yvan - Network

Office espresso machine is back in action. Not bad for a first attempt in several years! Someone here has the grind dialled in pretty well,...

Office espresso machine is back in action. Not bad for a first attempt in several years! Someone here has the grind dialled in pretty well, so not really all on me, the hard work has been done.

It's a decent little Sage machine.

We've not been roughing it without mind... I brought my Kalita and hand-grinder, but between other folks there are at least two other hand grinders, 2 other pour overs, and 2 aeropresses. I am definitely amongst my people. 😅☕

At my suggestion there is also now a selection of light roasts from Rave for filter style coffees.

The espresso bean is something from Wood Street I think.

Slowly catching up... this our #allotment postcard from the chocolate egg laying bunny rabbit bank holiday weekend... More greenhouse work,...

Slowly catching up... this our #allotment postcard from the chocolate egg laying bunny rabbit bank holiday weekend...

More greenhouse work, lots of seedlings planted, first potatoes in, and other bits and bobs.

https://youtu.be/OkYFvto5NH0?si=hFkLgrlpnkDGBL0V

It was still enough that I managed to get the drone up at the #allotment at the end of the day today, light was low so the def is even worse...

It was still enough that I managed to get the drone up at the #allotment at the end of the day today, light was low so the def is even worse than usual with the crappy little thing... it shows progress, compare to this sequence here: https://toot.ale.gd/@yvan/113771646489877221

Our little sea of woodchip 🤣

We can haz roof!The new #allotment plot greenhouse frame is finally fully together and ready to have the glass/poly fitted (it came with a...

We can haz roof!

The new #allotment plot greenhouse frame is finally fully together and ready to have the glass/poly fitted (it came with a mix of both).

A fair bit of fettling to get the windows rebuilt, had to cut new glass for one of them, and had to take the angle grinder to the frame to get one in the position I wanted at the end.

I find it very irritating that I couldn't fit them in a symmetrical way I must admit! Who does three windows to six panels FFS. But free greenhouse is free greenhouse! And I'd rather it have three windows than two.

Today I spiked Foxy's drink.This additive is so fancy it came in a box with a little booklet (which I haven't even opened). I figured 15...

Today I spiked Foxy's drink.

This additive is so fancy it came in a box with a little booklet (which I haven't even opened). I figured 15 quid isn't exactly going to break the bank... so upgraded from the 6 quid STP product I actually went into Halford's to buy. Yes, I think I got suckered by a fancy box. 😆 "GOLD" formula!

I figure it'll either do nothing or maybe help... I mean, also it could make the engine explode I guess. Who knows. It shall be interesting to see if it makes any difference... but I won't be surprised if I end up pulling out the injectors at some point. Need to check the spark plugs too really. But that all takes a lot longer than tipping a bottle of Liquid Schwartz into the tank.

I'd say I expect to be getting to work at LUDICROUS SPEED on Monday... but TBH I drive a bit like a granny (ignoring the reality that there seem to be may grannies who drive it like it's stolen...)

Anyway, all in all I think I've earned my pint of fake-continental-brand UK-brewed macro-lager. I've switched to pint tinnies of 1664 now as...

Anyway, all in all I think I've earned my pint of fake-continental-brand UK-brewed macro-lager. I've switched to pint tinnies of 1664 now as something's not right with the Moretti these days, a bit sick of it... and as an added bonus the 1664 is cheaper. [It's probably all brewed in the same damn vat, with a mere tweak here or there.]

Also just had my first #ShowerBeer of the year. It's one of the key indicators of the coming of summer! 🍺

(I look forward to a financial time I can get in the odd case of something I properly like... not there yet, so just the odd 4-pack of something acceptable for now... a couple of months perhaps.)

Then I got home from town in time to trim the back hedge.It's shared grounds, but the groundskeeper appreciates that I do it and it feeds...

Then I got home from town in time to trim the back hedge.

