- It sounds like a lot of hard work and a lot of time
- Maybe you only have a small garden...
- It probably costs as much to buy all the seeds and equipment as it does to go to the supermarket and buy vegetables...
- It all sounds very complicated - knowing when and where to plant what...
I am intending this to be a very varied blog of anything I feel like writing about. There will be things about gardening - mainly vegetable growing, website design, French and Spanish and then anything else that I find interesting.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Can I grow vegetables?
Monday, 27 September 2010
Book Review - Easy Learning Spanish Grammar
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Tomatoes Galore!
Outdoor tomatoes |
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Grammer time!
- Personal - I, you, her, they etc. They refer to the person you are talking to or other people and things. They can be either subject pronouns (I, you, he, she etc) or object pronouns (him, her, them etc)
- Possessive - mine, yours, his etc - which show who someone or something belongs to.
- Indefinite - Something or nothing, which refer to people or things in a general way.
- Relative - who, which, that - which link two parts of a sentence together.
- Demonstrative - this or those - which point things or people out.
- Interrogative - who, what, which - which are used in questions.
- Reflexive - a type of object pronoun that forms a part of Spanish reflexive verbs like "lavarse" (to wash) or French reflexive verbs like "appelle" (to be called).
- definite article - the
- indefinite article - a or an in English
Friday, 24 September 2010
Time to plant new strawberry plants
June 2010 - first strawberries of the year! |
You will probably noticed that your strawberry plants have long stems shooting off all over the place - these are called runners. On these runners you will see new shoots. These are what you will use to get a whole new strawberry patch - depending how many strawberry plants and runners you currently have.
- Pick the runners that look at their best so a couple of healthy looking leaves
- Take some small plant pots and fill with compost (one per runner)
- Place the part of the runner with the leaves into the compost, pressing down (you may need to use some garden staples to hold the runner in place to start with
- Water and leave
- Keep compost moist at all times
- Once the plants are strongly rooted you can snip of the runner and replant into prepared ground - do this with them all and there you have your new strawberry patch, ready for next year.
New strawberry patch from runners |
Light and fluffy victoria sponge
Firstly, turn on your oven to 180 degrees and grease 2 20cm diameter cake tins (round) - I would recommend some greaseproof paper too as unless you have amazingly non stick cake tins it does stick quite easily!
The ingredients you will need are as follows:
220g butter (room temperature) - margarine works fine
220g caster sugar
4 eggs
220g self raising flour
a little milk - this is optional but will make a slightly more moist cake
Jam of choice
- Cream the butter and sugar together (an electric whisk is the easiest option here)
- beat the eggs a little to break yolks
- add a quarter of the egg with a spoonful of flour (this stops it from curdling and ensures a light fluffy cake) mix in
- add the rest of the egg
- if wanted add a little milk to make the mixture of a dropping consistency
- divide mixture between the 2 cake tins and smooth
- put in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes
- as usual with a cake check at around 20 minutes - put a knife in and if it comes out clean then the cake's ready, if not give it a few more minutes. The cake should have come away from the sides a little.
- When ready, leave to cool on a cooling rack.
- Once cool spread jam on one half, put other half on top, sprinkle with a little icing sugar and serve!
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Vegetables!
Spring time - looking bare! |
Kevin made me a raised bed - my salad garden |
So far we have had:
Potatoes - many (we haven't bought potatoes for a good few moths now - we had new potatoes early in the season and we are still harvesting them now!)
Runner beans - these went on for ages and although they are a little stringy now, they are continuing to grow!
Strawberries - we had quite a few fresh strawberries, I have to say though that not many of them made it from the garden to the house as they were so tasty!
Spring Onions - we use a lot of them and we have been harvesting them bit by bit and still have many left.
Beetroot - although we don't use much of this we have had quite a few, my grandma loves fresh beetroot so she has benefited from the fact that most of the household here don't like it (though they did all like the Chocolate and beetroot cake - recipe pinched from my brothers blog, also posted on here, I believe he stole it so I will do the same!)
Lettuce - another thing we use a lot of, we still have lettuces coming through now and looking very healthy. Unfortunately due to lack of knowledge some of my earlier lettuces bolted (went to seed), the good thing is, I know why and how to avoid it next year.
Pumpkins - these are looking great and starting to turn orange now.
We have apple trees that were here when we moved in and are just ready now - and delicious!
Chillies - we have had a couple of chillies from the chilli plant - and maaaaan they are hoooot!
There are carrots nearly ready and a few parsnips.
