My kitchen extension will have double doors opening out onto a patio. The house is lower than the garden so when the extension was built to enable the door to open out onto the garden we had to dig out a patio area. 
I've just bought a load of secondhand tiles but I don't really want a large concrete area - so I was thinking I could break it up with a pond /water feature. I don't want fish. This would be for whatever came along and some pond plants

I spotted a large pot in the reclaim yard....but it's not big enough.

I've been Googling ponds- is it easier just to buy a preformed oblong and build around it?? I want to have some water noise? I don't want to pay a fortune either. I spotted a lovely stone bath and thought I could do something like this....


But a little out of my price range.
I will be planting in some spots, I want herbs for cooking near, I thought I would line some of the walls with creeping rosemary.
       

   

Serpent leeks - never grown these before! Fascinating things - as they're about to flower, the heads rear up like serpents about to strike. 
Quite rare, it seems.

Car boot sale yesterday,looking at this lump of metal on a stall but wanted two cold chisels she had for sale. A squid for the pair of cold chisels and storeholder threw in the 'lump' for nowt. (Not at me!)

Any ideas? About five inches long with a large twisted cross on one end and a smaller twisted cross on tuther. A large nut in between.

She thought it may be a bleed key for an old cast iron radiator? If it is I can't find a similar one on goggle.

Excuse piccies as my phone is pretty carp.

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Hi Folks

Is there any way of getting a deleted thread back?

edit - Sorry please

There's a book "The Power of Now" - I have a copy but I've never read it. It sits alongside "The Road less travelled" and "Zen and the Art of motorcycle maintenance" - and I haven't read those either.
Probably never will but the titles appeal to me. In case you're wondering, I helped some friends who were moving away by clearing their bookcases and clutter. She was a Yoga teacher and he's a psychiatrist - there were lots of odd books.
Anyway, back to the "Power of Now" before its tomorrow..............you know those little jobs that catch your eye, need doing but you put off until another day - fingerprints on the door sort of job - they only take a couple of minutes to sort out but you hesitate and forget about them until the next time you open that door. 
Since spotting "The Power of Now" this morning, I've adopted it as my mantra and am trying to do those little jobs when I spot them.
It fits in with my other Mantras "Don't put it down, put it away" and "Don't put off until tomorrow that which should be done today". I'm not very good at remembering those either.

Do you have any similar Mantras?

There are loads of these poppies growing on some of the vaccant plots...stunning to look at.

Might try some seed saving if anyone is interested

   

   

   

To cut flowers for the house or to leave them in the garden? That is the question and one I struggle to answer!
If I cut them, they'll die within  a few days - and that feels like cruelty.
One way to ease my conscience would be to treat flowers like vegetable crops - to grow them purely for cutting.
What easy to grow, long-lasting in a vase, flowers would you recommend, that can be grown from seed and, if possible, sown now. Would you grow them in rows?
Sorry Scarlet, but not dahlias or geraniums or anything that has to receive special treatment over winter.

I have a cherry tree I planted about 3-4 years ago, it’s 5 different type cherry grafted onto a common root stock. 3 sweet and 2 savory. I’ve had great blossoms every year on it and last year there looked to be loads of cherry buds starting but looks lovely me the local bull finches had a party with the buds. This year however after a great cherry blossom i then had some strang happenings. There seems to be the buds dead, and the leaves seem to have picked up a disease. Any ideas ?

           

MrPP has been paid for a quick fix-it job in hen's eggs so I suddenly have two dozen delicious free range fresh eggs to use up in a main dish or two (or three!). We've had a lot of quiches, baked eggs and shakshuka recently, but beyond that my mind is a blank  I don't much like omelettes, just to be difficult   and it would need to be vegetarian, it being a weekday 

What egg-based recipes do you lot cook?

Interesting article about what an allotment has meant during Covid https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-57438179
What do you think?