Sunday Music: Must Be Santa – Bob Dylan

Posted on December 1, 2019 by nicdempsey

It’s the first of December, the first Sunday in Advent and as is my tradition, from now until Christmas, I’m playing Christmas music!

 

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Friday Links: Election

Posted on November 29, 2019 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! I can’t decide if it’s the weather, the month or the election bringing me down. It’s probably all three, here are this week’s links:

‘Twitter blackface’: Why Michael Gove’s Stormzy comments are so egregious

Food is where the generation gap is widest

Advent, explained I thought this was quite interesting but this “That’s also why the early parts of Handel’s Messiah quote the prophet Isaiah before they get to the more familiar Christmas parts: The lyrics for “Comfort Ye My People” and “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted,” for instance, correspond directly to the readings from Isaiah 40 that a person might hear in a church pew during Advent.” Is just wrong. The Messiah is all based on scripture and is the story of Jesus from anticipation to birth, through to death and resurrection. I know people go and hear it at Christmas but really it should be an Easter thing (says the person who saw it sung on Good Friday from the age of 15 to 30 something and we only stopped because the price of tickets got too high!).

A charity dropped a massive stimulus package on rural Kenya — and transformed the economy

Look at Boris Johnson eating a scone. This? This is your shagger god?

 

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Allotment Adventures: Moving Compost

Posted on November 27, 2019 by nicdempsey

We have so much work to do to join the old and the new halves of the plot together but we have made inroads into the work. This weekend we moved the compost dalek on the old half to the compost area on the new half. So the compost area has two full bins and one half bin all layered with woodchip and a container, full of weeds that shouldn’t go into the compost and water. The weeds will decompose and then I’ll add it all to the compost. It’s pretty gross but it works.  The only thing left to do is to buy and/or built two more bins that I can turn compost into, but that will wait until later.

Our next task was to sorting out the gaps left behind by the compost bins on the old half. So you may or may not be aware that we had two beds either side of the wooden compost bin. So we moved one to join them together. This will house the two gooseberry bushes in the new half plot that I’m going to move next week. It’s ridiculous to have them all over the place, so we’ll move these two into one bed. Next year finally move the two we have into the bed right next to them, finally I’m going to plant more rhubarb in the gap left by the gooseberries.. (I could move them all at once but then we might not get gooseberries in the summer and that would be unacceptable to Ma!)In the space where the dalek was I planted a piece of rhubarb that I’d been given and we also planted some bulbs where the other compost bin had been.

Ultimately my aim is to have 6 rhubarb plants because we really like it, but right now for fruit I currently have (in various stages of production: four rhubarb plants, four gooseberry bushes, two baby blackcurrant bushes, two raspberry beds, one boysenberry, six blueberry bushes, a plum tree, an apple tree and the loganberries that are in dire need of sorting out. For the coming season, we’re looking at adding two more raspberry beds (one from splitting the bed we have and I’d like some yellow ones!) and a couple more blueberries because they take time to produce and I don’t get a lot, ultimately I’d like about 10 bushes. I would like to think about other fruit bushes but aside from trying to persuade the committee to let me plant some blackthorn (for sloes) or elderberries (for cordial and syrup) once we’ve pulled Joe’s shed down, I’m thinking either a honeyberry, the japanese wineberry or a jostaberry because there should be a free bed! I can almost hear my mother tutting but on the plus side, Christmas ideas should be really easy!

Next week, the priority is to move the gooseberries on the new half to the old half, to get the beds we aren’t using covered, to ‘fence’ of the two flower patches on the new half (one has been planted up and one hasn’t) and to sort out a rubbish pile from Joe’s shed and a burning pile. I don’t think I’ll be doing much else but I think Ma is keen to get the new half that is right up next to the old half, weeded and covered.

Honestly, I don’t think we’ll have time for all of that, it feels like the light goes at about half past three right now, but we’ll do what we can.

