It was a very foggy day yesterday. I’m used to taking my dogs for a walk in the dark, and I have a good head torch, so it’s no big deal, but fog is a little different. It was so thick yesterday, I could stand on the centre spot of the football field, and I couldn’t see either end or either side of the pitch. I could hear other people walking their dogs (mostly calling for them, because they’d wandered off into the fog), but I didn’t see another sole.
It always reminds me of the Stephen King story “The Mist”, which I think is in the compilation “Skeleton Crew”[GoodReads]. There was also a reasonable movie made of the story a few years back, which is worth a watch (see below).
It actually got thicker during the morning, and hung around all day. I’ll be out there again, when you read this on another dog walk.
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read, inspired me or just sparked my interest in the previous week, with a little background and my thoughts and other things that I’ve been up to in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Life In General.
This last week has been pretty similar to the last with more arrangements around funerals and alike, also quite a heavy work week (see below).
Work.
I’ve also been spending quite a bit of time on setting business goals and targets for this year. I’m a little late, as normally I do this in December, but my mind was elsewhere at the end of 2016. There are likely to be some changes to the blog or perhaps the creation of another website, I haven’t quite decided yet, and probably more content. My word of the year for work is going to be “visibility“, there are many reasons for this, but after a quiet year last year, I need to raise my business profile a bit, and get out there and hustle. I’m feeling quite positive about things, and I now need to go and find some clients to work with.
I also had an unplanned meeting on Friday that wasn’t in my diary at the start of the week. It was a good meeting, but on reflection I don’t think will happen, but we’ll see.
This is a case of being damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Better to be accused of over reacting, than reading headlines about the number of deaths, or listening to people complaining that nobody did anything, and how let down they feel.
Sharing this again, although i posted it separately last week.
Currently Reading
It seems that I am reading an awful lot of books at the moment, but in reality the two Thomas Merton’s I’m only picking up now and again, and the Stephen King I’m only reading a chapter a week so that I can participate in the online discussion. I’ve set my target this year for the GoodReads reading challenge to 25 books, I already seem to be 5 books down (although to be fair one of these was started last year).
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the car this past week. I’ve had the radio on during my travels and have caught a couple of interviews about a couple of different films. They’ve also been playing a lot of music from one of those films. Although I’ll probably wait for DVD release I might go and see on or both, if I have the time.
I did my first Instagram Live post yesterday. It was of course from the allotment.
Two of my followers saw that I was lived and watched part of the broadcast.
I’ve got a couple of observations. First it takes a while for your followers to get and respond to the notification that you’re Live, so probably best to start the broadcast and then at least wait until someone shows up. Otherwise you are talking to yourself.
Secondly there is no record of your broadcast, when you finish it, the video’s gone. Which means no one can “catch up” if they arrive late, unlike Periscope.
I’ll probably use it again, but they’ll be of the moment broadcasts, rather than anything I want to keep.
Earlier this week we went for an afternoon walk to Portchester Castle, which isn’t very far from us, and I’ve mentioned it here before I think.
One of the reasons we like walking here, is because it’s on the edge of Portsmouth Harbour, and the dogs can play in the water if they choose to.
This occasion was now exception. This time however Ruby lost her ball in the surf, and couldn’t see where it was. Having the advantage of height I could see where it was, and was trying to point it out to her. As I had my wellingtons on, I started to wade out towards the ball, although it became clear that: 1) It was going to be out of my depth and; 2) My right boot was leaking quite badly!
I had though earlier in the week that my boot might have a small hole, as my socks would occasionally be a little damp after we’d been for a walk, but on this occasion I was sure.
I got back on the shore, and leaning against the Castle wall, took off my boot and drained out a significant amount of water. Looking at the boot, I could now see the cause of the problem, because the seawater had washed away most of the mud from the boot. The whole sole of the boot was parting company from the rest of the boot, and letting the water in.
I think this is the third pair of wellingtons that I’ve gone through in a year, I do wear them nearly every day in the winter months, and in spring and autumn too, but three pairs is a little much. They seem to last long enough for me to either loose the receipt or pass the point where the manufacturer will replace them.
