The market car park this morning...

Eeek..! Sunny and blustery here.

We've had floods like that in the area I live in, so I know its not a very nice experience. Hope the water subsides soon & you get some sunny weather to dry it all out.

It hasn't stopped now since last night...you could actually see the level rising, Pim. The pompiers were there with a French TV crew!

It's forecast to be sunny on Friday, Dwyllis...hardly dare hope...

Blimey Karen i hope it's not near your house.... i can't beleave that i have sun at the moment... it wont last :-)

I've got a stream around my perimeter, SL...still got about another foot to go before we get wet feet. I've never seen it this high before!

fingers are crossed for you Karen, it's been mad this year hasn't it...

It has indeed...it's the complete opposite of last year for us...

Karen things are not going well for you are they hun, it can only get better x

Thanks hun x

There is a bit of good news, though...neighbour wants to kill all the JKN! :))))

And, the other upside is that since I can't go out and plant...I can only shop for more!! ;)

Now that's what I call positive thinking! Great news about the JKN

OMG!
ood news about neighbour!

It's not so bad for me, Pixi...I just get the run-off from the hill behind, so it subsides as quickly as it rises.

Chalais gets everything from further up the river, though...and the supermarket is cut-off!!!

We have had this for days now, getting a break today at long last. Hope the sunshine returns to your part of the world soon Karenfrance.

I've been back for 11 days now, Michaella...and not one single day without rain...

I hope we both get to see the sun out for a while soon! :)

It seems like your neighbour has seen the light, even if it's not the sunlight!! :))))) That will come soon Karen....I hope!

You poor thing Karen :0
Sounds like you've had a rough time for a bit. Hope things start improving very soon on all fronts! :)

Hi Lil! How are you? Things have been a bit trying, right enough...but easily compensated by just 'being home'. :))

And, now that there's light at the end of the JKW affair, things are definitely looking brighter already, Karen! :))

I think I'd need a thermal cozzie today J!!!
His nibs thought it was Himalayan Balsam (not quite as bad - but almost!)

That's great news regarding HB, J, but not so good if you're a busy lizzie...I don't think it can have reached here yet, I saw loads for sale today.

OOOOO that looks a bit scary Karen!!!

oh no karen i do hope it doesnt reach your home, didnt think you got this bad weather where you are, poor you :o(((

it is rather, Dorjac...

...it's going to be difficult, but at least I don't have to fight his nibs and the evil weed! :)

We quite often have wet springs, San....but not usually this bad! :(

Want us to send some wood for builing the ark K?

I would if I could, Pix...but it's been so miserable that I've already burnt it all!!

Might have a couple of 'raft sized' logs left, though... ;)))

Karen...have you broke a mirror recently?

It's funny you should say that, Scottish...do you actually have to break it yourself, or does it just have to be yours...??

:(( either floods or hosepipe bans here

...sigh...or both! in the same place!... :/

Now - that I don't know - but you could be onto something if someone else broke 'your' mirror!!

You don't have your troubles far to seek. I hope it stops raining soon.

It's not been exactly a good year for you has it. Is it still raining up north? i take it there wasnt a market then yesterday..
It stopped raining here this afternoon and we had the sun out this evening, but rainy wether is said to go on for another cple of weeks.

The forecast is not good for the next couple of weeks here either, Resi - but I can hardly believe it - the sky is blue and almost cloudless this morning...and the sun is shining!!! Hooray!!!

Yay sunshine!!!!!!!!!!!! :)))))))))))

Oh dear :o(
I didn't mean to say I like this. I did it from habit lol.
I hope there are no casualties, and there isn't too much damage.

This being May day you can go out and wash your face in the dew and get it dried in the sun. We woke up to overcast skies but it is very sunny now. Fingers crossed it stays for a day or two to let you all dry out.

sunshine here too! drying out time and factor 50+ roll on :)))
mind you Karen i wouldnt burn that wood you got offered by Pixi for the ark just yet

Heavy rain here again today, so heavy last night it woke me up and I sleep like a dead person! Do you think there may be an effigy of you somewhere you used to live...with lots of pins in it? ;O)))x

Yes! Sunshine, Pixi!!! :))))

No casualties, Hywel, thank goodness...except maybe the supermarket's takings!! Nobody could get through the water! lol

Sorry you've had another dripping day, Annie...
And there might be - but they live in the same place...so, that obviously didn't work! lol!

It's been a beautiful day here, too Sg - but I forgot to wash my face in the dew... I'm just in from HARD graft in the garden. I really need it to be nice tomorrow so that I can finish that bit, before I lose the impetus!

I know, Resi...storms again tomorrow... :(

Sorry, didn't mean to hit the 'like' button

It was not warm here today but there was very little of the NE wind that has been keeping us so cold for days on end. I planted up my pots for along the top of the wall in front of the kitchen window. 120 begonia semperflorens. I have them in place and not covered tonight because there is plenty of cloud cover so we should not get frost. I'll have to go compost shopping tomorrow and I also need at least as many more begonias. I can hear someone say so dull but they are very amenable to neglect and do not need dead heading. They are in flower now and will flower through to October or maybe Christmas depending on the weather. Some of last years plants were still growing and just showing signs of life so I transplanted them to other places before replacing the compost. I have to do all my hanging baskets.

