what is everyone doing?

[megustaleer]

4 hours ago, momac said:

 ESP anyone?

Or just coincidence?

 

Yesterday i went on an outing with the local U3A to Exbury Gardens, in Hampshire (on the edge of the New Forest, I think, - we certainly saw lots of New Forest ponies as we drove along)

 

The Gardens are famous, apparently, for their magnificent displays of rhododendrons and azaleas in the spring. As I'm not keen on rhododendrons and azaleas it's a good job we went in autumn, when they are not doing anything much. It is a very big woodland garden, and the trees were lovely, particularly the acers and nyssas - and one huge liquidambar, which made me a bit sad as I had planted a liquidambar in the garden of our old house, and it was just getting to be a decent size and a reliable tapestry of colour at this time of year.

 I sat on a bench underneath an oak, just to enjoy the woodland smells, but was 'rained' upon by masses of acorns, so didn't sit for long.

I was also pleased by the number and variety of toadstools and other fungi I saw growing under the trees. No-one else seemed to have noticed them, but I have enjoyed fungus spotting since Elder Son was small, when we used to collect them and make spore prints to identify them. I still have the scrapbook he made of the prints - somewhere, I think.

I regretted not taking my camera, but I have so many photographs of similar garden visits that I never look at, so had decided that there was no point

 

I do miss trees - round here they all seem to grow at an angle, beaten into submission by the south westerly winds.

 

[momac]

Thanks iff, it certainly had me wondering.  Jung had done some sort of study on 'coincidences' which were strange, and he had a name for it.  I should have looked it up before I posted.  Anyway, there was one other really unusual happening to Dave and I several years ago.  We moved from Richmond, British Columbia to Burlington, Ontario in 1978, a distance of about 3200 miles, when Dave was transferred.  Some time later a newer, bigger shopping centre was built in a neighbouring town, and we thought we would go and see what it was like.  While shopping there I happened to glance at a neighbouring store and was amazed to see our good friends, Jack and Bea, who live a couple of streets over from our former home in Richmond.  They were visiting friends in a nearby town and had decided to drive to the same shopping centre we were at.  That was quite a coincidence, all those miles away and we end up in the same place at the same time.  I think maybe the Jung word I was looking for was synchronicity.  Very strange.

[iff]

Finished work at 12:30 because we are being hit by tropical storm Ophelia, it is suppose to be the worst to hit the country in 30 years.

 

 

[Binker]

Iff, Ophelia hitting Ireland has made it on to the news in the U.S., despite the fact of near-constant hits on the U.S. by hurricanes this year.  We just are not used to seeing them hit anywhere in the U.K. (or Europe or anywhere so far north for that matter).  Best of luck.

[momac]

Looks like Ireland will take the brunt of it and the south west portion of Scotland, so our BGO Glaswegians and our other Scots please stay safe and you particularly iff, hope you are not near where there might be storm surge.

 

I have a friend in Renfrew who has a caravan (trailer) on Gair Loch so I hope she stays home until the storm passed

Edited October 16, 2017 by momac

[lunababymoonchild]

We remain unaffected so far, but we have seen winds of up to and including 90 miles an hour so not particularly concerned, but thanks for the well wishes.

[iff]

The last update was that 400,000 homes or so were without electricity which is about one quarter of our homes are affected, mostly in the south and west (we're north east so we haven't had the worst of it) but that is a big population of here to be without power.

[megustaleer]

I hope all BGO members are keeping safe while the wild remnants of Ophelia work their way up the west side of these islands. Not sorry that this one is giving the SE a miss this time, I still remember '87 very clearly, even though we didn't suffer any damage to our property. I have been looking through the book of post-storm photographs published afterwards, and they are still quite shocking - all those woodlands looking like someone has spilled a big box of matches over the landscape! Not to mention all the damage to peoples homes. They got it much worse down here than where we were living at the time, and there are a couple of photographs from here in the book. Lets hope that the damage to life, property and the landscape is less this time - at least we got proper advance warning, so that precautions could be taken.

