Summer bits and bobs.

[oldherbaceous]

It turned out really warm here too, Clive…had me puffing a little, when I was at full stretch with the long reach hedge cutter.
Hope your Chicken Jalfrezi was good….

[Westi]

Was not just showers but full on rain this morning & really dark. Waited a bit & had a coffee but it was not gonna stop or hasten to light so went back to bed. Looking more promising for the next few days so I will get myself down for a couple of days & crack on while the temps holding. I note a balmy 21C on Friday!

[Clive.]

..and just after the Jalfrezi...I got to see a Kawasaki C-2 .....flying past on approach into the local RAF base ...that's a new one for the book...actually, no, I don't write them in a book just interesting to be in the right place and see it fly by in and out the low cloud....it had come a very long way...

...best not to mention hedgetrimmers...'my' very best one has broken down..... It goes through its battery communication light flash sequence but then won't power up.....

C.

[Clive.]

...and another Kawasaki C-2 sighted this evening....an amazingly quiet machine.

...nearly as quiet as 'my' hedgetrimmer..

C.

[Westi]

One of those throw the'To Do' list out of the window days. Noted all the butternut squash were ready so decided to get them out. The other pumpkins aren't ready but they are right at the front hidden by the flower beds out front. Had a few issues on the site & didn't want someone to indulge themselves. Then of course the tidy up etc. Moved onto the fence line to weed as so many flower seeds had germinated along there from the neighbours flowers you couldn't see any soil between the tiny plants so they were removed & I decided to grow some spring onions along those beds for winter as some protection for them. That moved me onward to the spinach bed which was starting to flower so harvested them as well & then noted the water cress had finally grown & found some wee baby plants so sorted that as well & weeded & re-sowed the babies.

Staging is in the tunnel ready for sowing the onions but currently have put the squash in there away from any rats & mice as have closed both ends of the tunnel. I will take them home in batches I can carry. No sign of the asparagus yellowing yet but certainly the weeds are happy there, but they can wait & make it one big job. Noted the runners are looking a bit sad but we have a week or so of warmer sun coming so they might perk up for a late harvest.

Best not wing it anymore & get back to the list when down on Friday as likely this will be the last warmish spell!

[Geoff]

Well the Yellow Weather Warning delivered, 54.9mm yesterday then down to 3.6°C overnight. And a power cut in the evening, season change, must be Autumn OH with the equinox as well.

[Geoff]

Even more like Autumn

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[Clive.]

2.5mm rain, out here on the drier side and I see locally we had a low of 6C.

.and a lovely blue sky sunny day today....

C.

[Westi]

Brilliant harvest Geoff!

I did get down on Saturday & did absolutely loads of winter sows that I should have done sooner but never mind; most done now along with the weeding of course! As the weather is remaining sunny even though a bit milder, I will wait to cover them as I want to sort the tunnel out tomorrow. The only toms growing are the little ones so they can go into the food bank box & the plants in the compost, & just some other bits left so will take what I can & clear as much as possible. That will only leave a couple of BSP plants that have popped up unintentionally fortunately right in a corner out of the way, & no sign of the sweet potatoes yellowing so they will have to stay but can work around them & when out that will where my chair goes so I can have a break & warm up.

My compost came today as well, (very happy with it, made a little cut to check); so neighbour will deliver it down which is another reason I want to get the plants out & the empty beds dug over deeper than currently so the compost can go down on top as the worms will still be fairly active & drag it down as stays warmish in there with doors closed. I am the one responsible for the beds being compacted...way easier & quicker to step over the little dog fence surround then untie the proper entrances & walk on the tiles!

[Colin2016]

Had to stop and watch the geese whilst taking dog for early morning walk, not sure if the are immigrants or local.

[Westi]

Haven't caught any proper glimpse of the geese this year, I think they have changed their flight path since the railway raised all the pylons. I can still hear them though!

Was not impressed when I went down....the ruddy fox has ripped more of the cover - 3 places! I don't know what the damn thing wants? Nothing in there at all to attract him. Both doors closed so no rats can get in if that was attracting him! He must be exposed to the sonic repeller but doesn't seem to bother him. All patched up & by luck found a bottle of fox repeller I bought last year, used the whole bottle flooding the outside edges of the tunnel & ordered another one when I got home! I will use this one right along the front of the plots just to keep him out completely. This guy is seriously taking the Mick!

[Clive.]

I sighted some geese this morning and they were heading Colin's way....routing SSE towards the Wash.

Gorgeously warm in the sunshine, rather cool in the shade and a Northerly breeze..
Warm though pacing along behind the big mower now that we have green grass on the lawns once again...now stripey green grass

C.

[Westi]

Had an annoying day! Well started off fine at home thinking as nothing going on I'll pay some bills early & that's a job done! All was fine with the facilities providers but one clothing site drove me bonkers & just wouldn't let me pay. Chatted to a friend I know who uses it but she only ever just pays on the due date which I usually do as well. Seems a bit strange as a payment is a payment, but no way I could circumvent the nonsense. My immediate thought was AI in the mix & Jo confirmed they have updated their site. Oh well will see how it goes on the actual due date! If AI is in the mix I hope it is a quicker learner than FB's one....I have & like cats is not sufficient info to send me every single cat post on line! It has changed though, I just deleted every post & their AI figured it out so only random fun type posts now!

Good job no-one's trying to get AI into gardening.......yet! I'm sure it will just have a melt down in a blink if it did try.

[Westi]

Ruddy fox totally disregarded the repellent spray I had & threw down all around the tunnel & another rip in the tunnel skin today. My patience is wearing thin with this guy, but I'll put this down to the bottle I found potentially being out of date, & the male wee thing is a fallacy! Luckily my new bottle arrived today & it's a spray so gave the tunnel a good going over & the fence around the plots. We will see how that goes but methinks this guy can't smell!

[Clive.]

Just back home for tea having been at a local apple day event

Had a full day chatting about everything apple and more, lunch grabbed on the hoof about 2pm...

I had heard the rain first at about 5am and thought, oh dear, etc...... Drizzly start then a period of heavy rain...but eventually the sun shone

C.