Snip.....Just started a new garden, for an old customer and it gets sun first thing in the morning, so a pleasant morning.
Hope the Radiotherapy went as wel as it can, Old Sausage.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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retropants
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Parents have been safely delivered to Bridport (from Hampton, Middx). It was a lovely 2 days of sun to shift and unpack stuff. Can't imagine what it would have been like if it had been raining. I'm back down there on Wednesday to pick up my father so that he can take his car down with him. They have inherited a cat from the previous owners, she doesn't seem to care that the people who feed her look different! She spends the nights outside in and around the barn chasing mice, and then comes in at 6am and spends the day on the sofa.
Stephen
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Pumpkins anyone?
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Caption: Yorkshire, UK
Tom Pearcy rows a record-breaking pumpkin boat down the River Ouse. Last year York Maze set a new world record for carving the world’s biggest jack-o’-lantern (913kg)

Photograph: Charlotte Graham/Rex/Shutterstock
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Primrose
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He,s braver than I am but i notice the rescue team were standing by within easy distance!
Perhaps we need a new thread for "100 uses for a pumpkin"
robo
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The person I gave mine to has decided they no longer want it ,the first chance I get I'm going to saw it into three pieces one for each of my daughter's one for myself
PLUMPUDDING
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Top job for tomorrow is bringing the dahlia tubers in, the -2° blackened them over night.

Our little hedgehog is still coming for its cat food and peanuts every night. It was eating for over half an hour tonight. It is very small so will have a struggle getting through winter if we have another bad one.

The tawny owls are calling around the garden every night too which is nice.
Stephen
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I'd love to provide a home for some hedgehogs but there are foxes which scavenge on our allotments and I'm not going to provide the foxes with food.
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Westi
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Very pleasant down on lottie today. I got the asparagus crowns in and the other bed chopped back and they are all tucked up under compost for the winter. I was amazed at the number of geese flying over, one group after another most of the morning. I don't think I have seen them in these numbers. I'm sure I would have got a lot more done if I hadn't stopped to watch every group.
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robo
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Just the opposite here miserable and damp now it's raining hard ,picked most of the remaining tomatoes I've lost a lot to the frost we have had for the last three nights I usually manage untill mid November before picking them ,the green ones are all tucked up in a cardboard box in the garage
tigerburnie
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Some grotty weather the past couple of days, so I went to the local forest with my camera for a breath of air
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This Jay and it's pal came in for some peanuts I put out for it.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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Pa Snip
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Excellent pic

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Primrose
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Lovely photo Tiger. Jays seem to be in short supply round here now. Until a few years ago they were frequent visitors to our garden but now we sadly see any, and then only briefly. I rather think they've swarmed out by the numerous magpies who are much more aggressive.

On another topic entirely, I read in the press yesterday that apparently Brussels Sprouts are going to be in very short supply over the festive season this year due to the fact that farmers' crops suffered terribly during the hot weather and never recovered. I was given a few young plants by a friend by sadly none of mine survived the heat either. Apparently kale is being promoted as the substitute of choice because it's a much tougher plant. My few plants survived the drought but are now coming under attack by wood pigeons where they are growing through the protective netting.
robo
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Today I've cut the pumpkin up ,it was easy I attacked it with a saw ,five sections two of which I struggled to carry into the garage ,the first batch is in the oven roasting prior to making soup with it ,I think I will have to do a soup kitchen like the Sally army do
Westi
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Try pureeing some of it & freezing that as well to use it up. Can be used for pumpkin pie, scones, more soup and pasta sauce & will take less room in the freezer if you bag it. Unfortunately my freezer is full of lots of the other stuff that survived the heat then came in bulk with everything ready at once, so have not attacked either of the two large Polar Bear pumpkins I got this year. (Fortunately they are being kept warm by the cats & rugs on the back bench). I think I may need to push Mr Westi to sort out the garage into a proper water proofed & insulated space with electric so I can get a freezer out there - & all his hobby stuff out of the house would be a win as well! :)
Westi
PLUMPUDDING
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We went to Harlow Carr gardens for the Northern Fruit Society's Apple identification event unfortunately all three car parks were full because they were having Halloween events for children all day as well. Anyway we went back into Harrogate for a couple of hours and had lunch and a wander round the shops, had a laugh at the long queues waiting to go into Betty's Tearooms and got a parking space back at the gardens before it was too late to get my apples identified.

They weren't sure what they were so are going to let me know later. It's a very old tree planted about 100 years ago shortly after our house was built so it will be good if they can find out.
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