It's shared grounds, but the groundskeeper appreciates that I do it and it feeds into the back and forth with favours - also I get to use the landlord's petrol hedge-trimmer, so between that and my Makita brushcutter it makes it a quick evening job rather than half a day. It helps that the farmer already trimmed the top a month ago.

My ulterior motive is that it does wonders for the light in the greenhouse, also shared grounds, but we get to monopolise it (not that anybody else wants to anyway, it was pretty derelict when we took it on but used to be used a bit by a Polish couple who lived in the main house before it was turned into an AirBnB.)

One of the best things I've done here is volunteer to take about 5 foot off the hedge height, so much less gloomy.

As an added bonus we now have a clear view of the farmers' orchard, especially good at this time of year with the successions of apple and plum blossom.

Not done too badly all in all! I can never really follow a plan of course, so my morning was actually fully distracted by plants (admittedly...

Not done too badly all in all! I can never really follow a plan of course, so my morning was actually fully distracted by plants (admittedly after a lie-in until 10AM, didn't sleep well, especially after interrupted by a mystery loud crashing at 03:30...) I watered, rearranged, and planned planting - ordered more seeds (oh yes, even more seeds...), and have a basket on Suttons for some stuff I am considering (wine grapes, a fig, and some other bits).

Then I got the discs and pads done on the Volvo in the afternoon, and it does seem much better. I think the worn pads/discs were binding after being reassembled due to the bad lipping on the disc. It probably would have "worn in" in a few miles. But the new discs/pads were needed. Job done!

I didn't get to fettle Foxy, but I did get some injector cleaner in'er and filled the tank.

https://www.kingsseeds.com/68706-Nasturtium-Climbing-MixGood for covering sheds, walls or an eyesore.lol...Might be a good one to grow next...

https://www.kingsseeds.com/68706-Nasturtium-Climbing-Mix

Good for covering sheds, walls or an eyesore.

lol...

Might be a good one to grow next to the compost bays...

We're browsing Nasturtium seeds on Kings Seeds and Kat shouts out "nasty! nasty!" ... so now we're listening tho "Nasty!" by the Prodigy...

We're browsing Nasturtium seeds on Kings Seeds and Kat shouts out "nasty! nasty!" ... so now we're listening tho "Nasty!" by the Prodigy whilst browsing Nasturtium seeds.

We always had Nasturtiums growing and I grew up calling Nasturtiums "Nasties", because @JillyG does... I wonder: is this a common thing?

Do you call Nasturtiums "Nasties"?

#GYO #Gardening #Allotment

Yes! Nasty! Nasty!
WTF? No...

... I have some Swan River Daisy seed I am struggling to germinate, I'm not sure how old it is... but I'm trying a second time now, but also...

... I have some Swan River Daisy seed I am struggling to germinate, I'm not sure how old it is... but I'm trying a second time now, but also looked up getting fresh seed (many sources for this particular plant) which then led to wondering what else from Western Australia can be sourced in the UK.

I have meanwhile also discovered the "Australasian Plant Society": https://www.anzplantsoc.org.uk/

Gotta go see the place. It's about 2.5 hours drive from here... so not a casual one, something to plan in over the summer maybe.This came...

Gotta go see the place. It's about 2.5 hours drive from here... so not a casual one, something to plan in over the summer maybe.

This came about because I kinda went down an unplanned rabbit hole on growing Western Australian plants in the UK, and found this site referenced by the RHS site listing for Kangaroo Paws (Anigozanthos manglesii).

I really do love this website, it's lo-fi perfection, it has real human content.The HTML looks hand-written?! (Or generated by something...

I really do love this website, it's lo-fi perfection, it has real human content.

The HTML looks hand-written?! (Or generated by something that generates clean and basic HTML, but it's the word-wrapping that has me thinking this is real artisanal HTML.) Hm, the large gaps of white-space on the index page imply some sort of generator maybe.

