What's happening in your garden today?

[Sean Regan]

Too wet for gardening, but I've been busy. The new dishwasher packed up over the week-end after just a month's use. I phoned Bosch first thing and told them I wasn't well pleased. It must have embarrassed them, as they are sending an engineer first thing in the morning. I hope they can fix it, as at the moment, it is as dead as a dodo. If it has to be replaced, that could take a week.

Then I had to ring my car insurance company. Why do they always try it on, at renewal? They'd put it up by 25%. I was armed with several other quotes.
I settled for a 7% increase.

On Saturday I collected a tuner/amp I bought on eBay, it's just a spare and I'll use it in my "office" our box-bedroom. It's to replace my other spare, which is getting a bit tired. A Leak 2000.

It's younger but still over 40 years old. It's a Leak 3400.

Of course nothing for me ever seems easy. It's wider than the previous one, the speakers would not have fitted either side. So I had to by a new length of shelving and swop them over. Harder to do than some might think. Needed a bit of fettling to change them.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Wrong place wrong time as usual but this headline describes my current garden. Not for long though since I have a couple of ziploc bags full of marigold seeds.

The weeds are winning

 

[Tetters]

Hello Dirt, I wondered where you'd gone. Here's a little picture of me wondering ......
When the weather has been totally ''in the doldrums'' for a whole week, we just have to talk about anything we can think of really, to try and keep the shop open.

Wrong place wrong time as usual but this headline describes my current garden. Not for long though since I have a couple of ziploc bags full of marigold seeds.

The weeds are winning

Just hearing about two packets of marigold seeds certainly lifts the spirits!

 

[Logan]

In another border i pulled up the cosmos and the pots of lillies, started weeding there but i ran out of time, maybe tomorrow.

Even though it was colder today i finished the weeding.

 

[Sean Regan]

The Bosch engineer came at 8.00 am this morning. I explained that I'd checked the fuse and it was OK. He attempted to turn on the machine and of course nothing happened, no lights, nothing.

He pulled out the machine from under the counter top and noticed it was plugged in to a double 13amp socket, the second socket is for the washing machine. He un-plugged that and plugged in the dishwasher into the same socket. The machine came on!
He said the socket must have burned out.

This must be a common problem, for him to determine the fault so quickly.

Now this double socket has been there for well over a decade and we sometimes have the washing machine and the dishwasher on at the same time, as we did on Sunday. The only difference was that I usually have the dishwasher on "Express" a 1hr 35m programme. as we rinse off everything before it goes in. But on Sunday, I put it on "intensive" (2.5hrs) for the first time. It stopped working halfway through the programme. I guess the fact that the heaters in both machine would have both been on together and the "dishy" one for longer than usual.

He said that with heaters in both machines working, sometimes one of the sockets fail.
But it didn't blow the fuse nor trip the mini breaker that protects the kitchen power ring main. He was in the house for less than five minutes.

So I went out and bought a new double socket from my local electrical wholesaler.
I removed the old socket and could see no evidence of burning, discolouration, or melting of any of the wires where they enter the terminals at the back of the socket, or any tracking on the metal back box.
So I just fitted the new socket and plugged both machines in again. They were then "good to go."
To be safe, in future, we won't be using the dishwasher and washing machine at the same time.
The new double socket cost me less than £4.

 

[Tetters]

The Bosch engineer came at 8.00 am this morning. I explained that I'd checked the fuse and it was OK. He attempted to turn on the machine and of course nothing happened, no lights, nothing.

He pulled out the machine from under the counter top and noticed it was plugged in to a double 13amp socket, the second socket is for the washing machine. He un-plugged that and plugged in the dishwasher into the same socket. The machine came on!
He said the socket must have burned out.

This must be a common problem, for him to determine the fault so quickly.

Now this double socket has been there for well over a decade and we sometimes have the washing machine and the dishwasher on at the same time, as we did on Sunday. The only difference was that I usually have the dishwasher on "Express" a 1hr 35m programme. as we rinse off everything before it goes in. But on Sunday, I put it on "intensive" (2.5hrs) for the first time. It stopped working halfway through the programme. I guess the fact that the heaters in both machine would have both been on together and the "dishy" one for longer than usual.

He said that with heaters in both machines working, sometimes one of the sockets fail.
But it didn't blow the fuse nor trip the mini breaker that protects the kitchen power ring main. He was in the house for less than five minutes.

So I went out and bought a new double socket from my local electrical wholesaler.
I removed the old socket and could see no evidence of burning, discolouration, or melting of any of the wires where they enter the terminals at the back of the socket, or any tracking on the metal back box.
So I just fitted the new socket and plugged both machines in again. They were then "good to go."
To be safe, in future, we won't be using the dishwasher and washing machine at the same time.
The new double socket cost me less than £4.

Trouble is, the trip should have gone off in the consumer unit!!!! I really think it would be wise to have a reputable electrician come in and check your entire wiring system. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry.

 

[Sean Regan]

Trouble is, the trip should have gone off in the consumer unit!!!! I really think it would be wise to have a reputable electrician come in and check your entire wiring system. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry.

The house was rewired by a qualified engineer, twenty years ago.

For the fuse to blow, there would have to have been a short to earth in the machine or cable. For the mini breaker to trip, there would have to have been a short to earth within the socket. There was neither. It couldn't have been in the wiring to the socket, or else the other half of the socket would have stopped working. I explained I could see no evidence of a short, which puzzled me. The other half of the socket was still working, so there was just a loss of continuity in one side of the socket due to an unsustainable load. As the engineer said. "It happens."

 

[Logan]

Nothing today in the garden at the moment, what needs to be done can wait.
So i cleaned the conservatory, done the frame, glass and floor just got to do the sliding glass door.

 

[Anniekay]

Today I planted two raised beds of Snow peas. Gave them some mychorrhizal innoculant and a good soak. Watered my other veg and that it. It's very windy and chilly out for being 75 degrees.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Hello Dirt, I wondered where you'd gone. Here's a little picture of me wondering ......
When the weather has been totally ''in the doldrums'' for a whole week, we just have to talk about anything we can think of really, to try and keep the shop open.

Just hearing about two packets of marigold seeds certainly lifts the spirits!

OH NO. Not packets. Looks about 1 quart ziplock bag size. Hopefully more than I need. I really hate running out at the end of a row or when I broadcast. That never happens right?

 

[Tetters]

OH NO. Not packets. Looks about 1 quart ziplock bag size. Hopefully more than I need. I really hate running out at the end of a row or when I broadcast. That never happens right?

ROWS? Why do you plant them in rows? I have always grown them to dot about in the flower garden, but don't know of anyone growing them in huge quantities. It rather sounds as if I have something to learn now You don't eat them do you?

 

[Zigs]

Been doing something in the garden, can you guess what?

 

[Anniekay]

Looks like you've stolen all the neighbor's leaves and are hiding them in bags out of sight !!

 

[Zigs]

Looks like you've stolen all the neighbor's leaves and are hiding them in bags out of sight !!

All the big Beech trees behind our little one here are the neighbour's trees. They filled the field after the wind a few nights ago so yes, I did have them away this morning

 

[Sheal]

Something very leafy going on I would say. That looks like Aesculus (horse chestnut) leaves in the first pic?

 

[Zigs]

Something very leafy going on I would say. That looks like Aesculus (horse chestnut) leaves in the first pic?

Could be Sheal Sycamore leaves from the Sycamore tree

 

[Sheal]

Had my fill of those in my last garden.

 

[Tetters]

Been doing something in the garden, can you guess what?

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No

Had my fill of those in my last garden.

We like them, we do...