3:15 project, updates 14 and in fact 15

I've got fed up at being a week behind; and the differences over the last couple of weeks have been largely invisible at my usual photographic angles; so here we go...

Additionally, I've discovered that my newly-installed IE8 (which everyone I've whined to about it also hates) doesn't play nicely with Blogger on the matter of photos at all; so I've switched to Firefox for editing. MSFail...

Pic 1, no change really; the limes are getting sticky and unpleasant, but they always do; and I don't have a car to get coated in their rather unpleasant juices and attract wasps, so why should I care?

Pic 2, the hanging baskets are growing in and getting pretty (and they're the miner's canary for the rest of the outdoor stuff... if they start wilting I know watering the other pots outside is urgent...)

Pic 3: the main difference - the loss of the huge holly bush - is at the far end of the garden and so unnoticed... you can see a chunk of it on the right-hand side of the patio though most of it is in the green bin...

And no 4: up the garden...

The lilies are preparing to bloom. So far no sign of lily beetles but I'm not holding my breath...

I put in a new edging on the bed under the rose-bush - it's not the straightest edging ever, but it will do the job, and I have another stretch of the same stuff (bamboo sticks fastened together with wire, from Wilkinson's) to carry on the work... I planted some bronze-leaved dahlias (which I have no great hopes of, the snails having feasted on them before they even made it to the flower-bed) and a perennial geranium (which might survive)...

And possibly the earliest ripening tomato I've ever had. This is from a very spindly plant I bought way too early and which sat on the kitchen windowsill for months growing upwards but never bushing outwards...

Sunday spinning

Last Sunday it was rainy, and dark, and I was tired after the Feast and spending the evening sawing up branches. I had a good audiobook (John Connolly's The Reapers) read by the wonderful Jeff Harding, and 72 grammes of merino/silk roving from Wingham, a souvenir of the Bradford Trip five years ago (which turned into SkipNorth the following year)

I stripped it down in accordance with SamuraiKnitter's instructions, which makes it much easier to spin something finer.

Turned it into singles...

And plied it. Pretty yarn...

There's about 100m of it, and it's sort of a DK weight. I have other things which will match it - top to bottom, some Cherry Tree Hill merino/silk DK which was a present from Gill when she came to stay in February, the new handspun, and some Artist's Palette Buttersoft DK bought at Stash...

Not sure what it's going to be yet, but it'll tell me at some point... I have signed up for the Tour de Fleece this year on the strength of it, anyway... I want to spend half an hour a day spinning, just to get some kind of momentum going...

3:15 project, update 13

Last week's photos, having failed to catch up... I'll try and put today's photos up today, too...

No real change to photo 1, and Bannolds' van was parked up outside last weekend...

Not much to picture 2, either, but the hanging baskets are growing in nicely;

The main job for the weekend was clearing away the large quantity of greenery I'd chopped down the previous week; after a wonderful day on Saturday, Sunday was pretty miserable - it rained solidly until about 2pm; but by about 4pm I'd managed to clear it...

The rain did mean I didn't need to water things this weekend...

The Alpine strawberries are in fruit...

The geraniums (OK, pelargoniums) are starting to flower. I'm mildly obsessive about getting red ones - which seem to be in short supply in recent years. There's something not-quite-right about any other colour...

And some of the plants from the Feast which need planting out - in the pink pot, a Fuchsia, behind that a phlox; then there's a pink perennial geranium (they're allowed to be other colours), a dahlia, some blue morning glories, a couple of crystanthemums, a perennial sweet pea, and a couple of bedding plants which looked pretty on the label; but I can't remember what they are...

A shameless plug

You might know from previous posts that I'm a bit of a Joshilyn Jackson fan. So over on her blog she's running a contest for a signed copy of her newly-paperbacked The Girl Who Stopped Swimming (link to Amazon here which doesn't seem to list a UK edition of the paperback yet...), and another contest for people like me prepared to give the book a mention on a blog or website. I don't need any persuading, as those previous posts will tell - there aren't many authors whose work I'll pre-order from the US; this is a tremendous book and I'm already looking forward to the next one, Backseat Saints, in spring 2010.

