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Archives for February, 2008
The Floating Republic, Manwaring & Dobree
18th century illustration of Richard Parker (British sailor) about to be hanged for mutiny. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) An Account of the Mutinies at Spithead and the Nore in 1797 by Manwaring (Author), Bonamy Dobree (Author). First published in 1935 and re-published by Pen & Sword Military Classics in 2004. 300 pages in paperback. Synopsis The naval mutiny of 1797 is the most astonishing recorded in British history; astonishing by its management rather than by its results, for other mutinies had been successful. Though it shook the country from end to end, it was largely ordered with rigid discipline, a respect for officers and an unswerving loyalty to the King. Moreover, it was so rationally grounded that it not only achieved its immediate end, the betterment of the sailor's lot, but also began a new and lasting epoch in naval administration. Here are familiar names: the aged hero Lord Howe,…
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Potting Shed After Photos
Now that the paint has dried the potting shed isn't looking pink at all, a much more reasonable colour. PhotosTo the left of the picture is the area that I tried my hand at growing things in last summer, although the extremely wet weather meant that very little was produced by the crops. The slugs ate most of the onions and the potatoes didn't fare that brilliantly either! I've got a new batch of earlies chitting on the counter in the potting shed, inside the incubator that you can see on the front left corner of the window. Hopefully this morning's frost didn't do them any harm. Over the weekend I've also managed to clear some brambles, plant a hydrangea bush and fix a rocking flagstones on the driveway. The next thing to do is plant a rose bush up…
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Milder Weather
This is the second day in a row with no frost, particularly welcome after a week of very hard frosts and pretty cold weather, I even had to scrape ice off the car at 9am on Wednesday morning even thought the sun had been up for a couple of hours. Weather forecast for the next few days is to remain mild with temperatures not quite hitting the teens.
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Pink Potting Shed?
My potting shed has gone an amazing shade of pink! Not quite what I expected when I started to paint it with the spray on "Maple Red" from Tesco. I hope that it darkens a fair bit as it dries out, and that it comes off the windows too. All in all it was a good way to paint the shed though, the spraying took about fifteen minutes all up to paint the entire potting shed, it took me almost twice as long to do the bits round the windows and then to wash the windows clean of the stuff. Pruning & Planting Earlier on in the garden I also managed to do a very late pruning of the two apple trees and some pretty rough cutting back of the other plants around the left1) hand apple tree. The buds…
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More Dad Stuff
More Dad Stuff: Shedloads More Ideas for Dads by Steve Caplin My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is an absolutely fabulous resource for those that have small kids or come into contact with small kids and want to wow them (or even just entertain them a bit to keep them from harrassing you). Lots of interesting facts, suggestions for things to do, games to play, kitchen science and challenges for the kids. Covers all sorts of situations, like waiting in restaurants, car and train journeys, parks, sleepovers, parties etc. I got it when Alexander was very small (under a year) but it is coming into its own now that he is at primary school, and the ideas should certainly last all the way to secondary (and beyond, some of it I've tried with groups of adults). View all my…