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All Quiet .. on the Western Front
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93 eh?, what a figure .. nobody thought we`d get to a
number such as this in our little discussions. I`d looked on in
amazement at the banter, the diversity of prose .. the meanderings of
the mind .. and I thought to myself (as you do) t`was time for a new
venture into subjects various (now the "Footie" is over).
The
Weather .. it`s far from quiet on the West Coast of Angleterra today,
gusts in excess of 50 m.p.h. are "whooshing" my little turbine about as I
gaze in anticipation of the needle on the Ammeter to bend (20a limit),
it is creeping inexorably to the top of its little marks. I hope it
stays on the pole (the turbine that is).
I have a goodly crop of
Sun-flowers this year, some are 7ft (and climbing) .. we have had
to support them to the fences and trellis to (hopefully) prevent
carnage. I wonder if "gardening" might be a future subject. (What am I
saying !!) ... Now that most of us are of an age to spend time outdoors.
How does YOUR garden grow?
World Cup R.I.P. best regards to all.
July 15, 2010
(Edited Aug. 11, 2010)
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Good evening Bill
Absolutely dead and buried, football that is. Don't forget there is
a gardening expert disguised as a traffic warden in our midst!! Saying
that, one of my passions and I am all for a "Gardening Forum". The art
of gardening is a lot different here in Spain, now is the difficult
season trying to keep plants alive in temps of 40 plus.
I am sure there are some more gardening experts in our membership,
anybody dabble in showing? I used to enjoy exhibiting, my produce that
is!!
Come on Sticky, put down your oil can and tell us stories of a life on the allotment. Dig for Victory!
Now where did I put that vino?
Sorry you have the wind bill, make sure those sunflowers are secure.
Cheers all
Steve
July 15, 2010
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As Carol is baking homemade bread Bill, I hope you are
going to save all those sunflower seeds, that is if you can get them to
stay upright and ripen in all this wind and rain, still tramping the old
Dorset and Somerset canal route!!
July 16, 2010
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What with all the sun and rain, the allotment's
going wild, the rocket's rocketed, the purple sproutings sprouted, and
the courgettes are looking positively obscene, not bad considering that
six weeks ago it was part of a field.
Save some of them sunflower seeds for us Bill, we bake our own as
well, and a few sunflower loaves would be nice. Soon be time to start
brewing as well, last years cider wasn't quite cider, but it tasted OK
and was alcoholic so not a disaster, you definately need cider apples to
produce cider, a midnight excursion to the murky depths of Somerset
would do the trick, but Winkleigh cider's closer and cheaper than
petrol.
Don't reckon we'll be exhibiting any just yet Steve, unless it's
the funny shaped vegetable section, or the funny shaped gardener come to
that.
The fresh mackerel, sea bass and pollock are going down well too.
Stu
July 16, 2010
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Cripes! Never thought that gardening would ever figure
in my life! My tiny plot keeps a few goldfish and is set up for a
barbecue but that is it! Stan's 'A' Level biology never really caught on
with me. Since the pictures I post were taken we have had a major
overhaul. All patio (sandstone slabs sourced by cheap Indian labour,
and a summer house!) My gardening to a tee! Walking a canal is
fine. Sydney Gardens to The George at Bathampton and back! Guess what?
My kids gave me a voucher to pilot a Kennet & Avon canal boat for a
day for my 65th! Stupid idea but whey hey! Enjoy roasted sunflower seeds
on a nice curry and Corsham has this great baker in the precinct with
sunflower loaves! In gardening terms here 'Very quiet on the western
front'! Graham
July 16, 2010
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Good morning
Stu, I am told you need at least 4 different varieties of apple to
make a good cider. I am impreseed with the healthy option you all
seem to have chosen - fresh veg, home made bread with bird
seed, fresh fish. What happened to all the pies?
I think the Mediterranean diet is doing me good, at least parts of
it. The experts forget to tell you that the Spanish have a very sweet
tooth and love cakes and sweets. Hence every other shop is a dentist, in
between the bodegas!!!
The allotment project sounds interesting Stu, any before and after
photos? Carl Gill would be proud of you. Do you ever pay a visit to
Lackham, I believe they have spent a lot of money there and upgraded
it's status.
Must go now, off to the local market which sells local produce for local people!
Cheers
Steve
July 17, 2010
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Healthy options .. you are what you eat .. so they tell
me .. I still like pies, cornish pasties (if you can call them pies) are
a firm (or soggy) favourite of mine. I do love chicken and mushroom
slices and the odd steak & kidney. I am a healthy 13.5 stones in
weight (20% up on when I was 18).