That time of year again (2)

So - this was Waterbeach Brass, in the middle of an enthusiastic rendition of Born Free. I don't think we got the film medley this year, although I think I might have heard Eye of the Tiger in the distance... I really don't mean to snark them because they play really well; but as an ex-trombonist, I'd like to opine that playing a little bit of good old fashioned brass band stuff, or a bit of classical, would also be lovely; and they do have a captive audience...

In previous years, I've put up pictures of the parade. However, members of my family who take photos have had difficulty with taking pictures of children in a church (baptism) setting in the last year or so, so although I'd just have shown you the usual pictures of children enjoying themselves by dressing up and walking around the village, I'm reluctant to do so now... So although I had some perfectly nice photos of Pocohantases, and Christmas trees, and other children who'd obviously put a lot of effort into their costumes... here are some adults.

Here are the Pirates of the Caribbean - sorry E-J, no Johnny Depps - we really don't have the budget even if he's only in France at the moment.... And sorry, WI; the Pirates are with the Young Wives this year...

I suspect the I.P. stood for something. But I loved the idea of a WIP ranch - we could all go there, corrall in our Works in Progress and do something about them...

This was where the man with the inflatable trousers would have been... unfortunately, sticking with the library stand for the rest of the afternoon was a bit too entertaining...

Now, was it just me, or would anyone else find these "prizes" a bit disturbing? Yes, those are cows, above the Scoobies.

Or this? (I am not a vegetarian, but Barnyard Amusements is possibly a bit spicy...)

Anyway, that's it for another year, sadly...

That time of year again

It's Feast Day here on the Green - and they're all set up. The Army-type stuff in the middle is for the final bit of the programme when we'll see a bridge being built... there's been a bit of a hiatus in Army involvement for the last few years for obvious reasons, but looks as if there are enough of them this year...

This is what it looks like down my end of the Green - slightly more commercial. I have Thomas the Tank Engine just outside...

And here's the action-packed programme for the afternoon - click to embiggen...

We have candy-floss, we have tombolas, we have frumenty, we have ABBA blasting away in the distance, we have the promise of exotic animals (normally that slot is taken up by Dog Obedience so it'll be interesting to see how exotic the animals actually are this year) and Waterbeach Brass doing their now-famous annual rendition of the themes from Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean, among other things. This year we have actual Caribbean Pirates - middle-aged men in Johnny Depp wigs - on the WI stall; also Cowboys, one with very strange inflatable hobby-horse trousers... That's as close as I can get to a description - I'll try and get photos...


The theme this year is Something beginning with C. (No idea why but it's as good as anything else... beats Global Economic Melt-Down or something equally topical.) We have seriously cheap plants grown locally... and we have a library bookstall with several thousand books - I'll be putting in a couple of hours there this afternoon. The pubs are open and the weather's brightening up...

What more could one village want...

The band are starting; better go...

3:15 project update 12

This week: "Someone give me a river to forge, a serpent to slay...*" Also, regicide.

Nothing to see on photo 1...

Photo 2: bit clearer than last week: and a lot sunnier... Note lack of greenery at high level... and planted-up baskets (more on that later)...

Photo 3: note big black space on left-hand side - the Flowering Currant is no more... More on that later...

Photo 4: nothing much to see so not included...

The rose has started flowering - and the sky was so blue...

The hanging baskets aren't anything unusual - the "garden centre" I can get to easily is Focus DIY round the corner from Cambridge Station, so they're just petunias and lobelia, but they'll be pretty if I can keep them watered...


Here's what's left of the flowering currant, along with the somewhat Fearsome Saw used to cut it down... Saw is around 12" long folded, for scale...

... and here's what I've got to chop up small enough to get into the green bin - although I'm going to keep some of the long straight sticks to see if they'll make bean-poles/tripods etc. next year...

The regicide bit - turns out the flowering currant I beheaded was Ribes sanguinam Edward VII.

Oops.

