Daydream fund challenge part 4

greenbee

Dave's right. Primary school kids have a very strong sense of fairness. My 8-year-old nephew has spent half term researching Nelson Mandela, having learned about him and apartheid during a holiday to South Africa. He's been given responsibility for organising 'Nelson Mandela Day' in school on his own, and his taking this very seriously.

He's also constantly reminding us to turn off the lights and stop killing the polar bears... If he chose to join or organise a school strike I'd be 100% supportive, but like Dave agree that they need other ways to put pressure on, so hopefully some of us can provide them with the resources to do that.

I was certainly much more environmentally, politically and ethically engaged as a child and in my teens and early twenties - before work started to get in the way! Now I'm much less ambitious about what I believe I can change and how I can do it. Maybe I need to rethink.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

FIL ended up moving MIL and Himself (his sister came along afterwards) to the village precisely because he was responsible for the plans at the council in the early 70s. He never told his wife at the time, just convinced her it was a better life for their kid(s), but he looked at the maps for fall out/total destruction of a bomb exploding at Devonport and picked the nearest village outside of that.

I'm apparently just over a mile from a similar demarcation point for central London - I'd have to walk/run/jog to my friends and then walk uphill to their allotment and we'd allegedly be OK. In the loosest sense of the word, obviously. :cool:


After three weeks of assorted pans underneath the boiler, we're due to be having a new one fitted on Wednesday/Thursday, as apparently, it's not possible to get spare parts for one that's a whole 8 years old. Hoping this one will work better with the solar panels, as I really don't notice a bit of difference whether it's sunny or not but, as Himself will be here whilst I'm at work, I doubt he'll even mention it, going by the way we were messed around in the first place until my 'assertively polite' phone call which resulted in a replacement and a booked date of less than two and a half months away.

Picked up a gardening magazine this afternoon which includes, amongst the usual carrot seeds, a load of different herbs. I'm thinking they could probably go into the bodged shallow bed on the patio and in random places amongst the block paving on the front path. Except for the mint. I don't need that, as the one little bit out the front last year is already making its way across the windowboxes, I think they should probably rename the packets 'Hydra's Teeth' and have done with it.


I would have been more involved politically if I didn't have to scrape a living - politics and employment as a minion doesn't really go together well if your bosses don't agree with your views [strike]and you know you'd be rubbish at toeing any party line[/strike]. Shame, really.

Davesnave

Went to bed early.....woke up even earlier!

Mum was the driving force behind our sudden relocation from London to deepest Dorset in 1957, for similar reasons as your FIL, Jojo......but without much concept of the best places to go. After all, we weren't far from the site they were clearing for the heavy water reactor at Winfrith.....:o We didn't stay long, much to my relief, as the younger natives weren't abundant or friendly, but it was where I first learned about wildlife and being content with my own company.

Never great planners, my folks. I still have the map my Dad used at a later time to predict the route of the M5, so that they weren't caught out by that. Whether by accident or design, it's fairly accurate, but not the part that goes right over the top of Brent Knoll.:rotfl: Now, that would have made the journey over the Levels more exciting!

Global warming, or blip, the warm, dry spell has helped me catch up with the hedge renovation, so shortly I shall want some more rain and a few 2 for 1 offers on the likes of hazel and hawthorn bare rooted.;)

I've never held-off from planting seed for this long before, but the bench is clear in my Den and the propagator's cleaned.:j Trying a few new cherry toms this year.

The 'new' car is a big hit with DW, but not me. At least it's more efficient than the old one. I think we could go electric in a few years for most trips. Just need those panels, but there's a wedding coming up next and so much still to do.

alfie_1

friend has just got an all leccy merc smart car ! goes like a rocket !!!


im so enjoying this pup ! she is VERY smart and already sits and waits [ most times ! ] . have to crack the house training but only a couple of accidents so far..
ive rigged up a run line across the lawn amd then threaded a long lead on it and her ... she bombs round the lawn like a loon then crashes out asleep ... so that worked ...hehehe


bright sunny day here but COLD breeze .

choille

That sounds really lovely Alfie - I wish Collie wobble were so good - he was quick in house training just recall seems to be really slow. Especially if there's something more exciting happening he goes deaf.
Dull day here & drizzle - glad we got wood sawn yesterday & washing done and line dried.
Winds dropped so that is good.
OH has a client to see this afternoon so I will get dropped off at beach & walk to them - a good walk for collie Wobble.

