Gardening is so depressing.

[Colin]

Hi,

And wait, and wait... sigh.

I understand what you are saying Mary and I think everyone gets fed up especially as winter drags on but I think your bottom line really does sum it up for me; I've been waiting for years for our winter to end; the only difference between winter and summer here is the temperature of the rain; the last full week of hot sunshine I remember was years ago one Easter when I replaced the chimney stack it lasted a full week and was absolutely magical; it usually rains a lot here but all last year was something else; it seldom let up and I was frozen and pelted with hail when it should have been hot and sunny midsummer; we enjoyed a few sunny warm days last year but unfortunately these didn't last long enough to dry the soil; I'm considering planting future plants giving them wellies? The French lavender seeds I sowed in the shed got off to a decent start but like your seedlings Mary they became leggy and eventually fell over so I dumped the lot. Strangely though I think I was to blame by over watering them.

Thanks Mary for your useful suggestion regarding making a broadfork or other garden tools; I'm actually ahead of you regarding this; years ago I did make a heavy steel four pronged fork that I used to aerate the lawn; I might have a picture of it but if not I think it's still in the shed so will take a picture and post it; such projects though are excellent to while away winter blues. Thanks for posting the link which I'm sure will also be of interest to other members; I'd never previously heard of a broadfork before you mentioned one but last year I did buy a new stainless steel fork.

Thanks Becky for your thoughts; like a broadfork I've never previously heard of Marcus Aurelius so two new things I've learned today and you've been kind enough to draw my attention to Marcus so I'll respond and have a nosy. I'm more stubborn than I am stoic; I stand so much then I dig in and do something about it; it's taken a long time for me to give up waiting for the weather to improve so time I realized I could die before it does the way it's going; every day I spend here on the keyboard isn't a wasted day but I need to be active and use my head and hands after all I've been doing this since leaving school 55 years ago and I dislike being forced to be lazy. I don't believe in knocking myself up doing exercise and I'll never join a gym but I do work on the principle of use it or lose it?

I hope you're now fully recovered Upsy Daisy from your surgery; I've been in and out of hospital so many times over the years I think I'm attached with a bungee cord; hopefully yours is just a one off and you're now raring to get cracking in the garden but this time hang back before planting? I enjoy our chats and I'll be in touch shortly; I've been bogged (?) down installing an Android and copying hundreds of movies to memory sticks which tied up my computer for a few days so in this respect I've kept myself busy but I need to catch up with my friends; I'll pop over to The Night Garden for a natter with you shortly.

Well said Silentrunning; farmers actually complain quite a bit over here and I think they are right to do so; the farmers work hard; spend a great deal of money on machinery and crops/livestock taking all the risks whilst the supermarkets beat them down on price until they cannot survive any longer; what a poor way to earn a living; many years ago when I was a kid it was often said there was no such thing as a poor farmer but things have changed for the worse. The only way I tolerate our climate is that I've no choice in the matter if I want to go outside; Blackie and Gale are my constant companions here on the valley; it's no fun trying to decorate in our front room during August needing a floodlight to see what I'm doing; please see the picture below showing my working environment even indoors where the dire weather still upsets me; this was summer.

Whilst looking for the floodlight picture I also found the picture of the heavy fork I made years ago Mary; offcuts of metal and a bit of welding and I had the fork in less time than going out to buy one.

My workshop activities are quite remote from gardening but I don't mind adding them for interest; I was so fed up a few days ago I carried one of my vintage radios down to the workshop; it had blown up quite a while ago when I plugged it in; I replaced two capacitors but there's still a direct short circuit somewhere to find so I'll wait until I feel more settled in the workshop before fully sorting it out; vintage radio restoration was an hobby I adopted and enjoyed for about ten years; the picture below shows what fun it can be. I enjoy lots of hobbies but I wanted to get into the gardens.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks for cheering me up Marlingardener. We could exchange stories regarding moving; Bron and I too had lots of debris and rubbish to shift; an aged mother together with her "peeping Tom" son lived here; the son must have lived on fast food because there were dozens of the trays plus ove 30 very large empty glass pop bottles strewn around; petrol had been poured down the drains and the rear garden was badly overgrown so I understand what you were up against but it's been worth it hasn't it; bad weather here is normal. I've switched off thinking about gardening please see below a project I'm considering tackling that will interest me and be a bit of a challenge.