* yes, that was a West Wing quote, and of course a Josh quote. Episode 2... as I was hauling the third or fourth absurdly enormous branch up the garden, the thought came to mind...

3:15 project update 11

OK, not quite a week late this time - I might even catch up tomorrow! Have been teaching a freeform knitting workshop all day at White House Arts so I'm more than slightly brain-dead, but here goes... Photo 1, no real change. Photo 2, somewhat dramatic change!

I was halfway through removing some of the Enormous Shrub which leans over the side-passage and has started leaning on the gutter and making scratching noises when the wind blows... At the moment a big chunk of it is still lying on the patio...


Photo 3 - not much change - except that the wisteria, released from its trellis, is leaning out over the euonymus in the middle...


I also hacked back a fair amount of ivy at below head-height, mainly to make more of the washing-line visible...
Some dog-roses (really pretty, particularly as I really thought I'd killed it...)

And a clematis poking through the fence...

I have access to two green bins this fortnight, so will be making the most of it...

3:15 project, update 10

This is the update for May 17th rather than this weekend - I'll try and get that up during the week and catch up at the weekend!

Nothing going on with picture 1; not much with picture 2 but I did get round to sweeping up the blackbirds' leavings in the side-passage...

Picture 3 - I did a lot down the right-hand side, and have got quite near the bottom of the garden - it's all just taking a while!

It may not be immediately apparent, but there's a lot of box missing from the bush on the right - two big containers' full, anyway. Thankfully it all squashes down quite compactly in the bin...

So, here's the bottom of the garden, with the greenhouse - I'm only about 6 feet away but it's going to take several weeks because the bushes are so overgrown, and big enough that I need to use the rather fearsome tree-saw Sue lent me, which is a brilliant tool. Due to my overall wimpishness, however, I can only chop down a few branches at a time...

Some prettiness, poking through the fence. Due to being generally submerged, the peonies on my side of the fence didn't have flowers this year; but one of the ones from next door decided to make an appearance. I haven't enhanced the colours at all - this is what they look like!

And some pretty chive flowers. I love greens and purples together...

Seriously good cause

A friend sent me a letter asking for funds for a girls' school project in Nigeria; the author is a friend of hers, and it's an amazingly good cause.

The letter is here.

This is a knitting blog, and I know lots of people have an aversion to religion in general, and nuns in particular, but I'd suggest you scroll down to the "Services Rendered" section to see what they're actually doing; most nuns have a much more radical agenda than you'd think.

Edited to add - the link should actually work now - thanks Kathleen and Mary!

3:15 project update 9

... or, about damn time...

These are the photos from a fortnight ago - I was swanning round Vienna last weekend so didn't get any gardening done... I'll take the 3:15 photos as usual this weekend but probably won't put them up until tomorrow or Tuesday - I'd like to get some Vienna ones up later today! So - the view out onto the Green, where it's beginning to look very spring-like indeed...

The side - after the blackbirds had been at it. Every year at about this time, they ravage the gutters and roofs and hurl the accumulated moss all over the place; presumably in search of interesting insects for their young... but it is actually more convenient to have them do it than to have to clear the stuff off the roof myself!

Picture 3: the main difference is the right-hand side where I'm starting to make Serious Inroads into the honeysuckle at the far end and also chopped down a fair amount of flowering currant.

Not much change up at this end although everything's growing...

Next door's clematis is flowering in the rose-bush - sometimes they open at the same time but I'm not sure that's going to happen this year.

The best bit, though, and the about damn time bit, is this...

That there is wisteria. Flowering. In my garden. After FIFTEEN YEARS. We were given the plant as a post-wedding present by a college friend when she visited in 1994; and it's just grown quietly into a big plant, bare in the winter, pretty buds and feathery leaves through the summer - but no flowers; nothing. I couldn't even remember whether it was meant to be a white one or a purple one (yay for purple, but, you know, either would have been fine)! This spring I went out on March 1 to disinter the garden, and I threatened it with uprooting if it didn't flower by the end of next spring... and there it is. Sooo pretty. There are probably a dozen flower heads in total - not a huge number for a big plant but so very, very welcome.

