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ye thats the one :).

Snow this morning and its turned to sleet / rain now , its been a rotten day . rest of the week looks wet but a bit warmer.

I don't like buying things from abroad if it can be helped, have you got any lenses with the camera are is it a fix one?
 

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Yes, very cold and that's why Blackie has been retired. He didn't like it, but it looked like it was going to rain soon.

As soon as I bought it, some indigenous sellers contacted me and as they asked for £135, and postage on top, I didn't really want to haggle as I hated people doing that to me. The camera is mirrorless and will come with a lens which will allow me to take the photo. Nobody wants to know about Samsung. One critic actually showed that the lens was heavier than the camera and you can't even rest the camera resting on a flat surface properly as the whole thing will lunge forward as the lens is too heavy. LOL!

I missed my bid on the £75 one and there was one from British Heart Foundation. The listing said marks present throughout .. So I changed my mind.

I love my Samsung as it has a good sensor and allows quite a bit of decent light in. I took some hellebores in the town centre 2 weeks ago and it was dark, light further blocked by highrise flats right above, but without any fiddling, the details all came out very well. Sometimes, I used photoshop to raise the brightness of photos. I haven't been doing this for a long time. It's so cold and the wind is biting.

Tutu
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I think it's the same flower we are talking about. Just all called Orientalis mix.
 

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A bit colder this morning, but it seems to be a good day to be digging holes

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Going to dig some holes in the front garden to plant something, peonies, irises and even some hellebores. Got delivery of one yellow/green snowdrops, and ordered 3 yellow flowering plants from ebay. Then there are 2 more deliveries and I have to put away my credit cards.

Got a green double
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I think, in 10 years' time, I will collapse if I keep all my receipts for plants .. Love this story! At least, I have my flowers to admire whilst he has to store his treasure and this precious watch is only allowed occasional sorties!
 
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alp

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Seems to be warmer in here! The mercury will climb, by the look of it.

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Planted out 4 peonies to the west facing front garden - Coral Fay, Coral Sunset and 2 others which lost their labels. Nothing changed there! :banghead:

A very dirty Diggory
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New Lily flower
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Ceres
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A pink Anemone
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My raised bed boards are still staring at me .. or my son ..

Sowed a tray of Thalictrum seeds.

Was researching on compost for snowdrops and then saw John Innes No 3 suggested by various sites. Was thinking making my own. Went into my storage unit no 1 - garage - and suddenly saw TWO bought reduced. Very happy. But the texture was terrible. Water couldn't drain. As I have bought so many snowdrops and they all look similar, I was thinking of potting them up. Potted up one for Godfrey Owen and then asked myself, "If I were these snowdrops, would I like John Innes No or free range in the garden, with John Innes No 3 thrown in?" Then I saw Blackie travelling around looking for food and happiness .. Well, raised beds is probably the solution. Camera to come today, dreading it a bit. Spent tooooooo much money.
 
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The veiny double hellebore looks nice .

It been a damp start to the day but cloudy and dry for the rest of it, not that cold either, tomorrow forecast rain most of the day.

When I use John innes I mix it worth compost etc to what the plant / bulb needs. For example I got some lily to plant up I will use one third JI no3 - third multi compsot - third grit or sharp sand. I got some snowdrops in a pot outside for planting out , the soil I used was out of the garden no compost etc.

Have you used the camera yet alp ? how is it ? You'll probably have to ask your son how to use it / get the best out of it first ;)
 

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You mean Lily, Perki? I bought 3 plugs for £9.99 and gifted them to Grey Parrott PhilippaS. She has green fingers and she told me they were all flowering about a month ago! She named the area after my ex's surname. Well, one year's wait is not bad!

The camera hasn't arrived. Was sitting next to the window half a day. Yes, those cameras are very complicated - and I have to buy lenses. It comes with one, but not a brilliant one. Enough for me to photo my flowers. I will need to fashion a black card and walk around Gadgetz to find some decent lenses.

The insurance company of my previous car kept sending me urgent email, asking me to reinstate my Direct Debit. I had nobody to ask, so I emailed back, explaining that the car was written off 2nd December and they effected the DD for December around 20th. The car was sold before mid December. I googled and read that if I notified DVLA that the car was a write off and that it had been sold to a company via insurance company, I would get a refund for road tax and they would have notify my insurance company and any remaining insurance payment cancelled.

I emailed them that I actually phoned a director's staff, asking her if she could help me to stay on as a customer the day before I had chosen a car to buy. She said yes. on the 14th this month, at about 10am, I called her again and she transferred me to the sales and there a girl quoted me £2000 plus which was the same as the cheque they gave me for the car. She insisted that there was no leeway, so I stopped the call. The car dealership found an insurance company for us for a week and my son drove the car to work.

