No not diving in my water butt.....
I'm on the hunt for a new water butt that doesn't melt. The old one was a dustbin, you know the type, the ones that say no hot ashes. Well they should also say "don't leave out in the sun" on them as well. It melted - not completely but enough for the water to all leak out !!!! And they don't seem to do the type you lot have back home - oh well I'll keep looking.
Some of my diving gear I brought back passed all the tests, but the regulators - the things that you breathe through (so they are quite important really) brought laughter from around the shop - apparently Jacques Cousteau used to have a set of them - the bloke said they'd probably work but that he wouldn't trust them. So seeing as how I don't fancy drowning I took his advice and bought some new ones. Very shiny they are too. The old ones were dead cheap so some you win and some you lose. Anyway went out on Thursday with Jeff - first time for both of us without an instructor - and what a couple of amateurs we looked. We had to do bouyancy checks to get our weight right - got it wrong - were both too light so it was a major effort to sink, which in normal circumstances is great, but when scuba diving isn't, then air just started free flowing out of my new shiny regulators. Took them back to the shop and was told "Oh that often happens with new ones - I'll adjust them for you now". So we tried again yesterday after helping out at the sub aqua club "try dive" day. I spent the morning squeezing people into wet suits - which was more fun with some people than others !!! When they'd all done in we went - and it all went well swimmingly - was down for around 45 minutes, and had a thoroughly good time. It's good having your own gear and just being able to go out and do it !
The seeds I'd sowed last time are starting to germinate, and I think I'll be getting comments like "loony" soon cos I'm planning on going back to the stables and getting several jeep fulls of manure to spread on the garden before I plant this lot out. I'm also picking up some timber today and will make some fancy planters to put the citrus and pomegranite trees in. I've got a new book about Mediterranean gardening - and instead of telling how the gardens at Alhambra or on the Cote D'Azure were designed actually tells me which plants will grow here, so that's good, but I have resisted the urge to go out and buy a whole garden full - I'lll wait until it's a bit cooler before I plant up - even lavenders I've planted out have died in the sun - I reckon it's cos the shops water them too regularly (so that they look good) but it means that they haven't been grown hard enough so can't cope when planted out. I'll be growing my stuff quite hard in future.
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Back from holiday and need a rest
The title says it all, back in sunny Cyprus after two weeks in not so sunny Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and we've all pretty much slept and done nowt since we got back !!
To all those we saw - it was good to see you, to all those we didn't well there's always next time.
Arrived home to find all the toms dead and the chilli's gasping for water - they've had some and have perked up no end. The tomatoes are in the compost bins. As part of the "lets see what I can grow at strange times of the year" experiment - I've sown tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, chives, carrots, courgettes, snake gourds and a whole bunch of annual flowers. We'll see how they go - I might have tomatoes at Christmas, who knows. And over the next couple of weeks I'll be back up to the stables to get more manure to improve the soil. I've written July and August off as productive moths - it's just too bloody hot, or more accurately it's too difficult to keep it all watered.
I returned home with a load of diving gear - it's being tested at the diving gear testing shop (run by diver Dave) to make sure I won't drown whilst using it. Hopefully I'll get out this week.
It's time to start studying again - this time learning how to draw stuff for the design part of the course - this is much more fun than plant physiology I can tell you. Intermediate Greek lessons in September and the FA course to do as well so busy busy busy.
To all those we saw - it was good to see you, to all those we didn't well there's always next time.
Arrived home to find all the toms dead and the chilli's gasping for water - they've had some and have perked up no end. The tomatoes are in the compost bins. As part of the "lets see what I can grow at strange times of the year" experiment - I've sown tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, chives, carrots, courgettes, snake gourds and a whole bunch of annual flowers. We'll see how they go - I might have tomatoes at Christmas, who knows. And over the next couple of weeks I'll be back up to the stables to get more manure to improve the soil. I've written July and August off as productive moths - it's just too bloody hot, or more accurately it's too difficult to keep it all watered.
