h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've heard that too, Courtesy. I guess the filthier your home and kid are, the better off everyone is.

I also like "erodicious", d'E.

Marv, Nevada is 60 miles north of me. Did your sister go to Cottey College? It's about the only thing Nevada is known for. It used to be the home of the state mental hospital, but that was closed years ago. Talk about a dreadful place. We were forced to take a tour of it when I was in high school. It is a place I shall never forget.

I've read the hygeine theory of allegies as well, it's certainly the subject of some debate, and I am amshamed to admit I haven't read anything about it in detils since I was at sixth form college (that's when I was 17, 4 years ago )

It's also suggested as a possible cause of asthma. Another stronge indication that childhood expousrse prevents an allgery developing is that people who grow up in the country very rarely get hay fever despire being loads of pollen about. Also allgeries are somewhat over diagnosed at the moment, (so I've been told) which may be a reason for their increase.

[{Courtesy}]
*MR ... I will try my best to be there on one of those nights .... Guinness always makes me feel better too *

The overclean house/asthma theory could a reson my two have never had asthma

Dad has an Outpatients appointment this afternoon to get his biopsy results following his gallstones episode. We may get a provisional date for his admission to have his gallbladder removed, he is unlikely to be a candidate for keyhole surgery. Which means a longer inpatient period and post-op recovery. At 81 he is none too steady on his feet, but refuses to move anywhere a little more manageable or nearer any of us whilst being quite demanding. So I can see a difficult few months ahead. Still, it will pass.

Photos in today's newspaper of Hypatia's tornados - I'm glad I live in a country with only 'moderate' weather...

Oh, by the way - I hope I didn't offend anyone with the 'weird Americans' posting? But to a person living in a country where 'moderation' and 'moderate' almost drives one crazy the US does seem to be a country of extremes - in either direction...

'Lukewarm' is an expression sometimes used, by Swedes, to describe Sweden - not too hot, not too cold, nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, plain, boring... a Swedish author named his book 'In the country of medium milk' - yep, that's right - we even have a milk sort (I think we have 5 all in all regarding fat percentage) that doesn't have too much fat, but not too little either, but somewhere in between...

[Ripley] *joins the follow-Matina-in-case-she-drops-some-food-caravan*

[Amy]

Hearing about the tornadoes does make me feel better about living in a country where you can tell it's summer because the rain gets a bit warmer.
Suprisingly it was another nice day yesterday and so me and MC went out to the national wildflower centre and saw some lovely bluebells in a naturalistic setting and read about efforts to save the british bluebell from being overfun by the spanish variety. It takes 5 years from seed to producing a viable flowering bulb
The seedlings were potted on and are now reviving before starting to be hardened off.

When I was driven up therough NH it was far too cloudy to see any of the features such as the Old Man

What do you do, when you harden the seedlings, Phil?
Not that I can put anything out side yet, with all the painting and pressure-hosing and other splashy activities round the house.

Are you repainting your house to match Bumblebee?

Depends on what skin you're using... Terracotta with creamy trimmings would be the nearest description. And goo-blue doors.

I don't know how Phil does it, but when I harden off the seedlings it involves putting them outside for short periods, a little longer every day, until they are accustomed to the conditions outside. Then you plant them. No shock. Of course, that requires that your seedlings actually grow instead of just sprouting and then withering like mine are doing.

At the moment it's just putting the tray/pots of seedlings out during the day to get them used to it being that bit colder, wetter and windier outside, from being all cosy inside the house (no potting shed or greenhouse here, the garden is small enough as it is!) Eventually they will get left outside overnight and planted into the garden.
The plants we didn't do this for have had a bit of a shock and taken a week or two to recover and start growing again.

Lil: May I take the time and energy to set up a tropical freshwater aquarium in the Atelier? Perhaps a spot that's out of the main flow of traffic, but still easily accessible for your patrons who enjoy this sort of 'quiet pet'?