Tomatoes are just turning red now - we have had a couple so far and they are so tasty.
Cabbages, curly kale and brocolli are also on their way ready for a winter harvest!
Small selection of the herbs that are growing |
>I have to say, things from the garden are so much tastier than from the supermarket and of course being fresher they are also so much healthier too and completely organic at the same time.
I now need to get myself a greenhouse so we can enjoy more all year round!
Beetroot and Chocolate Cake!
- First switch the oven on to be heating up to 180 degrees C
- Grease a tin and line with greaseproof paper.
- Grate about 4oz of raw beetroot (straight from the garden if you grow it of course!)
- Melt 3oz of dark chocolate (preferably one with 75% cocoa) with 3 oz of butter - I use the glass bowl over a pan of boiling water method.
- Beat 2 eggs.
- Sift 8oz self-raising flour into a bowl
- Add
- 1oz cocoa powder
- 4oz caster sugar
- 1tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- grated beetroot, eggs, melted chocolate and butter
- Mix it all together to a dry dough-like consistency
- Put the mixture into the tin and squash down
- Cook for around 45 minutes depending on your oven (keep checking - use a knife and stick in, if it comes out clean then the cake's ready!)
Estoy aprendiendo espanol con OU
If you have been reading this blog you will know I recently registered to do my degree in Modern Languages (French and Spanish) through the Open University. I have now received my course materials for the first Spanish module with the French ones winging their way to me right now, hopefully!
I have started to read through the Spanish module as I want to get through this one as quickly as possible - my next Spanish module starts in February so I would ideally like to get this one as near to finished as possible before that one comes through. I am really looking forward to being buried in books and CDs - it's been a couple of years now since I last did any serious studying. Looking at the materials for this module I think I should be able to get through it pretty quickly and although I think I know most of what's in this one I am going to read it word for word in case there are bits I have missed anywhere along the way - having not actually studied for a qualification in Spanish previously there are almost certainly many parts of the grammar that I don't yet know.
Keep reading this blog and if you are familiar with Spanish I may even - when I feel confident that my Spanish is good enough - post some blogs with a Spanish translation (and a French one while I'm at it!). For now I won't subject you to my bad grammar!
Saturday, 18 September 2010
The time has finally come!
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Pork Rissoles!
If I have beef leftover I like to make rissoles with it - absolutely delicious, so I wondered what they'd be like using pork instead. Here's what I did (i am deliberately leaving out the amounts partly because I never really measure anything unless it's a cake and partly because anyone reading this will have different amounts of leftovers):
Put some potatoes on to boil, meanwhile grind up the leftover pork - ideally in a food processor - with some onion plus any leftover carrots, add an apple, once everything is finely ground add some black pepper, a bit of hot sauce (I use Jamaican hot sauce), and then mash the potatoes and mix in.
Sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and then make patties with the mixture. Fry for a few minutes until golden on each side and serve with fresh vegetables and gravy.
Turned out really nice - so next time you have some pork leftover, give these rissoles a try, really easy to make and very tasty. The apple really added something - I would possible put a few more herbs in next time.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Road Trip 2010 in a VW Camper
The first August finally arrived - I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get out and about in Felicity (Felicity is a Brazilian T2 bay camper converted by Danbury). We left York mid morning and arrived at Felicity's home at around mid-day. Paul and Denise, (the owners) have become good friends over the time doing the website so it was lovely to see them too. There was lunch waiting for us when we got there which was a lovely start to our holiday. We had a nice relaxed lunch and catch up with Paul and Denise and then we were on our way in Felicity.
We headed up the coast road first towards Beadnell Bay. The views were fantastic - beautiful coastline and it lots of castles! The first night we stayed in Budle Bay which is just up the coast from Beadnell Bay and near Berwick-upon-Tweed.
The next day we decided to head further north and ended up crossing the border into Scotland and up to North Berwick. We found a lovely campsite in North Berwick overlooking the coast and just a very short walk down to the beach. Bass Rock could be seen from the campsite too. Here we had some German neighbours with whom we had wine and snacks the first night and then on the last morning they invited us for breakfast. They were a really lovely family and we intend to keep in touch and hopefully visit them at some point in the future. We are also, possibly, having the daughter to stay next summer to help her out with her English (although it's way better than my German has ever been already).
From North Berwick we had a drive into Edinburgh for the day and had a wonder around. We saw Edinburgh Castle and many of the other sights and sounds of Edinburgh - a really lovely and lively city.
