Hello from East Dorset

Greetings to one and all. I have lurked for a while and decided to take the plunge.
Happily retired, I have a variety of rescue animals, like 'making do and mending' and have a garden that is mostly out of control. But it's mine and I love it!

Hello, I'm glad you've joined us.

I think it is high time to reverse the decline in "making do and mending" . Saves so many resources, not to mention cash !

I like your crocus. Yellow ones were the most successful type in my parents' garden, but in mine they seem to slowly disappear to be replaced by the pale purple ones. My garden is always on the edge of "under control" - at least at this time of year the weeds grow a little bit slower !

Hello FloBear and welcome. Making do and mending is right up my street too. Looking forward to hearing about the things you make and mend.

Good morning Chilli head and freebird. The crocus is Zwaneburg Bronze, my favourite. I love it because it's reddy brown when closed then, on a sunny day it opens with a shout of 'surprise' to reveal its yellow. Semi-wild purple ones abound, though.

Hi there Flobear from another one with an out of control garden. What animals do you rescue?

Welcome Flobear

Thank you for the welcomes
I volunteer with a local dog rescue and have three small dogs acquired therefrom (is that a word?) as well as a parrot - also from the dog rescue!! - and three chickens from the BHWT. At present am fostering two rabbits (for the dog rescue) while my greenhouse is otherwise unoccupied. Will no doubt bore everyone with photos and dog tales, in due course. Esp. if there is a fred for such stuff.

you could always start a thread for it ....

Hello FloBear - i think you're going to feel at home here!

FloBear wrote: Will no doubt bore everyone with photos and dog tales, in due course. Esp. if there is a fred for such stuff.

Well, GB has already sneaked in a picture of her cat in a risky situation amongst a thread about her meat rabbits,  so I don't see why not !

Hello Dandelion.
I'm very fond of dandelions - if they weren't so prolific, they'd be sold for proper money in Garden Centres!
Chilli head, I may start a pet fred one day. Meanwhile I was wondering where would be a good place for putting 'making' things that aren't proper-crafty, like cardboard boxes turned into useful stuff?

Scuse me butting in, FloBear - I think maybe a suitable place for your cardboard boxes might be in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, Replace, under the Home and Family heading. Reckon that might cover a multitude of multitudes.

Sounds good to me. If is is mostly about crafting, then in the Crafting, Crochet, Knitting, sewing, weaving section, if it is more about finding a new use for what might be thrown away, then as Freebird says, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, Replace.

To some extent, the forum is made by its members and their interests, assuming it is not at odds with the ethos. Some sections have been rejuggled several times as people have come and gone, which has left us with some unwieldy names !

The pets one is more interesting, with some scope for controversy - a thread on pets and their carbon footprint got heated enough that it silently disappeared in the past. Difficult one - they aren't particularly "eco", but they are such an important part of many rural lifestyles. Especially working animals.

Thanks for the info. Chilli head and freebird.
I could put the pets in 'recycle' as well seeing as they were abandoned in one way or another!

I'm sure we've had some talk about recycled chickens in the past.

I'm not quite sure what the parrot was doing in the dog rescue ... What dogs do you have ? A friend of mine has a German Shepherd from a dog rescue. Unfortunately it has "issues" that may partly explain why it was in the rescue centre to begin with ...

An old lady who lived alone with two dogs and a parrot was taken ill and her kind and concerned neighbours contacted the rescue. We couldn't take the dogs and leave the bird and, as a birdy person and already owning a parrot, I said I'd foster her. That was a year ago and, though we had contact for a while with the woman's sons we have heard nothing for ages. So I kind of feel she's mine. Esp. as my beloved Esmetheparrot (also from dog rescue) died suddenly and unexpectedly last May.
Don't get me started on 'problem' dogs coming into rescue!!

The headteacher at the school where I work has two rescue parrots - presumably it's a problem because of the birds being so long-lived?

That certainly can be the case, Dandelion, it's best to have someone to bequeath it to! But also you can get quite severe behaviour problems when parrots are left alone in cages but have entertainment and stimulation needs similar to a three year old human. Then people, having ruined the birds, don't want them any more