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Is lavender=badger heroin or something? Do squirrels seek calming essential oils for nut-hunting? Are sachets a vital underpinning in woodland ecology? I HAVE QUESTIONS
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Apr 14, 2019 02:54
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xcheopis posted:That poor lavender... Neophyte posted:Is lavender=badger heroin or something? Do squirrels seek calming essential oils for nut-hunting? Are sachets a vital underpinning in woodland ecology? Indeed, this must be investigated in full, because the attacker has changed their mo  doink doink     I assembled a crack team of investigators consisting of the kids and a ladybird who stowed away on ol suzie quattro at some point and became the loveable rookie of the squad  We went right to the scene, expecting a repeat    But no, look what the sick bastards went and did this time- torn up weed proof matting, scattered stonework and stomped on evergreens  The victims were given prompt attention  We put down some bribes with some informants but it wasn't up to much scratch   And then we settled in to moving down the supplies (quince, kiwi, cherry plum, strawb, 120 litres soil, stone, lumber) and getting some noodles on.   Whos that on the pond, and admiring the lizard hotel? Quack quacks, that's who.    Pallet time again, and I got started on the table by removing these nails for safety- quicker and less damaging to just saw them and replaced it with a block of wood, but then I got to thinking (dangerous) and I'm gonna try and pull all three lower rails off and just have the top deck part reinforced- I didn't have my crowbar selection with me though sadly.   But we could still slap some woodstain on some pallets- the green one will be the tabletop, and I also got the legs and some blocks cut for helping fit the legs.   Then I knocked together this frame and mocked up the positioning for the bbq with it- close enough to the caravan and lounge. Next I will clear around the area and clear off/level an area slightly larger than it, then I can use the frame to build my foundations up.    Then we got stuck in with the shovels and spades   From left to right, 3 new emplacements, currant, gooseberry, raspberry. There won't be mk3 emplacements for existing types from now on generally- only new varieties will warrant it.   Then it was time to pack up for home, because      A day or two I got sunflower, pumpkin, rose and honesty seeds underway, as well as tomato seedlings run amok   The situation was serious, so out comes the soil  The first group of tomato plants are doing really well so I can experiment a bit- these 4 are going right outside  This tray has some pumpkin, sunflower and chilli seeds in, and will get the best care levels and a full propagator  These pumpkin and sunflower seeds will have no competition but face the ravages of the cold  And all the other tomato seedlings and runtier looking other seeds got thrown on this tray with some soil tossed over and they can have a battle royale  What's all this then  Looks like someone bought fleurs, 2 goji berry, 2 honeyberry, a loganberry and 2 tayberry while no-one else was looking and put them here in my rubble bucket  the receipts were stuffed into my pockets by saboteurs I didn't buy em honest Best make em feel at home I guess More soon! 
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Apr 15, 2019 21:21
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Apr 16, 2019 19:54
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Apr 17, 2019 02:48
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This is great. Congrats Dan your thread is now a content generating thread. Only a matter of time until you get on the front page!
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Apr 17, 2019 08:41
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Miftan posted:This is great. Congrats Dan your thread is now a content generating thread. Only a matter of time until you get on the front page! Do the five acres have any joists you can cut?
