Beryl H Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 7 hours ago, zxDaveM said: all the staying 6-7ft apart, wearing face masks, etc, whenever venturing out; working from home all week (rather than just 'working from home' on a Friday) if lucky; eveything closed unless social distancing can be maintained - all that malarkey been branded the 'new normal'. 'New', as its not normal at all Malarkey is a very polite word for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 1 minute ago, Beryl H said: Malarkey is a very polite word for it 'family newspaper' and all that 😉 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 21 hours ago, LinMM said: Scheherazade that’s exactly how it strikes me! And a feeling that it’s the normal of the future for evermore ....and we’d better jolly well get used to it 😬😡😱😢 Nooooooooooooo....... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I'd like to put wheelie bins into Room 101, specifically the way they are returned after emptying. This morning I was horrified to see how mucky the inside of the green bin was and I spent quite some time cleaning it, only to find my own bin coyly waiting on the pavement outside, presumably left there by my neighbour. Yes, I had stupidly assumed that the one left in my gateway by the binmen was mine and that the one miles down the road was my neighbour's. Wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 10 minutes ago, AnneMarriott said: I'd like to put wheelie bins into Room 101, specifically the way they are returned after emptying. This morning I was horrified to see how mucky the inside of the green bin was and I spent quite some time cleaning it, only to find my own bin coyly waiting on the pavement outside, presumably left there by my neighbour. Yes, I had stupidly assumed that the one left in my gateway by the binmen was mine and that the one miles down the road was my neighbour's. Wrong! a case of random distribution 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Oh drat and other curses. I'm afraid it is time to put my husband into room 101. For about the last 6 months, I have been growing some willow cuttings in a bucket of water in the garden. They had grown well and formed loads of roots. The main purpose of this experiment though, was slightly different. For those of you who don't know, willow water is ideal for growing cuttings of all sorts of other plants in - it's basically the equivalent of liquid gold, and the bucket had been brewing nicely for ages. So last week, I took some cuttings from my japanese maples and a lovely crab apple and put them in the water. Yesterday, I got home from work and my husband announced that he'd cut the grass. All well and good. Until I went down to the bottom of the garden about half an hour ago. There was the bucket bone dry on its side, with all the water gone and everything in it all wilted and shrivelled. It must have been like that for over 24 hours. AAAAARRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I feel your pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 It is literally a year's work down the drain. The cuttings were from bonsai trees, and from unusual varieties which are particularly hard to get to strike - they are usually grafted. I'm absolutely livid, and honestly I could cry with frustration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 14 hours ago, taxi4ballet said: It is literally a year's work down the drain. The cuttings were from bonsai trees, and from unusual varieties which are particularly hard to get to strike - they are usually grafted. I'm absolutely livid, and honestly I could cry with frustration. If it were me I definitely would be crying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 Er, I guess I might have to hoik him back out again. He denied all knowledge, and there might be a new culprit. I refilled the bucket and stood it in a quiet part of the garden. This afternoon my daughter showed me a picture she'd just taken of the cat drinking out of it, paws resting on the edge and tipping it slightly. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I do hope the cat has plenty of its 9 lives unused. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 23 hours ago, JohnS said: I do hope the cat has plenty of its 9 lives unused. She has a number of medical conditions and is deaf & blind, but she manages remarkably well considering. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Was going to say your hubby owes you!! But if it’s this cat that’s better so no lingering resentment lol! Animals and birds are weird though you can leave nice clean water out for them and find them drinking from some old muddy puddle 🙄 Sorry about your cuttings though. Gardening can be a precarious business at the best of times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 I've now moved the bucket and hidden it among some other pots so she can't get at it. She knows where it is though, she must be able to smell it or something, and keeps trying to work her way round to it. Daft old thing. The cuttings are still in the water and looking perky, so fingers crossed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Have you tried leaving out an old bowl of stale water specially for her. They like old stale water- hate the chlorine in fresh tap water I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 9 hours ago, Mary said: Have you tried leaving out an old bowl of stale water specially for her. They like old stale water- hate the chlorine in fresh tap water I suppose. She already has two - one on the patio and one halfway down the path and she does drink from those. She used to drink from the mini pond in a barrel, but she can't get to it now as it involves jumping onto a wall. I've always left a water dish or two in the garden, sometimes the sparrows use them as a bird bath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Only two? 😃 Poor creature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Today's candidates - Wasps and their nests in general, and the ones in my loft in particular. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 1 hour ago, taxi4ballet said: Today's candidates - Wasps and their nests in general, and the ones in my loft in particular. Oh no we’ve suffered that on more than one occasion. First time I called pest control he scared me to death by asking if they had eaten through the plasterboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 5 hours ago, taxi4ballet said: Today's candidates - Wasps and their nests in general, and the ones in my loft in particular. wasps are a gardner's friend, as they take many pests that munch on garden plants to feed to their grubs. Its only once the new queens are produced and the nest finishes, that worker wasps hunt out sweet things to maintain them in their last few weeks of life, that they become a cranky neighbour. Or if you make a nuisance of yourself and bother their nest, when they will defend it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4 hours ago, Jane said: Oh no we’ve suffered that on more than one occasion. First time I called pest control he scared me to death by asking if they had eaten through the plasterboard. I know they scrape wood (door frames, window frames, wood panels on doors etc) in order to make paper for their intricate and facinating nests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 wasps may be a gardener's friend but I agree with Taxi - not much fun in the loft! Swarms are a sight to behold though - house a few doors away had these visitors today 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 27 minutes ago, zxDaveM said: I know they scrape wood (door frames, window frames, wood panels on doors etc) in order to make paper for their intricate and facinating nests They evidently love dormer windows as an access point into loft space but will chomp through plaster board according to council pest control. Not much fun laying in bed wondering if you can hear the hum of the nest above you. @2dancersmum fascinating photo. Did they disperse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 I had a nest of wood-eating bees once, down by the garden shed. I wondered what on earth the vague chomping sound was when I went down there - didn't realise such things existed until bits of plank started dropping off the shed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted August 1, 2020 Author Share Posted August 1, 2020 Yes, well. We could see them going into the eaves. Turns out that the nest was not in my loft at all. It was in my next-door neighbour's loft. Well, it was. It isn't now. It fell through their bedroom ceiling yesterday evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 😮 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 35 minutes ago, taxi4ballet said: Yes, well. We could see them going into the eaves. Turns out that the nest was not in my loft at all. It was in my next-door neighbour's loft. Well, it was. It isn't now. It fell through their bedroom ceiling yesterday evening. WOW!!! How horrific for your neighbours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted August 1, 2020 Author Share Posted August 1, 2020 I don't think they have calmed down yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 Firmly in Room 101 - the ubiquitous little black plastic bags of dog poo that infest every country walk we to go on, no matter how remote. I really don't get this phenomenon; someone once told me that they'd put such a bag down on a circular walk so as to pick it up on their return rather than carrying it round, but there are thousands of the disgusting objects that have clearly been laying around for weeks. It's worse than not picking up the mess in the first place, as it just adds plastic to the environment. Grrr. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 37 minutes ago, Quintus said: Firmly in Room 101 - the ubiquitous little black plastic bags of dog poo that infest every country walk we to go on, no matter how remote. I really don't get this phenomenon; someone once told me that they'd put such a bag down on a circular walk so as to pick it up on their return rather than carrying it round, but there are thousands of the disgusting objects that have clearly been laying around for weeks. It's worse than not picking up the mess in the first place, as it just adds plastic to the environment. Grrr. I absolutely agree Quintus - there is no need whatsoever to leave poo bags lying around. I have occasionally been to the Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve where there are no bins. If Chipdog does his business as we are setting off I put the bag by the wheel of my car to pick up on my return otherwise I carry the blummin' thing around with me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 5 hours ago, taxi4ballet said: Yes, well. We could see them going into the eaves. Turns out that the nest was not in my loft at all. It was in my next-door neighbour's loft. Well, it was. It isn't now. It fell through their bedroom ceiling yesterday evening. How frightening 😱 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 54 minutes ago, Quintus said: Firmly in Room 101 - the ubiquitous little black plastic bags of dog poo that infest every country walk we to go on, no matter how remote. I really don't get this phenomenon; someone once told me that they'd put such a bag down on a circular walk so as to pick it up on their return rather than carrying it round, but there are thousands of the disgusting objects that have clearly been laying around for weeks. It's worse than not picking up the mess in the first place, as it just adds plastic to the environment. Grrr. We’ve noticed an increase in this behaviour. We generally do one of three walks across fields and since the pandemic there have been more poo bags but also a new habit of people discarding wipes in ditches and verges. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 Not to mention all the discarded single-use face masks ... (NB: try searching on "Terracycle" for a way of recycling those where appropriate) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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