Thread 13 - TalkLair: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 12).

Looks like spring has sprung! Tulips, apple blossom and early hay fever are upon us. In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm, because "something something 'til May is out". The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

@MmePoppySeedDefage the little bastard eats plants indiscriminately. If we are to have any hope of creating some kind of nice garden with actual plants in, he has to go.

I also find on the iPad app that threads I've watched disappear, though not so much threads I actively post on.

Like a big slug, then? He has to go!

After Kuc kindly gave me a link to this thread, I've emailed myself a link to all the threads that disappear, for future reference.

It's a shame that groundhogs are such a bastard for eating plants because they're so cute.

@MouseMinge - that's what I thought until I planted a couple of tomato plants and a courgette in some pots and the little bastard ate the lot.

I was going to make a plea for leniency based on cuteness, then remembered my feelings about the voles (also cute) that burrowed down and ate all my tulip bulbs a few years ago, and the beast probably (unproven hypothesis) a cute little rabbit that has eaten my choicest nasturtiums on several occasions over the last few years.

I see from Wikipedia that groundhogs' natural predators include eagles and cougars. We all need more apex carnivores.

Our bloody boiler's bust again. British Gas are coming to fix it between 8 am and 1 pm tomorrow, so i have lit the wood burner. Everyone is complaining that they can't have a shower. They fixed it in February.

All my fault, of course!

Ha, @DeanElderberry - my mother went right off muntjac deer after they found a way into her garden and ate approximately 300 tulip bulbs!

That’s a lot of tulips!

Or rather a lot of spaces where there should have been tulips....

Oh dear!

Ah here you are!

I'm really struggling with hay fever this spring. I have it all year round but at the moment I'm waking me up coughing throughout the night and having nose bleeds from the constant sneezing and nose blowing.

@Kucinghitam I'm glad your dad is improving.

I planted some lobelia and violas out the other day, then suddenly the temperatures plummeted! They look ok, about twice the size they were already. I also got this lovely specimen, as a treat for almost killing myself to meet a deadline last week.

Wow! That’s a stunning orchid!

Sorry about your hayfever, VB. Mine came back last year, after it stopped in my 20s and it's been a bit intermittent this year. It's misery inducing, isn't it?

Lovely lavender lobelia!

Gorgeous orchid!

I was struggling with itchy puffy eyes at the weekend, fretting to DH about whether I had an eye infection, until suddenly the penny dropped - it's hay fever! I never had it until my mid-40s, and then only in high summer. But looks like it's starting earlier and earlier in the year now. Boo.

After a few months of braces, DD1 has been told by the orthodontist that she will have to have her upper premolars removed. Appointment for tooth extraction is later this week. She is not happy. DD2 is quietly smug - she had to have her premolars out before her braces were first installed, and had to put up with DD1's smuggery back then.

Oh dear and further hayfever sympathies, Kuc!

I also have all year round hay fever but it’s much worse in times of pollen and these days seems to make my eyes sore much more often than it used to.

I didn’t have it as a child but watched my dad and bro suffer. Mine suddenly started in my mid 20s and got worse when I reached 30.

@Kucinghitam is it DD1 who has the overbite/developing overbite? I spoke to the oral maxillo consultant I see about mine and without hesitation he referred me to orthodontics to have braces on the NHS! I was stunned as I thought they only offered them to children. He’s also referred me to a jaw specialist to see about lower jaw surgery after the orthodontic treatment, in the hope it will help my TMD. A bit nervous about the prospect of both, especially the braces to be honest, but I’d do pretty much anything for relief at this point 😳

I'm usually worse with hayfever than I am at the moment. I reckon I deserve a break because nothing else is particually good at the moment.

That said, hayfever is shit and I'm sorry for everyone else who's suffering. Always remember that you can take a lot of antihistamines in a day and not just the one or two that are recommended. I was told that by my old GP and it saved me quite a few years in a row.

I get the sneezy type of hayfever and have discovered that Boots saline nasal spray (for babies) is quite remarkably effective.

My boy is 3 years old today 😻 and what a lovely three years it’s been. The last pic is the first I ever got of him, caught on webcam because he wouldn’t come out of his hiding place until I’d left the room 😼

Happy birthday, Kasper!

Happy birthday to beautiful Kasper. Such a handsome cat and that first picture is beyond cute.

Kaspar is a lovely beast.

We have hedge sparrows in the back yard and they've been in and out, feeding for a couple of weeks. Not long ago, I spotted a fledgling on the ground, all pale, with a spotty breast! It hopped about a bit, then flew up onto the raised bed and into the undergrowth.

I'm just back from the shops and there were two carrion crows, one on the wall near the nest and one on the ground. They never normally come into the back yard.