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Spitalfields City Farm

Posted on November 26, 2019 by nicdempsey

I’m a Londoner, it’s something I’m extremely proud about (even though I had nothing to do with it!) but it huge part of who I am. But in common with most cities, being from here can mean lots of things, I love my city but there are lots of bits of it that I’ve never been to or at least not very often.So on Friday, I gave my ‘west London’ self a shock and went to East London, not somewhere I often venture and I wouldn’t have gone all the way to Whitechapel on the Tube if not for the day my work team was going to spent at Spitalfields City Farm.If the nephews lived nearer, we’d go. It’s a really small space about 10 minutes away from Brick Lane (and no, I didn’t stop at the Beigel Bake but it was a close call!), with a garden, which right now is growing loads of chard and winter salad  and all sorts of animals (sheep, goats, geese, ducks, ex battery hens, donkeys, pigs and a parrot!). Spitalfields is a no kill farm (which if I’m honest makes me feel that it’s not so much a farm as a petting zoo) and is largely funded by donations. During the day, one of the volunteers noted that they had lost funding for things like the permaculture garden and were trying to work out how best to carry on with it.I knew that London had a couple of city farms but I’ve never been to one and it’s worth a visit. They have lots of Christmas events on over the next couple of weeks so if you’re nearby it’s worth a visit!

As to what I did on the farm, I turned compost, the bin below was full at the beginning of the day!

 

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Monday Miscellany: Aching and Tired

Posted on November 25, 2019 by nicdempsey

Happy Monday!

I’m hobbling into work today because I have been broken by compost! We had a work team volunteer day at Spitalfields City Farm and I got to spend some quality time with a compost heap. Then yesterday I got to spend some time on my plot moving one of my compost bins! This is the one on the farm that we emptied!

So right now my back, stomach and thighs are very unhappy with me! The rest of last week was less physical, I had a weird high temp/shivery thing going on over Tuesday night and Wednesday but much to my mother’s surprise I battled through and went to work. Proof that my 40’s has absolutely been the age that my Grandad’s Protestant Work Ethic has kicked in!

We had a team dinner on Thursday night and Kathy came for dinner on Friday too!

This week, I have a work quiz night on Wednesday, and I want to work from home on Friday, it’s Stef’s anniversary and always easier to be home on that day!

What are you’re plans for the week?

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Allotment Adventures: The Work Area

Posted on November 20, 2019 by nicdempsey

The work at the back of the plot continues. We sorted the wood we wanted to keep from the wood to be bonfire which is currently piled up in the middle of the new half, a lot of the shed will go the same way and then the hedgerow may need to be replanted (I’ve asked for blackthorn and if they wanted to do that I’d be happy to pay for them, then I can add sloe gin to my allotment gin collection.Last week we sorted out a composting area, but that only covered about a third of the width of the plot. So we wanted to sort out the rest of that back section. As our committee chair says, a full plot does give you some elbow room and most of this section is going to be for work. The centre third will be where I put my wilko greenhouse next spring, but right at the edge of the plot in amongst the rocket that was running amok, there are roses planted, I wanted to give them some space and protection over the winter, so we weeded that area and then covered it with woodchip, to help prevent it getting too boggy, that will also give us the chance to spot and pull the weeds as they come up.Right next to that is a small apple tree which was surrounded by strawberry plants and lots of weeds, Joe had tried to enclose that area but we used some of those boards to demarcate the compost area. I’m not convinced that strawberries are worth growing in the ground as the slugs seem to get them before we do. So I committed allotment heresy and pulled them up and yes you’ve probably guessed it, put down woodchip, my plan is to plan bluebell and snowdrops at the edge of this bit of ground. We used the other two boards to mark the tree/bluebell area off from what is effectively our first path on the new half.So we have a quarter of the new half under control. We will eventually sort out the section of space from the new woodchipped path up to the loganberries but this is going to by my squash area so work on that can wait until after Christmas, once we’ve had a bonfire, we’ll cover and then probably sort out the size of beds (I’m thinking two large beds with a path down the middle and we’ll grow squash and sweetcorn and beans there….

