Autumn leaves, crackling fires, quokkas and puffins at the Bluestocking.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

A new thread - with apologies to the gerbils for leaving them out of the title.

Gerbils are getting ready to do their rendition of the monster mash.

The evening is going well

This new-fangled besom is difficult to control!

Remove the handbag and put in a natural lake-edge not a revetted thing and it's fairly spot-on. Of course I'm tall and slim and elegant, how could anyone have suspected otherwise?

It's a useful trick when the dog has been wallowing in mud and is black to the shoulders and all over the undercarriage. Memo to self that next dog should be small enough to be held at arms length.

I'm sure the Sainsbury's cat litter is excellent (it may even be the same as Lidl, dust everywhere sounds very familiar), but the nearest Sainsbury's is ca 140 miles away.

Happy All Saints' Day.

Toussaint day here today.

My inside cat came and jumped on me in bed last night, right onto my chest and prompty wouldn't shift and as I had to turn over to move him off I pulled something.

Ee Gads the pain!

I feel this AI podcast is well suited here in the AI-VERSE

grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/notebook-lm-has-a-go-at-the-wpath?utm_source=podcast-email%2Csubstack&publication_id=67309&post_id=150964746&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_medium=email&r=8c30j&triedRedirect=true

It's a useful trick when the dog has been wallowing in mud and is black to the shoulders and all over the undercarriage. Memo to self that next dog should be small enough to be held at arms length.

Or better yet get one which goes around mud rather than hurling itself in.

Hope the pain is wearing off Alison. You've got pots to wash!

Or better yet get one which goes around mud rather than hurling itself in.

Yes right. Tell me pray, what breed of dog is that? does it also eschew the joys of rolling in fox and badger poo?

And would an animal that discreet and decorous want to live with me?

Ooh which one is that please?
Am finding the bought composts very inconsistent these days.

Our dachshunds used to fastidiously trot around mud and puddles as far as possible. (Obviously rolling in something deliciously scented is another matter entirely!). Being shorthaired a bit of mud would usually rub off easily, and they'd wash their paws on the way home. They really are remarkably unstinky dogs.

The only time I can remember having to throw one of them into water was on a visit to the Rococo Gardens near Gloucester. The bottom pond had a perfect green carpet of pondweed which the dog evidently mistook for soft grass and enthusiastically jumped down onto, or rather into it, and emerged like the monster from the deep. Fortunately there's also a beautifully clear spring-fed 'plunge pool', so he was dropped in there, much to his disgust.

@Villagetoraiseachild Sylvagrow by Melcourt*

I've only used it once, last year, so I can't vouch for its consistency. They say they don't use green waste so I've not found bits of plastic in it, like I do in the supermarket stuff. I'm assuming that also means there's zero chance of it containing old weedkiller. They have a few lines, the one I've been struggling to find is multipurpose with added John Innes. The multipurpose alone I've seen in a few places. Their website has a list of stockists, so check that out first if youwant to try some. It didn't seem to be so full of twigs and wood fibres either. Obviously it's a little pricier than just buying from the supermarket but not outrageously.

*not a sponsored post 😁

I love dachshunds and they are just the right size, but I have at least one badger sett in the garden and fear things might be on a war footing.

I've heard sylvagrow recommended on the Gardening board, but never seen it for sale round here.
I've never quite got the point of 'added John Innes' - JI are specific 'recipes' for different purposes, a bag of compost either is or isn't a JI mix.

Hmm... my first one would have been in there, the second one would probably have walked by pointedly ignoring it like he did with cats.

So annoying, I drove into town, found an excellent parking place, then realised I didn't have my wallet with me. I think I'll defer going back until tomorrow - which means the Boeuf Bourgignon has to wait until then too. Oh well. At least I'll get free parking.

I toon painkillers for breakfast this morning.

Pots all washed. I'm just giving a couple an extra clean as loads of bubbling. We learnt a few tricks and have now got the guys off in missions to find an array of metallic items in their sheds and barns and workshops to use next time.

Sitting in the sun polishing clay pots on a Friday is bloody lovely.

I used to use sylvagrow when I lived in the UK. I used to buy it from a woodchip and mulch supplier rather than a garden centre or nursery. It is probably the best compost I've ever bought.

My current cat had a female admirer when we got him: she appeared in our garden & tried to hang out with him, but he acted like she didn't exist. It was way beyond pointedly ignoring her - it was as though they existed in two different universes or timeframes, while being on the same patio.

Such a shame, as I thought it was lovely that she was so friendly. In the end he got irritated with her & persuaded her to leave him alone. We haven't seen her since.

I'd had problem growing stuff in tubs that just didn't have sufficient drainage, i would get an anaerobic smell from them, like a pond bottom <waves to dog walkers>. One year, before i got totally wise to it, almost all my spuds were rotten despite being very careful with watering, using cloth grow bags for good drainage, even putting them on mats to raise them off the ground. I'm now mixing sand in, to loosen it, which seems to work. I'm relatively new to this and was muddling through. Having typed all this I've just realised that's not why I bought it. I've started growing regal pelargonium...pelargoniums...pelargonia..? I love them. This is the compost that was coming out on top in YouTube trials, although a lot were either American or out of date because not peatfree. Anyway, iirc, Mr Pelargonium liked this one and I do too, it drains very well, has a lovely texture and only cost 50p more than the regular stuff. I could mix my own but would have the same problem with the quality of the cheaper brands versions of JI.

pelargonia - isn't that in South America?😁

I put something in the garage the other day (not the car, obvs.) & found a pelargonium tomentosum in there. I adore them but am v. neglectful. It's lucky it's in any compost. Would compost & sand make it happy? The garage has a window - I'm not a complete monster.

For those who don't know that one, its leaves are not only soft & furry, but they smell of mint. Gorgeous.

My oldest houseplant is a pelargonium Attar of Roses, its furry leaves smell of roses. It's lived in the same nursery pot and soil I bought it in. I think it's only survived so long because it's near a tap and must be very tolerant of drought. I've chopped it down dozens of times, dunked it in a bucket of water and washing up liquid when it caught...something off some supermarket herbs, it's had fungus gnats too. I'm feeling a bit ashamed now. It doesn't even have a pretty cover pot, just a (chipped) oversized teacup that I didn't have a better use for. If I were to repot it, and I should, I'd probably put in something well drained but not chunky. Sand or perlite mixed with compost. Probably sand, I don't trust perlite not to eventually bob to the surface.

I can kill spider plants. It's my superpower .

Could be useful - some plants over-propagate themselves. I had a Mexican hat plant, & soon lots & lots of MHPs, far too many to do anything with.

Every one of those tiny things on the edges of the leaves is a new plant. I was inundated with them. Killing them with a single glance would be a great superpower.

It had to be done.