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Snails.... (PG 15)

I forgot to share this story with you..... on THE EVOLUTION OF SNAILS!!

They are slowly adapting to this world, were they are hated so very much by every sane person. They have been studied, developing over the past 40-50 yrs and I think becoming clever and stronger as a unit. They have different coloured shells, depending on where they live so they're harder to catch; the humble and sweet Thrush is in decline because they are in training to be masters of disguise. This is the real terror we must face.

My friends. What is a Snail but a Slug with a mobile home??? The 'Enemy' is (admittedly slowly but therefore more secretively and underhandedly; damn their evil minds!!) becoming a more advanced killing machine. They are on to us; they have their eyes on OUR prize - blast their miscreant potentiality!!!

Sleep well, if you can.......

Monty Don on Ecotherapy

With hearty thanks to my dear friend Mo x......A link to a Times article by Monty Don on how Ecotherapy helps him beat the Winter Blues.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/specials/times_appeal/article5385664.ece

You just know I have to get in contact with Mr Don (somehow!) and Thrive itself, though as seems to be the way, as a charity, they are based and work in England, Northern Ireland is in the dark once more.
http://www.thrive.org.uk/default.aspx

Peas Sir, can I have some more?

Bloody Day-Light Savings Time. I've lost an hours sleep somewhere and I want it back!!! I'm tired (sleep evaded me until 3.30am), out of sync and crabby. So in order to make myself feel chirpy (before I hide under the blanket and try to sleep) I am going to write a POSITIVE blog today.


You may remember that a couple of weeks back, Andrew had the ingenious idea of using up the left over, fly-tipped guttering so sow peas in. Here is it, if you missed it. Well those Peas 'Kelvedon Wonder' are doing super duper well in the cold frame and our yet-to-be-patented polystyrene end caps are working a treat.



Well, yesterday I did a gutter full of Peas all by myself. It was all done in exactly the same vain as Andrew but this time I used 'Hurst Greenshaft' ; a variety we had great results with last year. There's no point in describing how I did it, but there is a great wee story in the very fact that I did it myself.

I am aware that 2 photos of this is not, nesscarily needed but I'm proud of myself, blast it.

*****

We are coming up to our 1st Anniversary at the Lottie and until a few weeks ago I was the principal weeder, grass cutter and harvester of goodies. I did have my flower bed but I really didn't feel confident enough to take part in the sowing and planting out of veggies etc, unless Andrew was with me, telling me exactly what to do. I was convinced I wouldn't be able to do anything right and would end up wasting seeds and compost and generally ruining everything. BUT you may have noticed that recently I have sown all my own flowers seeds for this year and a batch of Broad Beans. My self-esteem is growing!! I will NOT go near a fruit tree or bush etc and attack it with secateurs but I will happily plant out seedlings all by myself. I'm learning and to be honest I can do these things just as well as the Hubby!!

This may all sound a bit silly - people generally are not afraid of planting seeds, they find it a joy, exciting even. But until now I was so scared, so full of self doubt and hatred I couldn't bring myself to do it, it brought on Panic Attacks! Now look at me; the cold frame is full with stuff as is the mini Greenhouse in the back garden and pretty much very window sill in the house! And on top of that I have loads of lettuce (the 1st batch was atrocious) herbs and my Sunflowers to do in the next day or too.

Holy Moly I'm Growing; you'd better watch out or I may bolt!!

Rihanna's new gun tattoo

Rihanna's new gun tattoo
Rihanna loves tattoos and she really has some pretty neat ones;at last count she had eleven tattoos located all over her body.Not any more,new total number of her tattoos is twelve.

Rihanna has experienced a lot recently. After everything that went on with Chris Brown, staying out of the public eye would have been totally understandable but instead she went out and got a new tattoo.She flew in her tattoo artist BangBang from New York City to City of the Angels to get her a new tattoo.BangBang published the photos of Rihanna new tattoo on his MySpace site,and a photo of where he firstly wished to tattoo the guns on Rihanna’s chest,but the idea Rihanna disapproved due to her contract with Cover Girl.BangBang stated he believes the gun tattoo represents strength and power.
Rihanna's new gun tattoo picture

myspace.com/bangbangtattoos
Rihanna did not show any reservation about getting new gun tattoo. "People are going to react all different ways,"stated BangBang. The couple have additional tattoo ideas, "something along the lines of a very soft, light grey that will be blended into her skin," "She loves getting tattoos. They mean a lot to her."stated BangBang.
Rihanna's new gun tattoo

Βackround

Mέσα από το πέρασμα των αιώνων η τέχνη του τατουάζ έχει συνδεθεί με την έμφυτη ανάγκη του ανθρώπου να επαναπροσδιορίσει ιδια βουλήσει την εξωτερική του εμφάνιση ως ατόμου... Για μένα το τατουάζ αποτελεί μια ευρέως αποδεκτή μορφή τέχνης.Δείτε πως αλλάζει μ ένα backround όλο το tattoo!!!
Μην αφήνετε ένα tattoo χωρίς backround
Μοιάζει σαν να βάζετε αυτοκόλλητο πανω στο δέρμα σας!

