This year I'm having another go at growing things I can eat. Everything died last year when I left them for three weeks, so I've said we can't go anywhere until I get at least one harvest this year. So what am I growing?
The first thing I planted was a potato from the pantry that had sprouts growing out of it. I can't even remember what kind of spud it was, but I think a russet. We'll see anyway, I suppose. At the moment it's a foot tall with three leafy stalks. I fill it in with more soil every few days in the hopes of getting more potatoes out of it. I'm quite excited about it, but it's only a spud and an experiment at that, so my hopes aren't too high.
Next up was the basil. I planted two lots - one in a big pot outside and the other in a little glass inside. The one in the glass came up last week and there are a million basils growing because I just poured a bunch of seeds in. The pot outside came up today. I was so happy to see it - tiny little green things all happy and growing. River got very excited at my excitement and celebrated by licking my face.
Next comes my big hope for the summer - strawberries. I'm not sure how well I reported my strawberry failure last year, but I got some seeds and managed to kill them all. They sprouted fine, but they never got beyond tiny seedlings. So this year I bought a kit with root balls and a hanging planter and I check on it every hour. There's no sign of anything yet, but it's only been three days. I just want to have my own strawberries so badly. I imagine they'll taste like rainbows and stars and fluffy coloured things. Or maybe just strawberries. Anyway.
Yesterday I planted coriander. Coriander seeds are massive, like little gooseberries (like really little - half a centimetre). No movement on them yet, but that's fine. So I think that's all my growing.
Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts
26 March 2013
30 May 2012
Things I Forgot Yesterday
I meant to say that my strawberries and basil died while we were away. The rose started growing... which reminds me that I should take it out of the direct sun again. The poor basil completely withered and died. It was a dried out ruin. The strawberries just hadn't grown, and me - not even thinking - decided to put them in a bigger pot where they promptly died. I still had a few seeds left, though, and threw them in the pot instead. I hope they grow.
The other thing is about ducks. It seems the ducks around here like to take a morning constitutional. Yesterday I saw a duck cross the road and continue on his way along the footpath. Today I saw another duck walking towards me on the path. She promptly turned around and walked away from me. I should try to remember to bring my camera, because I've seen other random things around the ponds too. Like a turtle. I think that was the most random. I've also seen a heron. And a dead fish - a really big one.
The other thing is about ducks. It seems the ducks around here like to take a morning constitutional. Yesterday I saw a duck cross the road and continue on his way along the footpath. Today I saw another duck walking towards me on the path. She promptly turned around and walked away from me. I should try to remember to bring my camera, because I've seen other random things around the ponds too. Like a turtle. I think that was the most random. I've also seen a heron. And a dead fish - a really big one.
18 October 2010
Loads of news
I need a new CMOS RAM battery for my computer. I knew this day would come, I expected it to come years ago. Problem is, I'm leaving in a month (not bringing my PC with me) and I won't be using my computer for 2+ years. I'm not really sure if it's worth getting a new battery.
mulkabu was up for the weekend. We had fun, went to see Fozzy (wrestler, Chris Jerico's band) on friday night. I haven't had as much fun in a long time. Chris Jerico really knows how to get a crowd going. Everyone loved him. Our group even managed to get a shoutout from him. :)
I'm tired now, though. It doesn't seem to matter what time I go to bed, my body wants to be up and about at 9am. So I've been getting about 6 hours sleep for the last few days. The kitchen was a bit of a mess too, and I managed to tidy it, but I only got half the dishes washed. This seems to be a new strategy for me. Washing half the dishes isn't nearly as daunting as washing all of them. So I washed the plates and knives and forks and left the pots, pans and bowls for later. Or tomorrow.
The building energy rating guy comes tomorrow. I wonder should I turn on the heating for him? Would it make the place seem better insulated if it was warm? I don't bother with the heating when I'm here on my own, because my little room gets nice and warm anyway.
I ate one of our peppers today. It was nice, as peppers go. They are not my favourite ever fruit. I have four cherry tomatoes beside me, which I just picked. I want to eat them right now, but I don't feel like them. (Yes, it is an odd sort of way to be.) I made hummus on friday. There was too much lemon juice in it. I've eaten about a third, but I'm not sure if I'll eat any more; it's really sour.
Wow, I just looked up what the difference between sour and bitter was (because I wasn't sure which my hummus was) and sour is acid while bitter is base. Isn't that interesting?
I also made chocolate cake again. It is totally yummy.
I'm addicted to a new (old) RPG. It's old, but I've never played it before, so it's new to me. Arcanum (of Steamworks and Magick Obscura). I'm enjoying it. I like the setting and the character system. The main plot is a little slow and there aren't enough side quests (or they are really hard to find), but apart from that, it's fun. I'm playing just to level and make my character better. I want to be master of firearms, lockpick and prowling. I also want to have a bit of magic and be able to make some stuff. I also want a new gun, but they are expensive. So, maybe by the time I get to 40th level, I will have all these things. I'm at 13th now. And my team and I managed to take down a 30th level jellyfish looking thing. We lured it away from its friends and ambushed it in the forest. It was expertly executed (the plan, not the jelly. I think it (the jelly) died from lead poisoning after I shot it with about 20 bullets).
Right. I'm going to go now.
mulkabu was up for the weekend. We had fun, went to see Fozzy (wrestler, Chris Jerico's band) on friday night. I haven't had as much fun in a long time. Chris Jerico really knows how to get a crowd going. Everyone loved him. Our group even managed to get a shoutout from him. :)
I'm tired now, though. It doesn't seem to matter what time I go to bed, my body wants to be up and about at 9am. So I've been getting about 6 hours sleep for the last few days. The kitchen was a bit of a mess too, and I managed to tidy it, but I only got half the dishes washed. This seems to be a new strategy for me. Washing half the dishes isn't nearly as daunting as washing all of them. So I washed the plates and knives and forks and left the pots, pans and bowls for later. Or tomorrow.
