Anything goes
Don't get cross!
Sunday 21 September, 2008
It has been the most lovely day here today - blue sky, warm, calm. Naturally, we've been taking advantage of this; Dan's lifted the potatoes, I've cleaned out the small patio bed and the containers on it. I've tidied the garage a bit and cleaned out the hen houses. It has been most pleasant.
However, I should learn not to get cross. Meg's a lovely dog in many respects but she can be intensely irritating. If you are busy, she wuffs to get your attention and the wuff gets higher and higher in pitch if you don't respond. I was emptying containers today and she was wuffing; I told her crossly to "be quiet" (or similar) as I banged a pot empty; I banged it so hard it bounced back and hit me squarely on the nose; then the leg of my spectacles fell off.
Clackmannanshire Horticultural Society Show 2008
Saturday 13 September, 2008
It was the Show today. As usual, I wasn't as prepared in reality as I was in my head. I rushed home form work yesterday to make pancakes - which were not show quality so we ate them - and chocolate brownie, which Dan said was nice but not up to my usual standard. I had baked a fruit tea loaf using chai tea earlier in the week, to let it mature for today. After that, it was a quick run round the garden before it got dark, ending up with runner beans and mini tomatoes. A few jars of jam, marmalade and a chutney completed the entry.
Read more on Clackmannanshire Horticultural Society Show 2008
Job profiles
Wednesday 27 August, 2008
I had lunch today with a friend and we were chatting about work - we both work for the local Council. His rerponsibilities include catering, building cleaning and public conveniences.
I know its really sad to laugh at your own funnies, but I summarised his job as "from plate to pan".
How would you describe yours?
Farming and IT
Tuesday 26 August, 2008
An unknown person at work left a magazine cutting on my desk. It was about folk changing career. It gave the example of Rob Hall of Northallerton Colloege, who gave up electronic engineering to run a smallholding and now works in IT. He's quoted as saying "Farming and running Windows products are very similar. Healthy things die in bizarre and horrible ways, while viruses and parasites are a constant threat. The only compensation is that the weather is better in our office".
Dan and I can identify with that!
"Make a noise" campaign
Tuesday 26 August, 2008
Please take a look at www.makeanoise.co.uk and make a donation and / or sign the petition. The campaign, supported by World Horse Welfare (formerly ILPH), is trying to stop the end the long distance transportation of horses to slaughter in Europe.
If you care about animals, please help.
Horses intended for slaughter are often transported hundreds of miles in inhumane conditions to be slaughtered. Although I would not choose to eat horsemeat, I have no axe to grind with those who do, so long as the horses are raised and treated humanely. It's no different to pigs, sheep, cattle or poultry.
How it all started!
Sunday 24 August, 2008
I was looking for a photograph to put on the forums - nothing too scary, you understand, when I came across an album of photographs of me (and my family) when I was VERY young. Some of them made me think - "so THAT'S how it all started."
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I'm not from a farming background; both my parents worked in the local textile mills. Both liked the outdoors though - my Dad golfed and fished and we did a lot of walking. Almost every weekend, we'd go off somewhere in the bus (we didn't have a car), with a picnic, and walk for miles. I can't smell Heinz Tomato or Oxtail soup without it all flooding back, because in the winter, Mum would fill a flask of hot soup to take. I don't remember going very far in the bus but we got to the Wild West often and the African jungle occasionally!
Today's news from the madhouse!
Sunday 6 July, 2008
It's been a mixed bag, weatherwise. We had heavy rain this morning, changing to dizzle in the afternoon; now it's bright and dry but cloudy. It's very warm though - good weed weather.
We've done a fair bit of weeding today - in the peas and beans, the beetroot and the carrots. The beans are woeful - last year we could have contracted with Tesco. This year we've got about 5 plants out of 16 sown. I stuck the last of them in the ground today in a forlorn hope that they might grow. The double row of peas that were direct sown aren't doing much either - the ones started in the guttering are covered in flowers and peas - you can see where this is going, can't you?
Summer holiday
Saturday 5 July, 2008
We're all going on a .... Actually, we're not. But I'm now on holiday for five weeks (bar a few hours when I'm going in for specific meetings), so it's pouring rain, of course.
Still, I've got lots to occupy myself. I've decided to offer a couple of "Backyard Poultry Keeping" courses in July and August, with maybe a third in September. I've done some posters and I'm going to contact the local rags on Monday - hopefully they will be desperate for copy, since the Council is in recess! I kind of know the format I'm going to follow but I need to firm up on that. There are a few other things I need to chase up as well.
Livestock Day
Saturday 3 May, 2008
It's only 1pm and I feel like I've done a full shift, but it's been very rewarding.
We moved the pigs from pen no.1 to pen no. 2, where there is some grass. I put a bale of straw in the hut, since the remaining straw was a bit flat, thenw e seeded pen no. 1 with grass, phacelia and buckwheat - really anything we had spare in the garage. The pigs are very excited with their new pen and their improved bed, and have been galloping in excited spurts round and round, before stopping to munch grass.
The trains are coming!
Wednesday 16 April, 2008
I bought the local rags today (as I do every week); both had double page articles about the re-opening of the Alloa-Stirling railway in May. This is a huge project for Clackmannanshire - the railway to Alloa closed about 40 years ago (I vaguely remember it) - and is seen a a major factor in the ongoing regeneration of this area.
The first trains will run, courtesy of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, on the 15th May. There will be two trains that afternoon making the journey to Stirlinga nd back. The outward train will be pulled by a steam locomotive, "The Great Marquess" and the return journey will be hauled by a Deltic diesel "Royal Scots Grey".
