So bizarre !

Slugsta

Registered User
Aug 25, 2015
2,758
0
South coast of England
Evening all,

Ann, I'm glad you have had some real time off and really hope you can get more of a work/life balance soon.

Luna sounds a real sweetheart but I completely understand why you don't want her eating her toys. That sounds like the route to a very expensive vet bill (not to mention distress for Luna herself)!

I bet the minister is still digesting your latest missive:D and hope this brings about an improvement for others.

It's still pretty warm here but, thanks to several hours of drizzle this morning (despite the forecast predicting a 0 chance of rain all day!) it was also humid today.

Jm, I'm sorry to hear about the sting and hope it is very much better today.

Also hoping that everyone else is as fit and well as possible. (((hugs))) to all.
 

2jays

Registered User
Jun 4, 2010
11,598
0
West Midlands
We have a weeping birch that is/was a statement tree in the garden

Said birch has not produced leaves for 2 years.... it’s a “short lived” tree... 35-40 years is considered its life time....

It’s was probably 38 years old when it stopped producing leaves...

Discuss

It’s a dead lump of wood, going to be dangerous, so should be cut down

Or

It’s still sound in the ground, it’s branches are still solid, it’s still giving an interest to an otherwise uninteresting vista, it’s a statement that could be difficult to replace
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
24,920
0
South coast
It’s a dead lump of wood, going to be dangerous, so should be cut down

Or

It’s still sound in the ground, it’s branches are still solid, it’s still giving an interest to an otherwise uninteresting vista, it’s a statement that could be difficult to teplace
Or

It can be used as the support for a climber.
The climber will give the illusion of leaves and flowers on the tree, so the statement is still there
And the tree will give the needed support to the climber.
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,018
0
Bury
Plant a montana, it will soon cover the branches and provide some colour, the tree will be given a new and different life..
 

2jays

Registered User
Jun 4, 2010
11,598
0
West Midlands
You lost me to begin with @2jays, but I think I understand now.

:D

Clean and tidy, no unnecessary things,especially dead trees, to clutter the world, makes the world go round... apparently ....

How have they survived 40 years with my gay abandon of a nick-nack here, there and everywhere... :D
 

jugglingmum

Registered User
Jan 5, 2014
7,076
0
Chester
Started a post and it got lost in the ether, 2Jays seems to have posted in the meantime.

Not to be controversial but I'd get rid of the deadwood, as I wouldn't want rot/mould to set in and get to other plants, but a nice frame could replace it. In my experience Montana tends to grow very fast and I never know how to prune it, although the hard winter wasn't good for mine this year.

I use loratidine and the spray flucticasone

I use loratadine and nasacort for hayfever, however for wasp stings, which really dont' like me at times, I have found adding the second antihistamine works, had a very nasty reaction to a wasp once, Dau was stung on holiday, she was worried she might react in same way, she thought she'd got off lightly with a 2 inch raised area and 4 inch red outline given how I react.

Tales of Luna and other dogs are lovely Ann.

MIL stills seems to be showing some of her character through all her troubles as well.

As for dau and smartwatch, there would have been trouble here, although I blame dyslexia for the ability to lose things in this house.

So a bit more on holiday.

Palace of Versailles was fantastic, we spent a whole day there but could have spent 2 or 3 days, we loved the gardens, although OH wouldn't normally like gardens, and dau would like to return and sit and read in them. Garden entry is free often. We paid the extra for timed entry to the Palace, and with an hour queue in over 30 degrees, it was worth it. On the sunday we did the Eiffel tower, and then the tour de France as I posted. We then moved onto Lac du Der, the largest man made lake in Europe, it is a flood relief lake for the Seine to protect Paris in winter. I cycled round it, 22 miles. Lovely to swim in fresh water, we had a lovely beach 5 mins from campsite. Bit issue was mosquitos dau was terribly bitten, we had candles and spirals and spray which did help a bit. Over 35 most days - a tad on the warm side. Moved onto cycling event, over 35 for first few days - too hot. I've posted about first storm, we had a second storm on the Thursday, middle of the day, we were on bikes, started to rain, stopped to cape up, then heavens opened, and we took shelter in the bottom of a leylandii hedge, it eased off we rode on, it started again, and took shelter in a porch, eased off and we got to the destination, police had evacuated the marquees due to wind, and were directing everyone the shortest route home. Our group on the campsite were Ok, but tents were shredded. 400 homes in our area lost power but a lot better off than the Ardeche area, saw pics from a friend on facebook who had relocated to higher ground for a hook up point, and if they hadn't would have lost their camper.