Gothic

Asparagus planting

The sun is mocking me again shining through my window; Mother Nature is putting on a delightful little show of huge fluffy clouds slowly waltzing across the baby blue sky. I want to hide again, in and around me is darkness, a smog, pollution.

I need to keep my mind off this dull, persistent pain in my soul. Therefore I blog.....I want to tell you of last night, at dinner time when Andrew and I had the rare pleasure, so far this year, of visiting the Lottie and planting stuff.

As I mentioned our Asparagus had arrived in the post. We chose 10 1 year old bare root crowns - Gijnlim F1 (Dutch). Supposedly they will last us around 20 yrs and are heavy yielding plants with gorgeous thick stems. We can't sample anything, I think, for 2 years but hopefully it will be worth it.

The books all make Asparagus growing sound every scary and complex to me. But Blackmoor give us a planting and maintenance instruction leaflet and really, it's not that hard. We had the bed prepared and waiting for months, the soil had a whole black bin full of our delicious 'home brew' compost, a bag of grit, heaps of cow manure and a lot of the North Sea's finest Seaweed in it. So damn it, they better like it in there.

We dug 2 trenches in our bed, both 4 inches deep and laid the crowns out like octopus. A little mound under the 'head' and the 'legs' all spread out nicely. Our bed was roughly 8ft x 4ft and we had 5 crowns in each row, spaced evenly (they say to leave about 40 cms between each crown and that worked out well). All the trench soil was then carefully put back on top and the whole bed lightly raked and watered.

That's how we did it. I know there are people who advocate a little pocket that the crown is placed in and you slowly fill up, but maybe there are different ways for different varieties.

So, with team work that was all done in 20 mins. It seemed a bit of an anti-climax after months of waiting to stand there proudly looking at a bed that seemed to have not changed at all. But then we heard the beautiful voices of some 'Lottie People' singing traditional Irish songs (quite, ummm, enthusiastically) on the wind, I'm pretty sure it was Ricky and his gang in Field B. That just made us laugh. I was feeling good, we we were surrounded by plants budding and greenery, it was reasonably empty down there and I had done that interview with Mind.

I won't go into the details of the 'big comedown' I had later and hence my hatred for the world at large today. But it happened and all I can say is sh1t - it had been pretty good up til then.

Lindsay Lohan Tattoos

How the Glamorous Tattoos of Lindsay Lohan Enhance her Celebrity Image
Lindsay Lohan prefers to have the kind of tattoos which have unique meanings. A small tattoo of a star engraved in her forearm is the first piece that she had. This star tattoo is a small design which is printed in black. The 2nd tattoo that she has is an Italian phrase “la bella vita” which means “life is beautiful.”

This is etched on her lower portion of her back with tiny flowers. She has the tattoo in honor of her Italian grandfather as a remembrance. The procedure of scripting caused a little pain on Lindsay that made her ate ice cream while undergoing the tattoo process.

The latest tattoo of Lindsay is the word “breathe” which is scripted at her right wrist. John Lennon’s quotation on the need to breathe peace inspired Lindsay to have this kind of tattoo. Lindsay indicated that this tattoo is sort of a reminder for her to value the importance of life after she almost lost her consciousness due to a serious attack of asthma at the end of 2005.

Truly inspired with the amazing power of tattoos, she intends to open a tattoo shop in partnership with a friend and tattoo artists. She believes that by doing so, she can make use of her creativity.

Lindsay Lohan Tattoos

'Mind'

One extra story for you today....

I received a phone call from Katie at 'Mind', a charity based in England and Wales which tries to promote good mental health and remove stigma associated with depression etc. I am now a Media Volunteer for them! That means that my story is on their data base and journalists looking for a certain person for an article can contact me, if I fit the bill. My specialism will be Ecotherapy and there is already a journalist thinking of using me for a national magazine, eek!

