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2023-01-25 12:10
 On 3rd August I wrote, "...nearly half way through the course now", meaning Duolingo. That was August last year, mind. Actually I'm on Unit 82 now, of 199 in total, so I'm almost half… Read More
Not Yet Down The Drain
2022-08-03 13:37
I started learning French with Duolingo in February 2021, and that doesn't really lend itself to blogging. I'm nearly half-way through the course now which means I'll be done around 18 month… Read More
Every Day's A School Day With A Nikon F4 #2
2020-08-06 12:22
At last! After maybe 6 or 7 rolls I'm getting the hang of the F4. All those buttons were intimidating until I began to get an inkling of what the Focus and Exposure Lock buttons could do. It… Read More
2020-02-25 14:25
The allotment will be given over to someone else in the next few weeks. I had been planning to semi-retire when I took it on, but now it looks like I'll be working full time until I retire… Read More
2019-10-02 12:39
That'll be 15 years in November for this blog, and it's time to move on. In particular I'm trying to disentangle my life from all things Google.So, bye bye. If anybody reads this regularly… Read More
2019-09-19 18:28
I sowed in the poly-tunnel about 150 Beta vulgaris seeds, a month or more ago, and they were almost all all eaten by slugs. So I sowed another 150 more recently, (if I'd kept up with the blo… Read More
2019-09-19 17:09
The poly-tunnel has not been an overwhelming success. There's the enormous temperature range for one thing: -1c to 51c during one week last May. And then the slugs have wreaked havoc. For ex… Read More
2019-07-15 17:30
Glasgow Fair weekend, so four days to get to grips with the plot at this most disheartening time of year, when the weeds seem to grab me by the throat and slap me around the face, gangster s… Read More
The Slug And Parsley
2019-05-25 13:03
Here's a fun fact for you: slugs LOVE parsley, but leave lemon balm untouched. This morning I have attempted the rescue of 40 parsley seedlings. Their cotyledon have been badly mauled, but d… Read More
2019-05-11 12:09
...I pricked out 40 sorrel seedlings. The 12 sunflowers have gone outside to harden off. The rest of the seedlings are still a couple of weeks away from pricking out, and I think the tomatoe… Read More
Common Sorrel II
2019-05-01 12:23
As I said, 'germinating like mad'. What I've learned here, is that I needn't have bought a packet of 3000 seeds. 300 would have been enough. The question now is, do I prick them out into 1 o… Read More
2019-04-28 08:22
Pronounced "lay-tar". I got these from the Real Seed Co., whose (false) assumption that they were Russian is understandable as they came from the Moscow campus of the University of Idaho. An… Read More
Common Sorrel
2019-04-26 20:06
Never mind the sorrel for now, the big news of course is the poly tunnel, which means I can begin to propagate from seed properly. I've sown a var. of tomato called 'Latah'; a var. of sunflo… Read More
2019-01-24 15:53
Clearing ground and sowing winter field beans progresses slowly, as you'd expect given the time of year. I'm working my way down the middle western bed, going northwards.I've had plenty to s… Read More
2018-11-06 21:09
Everyone must start with some degree of enthusiasm. Your name has been on a waiting list for several years. And here you are, with ground and weeds and a spade. Weeds, because no-one ever ge… Read More
Llibertat: Getting There...
