They've gone

The Unicorn is taking the Ralph home; Paul and Jo left yesterday. The Unicorn works tomorrow and I have one more day.
The great clear-up at the end of last week must be continued and we found several more seed packets to enter in the seed-bank.
The green cone has been collected but is missing most of the components. A further trip to the garden centre tomorrow is necessary.
Where to place the cone almost caused the only row of the holiday but mediation from the R led to a calm discussion of schemes for the side-way and we now have a plan, at least in our minds. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and sunny but its raining now. A session with the incinerator should clear a lot of the dead wood.
Door number to come from House Nameplate Co.
That's enough planning for tonight.

Dotar

In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.
George R.R. Martin

Visitors

Number two son stayed last night and helped for several hours last night and this morning. By the time number one arrived with Jo the place was spacious enough for five large humans.
I have a second-hand laptop and a removable DVD drive, now all I need to do is get some electric string and get some of this extra gear to work.
Two fuschias are still in bloom as is the rosemary.
Its all getting better from now on.

Dotar Sojat

Oh what a tangled web we weave when a nail snags the wool on your cardigan sleeve.
uk.rec.sheds

Heart attacks are also a disease of the underdog

Reports from Scandanavia suggest long term stress in comparatively young people lead to heart attacks.
But now the good news: a second birdfeed stand, feeder and birdbath was added to the garden last weekend. Visitors will be recorded from 1 Janaury 2005. The squirrel seems to have given up climbing the holders.
The seed-bank is completed.
The tulips and other indoor bulbs are sprouting.
The cubic composter is working so I need some timbers to build my 4 foot garden. While building, Iwant to make a rack to hold herb pots. I envision something that will stand on the drive against the kitchen wall during Spring, getting sunlight for most of the day, protected from the prevailing wind and getting warmth from the house yet open to the rain. In May it can be moved to the back of the house.
Tomorrow I need to tidy the house.


Dator

There's no doubt that a barrel of gunpowder does serious damage to a garden shed

Adam Hart-Davies

Breakthrough

Last week was annual leave for the Unicorn, I managed to take half the week and enormous successes occurred.
Much of the rubbish to be recycled was cleared out of the garage which uncovered some more bulbs. A couple of patches of mixed crocus and one of chrysanthus zwanenburg bronze (yellow) are in the front lawn across the trench in front of the fuschia.
Around the holly went another hundred crocuses and 25 allium (drumsticks, sphaerocephalon) (purple).
Then we went to the garden centre, just to look.
On our return I said I had wished to buy some more pots for the last of the bulbs.
What's wrong with the cauldron was the response.
Next morning I inspected it. Its plastic and full of very old bulbs. Who cares! Cut holes in the bottom for drainage, found some gravel for the bottom, supplemented the bulb mix provided with compost and soil. Its now planted with everything supplied (10 allium moly, 5 anemone de caen, 15 mixed crocus, 10 Brodiaea and 10 allium ostrowskianum) and a few crocus biflorus Miss Vain (white). The balance of the 25 went in another pot I had found and both containers are on the front drive apart from one night when everything was moved to the garage because of a predicted frost. Must have worked because the fuschias are still flowering.
We went to the wetlands wildlife trust at Arundel and on the way back stopped off at the garden centre again to buy a stand, bird-feeders and bird-food, the purpose of the window-shopping the day before. This is now in place a metre and a half onto the back lawn and already visited by blue tits, greenfinches and a robin.
The chat about these feeders led to a breakthrough. It's the fish element of a pond that the Unicorn doesn't like, so a wildlife pond has got the thumbs up, now all I have to do is dig it!
The seed bank spreadsheet is created and the data entered.
New project: install router and laptop!
New technique to reduce procrastination; just say "Stop!"
Resolve to reduce use of exclamation marks but this is a very up-beat post.
This weekend, prepare to take some leave and decorate.

More bulbs

Tete a tete dwarf multi-headed daffodils went in across the top of the slope and in front of the tall bamboo. Some of last year's potted daffodils and some anemone blanda are now in the front lawn. I tried to raise the trench by packing extra compost under the turfs but I've just made it more lumpy.
The trailer trash net door had a firework party in their front garden which only added to Spooky's general terror.
Four figs have tried to ripen but its too late; reinforces the need to thin drastically next summer.
Tidied the pots, will place trellis on the front wall and start seed database and planting schedule.

Dator

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Bulbs

Unicorn bought wood hyacinths which are now between the the old stump and our fence on the north side of the grassy knoll and some mixed anemones which are the other side of the knoll near the holly apart from half a dozen which are potted.
No more mowing till end of May!