After 3 nights in North Berwick we decided to head to the Lake District for a couple of nights. We drove down to Lake Ullswater in Cumbria and stayed at Park Foot campsite right on the lake for 2 nights. We drove around a few of the lakes and spent a couple of hours in Keswick. We took Felicity right up to the top of Borrowdale where the views were absolutely amazing, we spent a lot of time up in the clouds! The climb by road was very steep and very bendy but Felicity managed it all with absolutely no problems.
After the Lakes we head over the Penines towards Alnwick and then stayed our last night back in Northumberland.
Unfortunately, the time then came for us to hand Felicity back to Paul and Denise. We had had a fantastic time with her and will hopefully have her again sometime. She was so much fun to drive and to spend time in. Stopping here and there to make a coffee in the back was great. And cooking dinner was also great fun.
Thanks to Paul, Denise and Felicity for a fantastic week. I would definitely recommend North East VW Camper Hire to anyone with a love for campers, it's a great way to see some of the country!
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Cats and Rabbits!
It was very scared - of course - and so I found a pet carrier and some lettuce and put him in there. He didn't have any obvious injuries and was just in shock. We then left him overnight and I checked him this morning, he seemed okay but I decided to keep him in for the day to be sure.
When we came home this evening we found two more baby rabbits - 1 dead and the other half eaten, I wonder how many more there will be to come.
After a coffee and a piece of carrot cake (quite appropriate) we took the rabbit round to the lake behind the house where we knew there were hundreds of rabbits and released it. I opened the pet carrier and he jumped out and ran off to a little hill where there are many rabbit warrens - hopefully this is where it came from and it has now found its way home - if not, a new home.
Friday, 30 April 2010
North East VW Camper Van Hire!
Ever thought of hiring a VW Camper for your holiday, I had thought about it on many many occasions (not being able to get one myself - YET! - this was the next best thing). Nearly 2 weeks ago Kevin and I went to Scarborough for the day, had a lovely day there, we went out on a cruise around the bay and on a pirate ship, had fish & chips (you can't go to the seaside and not! - same goes for ice creams of course!). Fran and her boyfriend joined us for part of the day and came on the pirate ship with us, we were then made to go into a haunted house (which I thought would NOT be scary)....we got chased by the guy from Scream and actually ran out at the end.
The point of writing this was that walking back to the car we saw a beautiful VW Camper Van and spotted on the back that it was available for hire. I took down the website details so I could get some more information when we got home.
Pretty much as soon as we got home I went online to get some information on the VW Camper Van hire, unfortunately the website was still under construction and there was no information on there except for a mobile telephone number. I decided to text them and ask for some more information, in the text I thought it would be worth asking if they had someone working on the website. Almost immediately we got a text back saying they would post out some information and asking if we do websites as they had a friend doing it and it was taking rather a long time. Of course, I texted straight back saying that is what we do and would they like us to look at theirs the answer was yes and the rest they say is history. Felicity's website is now online still working on the search engine optimisation side of things but it's there and - we think - looking great!
Felicity is a 2006 Brazilian T2 bay camper converted by Danbury, she is water cooled and is the height of camping luxury. If you are interested in hiring her then please check out the website for more details including how to book. Also, more information below:
There are seat belts front and rear for 5 people and sleeps four - there is a king size bed and a double bed above with mattress if required and for extra space you can hire a 2 or four man awning. The stereo system has MP3/iPod connection so you can take all your favourite music with you on your travels. http://www.northeastvwcamperhire.com
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Toad in the Hole!
While I was there inspecting the soil for seedlings I realised I was being watched - I spotted what looked like a little eye sticking out and looking up at me! I gradually moved some of the soil away to discover what looked like a frog. As I moved the soil away a little more here is what I found. Anyway, I had a good look at him and then popped him back into the soil to bury himself again.
Then later when I went out to the car to get something I stepped out of the front door and guess who was there with something to show me.....
Friday, 19 March 2010
Gardening Time
I finished a temporary employment contract a couple of weeks ago and am finding it very hard to find something else at the moment - there doesn't seem to be very much around at present. I am basically applying for anything that my CV matches up to but not hearing much back - I sometimes think that the majority of jobs advertised online don't even exist and they are just there to get you registered with the agencies.
Anyway, I have decided to use this time productively and while the sun is shining I thought it would be great to make a start on the massive garden we now have.
I started by sowing some chilli and sweet pepper seeds inside which I had saved up over winter, these are already growing very nicely and I have now separated them and put them in pots of their own. I am going to give a few away as more grew than I expected.