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Apr 17, 2019 10:42
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This is awesome, thanks  Also: DONT DOX ME U LITTLE poo poo etc Miftan posted:This is great. Congrats Dan your thread is now a content generating thread. Only a matter of time until you get on the front page! I have a very suitable response for it but I want to sit at my desk for it and use my lovely mspaint skills Also: There's a frontpage? TheMightyHandful posted:Do the five acres have any joists you can cut? That thread was just legendary and I genuinely can't think of a fuckup like it that even my skillset in disasters could manage just flashing my ankles     Went down there with the missus as we were passing just to do the rounds and feed the birds and enjoy it a bit     Particularly happy with my fruit trees, the red blooms coming through on the apples are lovely, and the new trees have vigorous new growth  Lavender unharmed     Was nice to be down there and not be doing things- just appreciating it. We are due a few more days of nice weather, so I'm making an early morning run tomorrow with a bunch of water to give the newer plants a deep drink, maybe do a scavenger run beforehand to rustle up some more raw materials Then, provided the forecast holds, next week will see the return of the thwockathwocka 
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Apr 19, 2019 16:54
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 morning run  I'm late. And the boss doesn't like that. Car, make it not here!  That'll do car, that'll do.  Do you think you can hang with the dirtiest dudes in town?  Keeping tabs on me  2 buckets of broken slabs and bricks, 40 or 50 litres of water , some scavved pallet, wire mesh and wood, bird balls, misc.    It was really nice down there       Everywhere just feels goddamn alive and buzzing  Swallows, I think. Lots of them overhead today.     First up was watering, and lots of walking back and forth. Was meant to calculate how much the green thing held by how many watering cans I got. Whoops.   Then a cold one by the pond   Then I slapped a bit of wood on some stain. Or some stain on some wood. Whatevs.   Then I finally cleared out the wheelbarrow. The wood in here was left to dry out, then just left, and whoops. Water. Wet. Wood. Oh. Plenty of bugs though, so-   Voila. A rotting woodpile for bugs. I shall water it occasionally. Sometimes with piss.     Next up, I put some more wood in the store, and cut a few bits to see how dry they were. Quite, is the answer.   So, I intend to keep them that way, and hence it got the tarp and zip tie treatment- the sides and underneath should provide enough airflow for nice seasoning for the wood. I hope it's garlic and herb.   That more enclosed mesh cage one, furthest right, seems to be the least pecked at consistently- we need more data though   This barrel used to be a birdhouse, it was behind the caravan and sometimes served as a bird bath- I moved it out, cleared it out and lashed it to the cage- it can serve better as a bird bath there hopefully.  Well that's a bit done, this area needs a good tidy but it can wait till another time.  The single trip out was much less heavily laden than the 4 or 5 trips in- good workout though   Back home, my onion and garlic are doing well, but will need some rescue soon  However I'm still working away carefully unearthing this ancient patio so I can put my spuds there   Talking of spuds, I was worried they weren't growing- this morning showed otherwise  The tomatoes (left) and the mixed seeds in these little plant house box things are doing reet well  These left to the wilds are a bit slower off the mark but healthy  And battle royale is going just like the manga, much death- brutal and compulsive viewing. MORE SOON!
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Apr 20, 2019 16:06
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So much great stuff, and as always, am super jealous. You're pretty much living the life I am saving for currently. Also, your photography continues to get even better. Some really spectacular shots in there. I may not always comment, but this thread is bookmarked, and I am always excited when I see there's an update. Thank you for doing this!
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Apr 20, 2019 21:26
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Doom Rooster posted:So much great stuff, and as always, am super jealous. You're pretty much living the life I am saving for currently. Thanks I wish the situation would allow more than one or two trips a week, but one day it will be my day to day life Doom Rooster posted:Also, your photography continues to get even better. Some really spectacular shots in there. I may not always comment, but this thread is bookmarked, and I am always excited when I see there's an update. Thank you for doing this! Thanks again, it's great to know people are enjoying it and it inspires my future efforts to be a bit more organised For photography all I really do is take lots and lots of shots at slightly different angles/focal points then crop and edit the few good ones- though stuff like commando crawling through mud to get a shot on a bee happens so it's nice to know the mud and sweat is appreciated 
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Apr 21, 2019 22:59
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Intended on a visit for earth day but the car gave some persistent oil pressure warnings and I need to read up, run what tests I can and probably pass it off to the mechanic- if oil isnt getting around then its less of an internal combustion engine and more of an expensive grenade waiting to blow  Well, if I'm gonna be at home, time for an update on the homefront and a mug or two of harden the gently caress up then all filler no griller  What's all this then       I have been wanting to give this a crack since my kids made some at a fayre- bee hotels. Simple construction method of stuff lots of cut lengths of bamboo in a plastic tube, then shim it in with smaller bits. Cardboard layer for a bit of insulation. I'm gonna do one or two more a bit differently as prototypes, give em a year or two then do a production run of the best type and knock out a load of them.  Well that took longer than I thought but was relaxing.    Bready interlude  I disposed of these down a drain to much bubbles and smells    The nurseries are doing well   The sharper eyed will have already seen the new battle royale entrants, these eager pumpkins   The honesty seeds suddenly all went for it too, they, and a few more chilli seeds are also underway  Collected a few dandelion seed heads, a solid patch at the field would be nice  Cherry, corn and poppy are all being experimented with- the cherry pits probably won't do much as they arent cold scarified, and I'm not sure the corn grew long enough for seed purposes. Poppy I did no reading on yet and I have no idea- will see if some crop up, I have more seed saved from last year.  The nursery on the deck is doing well- I need to clear the patio and shift the spuds, but I broke both my brooms so it can wait till I can drive to screwfix  The spuds are doing good- I keep adding a bit more soil over the new sprouts, and that will continue till they have all popped up and I can get things levelled out a bit    Special mentions in order to the grape vine, raspberries and primroses- all growing out fast. Roses need to catch up a bit, tbh.  Seems only 2 elder cuttings are working out- but 2 is about what I wanted  This is a... herb. Forgot which. It's from last year, but this year we are letting it flower so I can get even more seeds. More soon, but it might be just pictures of a dirty engine bay with lots of sweary fingers held up at it
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Apr 22, 2019 18:44
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DesperateDan posted:More soon, but it might be just pictures of a dirty engine bay with lots of sweary fingers held up at it   I try not to disappoint The good news is it's probably not gonna die from no oil, the bad news is that if a fuse and wiring checkover doesn't sort the first two codes (related to the cam chain tensioner solenoid) then I'm probably not quite skilled/confident to dig into the engine that far myself and I can say adios to my spare funds again.
