h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I take the incident at the takeaway as further proof - not that it's needed - that plants are better than people.

It's a pity it's too cold to do anything in the garden today, because I'm actually going to be here in daylight for a change. From what I can see from here everything's still alive, which is nice, though there are rather a lot of weeds out there too.

Meanwhile, there's a pigeon repeatedly trying to land on a frozen birdbath.

It's funny how when i mention that we havent had any rain for ages, we get a monsoon! I might even be able to plant the new flowers this week, if it stops raining long enough for me to get out there.
I cleaned my shed out this afternoon, this is not a job i like doing - spiders and me do not get along Anyway, things are much tidier in there now and i even have room for more rubbish when i get it.

It's always good to have somewhere to put rubbish. I get fresh rubbish regularly...

As for rain - every time I say we've had none for ages, we get none for another age. It's remarkably consistent, if rather dull.

We have spiders in the photocopier room at w*rk. I wonder if we should give them names, or maybe put them on the payroll.

See, thats one big difference from the UK and Australia - Over here when i see different spiders i either run or ignore them, depending on size. In your country i would'nt go near any spiders, and would run very fast just in case they were venomous

I tried to dig a hole for one of my new plants today, under the first couple of inches of soil, it's like concrete and i could'nt get any deeper I'm going to have to wait for even more rain before i'll get the new plants into the ground.

Concrete earth. Welcome to my world... It's been like that here for *years*, literally. I dig as much as I can, then fill the hole with water and go and do something else until it's drained away. It can help to some degree, sometimes, except I usually get bored and give up after a while.

As for the spiders - these ones are big and hairy, and consequently harmless. It's the little graceful ones that are out to get us. The harmless ones will be pets before long.

It's no wonder you get so tired of trying to get plants in the ground AND to survive if you have to go through all that each time you want to dig a hole.
Naturally, since i said the ground is like concrete, we've had rain. It will hopefully allow me to plant the remainder of the plants i bought from the garden i went to, and a couple of herbs i bought yesterday. I'm trying to get more plants that will feed bees, so i'm ready for when i start my own hive next year.

So, have the big spiders been named yet?

You seem to have had our rain again. Not a drop here, as usual.

Which herbs do you have? Rosemary, mint and sage are easy enough to keep alive here, but things I'd use more often don't last long at all. Coriander just bolts to seed and is dead within days.

The spiders don't have names yet. Maybe I should start a 'name the spider' competition, the prize being a spider of your choice presented to the person of your choice...

I bought a catmint (nepeta) and a catnip. They are pretty drought tolerant and the flowers are loved by bees. I rather like the smell of the leaves, the catnip has a fresh peppermint fragrance.

Oooh, you do have a wicked streak If you have a spider left over, i have the perfect candidate - my nasty neighbour

Nasty neighbours are my speciality.

I had some catnip years ago in Adelaide; I planted it thinking that my housemate's cat would like it. Rather perversely, she (the cat, not the housemate) preferred my oregano and would roll and writhe around on it, looking more daft and spaced-out than usual. So much for cooking with fresh oregano...

Both plants have escaped any attention from the local moggies so far.
I once had a large patch of golden marjoram, which was permanately stunted as the cats used to roll around on it and sleep on it too. I had to dig it up in the end as more and more cats came into the garden

I found two Grevillia's at work last week. What a strange flower they had. It was like a pink snail shell split in half, with a pink tube emerging from the centre I took a couple of photos as it was so unusual. I did'nt buy them though, i read the grwoing instructions and new i would have no where to put them in them in the winter, to protect them from the rain and cold.

Good grief! When will i learn to preview

I very rarely preview, and it probably shows.

Grevilleas are my favourites. They're tough as old boots, love poor soil and need no attention. The ones I have cope with erratic watering, frost, hail and the odd bit of sleet. They'd probably cope with snow too. That being said, the showier ones do come from warmer bits of the country.

On another subject entirely...

I see you've been trying to be helpful re digiboxes etc, and that you've encountered a rare species of troll in the process. Please don't get drawn into arguing with him. Trust me, it would be a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

Feed the troll tuppence a bag

Thanks for the warning, i've encountered this species before, luckily it is rare eh! I tried to yikes the post where he made a personal attcak against me, but for some reason the 'yikes' button won't work.

I'm not really back, just came by to transfer myself onto the new id thing, which i managed successfully.

I may come back again soon. Hope all is well with you and your garden.

All's well here, and I'm just about to water the garden. Summer's starting any minute now and things are drying out really quickly.

I should transfer to the new id thingy, one of these days...