The Heat Wave - What have you Gained / Lost - if anything?

acai berry

Apart from a lot of sweat - for me probably not much!

Neverthelesss, the pears on my pear tree have ripened on the branches for the first time ever and they are delicious. That's a GAIN.

Now for the LOSS: The birds, who have been treated all year to fat balls, now realise there are far more tasty "balls" growing on the tree. They are making a meal of my lovely pears, knocking them off the tree and finishing them off on the ground. Dam* those blackbirds, crows, magpies, pigeons, starlings, robins and sparrows. They're all at it.

Grayson

Lost sleep on the hottest nights. That's about it.

corner of hells

acai berry wrote: »

Apart from a lot of sweat - for me probably not a lot.

Neverthelesss, the pears on my pear tree have ripened on the branches for the first time ever and they are delicious. That's a GAIN.

Now for the LOSS: The birds who have been treated all year to fat balls, now realise there are far more tasty "balls" growing on the tree. They are making a meal of my lovely pears, knocking them off the tree and finishing them off on the ground. Dam* those blackbirds, crows, magpies, pigeons, starlings, robins and sparrows. They're all at it.

Cut the tree down and less of your nonsense.

TheValeyard

Less grass to cut, gained weight from multiple bbq

jimbobaloobob

Gained lots more sleep by having siestas and earlier bed times. Got more vitamin D.

Lost weight about 2kgs as wasn't dashboard dining

iamwhoiam

Lost a lawn and gained a great few months living in the garden . Gained patio doors open and lovely easy living on the garden chairs . Gained seeing a grandchild in the pool having fun and gained a most beautiful display of petunia who think they are in Greece !

acai berry

corner of hells wrote: »

Cut the tree down and less of your nonsense.

You're exactly right, corner of hells. I've already booked the man, who's going to cut it down in autumn. The tree is over twenty five foot tall, even though it is slender and seems quite young. I'm not long living here, so don't know how old it is. I don't think I could put up with another year of these ungrateful thieves robbing my harvest, apart from the fact the tree is blocking the light from my neighbour's velux windows.

acai berry

Murray The Demonic TalkingSkull wrote: »

Less grass to cut, gained weight from multiple bbq

As long as you did not set off any forest fires, Murray The Demonic Talking Skull!

acai berry

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Gained lots more sleep by having siestas and earlier bed times. Got more vitamin D.

Lost weight about 2kgs as wasn't dashboard dining

Seems like a WIN WIN for you, jimbobaloobob

acai berry

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Lost a lawn and gained a great few months living in the garden . Gained patio doors open and lovely easy living on the garden chairs . Gained seeing a grandchild in the pool having fun and gained a most beautiful display of petunia who think they are in Greece !

What we dream about, iamwhoiam. The lawn is just hibernating, so will come back better than ever.

acai berry

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Gained lots more sleep by having siestas and earlier bed times. Got more vitamin D.

Lost weight about 2kgs as wasn't dashboard dining

Overall then, not a bad outcome for you, jimbobaloobob!

acai berry

acai berry wrote: »

Overall then, not a bad outcome for you, jimbobaloobob!

Not only that, but you got two, now three, replies from me. LOLOL!

iamwhoiam

acai berry wrote: »

What we dream about, iamwhoiam. The lawn is just hibernating, so will come back better than ever.

It was wonderful and still is . Not fussed about the lawn it will recover . The fun bit is where the kids pool was has a lovely lush green ring of grass where they must have splashed water over the edge !
Grey yellow dusty lawn with a ring of rich green grass in the middle of it

sbsquarepants

Gained - a lovely colour and about a half a stone in weight. God damn barbeques, only have the thing about 3 months and we've gone through 2 bottle of gas already! Multiple insect bites

Lost - a large part of my liver function, due to aforementioned non stop barbeques, the world cup and super valu flogging 12 cans for a tenner.

acai berry

iamwhoiam wrote: »

It was wonderful and still is . Not fussed about the lawn it will recover . The fun bit is where the kids pool was has a lovely lush green ring of grass where they must have splashed water over the edge !
Grey yellow dusty lawn with a ring of rich green grass in the middle of it

Make sure to take a photo.

acai berry

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Gained - a lovely colour and about a half a stone in weight. God damn barbeques, only have the thing about 3 months and we've gone through 2 bottle of gas already! Multiple insect bites

Lost - a large part of my liver function, due to aforementioned non stop barbeques, the world cup and super valu flogging 12 cans for a tenner.

Funny how we always find something else to blame for loss of liver function! Even the World Cup has to take some of the blame, not to mention Supervalu doing a service by lowering it prices. LOLOL!

jimbobaloobob

acai berry wrote: »

Seems like a WIN WIN for you, jimbobaloobob

Tried to make the best of it Acai. We might not get this opportunity again for some time.

acai berry

A harvest of oats, wheat and barley under my bird feeder. Looks a mess.

