Sunday, June 03, 2007
Derbied
Attended the annual festival yesterday, perhaps for the 15th time in succession. Just five stations of the cross on the way to the DSS enclosure. Managed to find a new route there which meant that we missed out on the Nuthatch. Furthermore, the exotic staff in the Marquis - which should have been the first station of the cross - did not know that tradition required them to open at 0800 and they did not manage it until around 1030 - their loss being Wetherpoon's gain. Exotic staff promised to do better next year. On the other hand, the Amato was open for a change on the way down making it a round 12 hour shift. The barman claimed that he had been open last year so maybe we did not even bother to go down that way. Made nothing on the horses - which is perhaps only fair as I did quite well last year. Good turn out including at least one herd of holy rollers keeping us posted on perdition. Didn't manage to spot the monarch although her flag was up and running. Ran out of egg sandwiches for once but new friends came to the rescue with barbecue. Maybe do two loaves worth next year.
I lost an important peice of rope recently, on the way to TB, being the two foot length of blue agricultural rope used to keep my umbrella furled in a suitably idiosyncratic (aka arty) way. Had a look the following day but nothing; but now, several weeks later it turns up rather bedraggled, more or less where I thought I had lost it. Made a new one now though so left it there. But what would have borrowed the thing and then returned it?
Planted the second round of pumpkins, the ones that were germinated outside in the wash bowl. Perhaps being out door reared they will be a bit tougher and slug resistant. But, bitten the bullet, and sprinkled the ground with blue pellets from Wilkinson. Starting to run out of time now so if these ones fail I will be reduced to buying plants. But there is hope for next year from today's DT. It seems that slugs do not like copper and one can buy neat copper collars to put around one's plants while they are hardening off. Said to be rather dear but last forever. I shall investigate. www.slugrings.co.uk.
The row of January King cabbages is starting to show, the ones planted where the carrots showed and vanished. We will see whether the cabbages play the same trick: covering the last lot with chicken wire did not do the trick so I am not sure what eating them. Maybe ants eating the roots so that the infant tops die off?
I lost an important peice of rope recently, on the way to TB, being the two foot length of blue agricultural rope used to keep my umbrella furled in a suitably idiosyncratic (aka arty) way. Had a look the following day but nothing; but now, several weeks later it turns up rather bedraggled, more or less where I thought I had lost it. Made a new one now though so left it there. But what would have borrowed the thing and then returned it?
Planted the second round of pumpkins, the ones that were germinated outside in the wash bowl. Perhaps being out door reared they will be a bit tougher and slug resistant. But, bitten the bullet, and sprinkled the ground with blue pellets from Wilkinson. Starting to run out of time now so if these ones fail I will be reduced to buying plants. But there is hope for next year from today's DT. It seems that slugs do not like copper and one can buy neat copper collars to put around one's plants while they are hardening off. Said to be rather dear but last forever. I shall investigate. www.slugrings.co.uk.
The row of January King cabbages is starting to show, the ones planted where the carrots showed and vanished. We will see whether the cabbages play the same trick: covering the last lot with chicken wire did not do the trick so I am not sure what eating them. Maybe ants eating the roots so that the infant tops die off?
# posted by Jim @ 8:19 AM 
