Sounds like I got off lightly with my quick dash round the garden last night then The newly wet cloths went straight in the dryer and my T-shirt was absolutely drenched. Realised this morning that I'd also left the lid off the compost dalek, but no harm done there. It needed a bit of moisture with the last load of cardboard that went in anyway.
The laurel has had a trim but may get revisited for a more severe scalping depending on how I think it looks over the next few days. The apple tree and strawberry runners now have a bit more access to light, sunshine and rainfall.
Chive - glad to hear the hard cut-back of the jasmine did the trick. It's my fall-back answer to nearly every gardening problem - kill or cure😬
LB - I visited Cockermouth a few years ago and went to Wordsworth's house. Nice little town. Think it must have been just before the big floods. OH said he really liked it when they went there for a take-away on Friday.
Maybe I can yet persuade him to move to damper climes. Definitely don't want to wish myself into a flood prone area though - that would be very traumatic. We visited Keswick and Glen Ridding soon after the floods partly to give moral and financial support to an area we love. The devastation was truly dreadful and lives and livelihoods were lost.
Got my dead heading done and also tackled the brambles growing through the hedge. Two hours later I had arms scratched to bits and a garden bin full & ready for collection tomorrow.
Then I tackled the road drain outside our gate. It gets silted up and then the garage floods if we have a down pour. It's normally difficult to remove the wet sludge without either a pump or 4' long arms but (because it's been so dry for so long) much of the silt had dried out. Excavated a couple of bucket loads using the hinged pole spades. That only took 20 minutes but it took an hour to locate the spades in the loft of the garage...
Covered in mud and spiders' webs now so time for a shower and then a G&T.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
We are back home. We enjoyed the dinner and seeing people again who we knew but the dancing music was so loud it almost killed all further conversation. Not many people danced, but our friend danced a lot. She loves it. There were people talking loudly and having a bath until 3.15am in the room above ours so I didn't sleep well, but OH slept like a log. We went to our friends' house this morning for coffee, birthday cake and more chat. That was nice, in their garden.
Before coming home we visited Great Comp Garden which we enjoyed, but it was looking very dry. The rhododendrons had very floppy leaves and their wasn't much green lawn left. The dahlias were lovely.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
T'Bird, one of the Connie Crew had a van at Pooley Bridge and we used to go there occasionally instead of Coniston for our ladies weekends away. We would catch the Ullswater Steamer and sail to Glenridding. We, too, were devastated for that area at various times over the years. The horror of foot and mouth and then the flooding in 2015 which was truly devastating, washing away the beautiful old bridge which presumably gave Pooley Bridge its name. We had many happy weekends up there. There was a fabulous tea shop in Glenridding.
Tell you what T'Bird, I could do with a gadget like you described to dredge out my pond. I will Google hinged pole spades.
Busy, glad that you had a lovely time. Thank you for the great pictures too.
Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
@biglad - I'd love to move to the NW and (as OH loves walking & photography) you'd think he would too. Unfortunately he also likes the sun / dry weather
BL - looks like a lovely garden - sorry you had a disturbed night. Nothing quite like your own bed is there?
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Evening everyone, That is a beautiful photo taken of your Cardoon LB absolutely stunning, the bee is barely visible, Rubee I’m sorry to say I did have a little chuckle at the thought of your long soggy cardigan, hoping it may have recovered once dry, Busy Sounds like quite a party, nice that you got to see your friend this morning for a chat. Lovely pictures of the gardens you visited, lots of colour and greenery in the borders, Topbird It certainly worked a treat for the Jasmine 😊 You earned that G&T, SGL I hope you’ve had a fun day with your poppets 🤗 Goodnight LB, Goodnight everyone.
T'Bird, thank you for that link. I have to 'fess up that I wasn't quite sure what the special spade was but it soon became apparent after my visit to Google. I have found cheaper versions but can you just explain if the spade does grab the soil and remove it? I guess it might but would just like to confirm. I think it would be perfect for my pond clearing - without me having to get too mucky!
Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
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The laurel has had a trim but may get revisited for a more severe scalping depending on how I think it looks over the next few days. The apple tree and strawberry runners now have a bit more access to light, sunshine and rainfall.
LB - I visited Cockermouth a few years ago and went to Wordsworth's house. Nice little town. Think it must have been just before the big floods. OH said he really liked it when they went there for a take-away on Friday.
Maybe I can yet persuade him to move to damper climes. Definitely don't want to wish myself into a flood prone area though - that would be very traumatic. We visited Keswick and Glen Ridding soon after the floods partly to give moral and financial support to an area we love. The devastation was truly dreadful and lives and livelihoods were lost.
Got my dead heading done and also tackled the brambles growing through the hedge. Two hours later I had arms scratched to bits and a garden bin full & ready for collection tomorrow.
Then I tackled the road drain outside our gate. It gets silted up and then the garage floods if we have a down pour. It's normally difficult to remove the wet sludge without either a pump or 4' long arms but (because it's been so dry for so long) much of the silt had dried out. Excavated a couple of bucket loads using the hinged pole spades. That only took 20 minutes but it took an hour to locate the spades in the loft of the garage...
Covered in mud and spiders' webs now so time for a shower and then a G&T.
Before coming home we visited Great Comp Garden which we enjoyed, but it was looking very dry. The rhododendrons had very floppy leaves and their wasn't much green lawn left. The dahlias were lovely.
Get yourself moved up here. No flooding or drought on our street
https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
@biglad - I'd love to move to the NW and (as OH loves walking & photography) you'd think he would too. Unfortunately he also likes the sun / dry weather
BL - looks like a lovely garden - sorry you had a disturbed night. Nothing quite like your own bed is there?
That is a beautiful photo taken of your Cardoon LB absolutely stunning, the bee is barely visible,
Rubee I’m sorry to say I did have a little chuckle at the thought of your long soggy cardigan, hoping it may have recovered once dry,
Busy Sounds like quite a party, nice that you got to see your friend this morning for a chat. Lovely pictures of the gardens you visited, lots of colour and greenery in the borders,
Topbird It certainly worked a treat for the Jasmine 😊 You earned that G&T,
SGL I hope you’ve had a fun day with your poppets 🤗
Goodnight LB, Goodnight everyone.