I returned home with a load of diving gear - it's being tested at the diving gear testing shop (run by diver Dave) to make sure I won't drown whilst using it. Hopefully I'll get out this week.
It's time to start studying again - this time learning how to draw stuff for the design part of the course - this is much more fun than plant physiology I can tell you. Intermediate Greek lessons in September and the FA course to do as well so busy busy busy.
Monday, 30 July 2007
The Last Post.....
...... well for a fortnight or so anyway, unless I get a chance at my mother in laws. We fly home for a couple of weeks on Wednesday. Got a family wedding next weekend, so it'll be good to catch up with everybody there, then start a round of visiting friends and family, culminating in me taking the boys away camping for a weekend, whilst Jo goes to London shopping and doing "London" things with her mates down there. All I can say is the weather back home had better improve before then !!!
Went to a Grenglish wedding this weekend - a colleague (an English Cypriot) got married, it was a strange mix of traditional Greek and English. The Greeks don't usually do speeches, but Marcos did - I really felt for his best man who had no real idea what was expected from a best mans speech. And I'd been out to a leaving do the night before, if I'm not careful I might start developing a social life. Apart from that spent most of the weekend playing in the sea with the boys, so am suitably pink to prove it, and poor Mattie burnt the soles of his feet walking barefoot on the road looking for Charlie who had snuck off, oh well it'll teach him not to wear his flip flops !!
I fully expect to come back to a garden as dry as sticks, I've started pulling out all the dead and dying stuff, leaving in the chilli's and tomatoes and gazania's which are all doing OK - the toms are flagging a bit but still producing, whilst the chillis mostly have fruit on them, but are surprisingly struggling a little bit. I'm starting research for next years plants - I think I'm going to have to have a few more succulents - the only trouble is that generally I don't like them very much!!! I went out onto the bondu yesterday and collected some seed from stuff that grow out there, some alliums, echinops, cistus and lantana - and they have all died back too so I reckon I'll have to accept July and August as the times when the garden looks poor over here and adjust things accordingly.
Here the weather is really quite strange - today it is cloudy but incredibly humid - and that is the biggest problem, the humidity has been at around 80 percent and apparently temperatures are about 5 degrees higher than normal for this time of year - the humidity makes it very difficult to do anything, just moving leaves you covered in sweat and you just can't get dry !! Not expecting much sympathy considering what is happening at home but just saying anyway!!! It's bizarre, I was looking at something about last summer which said the North East of England had no rain for over three months last year - and look at it this. Who says climate change isn't happening?
For those of you who I'll be seeing over the next couple of weeks - see you soon, and those I won't I'll be back on the 15thish.
Went to a Grenglish wedding this weekend - a colleague (an English Cypriot) got married, it was a strange mix of traditional Greek and English. The Greeks don't usually do speeches, but Marcos did - I really felt for his best man who had no real idea what was expected from a best mans speech. And I'd been out to a leaving do the night before, if I'm not careful I might start developing a social life. Apart from that spent most of the weekend playing in the sea with the boys, so am suitably pink to prove it, and poor Mattie burnt the soles of his feet walking barefoot on the road looking for Charlie who had snuck off, oh well it'll teach him not to wear his flip flops !!
I fully expect to come back to a garden as dry as sticks, I've started pulling out all the dead and dying stuff, leaving in the chilli's and tomatoes and gazania's which are all doing OK - the toms are flagging a bit but still producing, whilst the chillis mostly have fruit on them, but are surprisingly struggling a little bit. I'm starting research for next years plants - I think I'm going to have to have a few more succulents - the only trouble is that generally I don't like them very much!!! I went out onto the bondu yesterday and collected some seed from stuff that grow out there, some alliums, echinops, cistus and lantana - and they have all died back too so I reckon I'll have to accept July and August as the times when the garden looks poor over here and adjust things accordingly.
Here the weather is really quite strange - today it is cloudy but incredibly humid - and that is the biggest problem, the humidity has been at around 80 percent and apparently temperatures are about 5 degrees higher than normal for this time of year - the humidity makes it very difficult to do anything, just moving leaves you covered in sweat and you just can't get dry !! Not expecting much sympathy considering what is happening at home but just saying anyway!!! It's bizarre, I was looking at something about last summer which said the North East of England had no rain for over three months last year - and look at it this. Who says climate change isn't happening?