Next week, we’re going to move the dalek compost bin and its contents and sort out the space where the two compost bins were. This will involve moving some beds. The bed that was next to the wooden compost bin is going but we are going to extend the bed on the other side of it. The new plot has two gooseberry bushes in it and I’m going to move them into one large bed. I may get around to moving the other two but that might be something I do next winter!

Once we’ve sorted that, I’m going to plant some daffodils and tulips were along the edge of the plot down there.

Then it’s time to sort out the area between the old plot going up towards the loganberries. I have a sort of plan here. I’m going to add three more long beds to mirror the fruit beds we have.  I’ve planted some flower bulbs that my friend at work gave me. (leucojum or summer snowflakes, some irises and two other things that I’ve planted but I can’t remember what they’re called! I planted too many autumn raspberry canes into one bed last year so I’ll take some out to put into a new bed and I quite like the idea of some yellow ones too. We will move the boysenberry and the loganberries too and then up to where the loganberries are now there should be room for five square metre raised beds.

Having that set up would mean that we had three quarters of the plot sorted. Then we need to take the frame down because I am not keen on dangerous, wonky pipe frames and sort the last quarter out that is currently full of weeds. And I would really like an asparagus bed too!

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Habit and Routine

Posted on November 19, 2019 by nicdempsey

Some of the best advice I was ever given is that “routines are just habits with a fancy name”. It’s been on my mind recently because I apparently am very into routines and I’ve been getting some shade about how easy this must be to do because I’m single and childless, how difficult routines are to develop and how hard it is for other people to do what I’ve done. I don’t have kids or a partner but I do have chronic sleeplessness and SAD and in winter my mental health is not great. But this is a criticism that really annoys me, my mum had a full time job, two kids and a difficult husband, and yet she managed to have a routine and we had a routine as children. So I don’t buy that it’s impossible if you have those commitments.In the winter, I have a pretty epic daily routine because I really need it, because in winter I’m a mess. Routine is my coping strategy, but essentially all it is, are habits I’ve developed to help me cope with the world, so don’t lose my mind/home/job/friends.

It’s very straightforward, we all have habits. The four times you hit the alarm before you get up in the morning? Habit. The coffee you buy on the way to work? Habit. Getting to the train station and checking your phone? Habit. Just think about how many times you do something just because you have always done them. If you have habits, you can develop a consistent routine because that’s all it is, training your brain and your body to get into the habit of doing something.

The first thing you need to do, is identify the problem. Because you don’t need a routine if you don’t have a problem with your daily life. So what is it that you need to change? My example is my daily bath.

The problem is that I still don’t sleep well at night (despite being tired all the damn time!) and in winter I’m miserable and every day I need to be in the office, I never seem to have enough time in the morning (probably because from about 6am to 7am, is when I really want to be asleep).

So for me the solution is having a bath before bed. This can relax you enough to help you get to sleep, consistently raising your body temperature may help depression and having a bath cleans me so I only need to wash in the morning instead of have a shower. I also know that at night it’s best not to use screens before bed and lowering the lights before bed is conducive to sleep and I love to read. So I have a bath for at least 20 minutes at 9pm if not every day then certainly Sunday to Thursday. Yes it does seem like I have an indulgent routine but it’s a solution to a couple of problems that I have, and honestly, many times it feels like a hassle when I could have another hour of Netflix or something else that seems more fun.  The thing is, it does help. The same thing for making sure that I have clothes ready and the house is tidy before I go to bed. Mornings, suck all the time but they are much easier when I get up and can make my coffee without having to have a sink full of dishes or wonder what I’m wearing.  My routine is not about everything in it being things I want to do, it’s about doing things I don’t always want to do to make my whole life easier. Ultimately, it gives me control and the freedom to do the things I want to do because I’m a bit happier and less grumpy.

And all it is is habit. Everything I do as routine is a glorified habit, once I realised that the habits were helping, I did it consciously until I wore down a groove down in my brain. That’s not to say that I don’t get out of the habit sometimes, but it’s easy to fall back into the routine because my brain wants to do that.

That’s all that a routine is. Repetition is habit forming, you train your brain and you have a routine. It’s not rocket science.