Here, in Northern Ireland we are extremely under serviced when it comes to mental health charities. There is 1 called Aware Defeat Depression, but they only provide leaflets, self- help tapes and group talks. I have been to 2 meetings in the past and god help them, they are trying but just can't compete with large charities like 'Mind'.

Katie was lovely and is passionate about Ecotherapy herself. She was nice to talk to and told me all about the wonderful work they are doing over there. A recent grant from the Lottery Fund of £8 Million and a whopping £18 million from Comic Relief with the added backing of celebrities such as Stephen Fry (Love him) and Ruby Wax. It is unfortunate that it only works in England and Wales but still....Looking forward to working with them and making my little voice , praising Ecotherapy sound much louder and reach more people.

Christmas comes early

Today was excellent when it came to new plants. I received 2 packages!!

In the 1st, my friend Selkie had sent a bubble envelope (great fun in themselves - I love to pop!) full of glorious cuttings from her own garden way down in Co. Kerry. I have started to pot them all up, but time for a coffee break. The package included Poppies (Purple ones!!), Agapanthus, Hemp Agrimany (for the butterflies) and Elecampane. I am so happy, all look very healthy so fingers crossed. I need to look up the others and see photos but really, I can hardly wait to see the Purple Poppy in particular, I adore poppies but didn't even know purple existed. Isn't it great to have generous friends. Big love to Selkie x

NB. just noticed they are all sitting in the right order as I spoke about them - cool.

The 2nd package was the long awaited for Asparagus crowns. We are going to try and plant them tonight, when Andrew gets home from work. We've been getting tense waiting for them, especially after seeing Ronnie had planted some last week!

So good stuff. Photos shall follow - I'll update this bloggette later on when things are planted up.

Deep Breath/Compost

It's time I crawled out from under my blanket and faced the world again. I feel like Sisyphus from the Ancient Greek Myths ~ faced everyday by a punishment so demoralising, painful and unrewarding; bound to go on for eternity. Only thing is I didn't do anything wrong, so why am I, too, cursed? This Depression is a cancer of the soul and feels terminal.

Oh, deep breath....

*********

A welcome gift awaited us on Saturday, by our Plot ~ Old pallets! Oh what joy some old bits of wood can bring! Andrew was so excited at the prospect of making his much talked about compost heap that he started right away - Bill had to wait a little for his thank you; he had promised us some pallets and as always, he didn't let us down.



I decided to get on with something else while Andrew built this...


...a man's compost heap is his castle, or some such thing. Look at the pride, he (quite understandably) couldn't take his eyes of it and once it was full of the stinkiest and therefore most wonderful cow manure I too couldn't help but be very proud too. It has it's little blue blanket over the poo and another pallet on top and that structure and it's contents are going nowhere fast. We kept the little sign Andrew had made too - hands off everyone, this sh*t is ours!!!!

So we now have a manure heap and the trinity of compost bins - all is well at the Lottie. In a few months time we will have soil conditioner to die for (though it's pretty darn good this season, but things can only get better).

Britney Spears Tattoos

Are Tattoos Fitted for a Top Celebrity Like Britney Spears?
Britney Spears has many tattoos in her body which she is proud for. These include a 6-inch fairy drawn on her lower back which symbolizes fate, gifts and disappointments that pass her life everyday.

This controversial singer has numerous tattoos in her body which include Hebrew characters at the back of her neck and the Chinese character symbolizing mystery etched at her navel. She has a pair of pink dice at her left forearm which corresponds to a pair of blue dice on Kevin Federline’s right forearm.
Tattoos have undoubtedly reigned with celebrities for a number of years and they enjoy having fun with them. In picking a tattoo design, it is best to research on the tattoos of celebrities because these people are the best examples of the current trend.
They will not miss any single fad and they create their own fad that serves as a gauge for people to follow. In tattoos, simplicity in design is not followed and there are celebrities who want to have more daring designs which accentuate their personality.
Some of them prefer the old, generic tattoo most of the time because they are charming and cool. Others want tattoo designs which have meanings just like Britney Spears.

Britney Spears Tattoos

Apathy

Today, I give up.

The sun may well be shining but I don't care. The seedlings are outside and upstairs, they can rot. The house needs a lot of attention, still, after the windows being put in - if this place fell down around me today, I doubt I'd notice (bar the rain and wind). Ecotherapy is a load of cow manure, blogging is silly - who cares about my plot and my life; I have nothing new to bring to the table and probably know much less than you do about growing our own fruit and veg.

I give up. Under my blanket, in this quiet, empty space is where I am staying today, maybe I'll sleep once this particular panic attack (over nothing) dies sown. There world - you happy? You've won.