The building energy rating guy comes tomorrow. I wonder should I turn on the heating for him? Would it make the place seem better insulated if it was warm? I don't bother with the heating when I'm here on my own, because my little room gets nice and warm anyway.
I ate one of our peppers today. It was nice, as peppers go. They are not my favourite ever fruit. I have four cherry tomatoes beside me, which I just picked. I want to eat them right now, but I don't feel like them. (Yes, it is an odd sort of way to be.) I made hummus on friday. There was too much lemon juice in it. I've eaten about a third, but I'm not sure if I'll eat any more; it's really sour.
Wow, I just looked up what the difference between sour and bitter was (because I wasn't sure which my hummus was) and sour is acid while bitter is base. Isn't that interesting?
I also made chocolate cake again. It is totally yummy.
I'm addicted to a new (old) RPG. It's old, but I've never played it before, so it's new to me. Arcanum (of Steamworks and Magick Obscura). I'm enjoying it. I like the setting and the character system. The main plot is a little slow and there aren't enough side quests (or they are really hard to find), but apart from that, it's fun. I'm playing just to level and make my character better. I want to be master of firearms, lockpick and prowling. I also want to have a bit of magic and be able to make some stuff. I also want a new gun, but they are expensive. So, maybe by the time I get to 40th level, I will have all these things. I'm at 13th now. And my team and I managed to take down a 30th level jellyfish looking thing. We lured it away from its friends and ambushed it in the forest. It was expertly executed (the plan, not the jelly. I think it (the jelly) died from lead poisoning after I shot it with about 20 bullets).
Right. I'm going to go now.
11 October 2010
I ate a home grown tomato
I really wanted to post about something this morning, and now I don't remember what it was. Anyway, some cool stuff happened over the weekend.
My cherry tomatoes are getting properly ripe. I put the heater on in here (so it gets warm when the heating is on in the morning) and closed the door to keep the heat in (the temp was averaging about 21C, it was 24 all Saturday afternoon). I ate the first tomato that ripened. It was good, but the skin was really tough. I don't like tomato skin at the best of times, so I had to spit it out. I might try peeling the next one I eat. There are three red tomatoes and four orange ones, the rest are green.
The peppers are also almost ripe. They are a deep shade of red, which I assume will get brighter over the next few days. They are small when compared to shop-bought peppers, but that's okay. Only two peppers grew. I had a bunch of flowers, but none of them turned to fruit. Maybe my pepper knew that I'm not the biggest pepper fan and only made two small ones so I wouldn't have to eat loads of pepper.
The goji is still growing like a maniac. I have no idea how I will transport it down to cork.
We went to see Back to the Future in the cinema last night. It was brilliant. I think I've only seen it once or twice before, so I enjoyed it even more because I didn't know what was going to happen.
The mingle market was on in town yesterday too. It's a vintage, art, clothes, costume fair. It reminded me of some of the fairs that happen in the humanitarian church. We didn't get anything; all the clothes were large sizes. But it was fun to look around.
I read 250 pages yesterday. I finished Mistborn and started The Well of Ascension. I'm really liking Brandon Sanderson's writing. His magic systems are amazing. They are so different and imaginative.
Right, so. I think that's all my news.
My cherry tomatoes are getting properly ripe. I put the heater on in here (so it gets warm when the heating is on in the morning) and closed the door to keep the heat in (the temp was averaging about 21C, it was 24 all Saturday afternoon). I ate the first tomato that ripened. It was good, but the skin was really tough. I don't like tomato skin at the best of times, so I had to spit it out. I might try peeling the next one I eat. There are three red tomatoes and four orange ones, the rest are green.
The peppers are also almost ripe. They are a deep shade of red, which I assume will get brighter over the next few days. They are small when compared to shop-bought peppers, but that's okay. Only two peppers grew. I had a bunch of flowers, but none of them turned to fruit. Maybe my pepper knew that I'm not the biggest pepper fan and only made two small ones so I wouldn't have to eat loads of pepper.
The goji is still growing like a maniac. I have no idea how I will transport it down to cork.
We went to see Back to the Future in the cinema last night. It was brilliant. I think I've only seen it once or twice before, so I enjoyed it even more because I didn't know what was going to happen.
The mingle market was on in town yesterday too. It's a vintage, art, clothes, costume fair. It reminded me of some of the fairs that happen in the humanitarian church. We didn't get anything; all the clothes were large sizes. But it was fun to look around.
I read 250 pages yesterday. I finished Mistborn and started The Well of Ascension. I'm really liking Brandon Sanderson's writing. His magic systems are amazing. They are so different and imaginative.
Right, so. I think that's all my news.
03 September 2010
Catching Flies
You know the way, in children's cartoons, they make a fly catcher out of a bit of stick and a cobweb? Right - keep that thought in mind.
I have a problem with little black flies on my plants. I think they may be gnat-flies, but their larvae are little round white things, not little wormy-looking things. So I’m not sure. Anyway, the flies have been annoying me over the last few days, especially. I think a bunch of them just hatched, because there are more than before. So today, I decided to do something about it.
I cut the top off a plastic cup to form a hoop, stuck a stick onto the end of it, brought it outside and swiped it through a cobweb (carefully). Voila, a perfect fly catcher. (You may now release that thought you've been holding, if you haven't done so already.)
The only problem is, it's not a perfect fly catcher. It catches flies, but they get away. They don't stick to the web. I don't know how spiders stay alive at all. Clearly, their webs are inefficient at trapping flies.
Anyway - I have a photo.
In other news: there are now two tomatoes, with possibly more on the way.
