Stormy Weather

[salymap]

What's happened to marthe from R.I. USA? I miss her interesting posts and Stormy Weather seems to be hitting the doldrums too. Never mind that AA game

Murky and coldish here but am not well anyway. See ya around as my Oz cousin says

[antongould]

Sorry but I cannot "fill in" for R.I. But a pleasant morning in the coalfields however we have promises of murk! Hope you get better very soon - perhaps if you listen to your hero Paul Lewis on iplayer?

[salymap]

Where have all the Stormyweatherites gone? To a warmer place perhaps? Cold and wet and something more than usual wrong with this dratted machine. Have a nice day

[antongould]

Your loyal servant is here in cold, wet and grey Northumbria your Ladyship. Mercia is about as I have just replied to a post sent at 5.30! It is not looking good for Wimbledon but hopefully our Andy will be inspired by this Scottish weather!

[Serial_Apologist]

It appears to be very hot now where mercia is, so my guess is she is probably out making the most of it. Weather and seasonal patterns appear to be much more predictable in American than they are here. That said, I can hardly believe how quickly the shower clouds are building up here in the S today. The sky looked pretty innocuous at 11 when I went out to dead-head the roses; ten minutes later I had to make a sudden dash indoors!

Distant rumble of thunder, as I write this

[Mahlerei]

Have only just surfaced after a very late night to find it grey and gloomy again. Tempted to go back to bed :(

[Serial_Apologist]

We seem now to be in the more familiar patterns that give us our notorious weather: rain one day, showers ther next, sunny periods the next, rain the next, and so on... and which quite possibly account in large part for our phlegmatic British temperament.

(Clears throat!)

Be that as may, I wouldn't have done anything to have missed today's weather: these huge, spectacular thunder clouds marching one after another from west to east across the sky, changing shape all the time. Nature forming literally as one watches. You never get that with plants - unless you have an awful lot of patience!

[mangerton]

I got back to Dundee about two hours ago. On my drive home I encountered torrential rain around Durham, and then again in Jedburgh. Otherwise, it was quite dry. Raining again now.

[Chris Newman]

I was out shopping when the skies opened and the River Avon rose a foot, fortunately it remained low enough to miss the nesting swans, ducks and other water birds.

[marthe]

What's happened to marthe from R.I. USA? I miss her interesting posts and Stormy Weather seems to be hitting the doldrums too. Never mind that AA game

Murky and coldish here but am not well anyway. See ya around as my Oz cousin says

Saly, I'm still here but have been tied up with a big flower show that's coming up toward the end of this coming week (June 24-26) NewportFlowerShow.org. I'm chairperson of one of the committees and have my hands full between now and Thursday when our group's part of this shindig is over and done with. I can then put my feet up for a few minutes! I hope you're feeling better and that the weather has improved for you. "Murky and coldish" sounds a bit grim...not at all conducive to feeling well. We've had strange weather here. It's still quite cold for June in RI and reminds me of the June weather I remember from my days in England. The wet and cool, interspersed with sunnny days, brings out the best in our rose garden...if only the Japanese Beetles would stay away! Do you get them, or is this just a pest over here? Feel better soon saly! If you don't hear from me for a few days, it's because of the flower show! Best wishes from Newport, m.

[Serial_Apologist]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_beetle

The first time I'd heard of this insect, marthe; however, it does strongly resemble our slightly larger cockchafer, which, like the Japanese beetle, has a very cumbersome flight, but is not that common in our urban areas, mainly frequenting woodlands, and usually only comes out at night.

We must have been very innocent as 1950s children: as far as I remember no one raised a snigger or even a smile at mention of the name!

S-A

[Serial_Apologist]

Wiki references to our two native chafers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockchafer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetonia_aurata

The second is the very beautiful rose chafer - which I have never seen. The Victorians, I read, used to make brooches out of them!

[salymap]

marthe, sorry rather a weird day and missed your post. Hope it all goes well and speak to you soon.

Another blustery day of sunshine and heavy showers here.

[marthe]

S_A, thanks for links to your beetles and rose chafer. The rose chafer looks especially pretty! No wonder the Victorians made them into brooches. Our Japanese Beetle actually has a rather pretty coppery shell but is such an awful pest. They usually appear in early July and make a meal of rose foliage and other plants as well. It's truly discouraging to have the roses looking their best only to be disfigured by these critters. My grandmother used to pay us a penny a beetle for every one that we caught and then dunked in a basin of soapy water! This is still my preferred method of Japanese Beetle control!

saly: I hope your weird day has improved. We're actually having nice sunny weather for a change! Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine for the Newport Flower Show later this week!

[Serial_Apologist]

Marthe - my attention was drawn to an invasion of aphids on our Hypericum bushes yesterday. Too many apparently for the ladybird larvae to cope with. I remarked on the success I had previously had in deterring aphids by means of a strong solution of dilute washing up liquid, as happens, on roses. The roses didn't appear affected by the application, and apparently the invaders can't stand the detergent, and I am now wondering if this distaste is shared among insects as a whole. Nothing to lose by giving it a go, and given the problem, who knows, you could become famous should it work. Even rich!
S-A