Yes, yes, yes ~ We Can!

The 1st Family have the Grow Our Own Bug!!!!

Thanks to the BBC for the link. So brilliant. Happy weekend my fellow Allotmenteers - we're in good company. Told you Allotmenteering was sexy!

Pamela Anderson Tattoos

The Amazing Tattoo Phenomenon Invades the Baywatch Babe, Pamela Anderson

What’s amazing about tattoo? Why is it regarded as a phenomenon by famous celebrities? Tattoo enhances a woman’s beauty and attraction. Even the sweetest-looking faces in Hollywood are sporting tattoos nowadays and mix them with formal attires like gowns.

It is a blend of modern and historical culture as well as a display of sophistication and carefree lifestyles. It is indeed phenomenal to see these tattoos in the bodies of socialites and celebrities and at the same time, engraved in the bodies of men in prison.Pamela Anderson, the former Playmate, Bunny of the Year and Baywatch Babe is one of the celebrities who exude fame and fortune thru her tattoos. This 38 years old celebrity who was catapulted to fame during the early days of the internet has been in the top 10 tattoo internet search consistently.

Pamela has some abstract images in her body written in black ink and a work of art at her back which is visible when she wears a backless gown. Her truly impressive barbed-wire arm band draws a lot of imitators around the world.This makes her flattered rather than become annoyed for people copying her tattoo designs. This only proves that she is gaining attention from fans all over the world.

Pamela Anderson Tattoos pictures

A not quite bird's eye view of the whole Allotments

They join on to each other quite well though of course it really is hard to get a clear photo of it all. Maybe I should hire a microlite. How cool would that be!!!

The one below has our wee shed highlighted with a red circle - open it up x

Field D

There has been a good deal of action all over the Allotments but the most visible change from afar is that of Field D. Only released a couple of months ago, these troopers are making strides, well a few are. As always you'll find some people with a heck of a lot of enthusiasm and then those plots were it's all grass still or it's been ploughed but that was months ago and now it's a Lottie of weeds. (Actually, let's be honest today - those people with NO interest or indeed no time should do the decent thing and give up their plot to someone who needs/desperately wants it).

I have a couple of photos I think may be of interest to those in Field D. Two of the Allotmenteers are in them!!! Always good to see yourself in print, eh?

This is Ivan and to be honest it is astonishing the work he has managed to do in so little time. I wish him all the best and I really will have to get better photos of his plot. Love his modern art touch to the fence though! and he's planted willow right around the compost area to screen it and copious it for his own needs. But there is so much more to this plot.



I am a bit miffed to say, I don't know the name of the man pictured here painting his shed. But he does have a cute little Jack Russel bitch called.....Maggie! Good choice of name, eh? The first time the 2 girls (my Maggie and his) met it was a bit rowdy but last time they were running around chasing each other - so cool to see, nothing better than a happy dog, or indeed, pair of dogs.

I'll have to do more dandering about and meeting people - I'm just a bit too nervous and self conscious at the present.

St Paddy Power ~ 3 (the closing chapter)

It's not only hard landscaping and soil prep going on at the Lottie. Oh, no. I planted 3 trays of lovely flower seeds. The first is definitely a favourite - the yellow California Poppy 'Golden Values'. So pretty and delicate, I want some for home too! Even better, they were free with a gardening magazine Andrew bought. My big red Oriental Poppies that we got earlier don't seem to be doing too good, only 1 is showing signs of life :( So the more yellow ones the better.

I also planted out Calendula 'Art Shades' (a lovely mix of slighlty muted yellows and oranges), a marigold- type plant. You know you can eat their petals; though I've grown them before. Their seeds are the strangest I think I've ever seen. I took a photo of them yesterday - they really look like fossils to me. I love them and have loads more for a continued supply of new plants throughout the summer.

Lastly, I planted my Marigolds - excellent friends in the constant battle of keeping nasty beasties away from my veggies and better than Nasturtiums in my opinion as they don't take over! The variety I chose was 'Naughty Marietta', a great name and they are the ones that have marron centres to the yellow flower. They, again were free, don't you love it!! Quite liked their seeds too, so , here's a photo of them.

Andrew did some direct sowings into the bed with the garlic already in it. Ummm, A3 on our plan. We had the 2 sun tunnels over that area of soil for a couple of weeks after giving it a good lot of prep. and it had dried out beautifully. After a quick riddle (check out our fridge basket & chiken wire recycling) it was perfect ground.

