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August 20, 2007

I'm covered in bees!

A long time ago, when I was an O' level studying teen, my biology teacher tried to get me interested in bees. I assume, because I certainly can't remember, that it must have been my second or third biology lesson when he took me to one side and showed me his collection of dead bees. At the time I didn't think too much of this other than "Why is he showing me dead bees?". Looking back now I think he may have spotted some potential in me and wanted to build on it, fool. Perhaps he thought by enthusing me fully and encouraging me to step outside the usual ethos of modern education he could get me to enjoy learning for the sake of it, rather than just as a means to an end, ie, to get out of school and into the world. Unfortunately for him I was a teenager dealing with the usual issues of strange growths, vocal deepenings, the discovery of alcohol, ladies, nightclubs and peer group pressure. Fortunately for me he was an excellent and enthusiastic teacher and made both my O and A level biology exams a breeze to pass. On getting a C in my A level biology he managed to express gross disappointment in my work ethic while letting me know I had the ability to do better "You should have got an A, but you didn't deserve to get a C". These words are backed up by the only other comment I remember from my school days, spoken by my sixth form head in a tutorial, with a fair degree of surprised good humour, "(Super)Dave", he said "I never realised you were so lazy". He was another excellent teacher and a brilliant clarinet player. They both had beards and PhD's, not sure if this is relevant. But please, forgive an old man his harmless ramblings, these things were such a long time ago. On to the bees of today and my recent encounter.

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March 21, 2007

Chitting.

At last we've made it. The weekend I crave for every year from January onwards. British Summer Time started on Sunday. The clocks went back, or forward, I'm never quite sure. What matters is we have our light evenings back. We can start to feel like our daylight hours aren't spent entirely on earning our mortgage payments. Sure, in the early weeks we may have to experience a few freezing barbecues. We will also had to get up an hour earlier, for me this was easily countered for by having a suitably...erm...exciting Saturday night which required a very early Sunday night in bed. Not to mention a reasonably boozy Sunday afternoon But the most important factor, for the purposes of this blog, is that we can get down the allotment in the evening, de-stress and start growing.

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February 10, 2007

Dragged Back to Reality, Thank You Louise.

At last a sensible comment about allotments. Maybe I can be of some use to the public after all, and help promote Cardiff allotments at the same time. First off I will deal with some of your thinly veiled concerns. I too have a full time job which takes up about 40 of my weekly waking hours, I also have at least several hobbies, not least of which is lazing about wasting time. I think part of the trick is incorporating as many of the hobbies as possible into the allotmenting process.

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October 1, 2006

Like I haven't got enough to do already...

First a confession, there are no grapes, at least not on my plot. There will be next year. Next year there will be grapes, melons, oranges and lemons, the whitest most tender asparagus shoots, pumpkins the size of houses and ambrosia will seep up through the soil, enough to feed the world and bring peace to all…

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