Stormy Weather

[marthe]

Mahlerei: I too should be annoyed if I had to stop snuggling on a cozy couch and return to my hutch! I agree about buns being marvellous creatures...except when wild rabbits help themselves to my garden a la Peter Rabbit! Actually there is more of a problem with deer than rabbits when it comes to garden damage. Not only can they take down a stand of Rhododendrons but they spread a nasty illness called Lyme Disease by acting as hosts to deer ticks. The bite of the deer tick can make one quite ill.

[salymap]

Morning all, still windy but dry today I hope in SE/Kent. Above reminds me I have a picture of a beautiful bunnie to put into my photo file. I have photos of buns, cats,[ My Devon cousin's weird cat, Mr Portly Dollop],a squirrel holding up a complete slice of bread,which coz has produced as a postcard, headed 'Give us this day our daily bread'. It does look as though the squirrel is reading a sermon. Lots more.....

[antongould]

Pleased to hear it is dry on Sidcup High Street - we have the tail end of the wind and rain - it is, as they say, "tough up north"!

[greenilex]

Very blowy yesterday for the Lion Dance in new Guildhall Square - also variable orchestral performances from groups of ancient Chinese instruments - as well as a nice girls' folkdance called Gentle Rain in Early Spring which involved twirling coloured paper umbrellas to recorded music.

Southampton does feel a lot like the deck of a ship at this time of year. Still no sun, though.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

a grey and windy middle kingdom this morning ....the house was a shake rattle and bang machine all night .... i can sleep through anything but i was watching the Superbowl so kept wondering what the noises were until i peeked outside and it was blow and blow and blow weather ... if that weather front could just slip a bit further north we'd have a sunny day ...

[salymap]

Anton,thanks for message. I am glad it's fine in Sidcup High Street but I haven't been there for years.

[salymap]

Walking to the supermarket in a real gale today my large square shopping trolley 'took off' about six inches
into the air at an extra windy junction of two roads. It was funny but scary and people stopped to look as I landed it back on the ground. Mary Poppins I am not, I hope this wind soon dies down for everyone's sake.

[doversoul1]

salymap
I know the answer, as mine would be the same (i.e. No) but have you thought about doing your shopping online? A friend of mine who is housebound tells me that Sainsbury has made it relatively simple these days. Just for essentials, like carrots, apples and milk. And I think they do have Hovis bread.

marthe
Re: deer in the garden. Once I sent a photograph of a badger to a friend in Canada It often came in to my garden and I thought I could boast about wildlife I had. In return she sent me a photograph of a couple of moose looking into her sitting room window….

I hope your garden won’t suffer too much. Some time ago, a badger ate almost all my sweet corn (just before it was ready for US to eat), another year, it was carrots (dug up neatly from the end of the row), and a few years ago, an entire row of broad beans were chewed up on the plants. And I am still excited to see it. How silly can we get?

[marthe]

Doversoul: You've got a very discerning badger in your garden. Seeing a moose is quite something! Some years back, we were up in Vermont for a Cricket tournament in the Mad River Valley area, where an English friend spotted a moose. T, who always had her camera at the ready, didn't have it this time and was not able to document the moose-sighting. Still, she was all agog. So far we haven't had deer in the garden but have to watch for pesky squirrels (grey) who dig up bulbs in the autumn. Last autumn I planted over 150 new bulbs, Camassia, mixed daffs, Scilla non-scripta (English Bluebells.) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the squirrels left me a few.

[salymap]

Thanks Doversoul, yes Ihave thought about shopping on line and it may come; while I can I will get to the shops now and again. The worst blow was the local greengrocer closing at the end of last year.Let's hope it quietens down soon before all the fences go. It must be blowy in Dover I should think. bws

[doversoul1]

marthe
My (!) squirrel ate every single hazel nut (Kent Cobs) last autumn before they were anywhere near ripe. And I still feed it in winter.

salymap
It never blows but howls here (I am on top of the hill and at the end of the village).

[Serial_Apologist]

Scilla non-scripta (English Bluebells.)

Gosh, do be careful, marthe: they've completely taken over everywhere, here!

S-A

[marthe]

S-A: I had a feeling bluebells would be like that but the idea of them pleases my husband. He's always wanted to have bluebell wood under the trees. I can always share if the bluebells start taking over!

[salymap]

I have a lot of self seeded bluebells at the bottom of my overgrown neglected garden. Someone told me that they are the wrong kind. Can anyone explain about the two sorts of bluebells? They look alright to me.
Morning all, by the way.

[greenilex]

It is true that bluebells rampage a bit, but looking forward to their appearance is essential just now...last year a group of us from our wholefood co-op was invited to a wonderful bluebell wood in the Meon valley.(The estate gardener is a member). He explained about the "threat" to native bluebells from the genetically similar cultivated variety which was introduced by the Victorians as a garden plant. But I expect Wikipedia has a detailed explanation.

I think the difference is to do with the way the florets grow on the stem. The native is a darker blue, as well.