The Night Mail

[Winslow Boy]

1 minute ago, Happy Hippo said:

More Hosta and a Spruce Cloud tree

 

 

 

 

Amazing what you can download from interwebbythingy isn't.

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

Or shedless folk too, for that matter.

 

The plural of Peony is Peonies.  When pluralising Hosta, it becomes Hostas. There is not need for the apostrophe.

 

Being hoisted by one's own petard on a Friday afternoon does tend to ruin your whole weekend.🤣

 

In actual fact it's Paeonia if you want to be correct.

 

But that might be bit too complicated for a simple Hippo like you, so I didn't want to overwhelm you with technical lingo- especially as it's a Friday.

[Oldddudders]

Deuce. New balls please. 

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

Deuce. New balls please. 

Being only a a simple hippo, I thought Paeonia was the the genus.

 

I shall now have to retire from the match, unable to continue, as my expertise in plants is very much limited to what I can eat.

[SM42]

This evening Mrs SM42's phone conversation went something like this:

 

" hello, I spoke to you yesterday about staying over the August Bank Holiday weekend.  There are 4 of us girls. "

 

" yes two rooms"

 

"Lovely, can I pass you to my husband to pay the deposit" 😯

 

" Andy!"

 

The weekend with the girls in Llandudno has been in the planning for a while it seems. 

 

"but"

 

" you're working that weekend my love"

 

Hopefully I'm not on nights, so I might get a few hours peace. 😁

 

Andy

Edited June 16, 2023 by SM42

[pH]

6 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I've heard stories of (I think) "King Arthurs" on the SW Main Line being fired on the crushed coal dust from the bottom of the tender.  Each shovel-full produced a brief "roar" as it combusted almost before hitting the grate.  The locos could keep up 70mph+ fired like that and it presumably meant very little waste left in the tenders.

David L Smith wrote of seeing an LMS Compound being fired with wet coal dust (‘black porridge’) from the bottom of the tender and steaming just fine.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I was under the impression that to use a Japanese toilet correctly you needed a current pilot's rating on rotary wing airframes, in order to correctly operate the collective pitch lever situated on the RHs of the bowl. 

 

Nyda reckoned you needed a BTEC in sanitation engineering

 

The b0g seats in RoK were a joy to behold - variable temperature, water jet type/direction/pressure, blow jo sorry, dry......

You'd soon find excuses for havin' a No. 2 at every opportunity.

 

56 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

In actual fact it's Paeonia if you want to be correct.

 

But that might be bit too complicated for a simple Hippo like you, so I didn't want to overwhelm you with technical lingo- especially as it's a Friday.

 

"simple Hippo??"  There's nothing "simple" about being a lean, mean, cake scoffin' machine.....

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Spruce Cloud tree

Is it called “cloud tree” to describe the shape?We have an Atlantic Cedar  that grows sideways. I just thought it was wonky.  

Edited June 16, 2023 by Tony_S

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

The b0g seats in RoK were a joy to behold - variable temperature, water jet type/direction/pressure, blow jo sorry, dry......

You'd soon find excuses for havin' a No. 2 at every opportunity.

 

 

"simple Hippo??"  There's nothing "simple" about being a lean, mean, cake scoffin' machine.....

 

One job at a time. Don't want to complicate matters do we. Just imagine a confused Hippo.

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Is it called “cloud tree” to describe the shape?We have an Atlantic Cedar  that grows sideways. I just thought it was wonky.  

 

All depends on which way you look at it. To you it's leaning, but to a lopsided ant it's the tallest thing in the forest.

[Winslow Boy]

53 minutes ago, SM42 said:

This evening Mrs SM42's phone conversation went something like this:

 

" hello, I spoke to you yesterday about staying over the August Bank Holiday weekend.  There are 4 of us girls. "

 

" yes two rooms"

 

"Lovely, can I pass you to my husband to pay the deposit" 😯

 

" Andy!"

 

The weekend with the girls in Llandudno has been in the planning for a while it seems. 

 

"but"

 

" you're working that weekend my love"

 

Hopefully I'm not on nights, so I might get a few hours peace. 😁

 

Andy

 

At least it makes a change from painting though Andy.