Back into work and hectic.
 

Ann Mac

Registered User
Oct 17, 2013
3,693
0
Morning all,

2jays, your OH is like mine - cut back, prune (too much) get rid . . . we had a monumental row over him cutting the cherry tree down to the point where it was more or less a 5 foot tall stump, and - most imprtantly and infuriatingly for me - it left nowhere for me to hang my bird feeders. At the time, Mil lived here, and one of my few escapes was 15 minutes spent photographing the birds at the feeders, every now and again. With the tree, and feeders gone, so was my 15 minutes photography. The resulting row lasted days, I was so, so upset - he is a little more considerate now! I would be in your camp, plant climbers and enjoy the result :)

Your holiday sound wonderful, JM - only been to France once (5 day photography trip to Paris with uni) - and I can't say I was that enamoured with Paris - but your hol sounds much more enjoyable. Tempting me to go back again! The storm sound pretty horrendous.

Spamar, glad you enjoyed your coffe and cake - we have humidity, some breeze and some rain here at the moment. Never quite sure what to wear - start out the day with heat and no rain, half an hour later, pouring down and temps drop - then back to cloudy, humidity again.

How is Sky cat doing, Slugsta? And are you all ready for your hols? Yep, its the thought of Luna(tic) doing herself some damage that is my main concern. Had a clear out of all the plastic toys that she could potentially chew and swallow, but she keeps producing more from somewhere!. I used to moan about the kids toys all over the place when they were little - the dogs are just as bad! They have two (yes two) toy boxes, all 3 like to play - even old Busta - but Luna takes it to a new level. I tidy up the toys, she then spends the day taking them back out of the boxes and spreading them all round the house and garden. Her latest trick has been to start treating the plastic recycle box as another toy box. A few stern telling off's seems to have stopped that, because again the worry that she would not only chew, but also eat part of the plastic bottles!

Manic busy work-wise. As soon as I tick off a few admin tasks, emails or info emerges that produce even more! Got to catch up on my mandatory training too - a pleasant (not) two hours spent on the new GDPR training yesterday. Necessary - but what a chore! Have meeting Friday this week, and several meetings next week, to do with setting up projects, the big garden project that I won funding for - and a guest slot on local community radio to prepare for. I was awake stupidly early again this morning - so spent the time between 5 and 6.30 a.m.on emails and calendar sorting. About to wash and dress, then plod on with the admin and todays training. Early starts at least mean that I also finish early, I guess :)

Oldest and her BF coming to stay from Friday to Monday - I know she has only just visited, wish I could say it's 'cos she loves us so much that she can't keep away. However, she and her BF are hoping to move into a house in Jan, where they will be able to have pets, and I think this visit is more about introducing her BF to Luna and persuading him to get a cockapoo when they move!

Vist planned to Mil this afternoon - still no word from minister, oh well, I suspect it takes time to figure out how to distance yourself from lies and come up with ways to distract from the real issues!

Sending much love to all, hoping you are all OK xxxxx
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
24,920
0
South coast
BTW @2jays rotting wood wont cause problems with other plants. I have a mini "stumpery" in my garden with rotting tree stumps and logs indispersed with ferns. I do agree with the comment about the montana, though. IMO it is a bit thuggish and could easily reduce the beautiful skeleton (I think weeping birch is quite a small tree) to a nondescript mound.

Oh your poor cherry tree, @Ann Mac Did it survive? I find watch the birds on the bird feeder (I am no photographer) so relaxing
 

jugglingmum

Registered User
Jan 5, 2014
7,076
0
Chester
I seem to have a fungus that has moved from a stump to other trees was my worry.

