Monday, November 15, 2004
Egads!
I was very nearly running with breaking news there [scroll down past the smoking stuff]. Except for the whole "knowing about the story" thing [1, search for Pifflegate]. But I did get the right person. And now that odd message on bj.com about being snowed under makes more sense [the title of the preceding post: Special relationship or one-way street? They knew, right?].
[1] But if it doesn't stop tabloids, why should it stop me?
Confused? Good. By the way, is this just me, or does the notion of Boris Johnson being married seem surprising? Just me then? Oh well.
Casting aside the latest tale in the Land of Hump-a-Tory [like Balamory, only more patriotic]. Onto other stuff.
In the bleak not-yet-even-winter.
Frost is evil. Because I had to bring my banana plant indoors. It has grown a bit since last time. It doesn't fit on the window sill. Well, it does, but it overhangs it a bit too much for comfort (but we're not in an earthquake zone, so it should be fine), and even then some of the leaves are bent against the glass. I'll have to move it, as it takes up most of the window, and these are nineteen sixties, pre-fuel crisis, look-what-we-can-do-with-plate-glass windows. And as they're so big [and single glazed], drawing the curtains matters when it gets really cold, and at the moment, there isn't the option.
Which means I have to find somewhere else for it. The best bet seems to be beneath the window, but that means it will need clearing. I did try, for a bit, after which defragging seemed a more attractive activity, and during which I discovered that something has leaked down there. Something powdery, yet sticky and slightly greasy. So I'm doing what any sensible person would do, and ignoring it until I have to sort it out.
In other plant news. Avocados survive frost. Well, one avocado plant did, though it wasn't much of a frost. I'd forgotten it was out there. Coincidentally, it also survived being left on its side for god know how many months, see the above about forgetting about it.
And why do some of my stick it in soil and see experiments work, and some not? Pineapples are reputedly easy. Not near me, they go brown, or mouldy, then brown. I've even tried the proper way: removing leaves until I find roots growing between the leaves (can't remember the correct term, like precocious, but not. Any ideas?).
Carrots, parsnips: even easier [by the "stick the cut off tops in water or soil, or kitchen towel or..." method]. Or even mouldier in my case. And with parsnips, that's never a good smell. If your wondering why I haven't tried the traditional way with seeds, well I have for carrots, and it was pretty unimpressive. Dismal sprouting, horrendous growth [just about not dieing was the upper limit], minimal crop [Number: 3, plus an odd bit, and a third of one, but we couldn't find the rest of it. Length: the largest was 6 cm long, and that's being generous. Width: Some of the slugs leave trails wider than those carrots. Appearance: Erratic, not even comical. Taste: Like the very top of a large old carrot. They appeared to have not bothered with forming the normally sweeter central core].
Potatoes: 50/50 = crop of many potatoes/horrible smell and giving up.
Onions: It was very sprouting anyway, so I stuck it in a pot. It kept falling over. Then it grew roots, and the pot kept falling over. Which did interesting things to the flower head. Like make it look like the over-reinforced vapour trail of a shuttle. Flower: greenish white. Set seed, but then it got blown over, and the seed got scattered across the patio. Somehow I don't think the gaps in the patio are big enough to support full-grown onions. The patio has for some years had self-renewing wheat and barley, after a birdseed spill ages ago.
Ginger: Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't [the smaller it is, the less there is to rot]. Never really get a crop, merely leaves.
Herbs.
Basil: supermarket stuff can live, it just has to look like it's died first. Tends to flower despite my best efforts, but the seed can be used.
Coriander: Spectacular flop, whatever I do.
Mint: It's mint, it survives weedkiller.
Er, where was I? In the middle of distracted way of saying bananas grow big, avocados don't grow so big [yet].
Other stuff.
Don't you just hate it when someone does the same thing you've already done [but does it better]? Ikea as an indicator of over-pricing. Me [scroll down]. He. Yes, I know I don't check his blog much.
Via the referrer log, darkplanet. Presumably one of the blogger toolbar referrals. It's a blog about photography, and links to assorted others. As I'm one of those people with a complex camera they don't quite understand, it's fairly interesting [and quite gratifying to notice flaws which infuriate me when I do them, and which probably do not matter all that much].
He links to various other sites. APUG seems worth exploring, as do some of the other photographic sites.
Um, that better be it for now,
Anyhoo,
Land of Hump a Tory,
Mother of the three
Chil'n is stoically
Braving the frenzy.
Wider still and wider
Shall the story get
Till next high and mighty
Is in Murdoch's net.
[Original version].
[Back].