And: I have a strawberry plant. Putting it in the fridge for a month totally worked. It’s about 3mm tall at the moment :)
I have a problem with little black flies on my plants. I think they may be gnat-flies, but their larvae are little round white things, not little wormy-looking things. So I’m not sure. Anyway, the flies have been annoying me over the last few days, especially. I think a bunch of them just hatched, because there are more than before. So today, I decided to do something about it.
I cut the top off a plastic cup to form a hoop, stuck a stick onto the end of it, brought it outside and swiped it through a cobweb (carefully). Voila, a perfect fly catcher. (You may now release that thought you've been holding, if you haven't done so already.)
The only problem is, it's not a perfect fly catcher. It catches flies, but they get away. They don't stick to the web. I don't know how spiders stay alive at all. Clearly, their webs are inefficient at trapping flies.
Anyway - I have a photo.
In other news: there are now two tomatoes, with possibly more on the way.
And: I have a strawberry plant. Putting it in the fridge for a month totally worked. It’s about 3mm tall at the moment :)
30 August 2010
DIY day
it's my birthday and i've gotten hardly any writing done. first thing this morning, i walked to the shop to cash the lotto tickets mammy and daddy had gotten me (i got €40). then i sat down for a bit of writing. then i looked up diy book binding. i found a very cool article:
http://www.persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding-your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast/
and then i spent the rest of the day making the 'jig.' That involved a trip to barrett's to buy gorilla glue. i was very surprised they had it. and now i'm thinking of going back to get wingnuts and carriage bolts. and possibly a bit of wood for the clamping bar. i couldn't be bothered sawing out two lengths. sawing with a pen-knife-tool thing is really hard.
yea... it's possibly a bit premature, considering i've not finished draft 3.1 yet, but i hope to have copies to the people of taleweavers on the weekend. it's no big deal if i don't get it done by this weekend, though. i'll be around the next weekend as well.
and because this is a day of procrastination: here are some photos i've taken of stuff over the last few weeks.
i made banana bread in the slow cooker (aka crockpot). it turned out yummy.
the book binding devise. half finished. i couldn't wait to paint it - perhaps i should have waited. anyway.
my tomato is taller than me.
the pepper a few weeks ago.
this is not zoomed in - this is them grown.
tomato flower.
http://www.persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding-your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast/
and then i spent the rest of the day making the 'jig.' That involved a trip to barrett's to buy gorilla glue. i was very surprised they had it. and now i'm thinking of going back to get wingnuts and carriage bolts. and possibly a bit of wood for the clamping bar. i couldn't be bothered sawing out two lengths. sawing with a pen-knife-tool thing is really hard.
yea... it's possibly a bit premature, considering i've not finished draft 3.1 yet, but i hope to have copies to the people of taleweavers on the weekend. it's no big deal if i don't get it done by this weekend, though. i'll be around the next weekend as well.
and because this is a day of procrastination: here are some photos i've taken of stuff over the last few weeks.
i made banana bread in the slow cooker (aka crockpot). it turned out yummy.
the book binding devise. half finished. i couldn't wait to paint it - perhaps i should have waited. anyway.
my tomato is taller than me.
the pepper a few weeks ago.
this is not zoomed in - this is them grown.
tomato flower.
27 August 2010
River Cottage
I watched the first two episodes of river cottage on 4 on demand last night. It made me want to run off to the country and buy a small farm. if i had a garden, i'd dig it up and plant beds with fruit and vegetables. i even have a little book on self-sufficiency, which tells you how to do all this stuff.
but for now, i have to be happy with my windowsill vegetable patch.
i think i just have to get rich and live 6 months in the commuter belt and 6 months on my mad farm. hmm. that wouldn't work. i'd have to hire someone to take care of the farm for the other 6 months.
:) anyway.
but for now, i have to be happy with my windowsill vegetable patch.
i think i just have to get rich and live 6 months in the commuter belt and 6 months on my mad farm. hmm. that wouldn't work. i'd have to hire someone to take care of the farm for the other 6 months.
:) anyway.
26 August 2010
i'm super excited for some reason
i just used the sewing machine to sew the button back on to my watch strap. before you get confused about a button on a watch strap - i made it myself out of shoelace and a snap button. i'm very proud of it :) the only problem is that the constant pulling open and closed wears out the thread quickly and i have to sew it back on again. but that will no longer be a problem, because it takes about two minutes for the machine to sew it back on :)
woo! i'm really happy now.
in planty news, the two peppers are about half the size of a full-grown, store-bought pepper. the tomato has reached the top of the window. it has loads of flowers which i'm hoping will turn into tomatoes. the goji is massive. it's almost as tall as the tomato. i had to tie its branches up because they were falling over.
my novel is going well. i'm on chapter 28 of draft 3.1 (which is the proofread of draft 3). chapters 25 to 28 are a little slow and i don't know how to spruce them up. but then penelope_stone tells me i need some down bits in the book. i guess it's tense, which i want i wanted. i want edge-of-your-seat for the whole book. woo! fantasy thriller! no. not really. it's not a fantasy thriller. i like to call it a fantasy adventure. lots of stuff happens.
i think that's all my news. :)
woo! i'm really happy now.
in planty news, the two peppers are about half the size of a full-grown, store-bought pepper. the tomato has reached the top of the window. it has loads of flowers which i'm hoping will turn into tomatoes. the goji is massive. it's almost as tall as the tomato. i had to tie its branches up because they were falling over.
my novel is going well. i'm on chapter 28 of draft 3.1 (which is the proofread of draft 3). chapters 25 to 28 are a little slow and i don't know how to spruce them up. but then penelope_stone tells me i need some down bits in the book. i guess it's tense, which i want i wanted. i want edge-of-your-seat for the whole book. woo! fantasy thriller! no. not really. it's not a fantasy thriller. i like to call it a fantasy adventure. lots of stuff happens.
i think that's all my news. :)
09 August 2010
weekend in cork
a post of points, because i don't feel like writing much.
i went down to cork for a school reunion, which i went to. people are 10 years older and have families. weird.
i bought a goji berry tree. woo - healthy berries. my tomato is huge and i think it has just sprouted the first shoots that will be fruit. i also think the pepper is about to produce fruit.
hmmm. it seems i didn't actually have that much to say.
i went down to cork for a school reunion, which i went to. people are 10 years older and have families. weird.
i bought a goji berry tree. woo - healthy berries. my tomato is huge and i think it has just sprouted the first shoots that will be fruit. i also think the pepper is about to produce fruit.
hmmm. it seems i didn't actually have that much to say.
