Friday Links

Posted on July 13, 2018 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! It’s been a week, I went into the World cup quarter finals with four teams and came out of the semis with no teams. The most heart breaking being the match on Wednesday, but they are a young team and that really showed again Croatia. I will be cheering for France on Sunday and given that tomorrow is Bastille day, I’m taking that as a good omen for Les Bleus for the final!

This week has been light on posting and I’m hoping that this weeks links will made up for it, the news this morning was all about Donald Trump’s visit to the UK. If Theresa May wants to unite the country, she needs to tell that orange faced buffoon to do one! Seriously though, if was terrible for Obama to weigh in on Brexit before the referendum, it’s terrible for Trump to do the same thing now.  Also it’s just bloody rude.

Here are this week’s links…

Power, not Brexit, is behind Boris Johnson’s decision to quit

Boris Johnson Has Ruined Britain – I never liked him and he has stupid hair but Jenni Russell, God bless her, has summed him up perfectly!

Boris Johnson, a politician whose ambition and superficial charm far outstrip his ability, judgment or principles, is destabilizing the British government and threatening the country’s future.

A no-deal Brexit survival guide: what food to stockpile. I think I’ll be working extra hard on preserving, growing and seed saving over the next couple of years and I really need that other half plot!

‘There used to be a bus every hour. Now we hardly leave the house’

It’s not only Londoners who rely on buses and trains. Yes it’s true and I’m keen that spending on infrastructure isn’t just done in London. Ma and I get the bus from Amble to Newcastle when we’re on holiday but it costs me £6.60 return. There are two of them the X18 and the X20 and you can’t just turn up and hope for a bus like I do in London, they go every half hour Monday to Friday (I think), and on the weekends the X20 doesn’t run at all. So yes we do have a problem. There needs to be a structured long term plan for re-balancing the economy and the population of the country, this isn’t helping London either. The other thing though, while London’s transport infrastructure is better than in the rest of the country, it’s still pretty broken.

How philanthropy breathed new life into a forgotten Salford suburb

It’s time for Britain’s millionaire pensioners to pay up. I agree that it’s a problem but I don’t agree with the solution…

Is it OK to share an ice-cream with your dog? No it’s never ok, neither is letting them lick your face. I get it, dogs are lovely and they are part of the family but they are still dogs…

Brett Kavanaugh Was a Mistake. One thing I do know is that Democrats have to fight this as much as they can, and I’m glad we don’t appoint judges like this.

Courgette fritters and summer squash recipes. The glut has started…

Tamal Ray’s recipe for raspberry and lime bars. I really want to try this.

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Allotment Adventures: The constant watering 

Posted on July 12, 2018 by nicdempsey

This week I have been pushed for time, which is why this is going up late on a Thursday, rather than its traditional Wednesday amazing what you can do on a phone during the commute! 
We have still not had any significant rain and last week I needed to up my watering game. So I bought a new watering can, I now have two 10 litre cans and almost very bed needs two cans (well 11 of them) that are squash, tomatoes and cucumbers, I remember my first year when watering took half an hour, now it takes at least an hour and a half and from next week, I’m going to water Joe’s plot as well because he’s away. Who needs sleep?

As ever at this time of year, the weekdays are for watering and some harvesting, the weekends are for work, with it being so ridiculously hot, Ma and I were on the plot at before 8am on Saturday. As well as the usual watering and feeding. I trimmed all the tomatoes, Ma dug up all the strawberries and made a start on tidying the raspberries, which are more or less finished. Removing the strawberries made us realise that we have space for another bed, so that’s on the work list. 

We filled the cleared chard bed with a layer of compost and planted out some leeks. The foxes have been at this a bit but we have another pot to plant out in August, so I’ll fill in the gaps then. Ma also sowed some chard in the old pea bed, the plan is for them to stay there over winter as the others did.

