Listen Up, Wankers!!!

Honestly, quit setting crap on fire over there!!  You're now seriously about to disrupt my Saturday morning of coffee drinking and enjoying our beloved Tottenham Hotspur beat the bejeezus out of Everton!  I've been looking forward to this since May, so don't fuck it up!!

Don't make me open this, damn it!

Just Another Wednesday. It is Wednesday, Yes?

Well, I was going to have one of two exciting posts, but alas, I can't.  Why do you ask, oh curious reader?  Well, they would have required pictures.  And, my lovely wife, whom is not home at the moment, took the card from our big, expensive camera to put in the little handheld camera.  Now, I do find it funny that the little, inexpensive camera can take a few pictures without a card, but I'll be damned if our big expensive camera (which I have) can't do jack diddly squat without the card!!!  So, what's one to do?  Yes, exactly.  Sit around, drink beer, smoke cigars and watch the lawn be watered.  Very important that I keep an eye on the hose to be sure some mysterious kink doesn't appear.  A fate worse then death, I say.

But, all is not lost.  I do have have a little tidbit for those of you waiting by your computers with bated breath for my next words of wisdom.  I have three words for you.  (I learned this from Kyna who has her "What Are You Listening To" posts.)  Three words.  William. Elliot. Whitmore.  Go to ITunes.  Now.  No, wait, not yet, I have a few more words.  If you don't believe me completely (shame!), then just download "Johnny Law".  You're welcome.  Now...go.

P.S.  He has a new track here and it's free!!!

The Report of My Death Was an Exaggeration

We have, shockingly, been putting a few plants into the ground here at Castle Turling.  See???  I have pictures to prove it.

Looks like we knew what we were doing, eh?  Well, it's the benefit of going to a nursery, and not to a big box store.  We went to our local Village Nursery and told ourselves that come hell or highwater we weren't leaving until we had the plants to fill this area.  We rounded up a couple of employees, who happened to be husband and wife and also landscape designers.  We had our measurements, so we marked out in one of the aisles the size of our plot.  Then, we (read:  they) set to work.  Three months salary later, we ended up with this:

We took some photos, they set us up with planting plan and off we went.  Something is actually complete!!!!  Sweet Lordy, hallelujah!!  Granted it's 7/10's of 1% of the yard, but every journey starts with a single step.  Or drunken stagger as the case may be.

Here's what's in here:

1 Golf Ball Kohuhu
2 Red Kangaroo Paw 'Big Red'
1 Gold Kangaroo Paw 'Gold Velvet'
A Buttload (yes, it's an amount) of Senecio Mandraliscae
1 Riceflower
4 Red Hot Pokers
3 Pittosporum Crassifolium 'Nana'
1 Iceberg Rose

Now, we just have to get some irrigation in the works here, so I don't have to remember to water.  Anyone who knows me understands that the words "I" and "remember" are like water and oil when it comes to me.  Hopefully, mass plant genocide due to starvation isn't our next report.

Keep calm and go plant something.

Go Watch TV!!!!!!

I am usually not one to promote the idiot box, but your beloved Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan start in a little over half an hour.  You should be glued to your televisions!  Come on you Spurs!


Update:  We did it!  0-0 against Milan and the lads are through to the quarterfinals!  It couldn't have been done without the support from both of you, of course!

When to Fertilize?

The past couple of weeks have been filled with rain and flu running rampant through the family.  The flu running through the family, not the rain.  That stays outside.  Family inside.  Not much time for gardening, although I did seem to have enough time to whip up a batch of American Pale Ale last night.  Go figure.

The book on raising plants from seed said I should start fertilizing when the first "real" leaves appear?  What the hell are "real" leaves?  Are these plastic?  I would like it a lot better if I fertilize when it says "Feed Me, Seymour".  I'm just sayin' it would be easier.

Seeds: Sweet Jesus, What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

I received my first two seed catalogs in the last week.  First two catalogs...ever.  One from Burpee and one from Johnny's Seeds.  There are really 13 types of carrots?  Really?  Not just "orange"?  Oy, what have I embarked into?  Well, we've made our first attempts.

First tray.  Ever.  There are 8 sections.  Three of the sections contain catmint (27 plants, hopefully), two sections of Snapdragons (18 plants), one of English Daisy (9 plants), one of Forget-Me-Knots (9 plants) and one of Foxgloves (9 plants).

The catmint goes back to our plan post for the east side of the backyard.  (Look, a link!!)  I need 14 plants, so I roughly doubled it with the 27.  We have plenty of spots should any survive above 14.

The remainder of the plants will go by the front door and around the small vegetable garden we're putting in.  I'm drawing the plan up for that one, and should have that in a near future post.

Those of you who know these things are probably saying, "but, Turling, those plants all have different germination times."  Yes, they do.  I planned for that.  Because, I'm now a planner.  Didn't you see the binder?  I'm a planner now.  It's actually come in handy, as I had no idea how many types of seeds I planted until I went and consulted the journal.  I then noticed I had written everything down and typed in that I had planted a total of seven sections.  But, as you can see from the picture, I planted eight.  Thank God for markers.  Let's just go with I "plan".

Anyway, germination.  The Catmint and Forget-Me-Knot packages state they germinate in 10-14 days.  The others in 7-14 days.  So, in my infinite wisdom, I planted those two three days sooner then the others.  That way, they should all start about the same time and I can move them to sun at the same time.

Well, slap my ass and call me Fannie, if those damn catmint didn't pop up after four days.  And, the English Daisies...two!  I'm sure there's some, "the English are always early" joke, but I don't know what it is.  Make up your own.  I'm bitter about my seeds timing, right now.

The tray I purchased from the local garden center came with a plastic dome.  You can sort of see it propped up in the back of the picture.  It said to crack the dome open when the first seedlings (that's what they're called, right?) appear.  So, that's where we're at.  After the other pop up, I'll move them to our south facing bay window in the kitchen, and trim all but the strongest looking from each section while removing the plastic dome and leaving them uncovered.  I don't think I'm going to wait more than a couple of days, though.  It seems to me that they will grow just fine without the dome in the sun, so I don't want to lose the one's that have started waiting on the others.  We'll see how that goes.  I'll write it all down in the journal.  Well, 7/8's of it, at least.

SPURS UPDATE:  Big win against Sunderland yesterday at the Stadium of Light.  Three wins in a row now, even with a mass of injuries and we're back in fourth pending the outcome of Chelsea's game Monday.  Champion's League Round of 16 Tuesday against AC Milan in Italy.  I'll be taking the day off of work in order to enjoy the game from the comfort of my couch.  Now, go plant something.

Homebrew #1: The Verdict

Drinkable.  That's the verdict.  Don't get me wrong, it's not good, but it is drinkable.  This was a brown ale that I made from a kit I received for Christmas.  In hindsight, I should have replaced the sugar that came with the kit with malt.  I think that would have made a big difference.  This one tastes like a Newcastle with a little sugar or sweetness added.  And, the really odd thing is, it smells like bacon.  Normally, that's a very, very good thing; however, there is no bacon in it, nor does it have any taste of bacon at all.  It's quite a mystery.

I opened the first few for Sunday's Super Bowl.  I'm letting the others go another week or so before I chill them, and we'll see if any of the sweetness goes away.  In the meantime, I'm going to start gathering ingredients for homebrew #2, a pale ale.  My wife is so excited.