30 July 2010
Pearls of Life
so, news, news, news. quite a lot happened since last night.
ok, ever the last few days i've been really apathetic. i spent most of yesterday morning staring at the wall. i am not kidding. i had my computer off and was just sitting, looking. and thinking a little.
since davidnarby's last post i've been having synchronisity things happen all over the place. first, will wheaton posted about how a computer crash gave him the opportunity to watch a humming bird out his window. it hit a nerve inside me, made me think, "this is right." then steve pavlina posted about living in the moment, seeing everyone in his world as an extension of himself. he wrote two (or three) posts about his new state of mind, and every one of them had to do with listening to what the world is telling him.
so i think, maybe, that's what i was doing yesterday. listening to the world. or more, i was listening to the fact that i wasn't inspired to do anything at all, and i wasn't fighting it. i went with the apathy.
anyway, whatever it was, it was amazing because of what happened today.
i've been having trouble coming up with a good ending for my novel, or maybe not a good ending, any ending at all. i scrapped the ending i had, based on bad feedback and my personal feeling that it wasn't good.
so last night, i had a dream. as i do most nights (actually my dreams for the last few nights have been all over the place, but when i wake i can only remember a few images). but last night i dreamt about zachery and someone called the mentor. i spoke with the mentor and when i woke up this morning, i had the inspiration i needed to write the new ending.
so i got up, all cheerful about my day's writing. and then i went into the room and the first thing i noticed was my pepper plant. it's better. it's leaves aren't wilted any more. it seems my plant first aid worked. i texted penelope_stone at 8:45 to share the good news. then i sat down and started writing.
between 9am and 2pm i wrote 2,500 words. and most of them are good words, i think. i'm almost finished. i just have one scene left to write (maybe two).
today has been a good day.
ps, the cherry tomato is almost as tall as the pepper, but it's not as big, yet.
pps livejournal's new tag select means i put way more tags on my posts. mad.
right - another synchronicty - i was inspired by a dream, and the chosen theme on phantom was dreams.
another cool thing, i randomly found jennifer jackon's blog, right here on Lj. it came up as a recommended on my google reader, but mentioned nothing about ms. jackson. i looked at it based on the coolness of the name alone (et in arcaedia, ego). as i was reading through it, a thought came to me: this could be jennifer jackon's blog. i clicked through to the user info and sure enough, it was. amazing. for anyone interested, she is arcaedia.
right i'm really going now.
ok, ever the last few days i've been really apathetic. i spent most of yesterday morning staring at the wall. i am not kidding. i had my computer off and was just sitting, looking. and thinking a little.
since davidnarby's last post i've been having synchronisity things happen all over the place. first, will wheaton posted about how a computer crash gave him the opportunity to watch a humming bird out his window. it hit a nerve inside me, made me think, "this is right." then steve pavlina posted about living in the moment, seeing everyone in his world as an extension of himself. he wrote two (or three) posts about his new state of mind, and every one of them had to do with listening to what the world is telling him.
so i think, maybe, that's what i was doing yesterday. listening to the world. or more, i was listening to the fact that i wasn't inspired to do anything at all, and i wasn't fighting it. i went with the apathy.
anyway, whatever it was, it was amazing because of what happened today.
i've been having trouble coming up with a good ending for my novel, or maybe not a good ending, any ending at all. i scrapped the ending i had, based on bad feedback and my personal feeling that it wasn't good.
so last night, i had a dream. as i do most nights (actually my dreams for the last few nights have been all over the place, but when i wake i can only remember a few images). but last night i dreamt about zachery and someone called the mentor. i spoke with the mentor and when i woke up this morning, i had the inspiration i needed to write the new ending.
so i got up, all cheerful about my day's writing. and then i went into the room and the first thing i noticed was my pepper plant. it's better. it's leaves aren't wilted any more. it seems my plant first aid worked. i texted penelope_stone at 8:45 to share the good news. then i sat down and started writing.
between 9am and 2pm i wrote 2,500 words. and most of them are good words, i think. i'm almost finished. i just have one scene left to write (maybe two).
today has been a good day.
ps, the cherry tomato is almost as tall as the pepper, but it's not as big, yet.
pps livejournal's new tag select means i put way more tags on my posts. mad.
right - another synchronicty - i was inspired by a dream, and the chosen theme on phantom was dreams.
another cool thing, i randomly found jennifer jackon's blog, right here on Lj. it came up as a recommended on my google reader, but mentioned nothing about ms. jackson. i looked at it based on the coolness of the name alone (et in arcaedia, ego). as i was reading through it, a thought came to me: this could be jennifer jackon's blog. i clicked through to the user info and sure enough, it was. amazing. for anyone interested, she is arcaedia.
right i'm really going now.
