Weather Redux

I'm not fond of pigeon - I wish I was! Though I love pheasant and liver, pigeon tastes a bit like a combination of the two. Had a bad experience at a party decades ago which put me off. It ended up with everyone queueing for the toilet, and having emptied violently going back to the end of the queue for another go around . . .

Yes we have a lot of excellent beef from various local farms and proper old fashioned breeds, Angus, Hereford, Dexter (pocket cows), Suffolk Red Poll etc. A far cry from what we used to get a few decades back, rejects from the shoe factory, tough and tasteless. Real Food seems to be catching on all over. I do recall some good stuff though, a pub up near the Military Road (next to Hadrian's Wall) did the most amazingly succulent and gigantic steaks (which I ate with the chips in those days) and real Cumberland sausage by the yard.

It bucketed down just before I went shopping, and just after too. Then it cleared up nicely and I went for a long walk on the beach at Sizewell. Most of the rest of our rain has been quite polite, good growing weather especially if you're a weed.

The rain showers this week have been quite heavy at times ... but I have been fortunate and managed to go out when it was dry and have the pleasure of watching the rain beat heavily against the window pane on my return!
Not too sure if pleasure is the right word - because the rain always has a knock on effect, whether it makes weeds grow faster ... or for those on holiday you often end up spending more to get out of the rain.

I think we may be on course for the wettest June for some time ?

Never go too far without an umbrella  

All the best Jan

We seem to have been lucky yet again with the weather the past two days after a cloudy start have been quite sunny and warm the showers though heavy at times have been in the late afternoon or evening

Managed to get just about everything done in the garden, including mowing the lawn again, before the threatened thunderstorms arrived. Only they DIDN'T arrive, just a sprinkle of normal type rain. Dammit, I'll have to get the hose out soon, while there have been floods not far away.

Been busy of late a bit behind with the gardening shrubs have grown with all the warm weather are desperately in need of pruning before they cover the garden path completely, on the plus side the lawns are tidy and bedding plants coming on nicely

Lawns tidy? Sorry, does not compute! Yes some of my roses have gone absolutely berserk, the wild ones are flowering now. One is genuinely wild, one has maroon leaves and dark red flowers, the other used to be Blanc Double De Couvert with big scented white flowers but it died and the rootstock shot up in its place. 



Most of my overgrowth is wildflowers and weeds, I have three Daleks full of compost already plus a ginormous stack.

Once I got the bulk of the forgetmenots pulled I found space for a few new plants, including some Morning Glories to go among the roses, clematis and honeysuckles - the proper old fashioned Heavenly Blue ones which for some reason the nurseries had stopped growing for a few years. I did some from seed but they went out too early and slugs demolished them, and yet some of the dark purple Grandpa Ott self-seeded.

Also found some scented nicotianas which have gone in tubs in the front yard. When my mother was alive and her vision was failing I put in a load of scented plants so she could still appreciate them. So do the moths.

Actually my shrubs seem to be catching up fast. I was misled by the fact I'd not pruned them until late winter/early spring. I remember the days when I used to "put the garden to bed" in late autumn/winter when everything had stopped flowering or growing or lost its leaves, do all the pruning and spread compost. Last winter was particularly bad for things NOT dying back, and they were starting up again by the time I actually got round to attacking them. I cut my elder bush back to stumps and already it's as big as it was before I started. 

Same in the wild, the hedges and grass and weeds had almost overwhelmed the path I walked up earlier. Barley and wheat are looking early, and there are some massive crops of rape.

Did a lot of heavy pruning yesterday path is now walkable, didn't like chopping the new growth on the rhododendron though but it had to be done.

Experiencing heavy rain from late late afternoon and still falling now my petunia hanging baskets are taking a hammering

Woke up this morning with yet more rain  The trees and leaves are glistening with it ...

For those who were out watering hanging baskets etc yesterday ... their baskets are now full to overflowing with water  

It will be the longest day on Wednesday and still no sign of summer.

Whatever your plans today have a good day and don't forget to take the umbrella  

All the best Jan

Woke to a wet cool morning but in the afternoon the sun appeared and it warmed up nicely, if the forecasts are to be believed were in for some warm weather later in the week

If I'd known it wouldn't rain I'd have mown the lawn again. Currently keeping my eye on some huge towers of cloud out to the south and east.

It bucketed down most of last night. There was some thunder but mostly distant. Theoretically more is imminent.

Roses here either go berserk or die. Some of the ones I inherited with the house, and some I bought, have grown massive and are covered in flowers. 

Mother took a cutting of Fragrant Cloud from her mother, and took several more cuttings from that which established in her garden. When we moved we dug one up and brought it with us, but it died. I bought a replacement, which also died, and a replacement for the replacement which also croaked.