OH tidying the garden is the source of many rows here. An area had not been weeded due to getting behind following mum's crisis he ripped out all the long grass taking with it snowdrop and daffodils which had been there for 15 years some planted by my mum for me. Another area he ripped out plants put in that year. Declared it all neat but as he'd just pulled the long grass he'd left roots so it was all back within 6 months but no plants.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
24,920
0
South coast
Was it the fungus that killed the tree, JM? I could see that could be a problem - honey fungus has a tendancy to spread., but if the stump is clean it should be OK. Ripping out all those plants would annoy me too.

Sorry, I seem to have hijacked the thread
 

2jays

Registered User
Jun 4, 2010
11,598
0
West Midlands
Wasn’t you that hijacked @canary - ‘‘twas me :(

last in that matter of hijack....
Our tree grew to a height of about 15’ so it really was a statement

I think it has to go.... I’ve been googling, and it seems that honey fungus is present :(
 

jugglingmum

Registered User
Jan 5, 2014
7,076
0
Chester
The tree we removed was an unproductive Bramley, it was meant to be fairly dwarf, and produced a lot of growth and 2 or 3 apples a year, and then the stump developed fungus, we hoped it would just rot nicely. I think it might be honey fungus, but head buried in sand as not time to really deal with it. That area of garden is very shadowed by trampoline, so deliberately semi neglected as gets no light. Son at 13 still seems to use said trampoline, also an issue as he wants chickens if we get rid of trampoline:eek::eek:

When I retire I have plans to finally get the garden straight..................

OH reckons I still won't have time when I retire.
 

Ann Mac

Registered User
Oct 17, 2013
3,693
0
BTW

Oh your poor cherry tree, [USER=39846]@Ann Mac
Did it survive? I find watch the birds on the bird feeder (I am no photographer) so relaxing[/USER]


It survived, canary , 4 years on and there is a lot of re-growth, thankfully, though after the severe hacking it got, there are now no suitable branches to hang the feeders on, and I have a feeding stand placed in front of it now. I was so, so angry at the time - and OH just didn't get it! Our garden faces the rising sun, and in the early part of the day, it was ideal having the feeders on the tree, the leaves would difuse the morning light and let me get some really nice shots of my garden birds. But the main thing was that for me, being Mil's main carer, there were so many days when I wasn't able to just go out and take pictures. Heck, there were days when I couldn't go further than the patio because of Mil, so being able to sit on the other side of the patio doors, one eye on Mil, whilst I had a little 'me time' doing something I enjoyed, was massively important to me. Obviously, OH didn't cut the tree for any nasty reason, it was just him in his 'Cut back, tidy up, lets get things done' mode, it just didn't occur to him how much it meant to me to have that few minutes with my camera, on the rare occasion I had the chance. But my goodness - he soon found out - I don't think I have ever, ever lost my temper with him the way I did then.

What a shame about the honey fungus, 2jays. And I would imagine its going to be quite a job, removing the tree and stump.

Have been sent a letter saying there will be another review for Mil, on 5th September at 2pm - looking at the 1-1 care. *sigh* - the HBM isn't going to give up, is she? I wonder if she will actually turn up to this meeting? I do hope so - because I am going to enjoy asking her to explain the lies - and I suspect the staff at the home will, too. According to the letter I have received, Dr J is also supposed to be invited - I'll need to ask the home to check that's the case, as well as check that this time, they have actually also been informed about the meeting.

More 'e-learning today' - 2 more mandatory courses, that I have only just found out about, then hopefully that's me finished and up to date on everything. The rest of the day is the usual emails, admin and getting everything in order for Friday, when I have my next 1-1 with new boss. Then, thank Crunchie, a bank holiday weekend! Visit to Mil planned this afternoon, and my 'rest day' tomorrow.

Hopingeveryone is OK and sending love to all xxxxx


PS - and I have no idea why the font in this post is blue!
 

Bunpoots

Volunteer Host
Apr 1, 2016
7,332
0
Nottinghamshire
There's a paint pot at the top of the screen that changes the colours.
I didn't know it was there until you wrote in blue.
Then I just had to play...
Sorry!! :p
 

2jays

Registered User
Jun 4, 2010
11,598
0
West Midlands
CHC review... think they are regularly done - possibly every 3 months?? Could just be “usual practice”.... Could be triggered by minister.... could be all manner of scheming......

Be interesting if it actually goes ahead with ALL people mentioned
 

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