Saturday, March 24, 2007
Brief blog
Satuday March 24th 9.40am
Its very odd that I am unable to view the blogs for the last two days though 'new blogger' tells me that the last post was the 23rd.!
Yesterday turned out to be a bit of a waste of time as having hung around all day waiting to go into action at five,m there was hardly anything to do. It was also a very quiet night, so I'm now heading for some serious planting and digging. The car is loaded with early summer raspberries and blackcurrants. The sun is shining. No clouds in the sky. Nothing can go wrong. My shoes are repaired at enormous expense and await collection at Timpsons. A new mobile has arrived which will inevitably prove challenging and any day there will be a delivery of books and seeds.World Superbikes takes place at Donnington Park next weekend and Blondie are at the Hammersmith Apollo in July.
The fish and beer diet resumes today.
Its very odd that I am unable to view the blogs for the last two days though 'new blogger' tells me that the last post was the 23rd.!
Yesterday turned out to be a bit of a waste of time as having hung around all day waiting to go into action at five,m there was hardly anything to do. It was also a very quiet night, so I'm now heading for some serious planting and digging. The car is loaded with early summer raspberries and blackcurrants. The sun is shining. No clouds in the sky. Nothing can go wrong. My shoes are repaired at enormous expense and await collection at Timpsons. A new mobile has arrived which will inevitably prove challenging and any day there will be a delivery of books and seeds.World Superbikes takes place at Donnington Park next weekend and Blondie are at the Hammersmith Apollo in July.
The fish and beer diet resumes today.
Friday, March 23, 2007
More Bats
March 23rd. 4pm.
I have signed to the "New Blogger" but I don't yet know what this is going to mean or how things will change. It is quite possible that I won't be able to log on again. It doesn't look the same- a different font maybe? Whatever the new blogger will bring I am unable to retrieve what I wrote yesterday though I have been told that someone read it so it must have been published. I don't yet know if the huge number orf regular readers has realised that a regular service ha s been resumed, not that there were ever many /any comments.
I have been buying seeds from Suttons catalogue. Its a bit like Amazon shopping which I have also been doing as I'm stuck at work with nothing to do until 5pm. Although Rick Stein mentioned four types of Chinese Brassicas, the only one that features regularly in any catalogue is Pak choi,so I have ordered two varieties. I suspect that the final product, raw or cooked, will be a lot less suuuulent and inviting than the dish he prepared in seconds in his precent programme. I took the opportunity to order okra, climbing French Beans and globe artichokes. The sleeping partner sleeps on but he may have a view about what gets planted. By the time he puts in an appearance there should be fouur rows of raspberries, one row of early potatoes, some roses and blackcurrant and space reserved for the following :-
201. Artichokes
202. Purple Sprouting Broccoli
203. Runner Beans
204. Climbing French Beans
205. Sweetcorn
206. Beetroot
207. Pak choi
208. Carrots
209. Lettuce
210. Okra
If the preparation of the ground has advanced sufficiently, there will be tomatoes, possibly peas and possibly parsley. If the whole plot were ready of course all these things would be attempted but some may have to wait for another year.
The return of the mild weather means there should be one or two decent sessions on the allotment after work on Saturday and on Sunday. It has also been a reason that the bats are out again at dusk though strangely I found one in the house the other day, lying in a bucket by the raspberries. How or when it got there is a mystery. I can only imagine that it crept in in early February and had been lying around until I released it last weekend.
My trawl for food in crime fiction continues without much success. I saw in the Grauniad the other day that someone nominated the best meal in fiction as one in Rex Stout's "Too Many Cooks". I thought there was a copy in the house but all I could find was "Over My Dead Body"! Maybe its in a box and I will have to have a search. More bookcases are needed but what will happen when I'm dead? Will any one want this library of crime fiction? And do we even need
fiction after events in Jamaica?
I have signed to the "New Blogger" but I don't yet know what this is going to mean or how things will change. It is quite possible that I won't be able to log on again. It doesn't look the same- a different font maybe? Whatever the new blogger will bring I am unable to retrieve what I wrote yesterday though I have been told that someone read it so it must have been published. I don't yet know if the huge number orf regular readers has realised that a regular service ha s been resumed, not that there were ever many /any comments.
I have been buying seeds from Suttons catalogue. Its a bit like Amazon shopping which I have also been doing as I'm stuck at work with nothing to do until 5pm. Although Rick Stein mentioned four types of Chinese Brassicas, the only one that features regularly in any catalogue is Pak choi,so I have ordered two varieties. I suspect that the final product, raw or cooked, will be a lot less suuuulent and inviting than the dish he prepared in seconds in his precent programme. I took the opportunity to order okra, climbing French Beans and globe artichokes. The sleeping partner sleeps on but he may have a view about what gets planted. By the time he puts in an appearance there should be fouur rows of raspberries, one row of early potatoes, some roses and blackcurrant and space reserved for the following :-
201. Artichokes
202. Purple Sprouting Broccoli
203. Runner Beans
204. Climbing French Beans
205. Sweetcorn
206. Beetroot
207. Pak choi
208. Carrots
209. Lettuce
210. Okra
If the preparation of the ground has advanced sufficiently, there will be tomatoes, possibly peas and possibly parsley. If the whole plot were ready of course all these things would be attempted but some may have to wait for another year.