 

The weekend visit of Grandbaby and his parents went well, other than some trouble with local buses causing them to arrive much later than anticipated. He is a very lively, sociable baby and gave us much pleasure. Elder Son and family came for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon (minus Eldest Grandson, who doesn't cope well with lots of people in a confined space). It was great to have them all here, but I was totally shattered by the time they left. Not sure I am quite recovered yet, and I have yet to change the spare room from bedroom back to 'hobby' room' - that will probably not be completed until next weekend.

[tagesmann]

I lived on the south coast in 1987.  We had quite a bit of damage in our area.  One on my friends had a chimney come through her roof and land on the end of her bed.  I slept through the whole thing.

 

We had an overcast red/pink sky for most of the day.  I had to turn on the lights a few times.  Lots of wind since about 9pm.  I'm wide awake at 3am, but that's not due to the wind, which hasn't died down yet.

[momac]

Glad that all seem to be safe from the storm, although so many thousands of people without power in Ireland is not too good for them.  Hopefully power will be restored quickly.  Do most people still have houses where there are working fireplaces iff?

 

Nice that it avoided you Meg, in your new home.  The visit from the Grandbaby and family must have been really enjoyable. The aftermath and tidy up can wait until you feel like doing it Meg.

 

I can remember the gales that blew in from the Irish Sea when we lived in Blackpool, the one men's store on the promenade used to have it's big window blown in every winter until they finally found a solution to keep it safe.  I liked going down to the promenade and watching the waves come over the railings, it was exciting to watch and sometimes a bit damp.

 

That red sky must have been a really unusual sight Tag, might be a bit scary unless you knew what was causing it.  In our news it said that the wind had picked up sand from the Sahara, a small world!

 

[momac]

3 hours ago, tagesmann said:

 

 

We had an overcast red/pink sky for most of the day.  I had to turn on the lights a few times.  Lots of wind since about 9pm.  I'm wide awake at 3am, but that's not due to the wind, which hasn't died down yet.

You suffering from insomnia Tag?  I've been up reading since 12:30, went to bed once then got back up again to read, but then I can sleep later in the morning if I want to.

[lunababymoonchild]

I was up all night and have no idea why.  Finally fell over around 4.20am and dreamed a lot.  It was windy overnight but no obvious damage

[tagesmann]

4 hours ago, momac said:

You suffering from insomnia Tag?  I've been up reading since 12:30, went to bed once then got back up again to read, but then I can sleep later in the morning if I want to.

Yes I am Mo. I can cope with it, except when I have to get before 6 to travel.  Then it's a pain.

[momac]

4 hours ago, tagesmann said:

Yes I am Mo. I can cope with it, except when I have to get before 6 to travel.  Then it's a pain.

 

That's usually the prime worry time as soon as the head hits the pillow.  I have to be careful not to tune in to Trump's latest nonsense before going to bed and wondering whether the next day will have us all involved in a shooting war.

 

[momac]

7 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

I was up all night and have no idea why.  Finally fell over around 4.20am and dreamed a lot.  It was windy overnight but no obvious damage

 

Some nights can be like that Luna. Glad you had no wind damage.

[momac]

We had our first hard frost last night.  When I got up this morning the roofs were white, so it must have been down to freezing last night.  Autumn is my favourite season, especially if it's sunny, breezy days and cool nights.

 

Was reading a book by Tess Gerritsen, she writes well, looks like it is going to be a CIA mystery, good so far but bed beckons.

[lunababymoonchild]

I love frosty days, Momac.  Rarely get them here now.

 

For those who don't already know, I have shingles.  It's very mild but I still don't feel very well and, because I'm infectious, confined to quarters.  The good news is that after being diagnosed yesterday and prescribed medication I got a full night's sleep last night, the first in around 5 or 6.  That always makes the difference to me.

[momac]

Good that you are able to get much needed rest Luna, shingles is an unpleasant disease.

