Category: Miscellany
I think I’ve buggered my back
Over the Jubilee holiday I’ve been helping out in the CAMRA beer tent at the St Neots celebrations. As the weather was so bad on Sunday, we decided to pack up a day early, so we spent yesterday taking everything apart and loading it on to various …
Over the Jubilee holiday I’ve been helping out in the CAMRA beer tent at the St Neots celebrations. As the weather was so bad on Sunday, we decided to pack up a day early, so we spent yesterday taking everything apart and loading it on to various lorries and trailers.
As the ground was so wet, we had to man-handle a lot of the heavy equipment, and 20-odd unopened firkins (9 gal) of beer. We had this many left due to the poor attendance on Sunday and closing a day early.
Rolling one of the firkins on the back of a lorry I felt an intense pain in my lower back and took a sharp intake of breath. It was a minute or so before I could move again and had to take it very carefully. No more barrel rolling for me: in fact there was little I could do at all, so I walked home.
I thought heat might help so I had a hot bath, but that didn’t ease the pain, so I took a Co-Dydramol (I have these prescribed for my migraine headaches).
I didn’t want to not do anything as we wanted to celebrate the arrival of Felix Ashley, my first grandson, who made a delayed appearance yesterday. Thus, I used Champagne as an anaesthetic.
We also wanted to go down and see the Jubilee Beacon lit.
After a reasonable nights’ sleep (OK, provided I didn’t move!), I was awake quite early to find no improvement. It took me 10 minutes to get out of bed!
It’s OK if I’m standing up or if I’m lying flat on my back but just about any change in shape causes pain. If I’m not careful it goes into spasm.
Time to do some research and decide if I need to seek medical advice.
Aah, Bread Sauce
Spiced Red Cabbage
Yes, I’m doing more prep for Christmas. Bread Sauce next.
Yes, I’m doing more prep for Christmas.
Bread Sauce next.
German Friendship (German) Cake
I was presented with the basis for this on Wednesday by Nick. It’s a sour dough cake, and it’s just been fed for the first time.
I was presented with the basis for this on Wednesday by Nick. It’s a sour dough cake, and it’s just been fed for the first time.
One last pic of the Mo
The final Mo
This is what the Mo looks like after I lost patience with the droopy bits. Still don’t like it though: it’s going on Thursday morning.
This is what the Mo looks like after I lost patience with the droopy bits. Still don’t like it though: it’s going on Thursday morning.
Preparing to capture more rainwater
It’s a fact that I live in one of the driest regions in the UK. Average annual rainfall in Cambridgeshire is around the 500mm mark: a lot less than the 4000mm that falls in the Scottish Highlands! Capturing and saving water is therefore an absolut…
It’s a fact that I live in one of the driest regions in the UK. Average annual rainfall in Cambridgeshire is around the 500mm mark: a lot less than the 4000mm that falls in the Scottish Highlands!
Capturing and saving water is therefore an absolute requirement if one is to have a blooming garden. This has become even more of an imperative recently as we are in a very dry spell. Historically, November is the second wettest month in the year around here (after June) but this year it looks like being the driest for ages. That persistent area of high pressure over Scandanavia has pushed all the rain bearing anti-cyclones well to the north. Scotland and the Lake District have been getting plenty of rain, but not the East and South East of England. No wonder Anglian Water have issued a drought warning for some of our area.
So, I’ve been taking advantage of the dry weather to beef up my rainwater capture system. I already had two water butts behind my office on the right hand side of the garden; capturing water from the office roof. I am now in the process of adding two more behind the shed on the left hand side. That way, I’ll have water on both sides of the gardn and I can then move to stage two; which is to implement a water trickling system.
The pictures show the two new butts joined together; a picture of the office on the right hand side and a picture of the shed on the lefft hand side. You can’
t see the butts themselves because of the reed screening in front of them.
Trying out Posterous
I’ve been thinking about personal blogging for some time. My main blog at www.businesscontinuityuk.net is, of course, focused on my business activities as a freelance Business Continuity consultant. This is backed up by the Facebook page atwww.fac…
I’ve been thinking about personal blogging for some time. My main blog at www.businesscontinuityuk.net is, of course, focused on my business activities as a freelance Business Continuity consultant. This is backed up by the Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/businesscontinuityuk. But often, I want to blog about a wider range of matters.
I do, of course, exist on Google+ but I don’t really see Google+ as being a proper blogging platform; at least not yet. So I thought I’d give Posterous a go.
I’ve had an account on Posterous for some time but I hadn’t done anything with it: it was one of the many “play” areas I have set up at various times. So, I’ll play with this one for a while to see if it satisfies my needs.
My previous personal blog is still there on wordpress.com at garethhowell53.wordpress.com but I don’t expect to update that much; other than placing a redirection here.
Playing with Posterous
I’m not finding that site really fits in with the way I want to blog on non-business matters, so I’m trying out Posterous. To find me there go to blog.garethhowell.com