So pleased the water has come no further Karen. I hope it has drained off by now. We had a marvellous sunny, warm day here on Monday but yesterday was dreary and overcast, but no rain. One of those pointless days weatherwise. Unfortunateley the magpies made off with the blackbirds eggs. There was a great commotion and much dive bombing and PICK PICKING but of no use.
So the nest is deserted.

That's okay, Sheila - I know what you meant :)

Well, the storms didn't materialise and we've had another beautiful sunny day...almost hot, dare I say!

I didn't get the rest of the digging done, though...seven months of sitting on a sofa have taken their toll...But I do have a big, strong boy coming to do it tomorrow - hooray!!!

120 begonias, or anything else for that matter, would have finished me off today, Sg - I take my hat off to you. And, they seem like just what I need, as there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to 'pamper' my pots. How many baskets are you going to do?

Oooh, sorry, Dorjac :(
Bad news for your blackbirds...
Magpies are devils...we have lots of them around here - and I must say...I don't like them...

I have 28 baskets and 8 wall pots so I'm going to be very busy tomorrow if the dry weather continues. They are my easy option for adding colour to the garden for the whole summer. I emptied them today and will refill with compost tomorrow and then plant as I go. I got 144 more begonias today and 6 x 100L of compost. I add long life granules and water crystals and I forgot to buy more of that. If I have none in the shed then a quick trip to the GC will be necessary. A tip from an old gardener was to take an aspirin before you start gardening again in the spring. It helps ease that first few days of pain. I gave up using baskets that have holes at the sides. All of mine are now top filled only which does make the exercise quicker and the results are very good. I probably won't put the pots outside for a week or two but I am going to be too busy to do them later in the month.
Oh Dorjac your poor Blackies. I loathe Magpies and we do get them coming in to the garden when there are nesting birds here. The sparrows have taken over the swallows nests again this year so when the swallows turn up there will be hell to pay.

Oh, Sg! You do have your work cut out for you. I hope that the weather holds up until you've ploughed your way through that lot. Looking forward to seeing some photos of your results.

I'm going to lift my remaining two yuccas and three trachycarpus today and put them in pots. And apart from the viciousness of the yucca tips, it's lugging all those bags of compost around which is filling me with dread...

I use a sack barrow, so much easier to move heavy items on wheels. At the shops I always insist on getting help loading in to the back of the car (for OH) not me. When we get it home its just rolled out of the vehicle and popped on to the sack barrow and trundled off to wherever it is going to be used. Its a lot more useful than a conventional wheelbarrow ,we do have one of them too, because it does not matter about the shape be it a filled pot or slabs they all fit on without lifting.

That's a good idea. My wheel-barrow has disappeared whilst I was away...and I can't get another because the shop is still under water! I'm using an old builders barrow with a soft tyre...not easy...

Oh dear I had hoped the water would have receded by now. How frustrating for the poor shoppers never mind the shop keepers. Sack barrows cost a fraction of what a wheelbarrow costs and it is much more versatile. You can't mix in it because there is no container just a back and small footplate on which to rest the goods being ferried around. If you have a shopping trolley on wheels that can be taken apart the trolley part would work as long as you don't overload it.

They've got a special offer on wheel-barrows at this moment...but they're still closed...cleaning up now.

So is the supermarket - so Lidl's cleaning up on that front!

Water is so destructive. Does your town/village get floods regularly - time for a moat around the whole place. In England apparently the ground is so hard that the water is not seeping in to it and instead its running in to the rivers and causing flooding. Hope you get a barrow soon.

I've only once seen it that bad since I've been here - and that was nine years ago...

...apparently, it's cyclicle...and, 'les ancients' are predicting a hot summer...

...and, after getting rid of todays sods, I hope I soon get a barrow too, Sg!!! (can't take your advice about aspirin-once had an ulcer)

How did you get on with your planting? I suspect you managed more than me!

It started to rain about lunch time so I had to stop but I did take enough pics for a blog. The chains on some of my baskets were a bit iffy so went shopping for new ones. I went back to get some more begonias but they had run out but there was 4 x 20 packs of trailing lobelia dying on the shelf. I asked if they were considering reducing them and I got them for 50p each so now I have an extra 80 plants and once they revive I should be able to split them a bit. Oh said it looked like a lot of weeds and I asked where. He pointed to a healthy bit of lobelia so I had to give him a lesson on plant recognition. I got a rosemary plant for 20p on Wednesday so I'm doing well at the shops.
Sorry to hear about the ulcer, aspirin definitely a no no then.

Lol! You've made me laugh, Sg!!

...roll on more bargains!!! :)))

I am a born and bred Scot Karen. I must keep up the reputation of us being a canny and thrifty nation.

Lol! So am I!!

We'd better keep quiet about it we don't want to make the other members jealous do we. LOL.

Lol! :))