I did not get around to sowing kale this year so I’ve cheated and bought a set of plug plants from Suttons which, when they get here, have three types of kale, Black Magic, a calvolo nero bred for our climate, F1 Reflex, a curly kale and F1 Redbor, with is red. There are 21 plugs, so that’s more than enough for us, I’ve promised Dionne one of each and I’m sure what I can’t use will get used by someone else. I’m planning that some will go in the new bed, some where the French beans are now and some in the cucumber bed when they are done. Finding room is my biggest problem right now, I want to overwinter broad beans, garlic and shallots (they can quite happily wait for space until after the tomatoes and summer squash are done. But I need to find another bed for more leeks and sow some pak choi, black radish and mustard greens. I know that Ma’s heart sort of sinks when I say that I need another half plot but I’m probably ready for expansion!

I planted out the mint and summer savoury in the bathtub where the strawberries had been. The savoury is an annual, so I’m happy for the mint to take over there. I also have some mint that I bought in the supermarket and stuck in a glass of water that has rooted so I’ll plant that up with a view to planting in the tub at some point soon.

I made a frame for the cucamelons to climb up, it does look a bit make shift but will be covered pretty soon, I reckon.

We had a first pick of the French beans, they haven’t done as well as last year, I think because it’s so dry and I know that there is blackfly. The winter squash is doing well though, and the butternut squashes have just started. They have a long way to go but I’m happy.

After all my moaning about the courgettes, I picked 6 this week. I can feel the beginning of the glut. The crookneck is on the verge of production and looking very healthy. 

The cucumbers are also on the verge of going bananas, we should have lots of both by my birthday, and tomatoes have flowers and fruit although they are ages away from being edible.

I have a work list for the weekend that feels a mile long, so I’m probably not getting to all of it.

· Water and feed everything

· Frame and fill the new bed

· Trim and tie up the tomatoes (again they are like triffids)

· Find space and plant out the carnation dianthus and verbena

· Sow some more coriander and parsley

· Either pot on or just plant out the rooted mint more likely both

· Sow the gaps in the lettuce spinach and carrots

· Net the leek bed and the lettuce spinach and carrots bed

· Weed the top of the plot and the paths

· Identify a space for my lavender ‘hedge’ and work out how to prep the soil

· Plant out the basil plant I bought last week at the school fete

· Clear the bolted radishes out of the bucket

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Monday Miscellany

Posted on July 9, 2018 by nicdempsey

It’s so hot. It’s so hot that Sarah and I walked the dog at 7am on a Sunday. I’m done with this weather, completely and totally cooked. This week I have cooked some chicken and roasted some vegetables and the oven is not going to be switched on again this week. They are promising it will be cooler on Tuesday and all I can say is that it better be.

In other news. I got two of my four teams through. So I have Belgium, who play France on Tuesday and England, playing Croatia on Wednesday. I’m not going to start shouting “it’s coming home” I remember all of the times England looked like they might be doing well and honestly, I find our defence, casual and Raheem Sterling needs to stop trying to score every time he gets the ball and pass it if he doesn’t have a shot. But I do need to take a moment to point you towards this…

I’m afraid that Kathy and I watching football on Saturday may have been a bit of a shock to the Baxter babies…. I will try to keep the noise down and restrict my use of the phrase ‘fannying about’ as in “stop fannying about and pass the ball” it doesn’t translate well for an expat American who knows both the US usage and the UK usage (which is ruder) but has never heard it in that context…I do love cultural difference!

Goals for this week. Watch the football, try not to melt and water the plot in the mornings. Yes, that is going to hurt. I know it.

 

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Friday Links

Posted on July 6, 2018 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! It’s been a week. England are through to the quarter finals, but even bigger than that is that I have 4 teams through in the family draw, one of them is England.

‘It’s nothing like a broken leg’: why I’m done with the mental health conversation.This is a brilliant piece.