28 July 2010
it's time for the news
i just finished a full week of work (not novel work). amazing. today feels like saturday, except that i'm at my computer getting ready to write the third draft of the end of my novel. but first, an update (and then i'm going to go and update my website).
i think my big news is that i broke my pepper plant. :/ it happened during its transplant, i turned it upside down to get it out of the pot and when i righted it, it had snapped in two. i tied it back together with electrical tape... the leaves are all wilted, but the flowers are still blossoming. i have hopes that it will heal, but i don't know.
i successfully transplanted my tomato. its getting really big too. no sign of fruit, yet, though.
i put the strawberry in the fridge, in the hopes that it will start to grow.
i also planted jalapeño seeds in case my pepper does die.
so that's my plant-y news. in other news, i'm off to the zoo on saturday with liam, catherine and the boys. that should be fun. not related to that at all, we got a new phone.
ooh - i went to see inception on sunday. i want to go back and see it again, it was so good. i've been thinking about it since i saw it - scenes keep jumping into my head. i love when films do that.
it seems i have lost the ability to write varied sentences. most of the sentences in this post started with i. hmmm. oh well.
that is all.
(oh, yea - if anyone's interested, i'm playing forgotten sands at the moment. it's good, but i miss elika. forgotten sands feels very lonely.)
i think my big news is that i broke my pepper plant. :/ it happened during its transplant, i turned it upside down to get it out of the pot and when i righted it, it had snapped in two. i tied it back together with electrical tape... the leaves are all wilted, but the flowers are still blossoming. i have hopes that it will heal, but i don't know.
i successfully transplanted my tomato. its getting really big too. no sign of fruit, yet, though.
i put the strawberry in the fridge, in the hopes that it will start to grow.
i also planted jalapeño seeds in case my pepper does die.
so that's my plant-y news. in other news, i'm off to the zoo on saturday with liam, catherine and the boys. that should be fun. not related to that at all, we got a new phone.
ooh - i went to see inception on sunday. i want to go back and see it again, it was so good. i've been thinking about it since i saw it - scenes keep jumping into my head. i love when films do that.
it seems i have lost the ability to write varied sentences. most of the sentences in this post started with i. hmmm. oh well.
that is all.
(oh, yea - if anyone's interested, i'm playing forgotten sands at the moment. it's good, but i miss elika. forgotten sands feels very lonely.)
19 July 2010
my beef with bioware
yet another procrastination post. i'm rewriting the end of my novel, again. what is it with beginnings and endings with me? the whole middle is fine, but i'm not happy with chapter 1 or chapters 33 to 36. hhuuuuuum.
to plants:
the pepper grows about a centimetre a day. it's gotten huge - it's about 2 feet high now. my tomatoes are also growing madly, one of them is really getting big - it's about 12cm tall with 5 leaves. no sign of the strawberries yet. the sun vanished just after i planted them, so i expect they will be a while. the kale isn't doing so well since i thinned it. i have four plants left. one seems to be wilting. two are ok, but don't seem to be growing. the last one seems to be growing ok, but it's the smallest of the lot.
to games:
i finished jade empire. it was fun enough. i figured out a neat fighting style that meant the bad guys couldn't get a hit on me. i don't know what that games problem is, but it seemed horribly unbalanced. the regular enemies could be taken down in about 5 seconds; if they hit you it wasn't a problem - their couldn't do much damage. they were pretty easy to beat. the bosses, on the other hand, were impossible. two hits from a boss and my character was dead. and it took about 5 minutes to beat a boss (that's 60times longer than a regular guy - that seems a bit extreme to me). anyway, i did finish the game, but i won't be rushing back to play it any time soon.
i played through dr ned and got half way through general knoxx in borderlands before i started playing mass effect. it's a fun enough game. for some reason, it seems to lack something. like, i'm kind of just playing it to see what it will present me with. i don't really feel much for any of the characters (my girl is pretty looking - that's about it) and i don't care much for the story so far. in fact, i don't really know what the story is yet. and i'm about 6 hours in... maybe. so i'll stick with it to see where it goes. jade empire was kind of similar - really slow to start and then it got going towards the end. but they spent too long on set-up and by the time the story got going i hadn't fallen in love with the characters. and then it was too late - i was too worried about staying alive.
in fact, i had another gripe with jade empire. it was supposed to be an rpg, but only the first two chapters had quests and stuff. after that, it was all fighting. there weren't even any puzzles or stuff, it was just, 'go here and kill this guy, then kill that mob of assassins, then kill this boss, then kill this mob of ghosts, then kill...' yea - you get the point. yea - schizophrenic game.
so, i kind of hope the bioware guys learned thier lesson from jade empire, and mass effect is better, but so far i'm not seeing it.
penelope_stone is up for the week (or two). it's fun having her around. we're thinking of going to sheila's for dinner some night - we really need to tell sheila about this.
right - it's ten past ten, i really need to get down to writing.
to plants:
the pepper grows about a centimetre a day. it's gotten huge - it's about 2 feet high now. my tomatoes are also growing madly, one of them is really getting big - it's about 12cm tall with 5 leaves. no sign of the strawberries yet. the sun vanished just after i planted them, so i expect they will be a while. the kale isn't doing so well since i thinned it. i have four plants left. one seems to be wilting. two are ok, but don't seem to be growing. the last one seems to be growing ok, but it's the smallest of the lot.
to games:
i finished jade empire. it was fun enough. i figured out a neat fighting style that meant the bad guys couldn't get a hit on me. i don't know what that games problem is, but it seemed horribly unbalanced. the regular enemies could be taken down in about 5 seconds; if they hit you it wasn't a problem - their couldn't do much damage. they were pretty easy to beat. the bosses, on the other hand, were impossible. two hits from a boss and my character was dead. and it took about 5 minutes to beat a boss (that's 60times longer than a regular guy - that seems a bit extreme to me). anyway, i did finish the game, but i won't be rushing back to play it any time soon.