As ever, click to embiggen the photos.

2009 books, #18-25

It's been a while since I posted one of these (end of March, probably!) so here's the latest batch of books. I'm pretty sure there was another one there somewhere, but I must have taken it back to the library...

The white tiger by Aravind Adiga. London: Atlantic, 2009.

I read this for April's Kniterati group, and really didn't enjoy it that much. As a colleague who'd also read it said, it's difficult to summon up enthusiasm for a book whose narrator is quite as repugnant as this one... I think the additional problem is that there's nobody in this book who elicits much sympathy... (I found this with the first series of 24, too, and didn't keep watching.)

Drunk, divorced & covered in cat hair : the true-life misadventures of a 30-something who learned to knit after he split by Laurie Perry, aka Crazy Aunt Purl. Deerfield Beach, Fla.: Health Communications, 2007.

This, on the other hand, is a wonderful book. Crazy Aunt Purl's blog has been a staple for several years, and she writes wonderfully, and movingly, about her life, and it's hilarious at the same time. Definitely not train-safe - not on a stiff-upper-lip commuter train, anyway...

gods in Alabama, by Joshilyn Jackson. London: Hodder, 2005.

Joshilyn Jackson's blog is also a must-read for me - the voice in her blog is different from the narrative voice in her books but the same sense of life, humour and absurdity flows through both... This was a re-read of a book I'd inhaled in a queue for folk festival tickets in 2006, and it was wonderful all over again this time round. Arlene Fleet, the narrator, is persuaded to return to Posset, Alabama, by her boyfriend Burr; but Burr doesn't know the secrets and lies Lena has left hidden in the kudzu, and Lena's racist family don't know that Burr is African American. Wonderfully observed with some seriously creepy elements, this is a Southern novel in the tradition of To kill a mockingbird or Donna Tartt's The little friend. All three of Jackson's novels probably go into an all-time top 20 for me and I can't wait for the next one.

In our defense: the Bill of Rights in action, by Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy. New York: Avon Books, 1991.

I picked this up in the 'for sale' rack at the library, without much optimism about finishing it, but I've always been a sucker for books detailing legal cases (from a book about Bernard Spilsbury onwards) and the structure of this, looking at the US Bill of Rights in the context of the cases which have tested it over the years, was fascinating and engaging. An updated version, in the light of the USA PATRIOT act, would be even more interesting; the date of this book means that many of the test cases for freedom of speech, assembly, right to privacy, cruel and unusual punishment etc. date from the Civil Rights era and the Cold War. But if you can get hold of a copy (or want to borrow mine!) it's a very interesting read.

Aftershock, by Quintin Jardine. London: Headline, 2009.

Half of my holiday reading, and another instalment in the Bob Skinner series - this one has the usual balance of character history and tight plot development, and rattles along wonderfully. I veer between liking Bob Skinner and really not being sure - in this one, he's one of the good guys - but that's always interesting in itself, and either way, the books are required reading as they come out in paperback...

Touchstone, by Laurie R. King. New York: Bantam Dell, 2009.

This is an amazing book - set in the Great Game era of espionage between the two Wars, and featuring cross-country chases, Fascist leaders, mysterious Bolshevik bombers, a shellshocked veteran of the Great War with extraordinary powers and the background of the General Strike. Laurie R. King has a lovely talent for creating sympathetic, three-dimensional characters while keeping a plot running at high speed, and both Bennett Grey and Harris Stuyvesant are nicely drawn. The theme of terrorism is handled deftly - King is obviously making points about the current world situation without hitting us over the head with it - and although there are one or two lapses into Americanisms in the mouths of her British characters (King is from the US but a complete Anglophile), she manages to capture the feel of the period as well as writers like Dornford Yates who were writing at the time.

Playing for pizza, by John Grisham. London: Arrow, 2008.

This is a very sweet book - a washed-up American quarterback can only get a job playing the game in Italy, where most of the players are amateurs and play for a couple of square meals a week after practice. He's a fish out of water, knowing nothing about Italian culture, and gradually warming to his new team-mates. I know nothing about American football - and know very little more having read this book; I did tend to skip over the play-by-play descriptions during the actual games - but this was a quick, light, heartwarming read, if a little schmaltzy at times. In the same vein, I'd recommend Grisham's A painted house.

