The Cybergarden - Late Summer Edition

[madmouse]

Sorry been unfaithful, lots going on. But making myself useful - here's your new thread x

Lovely that you could have lunch in the garden Tianc, and so late in the year. Guardian crossword too difficult for me, as can only manage the gen.knowledge variety, and don't know anyone to play with!
Thanks for senecio idea, would be ideal to finish off, as had to buy four violas and eight (scented) small iris to get the colours today, plus one v.small aster, which will be about enough.
Christmas tree very plain branches painted white gloss with small LED lights, "glass" icicles, strings of pearls etc, having decided the traditional greenery with gaudy lights would have to go.

Shamefaced apologies here but became unexpectedly snowed under with family stuff whilst trying to post yesterday morning ( not life or death stuff )< resurfaces much cheered as circumstances have readjusted slightly >

Hope you had a refreshing weekend away ,upward, & thank you for the cheering wishes you left us before departing .

What joyous news that Mouseling has this new vehicle [hsmile][hsmile],: thank you , madmouse. Hope he has a lot of fun during the sometimes frustrating process of learning to drive his trike < cybergarden rings with upward & friends cheering him on >

Your window box will be magnificent , shodatin - so many of my favourites - as is Tianc's suggestion . Scented mini iris ... am stupefied with sensory overload Do hope you're not suffering from as much fatigue as you were last night

Hope you & your friend have a brilliant sendoff round your unique tree . Oooooooo at strings of pearls , my very favourite thing to draped round a Christmas tree . Sounds very elegant & obviously it's also very ecofriendly & easily stored / put up .

Tianc , how lovely that snowdrops are DP's favourite , & your link about them growing in the least hospitable spots made me quite emotional < flurry of planting >
shodatin , over the last year snowdrop bulbs seem to have suddenly become more easily available , including supermarkets & pound shops ( tiny packets , of course ) . Dh brought with him a bowl of snoozing snowdrops from the land his great grandparents used to farm & one of our favourite Christmas rituals is peeking for little green shoots .

On a more garish note , my Mum gave me some multicoloured tulips and daffodils with a pale pink trumpet [hgrin] - a pound a pack from Morrison's , should you be tempted .

Hope we all had the same warm weather yeaterday as we had here & Tianc & DP were relaxing in < HF flips extravagantly >
MIL enjoying being home [hsmile], though very weak

Hope Tianc recovering from frolicking & kizzie not too stressed at work .

< contemplates clues in the Guardian crossword , decades tick by >

[ brew] and hot soup

Thanks for info about pink daffodils, hob, we were tempted today but price was off-putting at garden centre and can now get some from Morrisons (although have already paid enough for the iris, Lady Beatrix Stanley variety). Being eco-friendly was reason for small lights, and being determined not to overspend at Christmas the reason for DIY tree.
How lovely that your DP has snowdrops from ancestral land, and am pleased to hear they are available to plant now.

Thanks for refreshments, particularly hot soup, and here's hoping you're not over-tired from yesterday's exertions. I'll be having an early night as lots to do tomorrow but unfortunately the sunny days seem to be over in these parts.

That's great that mouseling has a trike :) (I remember seeing kids getting them from our regional seating/w'chair/prosthetics/orthotics centre - so much more freedom than a walker).

I hope you get your early night, shodatin

I hope family are doing ok, hob , and the crossword got somewhere.

Did you have a sunny day today, tianc ?

It was a lovely weekend (I got monopolised by my little 16 mo DN :o ), just need to recover now ;)

Welcome back upward - glad you enjoyed the weekend away, and your DN sounds lovely, as well as exhausting.
Hope you're sleeping better, and that your door has been fixed.
Saying "goodnight" now, as I'm tired too - sleep well all.

More beautiful sun, thank you Upward!

So glad you had a good weekend ? heh heh, sounds like you had your hands more than full, being favourite auntie! Hope you can rest a little now.

hob that's marvellous that MIL is enjoying being at home. Not surprised you've been run off your feet. Absolutely loving the ancestral snowdrops! DP will be very : ours are shop-bought bulbs.

"< contemplates clues in the Guardian crossword , decades tick by >"
Yy, that's ^^ exactly what it was like!

Sorry your sunshine seems to be over, shodatin. Your elegant, white Christmas tree sounds highly artistic and trés chic! You obviously have an eye for design ? which shows in all your sewing and crafty stuff, too.