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Apr 24, 2019 10:54
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DesperateDan posted:This however would not work at all for me, I can respect the likes of others but that's a hard no from me there Sounds like I need to brush up my post apocalyptic survival baking skills. Those green rollers are normally 40l. Do you not have a closer source than bringing it from home or would that lead to needing a pump? I also hold you responsible for me buying a bunch of red currant and black currant plants that were marked down to a quid each but still had green growth. Regarding your bird house take a look at the rspb website, they've a good guide to dimensions etc. I like your bee house too 
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Apr 24, 2019 17:29
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cakesmith handyman posted:Sounds like I need to brush up my post apocalyptic survival baking skills. Blackcurrant pie is like half the reason I know as much as I do.
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Apr 25, 2019 00:01
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DesperateDan posted:What's all this then Oh my god is that a bumblebee house? It's a bumblebee house!  Please let me continue to live vicariously through you, as I've been wanting to make one of these for a while but have no yard to put it in.  As far as I recall, poppies grow fairly well from seed. When I was little my mom planted a bajillion wildflowers and bulbs in the front yard, and the poppies self-seeded often enough to become a bit of a nuisance. She would rip them up by the handful when they started to crowd everything else out. To be fair though it was mostly the California poppies; I don't recall the other varieties being as bad, but then again this was over 15 years ago. Maybe the other varieties just didn't do as well because I liked to play with the dried seed heads and prevented them from properly dispersing? The world may never know.  That random flowering herb looks a bit like flat leaf parsley, but I'm not 100% sure. It's not something I usually grow.
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Apr 25, 2019 10:33
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Still waiting on the verdict from the people with the oily rags and test lamps and knowledge and suchcakesmith handyman posted:Sounds like I need to brush up my post apocalyptic survival baking skills. I don't have much of a sweet tooth tbh, choccy cake is a good pick though One of the closest homes is my parents in law so I can get access to water at about a tenth of the distance home- I haven't made much use of it, but as summer goes on I intend on maybe doing a top up or two rather than a single run Thanks for the link- seems the little house is too small for any birds, but I'm sure another use can be found- just gonna have to make a few of my own And I absolve you of any and all plant purchases, go forth and sin more for the environment (just watch out for too much sun on those redcurrants) endlessmonotony posted:Blackcurrant pie is like half the reason I know as much as I do. I like the pie, but I'm more looking forward to a jam with my currants- the ones that don't get birded or eaten standing next to the bush while sunwarmed Now a blackberry and apple pie, with some clotted cream ice cream?  Bees on Wheat posted:Oh my god is that a bumblebee house? It's a bumblebee house! I grant you full permission under the provisions granted by the five acres emergency climate act 2015 to ignore the poo poo out of property rights regards saving the environment- just do it guerilla style and tell em I sent you It's worth noting that as I was told about/linked to in the climate thread when talking about bee stuff, that the insides of the bee houses need to be cleaned out or replaced yearly lest they become full of bee diseases and parasites- for now I just need to remember to dump the bamboo, clean and repack yearly, but there's lots of room for improvement here- some people clean up and tend for baby bees... sounds cool to me Haven't had any poppy seeds pop yet- I have a lot, so some are gonna be handsown at the acres- gonna pick a few things and see if I can get patches of stuff. And yes, its parsley- I ate some
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Apr 25, 2019 16:53
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DesperateDan posted:I grant you full permission under the provisions granted by the five acres emergency climate act 2015 to ignore the poo poo out of property rights regards saving the environment- just do it guerilla style and tell em I sent you So noted. I live in an urban area so there aren't a ton of options for guerilla beekeeping, but I could probably sneak some into the trees down by the river...
