The Grapes of Roath http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/ Life with the real Cabbage Patch Kid en Copyright 2008 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:53:38 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Compost 101: Bokashi Breezer I can't quite remember when I first heard about it but my attention was properly snagged while I was researching related items on the internet. It's a Japanese technique, it claims to be ancient and it seems to rely on a lot of pseudo science in its explanation but, with my first Bokashi batch approaching fruition, I think I may be convinced.]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2008/03/compost_101_bokashi_breezer.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2008/03/compost_101_bokashi_breezer.html Compost Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:53:38 +0000 The prison hasn't been built that can hold me... I'll get out of this one even if it means spending my entire life here. Yes, I was kidnapped. Desperate needs require desperate means, and those that kidnapped me were desperate. They had to be, they kidnapped me. "We're desperate" they said, or more accurately, squeaked. "I can tell" I replied, as they pushed another skinny chip through the mesh of my enclosure. ]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2008/02/the_prison_hasnt_been_built_th.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2008/02/the_prison_hasnt_been_built_th.html Seed Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:55:16 +0000 Junk 1 I do have more material lined up but this is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I currently have 171 items in the junk section of my comments in box, this is 71 more than in my non junk section and though I blame my recent inactivity for this it would be nice if you could all keep writing! I have long wanted to review these junk comments. I do occasionally scan them to see if Justin or Giles have come back into the fold but no luck yet. But this doesn't mean there aren't some interesting comments that appear, even if they are from lunatics, scammers, phishers and weird blog targeting software (I assume, I can't imagine people are writing this nonsense). Anyway, here goes...
]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/09/junk.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/09/junk.html Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:24:53 +0000 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.
]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/08/im_covered_in_bees.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/08/im_covered_in_bees.html Allotments Bees Hives Tim Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:23:02 +0000 Eek! Where did the time go? Ok, I'm sorry, I got distracted, went on holiday, it was raining, it's in the post, the dog ate it, I've got the painters in, I wrote one but accidentally deleted it, was drunk, got arrested, was doing important work for the government, my hard drive crashed, they threatened me if I carried on, I was in a coma, I upset LouiseSqueeze and didn't have the heart to continue, I joined the French Foreign Legion, I was in the frame for the Kennedy Assassination and had to go into hiding (I would never hurt JFK!), my ship came in, we pushed the boat out, my licence was revoked, the slug mafia got to me, I promised I wouldn't squeal, I squealed! I kept meaning too, honest, but it was a bit rainy for too long, but now it isn't, and I'm back and I have the best runner bean crop ever. More to come, I promise, like you care! :¬)
]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/08/eek.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/08/eek.html Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:35:23 +0000 The Grape and Olive The Grape and Olive, Wedal Road, Cardiff. Mmm, feta stuffed peppers, roasted garlic cloves squished out onto fresh bread, fava beans, artichokes in olive oil, delicious pancetta, buffalo mozzarella, fresh olives dipped in sea salt, I could go on but memory fails me, largely due the several bottles of a lovely red I can't remember the name of, and a couple of Drambuies, and a pint or two to start. Haven't even got on to the the main course yet.
]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/06/the_grape_and_olive.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/06/the_grape_and_olive.html Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:22:17 +0000 June 2007 Ok so my May calender is a bit sparse and a bit boring. I will revisit it and make up some appropriate entries for the time of year. But now onwards with June, the first calender month where I can start from scratch. I will attempt to start with some interesting facts about June, for the hell of it, and some of these are true! Apparently, and you may want to check this, no other month in the year starts on the same day of the week as June. This is clearly a mathematical phenomenon and I have no intention of checking it out, but it is 'interesting'. The BBC, bizarrely put into production a film version of Terry and June which has yet to be completed. Originally scripted by Harold Pinter the production was halted after the BBC refused to base a section of the movie on Pinter's infamous remarks to the Turkish ambassador. This incident resulted in both Pinter and Arthur Miller having to leave the American Embassy after causing great, and unrighteous, offense. Terry Scott was said to be greatly relieved. Alanis Morisette was born in June though this is in no way ironic. Alanis Morisette and Morrisey have never been seen together in the same room.