i played through dr ned and got half way through general knoxx in borderlands before i started playing mass effect. it's a fun enough game. for some reason, it seems to lack something. like, i'm kind of just playing it to see what it will present me with. i don't really feel much for any of the characters (my girl is pretty looking - that's about it) and i don't care much for the story so far. in fact, i don't really know what the story is yet. and i'm about 6 hours in... maybe. so i'll stick with it to see where it goes. jade empire was kind of similar - really slow to start and then it got going towards the end. but they spent too long on set-up and by the time the story got going i hadn't fallen in love with the characters. and then it was too late - i was too worried about staying alive.
in fact, i had another gripe with jade empire. it was supposed to be an rpg, but only the first two chapters had quests and stuff. after that, it was all fighting. there weren't even any puzzles or stuff, it was just, 'go here and kill this guy, then kill that mob of assassins, then kill this boss, then kill this mob of ghosts, then kill...' yea - you get the point. yea - schizophrenic game.
so, i kind of hope the bioware guys learned thier lesson from jade empire, and mass effect is better, but so far i'm not seeing it.
penelope_stone is up for the week (or two). it's fun having her around. we're thinking of going to sheila's for dinner some night - we really need to tell sheila about this.
right - it's ten past ten, i really need to get down to writing.
07 July 2010
tomatoes
tomatoes is the oddest word ever. the plural has an e while the singular doesn't. that confuses me.
anyway. one of the tomatoes has sprouted. it has two tiny leaves. some others are pushing their way up out of the soil. i planted five pots and only two have shown any signs of life. sure, i'll see how they do over the next few days.
my kale is doing excellently. i have a little kale carpet in the pot. i kind of wish it would stay like that forever. it looks really cute and soft. (like tiny green butterflies on stalks.) now i have to watch one or two plants take over and kill all the rest of them. boo.
the pepper is also growing.
that's all my plant-y news. now back to writing. the scene in the middle of the book - the one that has annoyed me since day one - is almost fixed. yeay. just a small realisation and off we go. i also now know how science works in my book. woo for making up science - it's almost as good as making up magic, except it's way harder, because you have to have some basis in reality. anyway - back to it.
(it's a little disturbing that i'm comfortable wearing a t-shirt at 23 degrees (and not a string top). i am going to freeze when winter comes. my skin doesn't even feel warm. if i was wearing a light hoodie, i'd be just as comfortable.)
edited to add pictures:
anyway. one of the tomatoes has sprouted. it has two tiny leaves. some others are pushing their way up out of the soil. i planted five pots and only two have shown any signs of life. sure, i'll see how they do over the next few days.
my kale is doing excellently. i have a little kale carpet in the pot. i kind of wish it would stay like that forever. it looks really cute and soft. (like tiny green butterflies on stalks.) now i have to watch one or two plants take over and kill all the rest of them. boo.
the pepper is also growing.
that's all my plant-y news. now back to writing. the scene in the middle of the book - the one that has annoyed me since day one - is almost fixed. yeay. just a small realisation and off we go. i also now know how science works in my book. woo for making up science - it's almost as good as making up magic, except it's way harder, because you have to have some basis in reality. anyway - back to it.
(it's a little disturbing that i'm comfortable wearing a t-shirt at 23 degrees (and not a string top). i am going to freeze when winter comes. my skin doesn't even feel warm. if i was wearing a light hoodie, i'd be just as comfortable.)
edited to add pictures:
06 July 2010
fairytales for adults
my birthday present from lordkilljoy arrived today. it's somewhat of a tradition for me to get birthday presents at the start of the summer. it was so that i'd have all summer to play with them, rather than getting birthday presents and then having to go back to school the next day. so i couldn't resist opening it and reading it.
and what was my present? i hear you ask: the adventures of the princess and mr whiffle; the thing beneath the bed by patrick rothfuss.
i read the whole book in about 15 minutes. the art is super-cute, the story is a little disturbing. You can read my review on goodreads: princess and mr whiffle review
that's all i wanted to say, really. my kale is growing. the shoots are about 1mm in diameter now, and about an inch high, with leaves that are about 5mm wide. they are cute, and there are billions of them. i think i'll let them fight it out amongst themselves for who gets to grow and who doesn't. i think i may have killed my cherry tomatoes. one of them has mould growing on it. that can't be good.
right so. bye then.
and what was my present? i hear you ask: the adventures of the princess and mr whiffle; the thing beneath the bed by patrick rothfuss.
i read the whole book in about 15 minutes. the art is super-cute, the story is a little disturbing. You can read my review on goodreads: princess and mr whiffle review
that's all i wanted to say, really. my kale is growing. the shoots are about 1mm in diameter now, and about an inch high, with leaves that are about 5mm wide. they are cute, and there are billions of them. i think i'll let them fight it out amongst themselves for who gets to grow and who doesn't. i think i may have killed my cherry tomatoes. one of them has mould growing on it. that can't be good.
right so. bye then.
02 July 2010
Plants (but no Zombies - they are alive)
Golly geepers, I'm learning stuff about plants. This is amazing. My pepper wilts in the afternoon, and I just learned this is because it can't draw enough water from the soil to keep up with what's evaporating from its leaves. If it recovers by late afternoon, it's fine, but if it doesn't that means it needs watering. My dude is recovering already (the sun's gone in). This is so cool. I never imagined plants were so reactive.
I just wrote the title of this post and it made me wonder what an undead plant would be like. I'll bet you could write a weird sort b-movie about it.
I just wrote the title of this post and it made me wonder what an undead plant would be like. I'll bet you could write a weird sort b-movie about it.
More Plants
I now have a whole little garden happening on my windowsill. The pepper plant is doing well and has been joined by scarlet kale and cherry tomatoes. The other two haven't grown yet, though. I only planted them yesterday. I keep looking at them though - in the hopes I’ll see a shoot. I think it might be another while yet before I see anything. They get direct sunlight from about half 12 to 5ish. I don't know if that's enough to warm the soil and let the seeds know to start growing. Sure, we'll just have to wait and see.