For those of you who I'll be seeing over the next couple of weeks - see you soon, and those I won't I'll be back on the 15thish.
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Too hot
It's just too hot for the garden. Whilst the UK has been basking in monsoons, we've been having a heatwave. In the back yard it reached 50 degrees during the week - now that's hot by anybodies standards. Even though I've been defying the hosepipe ban on the basis that every bugger else does - a lot of the plants are just getting too stressed and are giving up the ghost. I pulled out my sweetcorn, the cobs hadn't swelled, raddish, lettuce and carrots I sowed a few weeks ago haven't germinated and even some of the tomatoes have chucked it. Having said that I don't owe the tomatoes anything, they've been supplying the neighbourhood for weeks now. I knew July and August would be tough on them - it's a learning curve I guess. Matthew has been "helping" this week, this mainly involves digging holes and pouring water into them - but I don't want to discourage him, as long as he doesn't start digging unsupervised holes during the school holidays!!
I may have a designing job to do sometime soon. Huseyin one of my colleagues gets married soon and has just finished building his own house - he has half an acre of land and wants to do something with the garden. So I've offered to come and measure up and draw something for him - he gets a free design - I get something that hopefully will be good enough to submit to the college.
Away from the garden, I started playing tennis this week having been ordered to go by the fiesty 70 year old bloke coach who Jo signed me up for some lessons with. First time I've played a match since school. I don't think I made a complete muppet of myself - and I enjoyed it, despite it being hard work in the sun. I've not been diving since I qualified - have done some nightshifts this week so haven't really been awake enough to go diving during the day. Maybe next week cos I'm on late shifts so can go before work.
I may have a designing job to do sometime soon. Huseyin one of my colleagues gets married soon and has just finished building his own house - he has half an acre of land and wants to do something with the garden. So I've offered to come and measure up and draw something for him - he gets a free design - I get something that hopefully will be good enough to submit to the college.
Away from the garden, I started playing tennis this week having been ordered to go by the fiesty 70 year old bloke coach who Jo signed me up for some lessons with. First time I've played a match since school. I don't think I made a complete muppet of myself - and I enjoyed it, despite it being hard work in the sun. I've not been diving since I qualified - have done some nightshifts this week so haven't really been awake enough to go diving during the day. Maybe next week cos I'm on late shifts so can go before work.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Life has.......
.........kind of settled down a bit, and I know I said it last last time I will do this more often - OK Teatree ??
Well what's happened in the last month or so. Seeing as how this was a gardening thingy in the first place I'll start with the garden. Things are very hot, the kind of hot where you get sweaty, have a shower and can't get dried again,, anyway it doesn't do much for the garden !!! Coupled with the fact that the Garrison has unilaterally declared a hosepipe ban (the Cypriots use water like there's no tomorrow). It's an effort to keep things green, but I knew it was going to be like this. The tomatoes are doing really well, I've been feeding them to half the street, the pot marigolds, marigolds and have just gone over, but I've got some more almost ready for planting out. The chilli's are doing really well, but just about everything else is struggling. Think I'm going to have to ignore the hosepipe ban or give up during July and August.
We went to Disneyland Paris for a weekend, it was my Mam's 60th and Mam and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary so with one of my brothers his wife and their two kids off (and Mam and Dad) off to Paris we trooped. We had a lovely time, the kids especially. After a brief stop back here (two days) I jetted back to the UK to do the RHS exam - I think it went OK, results sometime in September.
Since coming back I've started and will complete tomorrow, my PADI open water diving course, it'll mean I can go out independently from the dive shops. I've not managed to drown so far so that's good, and it's opened up a whole range of stuff and gadgets to look at. I should be getting a disc soon so I'll post some pics when I get it.
