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Sunday, 23 September 2007
Milky Pay
An article in yesterday's copy of The Sun caught my eye, although l don't as a rule feature newspaper stories in my blog.
The headline read '42p pinta is record.'
Are they kidding ?
At my local corner shop a 500ml (less than a pint) carton of milk has been selling for 42p for months, and recently had a price increase slapped on it. Current cost ?
A whopping 47p !!!
At this rate it'll be cheaper to slosh champagne over your cornflakes in the morning.
Quote: ' A corpse is meat gone bad. Well and what's cheese ? Corpse of milk.'
James Joyce
20:45 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: milk, The Sun, James Joyce
Saturday, 08 September 2007
Home Alone
l have the entire house to myself for the whole weekend ! What a luxury that is.
Part of me is tempted to be productive and do things that l've been putting off for ages. But l've made a decision not to listen to that particular part of my conscience as the time will pass and before l know it Monday will arrive. lt's been a trying few days and next week doesn't promise to be any better.
So l'm sitting here, having a session on my pc and thinking about my forthcoming long (uninterrupted) bath, lunch, good book, sleep, a film or two ....
One worthy task l will do is give Sapphire the neighbour's cat a gentle sponge over with warm water and special cat shampoo. There is definitely something wrong as her skin is lumpy, itchy and looks very sore, quite greasy too. lt could well be a flea allergy. Or ticks. A website l've come across : www.petpharmacydirect.co.uk looks promising and has a resident vet you can email for advice, and a range of quality products to treat all the usual ailments. lt's not a substitute for a visit to your local vet, but definitely useful as a first port of call for general information.
There are several books on my current reading pile. A couple are by David Eddings - 'Pawn of Prophecy' and 'Queen of Sorcery'. These are of the mythical fantasy genre, with Gods, Kings, Strange Lands and so on. l enjoy his writing style. lt's very readable and the characters are well portrayed. l can get through a chapter without realising it.
One not so good event last week has been the appearence of rodents. Pussem took great delight in playing with and ultimately killing one mouse in the back garden (see photo below ); and then l have heard 'noises' in the night. Scratching and scurrying behind the bathroom wall and in the water overflow pipe and above my bedroom ceiling. Another visit from Pest Control is on the horizon, the close horizon. There are already trays of rat poison in the attic from their last call, but l get the feeling l'm regarded as an hysterical female as no evidence was found. l was even asked if l thought it might be birds walking about on the roof !!!
Sigh !!
And my lawn is still looking sick and patchy, inspite of re-seeding with new grass, which hasn't bothered to germinate. l may try a product l saw in a gardening magazine called 'Wondergreen' lawn seed. lt promises rapid results, and agressive green shoots in five days. (Then, l'm hoping, it will stop growing so quickly as l don't relish the thought of mowing it more than l have to.) But 'a luxurious thick lawn impervious to weeds' and 'the envy of neighbours and friends' sounds pretty good. lt's not available in stores, just mail order and the internet : www.homeandcomfort.co.uk
13:10 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Thursday, 06 September 2007
Harvest For The Fridge
l'm drowning under a sea of cherry tomatoes !
What started as a modest and easily useable handful of fruits (or is it vegetables?) each day has steadily progressed into whole punnets. Not that l'm complaining because they've been very tasty and it's nice to know that no chemical of any kind has been in contact with them, and they are as fresh as it is possible for them to be.
But next year l'm growing fewer plants, and trying a different variety. Earlier in the year l bought some supermarket tomatoes which had a beautiful flavour and l saved some of the seeds from them so l hope they will germinate next spring. The variety was called 'Aranta'.
l quite enjoy the end of the Summer season as it blends into Autumn because it gives me the chance to clear the borders, dispose of annual plants, dig in some soil conditioner and generally get things into some order before Winter makes an appearence. And l like to plot and plan for next year.
l've bought some pink double tulips - ' Angelique' (above) and have potted them up ready for Spring. These will be used for added colour in the garden and can be placed where they are needed most. Unlike bulbs planted directly into the ground though, they do need watering during the Winter when there is a dry spell.
Also new for the Summer will be some dramatic purple Aliums - a type of ornamental onion. l've never grown them before so it will be something to look forward to.
My Echinaceas are at the large seedling stage. l'd hope they would be a little more advanced by now as they need to be bigger before they can be planted out into the garden ready for flowering next June. But that's gardening for you, things grow at their own pace.
The blue glazed urn, once home to my now sadly deceased Japanese maple 'Orange Dream', has been re-vamped and used for a display of velvety purple pansies with a bright yellow blotch in the centre, and a golden ornamental grass for height and contrast. lt gives a very pleasing effect and a nice splash of colour in the enclosed section of the back garden where they can be seen every day.
17:00 Posted in Gardening | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: cherry tomatoes, 'Aranta' tomatoes, tulips 'Angelique', Aliums, pansies, ornamental grass