 

Frost again this morning but still lots of green leaves on the trees.  Weather people say it's because we have had an unusually warm Fall this year that is delaying the change of colour and lots of leaves still hanging on.

[megustaleer]

 So sorry you've got shingles, Luna. it's a nasty, painful  illness, so I hope it clears up quickly.

 

 

There was mention of a widespread frost over here in the weather forecast this morning, Momac - but I can't remember when for. It's either Sunday or Monday - just after the clocks go back, anyway.

It's the first country-wide frost of the winter, and while Mr meg is dreading it I am hoping that it will put paid to the courgettes and tomatoes I can't bring myself to pull up because they are still growing and slowly (very slowly) producing fruit.I am quite looking forward to putting the garden to bed, and leaving it tidy for the winter. Not that I ever quite manage that as winter usually arrives with a vengeance before I have finished

I have made a bit of a start, I spent 5 hours in the garden yesterday carefully unearthing tulip bulbs from the big tub I had put them in this time last year, and replanting them in the front border, where I intend they should stay for the foreseeable...

I have been very stiff and aching all day today!!

[momac]

Hi Meg - sounds like you are still working hard on the gardening unearthing the tulips.  We haven't planted tulips the last few years as the squirrels seem to find them quite a delicacy.  However, seeing as Dave and I are getting too old and creaky to do much bulb planting this year I contacted the firm which does any of our required outside maintenance and they have a landscaper.  He's a nice young man and will take out our summer flowers which are almost all withered, although the geraniums are still showing lots of colour, prepare the two small flower beds and plant a variety of bulbs, King Alfred daffs, some narcissus, tulips, snow drops and crocus and maybe hyacinth, secure netting over the beds and remove it in the Spring when the shoots come up.  So I can stop fretting over the bulb planting.  It hadn't occurred to me when younger that there would come a time when I needed gardening and household help but I'm really appreciative of it now.  All it takes is a budget adjustment.

 

Green leaves still on the trees but are dropping slowly without ever turning colour which is unusual but a couple more nights of frost will hurry them along.  The heating has been turned on, the thermostat switched from air conditioning to heat. We had temps over 20 C just a couple of weeks ago.

 

[tagesmann]

11 hours ago, megustaleer said:

 There was mention of a widespread frost over here in the weather forecast this morning

Looks like I'll be lifting the Dahlias.

[momac]

Tag, dahlias are lovely, we haven't had any in the garden for a couple of years but it's something to think about for the Spring.

[tagesmann]

Mine survived last winter in their pots.  Some where a few year old tubers and some had been bought that year as bedding.

This year they went in the border and so won't over-winter.  Every year the display gets bigger and better and to be sure of a good display next year I will be lifting the tubers and putting them in the rafters in the garage for the winter.  I might try hanging them in old tights, which I read is a good way of keeping a good air flow.

[momac]

I think that's how we lost our dahlias by not lifting them and they were killed off during the winter under piles of snow. That's a good idea of hanging them in the rafters Tag, there will be enough air flow to keep them in good shape - make sure the tights aren't ones in current use! 

[megustaleer]

Woke to another Glorious autumn day, so we took ourselves off to the National Trust's Sheffield Park and Garden, to take a walk round the parkland (which is free) as I was needing to see some trees other than the wind-stunted specimens we have around here. I do rather miss the trees I planted in our old garden

 

What we didn't realise was that this is the main weekend for autumn colour in the garden, and every NT member for miles around turned up to enjoy the spectacle. We stuck to our original plan of walking around the park, which has some fine, large oak trees. Maybe they are not as brilliantly coloured as the ones we'd have had to pay to see, but still worth admiring, and we didn't have to fight our way through the crowds to see them.

We have dropped very heavy hints to both sons about clubbing together to get us NT membership for our Christmas present - there are plenty of NT properties within striking distance, and that would get us out and about a bit. Not to mention that we wouldn't have to find it house room, or dust it!