Bad news, though. I found a greenfly on the windowsill today. I just hope I killed it before it got to lay any eggs. I'd hate to have to throw all these plants outside. I cleared away the plant graveyard yesterday - threw them all in the bin.
I'm starting a new scene in my novel today - as in brand new. I got 500 words in before I got distracted with music. Oh well.
I'm playing Jade Empire at the moment and am quite enjoying it. I've wanted to play it for a long time, but never got around to it. And then lordkilljoy started a game of it on the xbox, and I thought it looked really clunky. So that put me off. But it's not clunky. Well - it is a little. The combat system does have it's annoyances, but as long as I toggle between targeting on and targeting off, it does ok.
I finished Borderlands on the PC. It is such a brilliant game. I may go back to it when I'm finished Jade Empire and do playthrough2. Or maybe lordkilljoy will want to play something on the PC by then.
I don't have much other news. I'm settling into my new work well enough. And still getting time to write, which is good.
Right, so. I'll go now.
Bad news, though. I found a greenfly on the windowsill today. I just hope I killed it before it got to lay any eggs. I'd hate to have to throw all these plants outside. I cleared away the plant graveyard yesterday - threw them all in the bin.
I'm starting a new scene in my novel today - as in brand new. I got 500 words in before I got distracted with music. Oh well.
I'm playing Jade Empire at the moment and am quite enjoying it. I've wanted to play it for a long time, but never got around to it. And then lordkilljoy started a game of it on the xbox, and I thought it looked really clunky. So that put me off. But it's not clunky. Well - it is a little. The combat system does have it's annoyances, but as long as I toggle between targeting on and targeting off, it does ok.
I finished Borderlands on the PC. It is such a brilliant game. I may go back to it when I'm finished Jade Empire and do playthrough2. Or maybe lordkilljoy will want to play something on the PC by then.
I don't have much other news. I'm settling into my new work well enough. And still getting time to write, which is good.
Right, so. I'll go now.
29 June 2010
planting procrastination
procrastination post. yeay. i haven't done one of these in ages.
i defrosted the freezer last night. it was kinda fun - going with the hair dryer, watching the ice melt away and fall into the little collecty bucket at the bottom. the freezer has significantly more space now, and you can actually see the metal bits that conduct the cold around. all the compartments open properly now. it was so bad, actually, that the ice had shoved some of the shelves off their rails. but they are fixed now, too.
the little pepper plant is still alive. the fern is also still alive. the dracaena got put out in the corner of the balcony reserved for dead plants. we can call it the plant graveyard. i put them out there in the hopes that the weather outside will bring them back to life. i suppose it's kind of a silly viewpoint, but it's always what used happen to dead plants at home. none of them ever came back to life either.
i think the bonsai might be making it way out there soon. poor plant just keeps on loosing its leaves, and when they grow back they are yellow and weedy. i took the dead bits off the other dracaena. it's looking good again. all green.
all this planty goodness has me wanting to plant the seeds from a cherry tomato. and we have black kale too. i could have a whole little garden happening on the window sill in here. it's a weeny (meaning small) windowsill, but it's the only one in the whole apartment that gets sunlight.
right so. i don't have much other news.
just to note - dinner is on (yes, before 10:30am). and all the windows and doors in the apartment are open in an effort to cool the place down. it was way too hot last night.
i defrosted the freezer last night. it was kinda fun - going with the hair dryer, watching the ice melt away and fall into the little collecty bucket at the bottom. the freezer has significantly more space now, and you can actually see the metal bits that conduct the cold around. all the compartments open properly now. it was so bad, actually, that the ice had shoved some of the shelves off their rails. but they are fixed now, too.
the little pepper plant is still alive. the fern is also still alive. the dracaena got put out in the corner of the balcony reserved for dead plants. we can call it the plant graveyard. i put them out there in the hopes that the weather outside will bring them back to life. i suppose it's kind of a silly viewpoint, but it's always what used happen to dead plants at home. none of them ever came back to life either.
i think the bonsai might be making it way out there soon. poor plant just keeps on loosing its leaves, and when they grow back they are yellow and weedy. i took the dead bits off the other dracaena. it's looking good again. all green.
all this planty goodness has me wanting to plant the seeds from a cherry tomato. and we have black kale too. i could have a whole little garden happening on the window sill in here. it's a weeny (meaning small) windowsill, but it's the only one in the whole apartment that gets sunlight.
right so. i don't have much other news.
just to note - dinner is on (yes, before 10:30am). and all the windows and doors in the apartment are open in an effort to cool the place down. it was way too hot last night.
16 June 2009
speed speed speed
today, i hit 40km/h on my bike. it was cool :) that's almost the speed limit - i'll bet with a good wind behind me i could totally make 50. i had a good cycle today, though maybe i pushed myself a bit hard. i was pretty wrecked when i got home - all buzzy eared. i don't think this is such a good thing, but i recovered quickly. so according to my bike computer today, i did 7.4kms in 24 minutes at an average of 19km/h. my normal average is about 17 (or 14 if i'm just cycling to the village).
anyway - the 40km/h thing - i was going down the only hill in my journey (actually there is another hill, but it's the downslope of a bridge and isn't long enough for me to get up much speed and the road slopes up again straight after), it's like this pathetic hill, though... more of a slope, really. i mean, gravity was helping, but only a little.
in other news, i had a good weekend in cork. the street performance festival was good fun and the weather held up for it. it's on in dublin this weekend, and i might go along again. there were a few acts that i didn't get to see in cork that seemed good.
the bamboo out on the balcony has two new shoots coming up... at least i hope it is bamboo shoots, it could be some sort of random weed, because it is outside, but these stalks look serious, not like weeds which are weedy (which is why we call weedy things weedy). yea...
