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

I'd love to have a small vegetable garden, but there's no room in our backyard. So, during summer I get veggies from farmer's markets. But, I planted some basil and parsley seeds in pots and set them on windowsills, and I got one of those upside-down tomato planters and I'll try to find a good place to hang it up.

Typical Chicago spring here- one day it's warm enough for short sleeves and the next it snows. But a friend who lives in northern Indiana has just started harvesting her asparagus.

Hi Terri

I am in two minds what to grow in my garden, I would like to grow potatoes but the Scottish variety as when I lived in Scotland, they tasted better than the English type. We also had some potatoes growing our garden and they were there when we got there. Did not have to do anything with them. But I do not eat a lot of potatoes. I do not know of any other easier vegetables or fruit to grow. I know that strawberries are not the easiest of berries to cultivate.

Garrrgh!!!!! Would you believe it, i seem to now have MUMPS of all things!!! I look like a lopsided ham(p)ster!!!

*Peter just said "i hope it's not infectious over the internet!"* Luckily, he had it as a kid; so is spared possible nasty type stuff & is immune; though of course i have no way of knowing if any of the cast of the show have been infected/infected me. It's only on one side (so far) & doesn't actually hurt unless i drink something acidic, but is extremely visible; i would be OK in Cockney scene, the shawl covers it, but for the Ascot Races....difficult; maybe i can tilt the big Edwardian hat the other way around?

I've looked it up on internet, it's a virus, nothing suggested except usual "rest at home, take painkillers if needed" type advice, so no point in seeing a really; anyway, i shall see one tomorrow at the play, since he's a leading character!

P has a cold also, which is extremely rare for him, since he normally goes wandering around in what i consider to be sub-zero temperatures in a vest & little else!

Bahh....Mumps is suppose to be a childhood illness; how come i manage to get it at age 53???

Have any of the rest of you had it? What's your take on vaccination stuff in general?

Ivan, sorry to hear that you are so drought struck, wish i could send you some of our grand Oirish wetness; we have plenty to spare!

Thinker:i grew strawberries in pots on top of the narrowboat, they did well, they do like a nice rich potting compost & decent amounts of water. Little cherry tomatoes also do well, try & find the ones that form a tiny bush, not the ones which grow high & need stakes to support them. Plus obviously as PC mentioned; herbs are usually fine in pots, nothing beats the taste of your own freshly cut herbs.

Off to bed to nurture my Mump...i assume the term "Mumps" only applies if both sides are swollen, so i just have a Mump; reminds me of the two types of camels; Bactrian has two humps, Dromedary only one, just look at the capital letters.

By the way, the next project is the Energy Times, so if anyone wants to write an article regarding any aspect of alternative energy/planet saving type stuff, please send outline to me at zendevil 3ATgmaildotcom

http://www.irishenergytimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9:invitation-to-contributors&catid=1:general-information&Itemid=11

Oh, woe! Get well soon!

I had mumps in my late teens, first on one cheek, then the other. Yep, that's right, twice in a row. And the then boyfriend refused to visit and fuss over me, cause he hadn't had it and was afraid of getting sterile from it.

About vaccines - I say get them if you can. No point in having a sickness if you can avoid it.

I only had one mump, back in 1976. Dad caught it from me. I'm consequently the youngest in the family.

Milla, I agree about vaccines. If there's one available, have it.

Well, it's just been confirmed that it is indeed mumps; so that's me out of the play until Saturday (the last night)

P isn't well either; he seems to have a nasty cold; but says even though he had mumps as a kid, it could be he's not entirely immune; he's got the feverish type stuff, but no swollen ham(p)ster stuff, i've got the opposite. The is also in the play & advised P not go on tonight, but the Director wants him to; he has a couple of lines which are fairly important, a dance scene & is the only person keeping the male choir on track harmony wise...he's probably going to compromise & just do the 1st Act then come home & collapse.

