Moan, Moan, Moan - 2012

[Maren]

Hi Anthony,

don't have a choice about taking it easy as the old body tells in no uncertain terms when to stop doing things.

But I am going to see Ian Butterfield later today, which will cheer me up no end.

[fermi de Sousa]

Maren
I hope you have a good Physio to advise you, too! 

A definite moan from me but maybe someone else on the Forum will be going to Skye this weekend?
I've just seen that my favourite singer, Raul Malo, will be performing at the Skye Celtic Connections Festival. Oh well, I'll have to be content with him on YouTube
cheers
fermi

[fredg]

Darn it, I'm not too happy with the Fritillaria I bought in the autumn.
I posted about one error in supply but it gets worse.

So far.

Purchased      Supplied
F. graeca       F. uva-vulpis
F. pallidiflora   F. persica
F. minuta       F. hermonis amana
F. pudica       F. aurea

Please note ... so far and each mistake is a different supplier.
 

[ronm]

OMG Fred  . This is an absolute travesty. I have experienced same over the years, its about time something was done. . I'm taking tonight to calm down. This is disgusting!!

[Paul T]

Fred,

Have you contacted each of them to let them know and ask for the correct one, or a refund, this coming season?  Their responses to that will be more telling.  Mixups can happen, but it's what they do when they find out about a mixup which tells you whether they were deliberate or accidental.

[Anthony Darby]

Pity the ones supplied didn't include ones ordered from other sources.

[Anthony Darby]

Just been speaking to my brother and sister on Skype. I had sent two boxes of two and a quarter square family slides that had somehow ended up 12000 miles away from the projector. The b******s at the UK customs charged him import duty! How does that work? These slides were taken in the 1960s on and old Rolleicord!

[Gerry Webster]

Darn it, I'm not too happy with the Fritillaria I bought in the autumn.
I posted about one error in supply but it gets worse.

So far.

Purchased      Supplied
F. graeca       F. uva-vulpis
F. pallidiflora   F. persica
F. minuta       F. hermonis amana
F. pudica       F. aurea

Please note ... so far and each mistake is a different supplier.
 

Sorry to hear it Fred, but it sounds quite normal for this genus. The surprise would have been if they were true to name.

[Darren]

Darn it, I'm not too happy with the Fritillaria I bought in the autumn.
I posted about one error in supply but it gets worse.

So far.

Purchased      Supplied
F. graeca       F. uva-vulpis
F. pallidiflora   F. persica
F. minuta       F. hermonis amana
F. pudica       F. aurea

Please note ... so far and each mistake is a different supplier.
 

Sorry to hear it Fred, but it sounds quite normal for this genus. The surprise would have been if they were true to name.

Even specialists get it wrong. From frit group seed sown from one distribution a few years back five of the six species flowered so far here were wrongly named - and I'm not talking subtle distinctions; meleagris was supplied as bithynica for example.

The frit group does identify the donors so I must dig out the list.......

[Gerry Webster]

A problem since the earliest days of the Frit Group; few growers seemed to check the identity of their plants. Perhaps excusable then since information was printed & difficult to obtain but this is no longer the case; online resources are easily available.

[Roma]

Found a dead red squirrel on the road this afternoon .  It had been killed in the half hour I was across feeding the ponies.  There is a 40 miles an hour limit on the road but hardly anybody obeys.  Even some people who signed the petition for the limit drive faster.  The road is just wide enough for two cars to pass in most places.  There are passing places but lots of people drive past them and meet the oncoming car in a narrower stretch .

[Lesley Cox]

Talking of scents (which we weren't but scent was mentioned in the Primula thread a moment ago, or maybe this should go in Ashley's suggested thread about household demarcation lines), our little dog Marley, who has a very thick and long haired coat, very soft and furry, on his walk a few days ago found and rolled in something really obscene. When we got him home, he was put into a warm bath and really soaped and scrubbed with dog shampoo, then towelled down thoroughly. He still smelt awful!
We put up with it overnight but next morning when I went up to the end of the road to collect the mail, Roger snuck along and stole my bottle of Chanel No.5 and liberally squirted Marley. Marley loved his filthy smell but hates the Chanel and is rolling in the grass and mud at every opportunity. The filthy smell remains and coupled with the Chanel, he's unbearable to be near. Truly disgusting. I suppose it's just a matter of time and hopefully everything will fade away. I hope it's soon.

[maggiepie]

OMG, Lesley, I didn't realize you had skunks in NZ.

Chanel no.5 is the only perfume I have ever liked, apart from 4711.
Hope Roger has a new bottle on order for you.

[Lesley Cox]

Fat chance Helen. This was a duty free bottle last time I was in Australia.

[Anthony Darby]

Ah, I have memories of a choir tour to Cologne (and the Odenwald) in 1982. One of our members stocked up of 4711 wipes which she distributed to all so we could refresh ourselves on what was a very hot two weeks and my very first trip abroad.

Here's my moan of the week: yesterday I took my son James to the ASB Tennis Centre, home of Auckland Tennis and the New Zealand Open tennis tournament. We had to be there for 8.15 a.m. and there are teams of four, so two doubles matches and two singles matches. I knew I would be there for a while (until 11.45 as it turned out), so I asked at reception if where I could get a coffee should the need arise. "There's a service station down the road" was the reply! It turns out the cafe is for members only. I think that is a disgrace and I have written to tell them as much. All the other tennis clubs we have visited are so welcoming. This one is the pits!