So if you look at people like me and think, I wish I could do that. Why do you want to? Have you tried and failed to make a consistent routine before? What is the problem with your daily life now? Is there a problem you have, a problem that is serious enough that you need to change something? If you are genuinely struggling to form a routine, then maybe you don’t care enough about the problem you want to solve. Or you don’t have a problem. But if you do, just do the thing, make it a habit, eventually, you’ll have a routine.

In the meantime, please for the love of God, stop criticising me or make me feel bad for finding a way to cope with my life because it’s really tiring…

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Monday Miscellany: How Long is November?

Posted on November 18, 2019 by nicdempsey

Happy Monday!I’m struggling with November right now, for all the usual reasons.

It’s really hard to have any motivation right now, all I really want to do is be cosy in bed and that doesn’t pay the bills! Could we also talk about my friend taunting me with photos of her and Didier Drogba. She claims that this photo should make up for the one of her in the Liverpool shirt in May. I’m not convinced…

This was for work, so I’m clearly in the wrong job.

Despite my brain, I’ve actually been pretty busy. Work is busier and this week we have an offsite which is requiring all sorts organisation. It’s two days, one is work related and the other is a team volunteering day, I’m not that impressed because it means that I won’t be able to go to Oli’s birthday dinner!

I’ve been trying to work out a date for seeing Christelle before Christmas and can’t find a Thursday, Friday or Saturday that I’m free, which is ridiculous, I am the definition of boring and it’s too busy. At some point, I’m going to need to be put in a white silent room to calm down!

This week’s plan is to get to the end of it and spend some time on the plot and sleeping!

Have a good week!

 

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Friday Links: Floods

Posted on November 15, 2019 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday!

The Lib Dems hate Labour more than they hate Brexit

Single people are an electoral force in the US. Is the UK following suit? Well this is frightening…

The median English home now costs eight times the salary of a single man on median male earnings, according to the Women’s Budget Group, and 12 times the salary of a single woman on median female earnings. More shockingly, it calculates that for a lone woman on median female earnings, no region in England is affordable to rent in the private market.

When Jacob Rees-Mogg lets slip what he really believes, the choices become clear

Boarding schools warp our political class – I know because I went to one. My friend Tina, went to boarding school at 7 and refused to send her children to board. She said the only thing it did was make her a really good liar. George Monbiot would agree.

When I became pregnant with twins, my mess stopped feeling cute. I’m having my usual winter urge to sort out my stuff. I want a weekend to start chucking things away!

I’m a mental health nurse. There are no good decisions, only least bad ones

Austerity has pushed families into crisis and then thrown away the lifelines

A decent day’s pay for a decent day’s work – why are we still waiting for this?

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What I Ate: Cooking and Budget Reset Wrap Up

Posted on November 14, 2019 by nicdempsey

I totally dropped the ball with documenting how I did with this, partly because I used all of my available ‘write it down’ brain power at work and partly because it was really easy to get back into the groove. For the record my total for the 8 weeks was £110.32. So under but I had a very full freezer!

Autumn and winter more naturally lend themselves to meal planning, there is less fresh product to use coming out of the allotment and I’ve fallen into making sure that I always eat the same thing for breakfast on work days (right now that’s yoghurt and fruit) and making more dinner than I need and dividing what’s left into boxes for the freezer so I take them to work for lunch. Dinners are therefore pretty simple, what I have started to do is not plan all weeknights. There are times when ‘thing on toast’ is the only right answer to what’s for dinner so including that in the plan means I don’t over buy.

I’m also really enjoying cooking right now, not on weekdays, basically I come home from work and want to slump so food is generally reheated or bung in the oven. But I have cooked more new recipes recently, including some really good cocoa brownies and I’m thinking a bit more interested in cooking again.

The reset meant I’ve started to make bread a bit more often too. I’m not perfect but I feel much more in control of amounts and waste and enjoying food and cooking again. So it was a good if poorly documented thing to do. But the freezer still needs defrosting!!

 

 

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