The associate, by John Grisham. London: Century, 2009.

Another Grisham (I put a batch of orders in at the library and these all came at once), but much more his usual fodder - a graduating Yale lawyer is blackmailed to join a huge corporate firm and give up company secrets. It does have the same problems as a lot of the early Grishams in that after a really tense set-up and some excellent descriptions of corporate-associate life, the end sort of fizzles out; the last few books have had much tighter endings, so this one was ultimately a little bit disappointing. As ever, I could see it making a very good film...

In the next batch, some textile history, some more crime and maybe a bit of music criticism...

Tonight, Graham...

I will post Vienna photos tomorrow, promise; it's been a struggle sorting out 350+ pictures particularly as the normal weekend things like washing and ironing didn't happen last weekend...

But tonight was the Annual Kitchfest we call Eurovision, and Sue and I rose to the occasion:

Thought Graham Norton did pretty well as a commentator, given how good Terry Wogan was (favourite remark of the evening "We're told they're wearing traditional dress. Presumably they're from a village whose mayor was Liberace".) It was interesting that a lot of countries had brought in really well-known people; and we went for Moldova, Germany and Denmark rather than the countries which actually, you know, won anything. But Norway's winning entry had folky elements, and was written by the performer, and although the lyrics are pretty naff, certainly not a terrible song compared to some others which have won in the past... My personal favourite as an actual song has to be France's entry Et s'il fallait le faire sung by Patricia Kaas; it never stood much of a chance at Eurovision but the lyrics are beautiful; that's the one I'll be downloading...

Skippeting over to the Dark Side

This time round, I gave up entirely on attempting to board a plane with knitting needles; it's all just been too disappointing in the past. I actually think they'd have been fine on Aer Lingus, but I finally got round to asking for that remedial crochet lesson from Wibbo, and she obliged...

I've been "crocheting" for a while but it didn't bear any resemblance to actual crochet technique, and hurt my hands (and mystified crocheting friends who couldn't work out how you could possibly end up with a blister on the end of your left index finger)... So an hour or two watching Jan's hands and attempting it over the bank holiday weekend, and the loan of a crochet hook, and various trains and flights later... Voilà. Started just before Royston on the train to London on Thursday morning, finished just after Royston on the train back from London on Sunday evening...

The colours are actually better on the finished article - green rather than turquoise. But I don't really care - it's an Actual Bit of Crochet, done in something that approaches an orthodox technique... and although it could be made out of chain-mail from the general texture, that'll work given that it's a potholder!

Thanks, Jan!! (And just to let you know, I am tutting a lot less now so I think my fellow commuters are less likely to want to defenestrate me...)

Men at work

I haven't got all my photos straight yet - there are about 350 of them - so I think I'll be blogging in snippets for the next few days... Opposite a building I'd travelled across Vienna to see, there was also a guildhall/free trades hall of sorts - I can't find it on the Web, irritatingly, but here's their lovely monogram...

The plaques outside feature various trades being carried out by men in a state of undress... And in the middle - the textile workers! A spinner, some weavers...

But it's good that concern for health and safety was maintained - at least miners got tin hats to help out while they were doing nude hacking and hewing... Which is just as well, as the guy on th left appears to be attempting to bring down the roof...

AWOL...

I've been away. So no 3:15s (not that I've posted last week's yet...)

I've been in a city where they have doorways like this.

I'm still reeling... more photos very soon...

20 years ago today...

I'd listened to this song enough times, but in the rather tame form on Desire...

On 5 May 1989 I was walking in the 2ème arrondissement by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, during my pretty miserable year abroad, on a beautiful summer day, and I first really heard this song, and in this version... It starting with "I married Isis on the 5th day of May..." was pretty arresting on the day and obviously aids the memory...

And - here it is... Enjoy. Whatever life hurls at you, it's a great song. And this does morph into the live recording...