2018-10-05 09:05
The first time I've ever developed slide film in actual E6 chemistry. This one might be an actual print, though it's slightly wonky, it can be straightened. As soon as I looked at the first… Read More
2018-08-23 20:12
It was a bit like what (I suppose) it might feel like to drive a classic sports car: other drivers would give it a second glance. For drivers read photographers. It's a very stylish camera… Read More
2018-07-24 09:48
(Almost) everything must go. I've started flogging my expired film collection on eBay. It seems to be going for the same price as new film. And REALLY old film is clearly collectable. I've g… Read More
2018-07-24 09:33
I've had 8 or 9 rolls of film through the Nikon F in the last few months. Every one of them has been underexposed by about 2 stops. I realised this suddenly whilst scanning the 2 rolls from… Read More
2018-07-16 16:56
I took a few not-bad photos at the 10k womens' race: the one of the winner crossing the line with her hands up would have made the back page of a paper in the olden days, but not really good… Read More
2018-05-26 15:22
As far as I recall, I got to this point five years ago when I just stopped doing photography. The point where scanning the negs and putting the digital images obtained on Flickr so that virt… Read More
2018-05-11 11:56
The Gevabox, I have learned, focusses pretty well on f11 from about 6ft to infinity, and is only a little blurred at 4ft. Whilst developing the first roll from it, and making the contact pri… Read More
Bilora Gevabox
2018-04-13 11:51
 I bought a Bilora Gevabox on eBay because of its "film inside". I'll be processing the film next week. The plan with this project is to re-sell the cameras on eBay once I've extracted… Read More
2018-03-27 10:54
An ex-smoker has a few drinks too many one evening in the convivial company of a smoker, cadges one, buys a pack of ten the next day, and the next a pack of twenty, and there they are, re-ho… Read More
2018-03-19 14:53
It's taken me since early 2008 to get around to this. At last, this past weekend, I've learned how to develop and print photos properly thanks to Street Level Photoworks & our tutor Alic… Read More
My Fed-4: It's Alive!
2018-02-09 10:29
I have a Fed-4 which apparently I've never used... Just now did a bit of research and worked out as best I could, (no one has published online a comprehensive serial no./production date sche… Read More
2018-02-07 19:18
Why oh why did I sell my Jupiter 8 lens when I was 'having a clear out'?  Not like it took up a lot of space. But at least having a blog meant I could find out where it was, save all th… Read More
Standing Water And Allotment Drainage
2018-01-23 16:06
There was a lot of snow, slush and ice on the ground until last night. There's been a rise in temperature and some rain, so if the drainage is going to work, this morning was the time to fin… Read More
Compost Warming Up As Weather Worsens...
2017-11-24 14:48
Cleo assumed this position at the allotment gate the second we arrived: none of her usual sniffing around. Hates bad weather, that dog. So I didn't hang around. There was a new bag from the… Read More
I Have To Blog About Composting Because...
2017-11-16 18:58
...I've noticed people's eyes glaze over when I try telling them about it face-to-face. What's wrong with them? This is fascinating stuff!To recap, there's been a compost heap in the far NE… Read More
Old Shed - Before & After
2017-09-30 15:32
Maybe I should call it, now, the Old Shed Bed? Above, a photo taken in May 2016, when I decided it really had to go. Since then, I have learned to my cost that it was sited there probably be… Read More
Shed Update: Work Begins
2017-09-17 14:01
Bit of an unintentional tilt on that photo there, I was probably a bit shaky after moving the shed floor from the Southern boundary where it's been propped against the fence since March, to… Read More
2017-09-10 15:53
The SE quarter consisted of the site of a defunct shed, a midden, and the base of an old greenhouse. There's a patch maybe 9sq yards which may once have been cultivated but was weeds when I… Read More
2017-09-04 21:57
Half a dozen barrows-full of hedge trimmings, and a few bags from the florist, were piled up on the area to be riddled. I had another couple of bags from the florist, too. That whole bed, fo… Read More
2018 Plan: 100+ Beds
2017-08-29 11:10
Over 100 beds! Each will be 1 yard square. The colours here are random, but I'll need to work out a system to show plant species. The squares could contain annuals or perennials, or biennial… Read More
2017-08-28 10:54
Actually, I don't want any more beans. I've got a lot of beans. Look:That's my winter field bean harvest, with gloves to show scale. Most of the pods have four beans in them. Not quite a hil… Read More
2017-08-08 13:50
Was kept away from the plot through work and weather for a week, but got there yesterday evening to find three bags of guinea pig bedding, (mostly straw and saw dust) and a bag of florist's… Read More
Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?
