Weather to come.......

[Woody girl]

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No mention of rain, but I've seen a few winged ants crawling around. Not a proper nuptial flight preparation, yet, but winged ants are often a sign of a coming thunderstorm.

Wooo! I like the summer sun, but I'm struggling with 26 degrees nowadays.
We had a few short showers this morning, but it barely wet a thing. Its muggy, in need of a thunderstorm. Still had to water my pots this evening. Though the veg beds, being close planted are faring better.
Does anyone remember thunder bugs? As a kid, we often had swarms of little black insects in muggy weather, which usualy preceeded a thunderstorm. Havnt seen any for years.

 

[Broch]

Almost worth a thread on its own, travel down the Spey and the Tay by canoe and you see the beautification of the river banks for the fee paying guest anglers who used to be agile sportsmen hunting the difficult spots.

Moaning estates and fisherman complaining about the drop in salmon whilst strimming the life, literally, out if the banks as they stand on.

Yep, most of the Spey riverbank is like a mowed lawn - really quite depressing. Having said that, I still enjoyed the river

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

I think it's the estates exist in isolation and think a wee bit of a strim is OK... Except they're all doing it for mile after mile.

 

[Toddy]

My big brother worked the salmon nets on the Spey during the holidays when he was at University. My Mum took me and my wee brother up to see him one year. The banks were clear then too, gravel banks I mind. We watched the men pull in the huge salmon nets onto the shingle...they dug their heels into it like a tug of war team. I must have been about seven.

 

[TeeDee]

I keep an extra T-shirt in a sealed bag I pop in the fridge during super hot weather - simple joy.

 

[Woody girl]

I keep an extra T-shirt in a sealed bag I pop in the fridge during super hot weather - simple joy.

Just don't forget, and end up trying to make a t shirt salad!
That's a brilliant idea.

 

[Woody girl]

Cooler today thank goodness. Lots of cloud cover, nice little breeze, and rain predicted mid morning, warming up again later this afternoon. Much cooler sleep last night, didn't wake up in a melting mess. House down to 22 degrees. I sent my wool duvet off to the cleaners, as I don't need it right now, so an ideal time to spruce it up, have just been using the empty duvet cover, as it's been too hot the past few nights for more than a sheet covering.
Many water companies are now warning stocks are low, and to conserve water....my water butt has sprung a leak! Do you think the water board will come out and stop the leak?
Seriously tho, how do I mend a leaky water butt? Seems to leak on the underneath, but I can't find out where, as even with a small amount of water in, it's impossible for me to lift high enough to see where it comming from. Can't see a hole when I empty it and turn upside down. Frustrating! It's only 2 yrs old.

 

[Pattree]

Try putting a plastic sheet/bag in the bottom of your water butt. If the hole is in the bottom you might get lucky and water pressure will hold the plastic sheet down over the leak. Not a permanent fix but it has worked in the past.

Has it been dragged?

 

[William_Montgomery]

I keep an extra T-shirt in a sealed bag I pop in the fridge during super hot weather - simple joy.

Even just the thought of that makes me feel better.

 

[Toddy]

Cooler today thank goodness. Lots of cloud cover, nice little breeze, and rain predicted mid morning, warming up again later this afternoon. Much cooler sleep last night, didn't wake up in a melting mess. House down to 22 degrees. I sent my wool duvet off to the cleaners, as I don't need it right now, so an ideal time to spruce it up, have just been using the empty duvet cover, as it's been too hot the past few nights for more than a sheet covering.
Many water companies are now warning stocks are low, and to conserve water....my water butt has sprung a leak! Do you think the water board will come out and stop the leak?
Seriously tho, how do I mend a leaky water butt? Seems to leak on the underneath, but I can't find out where, as even with a small amount of water in, it's impossible for me to lift high enough to see where it comming from. Can't see a hole when I empty it and turn upside down. Frustrating! It's only 2 yrs old.

If your water butt has a tap low down, then it might just be a slow seep from around that. It'll pool underneath and look like a leak.

New washers/plumber white tape stuff, usually works.

 

[Woody girl]

If your water butt has a tap low down, then it might just be a slow seep from around that. It'll pool underneath and look like a leak.

New washers/plumber white tape stuff, usually works.

It's definitely not the tap. I've put a bowl of water into it from empty, doesn't even come up to the tap. It's leaking from underneath somewhere. It's a pretty fast leak, so I'd notice if it was the tap. No wetness there at all.
I've been busy today at the town open gardens event, gathering many ideas, and I'm now too tired to sort it, but I'll have another go tomorrow.
I had an idea that I might be able to melt the plastic enough to cover in the hole, with a soldering iron, or something along those lines, and then let it harden again....is that a daft idea?

 

[Pattree]

Sorry but yes, it’s not a viable idea. You are far more likely to make a bigger hole with the soldering iron.

The water butt was injection moulded so that all the plastic was fluid at the same time. Very difficult if not impossible to duplicate successfully.

 

[Broch]

If there are small holes you could use something like Petro Patch. If there is larger damage, or a seam has split, you could try fibreglass mat and resin. Another option is to cover the hole with gaffer tape on the outside and use a hot-glue gun on the inside. A good quality gaffer tape (they vary) on the inside may just do it as well.

 

[slowworm]

You could hold the empty butt up to the sun and look from the inside to see if any light comes in. It could be a split seam, if just a small hole I'd try something like LS-X leak sealer on the inside.

 

[Wildgoose]

I’ve plugged small holes by inserting a screw with some sealant/glue on it. If it’s the seam that’s gone maybe some gorilla waterproof glue?

 

[Toddy]

You can reline it using just the polythene sheet stuff used for polytunnels...it's UV stablized. Just put it in like a pond liner. Once it's fll of water you can trim and tape the edges tidily at the lid.
The rest of the butt is sound, so that will support the polythene when it's filled with water.

The trick is to re fit the tap securely through it without making a bigger mess.....ask me how I know, well how Fi knows

 

[Toddy]

@Woody girl

Did you ever make plastic wrapped torches when you were a kid ? the kind that melts and drips hot zippy drops of molten plastic ?

In the days before we thought anything but coal fires were pollution, we used to make those torches at Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes.
You can drip the melted plastic into moulds we found....you could drip that hot plastic onto any hole you found in the barrel. It binds and cools down really quickly. It's not napalm. I mind a neighbour doing it to fix a bucket.....over fifty years ago.

Tricky though, and it stinks.

Could you imagine the horror if kids did that now ? We used to look like a peasants uprising real fire festival stuff.
Batteries cost money, but polythene was on every building site, and the 1960's the whole country was a building site.