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... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...
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gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 19 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I wouldn't be here but for the library, Jam Lady, and the head librarian, who started me off. I am so grateful to the 4 librarians who have all guided me through the last 15 years or so. I will be having more time here soon as I am getting forgetful at work and that is no good to the boys in the shop, who need a worker with a functioning brain! I am also planning on a trip to Australia to stay for a while with my school friends in Brisbane, who I have known for the last 60 years, and who regularly go caravanning to Tasmania, where Cassandra lives who started this "thread/topic" if I remember, and where I hope to meet her. The friends are coming over in 2 years time so I have time to get my act together-theory only My memory loss is the short term type, childhood is clear as a bell. But what I did 10 minutes ago is dead to me unless I go back to look. Oh the hazards of getting over, in my case over 60, err.....70!
The landslide is being cared for by those who know what to do; it is just a case of time. I have 3 or 4 routes to take home one is a fast moving main road but the longest, the others are to drive to the top of the blocked hill road and then turn right or left either side of the blocked hill. These turnings left or right are through very narrow lanes down to the bottom. One of them is not too bad, the other is not so good and a couple of miles further. Today I took the main road home and it is slower overall, but I will always go that way as it is better driving in the dark on the wider roads even with heavy traffic and no reversing! the other routes on the side roads are more direct, but would be no fun in the dark trying to find a spot to get out of the way of the on coming traffic.
Such is life!

It is not to be a clear fell MR it was the removal of some trees but they have done some severe pruning, I am told, and that in the wet has produced the landslide. We will no doubt get a run down in our local paper-"The Chronicle" and get some pictures with any luck.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 19 7:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Our library has one computer, but it is in the most inconvenient place, and I wouldn't want to use it unless I really had to. I suppose it is not surprising considering our library is the old school, 19th century vintage and the room it is in a classroom I was in as a child. (And no, I am not that old). Your library ladies sound really nice Gregotyn, and very helpful.

Diversions can be 'interesting'. We currently have one near us that goes through a village with rather narrow roads and parking both sides. I forgot to take the other road the last 2 weeks, so had to go that way, but should have gone through the other village; still parking one side of the road, but no 20 mph speed limit.

Another besom wended its way off yesterday, so I will have to make some more.

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 19 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Our library ladies are the tops MR., they go beyond for me, but I do supply them with firewood! from logs to small offcuts of kindling; I supply according to how I think they will cope. The oldest and head librarian has all small offcut chippings and she and husband cope well with those; the next girl, the youngest, has a mixture of small chippings right up to 6inch long misfits. And the others have pallet blocks chopped to sensible sizes. All these girls get this as offcuts from the standard 6inch stick I supply to a shop. Then there are various pensioners who get free wood. The shop sales cover the electricity bill for the saw. My reward from the librarians is help and a cup of tea and a biscuit on Saturday mornings-so it is payday tomorrow am!! At some point I will be retiring from work-my main source of pallets for the enterprise. But my mates from where I used to work and get pallets 20 years ago have a source for me as I had to go there and told them what was going on with me at work and they said to come anytime, we will help, what else are mates for? I remember, when I first went to that factory that the pallets from there when they were finished with were burned by the old boy who did the cleaning, in an old oil drum and I put a stop to that as soon as I could, and built up a round once I knew there was a demand. I found out the hard way-I started to give some chopped wood to an old lady who looked after my antique shop when I was at work and couldn't think how she used so much only to find she was giving some away to her mates, so I started to supply a shop opposite to me and here we are 30 years on! I also make 'things' if asked. Picnic benches and tables, etc. Keeps me out of mischief.

I have to find another watch from somewhere. Mine decided enough was enough to day, and can't be repaired for some reason-they want to sell me another one! I guess I will have to go out tomorrow and buy one from somewhere.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45379
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 19 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

library facilities are ace, closing them is a direct attack on the right to knowledge and access to services.
as demonstrated here they provide far more than lending out the latest bestseller or a classic text on the flora of northern siberia.

i learnt to meditate people to death in a library, from a librarian with a variety of interesting knowledge

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 19 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I don't have a good memory, so I would be unable to meditate anyone anywhere to do anything, let alone to death, dpack. I am in the state where if I loose my note book, a stop and search auto memo hits my brain and all stops till I have found the wayward, naughty, note book! Because I forget so much I have to write it down. I have missed dental appointments on several occasions which costs £25, cash-so we know where that goes-so I don't do that dentist now.
This library does everything for me even remembering my login security stuff, when I forget on a daily basis!-they tell ,e not to write anything down!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45379
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 19 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

re passwords etc

they are much more likely to be compromised from the server end of things so one password per site as the bad guys try any password they have against various sites(banks, amazon, ebay etc etc )so each password needs moderate or good security.

remembering lots of good passwords is rainman territory so writing them down in a book is a reasonable way of being secure and not locking yourself out(like i have done a few times)

few if any domestic crims will be looking for passwords so as long as you know where the book is and it is up-to-date( yep i have done that)there should be no problems.

the basics are many good passwords in your book are far more secure than one easy to remember password for everything

something i have learnt about password management is that if the site gives opportunity to register an email account and/or a phone number in case you need to reset your password it is wise to do so.
even that can be tricky at times for example i was dpack, then stilldpack and now imstilldpack as resetting my user id and password on the guardian site has evaded my abilities twice as i have migrated from one pooter to the newer one so i have had to re register
the G's politics live team found it most amusing when imstilldpack's first post described my lack of tech savvy in some matters

part of the problem with that might have been the mil grade security and privacy on the steampunk server which was the middle machine of the three.

i will not do online banking, i do phone using my voice as my password which is thought to be more secure than fingerprint or facial biometrics and is far more secure than remembered(or written down) password.
for online shopping so long as the transaction is encrypted throughout if there is any problem it is at the sellers end and can be remedied if needs be.

if you are going to "retire" it might be a good move to get online at home, not just for the ease of being able to purchase whatever weird ironmongery or comfy slippers you need tomorrow without a trip to a city and to be able to chat online whenever you want rather than when you are passing the library.