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Apr 26, 2019 08:39
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Please make a thread for guerilla beekeeping because I've never heard of this and it sound loving hilarious and amazing. Also as always keep up with the great work on this project, Dan. Your updates are always the highlight of my day
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Apr 26, 2019 09:51
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The garage rang- car is more hosed than I thought. Boo. Hiss. I'm also next to skint, so unfortunately no acres updates for a few days at least while I figure out my next move- getting the bus and walking the rest of the way there would be around 2 hours travel each way Bees on Wheat posted:So noted. I live in an urban area so there aren't a ton of options for guerilla beekeeping, but I could probably sneak some into the trees down by the river... No-ones gonna stop you if there's no-one to see you  Spaced God posted:Please make a thread for guerilla beekeeping because I've never heard of this and it sound loving hilarious and amazing. Always nice to know people are getting to see it happen and enjoying it, thanks
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Apr 26, 2019 13:53
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DesperateDan posted:No-ones gonna stop you if there's no-one to see you The land around the river is a public park/trail, and there are a number of homeless camps in the area, so I'm not sure I can actually put bee houses up without being seen. Would be interesting to try, though! Unfortunately I'm not sure how much bee food is in the area. There are small flowering shrubs in a couple areas of the park, but it's mostly grass. Grass and oak trees, and maybe some wild fennel. I'd have to do guerilla gardening as well and plant some wildflowers and we just entered our dry season so I'd have to water them, at least at first, and this is starting to sound like a whole lotta work.. 
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Apr 27, 2019 08:33
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Bees on Wheat posted:The land around the river is a public park/trail, and there are a number of homeless camps in the area, so I'm not sure I can actually put bee houses up without being seen. Would be interesting to try, though! Bees will go fairly far for food, depending on variety it can be a few miles radius so I wouldn't panic too much regards food yet- you can always plant some more when the conditions are right, working yourself too much and having to stress about carrying out water e.t.c will definitely bring on the treading the lego   Well I was kinda hosed either way, so I went with the devil I know, and the car will be back with me in a day or two. Let's have a quick look at the home front for now.    I have a feeling the neighbors cat is gonna miss having a dirty patio for a good old dust bath- it was a good excuse not to work more on it, and instead sit around fussing and talking with this good feline about how we both miss hicks.  The spuds do this  Then I cover them over like this  Then a day or two later they are like this again- I will probably earth them up like this for another week then level off the earth and patio them. Still got some chitting away that I need to deal with, but the depression has been kicking the everloving poo poo out of my motivation recently  Seedlings are progressing   snails ate a bit and I need to rig up a safer area for them. I did gather up a bunch of snails and put them all safely in a pot at the other end of the garden and some magpies came and hosed em right up, thanks gang  Battle royale is hotting up- the sweetcorn seeds nearly all popped and grew crazy, so they were turfed out into combat here, and I'm gonna redo the sweetcorn a bit more sensibly.  My veggie beds really need some love- here are some nearly finished onions, and a carrot plant that survived the winter, and I'm hoping to flower it and get seeds. Might try carrots again in this bed. More soon hopefully DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 12:43 on Apr 29, 2019 |
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Apr 29, 2019 12:40
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Good progress! This is making me have second thoughts about the type of flats I'm looking to move into because a garden for veggies looks awesome.
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Apr 29, 2019 13:09
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Miftan posted:Good progress! This is making me have second thoughts about the type of flats I'm looking to move into because a garden for veggies looks awesome. Have you looked into allotments? Some places are overbooked and some are half empty and desperate for new people- its a great way to do it And by do it, I mean the outside things  So the garage didn't call but that's a good thing and my engine didn't eat itself or even take a nibble, so let's venture into the garden  Impulsively moved my spuds to the patio of doom  Then I did the thing with the getting the dirt under the fingernails  I can't help myself tbh, I even walked into town and back for the hope of some new varieties  This delightful little buttface invaded the house today- not sure which neighbors have this one but they were super affectionate and this beast is very well kept. Tomorrow hopefully the quattro gets fired up and doesn't poo poo itself- more soon!