2017-08-03 14:14
As I riddle my way north through the 5th bed, far more slowly than a snail or a glacier, I keep wondering if I've yet gotten past what was the floor of the old shed. My reasoning is, the Pre… Read More
A Fine Example Of Plantago Major
2017-07-25 11:57
I was fretting somewhat back in March about this genus, and worried that its absence meant my allotment mycorrhizae were not thriving. Which was of course baloney, as you can see, I have thi… Read More
Leech Or Flatworm? Ants And Swiss Chard
2017-07-17 11:04
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard.  Long story short, after midsummer plants w… Read More
2017-07-14 12:37
The 3rd bed, (the bed formerly known as the NW bed), has become a miniature allotment in its own right this year, as I'm so invested in the resurrection of the 5th bed, and don't have time t… Read More
2017-07-04 12:37
Lombardi et al (1997) found very high germination rates of T latifolia at a fluctuating 20-30C, with plenty of light. They suggest each cat-tail contains 1000s of seeds. If the anticipated i… Read More
2017-07-04 12:16
The area in between the pond and the Eastern boundary - about 6x12ft - has never been cultivated by me, and I don't think it's received much of anyone's attention, ever. Last year, mind, I w… Read More
Typha Latifolia In Flower At Last
2017-07-04 11:02
The plants must be almost 8ft tall, which means the flowers are at eye level when viewed from the path, as planned. The second part of the plan is that the flowers will produce a lot of seed… Read More
Picardy Wight Garlic - Harvested
2017-06-30 14:23
A few of them were a little rotted, and the air turned blue as I vented my feelings on appearance of onion white rot. But a closer examination suggested the rot was at the base of the stalk… Read More
2017-06-30 14:15
The last blog post was also all about the Vicia faba, winter field beans. They dominate the plot more than somewhat, being now 7ft high and occupying the 4th bed. Many of them are flopping o… Read More
2017-06-07 12:29
That's the end of the 5th bed, which of course adjoins the 4th bed, which I planted out with winter field beans last autumn. The plan then was to hoe them down in spring, and either compost… Read More
2017-05-29 14:00
I've advanced only a foot or so northwards, that's leftwards on this photo. The weed situation around my baby hedge has become scandalous, so I've had to put time into that; (though I'm not… Read More
Coo Cooch A Choo, Mrs Robinson
2017-05-03 11:03
Anything that exposes the earth, whether weeding or digging, brings me the company of Mrs Robinson; (I don't know if it is a female, but call it Mrs R anyway). She finds grubs in the disturb… Read More
Dig It Out. Riddle It. Put It Back.
2017-05-02 17:04
Just raking it wasn't cutting the mustard. So I've divided the 5th bed into 12 sections, and will dig out each one to a spit's depth, riddle the spoil into the barrow, and then back into sha… Read More
5th Bed: Rake, Riddle, Dig, Repeat...
2017-04-25 14:50
A lot of last weekend was spent working this 5th bed. The methodology: rake the surface, getting glass, stones, bits of wood and a certain amount of earth into heaps. Riddle the heaps throug… Read More
2017-04-20 14:42
To test out my theory that the French bot appearing to give me page views is attracted to 2 word post headings only Read More
No. 5 Bed: The Great Riddling Abandoned
2017-04-20 14:33
Riddling worked fine with what was in effect a heap of earth, but the same procedures just couldn't cut it in the bed. The earth was far more claggy, for one thing. And some areas very compa… Read More
2017-04-15 10:19
I'd imagined an absurd scenario: a French horticultural college, the English lessons, (I don't think they'd bother, but stay with me), used this blog as materials. We teachers do that sort o… Read More
2017-04-14 11:24
...the absence of a project plan notwithstanding, the biggest drag on allotmenting is all the glass, which means the dogs can't go there. This means I have to walk the dogs, bring them home… Read More
Why I Don't Have A Project Plan
2017-04-12 21:53
A few years ago, working in language assessment, (writing tests of English, really) I started to do project plans. Well, everyone I worked with seemed to be doing them. On a spreadsheet, tas… Read More
Allotmenteering Is The Art Of The Possible
2017-04-06 19:55
I arrived today to find two mallards nosing around the plot, quite the thing Photography often reveals things unintended by the photographer. Here, for example, I was charmed to see these tw… Read More
Caltha Palustris
2017-04-03 10:02
This wee beauty is growing on a reed bed on the big pond at Alexandra Park. A definite candidate for next year when I get to work on the pond Read More
2017-04-03 09:37
The story was, the man wanted rid of the old shed because he wanted a new one. He could have taken it to the Council dump, of course, but like most decent people nowadays he preferred to rec… Read More

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