Stormy Weather

[Serial_Apologist]

....i haven't seen a single honey bee this year.....

Is that so, 8th? In that case they must have all migrated this way - this being the best year over several in this area for bees, and the buddleia is just about to flower - but you do need to have the right sorts of flowering plants to attract them, like lavender and hebes. Three misses blackbirds follow me around the garden every evening as I take the garden hose to the flower beds - knowing as they do that the water will bring worms to the surface. Unfortunately it also seems to be a "good" year for clothes moths - and mosquitoes!

[mangerton]

Saly, we had a discussion about the 1959 heatwave (which my friend - roughly same age as you, he's coming up for 81) remembers clearly and which Ams remembers from his idyllic childhood! I think everyone remembers the excessive heat of 1976?
Mangerton, enjoy your days off but I think today will be your hottest, cooler for you for next three days. It reached 28.8°, same as yesterday, dropping now, clouding up a bit, whether the 'sharp thundery showers' promised by local BBC will materialise I don't know.
Off-topic. Our greengrocer is selling fresh dates - I had to ask his rather gormless assistant what they were! They were an apricot colour and he said he thought they should be kept until they start turning brown. Does anyone here buy them fresh and is his advice correct? (Greengrocer was out doing his early morning deliveries)
Edit: Whoops, typing this I missed S_A's post explaining where the wind goes! Thanks for that

I remember the 1959 summer too. I was eight, and living in Edinburgh. We'd moved there the previous autumn. Exploring in the garden shed, I discovered an ex WW2 stirrup pump and hose. I suspect my mother regretted showing me how it worked!

Thanks for your good wishes, Anna. It's now 26º C here, which is tropical, but as you say the forecast is cooler for the weekend. Watching golf from that bastion of male chauvinism Muirfield.

I'm afraid I don't know much about fresh dates, though I used to buy 3 tonnes of dried pitted dates at a time. I shouldn't have thought though that there would be any reason why you couldn't eat fresh dates. I mean, you wouldn't get to the oasis, see the date tree, and say "Quick! Hang these out to dry!"

[Serial_Apologist]

I remember the 1959 summer too. I was eight, and living in Edinburgh. We'd moved there the previous autumn. Exploring in the garden shed, I discovered an ex WW2 stirrup pump and hose. I suspect my mother regretted showing me how it worked!

Thanks for your good wishes, Anna. It's now 26º C here, which is tropical, but as you say the forecast is cooler for the weekend. Watching golf from that bastion of male chauvinism Muirfield.

I'm afraid I don't know much about fresh dates, though I used to buy 3 tonnes of dried pitted dates at a time. I shouldn't have thought though that there would be any reason why you couldn't eat fresh dates. I mean, you wouldn't get to the oasis, see the date tree, and say "Quick! Hang these out to dry!"

I've always been hung out to dry by my dates!

[salymap]

I've always been hung out to dry by my dates!

Ah poor S_A, but that boy, he's quick on the uptake

[Serial_Apologist]

Ah poor S_A, but that boy, he's quick on the uptake

Much fresher down our way today eh, sal, with temperatures down 3 degrees on yesterday's and a nice breeze a-blowin.

[Anna]

I'm afraid I don't know much about fresh dates, though I used to buy 3 tonnes of dried pitted dates at a time.

I'm sorry mangerton, but you cannot get away with a throw-away remark like that!! WHY did you used to buy 3 tonnes of dates - did you run a health spa, or a bakery (date & walnut loaves?) or mass catering operation? Or were you a sticky-toffee pudding producer?

Ontopic, very humid and close here, however looking at the projections we will definitely get a good soaking from Monday night onwards. R3 Prom tonight - interval talk is 'Stormy Weather' !!

Edit: On the subject of bees - there have certainly been no shortage of them here. One thing I've noticed are far more butterflies than usual - presumably this weather suits them?

[Petrushka]

Very hot again here with wall to wall sunshine. And again it's an incredibly sticky night. My listening room is at boiling point, which leads me to ask: Is this kind high humidity and heat safe for my CD's? No problems but I doubt if they've been put to this sort of test before.

