This Mischief of Magpies delights in clattering over the roof of Hexenhäusli Device and its neighbours, making an incessant racket as these photos from 29th August illustrate!
Some rather pathetic sweetcorn
Plums
Bramley apples (too early to pick these)
The top branch of this eating apple had snapped under the weight of all the apples!
Another apple tree - this one I had the foresight to brace for the weight of the apples
The horrid pear tree with pears that don't actually look horrid
They may even be edible this year!
A few early autumn raspberries
Blackberry thicket (there are three of them under that mass of green & black) with the greengage tree behind (the only gages left now are the half-eaten-by-wasps ones)
Someone industrial mining the nectar from a late artichoke
Look! Arse in the air with absolutely no shame!
Harvest
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I found the following photos from July while downloading the first photo in the next section - I forgot I'd taken them. I'd meant to use them in a previous garden/greenery-related post, but that never happened what with the whole forgetting thing. Anyway, back when rain was an actual thing we had* various triffidery were in the process of taking over this disused building on the edge of St George's Green in Norwich. On the days that I go into the office, I walk past this nature-reclaimed building and it always brings a smile to my faces - I don't even need the slapdash poster to tell me to!This is the view over the River Wensum from the St Georges Street bridge - that's Friar's Quay on the other side
* It finally rained today - not much, but still.
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Yesterday, I finished work early and popped into the Mazda dealer's on the way home to pick up my very belated birthday present from me to me:
The new and the old.
I felt absolutely terrible pulling in and having to park Car just across the way from its replacement.
Here's Car II settling in back at Hexenhäusli Device
It still hasn't sunk in that this isn't a courtesy car and I'm not getting Car back...
I may need to put up my own "Smile You Twat" poster outside my office. Or else get a t-shirt made...
ReplyDeleteWhat a glut of apples! And magpies, more's the pity. Noisy bastards! Jx
PS is that a genuine "I DV" numberplate, or a Photoshop enhancement?
Yes, those apples. I really should have thinned them out a bit, but I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of any. And now I don't have to as the tree broke under the weight!
DeleteThe numberplate does end with DV (I had a limited choice with the last two letters and fortunately, DV was available), but the I is a different letter - I just did some erasing in MSPaint.
* The top of the tree, not the whole thing.
DeleteGood Morning to you! We're online at the same time right now it seems. Though I'm about to disappear as we are actually hosting a BBQ for Labor Day in about an hour. Mother nature was kind enough to water the plants this moring which we desperately needed as we'd not had any rain since the last American holiday, the 4th of July. I like to joke that it's the only American holiday written in the British format for dates because that's when we stopped be British and turned into surly Americans instead. (We should have stayed with the metric system though.)
ReplyDeleteLove all these pictures! Yes, it's very sad that you had to turn car out and in front of the new model no less. How could you? Maybe a pint of ice cream will help you feel better about it, topped with some of your newly picked fruit! A little fruit and dairy can cheer anyone up, unless your lactose intolerant.
Ah, good afternoon, Melanie! I hope your BBQ went well and that it stayed dry? I'm always mildly surprised that you "surly Americans" kept the old, imperial measurement system as it's such a throwback to the days of empire (and not very user friendly - compared to the metric system, anyway).
DeleteI don't think ice-cream is going to cut it - I might have to go down the 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' route! Ms Scarlet can have the ice-cream as she's not feeling so good.
Those plums look amazing!!!! I love plums. I might also add that I love the thistle. Yes, I do cut some thistle once in a while to place in a vase. We don't have magpies here so I do enjoy seeing them. Are they after your shiny objects???
ReplyDeleteI also see, to my delight, you went with Mazada!!!!! I really enjoyed my first two, which look the same as you have now. The first was Metallica deep grey, and the second was deep navy blue. As you know, I know have a Mazada MX-5 in black. I love it, but not use to the two-seater yet. I still love it though, just no room for backseat action.
The plums really are delicious - not quite as sweet as the greengages, but certainly sweet enough. Thy're quite big and weighty, but I'm sure you could manage a couple of them!
DeleteSo far, the magpies haven't shown any interest in the shiniest object around here - my new car! Which I'm grateful for as, if they increase in number any more, they might be able to carry it off!
I remember you saying how pleased you were with your Mazda3s, and that did help me in making my final decision, so thank you! My brother-in-law has very recently bought a pre-owned MX-5 in grey, and I'm VERY pleased that I won't be hearing about any 'backseat action' between him and my sister!
You are a veritable fruit bowl, Mr Devine! And I had completely forgotten about the Gordy Ramsbottom incident.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, rain is a very real, actual thing in Devon - I might post later as I have evidence, and also to explain my absence this week. I am a bit poorly so I am expecting understanding and perhaps the tub of ice cream that is being freely passed out.
Sx
Oh, dear, Ms Scarlet. Unwell again? You simply must have the ice-cream, then. I insist!
DeleteWhile I am looking forward to your rain post, I won't hold it against you if you don't manage to publish it. After all, you are poorly and must conserve your energy in order to get the spoon from the tub to your mouth. Besides, it rained here early this morning as the ground was wet when I got up, so I have plenty of evidence.
P.S Congrats on the new car!
ReplyDeleteSx
P.S. Thank you!
DeleteYou have magpies, we have starlings. They are the noisiest birds ever, but charming. They were camped in The Boyfriend's back yard, eating all the bird seed, but they have gone off to their winter homes... sigh. They typically are around in a group for two weeks each year. Then? Gone.
ReplyDeleteOh, we have starlings too, although the magpies outnumber them around here at the moment. Do you get big flocks of them that create those hypnotic murmurations?
DeleteI love your new car it looks so nice in the driveway, when I picked up my new Audi last year I passed my Volvo C40 on the way out and gave it a supercilious sneer it deserved.
ReplyDeleteI could just sink my teeth into your damsons.
I take it you didn't get on with your Volvo - was it the funny looking electric one, or the more conventional SUV-type?
DeleteI have just got back from the allotment with the last of the plums (I checked - they're definitely plums and not damsons, as they're rather large and have a sweet taste) - they don't look as good as those in the picture up there, unfortunately.
It was a plug-in hybrid with an electric range of 24 miles, ideal if you're just nipping into town, on longer journeys when the petrol engine kicked in, it was like driving a tractor and I would be lucky if I got 40 mpg! Charging it was a nightmare it would overheat and cut off 2 or 3 times an hour! I'd get a message on my phone telling me to switch the plug off and let it cool down before turning it back on again, poor Carmen was run ragged with it.
ReplyDeleteThe Queen is dead!
Anyway, the worse bit about it was the people at the hand car wash thought it was a 4x4 and would charge me £15 instead of the usual £9, it had to go.
I did think about a Volvo hybrid, but they're too expensive for me - and after your experiences (and poor Carmen's), I'm glad!
DeleteCar II is currently getting 55 mpg without me really trying (it's a mild hybrid, so doesn't run on electricity alone). I'm hoping that once I've got used to it, and its run in a bit, that'll go up to 60-65. And I'll be washing it myself!
Late to the party. Again! But so many things here! An embarrassment of riches. And apples. Wot yo' need is ur good zolid press, Zquire. For thee appl zider. Arhh. And I see "my" Bramleys are coming along. And Sea Holly, too! Oh, and you new drive is what The Man and I call Christmas Tree Red.
ReplyDeleteBut stylishly late, Dinah!
Delete"Your" Bramley's have started to drop (early!) - I collected some off the ground and picked 2 or 3 off the tree on Thursday. Sea Holly?? Ah, the Echinops somethingorother.
Now that you come to mention it, Car II is somewhat festive!