A spring thing?

We’ve had some fantastic “lull you into a false sense of security and get you sowing seeds” weather recently. Been great fun out in the garden. Even the OH has been unable to help himself and put in not only an appearance or 2 in the garden (with much appreciated tea relief in hand) but actually been doing stuff out there (bramble hedge laying no less).

As a result, egg production is up – 2 regulars and one giving the occasional – about a dozen a week now (that’s plenty). I have noticed though, that the chooks are getting through a lot more feed recently. I’m wondering if that’s down to more energy requirements with the increase in egg production, or if we have some sneaky thieves (I’ve seen some over-friendly sparrows round here lately!)?

I suspect a combination of the 2.

Compost Corner

We aim to produce as little unusable waste as possible. As part of this, we have quite a few compost bins.

All were purchased from the local authority and all are made from recycled plastic. 2 are green and made in sections held together with rods. These are great, easy to turn, easy to access and produce great compost in half a year. 3 are black domes, larger than the green ones, but not as well thought through and virtually impossible to access the contents (through the small door at the bottom) to either turn the contents or remove the compost. They’re fine if you chuck everything in and just leave it for a year once it’s full, but I like to get stuck in and see how things are doing.

Also, we have a leafmould bin. Well, it’s a piece of chicken wire wrapped into a circle.

All of this was placed in a rather hap-hazard fashion as the various elements were required. As a result, the leafmould bin has got hemmed in and is impossible to access. We’ve also had a “visitor” in one of the bins (we’re not exactly sure what, but my money’s on a mole). With the weather having been good for a few weeks and spring definately in the air, I decided it was time for a change.

So, first a new leafmould bin for the old pile. This was constructed from 4 large sticks (large straight prunings etc) and an old tree protector cut in half (the black mesh type).

Then on to 2 new bays, 1 for leafmould, one for shredded prunings (to be used as mulch once they’ve rotted down a bit).
Each one is made from 4 stout posts (cheap from the local sawmill) and some chicken wire. As they get filled they’ll have 2 more posts banged in at the front and slats of wood slipped in to hold the contents back.

Now on to the rest of compost corner

Six stout posts danged in at approx 90cm apart

Slats of wood added along the back and sided (“reject” wood from the sawmill – bit wavy-edged, but adds to the rustic look ). 3 more stout posts banged in along the front (to hold the removeable front slats in place) and I can take the old bin off the current compost pile and heap it into one bin

That was it for Saturday, but on Sunday, a few more slats were added and a general tidy up.

Then on to some shredding

And then in for some tea after a good weekend’s work.

There are still lots more slats to add to finish the compost bins and the fronts of the leafmould, but I need to put some wood preservative on them first.

How NOT to start the day

While eating my porridge this morning I had an idle surf through some news websites. I nearly choked at this!

Are they completely bloody stupid? More competition will create price wars at the expense of the growers/suppliers and the local economy.

Can they not see from their own (beautifully designed) pie charts that the supermarket onslaught is squeezing out the almost everyone except the “big four”? They’re loosing all the independants. How is that good? If they’re looking to create competition why are they looking to squash all the diverse competition in order to create some sanitised super-power-four?

How is that good?

Right place at the right time

I love taking photos – the more I take, the more I want to take.

I’m no expert, I still have tons to learn, which is probably one of the reasons I enjoy it so much – I’m always learning. I find most of my best shots come from being in the right place at the right time, with a little bit of knowledge thrown in.

This shot was engineered – throw the ball to the other side of the water and the dog’s bound to take the shortest route:

Then it’s just a matter of tracking the dog and keeping it in focus.

This however, is more a case of luck – lucky the cat was there, lucky the camera was to hand and lucky the mouse was hungry!

What’s the future of today?

If this is the future of yesterday, what’s the future of today?

Clips like that were 2-a-penny, but we seem to have forgotten how to dream. Maybe then, the future was exciting, endless possibilities. Maybe now, people think they can predict what it will be like and are scared of what they “see”. Maybe they’re just too scared in case they get sued if it doesn’t happen.

Yesteryear’s emphasis was heavily based on transport and technology. How many cars are on the roads in that clip compared to how many were on there in 1958? Everything in that clip requires an enormous input of energy, but not by the used – they don’t even have to walk to look round the shops (well, I guess that bit’s come true in the form of ecommerce).

Can you imagine a world so controlled, where every decision appears to be yours, but if you think about it has already been taken for you?

So what would be your dream of the future now? That’s your dream, not your fear. Dreams are free (and you can’t get sued for having them!).