Dotar

Just because a quote appears here does not mean that I, or anyone else at Langley, agrees with it.
M. Holloway:
Responsible NASA official and curator

After the break

A week on the Wey and Thames finished yesterday.
There has been considerable rain and the grass is lush but the ground is too wet to mow.
However there is a parcel from the BBC which contains five ox-eye daisies in pellet form and five ferns so:
The daisies are all marguerite silver princess and one is now in a pot on the drive and four are by the ornamental grass on the north boundary.
I've moved the red-leaved plant from the bed by the back door and split it. Some next to the ox-eyes, some near the rosemary and some behind the fig. I hope at least one part survives.
In the space created there are two lady in red and one Ursula's red ferns. In addition one of each is potted between the butts. The lady in red is in the earthenware pot.
While planting the ferns in the bed I found a label for cytisus burkwoodii which describes it as cerise and deep crimson edged yellow, May to June 2m but I have no recollection of such a plant.
I had to get that down while it is accurate, more soon.

Dator

The question is, which is to be master - that's all.

Humpty Dumpty
Lewis Carroll

Common frog

I moved one from under the holly to under the bamboo. The long grass retains a lot of moisture this time of year and it is now a lot nearer the ponds in the gardens behind.

Bus error - passengers dumped.

Dator

Another batch

Another eve another two turves both with recycled daffs to the north and I split a10 crocus yellow size 8/9 flowering 10cm from cultivated stock for 89/100ths from Wilko between them. These look a pretty yellow on the packaging but don't seem to have a particular name, however some of these were beginning to sprout.

The unicorn had suggested putting chives in the crocus pot so I have emptied that and planted the very light and dry but beginning to sprout bulbs under a small but thick turf near next-door's drive under the kitchen window.

The chives cost 20/100ths for a small pot with strict instructions:-
Place in bright conditions avoiding cold draughts. Can be kept in full sun if watering is carefully monitored. Water sparingly but do not allow to dry out. Avoid splashing water on the leaves.

DO NOT OVERWATER

To prolong the life of the plants cut leaves 2cm above level of compost.

I thank you Tesco for making it seem so off-putting.

I need a low fat sugar free no salt sauce to make my cookery more interesting - I'm already bored with Quark with or without chives.

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Albert Einstein, 1921

Dator

Plantings

It was daylight when I returned and fine.
For about an hour I lifted a couple of turfs (turves is obsolete like elves and rooves).
Three spade widths by two starting one foot from the front boundary and one foot from the drive towards the neighbours pampas grass. In each space I have planted crocuses (croci would be silly) near to the road and daffodils to the rear.
Next to the drive are cream beauty, 79/100ths of a monetary unit, distributed by Wilkinson and labelled 10 crocus specie Cream Beauty bulb size 6/7 flowering height 10cm grown from cultivated stock. The others from the same source are 10 crocus Purpureus Grandiflorus bulb size 8/9 flowering height 10cm grown from cultivated stock. Not only are these slightly larger, as advertised, but have already started to sprout.
The daffodils are from the pots of last year.
Unicorn has read the hire purchase agreement for her car and feels robbed. She has been but will she do anything about it?

Dator

Diabetes is an illness of the underdog

Weather seems to have deteriorated to so that the figs no longer ripen.
Action for next year: thin them brutally.
Action for this week: the first evening its daylight plant bulbs (and the second and ...).
When its dark, compile the seed database.
Work on the relationship images.
Find out more about the report on diabetes in Archives of Internal medecine.
Dotar

The great e-mail war

ComputerWorld sold us a Packard Bell computer. Its supposed to provide independent facilities for the household. It does this about as well as the Microsoft rubbish package that came with it can organise an invitation to the local brewery for a party.

The spam prevention was non existent so we adopted the bt/yahoo package which is very efficient at blocking most of the junk. However this only works for one account. No problem we set up another person, the postman. No problem until I want to move an incoming message to my own desktop and then because the postman is a separate user I find I cannot copy across.

Internet explorer has all sorts of snags so I install Mozilla Firefox which is fantastic in comparison.
Everyone should try Firefox.

Web browsing is fun again. I find sites to send to friends but I can't because I don't have an e-mail package. Go with Mozilla and install Thunderbird.

Until I say I want to make it the default it does not automatically pick up from Firefox. When I do it makes itself the default for all the other users including the postman.

Microsoft and Packard Bell, you have made a package which does not have any of the features for which we bought it.

Moan over, this is a positive blog. The dragon has offered me a router, I have a spare tower, The Ralph has expressed an interest in building hardware. I think the Linux age is rapidly approaching.

Now I'm going to set up the Newsgroup facilities on the Thunderbird.

No progress indoors. Outside is under control. Onward.
<>
Dotar

Don't fake it. We'd rather be ineffective than deceived.

I got me bins

To keep with the upbeat nature I am doing an update while eating my mid-morning fig.

New spectacles are wonderful. Titanium and plastic I can barely feel, and the world is back in focus.

Because it is a great day I am not going to let the incompetence of the rail company or the heterosexism of others intrude.