The football coaching bloke rang yesterday, the assessor is back in August for a support day, I'll miss cos I'm back in UK for my cousins wedding, he's coming back at the back end of November for final assessments. I'm going to have to find a team to coach, but I maybe helping out with the Army team later this month.
Oh and I occasionally go to work!!!! Where I've managed to rescue 4 dogs and a kitten since I was last on. The dogs have found homes, the kitten which currently has no name is here, as long as it has no name we can pretend it's not moving in !!!
Well what's happened in the last month or so. Seeing as how this was a gardening thingy in the first place I'll start with the garden. Things are very hot, the kind of hot where you get sweaty, have a shower and can't get dried again,, anyway it doesn't do much for the garden !!! Coupled with the fact that the Garrison has unilaterally declared a hosepipe ban (the Cypriots use water like there's no tomorrow). It's an effort to keep things green, but I knew it was going to be like this. The tomatoes are doing really well, I've been feeding them to half the street, the pot marigolds, marigolds and have just gone over, but I've got some more almost ready for planting out. The chilli's are doing really well, but just about everything else is struggling. Think I'm going to have to ignore the hosepipe ban or give up during July and August.
We went to Disneyland Paris for a weekend, it was my Mam's 60th and Mam and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary so with one of my brothers his wife and their two kids off (and Mam and Dad) off to Paris we trooped. We had a lovely time, the kids especially. After a brief stop back here (two days) I jetted back to the UK to do the RHS exam - I think it went OK, results sometime in September.
Since coming back I've started and will complete tomorrow, my PADI open water diving course, it'll mean I can go out independently from the dive shops. I've not managed to drown so far so that's good, and it's opened up a whole range of stuff and gadgets to look at. I should be getting a disc soon so I'll post some pics when I get it.
The football coaching bloke rang yesterday, the assessor is back in August for a support day, I'll miss cos I'm back in UK for my cousins wedding, he's coming back at the back end of November for final assessments. I'm going to have to find a team to coach, but I maybe helping out with the Army team later this month.
Oh and I occasionally go to work!!!! Where I've managed to rescue 4 dogs and a kitten since I was last on. The dogs have found homes, the kitten which currently has no name is here, as long as it has no name we can pretend it's not moving in !!!
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Done it again Haven't I
Well having promised to try harder and not leave it so long I failed that test miserably. And now for thexcuses : We had a weeks holiday at a place called Bogas in the North of the Island, it's only about an hour - if that- from here, but it was great just to get away from the phone and the base for a bit and just lie about and do nothing. And that's basically what we did. Me and the boys played in the pools or the sea or a version of cricket that I'm not sure the MCC would recognise as being their rules, I joined in obviously and whooped the pants off them - 2223 not out I was !!! (well not really but there was a lot of Daaaaaad play your worst - which is actually harder than you think). Jo lay in the sun and topped up the tan. Would post some pick but we haven't got any cos we forgot the camera - but if anybody wants to have a look this is where we stayed http://www.pihome.co.uk/sbc_prog.htm
Before leaving I was worried about what would happen to my plants in pots - would they frazzle in the heat, so inspired by something Wren once mentioned sometime - I took a bucket of water and an old towel, wet it thoroughly and stuck one end of the towel in it, then stood all my pots on the towel - and it more or less worked, had a couple of casualties - lost my basil seedlings and my fat babies (a type of cucumber thingy to the uninitiated), but I think it was because they were too wet !!!! I'm harvesting tomatoes like a good un - as ever I've done way too many, when will I remember that there's only me eats them ?? Even though I'm having salad every day (ever so healthy me!!!) I struggle to eat them all and I've more plants fruiting - oh well. My cucumbers are doing really well too.
I think next week I'm having a "try dive" - Jeff has persuaded me to have a go, he's been doing it a while and a couple of weeks ago did his open water course so is dead keen at the minute. I was supposed to do it last Friday, but the instructor couldn't fit me in. So this week instead I think, that's if I can fit it in cos Jo goes home on Wednesday for few days to go to a wedding.