The insurance company emailed me back after all this explanation that I must agree to their proposition within 7 days and once it's effected, nothing could be reversed. The suggest that I pay £162 plus to cover the remaining premium to 21 May when the insurance policy lapses, which is more or less the amount I would have to pay if I had not cancelled the DD. In the end, I wrote a yet another review of the company online. They cancelled the policy straight away. I immediately removed my latest review and left the previous good one intact. I emailed them about this and they were polite. What a lot of stress. I had quite a bit of to and fro on social media with them before I took my final move.

I had another source of stress. My car insurance company arranged a hired car for us. Initially, they said for 6 days and then they allowed us to use it for 14 days. A man in the car hire showed my son how to use the car. I was outside as my buggy was bigger than the back of the car! I'm not joking. Son asked me which card to use and I was surprised that he needed to use a card. All I heard was that enter your pin and sign here. Then later, I got an agreement online quoting that £111 had been taken out of my account. I thought it was a bit odd and that it could be for possible damage to the car or lack of petrol when we returned the car. I phoned them and no phone call or reply. In the end, I had to review the company online. After that, a person called and told me it was refunded.

I do hope this is the end of all my car sagas!

There was something pinky in the John Innes No 3 and it seemed to be flesh surrounding a piece of hone! I will add something to it. I have already done one pot, but the water drained very slowly. I have now decided to use various pots to put my various snowdrops inside, but I will saw off all the bottoms so the snowdrops can free range for nutrients in the garden which is clay, clay and clay although I had layered a thick layer of horse manure on top. That way, I can keep the names of the snowdrops. In each pot, I will put 3 labels, with one labelled one facing the side of the pot so that sunshine can't fade the writing. In between, I will put some hellebores so that these snowdrops aren't too close to each other. Next year if I'm still alive, I will slit the flowers and cross pollinate them.
 
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alp

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Woke up to a much brighter day! Well, it's 7.10am

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Went to have an eye test as free eye-testing leaflet was sent through door. Didn't really want to, but I sat on my glass and one of the arms broke. The old glasses also missed the tip of the arm, the edges were chipped in 2 places, and another one very blurry. Never had I expected that to be such a big business with 3 people tending to me.

The optician took pics of my eyes and one had a layer of haze on it. She told me that I had cataract, but eyesight still good, no need for referral. Then another lady helped me choose a pair of glasses and she put down £69. I pointed out to her that I had already had 2 pairs at £19 in mind. The price came down dramatically. Then I had to spot the sporadic lights. I was hot and bothered. It was a long process. In the end, the optician told me that I missed out quite a lot of those lights in the upper areas of both eyes and that might be a problem that my optic nerves were not sending strong signals to those areas. She even asked me for my doctor's address. Never had I anticipated such complications. Thank heavens for the free eye tests. If you have a free eye test voucher, make use of it please and I hope you come out better than me! I have to go for another spot the lights session. I really have to roll my eyes and exercise and eat healthily!

I followed a video on another forum and managed to peel off all the petals of some of my Diggory and yellow snowdrops. It was pure fun. I tapped the yellow snowdrops and not a single pollen fell out. I tapped the Diggory and hey pesto, tons fell onto the foil. :cat: I kept dragging the stigmas of my yellow snowdrop, hoping to impregnate them. I should really use Polar Bear as it tilts the bloom upwards, but the bear is still napping! Not a bud in sight!
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I kept breaking the tepals of the yellow snowdrops as I wanted to see the inner markings.
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Mr Grumpy would like to say HELLO! Pure joy!
 

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It's raining now.
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Yesterday was gloriously sunny, but the winds were strong and destructive. Poor Blackie stood on a tub of water and would not dare to move. Normally, when I called him, he would coming running, only to turn 90 degree when he's near. I now realise that my hopping and flying games are probably too much fun, too rough for him. Delicate soul! It gave me quite a fright as I thought he was Mr Fox's toy!

I thought all these sticks were dead. Pulled one out and saw roots. Couldn't believe my eyes. Most of my dahlia cuttings had died.
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This is the tulip tree and a lot of people have warned me how tall it might get.
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Broad beans are coming up. I have already had several growing to 8 inches tall in the garden.
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A basal beauty!

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A yellow snowdrop
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Don't know how I managed it. It was so windy and hence the blur!

A boring hepatica. Wish I had bought a blue one!
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Woke up too early. Tried to go back to bed but laid wide awake. 18.5c seems to be quite cold here. Yesterday, went to freegle some pots and got some Plumbago cuttings for free and also some variegated salvia (which I had paid £2 for and died on me last year). Also got a compost bin, near new for free.

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Never heard of plumbago until yesterday. Also came home with clematis white evergreen cuttings
Went to the allotment and found my Primrose Warburg flowering.

Found 2 big clumps of this
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Just when you think it's safe to sow seeds, the weather seems to enjoy wrecking my plan. Weather report says the jet dream is going to whip up or supercharge right above west of Scotland and it's going to be turbulent.

Hope the camera is coming today.
 
