5 Gardening Dairy: Happy gardening and happy snapping ..

[Gemma]

Hello everyone!

I spent my morning cleaning house, now it's time to sit down and catch up on the forums!
@alp I love Cyclamens! They remind me of the woods in Italy! My mom sent me 3 bulbs years ago and I was so happy...I carefully planted them under pine trees, but the 2 minutes I left and went to get water, some creature have dug them up and bite a chunk off each one...I suspect Chipmunks!
Those Bluebells (I have a koi name Bluebell) are awesome! I wonder if I can find them here!

Enjoy your weekend, all!

 

[Gemma]

Just come back from viewing 2 houses. You're very lucky to have already known the people next door, John, and they seem promising. I hope it's good for your business as well. (this emoji seems to be suffering from too much botox!)

building a one story bungalow for themselves and a new garage with apt. on top for their father. This makes me giggle. Sounds like ...

Very disappointed with the viewings - the photos show a big fore-court, turning out to be a 3 foot wide strip. The living room is lovely 18 foot by 15 and very bright. Shame the garden is also small. I wish they would put down how long and wide the garden is. It's so far out as well. But it is a lovely house.

The other one is bang right in a built up area. Yet, because it is in Brentwood, people came into the view like crazy. About 4 families were in the house in the first 20 minutes! The estate agent told me that there were 238 people asking for first notice for house in the same price range as my budget! And it only takes a week and a half to shift a house! Whoa! But it's such a lovely wooded area. Woods and fields generously filled the area. The area almost seems a bit snobbish! Then went to one independent nursery and there was nobody there except one car. People obviously are holding tight to their money.

Sorry you're having a hard time finding your new home! ):

 

[alp]

but the 2 minutes I left and went to get water, some creature have dug them up and bite a chunk off each one...I suspect Chipmunks!
Those Bluebells (I have a koi name Bluebell) are awesome! I wonder if I can find them here!

Enjoy your weekend, all!

In fact, the bluebells are reduced now and if you check how plump or healthy the bulbs are, you could see them next year. That's really a shame. You should have fed your little critters! Glad that we don't have chipmunks, deer or rabbits here.

re: viewing houses really make me realise that people are just ruthless bartering. I need to acquire some of this ruthlessness. But I don't think I can do so, as the vendor has already reduced £5K. How can people reduced the asking price by £25K.

I love cyclamen, too. I need to move first and then create an area for them. Love to see more photos of your garden. Here 75 feet long garden is considered a biggish garden. If I bought this bungalow, it's because it comes with a bit of land.

 

[Gemma]

. Love to see more photos of your garden. Here 75 feet long garden is considered a biggish garden. If I bought this bungalow, it's because it comes with a bit of land.

My first home was in the city, we were lucky enough to get a double lot, which is still very small. When I was expecting my second child we decided to move and we both agreed the house we could always fix/enlarge, but the land we cannot, so we stopped searching for a house with some land, and we began searching for a nice land with a house...if that makes any sense.
I love this place! It has grass hills, wooded perimeters, and the house wasn't bad...but it took us several months of viewings and feeling disappointment before we found the land of our dreams, so don't give up and most important don't lower your expectations out of frustration. Think of the perfect home and garden and just hold that thought in your mind and believe it is out there waiting for you to find it.
I will post pics of my garden when the season opens up...right now it's all under snow, nothing is blooming.

 

[alp]

I have that dream of buying up a piece of land and building on it. Saw a lot of The house £100K built.. Most of them the owners were builders, joiners or had commercial and industrial contacts. Some even got a piece of land from mom's garden! How lucky were they! I could go further out, but the thought of being able to move around 3 or 4 diy stores and 5 or 6 supermarkets is just too much to give up.

I quite enjoy going around house viewing until we have to put the gas in! Oh, dear! £1.14 is the cheapest.

 

[alp]

Wow! Sunshine has returned!

Such a cheerful prospect!

Have to take some photos with such great sunshine!

 

[alp]

Britain faces more snow and sub-zero temperatures in a cold snap which could last for WEEKS - with gritters on standby

• A weaker than normal jet stream has banished a recent stretch of mild weather across the country
• Snow and ice has already been reported in Scotland and in higher altitude areas of northern England
• Forecasters warn we may be on the brink of plummeting temperatures lasting for weeks with rain and snow
• Motorists have been warned about icy conditions on the road and gritters are on stand-by throughout the UK

source
Oh, no! Please no more beast from the east! I must cuddle my potted plants together as I have lost quite a few last year with the cold, snow, and heat and drought!

