Autumn Bits and Bobs.

[oldherbaceous]

Lovely posts from Clive and Geoff….they made for interesting reading!
I sat and listened to some of the depressing cricket….England v India!

[tigerburnie]

I only stepped out of the house to feed the birds, fill the coal bucket, I was going to put the ashes in the bin, but the wind blew them away before I took the 4 steps to said bin, oh well.

[Westi]

Weak sun when I went down & most of the flooded beds were just a few puddles. Got some jobs done just before it started tipping down again, but it had no off button & invited it's friend the wind to play as well! Not forecasted but we were on a yellow warning & it was soon flooded again. Rang Mr to come down & take me home to find him stuck in a traffic diversion from flooding in the New Forest. 1 1/2 hrs of rolling dog balls up & down the tunnel he finally made it to pick me up - was only about 6 miles away when the rain started but the ditch short cut crossing still had run off & too deep to cross.

[Cider Boys]

Woken yesterday morning at 6.00am by a phone call from Environment Agency warning about flood risk along Somerset coast- Put in action your flood risk plan, move livestock from flood risk areas etc etc. No doubt the Bristol Channel tides were high but little sign of any flooding.
Load of geese flying over yesterday and many landed in a field behind me, then I heard a shotgun and saw that my neighbour had sorted out his Sunday dinner.
Spent a most enjoyable day today running my collie at a sheepdog trial and managed to get third place, I was very pleased as he was crushed in an accident 5 years ago and two of his legs were damaged and he finds it difficult to walk or trot but he still can canter and run ok. It was cold and windy but lovely and sunny until the heavens opened at the prize giving. Came home soaked but managed to dig some carrots to have with a curry that my wife made. Let's hope for some drier weather and perhaps we can all sow some broad beans.

Barney

[Myrkk]

Congratulations on 3rd place, especially given your collie has such challenges to overcome. Here’s to a slightly drier winter!

[Primrose]

Am having a few problems drying our remaining beans in pods to store for winter soup making. The pods are spread on newspaper lined tray of a window ledge over a radiator.

Unfortunately some of the outer pods are just rotting instead of drying

Any advice on a better way of doing this.

See we have anithe rainstorm forecast for iur area for Wednesday. The ground is really sodden and emptying our rain gauge has become an almost daily task

Geoff, I too was wondering hoe many of your bird boxes get used. Your garden must be a real haven for wildlife.

[Westi]

Oh great! Another named storm making a move along the South Coast, although I did have a chuckle at the different forecasters pronunciation of the name. I have a window of opportunity tomorrow morning to resuscitate the cabbages & bring them home. They didn't enjoy their first swim but dried off enough to support them with a stomp & re-tie them to their stakes. Soil is not drained enough for them to stand & not to succumb to the big wind predicted though. I'd also say no PSB for me this year though as net tunnel hasn't drained fully so fingers crossed for them, but I will take whatever kale leaves I can. And here I was thinking the warming part of 'global warning' was a clue!

[retropants]

I had wanted to take the tomato house cover off on Sunday, but it was torrential all day, so it's still there now! I'd like to get it dried and folded away before it rips and becomes more rubbish to get rid of. Next year, I think we will use the plastic sheet you can buy from Wickes on the tomato house. The flimsy plastic cover collects water and sags alarmingly.

[Primrose]

Well done on your Collie,,s performance Barney. He sounds a very feisty creature. I wonder if they realise they,ve been recognised. They,re pretty bright creatures arnt they?

Are you allowed to shoo wild geese for food? Presumably you are?

[Cider Boys]

Thanks Primrose for your comments, yes he is a feisty and intelligent dog, as all Border Collies are. Regarding geese, I'm not a shooting man but understand you can shoot geese from September until the end of January inland and up to 20 February at the high water marks of ordinary spring tides.

Barney

[Westi]

Interesting yellow overlapping yellow on the weather map all along the south coast, west to east, I'm in the overlap! Not seen that before! Also receiving e-mails from the milk man & local council about potential difficulties with travel, deliveries & waste collection - but it is still just yellow. I anticipate it may change to red judging by the waves along the quay this afternoon & the washed up dinghy's in the car park. All quite at the moment though & earlier wind has died down.

I went down to the plot this morning to secure everything, but easiest option was to remove the netting as the stakes were all loose anyway & I needed the bricks holding it down for other areas. Shed roof has some bricks on it & door tied up top to bottom & somewhat protected by next doors shed on the same alignment & they were down securing theirs as well. At least assured the tunnel should remain standing with the length of the ground posts they put down, mind that is no assurance if someone's shed or greenhouse blows into it. Fingers crossed but can do nought more.

[retropants]

We’ve had so much heavy rain recently, that our garage roof has sprung another leak. We’ve been mending the leaks ourselves over the years, the 25 year old felt roof need replacing, so we had a man out today to take a look. That’s Christmas presents sorted then!

[Westi]

We have gone up to Amber warning today, but the yellow band of areas that might be impacted has also extended to much further North as well, so quite a colourful weather map, especially if you factor in the multiple colours of the accompanying rain. Latest report is the Channel Islands are going to be the ones badly affected with gusts that could reach 98mph. Tucked away anything that might blow around, but that doesn't exclude the neighbours stuff.

[robo]

My tomatoes are still doing ok in the poly tunnel although I’ve lost a few to blight and had to cut a lot of leaves off I think I’ve removed around 6 plants and what’s left don’t have many leaves the bottom end of the poly has cucumber mixed with the tomatoes which must be on the 12th truss the top end has a grape vine growing mixed with tomato stems my record for keeping them going is the second week in November I’m now hoping for December

[retropants]

I did manage to get the cover off the tomato house yesterday before the storm arrived. There were a few green ones, which I have taken indoors to ripen (hopefully). There are still one or two mini cucumbers in the greenhouse, as it is still mild, I'll leave those in for a bit longer.