Dri Loc Back In Stock

Our new black Dri Loc pads are back in stock. Beside being both black and the best thing to wrap a fresh tattoo in, they now come in a new resealable bag. This is ideal for keeping them clean and easily accessible. We must give a shout out to Jimmy from Lucky's Supply who hooked us up with this idea.
I have also gotten the question about who's arm is wrapped up with the Dri Loc in the catalog. It's our own Ms. Jessica, her sleeve is from Cory Kruger.
...and no, she didn't actually get tattooed in our warehouse.

Seeing Red

Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed a lot of lovely green sprouting up all over the show. I love green, it's the colour of my eyes, the colour of Ireland and the sign of growth and happiness to come. I love flowers, yes, but greenery such as bamboos and ferns bring joyous colour to my world every day of the year.

But, recently, over these very same couple of weeks I've been attracted to all the wondrous shades of red. The unopened apple blossoms, the ladybirds, well see for yourself.....

Apple Blossoms

Ladybirds (2 are getting friendly)

Broad Beans - Pink close to the stem

Rhubarb - RED


Hellebore leaf veins

New Cherry Tree leaves


Brussels Sprout leaf veins

Beetroot

Rhubarb Flower head (not mine)

Pink blotches on the new Pear leaves (tell me it's supposed to be like that!)


Alan and the old cooking pot

Okay, so I cheated on the last 2! But I really do have a lot more photos of things, for instance the new Raspberry cane shoots, the fine hairs on the Redcurrant bush's main stem and the gorgeous red thorns on our climbing rose.

Oh, where will I be when you read this bloggette? Scheduling it for Wednesday...so...the train up to Milan. Oh, sorry, have I made you jealous, hehe. x

We have an Orchard!

On the BBC news on Friday I found out that The National Trust declares an orchard to consist of 5 trees, even if they're in pots on a patio! Now Andrew did tell me this before the piece was presented but I thought he was being fanciful ~ we have 8 fruit trees on our Lottie but I wouldn't have thought to call it an Orchard. But there you go. Here's the link.

Never mind all the lovely heritage Apple trees planted up by the car park, if you count all the fruit trees on our Eden Allotment Gardens I'd say we're definitely doing our bit to help all those insects (of course the yummy apples, plums and pears etc are an added bonus)!

By the time you read this I'll be in Rome, yes Rome! Can't believe it, lucky girl, eh?

Just leave you with a photo of our Orchard Arch, hehe.

Moon dragon

Τελικά τόλμησε!!!
Σε προηγούμενη ανάρτηση είχα βάλει τη φωτό του δράκου μαζί με κάτι σχόλια!!! Γνώμη μου είναι, ότι σηκώνει κι άλλη επέκταση!
Αν υπάρχει φαντασία όλα γίνονται!

Fresh Flash

We have just added some fresh new flash sets from the likes of Mike Dorsey, Kevin Riley, Mason Williams and Pat Murdough. Check them out in all their full color splendor in the Flash section.

Rosemary's babies

I have to tell you about my Selkie/Rosemary. She's from 'down south' (ie. Ireland as opposed to Northern Ireland) and has only been a friend for a short while through the ever excellent GrowVeg.Info forum. Recently she posted me some off cuts (or 'divisions' is probably the right word of her favourite plants, great for attracting bees and butterflies to the Lottie. I wrote about it here.

Well look at them now! Unfortunately we lost one of the Poppies, we did all we could but we just couldn't save him....and the other one is in ICU, you may wish to prepare yourselves for the worst.....But everything else is so healthy and bursting to get planted. I LOVE the leaves on this Elecampane and every time we're at A24a I go off for a moment alone with it and give them a little rub ~ so soft.

Well more than all that! Today I received a Hug in an envelope (that is literally what it said on the card, hehe) with a lovely letter from Rosemary and more of my very favourite colour of Sunflower, the red-bronze ones. I have a different variety (same gorgeous red colour) upstairs growing away in their pots on the window sill, but now I really can have that sunflower hedge I talked about!

The weirdest sensation came over me when I got that letter out of the blue; I felt loved and calm and was able to sleep for 3 hours right there on the sofa. A big deal when sleep has been taking a holiday from my brain recently. A huge big hug to my friend Rosemary, makes you think ~ what could you do to make someone feel special this weekend?