It doesn't matter mind, it is an excellent website all the same.

Heh, just found the best lo-fi plant nursery website... this bit is a classic:No Chelsea or Hampton Court this year('er indoorses 60th...

Heh, just found the best lo-fi plant nursery website... this bit is a classic:

No Chelsea or Hampton Court this year
('er indoorses 60th birthday occurs then, if I miss it, I will miss some of my anatomy)

https://www.plantbase.co.uk/

#Plants #UK #Gardening #GardeningUK

Currently not having any luck "chitting" parsnip seeds and wondering what I am doing wrong. Maybe I'm just impatient.

Currently not having any luck "chitting" parsnip seeds and wondering what I am doing wrong. Maybe I'm just impatient.

Note that *they* didn't notate it as SchIT... but pretty much immediately everyone else did. 😅 You could also say there was a bit of...

Note that *they* didn't notate it as SchIT... but pretty much immediately everyone else did. 😅 You could also say there was a bit of friction between the traditional Comp Sci types and this new "IT" vibe going on that wanted to turn the department more into a vocational business school. In the long run I think the best outcome prevailed: the deparment was moved from the Sci faculty to Eng, and is now the "School of Computer Science"... whilst I have misgivings about that shift, it is certainly better than a shift to the snake oil salespeople in the Economics department, right? 😂 (I assume there may still be a B.Sc stream rather than a B.Eng stream, I hope so, I found it sad that the "science" was being diluted from the "computer science" and always felt more of an affinity for the Maths department than Eng, though I enjoyed the elective Eng units I did of course.)

Calling an org SHT is also maybe not well thought out. Reminds me of when my Comp Sci department renamed itself to The School of Information...

Calling an org SHT is also maybe not well thought out. Reminds me of when my Comp Sci department renamed itself to The School of Information Technology: SchIT... this name did not last.

Filled in that survey*... but it makes me reflect on past enthusiasm for such things that always seems kind of a damp squib in the long run....

Filled in that survey*... but it makes me reflect on past enthusiasm for such things that always seems kind of a damp squib in the long run. Open Rights Group comes to mind... we were at their launch kinda thing in London, but life drifted me away from the ability to pay much attention to such things. I see they are still going and I wonder how much of a duplication of effort starting a new org could be. I think the roots of ORG were definitely "hopeful technologists"... there are always people feeling their views aren't represented, who form new orgs, and few of them last a log time (running any org effectively is a lot of work.)

* https://assemblag.es/@rachelcoldicutt/114403179111194589

Slightly stressful seed sowing session done (stressful due to me being a defective cunt). That's the pumpkins, zucchinis, cucumbers,...

Slightly stressful seed sowing session done (stressful due to me being a defective cunt). That's the pumpkins, zucchinis, cucumbers, gherkins, sweetcorn, and babycorn done... the curcubits were the key things, that were supposed to have been sown 2 weeks ago, but at least it is now done, the sweetcorn is about "as planned". Bonus points for also sowing some nasturtium and morning glory seeds.

The hotfridge is back on for the last hurrah of the season.

Got dirt all over the floor, but that only makes the floor about 10% dirtier TBH.

Dinner is a rough take on poutine... gumbo gravy with chorizo, fresh okra, and paneer.

Right, I'm done for, fts.

Ah, sad times... beer festival season is approaching and people are managing to find me and ask if the can hire my old "EskyBar" (18 tap...

Ah, sad times... beer festival season is approaching and people are managing to find me and ask if the can hire my old "EskyBar" (18 tap direct-draw flat-pack mobile bar setup). Sadly whilst it belonged to me the key bit of it (the big flat-pack fridge) was lost when my former employer shut down (because it was stored on a site that they owed money and they wouldn't let me recover it).

It was the most bleeding-edge highest-quality mobile beer dispense setup in the UK... IMO.

But that's all in the past. Dead. Buried. No longer a thing.