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Apr 30, 2019 17:46
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Wilko's also have that thin-skinned kiwi variety now, I picked one up the moment I saw it, it's hardening off in the greenhouse with the door open.
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May 2, 2019 13:41
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Car is all done, the morning will bring what it brings and we shall see what has lived, and what has died cakesmith handyman posted:Wilko's also have that thin-skinned kiwi variety now, I picked one up the moment I saw it, it's hardening off in the greenhouse with the door open. I need to keep hitting up my local wilkos cause the fruit tend to go fast- it seems growing them from seeds will also work, so I'm gonna buy a kiwi fruit and harvest it just in case I can't locate a second or third plant
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May 2, 2019 16:29
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DesperateDan posted:
That is clearly my cat. Please give her back. 
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May 3, 2019 09:46
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Wolfsbane posted:That is clearly my cat. Please give her back. She invaded our property and then our hearts timing chain     Okay so theres some life left down there it seems     Fair bit of it all round to be honest  Larger olive tree, 4 primrose, birdballs, old watering can and cheap drinks. I forgot the bee houses and various other bits- I had also somehow convinced myself I had a big bag of compost left- that stopped me getting anything in the ground.  I considered clearing the area for the stove to the point I sized it up again- I then decided its best to wait till I can brushcutter it in a few seconds rather than use handtools.     It then started raining a bit, but I went round and examined/tidied up the bush emplacements, 23 of them all growing well now.   They will need this a few times a year till they are well established, but the design makes them easy to clear out.  There was a lot of insect life in and around the stones and in the very varied plants around the bush plots- I'm definitely going to try and maintain that diversity by only mowing out the overly invasive varieties and bringing in some more rock/pebble habitat islands.   Some fantastic growth on the new fruit saplings   That mesh feeder is least favoured/hardest to use I suppose  Buzzard was circling most of the day, struck multiple times and was lucky at least twice  Cleaned up my menagerie a bit- need to bring in a lot of soil and get em in the ground while the ground lets me.  I cleared out the old dead, definitely dead certainly not alive grape vine pot and then looked and it had alive bits and growth, so we have a zombie grape vine to try and heal and a small evergreen... thing and a wild primrose that was right in a path that wasnt gonna survive so it got rescued to come home and grow big and then be replanted. Odd sensation to be digging things up and bringing them home.     I spent a lot of time just walking or sitting and looking today  But the birds got a bath  And I had a beer and a nap  And then about 3 days worth of calories on a plate  Back at home I'm in trouble again. I'm incorrigible  Got impatient and dug up the old onions- I'm planting corn here soon   The main garlic and onion plots got a bit of a tidy up which should help them   And the spuds are picking up pace fast Sunday will hopefully bring another scavving run or two and maybe some work, then next week, weather dependent, I get the brushcutter out and things get all furious More soon!
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May 3, 2019 19:02
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I've been trying to figure out if you have British bluebells or the inferior Spanish hybrids. Not an expert but to me it looks almost like a mix - that first picture has many with the wider frilled bells of the Spanish ones, but the second picture looks more like a British one to me. Do they smell nice? I don't usually notice any scent from the Spanish ones.
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May 4, 2019 07:17
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DesperateDan posted:
Take good care of it, and I bet it'll yet turn water to wine.
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May 4, 2019 13:36
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DesperateDan posted:
That's a good breakfast.
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May 5, 2019 21:33
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spookygonk posted:That's a good breakfast. Very jealous of that brekkie.
