It is strange. Some weeks I can't think of a title for the blog and others I feel I have nothing to write. Then there are weeks, like this one when there is so much I don't know where to start.
Sadly, my only uncle died 10 days ago. Naturally this meant a funeral. Both my parents come from the Lake District and so I drove my parents down for the funeral. A 12 hour round trip in awful weather for a sad event. However, the positive was meeting up with my cousin's kids ( well adults with families) and with half cousins who I haven't seen since I was a kid. It was lovely.
The day before the funeral my daughter was 13. She always feels that the timing of her birth was unfortunate - the last week of the Scottish school term so every one is busy or heading off on holiday. To add insult to injury it always falls near the weekend of one of the local Gala Days. These are festival days in the towns of West Lothian with parades, races, teas and the Shows with rides stalls etc. They are very important and not to be missed so her birthday party is always delayed. We had it this Monday, a trip to the cinema and then home for a sleepover. Four friends, three of whom we had never met. They were wonderful, polite and would have slept if our chocolate lab hadn't escaped from our room to join them in the early hours! Thanks guys.
My bees are producing queen cells, we have gone from two hives to four and a nucleus. I have run out of hardware! I am looking at trialling polystyrene hives. Yes there is the embodied energy and emissions to consider. However, I am needing to insulate my hives in the winter anyway, the hives are lighter to lift and need less maintainance (paint). So we will try them and see.
And finally when are two microwaves four? My parents recently had a new oven and microwave installed. This meant they had two combination ovens to spare. I replaced my working microwave with one ( which was an updated version of mine) and our neighbours replaced their microwave with the other - negating the need to replaced their oven which works other than the grill. This leaves two microwaves. These will be going to two of my nephew's tutors ( he has autistic spectrum disorder ) so they will not need to but new microwaves. Thus two microwaves have prevented the purchase of four. I like those odds.
Sadly, my only uncle died 10 days ago. Naturally this meant a funeral. Both my parents come from the Lake District and so I drove my parents down for the funeral. A 12 hour round trip in awful weather for a sad event. However, the positive was meeting up with my cousin's kids ( well adults with families) and with half cousins who I haven't seen since I was a kid. It was lovely.
The day before the funeral my daughter was 13. She always feels that the timing of her birth was unfortunate - the last week of the Scottish school term so every one is busy or heading off on holiday. To add insult to injury it always falls near the weekend of one of the local Gala Days. These are festival days in the towns of West Lothian with parades, races, teas and the Shows with rides stalls etc. They are very important and not to be missed so her birthday party is always delayed. We had it this Monday, a trip to the cinema and then home for a sleepover. Four friends, three of whom we had never met. They were wonderful, polite and would have slept if our chocolate lab hadn't escaped from our room to join them in the early hours! Thanks guys.
My bees are producing queen cells, we have gone from two hives to four and a nucleus. I have run out of hardware! I am looking at trialling polystyrene hives. Yes there is the embodied energy and emissions to consider. However, I am needing to insulate my hives in the winter anyway, the hives are lighter to lift and need less maintainance (paint). So we will try them and see.
And finally when are two microwaves four? My parents recently had a new oven and microwave installed. This meant they had two combination ovens to spare. I replaced my working microwave with one ( which was an updated version of mine) and our neighbours replaced their microwave with the other - negating the need to replaced their oven which works other than the grill. This leaves two microwaves. These will be going to two of my nephew's tutors ( he has autistic spectrum disorder ) so they will not need to but new microwaves. Thus two microwaves have prevented the purchase of four. I like those odds.
RSS Feed