Garden produces Strawberries,
Raspberries, Gooseberries, Red Currants, Blackcurrants, Blackberries,
Cucumbers, Peas, Cabbage, beetroot, Carrots, Asparagus, Lettuce,
Cauliflower, Swede and other green looking things too numerous to
mention. Sunflowers? .. they`re for the birds usually, (will mention it
to the cook though.)
Project for this year is to plant apple,
pear, cherry and apricot? to replace the trees we took out to renew a
shed and fence down one side of the garden. Carole is the gardener, I`m
just the land-scaper and general mule / chippy. Am trying to grow some
bamboo this year .. heard it makes good spears to throw at any
"iffy" neighbours .. ha ha.
I can smell the bread burinng / cooking? .. catch you guys later .. Percy Thrower eat your heart out !!
July 17, 2010
(Edited July 17, 2010)
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Hi guys.
Where do I start?
There has been so much going on in my short absence with all this talk of gardening, allotments etc.
Loved Graham's shots of Biddestone and his garden prior to the
builders' invasion, also his comment about the bakers at Corsham at the
precinct, when I lived there in the fifties there was no precinct
let alone a baker in it! There were only two bakers in the town that I
can recall, Daymonds that eventually became Johnsons, and Wood's, I
guess both are now gone long since. Also Bob Hale's father was a
qualified master baker and occasionally accepted commission work,
wedding cakes etc. Bob was an ex tec lad, two years older than me.
Getting back to the gardening, I'm ashamed to say that this
passtime is way down the list as something I may attend to when I
eventually retire. I'm afraid our lot is more like an arboretum. We have
about an acre but most of it furthest away from the house is now down
to a mixture of indigenous trees, oak, ash, sycamore, horse
chestnut, birch etc. About twenty years ago it was all
getting overgrown with brambles, nettles etc so we slashed it all
down and began planting trees. The idea was that the trees would starve
out the rubbish and guess what, after twenty years it has almost
worked!! The garden in the close proximity to the house is a bit of a
mess though, part of the trouble being that it is on a severe slope with
only about four inches of top soil, under that is rock!
This year for the first time we have constructed a very small
raised plot which we filled with topsoil and some of the results of
Sue's chickens, well rotted of course! In this we have about a dozen
runner beans which seem to be doing well. They are at the tops of the
sticks and covered in flowers, we shall see!
The embarrasing thing about it all is that my father was a keen
gardener, we had a large garden and he also had two allotments and
extremely productive it was too!!!!!
For the time being though Anth is the one I envy having the
opportunity to get hands on experience of the Dorset and Somerset canal,
such as it was. Shame about Fussells locks though.
Well guys must end now as it's getting too late, but will be in
touch again during the week as I do not sail to the Emerald Isle until
Friday.
Have fun.
Sticky.
July 18, 2010
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Hi Sticky, Before you hit the ferry to shamrockland a
quick catch-up. Johnson's survived until around 1998. I had a standing
order there for my staff at half-terms & pre-holidays. My treat
(bribe?). Boy those cream cakes did not touch the sides! Minor snag was
my policy for the kids of 'healthy eating'! Banned crisps, sugary snacks
& sticky drinks at break times (mainly as rats invested the PE
store due to the wrappers left by my predecessor's regime). Fruit
(juice) or a plain biscuit!! I served up the same for the teachers one
HT and nearly got lynched! Don't do as I do, do as I say! One of my
secretaries used to hide a choice item for me so there was one left.
Most of my ladies were on diets, I wonder why?
I envy you the space
if not the labour in the garden. Takes about 3/4 hours daily to just to
water the tubs. The new pond has kept some of the original wild life. (I
decanted the water, frogs & newts into it) Here are some of my
newts! Did not touch a drop! Off to Kent to buy up some more weapons on
Thursday.
Have a good trip.
Graham
July 20, 2010
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Hi Graham.
Thanks for the update re. Johnsons, good to hear about the cream cakes!
I like the pond especially the wildlife, always had a bit of a soft spot for newts.
We always try to encourage and cater for our wild friends as well,
simple things like leaving some timber to rot on the ground around the
trees encourages insects for the birds etc.
Got to go now, it's getting late.
Have fun.
Sticky.
July 21, 2010
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Hello fellow gardeners,
I`d like to report on seeing
some unusual tits in my garden last week, these were brown and white,
very strange for this warm year, as we normally only get the blue
variety. Well, I must confess, that they were not really in my garden,
more slightly over the fence actually. I think her name was Tracy, I`ll
ask my neighbour when she`s coming again, so I can point the camera her
way.
Lovely day for it, isn`t it?
