Forced to rationalise, job update and other stuff

A few days since my last post and a lot happening in the news. As I type this, the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime seems to be entering its final stage and there is speculation the rebels have him surrounded in Tripoli.

Back down to earth and I've decided to focus my attention on growing herbs, tomatoes, onions, peas and beans. Most of what I've tried to grown in the ground has been eaten and I'm tired of trying to keep my vegetable plot pest free. Everything I'm growing under cover in my conservatory is doing very well including most of what I'm growing in pots on my patio. So these are the methods I'll employ for all my growing. It's so much simpler and more especially, productive.

I will endeavour to grow some vegetables - potatoes and carrots especially, but I'll use grow bags which I know to be a very good method.

Of the herbs I'm currently growing, rocket and coriander are the most popular and abundant. In fact, I've been adding rocket to just about everything I can. It has a mild, peppery flavour.
My tomato plants are beginning to bear fruit, lots of it. They are quite small at the moment but I'm certainly going to have a good crop. I'm keen to get another plant going as soon as I can so I can stagger my tomato production. I'm very fond of tomatoes and I know it won't take me long to eat them!

Still no word from my new employer but I'm hopeful I will hear something in the next few days especially if they want me to start at the beginning of September. I signed-off on Monday last which was a great feeling. I'm no longer slave to the Job Centre!

The TV news (especially from Sky) is getting more exciting by the hour. Their correspondents are really placing themselves in amidst the action and I'd be amazed if awards aren't won. I'd be very surprised if there isn't a major development in the next few hours. The coverage has been excellent and is testament to the continuing developments in technology and the portability of news gathering. Compare this to the techniques used just 10-15 years ago.

Oh, I must mention my wife's Birthday which was yesterday. My wife isn't one for celebration - much like myself - but we did nevertheless have a very pleasant day. We popped along to Hunstanton for the afternoon, one of our favourite seaside locations. My son immediately headed for the land train and we travelled the length of the seafront including the Searle's Holiday Camp. After a few rides at the amusement arcade, we had some fantastic fish and chips, opting to eat them on the grass atop the cliffs. Weather was perfect and it all made for an excellent afternoon.

Conservatory growing & wasps

My conservatory is proving to be the ideal location for much of my growing at the moment. It is warm and pest-free - provided the door is kept shut.

My sugar-snap peas are coming-on nicely and I like the fact that they are training themselves around the bamboo canes I've added for support.

My rocket herbs are quite delicious. Eaten fresh from the plant, they have a very nice mustard/pepper flavour and are a welcome addition to any sandwich. I'm very pleased with these.

The same is true of my coriander. It has a very strong citrus/lemon scent and flavour, making it the perfect addition to curries.

I'm pleased with the progress made by my honey-dew watermelon plants. I will be adding bamboo cane support very soon as the plants grow taller. I'm keeping a close eye on these as this is more of an experiment than anything else. I think I'll be lucky if I get any really substantial fruit but it's worth a try.

My broccoli doesn't appear to have coped that well with pests. I've moved it into the conservatory from the patio where I'm hoping it will be more safe. I'm hoping it will recover in a week or two.

Wasps! My wife's idea of placing a jam jar on the patio seems to have backfired given the number of wasps we've now attracted. I imagine every wasp in the neighborhood now knows about it. The photograph below doesn't really do it justice and we now feel like prisoners in our own home...

Goodbye Analogue, I'll miss you...

So that's it. Analogue TV signals were turned off last night in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. We are now a digital only area... well apart from analogue radio of course, which I don't think will ever disappear.
No longer will I be asked to tune my parents TV or video recorder. I will miss the fuzzy pictures, the ghosting and the interference from the fridge compressor.
Now we have clean, crisp digital, where either it is or it isn't. No fuzziness, we know what pixels look like, pictures are made up like a jigsaw. The red button now means something to so many more people who up to now regarded it as a thing of the rich, the privileged or 'those with a satellite'.
But we now have a TV that does nothing. It's in the kitchen but it's not connected to the roof aerial and it doesn't have a digital tuner. I wonder how many more TV's now sit redundant across the country awaiting an uncertain fate...