Think about it and let me know...
B4

Sounds sensible. I put out my four tomato-plants a bit too soon. Now they are recovering in the windowsill with an extra lamp just to get the chill out of them. Now after two days and nights they seem to shape up again. And I've told them I was sorry and will never do such a thing again!

d'E, it sounds like your seedlings are damping off. That has happened to me when I get overzealous about the watering. Make sure you use a method where you can water your seedlings from the bottom.

That wasn't my problem this year. Molly ate a lot of mine - the ones that were expensive, naturally. At least she has good taste.

I was born and raised in this area, so I'm used to tornados. We have good warning systems. The sirens started going off about 30 minutes before the tornados actually passed through which gave people time to get to shelters. You can't imagine how fast it happens. All it takes is 10 or 15 seconds to completely level a building. You know one is close when your ears fill up and start to pop - like on an airplane. And you can hear them if they're right overhead. They sound like a train whistle. And it gets very dark. Then literally a minute later it was calm and peaceful and the sun came out.

It's important not to get complacent about them. When the sirens go off, you'd better head for cover - even if nothing happened the last 20 times. There's a tree in this morning's paper with a piece of thin metal driven through the trunk. And when I was a kid I remember seeing a tree with straw driven into the trunk by the force of the wind. How's that for a good trick?

Ti, I'm not offended at all. I know we're .

d'E, it sounds like your seedlings are damping off. That has happened to me when I get overzealous about the watering. Make sure you use a method where you can water your seedlings from the bottom.

That wasn't my problem this year. Molly ate a lot of mine - the ones that were expensive, naturally. At least she has good taste.

I was born and raised in this area, so I'm used to tornados. We have good warning systems. The sirens started going off about 30 minutes before the tornados actually passed through which gave people time to get to shelters. You can't imagine how fast it happens. All it takes is 10 or 15 seconds to completely level a building. You know one is close when your ears fill up and start to pop - like on an airplane. And you can hear them if they're right overhead. They sound like a train whistle. And it gets very dark. Then literally a minute later it was calm and peaceful and the sun came out.

It's important not to get complacent about them. When the sirens go off, you'd better head for cover - even if nothing happened the last 20 times. There's a tree in this morning's paper with a piece of thin metal driven through the trunk. And when I was a kid I remember seeing a tree with straw driven into the trunk by the force of the wind. How's that for a good trick?

Ti, I'm not offended at all. I know we're .

Is that double-posting bug back? I thought Jim cleared it up.

Maybe I'm overwatering. The seeds are planted in peat pellets, and sitting in foil trays. When I water, I pour the water in the tray and the peat soaks it up. The peat tends to retain moisture very well, and I have not been letting it dry out completely.

And B4, I take it you have not met Hugo the Fish U153752

The idea of quiet fish!

A straw driven into a tree? Now that IS a good trick!

It is lovely and sunny here, and my friend L came to visit, she lives in Munich, but has been staying with her parents while her father has been operated on, (successfully it appears). We had a good time, but L is very robust and told me she was shocked to see me so down. But a mirror held up by a tough-loving friend is good, I guess. I think I would be shocked if I wasn't stuck in the middle of being me. I was pleased to be able to drive her through the countryside to our local tiny station, so she could catch the train back to London. The six weeks from the end of April to early June are so special in England.

What is all this about Spanish bluebells, Phil?

Did I tell you I went to Ikea for the first time in my life the other day, and was amazed by how Swedish the place is. Titania, I cannot remember how to spell 'ushecta mej', except to know that you don't spell it like that. But I kept on wanting to say that instead of 'excuse me'. Now how can a place just *be* so very Swedish? I was delighted to find you can get Cloudberry Conserve there, though. I am hoarding mine at the moment, even though I am going to Sweden moderately regularly at the moment.

Apart from that I am very sleepy, and I am going to get some kip before tackling the mountain of paperwork which sniggers at me from the corner of the room.

B