Brrrrrrrrrr!!

It's only three degrees (C) out there, with a wind taking it even lower.
But the worse thing is how DARK it is at nearly 10am!! The sky's totally overcast and leaden :( The short days of winter are here with a vengeance. Well to be expected I spose - only a couple of weeks to the shortest day! Mmmmmmmmmm - then it'll be improving and moving towards spring, now there's a thought.
Think I've cheered myself up a bit again now :)
(Who am I trying to kid?)

3C here too Philomel and 93% humidity, it is overcast here but not too low and oppressing.

Been a cold week all round hasn't it, even so my Vibernum bodnantense and Jasmine nudiflorum are blooming, the Solanum jasminoides has buds, the Geum and Persicaria are still going strong and the Ranunculus ficaria have all sprung up. May have to put the fire on later, even my layers of clothing aren't keeping the chill out!

chilly but (singing)it's a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, a lovely daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

3 raised beds finished at last - wh-hoo. all I need now is good top soil, horticultural sand/grit, composted bark and to get mixing and plant all my bulbs.

Yes, lots happening in my house and garden too Baa, when I look around. Including a new batch of baby guppies which are incredibly cute :)
I've also got goldfinches feeding immediately outside the window on teasels i left - I've just ordered the nyjer (syn. nijer, nyger, niger, LOL) seed and feeder (as per your instructions LOL) Mark

Glad to here those beds are finished at last! Now we look forward to the photos ;~D :P

Ahhh no rain or humidity here, beautiful calm white winter day, -10 C. Trees are all snowy.

Sounds lovely Evert, but definitely Brrrrrrrrrr
What are you up to today then?

Better than wind and rain ;) hahahaha

Nothing special :}

Very true!
Surfing on the internet for a start LOL ;)

I'm working and watching my Goldies. 16 at the moment.

Sounds good (apart from the working bit lol)
I'm just going to fill up the bird feeders (as well as the goldies, have had blue, great and coal tits, a very busy wren (love little whirry wings), robin thrushes blackbirds and of course sparrows and starlings this morning, then feed Doug, be fed by Owen(son) and family then go and have tea with my mum. Hmmm all based around foooood.
So it'll be zuzzing with feet up time this evening - unless I suddenly think of all the other things I should have been doing LOL

wet the outside of the Goldfinch feeder and rub dirty hands on it. They dont like the reflections. well mine dont anyway. 21 Goldfinches now trying to feed at 14 holes.

Thanks
:)

I have just taken the kids to the park and I think my fingers have dropped off!!!!! the wind was blowing straight in from Siberia and it looks like snow. I hate winter :(

Mark it must be a terrific sight. I love finches of all kinds and goldfinch in particular. They often come into my garden. Their call is just magical :)

ummm how do we describe the sound? especially a large flock.

isnt the collective name for goldfinch "a charm" as for the sound mmmmm how about a "bubbling" not sure what do you think it should be?

Tinkling flutes
........may be a contradiction, but it fits

tinkling but not flutes but I know a place to ask.

Cold?

Shame on you pampered folk...

I've just banged in my hard-neck garlic, despite an outside temperature of 3o. If that don't harden 'em off, nothing will. It certainly did me in...

And if they don't grow, I tell myself: they just weren't worthy of me.

Incidentally, that's a soul-saving philosophy to use whenever _anything_ don't grow. Or so I find.

Happy holidays, everyone...

JOHN YEOMAN

Any self respecting garlic would rot in the ground after the rain we've had recently, John. But then it's brickmaking clay here - whereas you're Beds are sandy, LOL?

Jon, Mark?? Sound analysis......

Avian wind chimes? Hmmm, those and flutes are both wind instruments LOL
Yep, I'd go with that suggestion. How about the sort that need a rough road to get them going ;)

I always plant my garlic outside at the beginning of november when there is still alittle warmth left in the soil. They are now about 8 inches high and they do very well, even in wet, cold Bolton.


as for Goldfinches - I like tinkling too, but it is such a wierd and magical noise I still dont think we have quite grasped it! :)

ar ar ar but have to agree that they sound a wee bit like the wind chimes in my car

ummm one wonders where avian wind chimes came from LOL

A play on aeolian (worked by the wind) presumably?
So should they be avian aeolian chimes? or just avian chimes?


Agree with earlier planting for garlic - they grow well even on my clay when planted so they can establish before winter proper. Hope yours do OK John - bet they will :)

Sandy? In Beds?

Wel, I did once live in a town called: Potton, Sandy, Beds. This greatly amused my US friends, who never tired of word-play on 'sandy beds'.

Oh dear... I have hard clay over compacted chalk/clay. To grow garlic, needs must that I bang into it little pockets of rich compost. For every garlic bulb, I thus expend around 100 Kcals of energy. Each bulb, when eaten, then yields me around 5Kcal of energy.

Were we all to compare our energy outputs/inputs in this way, none of us would be gardeners. And we could do something more energy-efficient, like laying in bed reading a seed catalogue.

Hm, as it's now minus 1o outside, that's exactly what I'll now do... and the garlic can fight its own battles.

Think it was the RSPB or was it the BTO in Sandy, Beds. Luvvit LOL.

Just remember that the garlic does you much more good than just the calories it contains! Apart from keeping you free from all those unwanted advances, it also keeps you clear of colds, flu and a multitude of other ills (so we are told)

Just keep your fingers crossed that you don't contract these while out in the cold, planting your cloves, as you'll have to wait for the bulbs to mature before you reap the benefits
;-)

Garlic breath also keeps every other living creature away, can't really blame the microbes for objecting.

Mmmmmmm, very good against worms I believe (not the earth variety, take your pick of the rest ;)

experience!?

LOLOL not telling ;P

ar ar ar

I shall ignore that last reMark! :P (again)

The nyjer seed and feeder have just arrived - that was quick, only ordered sunday afternoon!
So now to see if they'll find it. I've placed it right next to the teasels and lemon balm they've been feeding on http://davesgarden.com/t/367158/ so fingers crossed. It's getting dark already at 2.30pm and snow possibility forecast (just 'cos it knew I'm out putting up dormouse boxes tomorrow!)

edit 'cos my spelling's getting worse and worse!!

This message was edited Tuesday, Dec 10th 9:29 AM

did you buy the one that only allows Goldfinches to feed from a 2mm hole?

Naturally ;)

cool

I might buy a couple of the ones that only allow agile finches like Goldfinches to feed upside down from a feeding point BELOW the perch http://www.petsmart.com/wild_bird/shopping/products/product_23559.shtml all I need now is for a kind person in the US to mail me them. :-)

what if I organise a box and we share the feeders?

Oooooooooooooh, yes PLEASE!!

We have Petsmart near here, but very unlikely they would have them I spose. I'll give them a ring.

This is the UK chain http://www.petsathome.com/
Doesn't look as if they do mail order
They changed their name 'cos they got a really bad name for one or two boobs they made when they first opened over here.
Anyway i'll stop blabbing and go and phone them before they close (always supposing they answer their phones LOL - so many don't)

fingers crossed

No joy I'm afraid. Seems I was wrong and this company has taken over the American one here and doesn't hold the same lines :(

Square one