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May 5, 2019 21:46
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endlessmonotony posted:Take good care of it, and I bet it'll yet turn water to wine. Looks good so far spookygonk posted:That's a good breakfast. Miftan posted:Very jealous of that brekkie. Thanks- I used to eat many like it and now its just an occasional treat because I like not being quite so drat fat I always want them though Always Maugrim posted:I've been trying to figure out if you have British bluebells or the inferior Spanish hybrids. Not an expert but to me it looks almost like a mix - that first picture has many with the wider frilled bells of the Spanish ones, but the second picture looks more like a British one to me. Do they smell nice? I don't usually notice any scent from the Spanish ones. Well my sense of smell is bad but there is some scent- I tried getting you a bunch of pictures of various ones but a lot of them turned out shite or blurry, or blurry and shite, leading directly to bluebell blueballs           Back sticking my phone into bushes again I guess   What up cats  This has deep beauty to me also  Only a few bits were unharmed and dry, but they were good bits, and my scavvy senses tingle for the future  Rather than take stock and rest on my laurels I got back in the car and went and bought a bunch of poo poo at homebase, half of which I brought down Two pallets, a... um...  A pallet wrap. Thats what I'm calling it, and I can make a raised plant bed from it. Two pallets (one funky and long), a pallet wrap, 240 litres standard compost, 50 litres ericaceous compost, 20kg stones, 10 litres water and 2 bee hotels, all carried in all the way by me I'm sore and I want the world to know   Stain slappin'    Break takin'    Bug watching'   Looking at balls. For science.  Gooseberries growing fast  Nursery checked on and watered a little    Dirty birdbath? This is meant to be a high class establishment!   Bee hotels are up   I went and checked the fir or pine or whatever and its doing a flower thing. I grabbed its poops and I'm gonna smashy smash them to see what's inside    I spent some time doing path clearance and tidying and such too, but mainly I got myself set up nicely to get a bunch more plants in the ground a bit later in the week- it's meant to be a bit wet, and the right amount of wet makes for a nice dig.   Haven't had much time for home stuff but hoping for a bit of time in the week to catch up and maybe get some new bits underway More. Soon. 
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May 6, 2019 22:15
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Bees and cats and stunning nature pics, yes, yes. But what about the most important item? How is the lavender?!?
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May 6, 2019 23:39
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Thanks for the bluebell pics! I know how weirdly hard it is to get good ones. It does look like you have a mix - some colonies of nice shade-loving British ones, a few Spanish ones and plenty of hybrids. Generally the Spanish ones tend to be a slightly lighter colour, taller and more upright with flowers all around the stem rather than drooping off to one side, and will happily grow in sun whereas the British ones need at least partial shade. Hybrids can have characteristics of both. Main reason I prefer the British ones is because I love the heady scent a carpet of them brings to a woodland. 
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May 7, 2019 15:44
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xcheopis posted:Bees and cats and stunning nature pics, yes, yes. But what about the most important item? How is the lavender?!? And here we are with the lavender news The 4 lavender plants at the field are all alive, the newest one hasn't been attacked further but certainly doesn't look happy- the other 3 had grass and bramble cleared away and I'm much more confident about their survival. The lavender clones at home have mostly died bar 2, both of which are showing lots of new green growth but no roots yet- I will keep monitoring and buy some more if needed- I would like to keep a mother plant at home and run off a few more clones every year, but further research on not killing them is probably warranted Thus ends the lavender update Maugrim posted:Thanks for the bluebell pics! I know how weirdly hard it is to get good ones. It does look like you have a mix - some colonies of nice shade-loving British ones, a few Spanish ones and plenty of hybrids. I'm quite curious now to survey the local woods as some areas have absolutely massive spreads of bluebells to the point there is a whole village fete about them nearby- It's probably a safe bet that some of the spanish interlopers are down to cheap boxes of flower seed I spread wantonly in my youth much like my children tbqh
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May 8, 2019 11:58
