I've come to the conclusion, after at least 40 years,  that I need to begin to be a little more organised.  In the spring I get all excited and sow anything and everything, fill up the patch at planting out and even if I wanted to successional sow, I haven't got the space.  So I thought a sowing calendar might be a reminder to be less enthusiastic in spring, leaving room for later sowing.  I run a desultory spreadsheet but the novelty wanes as the season progresses, I forget to look at my written garden book, so I thought I could run a second 'garden' calendar on my tablet completely separate from the existing humdrum daily household one, but I've yet to figure out how to have two distinct calendars.  The one I have syncs all together into one  display.  Next thought was an app with a reminder feature.  I'm still investigating than but I was after something simple.

I've heard PP talk about her sowing reminder, so my question is:  Does anyone have any bright ideas? What do you do to remind you about sowing at times other than spring?

We have been feeding this lost/abandoned dog for three months now in the hope of bringing him in from the forest. Despite posting pictures on all the local lost pet pages nobody has claimed him or reported a similar animal missing.

He's is so timid that we canot get within 50 metres of him before he bolts, which is hearbreaking. The closest I've got is about 15m when he turned in at the bottom of the drive as I was walking down  - he fled so fast he fell down in the road   You have to wonder what has happened in his life to leave him like this.

We're working with a local charity and have decided the only way forward is to trap him as the weather is starting to get worse. Poor guy.
We've called him Didi and I still hope I might find him waiting at the feeding spot one evening. He rarely comes before dusk  - this picture was taken by the trail cam.
   

I've been leaving bits of clothing out that smell of me - tatty gloves and socks - all of which have been taken away, and he once brought us a ball!

So not exactly a pet, but an animal I worry greatly about.

Treated myself to a mandoline yesterday because I have been wanting one for ages.
Trouble is I can’t remember WHY I wanted it in the first place.
Any suggestions, please, for what I can start doing with it. 
Or is it going to be stuffed in the pantry along with the kitchen blow torch that has never come out of its packaging.

Finally got to see the Aurora from the garden    . I’ve been chasing & missing this beautiful green sky for years.  This would look stunning with a decent camera. But this is as good as it gets with a little point & shoot. 

   

I bought a house with my partner and for the first time in my life do I have more garden than I need. I will fill it, I'm sure, but here is how my little world looks in three minutes flat

Just opened a bag of cashew nuts I got from Aldi and realised they are manufactured by the Happy Nutter Company! 

Can't imagine why why but I had to laugh out loud because I instantly thought of Veggie.

Apologies for the absence over the summer – I blame a combo of being really busy with managing two gîtes, client’s gardens and trying to do our own extension! Plus I’ve been trying to not spend too much time in front of the screen.
My summer has been pretty difficult in the garden – fungus gnats ripped through the early seedlings and then blight took out all the tomatoes. This will be the first year without enough (or indeed any) sundried and passata for the year. Everything else has just been painfully slow to grow on. Oh well! On the other hand the soft fruit has been epic, especially blackberries. Constant rain in June & July followed by a hot dry August is clearly to their liking.
Off for a long read and catch up, now. Happy gardening!

I have transplanted a blueberry bush that I have for 5 years that has never flowered or fruited. It was in a large patio pot. I have put it in an ericaceous raised bed and guess what happened it has produced flowers.
I would not expect to get fruit at this time of year, has anybody had any experience of a blueberry fruiting in the autumn/winter ?

   

Never grown it before, help?

Well I know NG had a go at this and I think I may too! I hope NG pops in and reads this and can offer advice /pros and cons. 

As some of you know I've been growing lots of dahlias this year and as I've had a huge surplus I started selling them at my gate after several friends requested flowers - it's been reasonably successful and I wondered if selling at our local farmers market as a casual trader may make a difference to just pocket money or a worthwhile thing to do. I'm quite excited by it actually. I've always grown lots, just turning to only flowers wouldn't be too difficult, I've done several floristry courses and several weddings, bouquets etc - I live the arranging bit. Growing flowers suitable for growing may not be so easy - though that may be started on another thread!

Anyway - I need a name first - something quirky, not just scarlets blooms! .....would love it to have worm in there- best I've come up with so far is Bee Happy Blooms, petals and posies?  I need some stickers with my name and telephone/FB pages etc on and to stick my recycled brown paper that I use to wrap.