Am well past roots now thanks Teatree, am currently learning how to grow properly the vegetables I've been growing incorrectly for the last few years - there's no mention of hurling or bunging anywhere - sure I must have missed a chapter out!!! I hope to get the text books done by Wednesday and revise from then until the exam.
And lastly -- I have to go to a car boot sale today -- in an official capacity, I have to approve them selling beer to the public, as I've said before very different job over here.
Take care all.
Before leaving I was worried about what would happen to my plants in pots - would they frazzle in the heat, so inspired by something Wren once mentioned sometime - I took a bucket of water and an old towel, wet it thoroughly and stuck one end of the towel in it, then stood all my pots on the towel - and it more or less worked, had a couple of casualties - lost my basil seedlings and my fat babies (a type of cucumber thingy to the uninitiated), but I think it was because they were too wet !!!! I'm harvesting tomatoes like a good un - as ever I've done way too many, when will I remember that there's only me eats them ?? Even though I'm having salad every day (ever so healthy me!!!) I struggle to eat them all and I've more plants fruiting - oh well. My cucumbers are doing really well too.
I think next week I'm having a "try dive" - Jeff has persuaded me to have a go, he's been doing it a while and a couple of weeks ago did his open water course so is dead keen at the minute. I was supposed to do it last Friday, but the instructor couldn't fit me in. So this week instead I think, that's if I can fit it in cos Jo goes home on Wednesday for few days to go to a wedding.
Am well past roots now thanks Teatree, am currently learning how to grow properly the vegetables I've been growing incorrectly for the last few years - there's no mention of hurling or bunging anywhere - sure I must have missed a chapter out!!! I hope to get the text books done by Wednesday and revise from then until the exam.
And lastly -- I have to go to a car boot sale today -- in an official capacity, I have to approve them selling beer to the public, as I've said before very different job over here.
Take care all.
Saturday, 19 May 2007
Sorry !!!
It's been ages since my last post, in my defence I have been up to my eyes in stuff here. The coaching went OK, although the last day was cut somewhat short by soaring temperatures, people were dropping like flies. I was later told it had been the hottest May day for 50 years - reaching 42 degrees !!! I now need to do 16 hours coaching, and be assessed and pass - easier said than done, in the last group of 16 only 5 passed !!
I'm studying hard, wading my way through plant science, easily the most boring part of the course, which makes it the hardest to get through. Why do I need to know what meiosis is ??? Just that you put stuff in the ground and it grows. Anyway nearly finished that bit - then onto soil structure - I'm sure I'll get to something to do with gardening soon.
Here the weather is erratic, we've had huge storms one day then blazing sunshine the next, today was a blazing sunshine day and I am suitably pink to prove it. I can't remember if I said that I'd rigged up an irrigation system for the patch of ground I nicked using a bolt, a hosepipe and a drill. Seems to work fine, but isn't the prettiest to look at. Things seem to be doing OK, the toms are swelling nicely - I've had a few strawberries, not enough for anybody else to have any but hey they don't even know they are there. The mirabilis Flo sent me are doing well, I've got some little cukes starting to grow and the lettuces are ready.
Now back to roots, root caps and apical meristems - I'll try not to leave it so long next time.
I'm studying hard, wading my way through plant science, easily the most boring part of the course, which makes it the hardest to get through. Why do I need to know what meiosis is ??? Just that you put stuff in the ground and it grows. Anyway nearly finished that bit - then onto soil structure - I'm sure I'll get to something to do with gardening soon.
Here the weather is erratic, we've had huge storms one day then blazing sunshine the next, today was a blazing sunshine day and I am suitably pink to prove it. I can't remember if I said that I'd rigged up an irrigation system for the patch of ground I nicked using a bolt, a hosepipe and a drill. Seems to work fine, but isn't the prettiest to look at. Things seem to be doing OK, the toms are swelling nicely - I've had a few strawberries, not enough for anybody else to have any but hey they don't even know they are there. The mirabilis Flo sent me are doing well, I've got some little cukes starting to grow and the lettuces are ready.
Now back to roots, root caps and apical meristems - I'll try not to leave it so long next time.
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