It's really rotten timing for all concerned. M, the Director, is going to announce to the cast that there's mumps around & anyone who hasn't had it or been vaccinated should go *now* to the Doc & get his advice; i will have been unknowingly infectious for the last few days.

On a lighter note, who got April Fooled today? We got a text message "One of yr has just had twin lambs", so went rushing up the hill, P saying "it must have been by the Holy Ghost, there's no ram for miles as far as i know!" Of course it was sent by the neighbouring farmer who keeps his cows with the sheep, so P sent text back "one of yr calves seems to have grown wings"

Next wind up was I phoned A, Peter's ex missus & said "Edda just had 4 pups, would you like two of them?" "Oh gawd, please no, i already have a man, two sons, help!!!"

Then (are we evil or what?!) I phoned his ex G/F (at his instigation) & in a loverly Oirish Officialdom accent announced:

*Hello, would that be XYZ i am speaking to?
*Er, yes it is.
*I'm calling from yer local STD Clinic, yer been named as a sexual contact way back by a certain gentleman & it may be as well fer ye ter get yerself checked out, or contact him direct like...
*GAAAAAAHHHHHH, which one????????
*Oim sorry, under Confidentiality Rules, tis not my place to say, but i can hand ye over to Inspector S if ye wish?*

...At which point i passed her over to P & much merriment was had by all!; she wanted to drop by for coffee, but is scared of mumps (she hasn't had it), so that will have to wait until i am no longer a walking epidemic!

Any of "you lot" been "had" today? I know Aye Bee Wench has 'cos i did her meself by phone!

zdt

Thanks Terri for the advice, I would love the idea of grewing cherry tomatoes as I always have them for salads. And they always taste better than the ones bought in the shops as my late dad used to grow them outside the conservatory where my family lived in Harold Hill in Essex.

I have had mumps between the ages of 4-6, I do not remember much of it, except going to the doctors with my mam, sisters and my cousins.

I have not been had today but I got an email with a GMTV message saying I have been April Fooled, with a picture of a jester.

I have MUMP on me back!!! I look like a lopsided ham(p)ster!!!


(stops me rolling down hills though)

I wasn't April Fooled, but this morning was kind of sad, actually. I won't get into why just here.

Sorry to hear about your mumps, and I hope you're well soon. I had the vaccine as a baby- they do measles, mumps and polio IIRC- but still had measles in the second grade.

My kids are vaccinated for (against?) measles, mumps, rubella and polio. I want them to get tuberculosis vaccine too, but it's not common practice.

for psychocandy.

Thanks, Milla!

I think TB vaccine is required here as well, but I could be mistaken. We definitely had to have a test each year before returning to school.

Eeek! A test each year, was that a 'jab 'n stab' type, X ray or what?

In Yookay in *my* day, we got jabbed at age 14 & were told it meant immunity for life; which in fact turns out not to be true; it's actually around 15 yrs immunity, plus there are many more strains of TB than they knew about back then.

Ah well; i guess much of this is down to individual natural immunity etc. My Mump has gone away; so i managed to do last night & the night before onstage, 'twas a grand craic after, at the local bar!

Am definitely seriously considering directing 'The Sound Of Music'; it may seem crazy to start thinking about it this soon, but it takes ages to get authorised sheet music, scripts etc.Apparently the Drama Group is usually short of folk prepared to take on the Director's role, but has loads of local talent to actually act & sing, dance etc...it would be hard work but i reckon i could do it, whereas i have to accept my limitations in terms of health stuff; i can't go whirling ; whizzing, singing, dancing, tripping the light fantastic etc,but i do know most aspects of stagecraft.

Hey, we're getting two baby probably tomorrow, a fellow actor/farmer has an orphaned pair who need a bit of love & attention, it's great 'cos the here are getting on a bit, time to start a new flock!

Plus may be setting up a patchwork/ type group with local (mainly ladies) & all sorts of nonsense; it's a great little community, they have made me feel very welcome indeed.