The return of the mild weather means there should be one or two decent sessions on the allotment after work on Saturday and on Sunday. It has also been a reason that the bats are out again at dusk though strangely I found one in the house the other day, lying in a bucket by the raspberries. How or when it got there is a mystery. I can only imagine that it crept in in early February and had been lying around until I released it last weekend.
My trawl for food in crime fiction continues without much success. I saw in the Grauniad the other day that someone nominated the best meal in fiction as one in Rex Stout's "Too Many Cooks". I thought there was a copy in the house but all I could find was "Over My Dead Body"! Maybe its in a box and I will have to have a search. More bookcases are needed but what will happen when I'm dead? Will any one want this library of crime fiction? And do we even need
fiction after events in Jamaica?
Thursday, March 22, 2007
At Last
March 22nd. 2007. 08.50
Many people have asked me what has happened to the blog. This is the first entry for over two months for a number of different reasons, amongst which are the following;- 1) too much work, 2) a virus on my home computer, 3)holiday in New Zealand and 4) laziness.
There are a number of subjects which will be brought up to date in the next few days but of course you might be wondering about that question, the title of the blog, Will Bob Lose Weight? Well, in brief, no- not yet. Whilst waiting for the size to diminish sufficiently to fit in to some perfectly wearable clothes, I decided that I needed some clothes other then the greenish jeans that I mentioned in an earlier blog, so I have invested in TWO pairs of M and S jeans, though I haven't worn them yet. I will have to deal with the problem of having two pairs of jeans that are far too big in due course. The actual weight is unchanged from last December though it did go up a few pounds in New Zealand - testimony of the good food and relaxed way of life there.
Allottment activity is also greatly increasing and serious digging has resumed. Any day from now on I shall be planting the raspberries which are flourishing in a cold room at home and there will also be seed potatoes ready in a few days time for the first row of an early crop. They are chitting on the sitting room window sill at the moment though I have often wondered whether this is necessary. I have plenty of potatoes that are chitting whilst waiting to be eaten.
I did actually plant some roses the other day. I thought that it would add a 'civilising' touch to the allottment in contrast to all the other plots which seem already to be producing crops of parsnips and brocolli and look generally much more professional and determined to produce massive crops than mine. From time to time Lidls stores have plants for sale, roses, fruit trees , soft fruit such as gooseberries or blackcurrant for absurdly low prices, so I feel that if you have the space to plant them you haven't much to lose and maybe a lot to gain by investing in a few of these bargains.
There is still a large area to dig and clear, possibly two thirds of the plot but there is a large area ready for use. A large chunk of it will be used for the soft fruit and the early potatoes and then I think I must make a plan for the crops that I really want to grow that are so much better when home grown or those that are not even avaialble in the shops, particularly artichokes. I saw a celebrity TV chef (possibly Rick Stein) praising the Chinese brassicas such as pak choi and thought that they might be given some space if I could find out where to buy the seed. Research obviously needed.
Unfortunately, work prevents me from continuing now, so there is no list today. Regular blogs will continue.
Many people have asked me what has happened to the blog. This is the first entry for over two months for a number of different reasons, amongst which are the following;- 1) too much work, 2) a virus on my home computer, 3)holiday in New Zealand and 4) laziness.
There are a number of subjects which will be brought up to date in the next few days but of course you might be wondering about that question, the title of the blog, Will Bob Lose Weight? Well, in brief, no- not yet. Whilst waiting for the size to diminish sufficiently to fit in to some perfectly wearable clothes, I decided that I needed some clothes other then the greenish jeans that I mentioned in an earlier blog, so I have invested in TWO pairs of M and S jeans, though I haven't worn them yet. I will have to deal with the problem of having two pairs of jeans that are far too big in due course. The actual weight is unchanged from last December though it did go up a few pounds in New Zealand - testimony of the good food and relaxed way of life there.
Allottment activity is also greatly increasing and serious digging has resumed. Any day from now on I shall be planting the raspberries which are flourishing in a cold room at home and there will also be seed potatoes ready in a few days time for the first row of an early crop. They are chitting on the sitting room window sill at the moment though I have often wondered whether this is necessary. I have plenty of potatoes that are chitting whilst waiting to be eaten.
I did actually plant some roses the other day. I thought that it would add a 'civilising' touch to the allottment in contrast to all the other plots which seem already to be producing crops of parsnips and brocolli and look generally much more professional and determined to produce massive crops than mine. From time to time Lidls stores have plants for sale, roses, fruit trees , soft fruit such as gooseberries or blackcurrant for absurdly low prices, so I feel that if you have the space to plant them you haven't much to lose and maybe a lot to gain by investing in a few of these bargains.
There is still a large area to dig and clear, possibly two thirds of the plot but there is a large area ready for use. A large chunk of it will be used for the soft fruit and the early potatoes and then I think I must make a plan for the crops that I really want to grow that are so much better when home grown or those that are not even avaialble in the shops, particularly artichokes. I saw a celebrity TV chef (possibly Rick Stein) praising the Chinese brassicas such as pak choi and thought that they might be given some space if I could find out where to buy the seed. Research obviously needed.
Unfortunately, work prevents me from continuing now, so there is no list today. Regular blogs will continue.