Let’s talk about my abortion (and yours). This so much this…

Grenfell firefighter tells of attempt to rescue girl from 20th floor. This is horrific. Not that it matters but David Badillo is someone I know of, he isn’t a friend of mine but he’s the friend of a couple of people I know and I believe the girl he was looking for was the niece of one of his mates. How he is even standing, let alone back at work, I really don’t know. I was trying to explain to someone recently, that how I feel about Grenfell is more than sad, it was horrific but I feel more than horror. It feels close to me not because I lived in social housing until I was four or because my parents both grew up in council flats and my grandad did until he died. Or because Ma lives in social housing now. What happened at Grenfell, doesn’t feel just like a tragedy, it feels like contempt. Social housing is the only way that people like me get secure, affordable housing. I remember when Ma got her flat, she was so relived to be safe, to know that she had somewhere to live for the rest of her life.  It’s how working class people get to stay in the area they grew up in, where their communities and friends are. But it seems that Kensington and Chelsea, and the government, didn’t think that the people who lived in that tower were worth keeping safe or entitled to feel secure or live in safety. It’s not just about how many died, how they died, it’s about how gentrification and politics that have made working class people less than human. That’s why I’m so emotional about Grenfell.

Speak for England, Danny Dyer. You’ve blown the lid on Brexit He was only saying what everyone was thinking!

Landlords react with fury to three-year tenancy plans. Let’s just see if anything comes of this consultation, my money is on nothing happening. As for people not wanting long term contracts, I haven’t found that this is the case.

Trouble at the Today programme: is it losing its grip? I don’t like it as much since Sarah Sands took over, it’s beginning to feel like a middle class jolly. Nowadays, I only get the first hour or so because I need to be out of the house, but I feel I learn more from other R4 news programmes or the World Service…

Save the Elephant: the fight to protect south London’s ‘anti-Westfield’ You would think at the very least the developers would try and meet the minimum standards the council has set. It seems that developers really think that they can just ride roughshod over communities.

South Carolina police object to high-school reading list. Seriously? The Hate U Give is brilliant and talks about gang culture as well as police brutality, I haven’t read All American Boys, but I’m going to consider it now…

A man raped me, another tried to. They were not animals. They were men This is difficult to read but it needs to be read for this:

A man raped me. Another man attempted to. And it had nothing to do with how I walked, or when I walked, or what I wore as I walked, and everything to do with the actions they took.

It has nothing to do with living in a fantasy land, where the word “no” acts as a shield, and everything to do with how we teach those little boys who become men about those little girls who become women.

Esther McVey has to go. Her downright lies are dangerous. What I was saying earlier on about Grenfell, it’s this kind of contempt I’m talking about.

An aversion to dolls and dresses is no proof you’re a man. I was saying the other day, that I think there is something else going on and hardening of gender stereotypes was some of it. It’s really interesting to me that the majority (70%) of referrals to the Gender Identity Clinic are from girls but the recent debate about trans rights seems to centre on men transitioning to women as if even in this we can’t give women space.

3 reasons the American Revolution was a mistake Not sure that I agree with the last point….

A vaccine we don’t even use anymore is a reason polio keeps spreading — yes, really

The US has a 1.39 billion-pound surplus of cheese. Let’s try to visualize that. Two things occur to me, first it must be time for a big block of cheese day, second I would be all over that but  American cheese….

How a pseudopenis-packing hyena smashes the patriarchy’s assumptions I had no idea but wow…

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Nine years

Posted on July 4, 2018 by nicdempsey

Nine years ago, I moved into this flat, it’s nice to live in one place, I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to do it.

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Allotment Adventures: Open Day and Baby Vegetables

Posted on July 3, 2018 by nicdempsey

This weekend I discovered an ant’s nest in one of my potato bags and probably the source of the bites that caused last week’s swollen hand. We took the potatoes and showered the ants with boiling water. Look I’m all for live and let live but without any rain, ants get out of control and that equals more blackfly.The week was all about watering and picking peas before the pigeons killed them. The weekend was mostly about the Open Day, it was a good day, but busy and so very, very hot. I took one photo but I sold lots of plants and bought a few!Before we opened to the general public Ma and I did some work. I watered and fed and picked salad and beetroot. Ma picked raspberries and peas and cleared the pea bed. Then we tackled the overgrown chard bed.We covered it in more compost and netted it to stop the foxes digging and next week I’ll plant leeks there. Ma and I harvested the anya potatoes, I’d had some in the week t0o. We didn’t get loads about 1.25kg but they were good and I’m happy enough with them.