I do have another pair, which are a little on the small side and therefore not very comfortable, but I’ll be looking for another pair of boots!
Cauliflower cheese is one of my favourite dishes for a cold winter’s evening. Here’s a recipe for how I make it – there are of course plenty of others out there.
You’ll need:
1 largish cauliflower (will make enough for 3 to 4 people, depending on appetite)
1 and 1/2 pints of milk (semi-skimmed is fine)
100g butter
100g flour
200 – 300g of grated cheddar cheese (or similar)
4 to 6 eggs (hard boiled)
2 teaspoons of English mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
Nutmeg
If your eggs aren’t already hard boiled start off by bringing them to a boil in a pan of water, and boil for about 10 mins. You can do this while cooking the cauliflower, and making the sauce.
Preheat the oven to 180°C(160°C fan), Gas 4 or 5.
Strip down the cauliflower to individual florets, wash and place in a pan of water, and bring to a boil.
Place the butter in another pan over a medium heat. Once melted add the flour, and combine to a smooth paste.
Add a little of the milk and stir into the flour/butter paste, again until smooth. Repeat this once or twice more with a little milk each time. Finally add all of the remaining milk and continue to stir. Keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken (you may find it helpful to use a small whisk at this point rather than a spoon), stir continuously to prevent any lumps forming.
As the sauce thickens, add the mustard, salt & pepper and stir in.
Next add about three-quarters of the cheese a little at the time, and allow it to combine with the sauce, keep stirring!
Turn off the heat under the sauce. Drain the cauliflower, removing as much water as possible, and tip into the cheese sauce, and mix to coat all of the cauliflower with the sauce. Put the lid onto this pan to retain the heat.
Take the hard boiled eggs, shell them and cut in half. Place them in the bottom of an oven proof dish.
Tip the cheese and cauliflower mixture on top of the eggs. Grate a little nutmeg over the top, and cover with the remaining cheese.
Cook in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cheese on top is a golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.
I make a habit of sowing some seeds on the first day of the New Year, each year. This year it was plum “tiger” tomatoes. They look like they’re doing okay so far – I’ll be potting them on when they’ve got their first true leaves.
I was going to wait until the next Quick Links post to share this video, but I think I’ll post it now before Fridays inauguration. I follow Pete Souza on Instagram and have enjoyed his pictures. I’m not sure what he’ll be doing after Friday but I hope he continues to take amazing photos.
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read, inspired me or just sparked my interest in the previous week, with a little background and my thoughts and other things that I’ve been up to in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Life In General
Much of the last week has been taken up with dealing with my Grandma’s passing and making arrangements for her funeral and other beauracy surrounding her death. This is all rather too soon since we lost my Dad to be frank. Less than two months between the two, and we still haven’t finished dealing with all of the issues surrounding his passing. This is not the way I wished to start 2017.
The unsung heroes of my allotment are the pollinators. I grow no parthenocarpic crops, so rely on the insects to do the pollination work for me. The debate on the effect of neonictinoid pesticides has been going on for some time. Mostly argued by the companies that produce the chemicals that there is no harm caused to non-target species, but I doubt this very much, as peer reviewed research argues differently. This latest report makes for troubling reading, and I doubt that government (in the U.K.) will act, as so far at least they seem happy to take the view that there is no unintended consequences.
Although our snowmageddon turned out to be a slightly cold and damp squib, we did have enough to make me go down to the allotment to check things out. Snow will weigh down netting and other structures and if there’s enough cause them to collapse or tear. This then means that your crops underneath get flattened.
I’ve got some brassicas still under netting (and enviromesh), so I wanted to make sure all was well.
The snow (which had melted and turned to ice), had push down both cages a little. Not enough to cause them to collapse but enough to pull out some of the anchoring pins that secure it to the ground. I pushed off the remaining chunks of ice, tightened up the netting and re-secured the pegs. Job done.
The forecast at least in the short term is for fine, cold and dry weather. So now more snow, at least for now.
Electronic Scrapbook 