Davesnave

Sold our old car on Gumtree this morning for the full asking price; somewhat more than expected.:D I'd added £50 for haggling!:o


The first respondent kept everyone waiting, then failed to show, but the second one was worth waiting for. It's only moving 4 miles up the road, which is rather close for comfort if it explodes tomorrow.....:undecided


I must try to locate my old Physics notebook. I'm sure there are some plans in the back I sketched circa 1962 for an electric bike. This was supposed to generate power going downhill, store it in a battery, and then use it on the inclines.I think it's come into the real world now, partially, but I understand there are still problems to overcome with a self-charging bike.

Still, I was thinking ahead! :A Didn't do too well at physics though...:(

tori.k

Congrats on the new car Dave,
Been a manic few weeks here not helped by the unseasonable weather, Been a bit of a struggle as everything plant wise at work is a bit far forward despite turning the heat lamps off, its not gonna like it with winter returning next week.

At home looking better last of the winter clearance has been done, i've been rewarded with a lot of herbaceous plants reappearing healthy after last years hard cutback hard to believe we will have been here a year come April.

potplant

Hello all, sorry to have disappeared for so long - husband had another fall a couple of days after coming home, a much worse brain bleed, and two hospitals later is now in a specialist rehab centre, not sure yet how long. So since Christmas it's all been a bit touch and go and I've been rather preoccupied! Today I caught up with everyone's posts - sorry to hear that several of us seem to have had a rather dire January. But lovely pony and puppy, Alfie, (and I hope you are properly better), and a late Happy Birthday to Dave from an even more recent septuagenarian. And good to hear of walks (or runs in Faye's case) and snow and garden work beginning. I spend a lot of each day at the hospital so not much progress here, but I had ordered some bare-rooted soft fruit, and managed to get that planted. Gooseberries, redcurrants, autumn- fruting raspberries. And a blackberry - I got "Chester" (thanks for the advice!) and must have been over-influenced by the descriptions of its size and vigour, because I dug this enormous hole in preparation, and then felt like an idiot when I found myself planting a tiny bifurcated 7 inch twig of a blackberry in the middle. Still, it had good roots, is happily starting to show a leaf or two, and I expect will soon justify the yards of fence space I allocated it. Now to start on seeds - inside, I guess, if winter is coming back. So, very late, best wishes to you all for for 2019, and may it end better than it began!

Davesnave

Sorry to hear the reason for your absence here potplant. Hope DH is soon able to join you at home again. Winter is a trying time, even for the fittest of us as the years advance.

I certainly felt somewhat deflated yesterday, after deciding that I could clear the rest of the road hedge in such fine weather and have it laid, ready to receive new planting by the end of the day. Didn't happen, and I'd plenty of aches and pains after only 6 hours of work.... all I could manage. Still, I planted the first of this year's veg seeds in the time I had left!

Off to the dentist today. :eek: Apparently this is the first of two sessions and I end up gold-plated, but our bank balance doesn't!

Don't worry potplant; our 'Chester' was just a twig, and now I think it's holding the fence up, ratherthan the other way round. I am seriously thinking of introducing it into the hedges, as it's so easy to propagate.

alfie_1

well puppy has settled in well , she so wants to learn [sit, wait and paw so far ] she loves my dogs , but im trying to get her to be separated from them as dolly daydream is her sort of leader... amazing the difference in her confidence when alone ..... nervous !
there is a bit of hoo haaa at the moment re the "transport" operator they came with ... cant say anymore as its being investigated !!! :eek:


twas a balmy 15 degrees here today , lovely and bright .. apparently going to change .................


driving up to sussex tomorrow in a cut and shut car ...ooops sorry a "smart car" , dropping it off and bringing another one back .. friend keeps one at the house there, but its older so this one going there is newer and has been replaced here by the leccy one ! so there will be an invasion of them tomorrow on the road :rotfl::rotfl:


dusty is off to the hairdressers next Monday ... I am embarrassed at his hobo look !


well not very scintillating news im afraid ...its just dogsville here !