Thursday, February 15, 2007
Bean fest
Despite the rain, ground now OK for further broad bean planting so I have got another 4 short rows in. Ground would be too wet for more ordinary seeds but fine for beans - maybe that was part of their popularity in the olden days, along with their regularity.
Regarding the striking or not of willow wands, I notice that some of those I had kept for row markers have started sending out roots at their bases where they are in contact with the ground - although certainly not stuck into it. And two of the forty or so which I did stick in the ground have breaking buds. So they are clearly keen to go. I am using some of them for bean row markers now, some upside down, so we will find out whether they strike that way after all.
I learn that worms are good at underwater swimming. One, about a couple of inches long, got into the new water tub the night after I planted it, say two or three days ago. It was still moving a bit this afternoon. I fished it out onto the ground and the shock appeared to have frozen it. But half an hour later it had gone so either it wasn't frozen or a bird had had it. But would never have thought something like a worm would have survived under water for so long. Maybe the fact that it had only been filled that day with a watering can meant that there was a fair amount of oxygen in the water from where the worm could abstract it. I think they breathe through their skin but that is about the sum of my knowledge of that matter.
Two foodie items from Vauxhall. A horseradish sauce from Poland made on a beetroot rather than a mayo base and a large red radish from Portugal, around the size of a small parsnip. Both very good, the former available from better Sainsburys.
Just finished reading Zamoyski on how Napoleon got to Moscow and back for the second time - very good so for once in a while I shall have to agree with the Sunday Times - which I assume is a Murdoch rag along with its partner. It seems that while the outcome all looks very inevitable now, it certainly did not seem so at the time. Despite all his problems - of which he had as many on the way out as on the way back - he could easily have won. But both not well and getting old and tired, he missed his chances both at Borodino and afterwards when he could have attacked, and probably wiped out, Kutuzov in his camp at Tarutino. In which event, Alexander may well have caved in and negotiated. And even if he hadn't he would have been in no position to chase the French out Russia, let alone move into Germany after that. He would have shot his bolt. I am reminded of the German attempt a century or so later - which in the same way, although for differant reasons, might well have ended in a German victory. But the Russians probably had more to do with the victory in the second than the first case.
Surprised how much letter writing went on. Samoyski seems to have dug up lots of them, quite a few from rankers. And Napoleon was getting the post every day or so from Paris until very near the end.
And last but not least a factlet from Excel. If one has long running 99% style code behind a spreadsheet, occasional use of the doevents function, seems to allow one's PC to clear its throat and not get into a twist. Operating system not clever enough to make code of this sort wait for it.
Regarding the striking or not of willow wands, I notice that some of those I had kept for row markers have started sending out roots at their bases where they are in contact with the ground - although certainly not stuck into it. And two of the forty or so which I did stick in the ground have breaking buds. So they are clearly keen to go. I am using some of them for bean row markers now, some upside down, so we will find out whether they strike that way after all.
I learn that worms are good at underwater swimming. One, about a couple of inches long, got into the new water tub the night after I planted it, say two or three days ago. It was still moving a bit this afternoon. I fished it out onto the ground and the shock appeared to have frozen it. But half an hour later it had gone so either it wasn't frozen or a bird had had it. But would never have thought something like a worm would have survived under water for so long. Maybe the fact that it had only been filled that day with a watering can meant that there was a fair amount of oxygen in the water from where the worm could abstract it. I think they breathe through their skin but that is about the sum of my knowledge of that matter.
Two foodie items from Vauxhall. A horseradish sauce from Poland made on a beetroot rather than a mayo base and a large red radish from Portugal, around the size of a small parsnip. Both very good, the former available from better Sainsburys.
Just finished reading Zamoyski on how Napoleon got to Moscow and back for the second time - very good so for once in a while I shall have to agree with the Sunday Times - which I assume is a Murdoch rag along with its partner. It seems that while the outcome all looks very inevitable now, it certainly did not seem so at the time. Despite all his problems - of which he had as many on the way out as on the way back - he could easily have won. But both not well and getting old and tired, he missed his chances both at Borodino and afterwards when he could have attacked, and probably wiped out, Kutuzov in his camp at Tarutino. In which event, Alexander may well have caved in and negotiated. And even if he hadn't he would have been in no position to chase the French out Russia, let alone move into Germany after that. He would have shot his bolt. I am reminded of the German attempt a century or so later - which in the same way, although for differant reasons, might well have ended in a German victory. But the Russians probably had more to do with the victory in the second than the first case.
Surprised how much letter writing went on. Samoyski seems to have dug up lots of them, quite a few from rankers. And Napoleon was getting the post every day or so from Paris until very near the end.
And last but not least a factlet from Excel. If one has long running 99% style code behind a spreadsheet, occasional use of the doevents function, seems to allow one's PC to clear its throat and not get into a twist. Operating system not clever enough to make code of this sort wait for it.
# posted by Jim @ 8:42 AM 
