Today...what have you been up to? [4] (4 Viewers)

[Joan]

Morning Bill. :smiley:

They have to have names so I know whose who, there are 3 standing up Meercats holding lanterns all the same, Mervin, Mickey and Marvin, then we have Welcome and Ollie. There's Spot which is a spotlight and then we have Twit Twoo, a couple of owls. Then we have the strings of lights, 1 Lanterns, 2 Blossoms, 2 Dragonflies and 2 Flowers.

 

[A Guy]

Cute

A Guy

 

[Angie]

Lol, good luck with trying to upload the videos. I don't blame you naming all your outdoor friends it will be easier to remember them. We don't really have garden ornaments except my massive buddha as John doesn't do ornaments. Han did have a stone bird and a tortoise but I think they are buried in my flower garden. We do have a family ornament though which is rounded headed people all holding hands in a circle. The statue is nondescript but it depicts the family so it sits under one of my bushes in the back garden out of the rain.

So how are the blossoms doing? Are they working or is this horrible weather causing havoc with your night lights. The weather is absolutely terrible here, half my flowers blew down the other day so I had to put my garden back together. I have a clematis that was growing over the wall and it had all fell over, the birds are also stealing part of my wall baskets for their nests so they are dwindling rapidly!

Sorry not been around much at the mo, lots going on and had paperwork and other stuff I've had to catch up on.

I have been managing to bake though, I've made a bakewell tart this time with almond essence in it....I forgot to put it in last time, I made orange drizzle the other day and John was moaning because he didn't get a piece and I also made a couple of Victoria Sandwich cakes too.

 

[Joan]

Most of the lights are doing ok but of course at present they aren't really getting a proper quality of charge which means they don't always keep lit as long as they should. I mean it's raining again now and even though the wind has died down a bit it's still blowing too much.

I've cut my clematis down this year, did it a couple of years ago and a few years before that, it always comes back, trouble is I have to watch it as it takes over. We erected a fence to shut off the garden when we had the dogs, at one time we had a gate to get in there and had put a wooden arch over the gate to join the side of the bungalow up to the guttering.

When we first planted the clematis, we have 2 of them, they eventually grew all over the fence and over the arch, we had to watch them though because some of the growth kept trying to grow under the tiles and into the loft. Then we had a bad winter with gales force winds and it destroyed the arch and was lifting the gate and the end of the fence up out of the ground.
Anyway we just fixed the fence and gate but didn't bother putting the arch back so it just grows over the fence now and tries to take over the oil tank if we let it. The cats aren't so happy though as the fence and ach made a great climbing frame and way to get on the roof, although Willow can still get on the roof via the solid fence at the other end of the garden that's fastened to the bungalow and the small wall that is between us and the neighbour. Even though it's not that wide she jumps on the wall then the fence and leaps up onto the roof, she doesn't find it so easy to get back down though but she can manage it, just, or we get a thin length of wood and hold one end over the guttering and the other end onto the fence by the gate and she gingerly walks down it then along the fence among the clematis and jumps onto the oil tank then down to the ground.

You wouldn't think looking at it after I'd cut it down it would grow back but it does, I take it right down to the bottom and just leave what looks like dead branches coming out of the ground. Till it grows back I have the lanterns and one of the blossom strings along the fence.

 

[A Guy]

Wow, you too are busy. All I did was find this quaint orange bridge as a background

A Guy

 

[Joan]

That was just an excuse to show off your car again, mind you it does look good.

 

[A Guy]

Any excuse But it IS a great background

A Guy

 

[Angie]

That looks fab, I so want to go to San Francisco at some point. I love the golden gate bridge. That is some back drop Bill, very jealous of the view and the car!

@Joan our other Clematis grows high into the trees it has lovely pink flowers and cascades down the tree. It doesn't last long but looks beautiful in the summer. The one on my wall has only sprouted two flowers lol so not sure whether this year it's a late bloomer. [emoji23]

I've been out and cut part of the hedging back today as the holly growing behind it seemed to be pushing it forward. I've chopped about a foot off it now so hopefully that should stop it falling forward.



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[Joan]

This was the Clematis and fence before it got blown down, the plant does grow back as thick but at least it can't try creeping under the guttering and under the tiles.

 

[Joan]

That was fun, just come back and saw your reply to Bill and thought, funny my answer should have been there did it this morning, scrolled down and there it was sitting waiting to be posted, oops.

 

[Angie]

Lol that clematis looks exactly like the one that's gown up my trees. It grows from the inside of my holly Bush and has grown upwards over the years as I've been trimming it back so it didn't strangle my bushes. It looks really good in the summer. I do have a picture so I will see if I can post it.

My other one has white flowers but seems to have given up sprouting. Do they only bloom in full sunshine or does it not matter. Either way I think the white one has given up this year.

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[Joan]

As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter, we've not had that much sun so far this year and it still bloomed as well. Probably same as yours but it flowers first then the leaves start to arrive and it really grows thicker and bigger for the rest of the time, it flowers in Spring so during the Summer it's just green with new growth. It's usually after it's finished flowering that I cut it down and just leave it again for a few years before taking the shears to it again.

 

[Angie]

Ah right it is green and has continued growing but that's it. The flowers that came out were in full sun which made me wonder if it was in the wrong place. Thanks for that.

Today I have made his lordship a cherry Madeira for his birthday. He did ask for a Gru cake but haven't had the time so we settled on a cherry Madeira instead. Hopefully he will get a piece of this as the last cake I made he didn't even get a slice! He has to be quick otherwise I send it to my Dad. [emoji23]

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[A Guy]

Gru cake, lol

A Guy

 

[Angie]

I know he has asked a few times now but when I come to make it I always have loads of things on so I don't end up doing it.

At least tho year I looked at ideas for one. It would be easier for me to do him some cupcakes but he likes a proper slice of cake. [emoji4]

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[Angie]

This year not tho year lol...seriously give me typo warnings. [emoji23]

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[Joan]

Well I got the upgrade on my Notebook today, I had notice yesterday but didn't have time to do it. There's just Johns laptop to do now and we're all up to date here with Windows 10.

Quite blowy today and the sun is in more than it's out, I'll be glad when summer gets here.

 

[Angie]

I know it's a bit pants here today too. Quite grey and definitely undecided on what it wants to do.

Paperwork today so been a little busy today.

We did manage to eat the Madeira but I don't think I put enough cherries in it and the ones that were in sank so we decided to call it outer edge cherry cake which means Han will be happy as she can have a piece now. She doesn't do cherries so if she cuts the edges off she can eat the cake lol. [emoji23]

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[Joan]

Cherries are great she doesn't know what she's missing. At least as you say she can have some cake.

Apparently we are in for a heatwave starting tomorrow, don't know if it will get up as far as you but they show it more on the east side, especially over London.

 

[A Guy]

A Guy