However, the Powers That Be have decided i am *not* Habitually Resident, so me ain't getting any Disability Benefit; but am appealing, there are ways around this for sure.

zdt

Goodness, you are having a great social life. Good to hear you doing well and feeling better. Would marrying him make you 'resident' or shouldn't I have asked I am sure they will relent when you have appealed with all guns blazing (nicely)

Websailor

Hiya Webbie! Erm; we have in fact discussed the marrying scenario & would do so if it meant the Habitual Residence nonsense would be sorted. He's not Irish though, he's German, but having lived here for around 22 years, he is certainly habitually resident, owns property, works for a Government Department etc...

If all else failed, he could probably claim a Carer's Allowance; since he does in fact care for me, both emotionally *and* on 'bad leg days' physically...but he's reluctant to do so since he reckons i care for him equally & it might upset the balance rather.

Ah, we will work something out! Anyway, today I've earned my keep (as it were!) by phoning homeowners for tomorrw's Inspection Tour, jeez, got one right nasty man

"How do i know you are who you say you are?"
"Well; mainly because you have received an official letter from SEI (Sustainable Energy Ireland) stating that an Inspector will be calling shortly to ensure your Solar Panels , for which you received a cash grant, have in fact been installed properly. The inspectors name was on this letter & i can pass you over to him if you wish."

....he now has 'AB' on his Inspection form; ie: "Awkward Barstool" or words to that effect!

Meanwhile, we are looking at schemes to create wildlife corridors, breed rare animals, encourage & etc, plant more trees, maybe a small lake...basically there are grant aided schemes which encourage small farmers to set aside land to encourage wildlife, rather than farm intensively. The farm was certified organic ages back, so this shouldn't be too difficult, it's teeming with bird life, some of which are Endangered species.

Also i am looking into ways of using the heaps of raw sheep wool; started doing some experimental knitting, lawd knows where this may end, cheeseboxes/cushions/designer sweaters...who knows!

What a lovely life!!! I am so lucky; all this & a wonderful, loving guy.....here's hoping some of this blessedness blows back towards "you lot" also; my fiends!

zdt

Felted wool can be made into such cool things! Card it and lay it in layers, and rub it with hot soapy water, until it shrinks together and binds itself into a felt. I've seen lovely hats, seat 'cushions', wall art (black, white and multi coloured), animal shapes - chickens and rats being obvious - and shawls, table mats, place mats, boots and slippers...

I've been learning to knit myself. I've got the hang of a basic knit stitch and a purl stitch, but whenever I make a mistake, I get flustered and unravel the whole thing. So I haven't actually made anything yet. Once I do perhaps I will send you a handmade scarf, my wooh.

Did you still want the drum head? Also thanks for the Google chat message with the addy to which I can mail Mick Ronson.

I'm not terribly crafty, but did you know that my grandma gave me the treadle-operated sewing machine that belonged to my great-grandma? It's in pretty good shape- though it's antique, it's not terribly valuable, as they don't die so there are lots of them out there- and a family heirloom, so I like it very much. My grandma taught me to sew on this machine. I've sort of forgotten how but hope it's like riding a bicycle. I'll upload some photos to a site where you can view them.

Also I'm saving little glass jars in hopes of making snow globes this Xmas, and I've been saving corks in hopes of doing something useful or crafty with those, too.

Hello, luv!

I have not written in a while, but have ghosted this journal to see how you're doing, and just wanted to say that I'm really glad to hear how good things have become for you. It sounds absolutely lovely. I've always liked Ireland, really, since visiting it... yow, almost 10 years ago. Time flies!
You're around Sligo, right? I think you mentioned it somewhere. We never got that high north, only as far as County Galway, but it was all so beautiful.


