General Chat

More likely they are in the drains Tec, they reckon that you are never more than a few feet from a rat

Good Evening Linda,

You may be right about the drains - I once saw a small drain cover move, and discovered it was a rat trying to push its way out - ugh. Can't stand them. I'd rather find a bear in the garden.

Tec.

A teddy bear in the garden sounds cute Tec.

Any way,aren't you used to rats? Don't they have lots on ships?

I have been running round like a headless chook all afternoon (that is Aussie speak). I am glad to relax. I am drinking a nice Chilean red tonight, well you have to support the miners.

I hope that when Sue arrives today that she will be more circumspect in her language

My dog has three teddy bears that he frequently leaves in the garden - little Ted, big Ted, and scruffy Ted.

In all my time on ships, I never once saw a rat on board, well, not on four legs anyway. The quayside in Mumbai (Bombay) is alive with rats at night. they climb nose to tail up the hausers and cables that secure the ship to the quay, but are repelled by umbrella shaped guards to prevent them getting on board - then you hear them plopping into the water.

Not even a rat deserves to fall into the dock in Mumbai.

Tec.

Why have to been running about like a headless chook - was OH chasing you?

Yes - you have a point about Sue - but then she is obviously as naive as me apparently lol.

Tec.

Hello:-)) After a lovely start to Saturday we had a thunderstorm in the afternoon and a deluge of rain. I've now got up to a miserable Sunday. We just don't seem to be having any kind of spring here at the moment. At least the plants and lawn like it - everything is green.

Just a question about the bulbs, Tec. Are you planting them now because they need the cold to grow next spring?

S x

OH went to Mumbai lots of times for work, but he stayed in the very posh hotels so hopefully he didn't see any rats. At one stage he was there for three months, but further in land on site where they were building a large chemical plant. He stayed on site in the guest house, that was rather grim from what he said and from the photo's he took

OH has been planting lots of daffodil bulbs under the front hedge Sue, They don't need to be cold, they would do just as well in a bowl in the house. we just plant them now because it is too horrible to be gardening in our winter

I'll have you both know that I'm very circumspect with my language. Just because Linda has a grubby mind it's not my fault:-))

S x

We plant bulbs in May/June for a spring blooming. That's where we live of course - it's different for other areas. Just 40 minutes away up the mountains they can grow snow-drops and a larger variety of tulips.

S x

My mind is not grubby Sue, you know my house is spotless. i distinctly remember putting my mind in the washing machine yesterday

OH bought some more snowdrops today. He was going to plant them,but it was too wet

Good Morning Sue,

It's just normal to plant Spring flowering bulbs here in Autumn, but I think you could plant them anytime really - I have done before now.
Snowdrops and tulips grow all over the UK Sue.

Tec.

We can buy warmer weather tulips but we need to put them in the vegetable crisper for awhile to keep them cold. The problem with having such a huge climate change is that if you go inland you have to be careful if you buy plants especially roses. We have a problem with black spot here so any roses bought in this area are often resistant. Buy them from areas inland and they can sometimes fail. Also there are strict rules as to what can be taken over borders.

S x

Good evening Tec , Linda and good morning to you Sue ,

Tec , I haven't tried making my own fat balls but I might give it a go , I'm a bit fed up with some of the things that spring up under where the balls hang , if I made my own I can choose which seeds go in I suppose ?

I've spotted a rat in the road before outside my house , it jumped back down a drain !! My Mum used to put far to many peanuts out for the birds and as her garden backed onto the allotments there where whole families of rats taking advantage of her generosity .

Sue - Huge variation in climate is something we don't have to live with here, we either freeze, or melt together anywhere in the UK. although some things will only thrive in the warmer Southern counties, or milder coastal areas. I can grow things here on the West coast that probably wouldn't survive in Linda's garden.

I is interesting that you have rules about taking things over State borders.

Tec.

Sue ....the main reason we plant Spring bulbs in Oct ( ish ) is because that's when we can get our hands on them , it's best to purchase them as soon as they appear in the shops as they dry out and become weaker after a few weeks / months .
I know someone who planted Daffs in February , poor things flowered when the stalk was about an inch long ! lol

Hello Amanda.
OH was annoyed because he bought a very large bag of Daffodils, but half of them were rotten, no wonder they were cheap

Amanda we get all manner of things popping up where the wild bird seed drops. Last year I had something come up that I'm positive was cannibis, we've also had carrots.



Tec.