I remembered a poignant piano piece by Bartok called "My Mother's Rose Bush" but failed to find it on YouTube (I have it on a VCR).

It was based on a Hungarian folk song, and some digging produced the original



plus a whole bunch of other versions.

I just stuffed my face with a chicken stir fry including bacon, garlic and coloured peppers with sesame oil and lemon juice. Now I think I'll get my head down for a while until the storms wake me up.

It been a good here warm sunshine all day, I met up with Eddie and Jan last night at the local hostelry for a meal, they were in sunny Lancashire for a couple of days so luckily missing the worst of the storms down south

Oh I wondered why it had been so quiet!

I went for a lovely walk in the sunshine until I noticed the huge black cloud towering above my laundry, so I drove home but the storm was actually north of us, we only had a bit of rain and no thunder. Unlike today, it's been tipping it down and rumbling. What idiot decided to put Glastonbury and Wimbledon on at the same time???

The lawn is huge again and the weeds huger, but the RUNNER BEANS are halfway up their poles and still going. The cute fluffy baby robins are now independent and the male is courtship-feeding the female again so I suspect a second nest is underway.

Been digging about on YouTube, amazing what you can find. I thought you might like this



Also plenty of my favourite Bristol RE -though I'd forgotten how much the fixtures and fittings rattle compared to a Leyland National - also Lodekkas and vintage Bristol K and MW Series, vintage combines, and for some truly funky British engineering search for Foden S21 - two stroke diesel with their excellent 12 speed gearbox. Modern stuff may be more comfortable, more economical and perform better but lacks character.

graham64 wrote:It been a good  here warm sunshine all day, I met up with Eddie and Jan last night at the local hostelry for a meal, they were in sunny Lancashire for a couple of days so luckily missing the worst of the storms down south

Thanks Graham - we had a great time 'up North' the weather was simply amazing ... the best we have had so far this summer

It's great going away and meeting up with good friends ...

Back home the washing machine has been busy, I've caught up with the shopping etc. and Eddie has been busy on twitter, and other such media  

All the best Jan

chris c wrote:

The lawn is huge again and the weeds huger, but the RUNNER BEANS are halfway up their poles and still going. The cute fluffy baby robins are now independent and the male is courtship-feeding the female again so I suspect a second nest is underway. .

Yes, the weather has made the grass and the weeds grow so much ...

I'm hoping that the sunflower seeds/plants that the grandchildren planted are growing well too - they love watching them grow ...

Now you can't beat home grown runner beans ...

All the best Jan

chris c wrote:
Been digging about on YouTube, amazing what you can find. I thought you might like this



Also plenty of my favourite Bristol RE -though I'd forgotten how much the fixtures and fittings rattle compared to a Leyland National - also Lodekkas and vintage Bristol K and MW Series, vintage combines, and for some truly funky British engineering search for Foden S21 - two stroke diesel with their excellent 12 speed gearbox. Modern stuff may be more comfortable, more economical and perform better but lacks character.

Brought back memories there Chris, I must have helped built hundreds of Leopard chassis in my time at Leyland they were busy times order books always full, also built lots of it's successor the Tiger including the final one off the production line before Volvo shut us down for good

Still building trucks in Leyland after 120 years though, I'm going to Leyland Trucks family day on Sunday sure to be a lot of old and new vehicles on display

The Jet Stream has dipped and now we have our ' normal weather back after weeks of dry weather.

Derek wrote:The  Jet Stream has dipped and now we have our ' normal weather back after weeks of dry weather.

Yep normal service resumed, it's been dry today but rain is on the horizon for the next few days

Well as forecast the rain arrived mid afternoon and it turned a lot colder, the outlook for the rest of the week is the same

Do you know

We had to put our lights on yesterday afternoon at 4pm, it was just so dark

How ridiculous is that

Rain forecast again today ... my umbrella is getting some good use this summer ...

All the best Jan

Really heavy rain today , I needed some shopping but decided against luckily it cleared by 4 pm the sun came out  

Garden getting neglected lawns desperately need mowing weeds are thriving and I bet the slugs are having a feast

I've been making the most of the breaks by walking in various places. Some of them are almost impassable from the growth of the grass and weeds, and some of the road verges are almost meeting in the middle. Yes I've seen slugs the size of dog turds. By the time the lawn dries out again it'll need baling, not mowing.

chris c wrote:I've been making the most of the breaks by walking in various places. Some of them are almost impassable from the growth of the grass and weeds, and some of the road verges are almost meeting in the middle. Yes I've seen slugs the size of dog turds. By the time the lawn dries out again it'll need baling, not mowing.

I managed to get my lawns cut today, after the recent wet weather the grass had shot up as did the weeds. I concur with Chris on the slugs the fat bastards have devastated my hosta's

Nuff said