Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The weather's expected to be fairly wet tomorrow. Today was very overcast, there was a constant level of showers. We're not having a sunny Summer at all.

Mine's been fairly sunny, Ard. Today we expect 29 degrees and sunny. Again. If I get everything done that I need to do in time, then an hour or two on the lake in the late afternoon/early evening is in order.

It's spilling rain here -even the trees look grey. Hope to do some more work on the pond later on, get the edges tidied up and do some planting when the ground is kind.

Kate P wrote:

It's spilling rain here -even the trees look grey. Hope to do some more work on the pond later on, get the edges tidied up and do some planting when the ground is kind.

Sorry to hear it Kate. I hope it improves and you can get your pond done.

Kate P wrote:

It's spilling rain here -even the trees look grey. Hope to do some more work on the pond later on, get the edges tidied up and do some planting when the ground is kind.

Are you going to grow algae for biodiesel ? Damn, you beat me to it.

Whether the weather improves or not, I'll be out in the muck.
Husband is doing a lot of work on the farm as he's in the process of building a shed and he's been delivering to me bits and pieces from his grandmother's old thatched cottage that is no more. There are lovely old granite window sills that I can use as steps and an old gate pier that will be perfect to grow some climbing things around. Also there are useful bits of rotten timber that I can build into the beginnings of a fernery, but probably somewhere more sheltered and overgrown than where the pond is.

I've been thinking about something Squire said on another thread about having a marshy, bogland area and think I'll get around to making a specific area at another site which is naturally sheltered by tall, tall old trees (lots of skinny conifers, crabs, whitethorn - a proper old hedge) and is quite damp and low-lying as it is. It's a part of the garden that never really had much done with it - we didn't level it or seed it with grass and it looks like it wants to stay wild.

The pond itself (which will eventually have a second pond feeding into it, a watermill wheel that I'm determined to make myself someday and at African Dave's suggestion, a few fish I think, to compensate for the fact that I can't have a dog) will never really be finished, and I like the idea of it evolving over time as things around it grow. It's a pretty flat site so it's great to see things with depth and height taking shape.

I've hardly been outdoors at all for a week, so I'm itchy to get going.

What weather this is. I don't think it has stopped pouring since I got up this morning.

I've reached the point at which slightly less thick cloud and lighter rain is enough to get me out in my togs on a stripey towel. We cant let this thing stop us.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The weather's expected to be fairly wet tomorrow. Today was very overcast, there was a constant level of showers. We're not having a sunny Summer at all.

Mine's been fairly sunny, Ard. Today we expect 29 degrees and sunny. Again. If I get everything done that I need to do in time, then an hour or two on the lake in the late afternoon/early evening is in order.

Boy, what weather this is. It's been lashing out of the heavens since the early morning. It's been a constant deluge. Tomorrow's weather is to be something very similar.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The weather's expected to be fairly wet tomorrow. Today was very overcast, there was a constant level of showers. We're not having a sunny Summer at all.

Mine's been fairly sunny, Ard. Today we expect 29 degrees and sunny. Again. If I get everything done that I need to do in time, then an hour or two on the lake in the late afternoon/early evening is in order.

Boy, what weather this is. It's been lashing out of the heavens since the early morning. It's been a constant deluge. Tomorrow's weather is to be something very similar.

It would be very unsporting of me to sound smug. I will just say "I don't really miss the rain" and leave it at that. I hope the weather there improves. And I will have you all in my thoughts at the lakeside this evening as I pour the chilled prosecco.

Slim Buddha wrote:

It would be very unsporting of me to sound smug. I will just say "I don't really miss the rain" and leave it at that. I hope the weather there improves. And I will have you all in my thoughts at the lakeside this evening as I pour the chilled prosecco.

Prosecco? Where did the Moet Chandon go? The worldwide slowdown has finally hit Zuri! It's Toblerone-tightening time!

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

It would be very unsporting of me to sound smug. I will just say "I don't really miss the rain" and leave it at that. I hope the weather there improves. And I will have you all in my thoughts at the lakeside this evening as I pour the chilled prosecco.

Prosecco? Where did the Moet Chandon go? The worldwide slowdown has finally hit Zuri! It's Toblerone-tightening time!

Always, always prosecco on a boat, Ard. It doesn't matter if it spills. The serious stuff is kept for terra firma.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

It would be very unsporting of me to sound smug. I will just say "I don't really miss the rain" and leave it at that. I hope the weather there improves. And I will have you all in my thoughts at the lakeside this evening as I pour the chilled prosecco.

Prosecco? Where did the Moet Chandon go? The worldwide slowdown has finally hit Zuri! It's Toblerone-tightening time!

Always, always prosecco on a boat, Ard. It doesn't matter if it spills. The serious stuff is kept for terra firma.

Whatever, Slim! What'll you be having with the prosecco. Some tasty canapés?

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

It would be very unsporting of me to sound smug. I will just say "I don't really miss the rain" and leave it at that. I hope the weather there improves. And I will have you all in my thoughts at the lakeside this evening as I pour the chilled prosecco.

Prosecco? Where did the Moet Chandon go? The worldwide slowdown has finally hit Zuri! It's Toblerone-tightening time!

Always, always prosecco on a boat, Ard. It doesn't matter if it spills. The serious stuff is kept for terra firma.

Whatever, Slim! What'll you be having with the prosecco. Some tasty canapés?