I bought a new pot and some of those dishes one puts under pots which must have a proper name but I don't know it.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it is easier to harass rich women that motorcycle gangs.

Dator

Successes

This week I installed ABBYY FineReader pro 5 and it works a treat. Now all I've to do is teach it I want my documents in OpenOffice or at least rich text format rather than Word.

After a lot of research I chose To-do List to instal which shoved itself onto all users without a by your leave. Then I found Calendar the plug-in tool for Mozilla Firefox. It does what I want, it does it for free and it doesn't get in the way, hurrah!

First thing on the to do list is delete the To-do List.

The figs continue to ripen; I've eaten one most days this week. Hardly self sufficiency yet but another step.
The apple tree (intended to be pot grown but transplanted three years ago to the bottom of the garden) appears to have thrown off the setbacks of the last two years. It is now over a metre high and has produced new shoots this year which should fruit next. No signs of the infestation it suffered last year.

New washing machine due soon. New spectacles to be collected today.

New job or at least new work.

My struggle to remain healthy is gradually killing me.

Dator

First fruit

First fig was delicious.
Have cut off dead branches from last year.
NOTE: Do not leave a green fig on the tree at the end of autumn as the branch dies ( the small fruit blackens and rots while the twig datkens and passes the dead stick test).

Gunned drive again after rain. Also gunned ants living above the kitchen drain under the damp course. Treated front and back drains with eco drain clearer.
Anemone Monterosa mulched, houseleek and both fuschias potted.
The rest is still to do.
Didn't imagine a to do list and a diary would be such a problem, and I've mislaid the latest OCR so I shall tidy up some more and see if something emerges.
BBC free garden planner is crap if you have a wall where they fix the viewpoint and a plot which is very three-dimensional, still I did draw a garden nothing like ours and nothing like we want.

Never try to teach a pig to sing,
it makes one look stupid
and it irritates the pig.

Dotar

After the blackout

New secateurs are great. Gunned weeds on drive.
The square composter is full, and in a week I have emptied the round one to bins and refilled it, though it should compress somewhat.
All grass has been mown this week and I have cleared the rear fence and some of the east bed. Frogs throughout back garden.
Shady bed weeded, uncovered Japanese anenome hybrida Richard Ahrens. this reminded me to check the front garden where there is another, hybrida Monterosa. The latter is rising out of the soil, will add more compost.
Found, two primula (primulae, primulas?) on the grassy knoll and the rosemary.
Too late I have identified the scarlet lily beetles (they are lilioceris lilii) and learnt the effective way to discourage them - pick the critters off and squash them one by one. There is a good Royal Horticultural Society site.
Revised to do: Move water bowl to sunlight, pot fuschias and houseleek. Find site for bee nester. Trellis. Seed planting list.
Inside, one rack is now in the kitchen.
To do: Get plasterer for living room, curtains and rail for rear window, clear rear bedrooms, decorate hall, landing and stairs, clear bedroom chair and downstairs floors.
Virtually its still all to do. Flat screen for kitchen, OCR and voice recognition, newsgroup downloads. Second screen and keyboard. Links and characters in this blog.
Spooky was treated with Wilko cat flea drops this morning and is now sulking in the garden.
Onward.
I hope I never get so old I get religious.
Ingmar Bergman.

How simple?

The two racks are built, that just leaves siting them and filling them and clearing the rooms around them. that last is far too big to be simple, more planning required.
The rear and front grass has been mown this week but the side area still needs cutting and I have only just started trimming and clearing the east bed.
Virtually, Forte Agent 2.0 is being installed but I've stopped because I don't know my news server so I can't register. Add "find how to do non-standard characters on this blog" to the to dos.
Still till I started this entry I didn't realise I may get there despite the weather.
Add re-pot house leek and get secateurs.
Add kill weeds on front drive.
While we are alive we should sit among colored lights and taste good wines, and discuss our adventures in far places; when we are dead, the opportunity is past.
Jack Vance
Ought to learn more about layout too but that is not a priority yet

Simple little things for now.
Outside: mow the grass, clear the bed against the east fence and plant the new fuschias there.
Inside: assemble the two new storage racks and clear one section of the spare room onto them.
Virtual: install optical character recognition and voice recognition.
Achieved: this blog is working.

Start

The midden is home to Spooky, a black 16 year old cat, who keeps a couple of humans, the Unicorn and me, to care for him.
I have let things slip and the purpose of this blog is to record the plans and progress of the development of a twentyfirst century home for us all. Initially there will be three areas:

The inside. This will relate to the building and its fixtures, fittings and furnishings.
The outside. The garden, the boundaries and beyond.
The virtual. The hardware, the software and the uses of the computing and home entertainment facilities.

Now Spooky wants attention and the sun is shining so I shall go and do things.
2004/July/3