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sub-surface tension   So I was meant to go yesterday and then I was meant to go today but it turns out a bunch of my street needs emergency gas repairs lest we all die in flames, so my days right now are spent waiting around for engineers to have access and being deafened (moreso) by pneumatic drills. As such, large parts of my home look like the above, but with any luck tomorrow will be the end.   On the plus side, in having to empty the understairs cupboard I found this, which I had convinced myself was off buried in a friends workshop pile- my hosed up old strimmer. Less than half the power of my husqvarna beast and no blade options, but much lighter, less fuel hungry and more portable. Lets fix it     Fuel first. Tank was held on mainly by plantwire and had a hotglue repair job to the bung. Fuel pipes hard and brittle. Oh, and I left dregs of fuel, which is now a high power super stinky varnish. Which I spilt in the lounge, which was obviously the sensible place to take apart old engines. Feck.  Oh well, air next. Choke works fine, throttle body opens up cleanly, so thats good enough for now.  Spark- and I find I don't have the right socket to pull the spark plug for testing, so I can't do much else till the great satan amazon delivers. From there I will see if the spark is good, then work on sorting the fuel situation, and hope the bad fuel didn't gum up the carburetor too much- there's also a lot of rusted out screws and bolts to figure out.   These last spuds really need some soil- I will just do another bag/bucket or two at home, I think I need to stagger my planting more next time  I started more corn and forgot corn again after it did nothing for 3 days then went wild but will try these anyway and probably just plant more seeds direct in soil for corn rather than loving around.  Tomatoes are about ready to get planted up with 100% survival so far, honesty flowers are looking all floopy so I'm hoping some wind exposure will help. Found out it was probably too cold for chilli seeds yet but most are alive regardless More soon, either here or there or both- just got a little surprise through the post that should be useful
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May 10, 2019 18:44
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once more around the sun    So here we are after a year, and someone with spare time and sense of occasion would have presented you with some kind of special episode or retrospective of the year past but instead you have me, so some blood, sweat and beers then a general update on things will have to suffice     I did make sure to get my goons a few extra pictures though     Which didn't take long, what with all the pretty stuff around  Brought in 60 litres topsoil, 2 bags stone, 2 Honeyberry, 6 bamboo hoops, 2 rolls plastic mesh, pots and pan, some rice. Scavved 2 sturdy posts, a pallet wrap and....  This trellis/planter thingy, which with a bit of engineering could be fairly useful and I will not follow the order written on the tape but I might attach it to something else...   Health and safety regs dictate after carrying in all that bullshit on a hot day, you have a cold beverage and a sit in the shade    And this kitty got served some meat    The main business of the day was bushes in the ground, and I got 6 done and up to mk3 emplacement standards   Kiwi, Quince, 2 Blueberry and 2 Honeyberry. Make hole, add plant and compost/soil mix, protect with weed proof matting, protect the weed proof matting with stone, protect the whole thing with mesh supported by cane. Repeat x6.  Keep finding bits of pottery like this a good few inches down, wonder who smashed plates so many years ago  There was also stuff like pour stagnant water over the bug pile  Buzzards were often overhead and the phone camera sucks at dealing with it   The thing with the balls was done  And I removed the insulation panel from the skylight in the caravan so now theres light and an easy vent source.   I meant to get pics of this before, but here's what the mice did to my bottle of olive oil  Stockpiles are reduced a bit but neat and tidy at least  Then it was home time, as once the sun gets below the treeline it goes to a twilight that is pleasant to sit in but the low light levels make work a chore.   At home, two lots of plants have been dealt with- the ones I had bought and new ones that I also bought they were reduced its like they knew I was coming    And by dealt with, I mean potted up and put in sunny spots on the deck  The ones brought back from the acres are doing well  And the formation of spud machines is getting into high gear  I finally got round to extracting some kiwi seeds too   Pulled the spark plug on the old strimmer. Yuck.  Stripped down the starter pull and that was all shiny new looking so that's nice  Pulled apart the fuel tank a bit and this fuel filter just looked yummy  The controls were a bit shonky feeling, so in we go  oh gods theres parts and bits and functions in here    So I took these bits    And made them cleaner and less rusty/full of dead bugs, and put back together. Now it works less shonkily.  While waiting for a new sparkplug to be delivered it occured to me that the reason I had no spark might not be because the old sparkplug is hosed, but because when I was trying to test it, the goddamn strimmers electrics were shut off. Yup, I'm thick and we have spark even on a fouled plug. Cool. More soon!
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May 14, 2019 17:49
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Awesome updates, thank you! It's been a year?!? Dang.
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May 14, 2019 21:02
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Happy anniversary. I admire your dedication to taking literally everything that is even slightly mechanic apart up to and including your loving car.
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May 14, 2019 21:18
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Been out there today and very busy, using this as a shameless page ender and will do an update tomorrow as I will need to get on the proper computer to write it for special reasons xcheopis posted:Awesome updates, thank you! Aye I couldn't quite believe it when I checked Miftan posted:Happy anniversary. I admire your dedication to taking literally everything that is even slightly mechanic apart up to and including your loving car. Thanks- it's cheaper than paying someone else and I think I'm gradually learning
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May 16, 2019 19:17
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