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I hope all my plants are still OK.
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Must be a shock to their system. Looks like we're going to have a cold night tonight as well!:eek:

The camera came yesterday and it looked like new. Of course, I needed to buy a macro lens, but even if the 2 added up together, it will be cheaper than buying a Nikon or Canon. Son made the camera talk to the laptop and this morning, the laptop started up with a Samsung auto backup icon.

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This is a Harvington, Smokey Blues - very bloody! LOL! I love it though!

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My usual loyal fan! Pink with freckles
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Tutu
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The above 2 flowers look nearly the same, but the first 2 are far superior because of its raised collar - such a lot of details and it's lovely to have them.

This one is a rare one as it has paler edges all around the petals. A new one to me!
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This one is costly - an arm and a leg or 2 arms and 2 legs! But when I think of mortality and how much I need to spend on survival, I bought it and didn't feel too bad after spending all our savings on son's car.
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Still the old camera, but as you can see, apart from the last photo, details are all there!
 

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Windy last night and this morning but it all a dry ish and forecast to be cold but dry until saturday

Sowed some seeds the other day bacopa and antirrhinum . Cut back the last of the perennials mainly the echinacea which I leave last because the chaffinch like the seeds. While cutting the Echinacea back I noticed something growing which I didn't recognises it at first ( I almost stood on it ) remembering back its my eremus ( foxtail lily ) :) didn't think it would survive previous attempts have failed, hopefully it flowers .

Pruned the wisteria as well nearly forgot about that one.

Planted the new grapevine Lakemont , I think the sparrows keep getting into the GH through the grapevine hole, I don't mind them getting in its just getting back out if I haven't been in the GH a while, the last one were having mud baths in my pots in the GH chucking compost everywhere I just cleaned the GH a few weeks ago .
 

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Glad that Colin actually LIKES my post, unlike those who read and enjoy and never tell others that they enjoy what they are using. Not that I mind, I use this as a record, but some appreciation shows gratitude or manners. I wonder if some suppliers read this thread! LOL!

I hope Wilko does and they can buy what I like and sell them - making life easier for all the demoncratise gardening .. people can buy more varied plants easily and at a better price than those eye watering £2.99 or £6.99!

3 photos using the new camera and the light input didn't seem to be as good as the old one; I was indoors though.
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I am going to fashion a black cardboard to make my flowers stand out. Shame is that this camera is a bit heavier and there is no way I can upskirt the flowers with one hand to do a decent take. I also bid successfully for a macro lens and will go to London to collect it. At the moment, it's difficult as son works every day except Sunday and as we know, the weather is reported to be apocalyptic - jet stream supercharging and ALL parts of the country will be affected. I'm taking this seriously as some of my stuff just got blown down.

My radishes, dahlias and others are sprouting. Went to the allotment last Sunday and saw a supposedly permanently depressed man had sown some leek like thingy on his plot. Good sign.

If your grape tastes good, Perki, can I stake my name on it? I have a whole set of freegled wine making equipment and son said he would like to have a go. The man next door in the allotment always entertains his friend drinking his own wine in his quaintly decorated shed. A whiff of alcohol when he's passing by confirmed his passion. I saw that Mary's grape cuttings had shown buds! Very EXCITED as I knew her grapes tasted good.

Just when I was thinking of sowing some melons, the weather reports all herald disasters! Soon, I will have to adjust my idea of weather, not just rain. This is the UK and the weather needs to be ignored for one to get on!
 
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I could do to go wilko or else where my scoop gone awol and its driving me bananas surprising how much you miss something so fickle, I bet its been buried in the compost bin.

It be a good 3 years until I get grapes 2 years at the earliest but its recommended to remove them or let one or two bunches form. Bit early for sowing melons I think, I am going to sow mine earlier this year but its not normally warm enough to get a good crop .
 

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It's freezing here. F28 Pump/ water shortage.

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Just what I need when it's freezing here

It was warm and glorious yesterday! Really was warm!

What has gone missing, Perki? Dahlias?

Unfortunately, I am not 100% my Rajmen Firecracker is still alive. All the cuttings I took have died as I was too mean to turn on the propagator. Also, it rained so much and there has been so much condensation that the electrics in the lean to short circuited. It was a nightmare. Bread failed to rise and now the Panasonic is being housed inside the kitchen.

Wilko charges £2 to £3 - not bad at all. Shame they don't even do Franz Kafka this year. Not that I need it, but it is a beauty.

These photos are from the small Samsung PL20 and they are much better.

Daphne aureomarginata! Not the variegated one though
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After this photo, my biggest Diggory was no more. I ripped all the tepals and whorl apart and pollinated it with something yellow.
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After these photos, Mr Grumpy has donated its pollen to somebody else.
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3 more deliveries to come and that's the end of my splurge! Now my car insurance company is chasing me for the rest of the premium which should have run till the 21 May. Gee! Do I still have to pay when the car is no more?
 
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