All New Pulse Elastic Washer

When we were prototyping our Belmont machine, artist Tim Brewer noticed that he couldn't get the tension he liked on his needle. This was caused by the open back frame design - it didn't have anywhere for an elastic to catch. We thought on this a minute and then cooked up this idea. Why not create a catch for the elastic. We made it out of fiber board, so you could just replace one of the rear fiber washers. After a bunch of attempts we settled on this design and we feel it works great. The more angle you put on the tab the more tension you can create, so it allows you to dial in the tension. It will work for any frame that has an open back end design. It comes standard on our new Belmont machine and we now have a pack of 4 for a buck.

Old Friend Makes Good

> Film Director and old Friend Giovanny Blanco stopped by Pulse. He was in from L.A. putting together interviews for a new documentary entitled "Music Saved My Life". I was interviewed for a segment about what people have done since retiring from music. It was cool to talk about how much those band years helped become building blocks for the business that is Pulse. You never know what is gonna lead to what. I look forward to what Gio comes up with. His new movie Cornelius comes out in August, check into it if you see it in your area. We also kicked over some ideas for a documentary about being a tattoo artist, for real, no T.V. show, who knows...

If you get 5 minutes.... / venture further a field

When Andrew got home from work last night, it was case of everyone in the car and away; we had a quick picnic dinner at the Lottie. Andrew needed to get into the prep of our new half plot. Luckily Bill was there and lent him his petrol strimmer - I left him to it, he seemed to be enjoying himself, hehe.

At the meeting the night before, Myrtle (our Chairwoman) asked me to give out some leaflets; I find it hard to say "no" to people (don't take advantage of that information!) and so I ended up with 20 odd to hand out. (alanromans.com has discounted seeds for us on his on-line shop - cool!) It was a colder evening and I was freezing so the walk would do me good anyway and I couldn't really help Andrew with the strimming; I doubt I could lift the contraption even if he had let me.

Firstly I visited friends that hadn't been able to make it to the meeting. Davy and his son were having a wee tea in their shed after picking Cow Slips for Davy's wife. How cute are they?! Then over to Rab who has just swapped plots, now he's on the other side of Ronnie on a piece of land that isn't water logged all the time. He has achieved more in a couple of days on this plot than he did in a year on his first. The enthusiasm is back and it's looking great already - Well done Rab (and David).

On up at the top of Field A I met Mary for the first time. Ridiculous I know, we've both been at the Lotties since they started and I often admired her Dahlias last summer but never spoke to her. My Goodness I was missing out on someone special there ~ she is lovely, make that LOVELY. We had a good old chat and I'll be back there again for a coffee and natter, that's for sure.

The only people in Field B were committee members, (Maxine and John) I didn't realise who they were until I was right up beside them. That was somewhat of a wasted journey, of course they had the leaflets I was handing out!

Field D had a good few people on it as usual. The new plot holders have so much energy and drive, I love it. I even bumped into brothers who are hoping to get a plot and were checking the project out. You know I spoke to 5 or 6 people in that field and was so nervous by then that I couldn't even tell you one name, I don't even think I introduced myself! I really do think the Allotments have grown too quickly for me, I can't begin to keep up with all the plot holders, I was just getting used to my group of friends in Field A!

Lastly (to complete my loop back to my shed) I went through Field C. I first met another Davy and very nice he was too. My Papa (grandfather) always said you can tell a lot about someone by their hand shake - well his was lovely, firm and friendly - I instantly warmed to him. Then there were friendly 2 families (one of which sat behind Andrew and I at the meeting, but of course I don't know their names - I'm so bad) and then 2 nice blokes working hard. At the very end I bumped into dear Donald as well.

Andrew and Maggie had by now started their own little search party for me! Andrew had finished his work and wanted me to see the plot cut back and pegged out. It is great and the soil under that black plastic is good but I am still holding out for the plot adjoining ours, I just need to get in contact with Mark & Charlene and see if they will swap with us.

Anyway, it was really great having a reason to force myself out there into the wider Eden Lottie world and chat to people. It's pretty obvious we all need to socialise with each other more, it has become quite segregated into different Fields and I don't like that. It's also obvious that communication is terrible on site and people are hearing either nothing or all sorts of rumours from people - Chinese whispers. I look forward to the AGM and the Fun Day - hopefully we can all become more of the community I hoped we would be.