]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/06/june_2007.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/06/june_2007.html June Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:32:48 +0000 May 2007 Interestingly, May is the only month in which an American president has not died. I'm writing this on the 26th. I shall leave you alone with your thoughts for a moment. In other languages May variously translates as "the month of sowing", "the month of high grass", "the month of blooms" and less usefully "month number five". But on to the calender, a work in progress so be gentle with me! Click here to go back to the Diary main page.]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/05/may_2007.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/05/may_2007.html Sat, 26 May 2007 11:07:23 +0000 Allotment Diary This lovely new feature for my blog is as much for my benefit as it is your entertainment (entertainment?!?). It will be a more consistent way of recording my monthly activities and progress and give me something to refer back to next year. I've always intended to keep an allotment notebook, in fact I've started several. Unfortunately they seem to get lost, forgotten or ignored by the end of the first week because I'm much too busy doing things rather than writing about them. I may be doing a little bit of retrospective writing for this diary as I identify where I've left things a little late, hopefully this will keep me ahead of the game next year and make this journal a useful resource for anyone who wants to run an allotment in an ad-hoc and slightly half a*sed manner. 12th June 2007 - Please note. The problem with a blog is that it is a live medium. It's not really planned in advance. So seemingly great ideas like an allotment diary can prove to be a little cumbersome to maintain. What I'm saying is don't blame me if this turns out to be a bit crap. You're witnessing a work in progress so give me some leeway until it becomes unbearable then drop me a line to tell me were I'm going wrong or how I can improve. I'm very accomodating you know. ]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/05/allotment_diary.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/05/allotment_diary.html Allotment Diary Allotment Diary Sat, 26 May 2007 10:55:46 +0000 When Slugs Attack! It looks like the coming month is going to be dry and warm. Personally I have a hunch that the whole summer will go down in history as one of the hottest and driest (I only say this to guarantee a plentiful supply of rain for my allotment). This means, in my experience, that there is a good chance slug activity will be limited this year and the following advice will be useless. But we shall see.]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/05/when_slugs_attack.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/05/when_slugs_attack.html Garden Pests coffee deterrents hair slugs Thu, 10 May 2007 18:56:04 +0000 Look at the size of those roots! Just got back from the plot folks. Well I say just got back, what I mean is I got back, washed some dishes, made a pasta salad (with shop bought vegetables I'm afraid, it's the time of year), drank some Czechoslovakian lager and then sat down here. I have only one thing on my mind (well two if you include the usual). Can I eat spinach roots? ]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/04/look_at_the_size_of_those_root.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/04/look_at_the_size_of_those_root.html Vegetables Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:15:27 +0000 Chitting, pricking out and hardening off. I'm back! I hope nobody has missed me. Well actually I do hope you've missed me and please accept my apologies for not publishing much of late. I have now properly started getting things together for this years season. My potatoes have been chitted and planted and soon my seedlings will be sprouted, pricked out and ready to harden off, but more of this later. First of all I need to urgently respond to Louise's comment regarding things to do and my lack of action. I hope you don't mind me filching your comment for this entry Louise, but it will help me catch up, and I have edited it appropriately. And look, a picture of me down at the plot, at last! Could this really be SuperDave? ]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/04/chitting_pricking_out_and_hard_1.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/04/chitting_pricking_out_and_hard_1.html Asparagus Hoff Louise Stan Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:20:16 +0000 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. ]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/03/chitting_pricking_out_and_hard.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/03/chitting_pricking_out_and_hard.html Allotments gloves summer! Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:27:43 +0000 Bit of a cock up on the catering front... Nothing lasts forever. Except perhaps time, but I'm no Stephen Hawking so I won't dwell on the longevity of time. But certainly the current status quo cannot last forever as The Colonel has so accurately pointed out. So does this mean that civilisation is doomed to crumble. That our reliance on dwindling supplies of oil will eventually lead to a collapse in the chain of supply and a starving population. Or will humanity, with its unique ability to consciously (epiphenomenalism not withstanding) modify the environment to its own benefit, come up with a solution to halt our seemingly inevitable decline.]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/03/a_bit_of_a_cock_up_on_the_cate.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/03/a_bit_of_a_cock_up_on_the_cate.html Politics civilisation kurt vonnegut oil resources Mon, 05 Mar 2007 21:44:22 +0000 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. ]]> http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/02/dragged_back_to_reality_thank.html http://thegrapesofroath.welshblogs.co.uk/2007/02/dragged_back_to_reality_thank.html Allotments cardiff allotments groucho louise oates starting an allotment time Sat, 10 Feb 2007 12:10:38 +0000