Too busy

Wow. It's been a while.

I just feel the need to post.

Did the holiday in North Wales. Fantastic. Great walking, time with family, weather.

If this is global warming in April, in Wales; bring it on.

The weather this time last year was cold. There was snow on the mountains.

This year it was warm and sunny. T-shirt and shorts weather although the sea was only 10 degrees C.

Allotment: Have bought and planted spuds and some fruit canes. Stuff to do still.

Greenhouse this weekend. Dismantle one that somebody I know is getting rid of and put it up at home.

Rugby this weekend is Tigers v LLanelli in the HC semi final. It's at the Walkers stadium and we don't seem to do very well there. Better luck this time I guess.

Enough

Rotavator Tastic

Allotment: It was great. Out all day on the allotment today with a mate helping rotavate. Rotavating is hard work. Churning through previously-dug ground is OK but rough ground is a beast. You have to hold the rotavator back to allow the blades to turn through the soil. With hard ground it's tricky getting the blades through the top surface.

I had previously sprayed the weeds with glysophate - twice in fact. And although the brambles had survived, the nettles and docks were not at all well. I decided to go for it and churn the lot up hoping I wasn't going to multiply the number of perennial weed roots in the soil.

The problem with a spot of ground infested with perennial weeds is that when you spray them, others lie in the shade of the nettles which form a thick canopy. when they die the others come out to play. Then, there are live roots in the soil. If you chop them up, many will come back as plants in their own right. You just multiplied your stock. Good for veg or fruit, not so clever for weeds.

Anyway, it's done.

The golf happened a day late, but it happened - yesterday.

9-holes with an 18 handicap means basically you get allowed an extra 9 shots in 9 holes. We actually snook an extra 3 holes in the dim April evening. Anyway, I should have scored 24 Stableford points in 12 holes using my handicap. But I only scored 16 and that means I played like I have a handicap of more like 28. Golf is confusing and its also hard.

It was not a bad round. I hit a lot of greens in regulation (par-2) and just about all of them net of the handicap in regulation (par -1) which means that my chipping and putting was pants. Half your shots are putts and I don't really practice that enough. I must try harder at that area of the game.

Maybe I need my second lesson?

No Golf Today

Hmmmm. No golf. Golf tomorrow. Pleasure deferred.

Dishwasher: My Bosch Logixx dishwasher - which is a very fine dishwasher - has a dumb fault/problem/thing. There is a drip tray or sump underneath with a float switch inside. If the drip tray fills up and the float switch operates, then the waste pump is always on. The daft thing is - I don't think that the pump empties the drip tray. D'oh. So you have to tip the dishwasher up to empty the tray. But the more important question is why does the drip tray keep filling up? I don't know but I guess it isn't easy to fix. I bet it's a problem with an inaccessible seal - maybe on the waste pump or a motor. Anyway, it cost 65 quid to have an appliance engineer guy and his apprentice turn up and diagnose that for me. There was nothing of any help in the bosch manual. How rubbish is that? Especially for a premium brand product. You'd think there would be a trouble shooter which included this important information in it??

Ooh. Bosch actually replied to a service email - same day too! Impressive. They say that it's probably a dripping connector. I will check more carefully.

Anyway, I need to start thinking about the allotment too. Could do with a rotavate now I've massacred the weeds with Glysophate.

TTFN

At the third Stroke

... it will be 2007 and 3 months

I've not been 41 before. 41 is starting to feel like it's more than half way - which I'm pretty sure it is.

Anyway, deep joy. I'll be in one of my favourite places soon. A week away from things and a week close to things. When I look at the picture - of the Irish Sea - I can feel the stress ebbing away and relaxation dawning. I'm addicted to another life. What's wrong with this one?


Beep, beep, beeeeep