popular What have you done today in the Garden?

It can be quite difficult playing golf when it's raining and there's a lot of water on the course at the moment, with some "small lakes" on a few fairways.
We have numerous lateral streams draining the fairways, through a lot of pipes under them, the streams conjoin and then flow into the Mersey, passing through sluice gates.
If the Mersey rises, the force of the river water pressing on them is greater than that of what trying to exit the course. Mostly, the level in the streams just rises. There's usually plenty of room for the excess water, but it will then try to flow back up some of the drains onto a few parts of the course.
But the plus side is that no river water can get back onto the course. Once the river level falls below the height of the sluice gates, they open and the course will quickly clear.

You can stay reasonably dry wearing the right waterproof equipment and I also wear golf boots instead of golf shoes. Like most of my friends, I've an electric trolley which has a socket on the handle for a golf brolly and attachments to hold a thermos flask and another a scorecard holder, with a protective cover and a rack under it for a couple of spare balls. So I'm well prepared.

The club also make concessions in competitions in bad weather to make play a bit easier, after all, they want people to use the course.
The usual one, when it's quite wet, for your ball, is "lift clean and place within 6 inches on the fairway." Quite often, after teeing off, your ball can land and when you reach it, you can find it stuck in its own pitch mark, or will have bounced out and be covered with mud.
If the conditions become worse, as it has been for a few weeks, then this "local rule" is extended to, "anywhere on the course" which will include the rough.
This year, they've gone further and we are now allowed to use mats in competitions. A lot of other courses allow them, (they've started to sell them in the pro shop).

When you reach your ball after teeing off, you can place your mat next to the ball, pick your ball up, clean it and place it on your mat. I'd never used one before.
One of my partners had been using one for a couple of weeks. So my other partner and I, bought one each yesterday.
I had quite a bit of money building up in my pro shop account, accumulated over the year for a few wins or second places in our regular Wednesday club competitions. So I used some of that.
I found it an immediate help, certainly hitting a 4 rescue wood, which, "goes a long way" on a fairway. It has a small head and is quite unforgiving is the ground is wet, as it could easily dig in with just a slight error. It's OK if the ground is dry, as then it doesn't.

Of course, it's really "sanctioned cheating," as it's an "artificial aid."

The rules of golf are quite strict. A professional in a major competition was once penalise when he considered it was necessary for him to kneel down to reach his ball to hit it with his club, so he'd put a towel on the ground and knelt on it to protect his trousers. That was considered illegal, as it was deemed he was, "making a stance."
But in our club, if we don't use a mat through the winter, we will be at a disadvantage, compared with those who use them.
You just place it on the ground next to your ball with the spikes facing forwards. then press it down with your foot. You have to remember, to pick it up after you've played your shot and hang it on your trolley, with the supplied cord!

 

They were leaking unfortunately @Pacnorwest . I happened to go into one of our son's bedrooms ( yes I know ..all 3 left home 20 years + ago but they still have their rooms here ) and saw a damp patch on the corner ....we were lucky that our friend could come over the next day and sort it out for us.

 

Good to know you had caught a small leak and it’s fixed.
Roof leaks are a pain. Been there fixed them several times over the years. I should start charging myself better wages for roof repairs and clearing off debris.

Hearing a drip at the moment it’s outside next to the porch roofing. The hurricane winds has lifted a small section. Easy fix just longer better screws. It’s getting all the equipment ready and climbing up there .. when the pouring rain stops which is a pain in the caboose. Other than that we are high and dry.

 

I'm quite pleased that I cleared the gutter on the rear of the house a couple of weeks ago. No overflows since.
We have bay windows at the front, with a lead covered flat roof with a 4" lip. I had ours replaced several years ago. Originally, it drained the water that fell on it through a 1" pipe that actually passed through the lead into another slightly larger pipe in the small void above the bay's ceiling. This then passed through the fascia above the window, into an adjacent drainpipe.
A bad design, as if the second pipe became blocked with moss or whatever, the water would back up and overflow into the void. A few neighbours had that problem as the houses in our road were originally all built the same. I had ours changed, so the water exits through a gap in the leaded lip and then into a short gutter connected directly into the drain pipe.
I've a small problem with the house drain outside the kitchen window, it's about twenty feet from the collection chamber below the drive. It's just a bit slow, there will be a bit of build up of silt.
So I've ordered a metre long rod and a 6" plunger from eBay. That'll fix it.

 

I just had the whole out take plumbing drain the sanitary sewer system cleaned by a experienced plummer who specializes in clearing clogged or built up debris in the drains using motorized snakes with cutting blades and camera to check for other problems. The main out drain pipe was cleared of all built up debris and they also found 2 areas where the pipe was lower in spots which can cause sitting debris to stay in place and to eventually block the main out take debris from flowing properly. Very helpful technique to help keep drains clear. Every few years I recommend this method to keep your plumbing pipes running smoothly. Soaps and oily greasy shampoos are the worst culprits .

 

I agree about the soaps.

In any year, if the water in the basin in the bathroom seems to drain a bit slow, I get up a ladder and poke a hose up the drainpipe which feeds (unseen) into this box half-way up the side wall of our house.
When I pipe some water up it, a lot of gooey soap comes out. Not so much out of the long pipe next to it, which is the drain from the shower.

 

Spent the morning clearing up the aftermath of the recent rains and winds.
The few panels of fencing that we do have in the main garden area( mainly used as privacy panels to stop nosey walkers peering in) have be blown to pieces , hubs reckons he can do a patch up job...hmmmm we'll see.
Hard pruned all the remaining Lavertas , ....they're really are too delicate for our 'wind tunnel ' of a garden as they either get uprooted ( very shallow roots...no matter how deep you plant them.) or their branches snap very easily. We had branch damage to sort out mainly this morning.

 

Spent a very pleasant afternoon cutting back plants that have recently ' gone over', weeded a path that was particularly weedy and mossy....must've been all our recent rain that is making everything grow.....or I've been blindfolded for the last few weeks!!! Chopping back and removing an invasion of Brambles has be on my agenda too......I am now a walking wounded

 

I haven't done a dang thing since last week but for peering out the window at the garden or looking for seeds to sprout when walking the dog !!

 

While we had a short sun break spent the morning cleaning up after the back to back storms. Mowing here and there as I clear up the fallen branches. Actually I think I’m getting used to all the trees removed last fall. Just in time too , considering we just experienced the worst storms in 30 years. I don’t miss them at all. So much more light and less pine needles to deal with.

I’m starting to build another pile to transfer to the deer fence. There’s so many different sizes of branches it’s like playing the card game 52 pick up,(if ya all remember that game when a kid) . I can use my reacher for the smaller branches and toss in the tractor wagon behind me as I go. Adding to the shrub fencing is really working to block off the deer and other wildlife from entering the garden from the woods.
It’s not the height of the fence it’s the width that makes the fencing a popular deterrent to discourage wildlife from snacking on the garden plants.