Thread 5 - TalkExiles: "The Planet Goes On Being Round"

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of previous lifeboat threads (thread 4).

Gather here all ye refugees from the JTT Flat Earth Society, welcome to the reassuringly oblate spheroid of MN! Ye all already know the answers to the questions "How the heck do I format my post?" "Why can't I edit my typos?" "What do those acronyms mean?" and most importantly, "Where is everybody that I used to know?"

So really we're all here just to chat randomly.

I find with age that the right word tends to slide away on the way out of my mouth, to be replaced by something that sounds similar. Often it still works, though. The other day I described an idiot neighbour as "positively cretaceous".

Then we'd have to lose about half the English language, which would be a shame.

I wouldn't be dropping solivagant into my daily chat, but it would be nice to remember it and at least think it to myself when I go out on a wander.

Since my brain wrong I have trouble with words but occasionally one pops out of my mouth that takes me aback and I then have to point out how I have no idea where it came from. A laugh a minute, me.

I have two loads of laundry on the washing line, so there.

That reminded me I had a hamper full of stinky bedding. Now mostly in the machine @50. I hope it doesn't rain in the afternoon.

According to the Met Office, almost all of the UK is shown as dry all day, so you should be fine. Light breeze, 11.5C, humidity at 64% - that's pretty good for February.

I'm not in the UK. But it's quite bright and our forecast seems positive.

Just found this little beastie sitting looking confused on our kitchen floor. Fortunately the heather is in full bloom, so I was able to provide lunch.

Such a pretty colour. Any idea of the species? The colour looks Brimstone butterfly-ish, but I think it's too small and the wings too rounded.

There was a butterfly flapping round in the church last evening - ordinary Small tortoiseshell I expect, but another reminder that Spring is on the way.

ps, my washing in out and blowing round, so far so rain-free.

What a wee beauty!

I've just bought 11 squids worth of primroses and pansies from Asda. I simply couldn't resist the blue primroses, even though I plated a bunch in December.

Come to think, they would perfectly complement Bint's flutterby.

I had good plans to do lots of gardening today but so far I’ve managed a long lie in and lunch. Oh well…

The garden is definitely spring-like though.

It started out quite sunny early this morning, but by the time we persuaded the teenagers to get dressed it had clouded over and felt quite cold. Still, we managed quite a long walk in the woods. Lots of early spring flowers about, and lots to look forward to.

Not sure of species - I didn't get much of a look at the upper side of the wings, and undersides tend to be less helpful. Didn't seem to quite fit clouded yellow, but nothing else I found was closer unless it's an atypically yellow green-veined white.

Definitely smaller - and paler in the upper side of the wings - than a brimstone.

When I was little, every kid had the Observer book of butterflies, but they are so scarce now. I'd barely bother with the common or garden fritillaries, hoping to see a peacock or something more exciting.

Lovely flowers, we're seeing them here and a few daffs are flowering.

The laundry dried and is now airing. It was big stuff, bedding, so I'm really pleased.

We're at my parents in the South. Me and the girl helped my dad to prune his friend's apple trees, loads of snowdrops out.

My stepmother broke her hip, but is relatively mobile indoors. It was the actual ball, which broke and they did the new joint under epidural. She didn't like the hammering...

Apparently, I may have killed ours, by putting ash from the wood burner on the beds. Apple and hydrangea seem to like it.

Lovely weather here.

In a normal year I'd expect camellias on the big bush beside my door, but one of the very cold snaps has killed all the flower buds except the ones near the house wall. Sad, but the bush is fine and will flower again another year.

Hope your mum recovers well, Sinner. I wouldn't like the hammering either.

I spent much of last week pruning apple trees, a job I always look forward to as it can be so interesting and absorbing. The man who taught me said fruit tree pruning is both an art and a science and that you should keep standing back for a proper look to make sure the balance is right.

Next week, I'll be on the fourth year of restoring a horribly treated ornamental pear, a real work in progress, but already yielding rewards. Prior to me taking it on, it had only been chopped around the edges so the upper canopy was an ugly congested mess of crossing and dead wood, which is being removed bit by bit. The branches are being thinned, but left long, so that at flowering time you get the impression of a light, lacy veil. The thinning also creates a pleasing dappled shade beneath the tree where certain plants can both thrive and be seen. The owner had previously been taking care of this poor tree, so I appealed to his vanity by telling him how good it would look for visitors when they arrived and saw it in flower, so now the job is mine. In 2021, for the first time, the lacy veil effect was achieved and I have to say it really did look lovely.

My dad said that the effect should be that the tree looks like a goblet. The small branches are fruit bearing and should be trimmed, but conserved, where possible.

These ones were a tangled mess, never pruned before. There were lots of large side limbs, which are now seasoning for firewood.

Lovely lunch out with my son, my daughter and her husband and two grandchildren and my co-grandma today. Nice pub near Whipsnade.

Your dad's got the right idea, Sinner. I love the smell of burning apple wood, it's delightful, and we save the prunings for the fire too.

Nice pub near Whipsnade.

That looks gorgeous, Brit.

Thatch is so pretty, and while I quite like the individual roof levels, the one on the left needs much more height for aesthetic balance, imo. When I retired I made macman add another 18” of thatch to our roof, as it should look fat and rounded (again imo) and ours looked mean, not in proportion. I like a thatch to make up at least half of the building’s height. My friend in Essex’s thatched roof comes all the way down to my 5’3” height, you have to duck to get in the front door, and probably accounts for at least 3/4 of the whole building, it’s so gorgeous and cosy-looking.

Britinme · Today 17:36

Nice pub near Whipsnade.

That's a lovely building, we took our girl to the zoo last year. Very picturesque part of the country.