 

[alp]

Bought a bargain of Fragrant giant lilies collection @ £1.49 with Pretty woman, On stage and High Tea from Home Bargains. Going to scale some for future babies. I am very good at that. Just need to get some vermiculite and make sure I remember to have a look in 6 weeks' time.

Friendly staff at a diy store asked me why I hadn't bought any reduced plants from her. I had to tell her that my whole house had been covered with dust and I had enough dusty leaves to clean. There are 4 families wanting to view my house and yet the plasterer will be here on Tuesday and after that I will have to wait for the plastering to dry. Meanwhile, a house with 0.11 acres of land is on sale in Brentwood. It's asking for £350K and straight away it is under offer! Where is the crying emoji? I want it back and I am bleeding with tears! I so love Brentwood - a lot of woodlands, greenfields … I dream a thousand dreams that I could live there, surrounded by greenery and fresh air ..

 

[alp]

Tennis Australian Open Tsitsipas is one to watch!

Bought some more plastic dust sheets for my plants! LOL! good idea! I also draped it over the 3 toms greenhouses!

@Gemma - what are the plants you want to buy comes spring please? I nearly placed an order of more hellebores but the p&p is £10! and I'm worried that the house move might kill them.

@Perki Have you applied for the job?

 

[Perki]

No didn't bother applying for the job, I probably be good at it though lost count how many times I've been and customers asking for a plant and they didn't have a clue what it was even though they were literally stud a couple of metres away.

I've been looking at plants trying to get them from one place to save on P+P but its proving difficult

 

[alp]

I know. I bought a few plants on fleabay and the postage was £8. In the end, the man was very nice and told me that he would include the hellebore that I want as I overpaid on postage. Then I emailed him about how many plants I could squeeze in the £8, he went schtum!

I have placed an order on another Davidii Involucrata.. Gutted that the other one died because it overheated next to the dry hot dwarf wall which is south/east facing as well as west facing. I mean it was toasted!

£10 carriage is a bit steep, but I did get quite a few hellebores from this place. Now that my agastaches are still going strong, I fancy buying another apricot one! What are you trying to buy, Perki? I so fancy buying the Honka like Zenj's! One black one and one Fragile. I saw it in posh gc and will get discount for being a geriatric .. on a Tuesday! Must see if Wilkinsons stock them first as they charge a bit less!

 

[Perki]

I am after a quite a few plants couple more agastache blue fortune maybe and another coral one - Echinops - indigofera - orange lupin - annabella hydrangea - one or 2 rambling roses - penstemons - brugmansia - cannas - dahlias and probably some others I've forgotten . I thinking about a rodgersia to replace some orange crocosmia but seeing if I fancy something else first.

 

[alp]

Ah, yes. I so want to use my palms to scoop an Annabelle hydrangea and a pink double one called Love

I need to locate my Curly sparkler. One with black stem has died. Zorro cutting showing a bit of life. I'm dreading spring clean once winter is over! Cannas are a bit of a tough job as they can't take the cold weather. I have a dome over some in the border. Most have to be left indoors and now that the living room will be plastered on Tuesday, I'm running out of room in the lean-to! Cannas need to be variegated and showy - big flowers - to tempt me to buy them. I hope to buy a mulberry tree as well.

 

[alp]

No condensation in the bathroom, so it couldn't be that cold. Having said that, I do have an extra source of heat from next door.

Might dig up some snowdrops once the ground softens. Need to label some hellebores. Yesterday, the ground was quite hard because of frost. Another 3 or 4 days of dust starting from tomorrow and they start at 7.30!

 

[alp]

North of Britain is hit by snow as forecasters say cold snap 'could last well into February' - but in the south brave beachgoers go for a SWIM

• Snow and ice has already been reported in Scotland and in the higher altitude areas of northern England
• Cold conditions tonight will bring a frost start tomorrow when rain hits north of England and Scotland
• Forecasters warn we may be on the brink of plummeting temperatures lasting for weeks with rain and snow

Indeed, we had a glorious sunny day yesterday, with sunshine right from 10am to 4pm. A joyous day!

For the US

More than 100 million people are set to be affected by winter storm barreling towards New England with predicted -35F wind chills and two feet of snow

• A winter storm system that battered the Midwest last week is now sweeping east
• 5,000 flights were cancelled on Sunday as the storm heads for New England
• Two-feet of snow is tipped to fall, with several inches already settled in the area
• More than 100 million people will be affected by the storm spanning 15 states
• Plummeting temperatures will see rainfall turning into thick ice overnight
• President Trump said it would be great to have some 'global warming right now'

source

Sounds serious whilst ours is only a fraction of what the US are having.