So after talking to so many people I was a wreck, wine and meds both were needed for me to get any sleep and I was up at 6 this morning panicking badly again. I love to meet people but it makes me so acutely anxious. I'm on a self-imposed strike today ~ doing nothing but reading and maybe yoga!

Wow, that's got to be the longest post ever!

Janet Jackson Tattoos

When the Tattoo Fad is Over, What Happens to Tattooed Celebrities like Janet Jackson?

Glances and blinks of Janet's tattoos can be seen in magazine pictures or her music videos.Whether tattoo is a fad or not, the tattoos in the body of Janet Jackson will stay forever.Janet Jackson will always be there in the limelight when the trend of tattoo is gone. This celebrity has the hieroglyphs with a flower tattooed at the back of her neck.

Janet Jackson Sankofa tattoo

She has also a tattoo on her waistline that represents important events in her life. The art of tattoo has undoubtedly caught the attention of celebrities and they have become so popular that almost everyone in Hollywood has 1 or more of unique designs in different shapes and sizes.


Janet Jackson Mickey and Minnie Mouse engaging in sex tattoo


Janet Jackson Borneo-style scorpion tatoo

Some feminine-looking celebrities have blended sweetness and some traces of masculinity with their short hairstyles and colored tattoos. Some celebrities have the names of their love ones embossed in the bodies when they are happy and replace them with other names or designs when they get bored or frustrated.

When a break-up arises between couples, either they are erased with a laser or skin-cutting, or they are replaced with their new fiancée and other designs. Some people consider their tattoos as mark of significant events in their lives.

Others treat their tattoos as symbol of their love to someone. There are those whose tattoos characterize their traits and beliefs.
Janet Jackson Tattoos

Exciting news

WE RENTED ANOTHER HALF PLOT, YIPPPPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!

The Conversion Has Begun.

The early feedback on our new vise system has been very positive. We have decided to integrate this new system into our other frames. We started this month with the Solution. It will now feature our brand new P-Nut guillotine vise. It locks down tubes tight and wont warp or close down on itself. Little by little over the course of this year we are planning on changing over all the frames. Up next -the Executive.

A very poor turn out :(

So we just had a Allotmenteers' Meeting in the local Civic Center. Everyone was invited of course, though it was mainly an opportunity to welcome the newer Lottie holders in Fields C and D and a chance for all of us to tell our Committee the issues and ideas we have.

Hardly anyone was there. I'll tell you I was very disappointed. I took the trusty wee camera to take a nice group picture of us from the balcony, but I ended up taking pictures of the roof of the building. Honestly, the AGM better be 5 times fuller or we won't even be able to pass a single issue ~ you need a quarter of the members to be there to get anything done.

Though we do have a major problem with that - to vote in our association you have to be a full £5-fee-paying-member, just owning a plot isn't enough. Though I don't think the majority of people there know that.

I know that people have other things they would rather do than go to a meeting (working on their plot for instance on a nice night like it was)~ red tape and arguments are certainly not my cup of tea ~ but Andrew and I were there with bells on. Even with my anxiety I spoke out many times but when things turned sour I really couldn't cope. We are supposed to be in this together; petty fighting has no role in progress.

Anyway, not a great deal was done. Ideas have been thrown out there, tensions were vented and the poor members of the committee had to try and stand up for themselves at every turn. Goodness, there is only so much they can do and with our project only being a year old, we have little creditably behind us, plus half of us started last year, half this year. We're seedlings ~ needing support and a period of stability and some nurturing.

Well I don't even want to talk anymore, I'm so tense after all my talking in front of people and desperate attempts to make the meeting about communication and working together. I've the worse headache - god knows how everyone else feels, including those who stormed off.

Lastly, Andrew has been co-opted into the committee! Eeek, I don't envy him, the bureaucracy would drive me mad!

She's A Brick....House.

Our good friend Joe Capobianco stopped by yesterday with his new machines. Joe designed a great looking machine that has been hand made in Brazil. It's an Iron frame stuffed with ten wrap coils and handmade brass hardware. Each rig is numbered and comes in a great looking box that we helped Joe design and produce. The new machine is available as a liner and a shader. She's been dubbed the "Brickhouse" and she's lett'in it all hang out... Sorry I couldn't help myself. Scoot on over to Joe's site http://www.joecapobianco.com/ to pick one up.

Random photos from a Great Sunday...

If I knew how to do a fancy slide show, I would...