Yep, and the usual apero stuff. Bündner Schinken, mushroom camembert, mini chäschüechlis, stuffed olives.

(btw, I replied to your "thinking thread" post.)

Slim Buddha wrote:

Yep, and the usual apero stuff. Bündner Schinken, mushroom camembert, mini chäschüechlis, stuffed olives.

(btw, I replied to your "thinking thread" post.)

Wunderbar! I love stuffed olives. They're so juicy and delicious. They'll go well with your sunny weather over in the Alps.

I read your response and I'm glad we have so much common ground. I still hold firm on liberal economic policies however!

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Yep, and the usual apero stuff. Bündner Schinken, mushroom camembert, mini chäschüechlis, stuffed olives.

(btw, I replied to your "thinking thread" post.)

Wunderbar! I love stuffed olives. They're so juicy and delicious. They'll go well with your sunny weather over in the Alps.

I read your response and I'm glad we have so much common ground. I still hold firm on liberal economic policies however!

Liberal or neo-liberal? If neo-liberal, do you still hold firm despite mounting evidence that Friedmans theories are becoming more discredited daily? Oops! this is the weather thread................and the mercury has just hit 30.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Liberal or neo-liberal? If neo-liberal, do you still hold firm despite mounting evidence that Friedmans theories are becoming more discredited daily? Oops! this is the weather thread................and the mercury has just hit 30.

Taxes should be as low as possible, spending growth kept strictly restrained, companies privatised where possible and a sensible light-touch regulatory culture fostered. I'm not a monetarist, I'm a classicist.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Liberal or neo-liberal? If neo-liberal, do you still hold firm despite mounting evidence that Friedmans theories are becoming more discredited daily? Oops! this is the weather thread................and the mercury has just hit 30.

Taxes should be as low as possible, spending growth kept strictly restrained, companies privatised where possible and a sensible light-touch regulatory culture fostered. I'm not a monetarist, I'm a classicist.

Fair enough. We can take this up again on a more appropriate thread. Unfortunately I must go now. But it is an interesting discussion and I look forward to continuing it with you. Adé, as they say here.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Liberal or neo-liberal? If neo-liberal, do you still hold firm despite mounting evidence that Friedmans theories are becoming more discredited daily? Oops! this is the weather thread................and the mercury has just hit 30.

Taxes should be as low as possible, spending growth kept strictly restrained, companies privatised where possible and a sensible light-touch regulatory culture fostered. I'm not a monetarist, I'm a classicist.

Fair enough. We can take this up again on a more appropriate thread. Unfortunately I must go now. But it is an interesting discussion and I look forward to continuing it with you. Adé, as they say here.

Exactly. Adé Slim Buddha. Enjoy the prosecco, it sounds like a lovely evening you have in store.

Quote :

It would be very unsporting of me to sound smug. I will just say "I don't really miss the rain" and leave it at that. I hope the weather there improves. And I will have you all in my thoughts at the lakeside this evening as I pour the chilled prosecco.

I'm not sure if I'm in Laos or Laois today - tremendously warm with heavy, unpredictable rain. It doesn't stop me enjoying a Maracjuaschorle by the pond though

No canapés though but I'm grazing on blueberries and strawberries while I work.

I had to ditch the jeans and rubber boots because of the heat. The pond edges are almost all tucked in, next come the rocks (still working out the logistics of that!) and some gorgeous giant ruby crocuses to plant at the front for the springtime.

*big, happy sigh*

Kate P wrote:

*big, happy sigh*

I'm glad you're feeling better Kate P.

It's the rain and the mud and the phone switched off, Ard T, thanks.

Mucky bliss.

I just got myself a new phone, arrived at the door about 20 minutes ago. So far not very impressed with it.

Looks like I'll need a new pair of rubbery boots - I seem to have sprung a leak...

Spilling rain here for the last couple of hours - there was a sneaky burst of sunshine that lasted ten minutes and was followed by a torrential downpour.

Then an hour later we had some thunder and, I presume, lightning.

The pond is coming along all the better for being worked on in the rain. Father-in-law helped with rock-moving from the farmyard since I've lost my tractor-driving skills, and while another load would finish that end of things nicely, it's looking good already with the plants I was gifted by a kind gardener and a twisted hazel that I invested in myself. It will take years to grow into the site but for now it's looking really good for a newbie, unfinishdie pondie.

Woo hoo!!

What a day for picking ragwort. In a field that's not even ours anymore, ah the sad memories. It's perfect duck weather though, and I've never seen as many ducks on the Boyne. I counted at least eight. Of course, I don't get to see the river much anymore since we sold the field.

905 wrote:

What a day for picking ragwort. In a field that's not even ours anymore, ah the sad memories. It's perfect duck weather though, and I've never seen as many ducks on the Boyne. I counted at least eight. Of course, I don't get to see the river much anymore since we sold the field.

When I first came to live here, I asked someone if there was anywhere, off the road, to go for a walk. She looked at me as if I was daft and said I could walk anywhere. But no one does. People walk along the increasingly busy lanes leaping into the ditches when trucks come past. Do you not go into the field because you can't, or because you don't want to, 905? For the past week I've started walking my dog walking route for the first time since the dog died over 6 months ago. The first time it was very difficult and my legs felt very heavy, but it was as close to having a dog ghost for company as possible. I could see her and hear her bustling about all the usual sniffing and peeing places and ducking down the usual holes in the ground. After a few days she had more or less disappeared and I'm beginning to enjoy the walk again.