Tired here, too, so night all and hope we all sleep like logs.

Hope you got the early night tianc, because I forgot mine and alarm woke me to a very dull morning.
I do a lot of crafty stuff from habit, and because it's easier to concentrate on than a book these days. Am not able to do enough for fund-raising now, unfortunately, but passing on little skills makes me feel less useless as crafty stuff is becoming fashionable again. Seeing all the country-side themed Christmas ornaments etc. at yesterday's garden centre made me glad I could make my own decorations too.

Afternoon , good people < HF nuzzles everyones'ankles in summerhouse .

Thank you for answering my questions about Christmas decoration , shodatin , & agree wholeheartedly on the pleasure & importance of keeoing the holiday from being spendy & wasteful . Would you forgive me if I ask to pinch some of your ideas plants to make up a window box for my DM's balcony ? Those plants sound souch an inspired combination , & thank you so much for giving us the variety of iris< off to garden centre > < battles through broomsticks & reindeer >

Very glad to learn more about ways mousling's trike will be so positive for him ,thank you upward , & so pleased you enjoyed the weekend away < tries not to turn to mush at affectionate 16 month old >

MIL doing pretty well , thank you so much , & dh will drop in on PIL later to see .

Bit embarrassed about my snowdrop oneupmanship but thought you'd like it [hsmile] I will investigate whether the bowl can yield bulb or two ? (corms ? )If too hard to separate them out I 'll bring out some pink -trumpet daff bulbs , as there are only so many one needs

I wish your part of the country could have a little more sun , shodatin , but I know you love its special , cooler , character . Your pleasure in crafts has had a big effect on my eefforts to plan & assemble groundwork for modest projects here . Why am I not surprised you have made items for sales in a good cause . Ah yes , I love intricate Christmas baubles & would like to decorate wooden ones .

Sorry a bit behind ... am well into autumn experiments with pacing myself , but am too busy today .
( I mentioned Guardian crossword upward as Tianc & DP were trying to comlete it but were , most unusually , still stuck with a few clues . I am a bit of a crossword dunce but want to get the knack ... am not even considering the cryptic one

Peaceful evening to us all

You're very welcome to plant ideas for DM hob, and I must tell you, I bought a lovely little aster (I'd have said it was a mini Michaelmas Daisy) in the exact mauvey-blue colour to match the pansies. Hope you manage to find scented iris and to treat yourself, as they should last a few years.
Have also experimented painting the flowerpots with grey undercoat mixed with tiny amount of red gloss to give lavender colour, wondering why I never thought of it earlier. Am flattered you liked the planting idea, but see what happens when I get encouragement - the woman never shuts up (or stops painting stuff).

Such good news that MIL is doing well - you must all be pleased as well as relieved after her hospital experience, which could have been so much more serious.

Thanks for reminder about importance of pacing oneself, as I so often forget to stop before exhaustion arrives. Hope everyone else is doing well and enjoying quiet evening.

Seems like a good time for a lemon balm tea, or even a mug of chocolate, so will put the kettle on, meanwhile being a bit disappointed I can see so few stars tonight.

Wishing everyone a good night, and off to bed before nose hits keyboard again.

Ooh, ! Thank you shodatin.

Aha, that sounds very clever with the flower pots. Must remember that one if I have any areas that would benefit from coloured pots when the builders' mess is finally removed.

hob ancestral snowdrops clearly belong with DH or in virtual form in the cybergarden! Glad MIL doing so well.

Upward hope you've had a good rest to recover from your weekend's exertions.

Morning all, and good to have news of HF and her travels. Have you noticed how animals always find the warmest spot to settle? I used to follow mine round on cold days, and edge into their place (mean, horrible owner).

[hshock][hgrin] Or is that wise , catlike owner , shodatin - what a hilarious mental picture you'vre provided . Thank you for your brilliant post yesterday - please don't "shut up" !!

Really sorry yet again haven't managed to post but had a meeting , letters to write & other errands & nearly popped trying to get them done < modest aspirations > but just cannot organise my poor brain's editing function enough to simply write a quick greeting - I will achieve this & practice it !

Hope we're all only moderately tired after a pleasantly productive day , & that upward is not being too exacting in her efforts with work & diet .

I like the sound of shodatin's coloured pots in your completed garden , Tianc , & hope disruption / mess will be minimal till then .