 

Would have thought though you'd appreciate Mrs SM42 efforts to bring a bit of variety to your normal routine.

[Tony_S]

2 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

All depends on which way you look at it. To you it's leaning, but to a lopsided ant it's the tallest thing in the forest.

Unfortunately not quite as tall as the neighbour’s Leylandii, even after their recent prune.  

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Being only a a simple hippo, I thought Paeonia was the the genus.

 

I shall now have to retire from the match, unable to continue, as my expertise in plants is very much limited to what I can eat.

 

Your trying to show off again. I don't know he goes to Gardeners World Live and all of a sudden he's the next great whizz at gardening. Hippo does the garden.

 

Family: Paeoniaceae

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Unfortunately not quite as tall as the neighbour’s Leylandii, even after their recent prune.  

 

Been there done that.

 

How much have they reduced it by?

[Northmoor]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Unfortunately not quite as tall as the neighbour’s Leylandii, even after their recent prune.  

Our neighbour took his (we think it was just on his side of the boundary) down after a big storm about ten years ago.  The morning after as it moved in the breeze, I could see our top step moving.  It took me about five trips to the tip to get rid of it all (he's in the building trade and would have been charged if he'd turned up in his van, even though it was personal garden waste) and there were bugs in my car for weeks afterwards.

 

I'm actually growing saplings at the moment, mostly things which have self-seeded round the garden, anywhere in which is too close to the house for a real tree.  There's oaks (two types), birches and a holly, all between 2" and 9" high; I'll be "guerilla-planting" them somewhere wild in the autumn.

[Happy Hippo]

Seen on Facebook

 

Anyone interested.

 

£180 is the asking price.

 

[SM42]

23 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

At least it makes a change from painting though Andy.

 

Would have thought though you'd appreciate Mrs SM42 efforts to bring a bit of variety to your normal routine.

 

Im sure something will need a coating in something by then.

 

Andy

[PupCam]

14 hours ago, polybear said:

Esso Synergy Supreme+ 99 currently contains 0% Ethanol (despite being labelled E5) .........

 

In most parts of the country including Puppershire 😀   But you need to check if really critical.

 

14 hours ago, polybear said:

.........  but a quick check shows that from Sept 2023 it'll transition to "up to" 5% Ethanol - which will upset certain Classic Vehicle owners (are you there, @PupCam?)

 

Turdycurses!

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[petethemole]

I have just had a row of four leylandii removed.  The largest was split at the top and the other three were too tall for their girth and potentially a danger to our big shed garden building and next door's garage conversion to similar.  They had already caused some serious moisture damage to one end of the roof of ours where the branches rubbed against it.  Although they were in the NE corner of our plot so didn't shade it from the sun it is noticeably lighter at that end.  The area immediately north is an access/turning area but the neighbours to the NE will get a bit more sun.  The local woodies will have to find another tree to argue in.

[AndyID]

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Japanese Larch Bonsai trees

 

 

 

Do they turn yellow and drop all their needles in Autumn like the larches here?

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by AndyID

[Dave Hunt]

15 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

It's not the spelling but the typing - keyboards getting smaller...

 

And fingers getting fatter and less supple.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

5 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

 

Do they turn yellow and drop all their needles in Autumn like the larches here?

 

 

 

Ask again in the autumn🤣

[Dave Hunt]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

“simple Hippo??"  There's nothing "simple" about being a lean, mean, cake scoffin' machine.....

 

Mean - yes

Cake scoffing machine - yes

Lean - ?????

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

For many years there was a row of six Leylandii along the neighbours’ side of our fence. They grew to a great height blocking light not just from our property but also that on the other side of us and also, in my opinion, became a threat to our house as they were only about ten feet away at the nearest point. Despite my approaches the neighbour refused to do anything about them and when I approached the council they were completely uncooperative. Eventually I threatened to take the neighbours to court but at the same time offered to pay half the cost of the trees being removed and the neighbours on the other side offered 25% so they gave in and the trees were removed. The difference was amazing; over the years we had almost got used to the light diminution and the sudden flood of illumination was wonderful.

 

Dave