Stormy Weather

[marthe]

S-A: I like your optimism about becoming rich! Somehow, I don't think the washing-up liquid method will lead me down the road to riches! I've tried using a solution of dilute washing-up liquid and water to control greedy aphids who are partial to my houseplants, but without much success. I usually end up using some sort of brand-name insecticidal soap (Safer's is the best known over here.) I'm about to treat my roses to a multi-purpose product that is supposed to control black-spot (nasty fungal ailmant) and insect pests. This is a granular treatment called Bonide that is spread at the base of the plant and needs to be reapplied every month through the summer/early autumn. I'll see how it works.

[salymap]

marthe and S-A I inherited some Victorian silver jewellery from my maternal grandmother but I believe a pretty ring and drop pendant are made of blue butterfly wings under glass. I am a bit squeamish about that sort of thing but the butterfly would be over 100 and probably beyond caring. Also a locket with woven hair inside itfrom long gone ancestors. Odd how they did that sort of thing.

[marthe]

The Victorians were such eclectic collectors of the unusual and, even, bizarre. I suppose the hair of long-dead ancestors is about an a par with those photographs of dead children who were made to look lifelike as they were laid out, amid roses, on their deathbeds, or even propped up in a sitting position. My grandfather always had a photograph of his oldest child, the aunt I never knew, laid out on her deathbed. Tante Therese died when she was 10, of meningitis, in 1917, just two years before my father was born. I always found this photo to be rather morbid and spooky.

Sunny and pleasant, though cool, in Newport today. Showers forecast for Flower Show days.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

very hot and dry in Sedona Az .... views are spectacular but you have to stay inside to stay at all comfortable ... it is just past noon here

[marthe]

Liking that AC aka C da J? Someday I'll get out to the South West. My brother lives in New Mexico. He loves the climate but misses the ocean (he likes to sail.)

[salymap]

morning all. Much too windy and blowy here and rain promised later.

Marthe, Re. Victorians preoccupation with morbid jewellery and momentoes; At Osborne on the Isle of Wight, one of Queen Victoria's homes, there are many sculpted/sculptured hands and feet of children lying around on a table, whether before or after death I'm not sure.

[marthe]

Passing day for our big flower show tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the promised rain holds off until the evening! The show itself takes place over the weekend (24-26 June) so I'm hoping for good weather. All the set-up took place today. There were JCBs everywhere lifting trees and large urns into place. Such a lot goes on behind the scenes to make it all appear to have been done by magic. Tomorrow all the entries get passed for judging. Last year we had 750 or so entries in the horticulture division alone. Design entries are a whole other group. 35 English members of WAFA (World Association of Floral Arrangers) are coming as VIP guests after attending an international WAFA conference and show in Boston. Tomorrow evening I'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief and put my feet up.

[salymap]

Good luck with the weather and have a lovely weekend at the Show. Hope all goes well marthe.

[Mahlerei]

Heatwave on the way; they're expecting temperatures in the 30s by Monday (in London and south-east).

[gurnemanz]

Heatwave on the way; they're expecting temperatures in the 30s by Monday (in London and south-east).

Wimbledon Court One tickets on Tuesday. Just the £130 for a pair of tickets. You'd think with all this income that the LTA might be able to train up a few world class players.

[marthe]

Good luck with the weather and have a lovely weekend at the Show. Hope all goes well marthe.

Thanks for your good wishes saly! All went well despite the heavens opening mid-afternoon right in the middle of passing the cut specimens (stems or branches of various classes of plants as opposed to plants in pots). This was all done under an enormous marquee but the entries had to be "run" outside between the tent and the terrace where they were being staged. We all got a bit damp in the process! Now that I've had a good stiff G&T, I can put my feet up for the evening and relax a bit! Sounds as if a you're having a heat wave! We're still on the cool side here in New England.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

114 in old money today in Arizona ... spectacular dust devils driving to Tucson .....

[marthe]

I'll bet it's nice dry heat in Tuscon...even at 114 F. Here in RI it's chilly and damp. Plenty of wind but no dust devils!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

...as a bone Marthe .... a lesson in the insidious nature of dehydration!

[marthe]

Insidious or not, dry-as-a-bone dehydration would feel mighty good just about now. It may be dry as bone where you are but I'm chilled to the bone by all the dampness here. I haven't put the wooly jumpers away yet and it's almost July!