Year: 2012

June 17, 2012

Garden Update

Managed to do quite a bit in the garden today. The plan was to do it yesterday, and perhaps head over to see today, but Saturday got rained off.

Anyway, the garden is now looking a bit tidier. Several weeds had started in my gravel area, but they were easy to pull up, thanks to the area being membraned. I made a start on clearing my herb garden, and cleared out all of the nettles and weeds – the next task is to cut my marjoram right back, as it has taken over. It keeps doing this, so I am thinking of digging it up completely, and transplanting a small piece into a separate pot.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>Garden Update</span>
June 17, 2012

My summer holiday booked

When I booked to go to this August’s filk weekend at Halsway Manor, I decided not to drive down there just for the weekend. Originally I booked a week off work *after* the weekend at Halsway, then realised this didn’t fit in well with booking cottages, which generally let from Friday to Friday or Saturday to Saturday.

So I changed my holiday to the week before Halsway. That way I could have a cottage for a week starting on a Friday, then go straight on to Halsway Manor.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>My summer holiday booked</span>
June 9, 2012

Recycling II

Earlier, I mentioned that South Kestevan had started charging for collection of garden waste.

I wasn’t completely right, in that I said that the charge was applied from April. In fact, they only applied it from this week. However, lack of communication from South Kestevan meant that there was a lot of confusion as to when the scheme started, and many assumed it started from when the stickers to prove you had paid went on sale. This confusion apparently extended to the guy who refused to empty my bin one week, but not to the chap who emptied it a fortnight later.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>Recycling II</span>
June 1, 2012

On the road

I am just off on a little road trip, what makes it exciting is it is the first proper outing for the Berlingo.

First a trip down to Wiltshire, to visit and for the afternoon, and exchange a guitar for some gaming books; then a drive back to Reading to collect another “Lil’ Tex” Pellet Cooker, just like my own.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>On the road</span>
May 29, 2012

All I need now is a nice bottle of chianti…

As I mentioned earlier, I have been very impressed with my broad beans, and although they are a long way off being fully developed pods, I wanted to give some a try. So I picked some, and podded them. As they were so young, I didn’t bother skinning the individual beans, I just did them in a saucepan for 4 minutes.

Garden to table in about 20 minutes, and quite delicious.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>All I need now is a nice bottle of chianti…</span>
May 26, 2012

Minding my P’s and Q’s

Actually, just my peas. It’s a lovely day outside, so I have been spending some time in the garden.

During the “wettest drought in UK history”, I must admit I’ve not been doing anything out there, or even thinking about it much. During my negligent period, there have developed a scattering of weeds in the gravel, but these pulled easily, as the membrane stops them taking hold.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>Minding my P’s and Q’s</span>
May 26, 2012

Kindled: May 26, 2012 at 02:20AM

May 24, 2012

Double Cooked Ribs

I cooked some ribs yesterday, and they were awful – nice flavour, but just too tough. I tried a couple and gave up on them.

This may sound heretical for someone who plays with BBQ, but I am actually not a fan of ribs – or anything that you nibble from a bone, for that matter; such as wings or drumsticks. If I can’t put it in a bun, or stick a fork in it, I’m not really interested.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>Double Cooked Ribs</span>
May 23, 2012

The European Court and Prisoners rights.

May 22, 2012

If this…

I have been playing with ifttt, which is a site that allows you to set up automated tasks across multiple resources and feeds. ifttt stands for “if this then that”. It is very easy to use.

What I am using it for is to import selected twitter posts into Wordpress (from which they eventually reach LJ). I say selected, but in fact, I only use Twitter for one thing – my Kindle. The Kindle allows you to rate books and share comments via Twitter, and although I am not interested in Twitter at all, I thought it would be a way to direct content here.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>If this…</span>
May 22, 2012

Kindled: May 22, 2012 at 12:30PM

On my Kindle today, I finished Blood Music (Gollancz S.F.) by Greg Bear and gave it 5 stars http://t.co/WUDc5Qu

Having finished BZRK yesterday (which I thorougly enjoyed), I was reminded of Blood Music somewhat, even though the books are vastly different. I had an immediate desire to read it again, and didn’t have a clue what box my ragged copy was stored in. So I threw caution to the wind and Kindled it.

Read the Post <span class='p-name'>Kindled: May 22, 2012 at 12:30PM</span>
May 21, 2012

Kindled: May 21, 2012 at 01:43AM