Archives for garden
Moving North
I haven't written for a while, and there are good reasons behind that, we're moving North! Until February all my spare time was spent online looking at houses in Scotland that we could move to. Moving North Finding a New Home in the North The February half term week was spent with a massive driving expedition across Scotland. We stayed at Blackridge, between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Over the course of the week we saw several houses on both coasts of Scotland and both south and north of the central belt. In the end we chose a fab house outside the area we'd been expecting, in NE Scotland between Dundee and Aberdeen. Preparing to Move The living room in the old house being packed ready for moving north. (Photo: James Kemp) Since then it's been a mix of packing books, of…
On Resolutions, 2020 and 2021
For a number of years I've posted new year's resolutions on the Themself, along with reflections on how I've got on with them. I didn't do that last year, even though I was sure that I had. Making Resolutions There's been a theme to previous resolutions, they've covered reading, writing and being healthier. The theme is about being a better person, although there's a level of subjectivity about what constitutes 'better'. On the whole being happier with who I am is probably the thing I should have 'm not going to make retrospective resolutions for 2020, the whole point of making new year resolutions is setting yourself some aspirations for the future. As I write 2020 is a few days from being history. Thankfully. Reflections on 2020 Global pandemic and massive recession aside, things haven't been all bad about 2020.…
To the Brink of Death (part 1 – becoming unwell)
I am back from the brink of death thanks to the heroes of the NHS who pumped me full of industrial quantities of antibiotics and other drugs when I felt unwell last week. This time last week I was in hospital, overnight on Wednesday I was so ill that if it hadn't been for the medical intervention there is a high chance that I could have died. My temperature was over 40C and my heart rate was over 120. My blood pressure was really low. I got IV fluids, oxygen and antibiotics injected into me. However that's not where the story starts, and we should start at the beginning. Demolition Job The old shed in the aftermath of demolition and its contents (photo: James Kemp) On Monday afternoon my wife and I set to demolishing our old hut. This was…
The Secret life of the secret life of reality TV
Steerable camera watching the house (photo: James Kemp) We've had a film crew parked in our street for a week to shoot a reality TV show for Channel 4. Before you get excited, I'm not in it. My neighbours are though, and that means we've had a lot of people waving cameras about. Secret Life of Teenagers A couple of weeks ago our next door neighbour came round to tell us about the reality TV show his partner had signed them up for. The show is being made by the same people that produced The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds. The intention this time was to do something similar with teenagers. The folk next door have three teenagers, so obviously a good start for the production firm. The idea was that the parents would go away for the weekend…
Five Steps to Join the Desktop Horticulture Revolution
I've joined the desktop horticulture revolution in the office. I took a bag mixed with potting compost and sand into the office along with a few seeds about a week ago. So far it hasn't sprouted, but I've been taking a picture every day that I've been working in the office and I hope that by the end of the summer I should have a lovely little animation. The Desktop Horticulture Revolution Desktop horticulture 14 Mar 2017 What am I growing? You know, that's a really good question. I ought to be able to give you a really detailed technical answer, but right now I don't have the packet of seeds to hand. What I do know is that there are three seeds in the bag. They're all different varieties of peppers. One of them is a cherry pepper, another…