[mangerton]

I'm sorry mangerton, but you cannot get away with a throw-away remark like that!! WHY did you used to buy 3 tonnes of dates - did you run a health spa, or a bakery (date & walnut loaves?) or mass catering operation? Or were you a sticky-toffee pudding producer?

Ontopic, very humid and close here, however looking at the projections we will definitely get a good soaking from Monday night onwards. R3 Prom tonight - interval talk is 'Stormy Weather' !!

Yes, all these things.

No, actually I was once many years ago a buyer for a sauce and pickle manufactory. Dates are an Important Ingredient in brown sauce. Take a look next time you're in the supermarket.

OT: not long back from dinner at Miss m's. Temp at 10 pm was still 25º C. [Cassandra: We'll pay for this! It'll snow tomorrow!/Cassandra]

[Nick Armstrong]

manufactory

Temp at 10 pm was still 25º C. [Cassandra: We'll pay for this! It'll snow tomorrow!/Cassandra]

[Anna]

a buyer for a sauce and pickle manufactory

It does have rather a Dickensian ring about it doesn't it? But a fascinating job, I imagine you had to go to the Middle East or North Africa and sample them before buying, and go to the souks and bazaars on the trail of spices? How exotic!! And you brought them all back to Scotland and made them into brown sauce. I shall think of you every time I have a bacon sandwich.

On topic: A beautiful morning, 16° fresh and dewy, air smells quite perfumed with grass and meadowsweet, bees are buzzing, birds are chirping and I am about to set forth into it.

[greenilex]

Perfect out the back here too - my baby black beans have pink flowers and tiny little pods. ( I am using seed from our community garden two years ago. I wasn't sure it was still viable, but no probs.)

At the new orchard project near the Itchen on Tuesday evening I saw the local doe, obviously annoyed that I was trampling the long grass under the apple trees. There is every prospect of a fine harvest and plenty of juice/cider to come.

[mangerton]

It does have rather a Dickensian ring about it doesn't it? But a fascinating job, I imagine you had to go to the Middle East or North Africa and sample them before buying, and go to the souks and bazaars on the trail of spices? How exotic!! And you brought them all back to Scotland and made them into brown sauce. I shall think of you every time I have a bacon sandwich.

On topic: A beautiful morning, 16° fresh and dewy, air smells quite perfumed with grass and meadowsweet, bees are buzzing, birds are chirping and I am about to set forth into it.

I wish! I think the furthest I got was a glass works in Harlow - which was fascinating to visit, actually.

OT: another lovely day here. I was out an hour ago, and it was 18º. Forecast highest here is 21ºC.

[mercia]

....i haven't seen a single honey bee this year.....

"imported bees pose threat" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23347867

meanwhile it's National Dragonfly Week http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/23312732

[salymap]

Lovely here today. 3-5 degrees cooler than London and a strong breeze that makes the heat tolerable.

AllI am growing in the garden is apples, they are now visible from the patio.

[Anna]

Lovely here today. 3-5 degrees cooler than London and a strong breeze that makes the heat tolerable.
AllI am growing in the garden is apples, they are now visible from the patio.

Bit more than a breeze here saly, more of a wind as from around 10am - it's been a constant 4-7mph and has been gusting at up to 13mph, very welcome as the temp is over 27° (not that I would advise anyone to go out and sit in the sun just because there's a breeze!)
(Further info for the techies: 46% humidity, Humidex reading 31.3, barometer 1025)

I notice mercia hasn't mentioned the Big Butterfly Count which starts tomorrow, spend 15 mins spotting them and submit entries (I'm going to do it as I always do the Bird Count and it provides vital information for conservationists.) http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/about Dragonflies and Damsels used to be very common here, now I never see one. I have the least apples ever and of course the best ones will be out of reach at the top of the tree, still the birds will appreciate them.

Cooler here on Saturday and Sunday so grass cutting before the Monday Monsoon is priority. I realise we get very little sustained sunshine in the UK but why do people have to subject themselves to the dangers of sunburn and dehydration? The A&E departments have been overloaded and a shocking case of 10 under six year olds and a 4 week old baby with severe burns having to have specialist treatment in East Grinstead.