We now have hidden rows of Turnip 'Purple Top Milan', Onion (Scallions) 'White Lisbon', Carrots 'Early Nantes 5' and finally Beetroot 'Boltardy' (which will all be continuously re-sown crops). They're all things we grew last year and loved. I highly recommend each of them. In fact I demand you go out, buy a packet of 'Boltardy': grow, harvest, eat and enjoy!! ~with Brown Sauce, trust me :)

So St Paddy's Day was pretty darn good, no?

The wonder of Vermiculite

Well the mystery for me deepens, I have access to 4 gardening/ allotment books in the living room right now - the Double Glazers are in and rampaging all over the house and I certainly do not want to get the way as I have a fear that something isn't quite right at the moment and they're sparing me the details, eekk!

So I have looked up trusty old Wikipedia and there wasn't much info there, chemical breakdown and a list of things it's used for ~ yes, we know it's used in horticulture and seed germination we want to know more. I have even gone to the TVA -The Vermiculite Association! How boring would it be, to be a member of that club! You can go too, if you're that way inclined.

So I turn to the bag the darn stuff came in. With thanks to Keith Singleton Horticultural Products......

'Horticultural Vermiculite is produced by heating volcanic rock to tremendous temperatures which cause it to exfoliate into an extended cell formation. Vermiculite absorbs large quantities of water and as such is useful as a compost additive where it can replace a proportion of the peat content of soil-less composts or part, or even all the peat in a soil based compost.

Vermiculite is also used to cover seeds generally at the depth roughly equal to the size of the seeds being covered. This is a good aid to germination and does not distort the young seedlings.'

So, basically it is as Andrew told me at the very beginning -" you put it over the little seedlings and it doesn't weigh them down and they're less likely to rot".

Mystery solved.

P.S. tomorrow sees the concluding installment of 'St. Paddy's Power' x

St. Paddy Power ~ 2

This part of the day ended up being all about the hard landscaping and less about the plants and soil for a while.

We were off for some supplies - with a stop off for coffee and a little bun to begin with. Andrew got some metal paint and a big welly bag for the boot of the car in a locally run supermarket and we were very pleased with the prices! Doesn't take much to excite us really.

Then off to the timber yard. It's weird - men suddenly seem to become more....manly and animated at these places. Does that make sense? It's like they are reliving some childhood experience only the different cuts of wood, multitude of nails and all sorts of weird things in these places are the replacement for the Lego they once had. They're getting to make something big and proper now! Luckily my Hubby isn't afraid to ask questions or look up what he needs beforehand; I have had moments when other wives (coping with their bumbling other halves) just look at me in the hope of some apathy and sympathy ~ maybe these places should have a wife creche?? Me? I just take the camera and take random photos of things, eh, viola.....

So back to the Lottie and there were more people, great to see.

Andrew made me a picture window frame for the shed but I haven't painted it yet, so no photo. I brushed down that wonderful horse shoe we unearthed in the last bed we dug. It was heartbreaking to have to paint it, but the rust was very bad and we want it to last for a while ~ it's important to have as much luck on the Lottie as possible.

Then, whilst I (finally) weeded and improved the soil in my flower bed Andrew gathered a few wheelbarrows of cow poo for our Plot. You just give Bill a monetary token for the delivery costs and take what you need. Here is our wonderfully stinky, very steamy cow muck.

St Paddy Power ~ 1

Oh my goodness, we worked so hard on St. Patrick's Day and honestly... I felt good. Let's pause for a moment there - I felt GOOD!!

As Irish tradition dictates Andrew and I planted our Main Crop potatoes on that most glorious of days. We had been chitting our Maris Pipers since February, just on the dining room window sill, which doesn't get direct sunlight and they looked really rather good. Last year's seed spuds were a last minute purchase from a supermarket and were, well, not looking so great but we were excited about our 1st thing to plant in the new Lottie - look back with me, this is May 2008.

We had a tarpaulin over the raised bed to try and help it dry out, coincidentally it was green. Under there was the best soil, lots of cow poo and seaweed had been put in there over the autumn/winter and it really did the trick. We planted them like this... just using a trowel instead of making the ridges like we did last year. Yes, there are too many in the bed, going by the books but we like to plonk things in and give it a go sometimes - we may get lots of tiny ones but we are greedy and like to use all the space we have.

It all took a matter of minutes and felt so good. We had a good few left over and gave them away, which also felt good - nothing like sharing the wealth my Lottie friends.

Also, I did a 'Focus on....Potatoes' back in November here, if you want to refresh your knowledge on this humble, versatile food stuff. And another wee write up last month here.