The fun part is watching a crow pulling over a stem of barley with his beak, laying it on the ground and holding it down with one leg, while he picks the seeds off the ripened head with his beak. Far tastier, than what comes out of Maxi Zoo in a plastic bag or bucket! Certainly cuts down on "food miles"!

acai berry

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Tried to make the best of it Acai. We might not get this opportunity again for some time.

Not that I'd be looking for a repeat of this "opportunity". The heat kills me. A nice happy medium, weatherwise, would be my choice. Delighted to see some rain, yesterday.

iamwhoiam

acai berry wrote: »

A harvest of oats, wheat and barley under my bird feeder. Looks a mess.

The fun part is watching a crow pulling over a stem of barley with his beak, laying it on the ground and holding it down with one leg, while he picks the seeds off the ripened head with his beak. Far tastier, than what comes out of Maxi Zoo in a plastic bag or bucket! Certainly cuts down on "food miles"!

We feed the goldfinches sunflower hearts .( Yes I know , spoiled little divils ) and we now have about 8/10 sunflowers plants growing under the feeder

jimbobaloobob

I had two days of driving rain intermittent with rolling mist, felt like it had never gone away.
Give me the heat and sweating any day. Ill take the rain at night.

acai berry

iamwhoiam wrote: »

We feed the goldfinches sunflower hearts .( Yes I know , spoiled little divils ) and we now have about 8/10 sunflowers plants growing under the feeder

LOL. That should be a sight to see, iamwhoiam.

acai berry

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

I had two days of driving rain intermittent with rolling mist, felt like it had never gone away.
Give me the heat and sweating any day. Ill take the rain at night.

You're like my neighbour's son, jimbobaloobob. He can't wait to get his shirt off under the midday sun. The colour of him! I don't think he wears any suncream or other protection. His mother, who's in her eighties, also sits out, exposing a lot of skin. Like mother like son, I suppose.

Not me! :eek:

sbsquarepants

acai berry wrote: »

Funny how we always find something else to blame for loss of liver function! Even the World Cup has to take some of the blame, not to mention Supervalu doing a service by lowering it prices. LOLOL!

It was the perfect storm.....for a suggestible fool with poor impulse control like myself:D

corner of hells

acai berry wrote: »

Apart from a lot of sweat - for me probably not much!

Neverthelesss, the pears on my pear tree have ripened on the branches for the first time ever and they are delicious. That's a GAIN.

Now for the LOSS: The birds, who have been treated all year to fat balls, now realise there are far more tasty "balls" growing on the tree. They are making a meal of my lovely pears, knocking them off the tree and finishing them off on the ground. Dam* those blackbirds, crows, magpies, pigeons, starlings, robins and sparrows. They're all at it.

OP , it's nice the way you answer us all individually , in the long run however , one of us will rob your wallet.

deceit

Lost 8.7kg from cycling to work. About 200km a week instead of driving.
Lost my sleepless nights as now tired enough to sleep.
Gained a tan from all the cycling.

acai berry

corner of hells wrote: »

OP , it's nice the way you answer us all individually , in the long run however , one of us will rob your wallet.

Story of my life, corner of hells! Thanks for the warning!

Hector Bellend

I've rediscovered my love of hot sex

acai berry

Hector Bellend wrote: »

I've rediscovered my love of hot sex

LOL! Hector Bellend. That's why this thread is on AH - to allow for answers like yours! LOLOL! I was expecting one to turn up sooner or later.

jimbobaloobob

deceit wrote: »

Lost 8.7kg from cycling to work. About 200km a week instead of driving.
Lost my sleepless nights as now tired enough to sleep.
Gained a tan from all the cycling.

That's mighty weight loss fair play to you. Do you see yourself keeping up the commute some or most days of the week?

Graces7

acai berry wrote: »

You're exactly right, corner of hells. I've already booked the man, who's going to cut it down in autumn. The tree is over twenty five foot tall, even though it is slender and seems quite young. I'm not long living here, so don't know how old it is. I don't think I could put up with another year of these ungrateful thieves robbing my harvest, apart from the fact the tree is blocking the light from my neighbour's velux windows.

Oh what a shame.. All you need do is pick the fruit just before it is ripe...that way it will keep months... Free pears! Yearn..

acai berry

Graces7 wrote: »

Oh what a shame.. All you need do is pick the fruit just before it is ripe...that way it will keep months... Free pears! Yearn..

Of course you are right, Graces7. The tree is very slender - quite young, I think and about 20 foot high, blocking light from my neighbour's velux windows. This morning there were so many lovely pears on the ground, I have not even counted them. There is a veritable BIRD PARTY going on. Heart breaking! It's only because of the Heatwave, they seem to have ripened this year. Last year they never ripened and tasted awful. Am not looking forward to another Heatwave next year. So, sadly, I think the tree has to go. But - let's see!

iamwhoiam

acai berry wrote: »

Of course you are right, Graces7. The tree is very slender - quite young, I think and about 20 foot high, blocking light from my neighbour's velux windows. This morning there were so many lovely pears on the ground, I have not even counted them. There is a veritable BIRD PARTY going on. Heart breaking! It's only because of the Heatwave, they seem to have ripened this year. Last year they never ripened and tasted awful. Am not looking forward to another Heatwave next year. So, sadly, I think the tree has to go. But - let's see!