we watched speed racer last night. i really quite enjoyed it. just so long as you didn't question anything it was a fun movie, i liked the effects and the colours and the characters.
ooh - over the weekend i watched a film called push. i'd been iffy about it, not having heard anything about it, but i enjoyed it too. i liked the setting and the character powers. i'd classify it as an urban sci-fi - sorta gritty camerawork mixed with elements that you won't find in a normal action flick, but which arn't like aliens and spaceships and stuff. or maybe urban fantasy would be more like it... because there was really nothing to make it science-y, but a bit to make it fantasy-ish.
yea, i think that's all. got to get back to writing now.
anyway - the 40km/h thing - i was going down the only hill in my journey (actually there is another hill, but it's the downslope of a bridge and isn't long enough for me to get up much speed and the road slopes up again straight after), it's like this pathetic hill, though... more of a slope, really. i mean, gravity was helping, but only a little.
in other news, i had a good weekend in cork. the street performance festival was good fun and the weather held up for it. it's on in dublin this weekend, and i might go along again. there were a few acts that i didn't get to see in cork that seemed good.
the bamboo out on the balcony has two new shoots coming up... at least i hope it is bamboo shoots, it could be some sort of random weed, because it is outside, but these stalks look serious, not like weeds which are weedy (which is why we call weedy things weedy). yea...
we watched speed racer last night. i really quite enjoyed it. just so long as you didn't question anything it was a fun movie, i liked the effects and the colours and the characters.
ooh - over the weekend i watched a film called push. i'd been iffy about it, not having heard anything about it, but i enjoyed it too. i liked the setting and the character powers. i'd classify it as an urban sci-fi - sorta gritty camerawork mixed with elements that you won't find in a normal action flick, but which arn't like aliens and spaceships and stuff. or maybe urban fantasy would be more like it... because there was really nothing to make it science-y, but a bit to make it fantasy-ish.
yea, i think that's all. got to get back to writing now.
09 June 2009
bonsai
i went a little mental yesterday and decided that the big bonsai (which should be called daibonsai) needed to be cut back, only i think i went a little extravagant with it. all i can say is yeay for the way things grow back, not like when you cut your teddies' hair when you were smaller.
i also cut back the mini shrubs we have growing in the kitchen - i considered going bonsai on one of them, but i resisted.
i don't have a whole lot of other news... bought some ice tea in lidl today - it's yummy.
right so, bye.
i also cut back the mini shrubs we have growing in the kitchen - i considered going bonsai on one of them, but i resisted.
i don't have a whole lot of other news... bought some ice tea in lidl today - it's yummy.
right so, bye.
11 May 2009
today is exciting
yoshi ate 3 locusts yesterday. yeay, he's such a happy-eating little dragon-pou! he also ate 5 crickets along with them. oh, and he shed another bit of skin. there had been a bit on his back that hadn't come off and it's coming off now.
ok - i probably shouldn't update right now, because lordkilljoy just sent me a link to some prince of persia movie first-look stuff and i am totally excited about it. i'm going to have to make some new PoP icons. the ones i have are so old.
anyway... went to see star trek again last night. we got to go to the showing in the massive-large screen (aka screen 17) and it was fantastic. going to the princess bride tonight. i'm so excited. woo - everything is exciting. even the fact that i potted some coriander in the kitchen sink (ok - i potted it in a pot, but used the sink to catch all the soil that fell out) and and to buy a plunger because the soil blocked the sink up.
apart from that, i havn't much news. not doing any writing today, because the apartment is a big mess and needs cleaning and other such jobs - like potting the coriander (who i christened mr. coriander, after the character in the neverending story) - need doing.
nymph's eating is sporadic these days. i think i might put him down to feeding every 3 days, instead of every 2. yoshi begins to look a little starved after 2, but i think nypmh is fully grown and doesn't need as much food.
i bought a Japanese-learning thing in aldi the other day and it's really good.
and i finished ratchet and clank: quest for booty yesterday. that game was way too hard. there were some bits that took me days to pass. i hate games like that, because i love adventure games for their flow and forgiving ways. so when i get stuck because some stupid bad guy keeps knocking me off a ledge at the exact same spot (no matter what i do) it makes me really annoyed. the game was fun, just annoying.
i'm back playing psychonauts. it's a fun game. i started from the start again, so that i could get a handle on the controls, and remember the story.
ok - i probably shouldn't update right now, because lordkilljoy just sent me a link to some prince of persia movie first-look stuff and i am totally excited about it. i'm going to have to make some new PoP icons. the ones i have are so old.
anyway... went to see star trek again last night. we got to go to the showing in the massive-large screen (aka screen 17) and it was fantastic. going to the princess bride tonight. i'm so excited. woo - everything is exciting. even the fact that i potted some coriander in the kitchen sink (ok - i potted it in a pot, but used the sink to catch all the soil that fell out) and and to buy a plunger because the soil blocked the sink up.
apart from that, i havn't much news. not doing any writing today, because the apartment is a big mess and needs cleaning and other such jobs - like potting the coriander (who i christened mr. coriander, after the character in the neverending story) - need doing.
nymph's eating is sporadic these days. i think i might put him down to feeding every 3 days, instead of every 2. yoshi begins to look a little starved after 2, but i think nypmh is fully grown and doesn't need as much food.
i bought a Japanese-learning thing in aldi the other day and it's really good.
and i finished ratchet and clank: quest for booty yesterday. that game was way too hard. there were some bits that took me days to pass. i hate games like that, because i love adventure games for their flow and forgiving ways. so when i get stuck because some stupid bad guy keeps knocking me off a ledge at the exact same spot (no matter what i do) it makes me really annoyed. the game was fun, just annoying.
i'm back playing psychonauts. it's a fun game. i started from the start again, so that i could get a handle on the controls, and remember the story.
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