All On My Own-io...
Sep. 12th, 2010 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesJ's doing the honourable thing today, and riding the 51 mile Challenge ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh, along with his brother and sister-in-law.
I decided in this instance that discretion was the better part of valour. The thought of participating in a mass participation event with quite literally thousands of folk, many of whom will be complete novices on a bike, freaked me out to be begin with. And to be brutally honest, I'm not fit enough to do 51 miles without living to regret it (failure is NOT an option for me. With bike, or upon it...)
I waved them off, then took 'Wolfie' out for a spin up and down the cycle track. I should've guessed I'd wind up with company. I heard someone lock onto my wheel near Glengarnock, then a few miles on, one of the lycra-clad knights of the road dropped into place beside me and we pedalled the next few miles togther. He was a grizzled vet mounted on a rather snazzy Trek roadbike which could have left Wolfie standing. I invited him to join me for the cafe stop, but he politely declined and continued on his way...
Terrible, isn't it? I go out unchaperoned on one occasion and wind up picking up a complete stranger! Serves J right for abandoning me...
The Semple flag was flying at Castle Semple today, so I guess there was a Semple in residence. It's a lovely little tradition that's recently been started up there.
This is really meant to be a garden post. My garden updates are coming to an end now, as the garden's just about to enter 'shut down' mode for the winter. But here's one of the late gladiolii, shown off to great advantage against the cotinus:-
I decided in this instance that discretion was the better part of valour. The thought of participating in a mass participation event with quite literally thousands of folk, many of whom will be complete novices on a bike, freaked me out to be begin with. And to be brutally honest, I'm not fit enough to do 51 miles without living to regret it (failure is NOT an option for me. With bike, or upon it...)
I waved them off, then took 'Wolfie' out for a spin up and down the cycle track. I should've guessed I'd wind up with company. I heard someone lock onto my wheel near Glengarnock, then a few miles on, one of the lycra-clad knights of the road dropped into place beside me and we pedalled the next few miles togther. He was a grizzled vet mounted on a rather snazzy Trek roadbike which could have left Wolfie standing. I invited him to join me for the cafe stop, but he politely declined and continued on his way...
Terrible, isn't it? I go out unchaperoned on one occasion and wind up picking up a complete stranger! Serves J right for abandoning me...
The Semple flag was flying at Castle Semple today, so I guess there was a Semple in residence. It's a lovely little tradition that's recently been started up there.
This is really meant to be a garden post. My garden updates are coming to an end now, as the garden's just about to enter 'shut down' mode for the winter. But here's one of the late gladiolii, shown off to great advantage against the cotinus:-
It's time to take stock now of this year's successes and failure. On the positive side, I've discovered the following plants and am determined to make them a regular addition to the garden: Papaver Angels Choir (I've been collecting the seeds already, and hopefully they'll self-seed, too); verbena; bacopa; and nemesia for the pots. The petunia and the surfinia have been remarkably robust throughout the year, even with the slug predations and little if any attempts on my part to check the slug/snail population. I can't help wondering that this is because my garden has finally reached some kind of an equilibrium in terms of munchers and predators.
My only failures of the year were the two helleborus Foetidae that I bought from the garden centre at Threave. Hellebores are relatively troublefree - at least the orientalis varieties are. Foetidus seems to be a different beast altogether. I've also lost four out of five of my Penstemmon Heavenly Blue which I recently ordered from a specialist nursery. This is all down to neglect - at this tender age, they seem to keel at the slightest provocation. If it's too cold, they die. If they get too dry, they die. If they're too wet, they die. (Why don't you buy one from the garden centre? suggested J. If only it was that simple - they are like gold dust...)
Anyway, all I can do now is wait for the first frosts so I can start bringing the begonias in. We've got staging in the porch this year, so I'm wondering if I should be trying to salvage anything else. The fuschias will be rescued. But should I be doing the same for the osteospermum, the ageranythemum (I just can't spell that!) and the garden 'mums'? Replacing them each year is quite expensive, and sometimes it's hard to get an equivalent colour...
On the wildlife side, it's been a spectacular year for bumbles and hoverflies. We've had buff-tails, white-tails, orange carders and even the odd red-tailed bumble, though unfortunately they don't seem to be nesting here, despite the bee-box. I'm rather proud that we're doing such a good job of supporting them. But the lack of butterflies is extremely worrying, and there are hardly any honey bees, either.
Ah, well. I've got just enough time for a bath and a quickl lunch, then it's back to an afternoon of fancy clays, regular cutties and Sir Leander Starr Jameson . No rest for the wicked!
My only failures of the year were the two helleborus Foetidae that I bought from the garden centre at Threave. Hellebores are relatively troublefree - at least the orientalis varieties are. Foetidus seems to be a different beast altogether. I've also lost four out of five of my Penstemmon Heavenly Blue which I recently ordered from a specialist nursery. This is all down to neglect - at this tender age, they seem to keel at the slightest provocation. If it's too cold, they die. If they get too dry, they die. If they're too wet, they die. (Why don't you buy one from the garden centre? suggested J. If only it was that simple - they are like gold dust...)
Anyway, all I can do now is wait for the first frosts so I can start bringing the begonias in. We've got staging in the porch this year, so I'm wondering if I should be trying to salvage anything else. The fuschias will be rescued. But should I be doing the same for the osteospermum, the ageranythemum (I just can't spell that!) and the garden 'mums'? Replacing them each year is quite expensive, and sometimes it's hard to get an equivalent colour...
On the wildlife side, it's been a spectacular year for bumbles and hoverflies. We've had buff-tails, white-tails, orange carders and even the odd red-tailed bumble, though unfortunately they don't seem to be nesting here, despite the bee-box. I'm rather proud that we're doing such a good job of supporting them. But the lack of butterflies is extremely worrying, and there are hardly any honey bees, either.
Ah, well. I've got just enough time for a bath and a quickl lunch, then it's back to an afternoon of fancy clays, regular cutties and Sir Leander Starr Jameson . No rest for the wicked!