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 19 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We had an early kiss of frost last Friday night, 32 degrees Fahrenheit according to my rooftop weather station. My friend with the fabulous vegetable garden called on Saturday morning to say the sweet potato leaves were damaged and blackened, and she was going to dig. I went over this morning, Sunday, and they were all dug. Now they have to cure, damp and warm. We went out to the vegetable garden and she dug some out of the compost heap, for picture purposes.

The peanut plants had leaf damage where they touched the ground, the leaves up in the air were fine. She dug a clump and yes! there were very nice peanuts, ready to be dug and dried. Very happy, and I have some good images for another web site entry.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 19 6:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Always useful to have another source of pallets. We have found a place down in our village, which is quite convenient. I would agree with Dpack about getting your own device for e-mails and anything else you need to do on line, as the future of local libraries is rather insecure at the moment. You won't have to remember log in details so much if you have your own either.

To me sweet potatoes and peanuts are both rather exotic Jam Lady. I know some people grow sweet potatoes in polytunnels in the UK, but peanuts! A Belgian man I knew told me that when he went to live in the Congo (then the Belgian Congo) when he was in the Air Force, he had them in his garden, and of course knew they must grow in the US as one of your presidents had been a peanut farmer, but didn't know where they grew there.

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 19 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sweet potatoes and peanuts are rather exotic to me too, Mistress Rose. At least around here. Sweet potatoes are a commercial crop in New Jersey, about 100 miles south. And you mentioned that some of the vegetables my friend gave me - zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber I think it was - would be polytunnel / greenhouse crops for you. Grapes, peaches are easy, apricots are possible too.

Consider that our winters are significantly colder than yours. The ground will freeze even in a "normal" year. In a bad year - little snow, single digit temperatures - the ground can freeze 2 feet deep. Summers are hotter.

Gardeners enjoy ornamental grasses as easy-to-grow autumn ornamentals, whereas my understanding is that they do not flower so well for you.

What can I say? It's different abroad.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45379
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 19 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

even in old york cucumbers, grapes and tomatoes are possible outside.

zuc.. courgettes are easy,too easy imho
with the right type one can give away the little uns and keep one or a few as a marrow/s which are ace
a well stuffed marrow is a delight

i managed to grow peanuts inside a sunny window ( that auto corrected to widow:lol: ) in london with school level heating to extend the season from january onwards, the other windows had tropical and desert climates created.
iirc they take quite a while from germination to flower to droop and plant themselves to grow or get harvested.

fun plants to watch through a cycle

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 19 2:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Come and make a virtual visit to my friend's wonderfully productive vegetable garden: Summer Garden, Autumn Harvest

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 19 6:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Very interesting Jam Lady. I think we have rather a cool microclimate where we are as we are on a hill and when my parents lived further down in the village, perhaps a couple of miles away, their growing season was about 2 weeks ahead of ours. I just can't quite get things like tomatoes going early enough in the season to get them to ripen, and it doesn't help that we have trees to the south of us, so most light comes from the west.

My outdoor plants may well carry on for another month if we don't get cold weather, but haven't had much in the way of runner beans or courgettes lately. My get some more, but growth is slowed right down now.

Next year I might try another crop of peas late season.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 19 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks for that JL. Some great pictures in there. Lots of yummy looking produce.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45379
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 19 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Jam Lady wrote:
Come and make a virtual visit to my friend's wonderfully productive vegetable garden: Summer Garden, Autumn Harvest


very nice, respect to those who grow like that, i am much more random.

ps my pooter security apps mentioned your certificate for the website had expired

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 19 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have not done much this last 2 days, work wise, all been very slow. Monday is market day so we do get a few in, but today has been almost delivery free and so I have busied myself with the broom which seemed at least to keep me warm. We have a daily delivery from New Holland over night and there were 2 parcels and no more than 40 items. Since 7am all I seem to have done is sweep up, and do the tidying jobs that are done as and when normally. Basically I have spring cleaned, which I didn't do in the spring! I am expecting a big delivery of oil in the next couple of days which will register my mind on where to put it all. I have cleared a space a week back, but no oil has arrived yet.

I have been round gathering Hazel nuts, to get the rest of them off my trees, after several neighbours had had their fill from them already. I should say that my field hedges are left to a large extent to wild life and I haven't cut them for about 5 years. I will have to make a start as soon as I retire, or the place will not look too good when it comes to get sold and I want my inheritors to get the maximum from it, as their parents have all been so good to me for many years. I am planning on sorting out my old tipping trailer which has been stood for a few years, and wants looking at now with a view to using it on the big "log in" to come. I think I will retire after Christmas, cold weather and me are ok, its the icy roads to work I don't like at 5 am., even if the council are good generally with road treatment in the winter weather, they are not always passable when it is severe till late morning.

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