Vegetable plot, wasps & guided busway

It's been a few days since I posted last. It's good to see justice being served against all those involved in the recent riots and I hope we never see a repeat of the violence and destruction we have witnessed.

OK, vegetables. I'm having mixed success with my vegetable and herb growing. Certainly the things I'm growing under cover in the conservatory are doing quite well. My herbs are coming on nicely and my watermelon plants and sugar snap peas are showing encouraging signs of growth. The same can't be said unfortunately for my outdoor plot. I am blighted by slugs and they have managed despite all my attempts to get rid of them, to eat all my cucumber plants and have a good go at everything else. I've set into the ground two dishes full of beer (cheap stuff from Asda). These actually work extremely well and are each day full of a new catch of slugs but this isn't enough to catch all of them and I have a feeling they pop along for a beer after munching what's left of my plants and fall drunk into my beer trap.

Where on Earth have all these wasps come from? I have never seen so many of the buggers. My wife hates them and has taken to ensuring the doors and windows are kept closed - which in this mild weather is really quite impractical. I've lost count of the number I've had to deal with in the last week. We have a mutual understanding - she deals with spiders and I deal with wasps and bees. It works quite well and my wife has learnt to keep her weapon of choice, the vacuum cleaner, readily to hand.
We have a couple of jam jars at the moment acting very well as bait. The wasps fly into the jar and fall into the layer of water inside. We must have caught hundreds this way.

I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment waiting for the next step in my recent job application. I know they are getting references at the moment and probably awaiting the result of my CRB check. I know this can be a lengthy process. Mine of cause is clear of any breaches of the law, but most employers insist on doing them, which is both understandable and unfortunate in this day and age. I expect they are waiting too for the reference from my son's Godparents. I suggested they be a referee as I have driven for them and have experience in handling mobility equipment. They have only just returned from a holiday to Cornwall so I expect it will take them a little time to go through their post. In addition, one of their dogs is very poorly and I suspect they will be having to make a very difficult decision very soon. I know having spoken with them recently that they are both quite distraught, and understandably so.

Something unusual has appeared in Cambridge and opened a week or so ago. It's a guided busway that's been built on old railway bed. Essentially it's a specially designed road with raised curbs. Buses drive between the curbs and tiny wheels protruding from the side of the bus guide it along the track. The driver can take his or her hands off the wheel and simply stop for passengers along the route. The busway has been designed to prevent other vehicles from using it and relatively high speeds can be attained. OK, sounds good so far but I have to ask why a tramway wasn't built or better still a railway? The whole thing cost a reported £180 million to construct and there is understandably a level of criticism given current spending restraints. What happens when a bus breaks down? Surely it will block the busway until it can be towed out?
I can't help thinking this is an expensive mistake. I am a big fan of public transport but I'm sure the money could have been put to better use... I won't post any images as a Google search for 'guided busway' will provide all the detail you need.

Broken Britain

In response to the mindless violence and destruction across the UK, this quote from an anonymous Surrey police officer says it all really and I agree wholeheartedly with every word...


'The UK will continue to be under siege from the mindless violence until something changes in the way we police this country. When my granddad was a police officer in the 1940s he was feared by those who broke laws. He acted professionally and upheld the law, but did not have worry about trial by media if used force to restore order. Every use of force by a police officer in the UK has to be documented and justified. Many officers will not use the force necessary to restore order as they fear for their jobs and liberty! The interview with the two teenage girls on Monday shows this really well where they state 'we are showing the police we can do what we want!' The yobs and looters need something to fear [the police] or they will continue their reign of terror on the law abiding community'.

