The Minkey

The wet and cloudy July slowed things down a fair bit. All of my plants are Gardener's Delight. I've just nipped out the growing tips to allow all the plants' energy to divert into the fruit as I don't think there's time now for any new flowers to ripen into fruit with what's left of the season.

Mine are all still green apart from one plant on whose trusses there are now a couple of turners which must mean it's about to start happening in earnest. They're in a position to get maximum sunshine when it's about. I'm just hoping it isn't a year for blight as it's been so wet and humid.

Seems like that Peckham Rye/Nigel Rd junction has been a hotspot for roadworks the past couple of years.

Sue: How exciting. You can report the sighting here: http://www.ptes.org/index.php?page=186

Seeing the dog who lives at Mrs Robinson's walk back in the shop with a dummy in its mouth.

Wow, Sue - it sounds like a hazel dormouse. My OH saw what he thought was one hanging around in a collapsed wisteria in someone's front garden fairly locally. I just did a google and found this site which shows a couple of dormice on a peanut feeder: http://www.wbrc.org.uk/worcRecd/Issue9/dormice.htm Do they look like your visitor?

Tarot, Those big flies that jump out of the grass sound more likely to be craneflies/daddy long legs which are harmless, though the leatherjackets, their larvae, can do a fair bit of damage to lawns as they eat the grass roots. Horseflies tend to hang around streams, marshes and wooded places (apparantly) and hurt when they bite.

Definitely could do with a countdown timer at Herne Hill.

A couple of half-hearted ones. Time to check your garden for any containers with a little water wriggling with larvae.

dreams

Ophelia

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRaX92ekhi7C2-tbKfOeawhyC42v6c4LtazYGlw0Ls3m5fZLoin

Yeh, garden running was ace ;-)

Feel for you, Mandm. The RSPCA idea is a good one. Hope you get it sorted soon. In the meantime, I'd recommend getting some wax earplugs to be able to get a decent night's kip. I say wax because you can get them really soft so they shape properly into your ears and don't seem to itch like the foam ones do. I live next to a herd of rhinos and earplugs have been enormously effective at helping preserve my sanity ;-)

Yes, small family-run Sardinian place, looks more like a caff from the outside. Excellent food. Long list of home-made ice creams with interesting flavours alongside the usual suspects - strawberry and chilli that kind of thing. I'd definitely recommend it.

I think it damaged the gas main, but I could be mistaken. It still smelled of gas when I walked by it last week.

Hi Nick - sounds great, we'll be over to see you another Sunday.

Good idea, Sue. I thought I'd done well to get almost 100% success rate with my 3yr old tomato seeds (open packets, not kept in fridge). Expecting a low germination rate, I planted extra and now have a tomato forest out back. The germination of your 20yr old seeds is quite stunning. I don't drive but, health permitting, I'd be up for sharing petrol costs to visit gardens, also for meeting up to talk about our own, swap seedlings etc ;-) Mine needs a complete overhaul but for the moment it's working quite well as a wildlife garden which I'm really pleased about as when I moved in there was no garden action at all.

Just heard a plane overhead.

I heard it too. Reminded me of living in Brixton where we used to hear it on a semi-regular basis :-) I once did a 72hr journey on a steam train from Delhi down south. I'm so glad I was in India during the time they were still running. It was not the cleanest way to travel though.

lily

You might have a better chance with them if other people are disturbed by the noise and also have a quiet word with them. Have you asked the other neighbours?

Have a look on here to see if you can identfiy it: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species_family.php?name=Nymphalidae That's how I found out what my orange flock were. I also saw a small blue one today but was moving too quickly to see which one.

Being against the sale of foie gras isn't just a veggie/vegan stance, I'm a meat eater.

On the subject of over-fishing, the Faro Islands have authorised mega-trawlers to come take the summer mackerel out of their waters to be used as feed for livestock. This is predicted to wipe out stocks of mackerel world-wide within 3 years.