We aren’t getting loads but things are catching up after the late spring, we have baby french beansBaby cucumbersBaby tomatoesBaby courgettes (one on each plant)Baby crookneck squashI’ve had two blueberriesAnd the winter squash is starting to expandThe cucamelons that I resowed are growingThe three sisters bed (which I know is too small!) is flourishingBut let’s talk about the plants I bought yesterday.9 lavender plants, two summer savory, a mint plant, a carnation, a verbena bonariensis, and a dianthus. My plan for the flowers is the top of the plot, the lavender is going to go along the sides of the plot, bees love lavender and bonariensis and I want to encourage them as much as I can. I didn’t buy another rhubarb crown, please admire my restraint!

It’s going to be hot for a while, I’m watering every other day but I’m giving them more water, the squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash are getting a can more of water and I’m considering watering every day if this weather continues…

This year on the plot is really the year that Ma and I have been more relaxed about self seeding plants, the poppies have always done their thing but the amaranth is everywhere this year. And then there are the nasturtiums, I didn’t sow any this year but some have come up, which I don’t mind and this one is flowering away despite the pigeons devouring the leaves.

The work list for next week is as follows. Sow chard, plant leeks, plant out my new plants, feed and weed. Maybe at the weekend, there will be a courgette or two!

 

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Monday Miscellany

Posted on July 2, 2018 by nicdempsey

Today is the middle of the year, we’ve had 182 days and we have 182 day to go! So given that we are halfway through the year, how’s 2018 going for you?

Last weekend was busy, I got to work from home on Friday, which was fantastic because I could wake up at 7:30, which is normally went I am halfway down the street and ready to start the commute! I mostly prefer working in the office because it helps me switch into work mode but working from home is great when you have just one thing to do because you can do it without distractions and get the laundry done!

One of the things that I hate is having dirty fingernails, there was this whole thing about me being a little girl with dirty fingernails, because I did not like it. The problem is that I come back from the plot with filthy hands and scrubbing will only take you so far!

We are in the middle of a heatwave, look I know that other countries are hotter more often but we are a rainy, grey island and our lives and houses and offices are not designed for this kind of heat. We don’t have air con, our houses are about retaining heat and we just are built for this. I know other countries cope better but how would they cope with fog, and rain and grey. That’s the test.  

So at the moment, we are expected this weather and no rain for the next two weeks at least, NI has a hosepipe ban and we are being asked to think about water conservation. Which means that I need to water every other day this week. So tonight, Wednesday and Friday are watering days and everything will have to fit around that.

So this week, is all about work and watering and sleep and trying not to melt…

What are your plans for the week?

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Sunday Music: Sunny Afternoon

Posted on July 1, 2018 by nicdempsey

I heard this the other day and it just reminds me of summer, it that typically twisted Kinks way. It reminds me of summer because it was music that my parents agreed on so was often played on the rare occasions we were all in the car together (very rare after Ma learnt to drive)

So Sunny Afternoon

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Monthly Goals: June/July 2018

Posted on June 30, 2018 by nicdempsey

How are we at the end of June already? It’s been a pretty good month, I got through the first month at work, I’m still feeling that I don’t know anything but when I break it down, I know quite a lot. I need to learn more about what we do and all of it needs some structure but learning and imposing process are things that I’m good at so I just need to keep at it and I’ll get it! Mostly because of the plot, June to September are busy times of year, I need to be at the plot at least three times a week and one of those times need to be at least 4-5 hours. Which cuts into my down time quite a bit and then there is dealing with the produce and trying to keep on top of housework and work and life generally.

