Happy Friday! People, it’s been a week, work has been busy, it’s been cold and I have a nine year old nephew! (I have a 33 year old godson and yet the passing of time still surprises me!).
Here are this week’s links…
Christian parent threatens legal action over school’s ‘gay pride parade So they’ve read Leviticus but completely missed the Gospels, where Jesus teaches love for the ‘sinner’.
When Families Un-Adopt a Child. Children are not puppies…
Your Mother’s Romantic Past Affects Your Own Dating Adventures Let’s add this to the list of ‘this is why I’m single’ In fairness though, I always thought that living with someone was a big deal and a huge effort and I’d rather be on my own than do it casually. Which I think does come straight from my mother.
Poor families could take in lodger to beat benefit cap – minister. To end poverty, you have to understand poverty. Something our politicians in general and the Tories in particular really don’t understand. As evidenced by Universal Credit and this
The History of the Oceans Is Locked in Whale Earwax. This is fascinating…
Want to make British democracy fairer? First make it easier to vote. Was reading this with a puzzled expression on my face. I have never not been registered to vote. I get a letter every year and I fill it in and return the form in the post. I am the only person in my household so it’s pretty straightforward. I can also register online, but you need your NI number, which if you work or claim benefit, you should have. So the barriers are housing, language, internet access and having an NI number. So for most people it is easy and I would argue that if you can’t be bothered to register under these circumstances, then really what’s wrong with you. For most people you just have to educate people about the importance of it and point them in the right direction, something a parent or teacher should do. For more marginalised people, we have to look at the barriers and resolve them.
Don’t make their GP appointments, don’t manage their money – universities’ advice to helicopter parents. This is where my mother’s ‘bracing but supportive’ style of parenting comes in. I’d been booking my own doctor’s and dentist appointments since I was about 14, in fact I don’t remember when she stopped attending them with me. I expected to sort my money out but Ma would help if I needed it and she’s the originator of the finance spreadsheet! She never, never sent me back to my house with food, it’s actually the other way around.
Ivanka Trump used personal email for government business. When your father campaigned on Hillary’s emails and encouraged the ‘lock her up’ chants. The first thing you would have done, was make sure that you weren’t in breach of any rules over emails. If we needed any confirmation that she is a shameless, arrogant arse, here is it…
Why coasting at work is the best thing for your career, health and happiness. I think there’s a balance, I like to be busy but able to leave work at the office. I’m in the office by 8:15am every morning, I leave at 5pm and I leave it there!
Finally, as Christmas parties start An introvert’s guide to enjoying the party season
We manured and covered two other beds for their winter nap
I finally got around to potting up the lavenders and we picked some chard and kale.
Ma did a little bit of weeding and had a temporary sort of the shed and I tidied up a leek bed. I also put the cloche frame up and planted some sweet peas. The frame will be covered with a sheet and I’ll leave them there until spring, it’s an experiment and we’ll see if they come up and are stronger this year!
After a slightly ridiculous week last week, two trips to the Southampton office and one nightmare journey back! This week is all London based and pretty social, which is unusual for me in November.
When I feel poorly, I stock up on these, not always the M&S version pictured, Pret and Sainsburys and probably other supermarkets sell something similar. Generally when I have a cold they make me feel better and when I have a cough the ginger really helps me stop coughing…
It’s looking very autumnal at the moment and Saturday was a very quick visit.
We also need to sow the broad beans which we do every year. I know I could sow them in spring but there is something about having some things growing through winter that is hopeful and I like it. I’m also considering doing the same with some peas and I want to start some sweet peas too, which I’ll plant in pots and then cover up with fleece. I didn’t have a good year with the sweet peas this year so I’m going to see if this way works any better and if it does, it’s one less thing to have in the living room in spring!
Then we can start thinking about next season. We do have space constraints and I don’t think that we’ll be able to build anymore beds. So next year will be more of the same, we will have more flowers on the plot, and hopefully the spring bulbs we planted (tulips/snowdrops/snakes head fritillary) will join the grape hyacinth in the spring. The Californian poppies, aramanth, borage and nasturtium will (within limits) be allowed to do their thing and hopefully the lavenders in the ground and verbena bonariesus will survive the winter. Next year, I’ll like to grow more marigolds and have a go at calendula (which will probably self seed the year after and suits me fine!)
For herbs, the hardy and half hardy perennials in the herb bed (rosemary, sage, oregano, lemon verbena, chives and tarragon should all be fine). The mint and summer savoury in the bathtub are dying back and I’m hoping that the mint will come back next year. I also have a lemon balm which seeded into one of this year’s tomato beds, that will need a new location and a chocolate mint and chamomile that I’m hoping to nurse through winter and plant out in pots. I have two little lavenders that will go into terracotta pots as soon as we buy some compost! The annuals parsley, dill and basil, we’ll sow again in spring because we love them.
For vegetables, I’m not sure that we’ll grow much new to us veg. We will increase potato production because we really enjoyed them. We’ll grow peas and beetroot and we may grow more beetroot than last year because Ma doesn’t believe in too much! Salad crops as we did last year. We had the right amount of courgettes and crookneck this year and we really like what we grow. The success of last year was the winter squash and the three sisters bed. So we’ll grow more of all of that. The plan is put the corn, squash and borlotto beans in a bigger bed and with smaller squash, so probably the uchuri kiki in that bed and something else in the climbing squash boxes. I also want to grow bigger butternuts next year. I also want to devote a bed to carrots and try some more autumn crops (swedes, more pak choi and have a think about other things we could grow maybe under cover for the winter!)
However the chard, kale and leeks are winter staples and we’ll do them again. It seems strange that just as the current beds of these finish, I’ll be sowing leeks and kale again!
I also want a couple of more blueberries plants next year and next year will be the first year, we can pick from all three rhubarb plants. Which is good because the year after that, we’ll need to split the big one on the corner, but I’ll worry about that later.
Nic Dempsey 