Doing fine on a budget & Kwik Fit

Like many, we have been living on a budget for some time now. It's easy to assume that having a limit to the amount you can spend on food and consumables would be restrictive and force us to do without things. In fact the opposite is true. There are things certainly that we no longer buy but these are unhealthy foods and things that we really didn't need. In fact our new buying habits have enabled me to lose 6lbs in two weeks. I now actually enjoy being the careful shopper, hunting out bargains and trying to get the most for every penny. We now buy a lot of the things that are good for us and I'm really getting to enjoy the new healthy lifestyle. This has been helped in part by healthy eating money off vouchers which are now available in most supermarkets.
So out have gone the crisps and the fatty, sweet snacks and in are the crisp bread, the cracker and the granary loaf. We're eating just as well, feeling full, and shedding pounds. So all's good.

We had cause to get a new tyre fitted to the car yesterday. The inside rear had worn on the outer edge and it really needed doing. So we popped to our Spalding Kwik Fit and on arrival found all the bays full with cars. Fearing a long wait, my wife and son popped to a local store for some bits and pieces while I stayed at the garage. Before I knew it, the car was on the ramp, a space having been made almost immediately and the new tyre was being fitted. The whole thing too just 10 minutes by which time my wife and son had arrived back from their short trip. I'm not normally very complimentary when it comes to customer service but on this occasion, Kwik Fit are certainly worthy of my praise. A job very well done and worth all of the £55 spent.

I haven't mentioned the outcome of my medical examination last Thursday for my new job. This is mainly because, I haven't heard from my prospective employer though I was informed I had passed by the doctor I saw. It is true I'm not in perfect working order and do have to take some medication daily to control a few things, but I am physically fit and able to drive any size of vehicle safely. So I'm hopeful I'll hear something soon. I know they were checking my references last Friday as I had a call asking for my RBS employee number.

My vegetable plot is coming on nicely and things have begun to take root and start growing. I am having real problems with slugs for which there appear to be thousands all over the garden. I am using two beer traps and these have been very effective though I suspect the buggers have staggered into them after munching their way through my cucumber plants...

I've managed to transplant my honeydew watermelon plants from their propagator to a grow bag in my conservatory. I'm hopeful this will provide the ideal conditions needed, but time will tell.

There's a lot in the news at the moment about unrest across London sparked by the shooting in Tottenham last Thursday. There can be no justification whatsoever for the mindless violence and willful destruction we have witnessed. The investigation should be allowed to proceed and a full inquiry should take place to discover who was at fault. If the police are found to be at fault, then justice should be served according to law and there should be transparency at every stage.

Planting

I've spent the last couple of days planting some of my seedlings in my vegetable plot. I've planted cucumbers, carrots, spinach, radish, lettuce and French beans. I've opted for neat rows but I was surprised at how quickly my little plot became full. I've left a small patch for me to stand on and just enough between each row for access when watering.
I made a huge mistake with my carrots, having grown the seedlings in trays. Transplanting them into the ground was very difficult and Ill be surprised if many, if any at all, have survived the ordeal. Next time, I will take my father's advice and plant straight into the ground.

A visit to my parents enabled me to gleen some invaluable advice from my father and a new supply of seeds ensuring a diverse crop in the coming months. The most exciting seeds I have are mixed chilli. I have always wanted to have a go at growing these and I'm hopeful they will grow well. My conservatory will provide the ideal climate as it already is for my herbs, all of which are growing very well.

Once they are large enough, I will be transplanting some of my herbs to a border location. Thyme is an ideal herb for border and rock planting though it can take a year to fully mature.

Of all my plants, I worry the most about my honeydew watermelon. They are still growing in their own propagator though they are now too tall for the lid to be put back on. I am keen to transplant these to a growbag or suitable trough as soon as I can, but they will need to remain in the conservatory to ensure the correct climate is maintained.

I forgot to mention that I've also planted some spring onion seeds. I've used a large decicated pot and though it's not the ideal time to grow from seeds, I'm assured they should still do well.

So, things are really starting to take off. I'm really enjoying the time I spend tending my vegetable plot and I'm beginning to understand why gardening and home growing is such a passion for so many. I just wish I had paid more attention to my father when I was young, during those long summer days spent on his allotment.
Oh well, better late than ever... I have a feeling he's secretly quite proud of my belated intersest in home growing. I hope I'm able someday to show him something I've grown.