I've written somewhat of an update on my journal, but thought you'd like to hear about the cats that frequent our balcony... they're not exactly 'our' cats, since we don't let them in, but we feed them some treats every once in a while, and play with them, and my sister is (rightfully) quite intent on getting them fixed before they get in any 'trouble'.
So, there are three siblings - they've been around with their mother at first, but now they're old enough to get by on their own, and can hop into the balcony and back out easily (when they were little they often had trouble scaling the wall). There's Ginge, the boy, who's a sort of ginger-blond colour, unlike the other two who are a soft darkish grey, and is very much a Male - bigger and strongre than his sisters, and quite playful, but very friendly. And there's The Complainer, who's the smallest of the three, and given that name because, well, she likes complaining a lot. She'd just stand there and meow at you, the silly cat. And she's also the most apprehensive of the three, and pretends she doesn't want petting, but then when you scratch her head she's quite happy with it. But the nicest one is Nobel (given that name because at one point we deemed her smarter than the other two), also called The Chinchilla because she's so wonderfully soft, also called The Sitter because the moment anyone sits down, or even crouches, next to her, she would immediately try to get on their lap, and sit there happily. She's absolutely adorable.
So you can see, we have quite close relations with those three... but of course, they're are NOT 'our' cats. They just hang around.

Hi Terri

The nearest woods from me is about a mile away called Davy Down which consists of 32 acres of walks and wooded areas. Wildlife consists of water voles, marsh frogs and kingfisher.

There is a Pumping Station buildings which is still in operation. It was built in 1926-27 to house large diesel engines which provided the power to extract water from a 42 metre deep borehole in the chalk below the ground. But now it is extracted today using a modern electric pump.

Before 1993, Davy Down was a farm with a long history of farming, dating back to at least 1730. But recently, there has been market gardening, which was abandoned when the new A13 was built splitting the area in half.

Lady P!; how lovely to hear from you again!

Yes, we are in County Sligo, that's Western Ireland, not far from the border with Northern Ireland, in fact we went over to there to Enniskillen yesterday for a shopping trip (prices are cheaper & it fitted in with an Inspection tour)...what we had forgotten is it's Easter this weekend, so half the Republic of Eire seems to have done likewise, buying up cheap Easter eggs, booze etc! Nightmareland; huge shopping Centre jam-packed with people, traffic jams, rain, sleet, hail, one more Inspection yet to do, apologetic phone calls to make....garrgh! Wonderful to get back here in the lovely, quiet countryside again!

SO: Now we are planning a nice little European Tour en route to collect Yoda. Obviously it would be great if we can arrange some mini-meets along the way, so anyone who's interested, please email me direct with confirmation of where you live; can't promise to visit all of you though! It would be probably a month or maybe 6weeks, depending on P's work schedule, starting out from here around the beginning of May.

Havnig examined the European map tonight, we figured probably Ireland over to Scotland by ferry, to bother Snaily, then down to Lil & Prof Animal Country (!), then me old mates in Sunny Brum, maybe take in the Arts Festival in St David's, Wales & see a few puffins, then across to Cambridge, which may coincide with the Folk Festival, an old fiend j & possibly Roadkill & his 'rents, across to Harwich, another ferry to Holland, see if Shazz is up for being corrupted; then on through Germany to see P's family, boat trip on the Rhine, hopefully catch up with his mate M in Northern Italy, over the border into France, pick up Yoda & get direct ferry back to Ireland, to save her added trauma; but could maybe pop in to see Skanky en route?

All very exciting!

We doubt we could fit in Scandinavia this time, but the next trip, yes, so beware Milla, Hati etc!

I'm afraid the USAnian woohs may have to wait a while,& Aussies, Kiwis, South Africa etc; that is On A List for the World Tour though!

We would be bringing Edda & driving in a big red van with mattress, so no need to worry about guest rooms stuff if it might be difficult.

And of course, you are all welcome to visit here, P used to have this place as a Hostel, way before Hospitality Club/Couchsurfers etc made it so much easier, we're all kitted out with bedding & stuff, nothing fancy, just lovely, peaceful place in the dip at the edge of a boggy green hill, with noice Oirish village just down the road.

So: if anyone wishes to be debauched by us during the European Tour, do email me ASAP, so we can continue plotting routes!

zdt