Re: Gardening Thread.

**Sabot** Thu Mar 01, 2012 5:50 pm

bb1 wrote:Oh Lord, it will be a mess, with so much flammable material, Sabot.

Fingers crossed they will be back in business soon.

I do hope so, Bonny. More for them than for me. The owner is a taciturn old bugger who speaks no English at all. But he always raised a smile for me. This is the trouble with living in Rural Brittany, everyone knows everyone, and problems become personal.

I can hardly bear to think of the mess. It is a blackened ruin with all of the windows blown out. They actually sold Parafin which is probably why the front went up, because that is where it was stacked.
I am actually quite upset about this, but not for my loss of a Builder's Merchants and Gardening Shop.

**Sabot** Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:43 pm

Done it. Painted the Fireplace. I found an old tin of green paint that was a bit too dark, and an old tin of pale grey. So I mixed the two together, and Voila, just the right colour of pale green. And I must say that it looks good. Now I just have to see how it wears, although I did do all of the right things first, including a very expensive undercoat that is used for painting on glass and ceramic tiles.

I have pulled the plug on the Propagator because everything was growing too fast, and it is still too cold for sticking seedlings outside. I am currently thinking about what to do if I have to repot before it warms up enough. I don't have a lot of spare room for this sort of thing, so they could finish up in the bath.

Everything germinated, by the way. Wey Hey, we are off to a good start.

**lily** Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:40 pm

Didn't she do well? biggrin

Seriously, Sabot. Fantastic. You have been working hard at it and so far, so good.....

**Sabot** Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:54 pm

I suppose that the test will come when I light the fire, Lily. But I don't intend to do that just yet. I am never sure what effect heat has on paint, although it won't be direct heat.

The bonus is that I have got enough paint left to do all of the window sills which is all that are getting done this Spring.

As for the seedlings. Off to Intermarche tomorrow to buy another bag of soil so I can get the pots ready if I need them.

**bb1** Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:58 pm

It all sounds very productive and inspiring, Sabot thumbsup

**Sabot** Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:02 pm

bb1 wrote:It all sounds very productive and inspiring, Sabot

It will also give you some idea of the state of my social life, Bonny.

**bb1** Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:29 pm

Guess what? Gardening Thread. - Page 3 2

**Sabot** Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:35 pm

bb1 wrote:Guess what?

You've grown a Flower? Oh my God.

**bb1** Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:37 pm

Several, my daffs are out and so is the sun sunny

**Sabot** Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:40 pm

Erm........Well Done.

**lily** Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:47 pm

Wild applause..... rofl

**bb1** Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:52 pm

**Sabot** Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:05 pm

Can you come and talk to my Pansy Seeds. They're just sitting there doing nothing, If they haven't rotted.

**Lamplighter** Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:09 pm

My tulips are coming up fast. LL

**bb1** Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:18 pm

This time last year, the snow had barely cleared - fingers crossed we get SCORCHIO...

**Sabot** Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:20 pm

Lamplighter wrote:My tulips are coming up fast. LL

Thats' interesting. Mine seem to have disappeared. I think the moles must have eaten them.

**lily** Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:05 pm

**Sabot** Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:20 pm

lily wrote:

The Moles are fussy around here, Lily they don't eat common and garden bulbs, only the expensive stuff.

**sadie** Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:29 am

My bulbs are all out too, but it's a poor show this year. Usually stunning becos i bought up most of Lidls stock one year and panted thousands of them.

Have planted my big headed begonias in baskets and they are all over the floor in the way, until the frosts go away for certain. They are very vulgar flowers but soooooo easy to grow and they never stop flowering until the frosts come in the autumn ... vibrant and flashy but always a good show.

**sadie** Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:32 am

Bluetits have started building their nest in the camera nesting box box that our daughter gave us last year. Wonderful to watch, but I dread that the same will happen as last year with the whole lot suddenly dying when they were already feathered up and almost ready to fly.

Poor Mummy bird just couldn't understand it and kept trying to feed the corpses. The one remaining bird was fed so much that it doubled in size in one day.

When the bluebottles came, then Mum abandoned the nest, so that even the one remaining bird died.

We were heartbroken. I almost hope that no eggs are laid, just in case of a repetition. Fingers crossed this time.

**Sabot** Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:42 am

Don't put out Peanuts for the birds once they start nesting because the babies can choke.
I leave off Peanuts from March until the end of July for this reason. Mostly I buy Sun Flower Seeds which can be reasonably priced if you buy Own Brand from a supermarket.

**sadie** Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:53 am

Sabot wrote:
Don't put out Peanuts for the birds once they start nesting because the babies can choke.
I leave off Peanuts from March until the end of July for this reason. Mostly I buy Sun Flower Seeds which can be reasonably priced if you buy Own Brand from a supermarket.

Thanks Sabot. At that time we hadn't previously been feeding the birds, but had just started dried meal worms. Wonder if they did it?

This year we are regularly feeding them with meal worms, seeds and peanuts and fat balls.

Have had some fairly unusual birds feeding. We have a woodland nearby and also a hedged large open space and a bit of a fairly wild garden with loads of shrubs. A friend tells us that all those things bring them in. We also get quite a few butterflies in the summer.

What has been lovely is that my hubby who never looked at a feathered bird before, has suddenly become dead keen on them. He is driving me nuts to identify them and with my fading eyesight I cant do that any more. Anyway, I only know the common ones.

**Sabot** Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:12 am

The Meal Worms might have been responsible if they were dried, Sadie. The pieces would be hard to swallow I think.

I also stop putting out Fat Balls about now because they have some large, hard things in them like dried Corn kernels. I will just be using Sun Flower Seeds from now on until July or August. And then I start fattening them up for Winter.

Also it is important to put out water.

I have noticed that Peanuts attract certain kinds of birds, but don't ask me what kinds because I don't know. But such lovely colours. I lurk and watch them when I first put their feed out each day, and they descend in dozens, and then queue up. Fascinating they are.

**sadie** Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:51 am

Thanks Sabot. I will try your suggestions. thumbsup

**bb1** Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:46 am

I grown sunflowers - in the years when we actually get sun, that is. I usually just leave the heads drying outside for the birds. Even just turning over a small patch of soil gives them a fresh supply of worms and insects - I do tend to prefer to let nature to take care of itself as much as possible.

Sponsored content