Earlier this week I dug over the vegetable patch, I have now sown quite a few seeds both vegetables and herbs - the list so far is as follows:
I have planted more than enough of each of these for now and in a few weeks I will plant more of some of the vegetables to ensure a good ongoing crop.
I will keep posting as things grow and I will also be adding pictures so anyone who wants to can see the progress - it's as much for me as anyone else really so I can see which things work best. I am hoping everything grows as this will cut down the food bill by quite a bit - we get through a lot of vegetables each week.
I now need some sort of greenhouse as there are certain things that I want to grow that are unlikely to grow outside and space inside is limited to windowsills. The problem with this is the two cats have a habit of jumping up there and I'm not sure how safe they'd be - I can imaging soil all over the floor due to one of the cats knocking things off.
For now I have a few that are growing on windowsills but am keeping a close eye - especially on the kitten who seems to think everything is his toy!
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
Peppers
There's going to a lot of hot food served in our house due to a possible abundance of chillies that are going to need using! - everything will contain chillies for a while I think! I didn't expect so many of the seeds to grow although I'm sure I will easily be able to give at least a couple of them away.
Any recipes with fresh chillies in will be gratefully received and tested! As for the peppers I don't think there'll be a problem there as we go through so many of them anyway.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Famous York Street Wins Award
Among today’s buildings there is a shrine to Margaret Clitheroe who was married to one of the butchers of the Shambles. This house is open to the public where the full story of Margaret Clitheroe can be read. You can also find more information here http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/york-margaret-clitherow-shrine.htm
Today the Shambles is better known for its array of souvenir shops, tourist attractions, cafes and restaurants and is often called Europe’s best preserved medieval street. As it is in Britain’s most haunted City the Shambles is included in many of the ghost walks and historic tours of the city, no trip to York would be complete without paying this beautiful historic street a visit.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Got a Website? How well is it Doing in the Searches? – Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation is something that should be done when your site is designed and built, it can be done later if you have a site that is not working for you. If you already have a site then Search Engine Optimisation will improve the amount of traffic to your site and make it appear higher up in the search engine rankings – therefore making it visible to the people you want to see it. A website can look like the best site in the world but this is not what counts when it comes to search engines finding your site. Website optimisation is one of the most important parts of designing and building a website – without optimisation your site will not be found by search engines and in turn potential customers. There are basically two types of visitor to your site – the human kind and the search engine kind. Your site needs to be attractive to both and these are two completely different things and both of equal importance. This is where the designer has to work on two levels – there are certain things that can make a site look very attractive to the human visitor but if done incorrectly can prevent the search engines finding content and therefore will make for a low ranking website.
It could even be that you put your website into a search and the result comes back “did not match any results” – it is possible for search engines to be unaware of a site. This can be fixed quickly and easily but is extremely important if you want your site to work for you.
byITsizePro.co.uk can help you to optimise your website - Email us for more information
Kate McCarthy
info@byITsizePro.co.uk
www.byITsizePro.co.uk
Monday, 1 March 2010
Microsoft To Offer Browser Choices Across Europe
This change has come as part of a deal that Microsoft have made with the European Commission after being accused of abusing its market position.
From 1st March 2010 a pop up will appear prompting users to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or to stay with IE. This software will come via the Windows Update software that Microsoft use to distribute their security patches.
The update has been prepared for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, even so, not all users of these will see the pop up. It will not appear for those who are already running a different default browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla FireFox or Safari. Users that have IE as their default browser and who have taken the option of allowing Windows to automatically install updates are guaranteed to see the pop up.
Anyone who has the automatic install of updates turned off will today be prompted today to install and run this software. These users may also go to the Windows Update site, run a "Check For Updates" and get it. When the software runs it will now present users with a window saying "An important choice to make: your browser". It also asks users to ensure they are connected to the internet. On clicking "Ok" they will then see the choice of the 12 browsers available with information on each to help users decide which suits their requirements. There is also an "opt out" option will will allow users to make a decision at a later date and will then place a shortcut icon on the users desktop giving users this browser choice at another time. Users wanting to stick with IE will be prompted to upgrade to the latest IE version which is currently IE8.
Currently the browser market share is:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 62.12%
Mozilla Firefox 24.43%
Google Chrome 5.22%
Safari 4.53%
Opera 2.38
Mini Opera 0.59%
Other 0.68M
It will be interesting to see what if any effect this change will have on the browser market share.
The pop up is already confusing many users who have been thinking they have a virus or that their computer has been taken over.