Thank you for further kind wishes for MIL , who was doing comparatively well when DH visited .

Peaceful sleep to those having an early night , < hob drifts into dreams of perfect asters & fragrant irises >

< HF still purring in her sleep >

< mugs of hot chocolate & soya milk equivalent around summerhouse stove >

Mug of hot chocolate and cat purring in her sleep - what a
lovely combination hob, and such simple pleasures too. Definitely joining you in cybergarden for a few minutes before bed.
Although I have only myself to please, it is sometimes difficult to find time to post, and I really appreciate how well you and tianc in particular have managed to keep the thread going, and post at least once almost every day. I'm new to posting anywhere, but never imagined our contact would continue for such a long time.

Oh, but the stalwart keeping the thread going is yourself, shodatin!

You almost always pop in to open the curtains and make and do some gardening several times a day. I should actually say hello when I wander through earlier in the day: you're rarely alone, you know!

Loving the evil warm-spot-stealing-animal-owner. Ha! Your feline cybervisitor from hob will be watching from afar with an expression like , thinking "But that's my job!"

hob, don't know why you're worried about your lovely long posts! Unless any of us are still posting from phones, in which case I can see they may be tricky. Hope you're recovering well form your busy day.

Upward hope you've had a good day too.

And busy here as well, and absolutely shattered! Sweet and fragrant dreams to you all, including madmouse, kizzie, butterpie and anyone else passing through.

Morning all - a misty morning here, but finished outside painting and hope tianc managed to complete necessary for this season too. Thank you for kind words, which reminds me to offer espressos - or any other coffee - round about now, as slurping my own while awaiting push to P.Office.

Afternoon all Hope you got to the PO in reasonable comfort , shodatin , & missed any downpours . Delighted to hear your outdoor painting is complete - excellent start to winter .

Apologies for late arrival but Notepad keeps eating my posts , < swigs shodatin*'s reviving espresso from flask > though at least they were short for once

(Tianc , didn't you say something a few weeks ago about assembling an ark ? )
< HF & next - door's tomcat look appealingly at Tianc >
Hope your purposeful day can include stops for loafing too

Hope upward's efforts today are not too exhausting & thathome is comfortable temperature .
Wonder if you have had the chance to get a webcam for skyping your DN and her pet adults - we were v lucky to be connected for free to a different skype account so am unsure about costs, but hope you can see footage of small people now & then as shodatin does.

< waves to mouse family , kizzie & family ( hope work settles down a bit soon ), NanaNina & butterpie >

Poor Puss shook herself dry like a dog yesterday - never seen a cat do that before < gets warm cats' rug from summerhouse >

Not too much rain herehob, only damp, drizzly stuff really, so not been slowed down ,able to fill newly-painted pots and get further along with window-box, just in case winter has now arrived.
Our cat did do dog-shakes, right down to the tail at the end, but we assumed she'd picked it up from the slightly-older hounds, like growling over her bone. Must have been really wet where you are, so hope there's no risk of flooding.

Good afternoon/evening :o

I'm impressed by people who can work out their own stuff/combinations for crafting, I enjoy it too, but am very much a 'craft by numbers' person.

I'm trying to sort out my sitting room at the moment - need to get it clear so a sofa can go in on the weekend! (a lot of stuff is shifting under the dining table ). It'll be exciting to have somewhere to sit (and I'm telling myself it will be tidier.... ).

I'm glad you have had too much rain, shodatin - it hasn't been as bad as they said it would here either. I hope you got a good sleep last night, tianc . That's a good point about skype, hob - I need to look into it some more.

I hope everyone, including pets, is nice and dry/warm/comfortable.

Good news about getting a sofa, upward, it will make such a difference. Hope you have enough cardboard fruit trays
to fill with stuff then stack tidyly under a table/under a bed etc., I still use these for storing art papers and fabrics for crafting as have not found anything better in this (smaller) house. It does take time to get home as you'd like it, but hope it's enjoyable too.
Glad to meet another crafter; it's a special relaxation and achievement, once one's found enough time for it.

Just forgot to mention - easiest way to start skype is for someone already involved to give your name to skype, then they contact you and set it up. There is a premium service, but have never been asked for payment.

Hi to tianc, good to know you're around for a coffee, as I don't remember to make it very often.

Night night tianc and everyone else still around.