Winter Bits and Bobs.

[Geoff]

And the blackbirds and robins are getting really stroppy where we feed them.

[oldherbaceous]

We have a lack of Blackbirds here at the moment!
Another wet day here….very squelchy over the allotments, when I just went for a stroll!

[Clive.]

Sun has made it through here..at the moment....too wet on the ground to get on.
Had a ride out to the aviation heritage centre this morning..and with my sense of smell having returned, enjoyed a good oily/fuely sniff round the hangar

C.

[Clive.]

In fact a little later the sun could be felt to be putting some warm on your back and the greenhouses at window closing time were at 14C and smelt growingly warm.
C.

[Westi]

The wee guy came today, what a character! He is certainly going to keep me on my toes! Settled straight in, found all his toys & met the rest of the clan. I think the dog will need therapy as Ringo has taken a like to her, they had their afternoon nap together even.

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[Clive.]

Grey and misty, wet today....decided to call at the garden centre on way back from big garden, to get those Maris Peer...but came away with Caledonian Pearl instead..must have been the other one that we went to the other day that had the Maris Peers in stock... .also bought a big jar of pickling vinegar as I know where there's a few little shallots that need a home..

C.

[retropants]

Had a lovely bonfire, getting rid of old trellis covered in ivy, used an incinerator bin, never had one of those before. My dad gave me a tip, use a flame torch to get it started. We used to have big open bonfires at the allotments in the autumn, but they kept changing the days you were allowed to have them!

[Westi]

Thanks to folk not following the rules we can't burn anything on the plot which is a right pain, but the burns they were having were impacting on the houses over the road & the huge volume of traffic using that road getting a lot of smoke. Council not impressed & banned immediately, although they fully knew this was happening.
And I'd just bought a new bin! Fortunately once again my lovely neighbour came to my rescue with this lot, but I'm actually going to pay for a garden company to come & trim the trees correctly & shorter & the hedge row; (I can't reach long branches sticking up & hedge row is too wide). They are the same guys that cleared the back for our build so known & reliable.
I'm being outwitted constantly with the new kitten, but it's lot's of fun; dog is definitely going to need therapy though! Mitten just walked out of the carry box he came in & went for an explore around.

[Westi]

Haven't got to the plot yet so much time wasting, staying in for deliveries or nurse coming or whatever with Mr. Anyway they basically have signed him off for all but his cataracts, but he has his first visit to the posh private hospital tomorrow. (He's still NHS funded though). The letter doesn't say they are going to do anything just the appointment sent with no real detail so will see. They have said they will be only doing one eye at a time though previously, so it's wait & see! Nearly £40 for him to get a taxi there! Appointments too early for hospital transport & anyway the wait for transport home can be all day sat on a plastic seat so worth paying!
My compost came today so I can now start the seeds in the propagator. The first delivery was involved in an RTA & vehicle returned to base. I hope I can get down soon as need to catch up on my to do list, but most days drizzle or gales; I can do the drizzle bit! I do hope Mother Nature sorts it soon as missing the sunshine!

[Colin2016]

I think you will be in for a very pleasant surprise for the cataracts, mine were done at a private health centre ( NHS funded) super efficient. The second eye was done without the assessment/checks that were done for first eye approx 2 months later.

[Westi]

I can't recall who used to post the weather reports but anyone got any stats on where all this rain stands in amount /volume to date? It must surely be near the top as it's been so incessant! Any wee break does not help at all as the soil is too wet to work & paths soggy. Mind the tunnel is all ready to go, but the rain is seeping under the path & the buried part of the cover & on one side has hit the inside tunnel centre path. Sat is the best chance for some reprieve but family are coming down for a visit, sods law hey? They haven't visited for years!

[Geoff]

I post lots of weather stories and you can see my weather station data via the link at the bottom of my posts. It is hosted on a website called pwsweather.com. It is a worldwide site and you can find weather stations all over the world. There are some stations in Dorset, I haven't worked out which is nearest to you, if you use this link you should see the stations https://www.pwsweather.com/map/?ob=temp ... 504&zoom=9 Might have to use + to zoom in and see them all. If you select one of them, then select Station Dashboard you can see the current weather. If you scroll down a bit you'll find this:

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If you then select Monthly you'll be able to check this month's (and any other month's) rainfall.

[Westi]

Cheers Geoff! That was easy to follow & interesting. Particularly surprised that down here we have pretty much had the same amount of rain each day, rather than my anticipated big differences day to day, but of course my focus is on the day time. I will be revisiting to get used to it & download it.

[Geoff]

Glad you got it working, didn't notice originally there is a Christchurch station. I see you've had 140mm (you can change to imperial if you prefer) this month, you can imagine what our 227mm was like last month.

[Westi]

227mm is a significant amount Geoff, did you get a lot of flooding up your way? We had roads closed & diversions everywhere; of course that is more related to the council not keeping up with clearing the drains & with run off, but used to that. I don't think anyone was badly affected.
I went down to the plot & there was really limited traffic along the way so think folk stayed away when they saw the weather report. As it turns out I had no rain on the plot even though predicted, but it was certainly breezy. I had to help the neighbour secure the galvanised sheets at the back of his chicken run as it was looking way too dodgy for him to do alone.