This month has felt busier because you do forget how much energy learning takes and how settled I was in the last job, my new role feels like more of a stretch and so to feel better, I need to be more in control. Control is a big thing for me!

So this is how June went….

Mind and Body

Overall, I’m feeling pretty good

  • 10,000 steps a day.
  • Vitamins every day.
  • Feet and Hands.
  • Golden hour – I’ve been struggling a little bit with this but I’ve managed it more than I haven’t, but only just, so partial success
  • Therapy – Well, I’m doing it and it’s as helpful as it always is. The lovely thing about having the same therapist for years, is that it’s easy to track progress and see change. The first year I did this properly was just after I moved back to Ealing. It was so hard and I was really reluctant to stop. Now, I can see the conclusion to this period of therapy coming, because therapy has given me the tools to get out of my way and deal with my life and my reaction to it. Conclusion is a while away, we’re still going for August, I have some things to work through but it’s good.
  • Good things journal everyday – this has been really good, it’s a nice stop at the end of each day and reflect on the good things that have been in it. Overall, I’m feeling more aware of how good my life is!

Budget & Spending

  • Get through the month without financial explosion. – done and it continues, I need to get my head around money coming in and spending, but I’m on my way.

House Beautiful

  • Stick to the housework rota – I have hoovered once this month but the house is more or less under control!

Allotment  (still the longest list!)

  • plant out remaining squash
  • sow more carrots and radishes and spring onions
  • sow chard, kale, pak choi and cauliflower – not done at all maybe today!
  • sow more salad
  • keep on top of the watering and weeding

The allotment is looking really good, I’m still minus a courgette but I can live with that!

So onto July Goals

July is a quieter month, tomorrow is the allotment Open Day,  I’ll be on the plant stall, Ma is on the cake stall, if you’re nearby, we’d love to see you, the site looks amazing! But I don’t have a lot else in the diary. Work, plot, home, reading is pretty much my plan. So a total repeat of June because it’ll be busy enough. The things I really want to concentrate on are picking up things that I’ve dropped in the rush of the new job. Cooking and food prep, blogging, exercise.

Easy stuff.

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Friday Links

Posted on June 29, 2018 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday!

I don’t know what the week has been like where you are but it’s been hot here, this week I walked to M&S to buy some trousers for work and came out with new pj’s and a nightdress. That basically sums up my week.

My plans for the weekend are all about the allotment, working on it, the open day and generally grinding it out and with any luck…haslet.

This week posts from me were the usual miscellany, a recap of reading in May and an update on the plot.

And here are this week’s links:

From Heathrow to Brexit, showmen have taken over politics

The problem with extreme male body transformations

Who rules the world? Narcissists. Let’s stop giving them all the breaks. This

Social media drips with wrongheaded opinion masquerading as violent certainty. The buzziest television programme of the day, Love Island, is essentially just a petri dish of obnoxious self-adoration. Untalented colleagues get promoted above you because they are unafraid to gelatinously network. The world’s sole remaining superpower, for crying out loud, is run by a man who looks like the cartoon you’d draw for a monkey to make it understand the basic concept of narcissism. It’s everywhere. We’re drowning in it.

Going it alone: why I chose single motherhood. Because I made the opposite choice, I’m fascinated by people who do this.

Are women’s breasts getting bigger – or is it just our bras? It’s weird, I’ve been using bravissimo for years, and I now own an M&S bra in my size. This is the London bubble, I guess!

The Science Isn’t Settled on Chronic Lyme. I think this is worth a read, I’m sitting on the fence on this one, but I know a couple of very sane people who have a diagnosis of chronic lyme and whether it’s lyme or something else, it isn’t in their heads.

Chronicler of London gentrification priced out of Shoreditch. This is pretty much peak London. I love my city but it needs two things, price protection and stronger provincial cities….

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