Bits and Bobs Autumn 2010

[peter]

More likely they're on someone else's drive a couple of miles away.

[Geoff]

Perhaps that's where our doormat is too. The only other damage I've spotted is the cloche off the Japanese Onion seedlings. Amazing really because it was a truly awful night with the dog howling because she didn't like the noise.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Glad everyone seems unscathed by the gales. It blew a couple of plants out of their pots and some small twiggy branches off the silver birch, but nothing seems to have been damaged or blown away thank goodness.

I find the roaring sound of the wind in the trees very unsettling when it is so strong, so it isn't surprising animals are upset by it. Dogs probably haven't got over all the bangers from bonfire night yet too.

[oldherbaceous]

Well, all the leaves had blown into convenient large heaps, not sure what i've done to deserve that.

[Clive.]

The worst of yesterdays winds with us were around lunchtime...it was certainly giving things a hammering...and put down 13mm rain in no time...leading to much standing water about on the land.

If our leaves had blown into convenient heaps...then I had conveniently had a day off whilst they were removed to the heap.. ...or perhaps my colleague has conveniently left them for Monday.

Trip to Skegness Natureland this afternoon. ..to follow a more serious family gathering this morning. ...

Natureland is very much as I remember it when visiting 40 and the rest years ago....one of the Seals was said to be over 40....wonder if he recognised me.
Crocodiles did not seem so scary now.....although I never feel very comfortable in a reptile house with low lighting......


Clive.

[Primrose]

There are one or two very tall trees (Lleyandii and other conifers) in neighbours' gardens around here and every time we have some hefty gales I keep praying to the Wind Goddess that she will blow them over (into the owners' gardens, of course). Some of them have been thorns in the flesh for a long time in terms of shutting out daylight and sunshine from neighbours' garden and many of us would weep no tears if a wild gale blew them down.

Such tall dense trees become a particular bugbear at this time of the year when the sun's so low in the sky, completely obliterating any sunshine. Our garden is just one of several which is affected by one particular offender which is now twice the height of the occupant's house and almost as wide.

I do wish that owners of such trees would give a little consideration to their neighbours. I almost wish we'd had a fireworks party. We could have aimed all our rockets in that direction!

[Nature's Babe]

Primrose, what direction wind do you need, and will add you to my prayers? I have a similar problem with one tree, it keeps losing the odd branch in a gale but refuses to topple despite its great height its not a native tree.. We need a north wind,!

[Mike Vogel]

I've put in my garlic, broad beans and mange-tout peas. I've manured the beds where I'll grow tomatoes and beans next year. I've also manured some of the beds allocated for spuds, but I cand do all of them because there are still celeriac, parsnips, salsify and late carrots there. I've sown green manure instead.

Today I took down my runner bean poles [unlike JB, I rotate the beans]. The strawberry bed, though has yet to be tidied up. I have staked a few brassica plants against the west or south-west wind, to which we are exposed.

Last week we had the first of 3 batches of lettuce soup, which we had made last summer. I added some frozen celeriac, parsnips and Jerusalem artichokes to remove the slight bitterness. there are squashes waiting to be soupified, and we'll be chain-souping for the next few months.

[oldherbaceous]

I know it's a little late for me to be on here, but i've just got back from a riveting game of bingo at the village hall. I'll try most things once.

[peter]

Streaking through a holly grove?

[oldherbaceous]

Still got the scars to prove it.

[oldherbaceous]

A lovely bright and frosty morning out there today, a good start for the working week.

[Parsons Jack]

Morning OH,

Very frosty here as well. With all the water laying around from yesterday, some of the country lanes will be treacherous I expect.

[Primrose]

Frost here and birds queuing up for early morning replenishment of the bird table. We had two green parakeets visit our bird tables & nut cages yesterday. This past week is the first time for several years that any of these birds have visited our garden Wonder if this means they're finding food a little harder to find in the wild?

[Clive.]

Good and frosty with us this morning....ground just hard enough to enable going on with barrows of manure without soil picking up on the wheel...'til it thawed....
In the shade frost remained white all day...

..and up in the clear blue we had an overflight from a Piper Cub. ...a very slow Piper Cub..that has been a feature of decent flying days for the last few weeks.....my detective work as to which it is and who's it is is on going....but it is quite fascinating just how slow it flies about..especially relative to some types that go by here...

C5 Galaxy noted but a bit higher up.. ..and a Chinook helicopter thumping across the sky mid afternoon...

Now, dare I post some gardening chat on the aeroplane forum... .
Clive.