July 23, 2010
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Hi Bill
We get a species of tit here in Spain. Mostly they gather on the
beach. They come in different colours but the Spanish variety are brown
or very brown. They are rounded with a distinct movement. I have never
been much of a twitcher but tits have always held a fascination for me.
Cheers
Steve
July 23, 2010
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Interesting observations Steve, I wondered, do you
need a hide when watching the tits on the beach ? are they disturbed by
the attention, I've always had a keen interest in birdwatching, I
believe the twitching comes later though.
Stu
July 23, 2010
(Edited July 23, 2010)
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Hi Guys.
What's all this talk about tits? And I didn't know you were all interested in ornithology.
Still, whatever floats your boat, carry on twitching...........
I guess you are all wondering what I am still doing here. Well, the press movers hit a snag,
the lifting gear was not heavy enough to lay the old girl down,
'tis done now I am told but two days late and this means they have
missed their transportation slot so for various reasons now the press
can not be transported for another week. After all the rescheduling this
means that I now go to Ireland on the second of August.
Hey ho s**t happens!!!!!
Still it at least means that I can add my two penn'orth to your scintilating postings for the next week or so.
Getting late so got to go now, talk again soon.
Incidentally I wonder if Graham ever sees any tits at Biddestone, they used to be fairly common around that area.
Have fun.
Sticky.
July 23, 2010
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Hey chaps. I must be another twitcher too! Still
observed some nice tits in Biddestone, especially in the summer, but as I
got older the shag became more interesting! Graham
July 24, 2010
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Hi all.
For the uninitiated, shag.......member of the cormorant family.
Graham must be seeing them down by the village pond.
Sticky.
July 24, 2010
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Lads, Was my last comment misconstrued? Just to clarify,
I post a picture of a cormorant I took in May. The chap was displaying
to his partner!! Graham
July 25, 2010
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Let it all hang out ..I say. Like the piccy Graham, and
no, surely not ..nobody misconstrued the comment about the shag .. we
all know it was an innocuous bird-like comment. I quite like the sound
of Steve`s dark brown tits in Spain, (well not Steve`s personally, you
understand ..as we all grow these things as we age ..ha ha) a most
unusual colouring for a small bird. I`ll bet they just love the sand
hoppers. I hope they don`t suffer too much with the crabs either.
The
crop of our peas are all over now, and the Mange Tout were left on the
plant a bit too long for my liking, but never the less most edible. Has
anybody had problems with hordes of blackfly this year?, my runner beans
are full of them, even the lady birds can`t cope.
The triffids
(aka Sunflowers) are still gaining height, I have fitted super-bright
LED lights to them to avoid any collisions with low flying helicopters
and the occasional Hercules transport that wave to us as they nearly
crash into the hill opposite. Oh, did I mention the ballonists from
Bath? .. they often skim over the roof, and absolutely love trying to
tangle themselves in the power lines along Heyswood road. (Most seem to
miss them .. shame).
Ah well, enough jolity for this Sunday, got the mother-in-law next week for lunch & tea ...aren`t I lucky?
July 25, 2010
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Mother-in-law must be quite large & tasty to go for
two meals! With the vegetables you grow that must be all 'home grown'.
Black fly (and thunder flies) here in droves.
I now look at each RAF
transport with dread and think of the next funeral cortege through
Wootton Bassett. I was a Deputy Head there once.
Kids bought me a
balloon flight for my 60th birthday. Lovely clear sunny June evening,
only snag, no breeze. Hovered over the centre of Bath for two hours.
Superb for pictures. Pilot got worried about landing. We came down on
the tennis court at Sydney Gardens where we used to play in the 6th
Form. The champers that followed calmed our nerves.
Would guess that all these archaic machines some guys love will have great nipples too! Graham
July 25, 2010
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Hi all.
Like Scammell wheel nuts, Graham.
I think I'm losing it a bit, not sure if we are talking ornithology here or possibly something to do with the Montgolfiers
or, could even be Bill's Mother in law.
Speaking of which, one landed on the eldest son's back lawn, a
balloon that is not a mother in law, at 8 - 30 in the morning about
three weeks ago. I hasten to add that he lives on a farm and the 'lawn'
is a couple of acres.
Getting back to the birds, we visited them last night and all the
time we were there a green woodpecker was thoroughly investigating the
cracks between the flagstones on the patio, terrific view through the
french windows. Unfortunately none of us had a camera, shame.......
Whilst this was going on the women folk were more interested in some wedding photos they were looking at.
Incidentally we've had the sister in law staying with us for the
last week. Couldn't move in the car park for bloody broom sticks!!!!!
Ah well, got to go.
Sticky.
PS. I think the brown tits seen in Spain were probably sparrows.
July 25, 2010
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