Take the joy of seeing the birds at the pear party for today !

acai berry

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Take the joy of seeing the birds at the pear party for today !

Have no other choice, iamwhoiam. I'll take Grace's advice and pick what pears I can. Then leave the birds to their feast.

Graces7

acai berry wrote: »

Have no other choice, iamwhoiam. I'll take Grace's advice and pick what pears I can. Then leave the birds to their feast.

If you put them on a surface in a coolish place, not touching each other, they will keep well..

I was wondering how fruit was faring; clearly it got started before the heat hit. The elderberries here failed but I have hopes now for the rose hips and blackberries..

Enjoy the pears!

acai berry

Graces7 wrote: »

If you put them on a surface in a coolish place, not touching each other, they will keep well..

I was wondering how fruit was faring; clearly it got started before the heat hit. The elderberries here failed but I have hopes now for the rose hips and blackberries..

Enjoy the pears!

Same here, Graces7. The rasperries ripened beautifully in one day and then got burned up. The red currants are very plentiful and hanging on the branches. Birds getting to them, of course. The rose-hips look like they will produce a bumper crop.

Graces7

acai berry wrote: »

Same here, Graces7. The rasperries ripened beautifully in one day and then got burned up. The red currants are very plentiful and hanging on the branches. Birds getting to them, of course. The rose-hips look like they will produce a bumper crop.

I think Hector wrecked the elderberries,,can you cover the currants? I use old net curtaining

Delighted re the rose hips..

Not much trouble with the birds here; I do not really feed them as my three cats are fierce hunters so they left my strawberries alone.

juneg

My daughter Planted some strawberries in a raised planter. Put straw on them. Lovely to see her picking and eating her own fruit.

acai berry

I have a very confined space at the back with high walls all around. Have been feeding the birds right through winter until now. Now I have to live with that. It's BIRDS RULE HERE, I'm afraid. Got to live with it or stop feeding them. On the plus side, they are very entertaining to watch.

acai berry

juneg wrote: »

My daughter Planted some strawberries in a raised planter. Put straw on them. Lovely to see her picking and eating her own fruit.

Lovely, juneg! A big advantage of the heatwave is it keeps slugs away. If it had been raining, they would feast on the strawberries.

iamwhoiam

juneg wrote: »

My daughter Planted some strawberries in a raised planter. Put straw on them. Lovely to see her picking and eating her own fruit.

Grandaughter planted strawberries and tomato plants and wow what a harvest this year .! Her little pots of seeds from Lidl are now on a roll too and she wil soon see them grow and flourish .Great for the kids to see .

deceit

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

That's mighty weight loss fair play to you. Do you see yourself keeping up the commute some or most days of the week?

Thanks .
I intend on keeping it up 4 days a week no matter the weather. Here's hoping it Plays out that way. When I lose another 6kg and hopefully my six pack shows again, I will either have to cycle less or eat more as don't want to lose anymore than that.

acai berry

What made you start cycling in this hot weather, in the first place, deceit? Congrats on weight loss!

sbsquarepants

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Grandaughter planted strawberries and tomato plants and wow what a harvest this year .! Her little pots of seeds from Lidl are now on a roll too and she wil soon see them grow and flourish .Great for the kids to see .

We've a bumper crop of lidl seeds too - unfortunately the kids have taken all the name tags out so I have no idea what most of them are - but sure we'll find out when we're eating them!

iamwhoiam

Everything I could lay my hands on was washed ! Fleeces , rugs , Jackets . I even washed my stack of towels I keep for visitors again ! Now they smell fresh and clean and not stale from being in a press . Well the days were too fine to waste and have an empty line !

acai berry

LOL! iamwhoiam! Same here! I'm expecting visitors later. Have just taken the throw off the sofa and put it in the washing machine. Now it's "beeping" asking to be taken out and hung on the line. Will be dry and back on the sofa before my visitors arrive.

acai berry

Radishes and carrots have been a total failure in this weather. On the plus side, herbs such as thyme, sage, dill, fennel mint, etc have thrived. Monty Don on Gardener's World this weekend, has summed up the situation very nicely.

Keepaneye

I despise this weather. Irish homes are not built for this heat.

acai berry

Keepaneye wrote: »

I despise this weather. Irish homes are not built for this heat.

Not a great fan myself either, Keepaneye!

iamwhoiam

acai berry wrote: »

Not a great fan myself either, Keepaneye!

I have a great fan ! It helps !

acai berry

iamwhoiam wrote: »

I have a great fan ! It helps !