Thanks alp; yes the smell of freshly cut timber is beautiful and I used to get high on the smell at work every morning when I visited the timber department I was in charge of; it set me up for the day. I'm always very saddened when I fell a mature tree especially trees like the two huge specimens I felled and disposed of; the rain really brought out the smell; if I could bottle this smell I'd quickly become very rich indeed. What lovely flowers; thanks for adding the pictures to give me hope of better things to come. I just had to smile when you mentioned the pond; I already have one that I work in given our rainfall?

My thoughts are now heading into the workshop; I have a very rare and expensive German made Lorch Schmidt precision engineering lathe; this lathe had been languishing in a scrap yard for over 20 years before I bought it; I fully restored it a few years ago but have seldom used it since; the headstock and tailstock bore tapers are non standard so tooling is difficult to come by and when it is available the cost brings tears to my eyes. This lathe could be 70 years old and is driven by flat belts. I'm now considering upgrading this Lorch adding a 1.1KW inverter rated 3 phase motor connected in Delta and VFD (Variable frequency drive) powering the lathe through a Poly-V belt drive. I can make my own tooling or modify second hand tooling like chucks etc; this won't be a big challenge for me because I've already carried out such a modification on my Union Graduate woodturning lathe; the Lorch however will be more difficult. Below are two pictures of the Lorch lathe; I've posted these previously but now I hope to upgrade this lathe; first job is to check I've still got the electric motor then I can make a start. Gardening will appear easy to you members who are experts in gardening I'm more at home in the workshop.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

Corr! Blimey! The last photo nearly blinded me! Did you have delivery yesterday?

See you should be in your elements when you are with your toys. Seriously, go and get some trilliums, erythroniums, meconopsis and try your hands and I am sure you will be a very happy bunny!

 

[Owdboggy]

You want depression? Try selling your house and finding a suitable one. Or look at your own created garden and realise you can no longer maintain it at the level it deserves to be.

 

[alp]

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks alp. trilliums, erythroniums, meconopsis; I hadn't a clue what these three were so I copied and pasted into the browser so I've learned a bit more today. I took many images of the lathe during it's restoration and having it looking so clean it's a shame to use it.

I'm much more cheerful this morning; I wandered into the workshop very early and switched on the 2KW fan heater and the mini hi-fi giving me creature comforts; I'd just had breakfast otherwise there would have been a mug of hot tea on the bench too. I was wrapped up well in my Eskimo kit and I was keen to break away from this feeling of being so fed up.

Now for some fun and enjoyment for a change; the weather can self destruct now for all I care I'm working under cover where it can't torment me further. I knew I had a suitable electric motor I needed to modify the Lorch lathe with so I pulled the motor from its shelf; this motor I've used previously hence the assorted paintwork and it was a "C" flange mounting whereas I wanted foot mounting so no problem just find a pair of feet and set screws. It didn't take long to secure the feet and now I removed the terminal box cover to inspect the connections; this is a 1.1KW 3 phase motor. 220-240 / 380-415 RPM 2850; 80 frame size with a shaft dia 19mm. I took a picture of the terminals and 3 copper links which can be seen bridging three pairs of wires; this is shown connected in "Delta" allowing it to run on 3 phase 240V so apart from needing a pulley and paintwork that's the motor nicely sorted out without problems.

I then removed the dust sheet from the lathe and took a few basic measurements because the motor needs a new mounting designing and making. Looking through my offcuts I pulled out a pair of angle iron brackets I had previously welded and these can be pressed into service as a starting point; the paint on the brackets needs replacing so I then set about removing this old paint using my small angle grinder; I have a gallon of industrial paint stripper but I dislike using such chemicals anyway it was nice to attack it with the angle grinder filling the workshop with the smell of burnt paint and tortured metal. I've knocked off for dinner but what a wonderful way to cheer myself up; I'm now on with a new project to get interested in modifying the lathe and the gardens can now take back seat. I took a couple more pictures; one of the Robert Sorby Patriot chuck I bought a few years ago for for Graduate woodturning lathe and also two Holly blanks I turned; these will possibly be turned into small lidded boxes in due course; when I felled an holly tree years ago I saved sections and these have been stored under the bungalow air drying. No moaning from me this morning I'm now back on top. After dinner I plan to wash the car assuming it doesn't snow or rain; at the moment it's just dull but dry for a change. I'll add details of the lathe work on a dedicated thread because it's a project in its own right.

Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement; I really do appreciate it.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Becky]

Glad to hear it! I'm looking forward to seeing / hearing more about your work

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Good on you @Colin .....keep smiling