Alan Williams's Blog, page 63
December 8, 2015
Quick Links 8th December 2015
What To Do In Mexico When Your Wife Is In Labor 700 Miles Away [Last Word On Nothing blog]
The Quantum Entanglement of Bad Things [Last Word On Nothing blog]
It’s Cameron, not Corbyn, who is the terrorist appeaser [The Guardian]
Whale Fall [Granta]
The Week In Wildlife In Pictures [Guardian]
Hilary Benn’s full speech on Syria air strikes [YouTube]
December 3, 2015
Allotment Update
The last couple of weeks have been pretty wet, so it’s been difficult to get much done on the plot. Fortunately I feel like I’m ahead of where I want to be and so when I went to the plot this last weekend I was able to concentrate on some of the smaller tasks like weeding. With the ground being so wet it was easy to get the weeds out, although if I’d been trying to dig I wouldn’t have gotten very far as the ground was far too wet for that.
Progress is always slower during the winter months, b...
December 1, 2015
Quick Links 1st December 2015
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Little Sister: the third Pieter Vos book [davidhewson.com]
Festive Gingerbread Stars [Hole Food Family Blog]
The Dog In The Clouds [The Dog In The Clouds Blog]
When I’m sixty-four: world’s oldest tracked bird returns to refuge with mate[The Guardian]
The Week In Wildlife In Pictures [The Guardian]
The Atlas S...
November 27, 2015
First Frost
We had our first frost of the season last weekend. Both Saturday night and Sunday night the temperature dropped below zero, only by a few degrees but enough to make the plot look quite pretty under its white frosting.
Everything seems to be okay, I haven’t anything on the plot now that isn’t frost hardy, at least to a point, so what’s there should take us through the winter in terms of vegetables.
The rest of the week has been pretty wet, with rain most days at some point, so this hasn’t bee...
November 23, 2015
Quick Links 24th November 2015
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Cats Scared by Cucumbers [Huffington Post]
The Week in Wildlife – in pictures [The Guardian]
Gennaro Contaldo | Braised Rabbit & Pumpkin Stew [YouTube]
The Atlas Snow Arch Greenhouse Build Part 5 Installing doors and covering the end walls [YouTube]
How I Built Our DIY Hoop House (Greenhouse), pt. 2: Door &...
November 21, 2015
Lifting Dahlias
I’ve had one job on the allotment that’s been outstanding for a few weeks, and that’s to lift the dahlia tubers before the frost gets to them.
I sowed the dahlias from seed at the start of the season and they’ve been flowering well into October, but the forecast for the weekend is for frost and snow. Whilst the latter didn’t materialise, it was cold last night so I went off to th plot this morning specifically to get this task done.
The weather was pretty unpleasant, raining, windy and cold,...
November 17, 2015
Quick Links 17th November 2015
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Britain loses top energy rating [Guardian]
World’s Climate About to Enter Uncharted Territory after it passes 1C of warming [Guardian]
Will Reintroduced Lynx Hunt Britains Sheep? [Guardian]
The Week In Wildlife In Pictures [Guardian]
Harissa Roast Chicken & Warming Bone Broth and Tomato & Basil Risotto meets...
November 16, 2015
Sacred Sierra by Jason Webster
I’ve just finished reading “Sacred Sierra: A Year on a Spanish Mountain” by Jason Webster. It’s a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and here are my thoughts.
Sacred Sierra: A Year on a Spanish Mountain by Jason Webster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is Jason Webster’s story of his first year in the mountainside “mas” which he and his wife Salud move to, and begin to renovate both the cottage and the land.
As he works with the elements he narrates a wonderful story of the characters he meets and th...
November 14, 2015
Allotment Update & Recovering the Timber Framed Cloche
I was trying to beat the rain this morning to upgrade the cloche, somewhat unsuccessfully as you’ll see below.
Job for the Weekend: Cleaning Bird Feeders
It’s the time of year when the bird feeders come down and are cleaned. They need a regular cleaning to prevent the buildup of bacteria, mould etc.
Very simple to do with hot, soapy water, and an old cloth.
Then rinse and leave to dry.
