Onions, 25 November

See post of 10 November, and as promised in posts passim (ooh, I do love a bit of alliteration!). Note the anti-fox cage. B*st*rds, kill 'em all!

Reynard resurgam

Yes, he's back, the scruffy half-tailed big balled b*st*rd! Things had been a bit quiet on the foxy front because, I guess, this year's three pups had moved on - hopefully not just to pastures new but to that great fox palace in the sky (I can but hope!).

However, dad has now begun to prowl around again and his latest trick is to pull out the bright red plastic cap which covers the rotary drier hole in the lawn. No problem, think I, I'll just put half a brick on top of the cap; no problem for me either, thinks foxy, I'll just move the brick and nick the cap anyway, and I'll give it a bit of a chew just to prove how clever I am. And that's just what he's done, the git. So now, the cap is in the house and the hole (have you ever lost the hole for your rotary drier? Blummin' hard to find again, aren't they?!) has a garden cane sticking out of it and looks really silly, but what else can a boy do? And if you say just leave the drier in the hole, that's a no-can-do because it already is - in a different hole, I thought I'd be clever by having a couple of drier holes to use at different times of the year to get full benefit from the sun.

And, by the way, did I tell you that when I had the pest control man round in the summer to get rid of a wasps' nest in the loft(!) that I asked him about trapping foxes and it costs around £120 a week to hire a fox trap and then around £70 for them to deal with it if you catch one? Even better, the chances of getting one into the cage is minimal if they're being fed by the neighbours. Which, of course, these pampered vermin are. Ah well, the fight goes on ....

Catching up ....

It's been a bit hectic since my last post, both socially, gardenwise and professionally. And, I'm sorry to say, I've forgotten to post a photo of my onions (ooer, missis!) but will do soon!

Socially, we had a lovely trip up to town to meet one of Diane's brothers, Jonathan, and his wife and we went to the Dean Street Townhouse (guess which street it's on?!) for an excellent lunch. The atmosphere was superb - a bit like a Brown's for grown ups - with a really relaxed atmosphere, comfortable seating and friendly service. I began with a smoked haddock souffle followed by steak and chips and ... couldn't manage a pudding, sorry! My steak was cooked exactly as I requested, just on the right side (or for many I guess it would be the wrong side) of medium, as was Jonathan's - although his was on the other side of medium. The chips were lovely and chunky too. Both girls had fish - pollock and sole - and both were delighted. They, and Jonathan, managed puddings too and these were received rapturously: chocolate fondant, apple pie and treacle tart. Also on the menu was a really good looking steamed ginger sponge for two to share - yum! This was washed down with a nice bottle of Prosecco (as aperitif and with the starter) and a lovely Sangoivese, Pieno Sud, from Sicily to go with the mains. Although I couldn't manage a pud, I did manage to try a pudding wine which I enjoyed but have forgotten the name of - wonder why, hic!?

Prior to our Saturday trip to town I'd been across to Borough Green on the Friday evening to the excellent (and very busy) Raj Tandoori for a convivial evening with five old mates from my former hockey club - if ever you're in mid-Kent and fancy a curry, I really recommend this place. One of the guys lives fairly close by, another lives near me and three still live in North Kent, so it's a convenient spot to get together. It's just a "normal" Indian restaurant, but does what it does very well. And then, on the Sunday, we went down to Brighton (in horrible wet weather) and took Emily for a roast dinner (it's all they do on Sundays) at the Park Crescent - what a fantastic little local boozer that is - a good pint of Badger, really friendly staff, great stripped floors and furniture and a bohemian (well, it is in the student quarter of Brighton!) crowd (excluding me, of course, but as my maternal grandma was from Bohemia, not really!). The best bit, though, was that they were playing the album "Hold Time" by M Ward. Now, I'd never heard of him but he's really great and the album is on my Christmas list - if you don't know him, imagine a cross between the Flaming Lips and the Fleet Foxes. Brilliant.

Professionally, I've been busy writing an ILM accredited Level 3 programme for a new provider and a new client. I deliver the first day on Wednesday 24 November, so it's all been a bit hectic, but I'm almost there now. I'll be glad when Wednesday's out of the way though.

Finally, I've been doing a bit of gardening. I had a really good tidy up a few weeks ago and it's looking good (except for my greenhouse, which blows down if my next door neighbour sneezes) and today I harvested a few more brussels and carrots, lifted my first ever turnips ("Tiny Pal", which you eat small) and picked the last of the raspberries. Having done this, I then pruned the canes, collected a few runner bean beans (is that otiose, or pedantic, or clear? It's meant to be the latter but see the picture if you're bothered!) to plant next year and bagged up a load of garden rubbish to be taken away by my friends from the council.

Looking back on it, one of the best weeks I've had for a good while.

A reprimand!

Well, I got told off today for not having blogged since the start of October and the person who told me off was quite right - I should be on here at least once a week. Apologies all - now I know you're out there, I'm inspired to carry on! But I'd be even more inspired if you left comments now and again so I know I'm not alone.

Anyway, not a lot has been happening, really, which is why I guess I've been so quiet. There's not a lot of interesting gardening to report (you don't really want to know about me mending the greenhouse or sweeping up the leaves) but I've got my onions in to overwinter (M (you know who you are!) - photo from 30 September above, up-to-date one to follow as promised when it's daylight!) and am desperately trying to find a space for some garlic - my forward planning for next year has been a bit affected by the fact that I've still got loads of things going strong (carrots, spinach, chard, turnips, broccoli and brussels) and haven't got the heart to pull them up. Pathetic. I've had a great crop of raspberries though, which took me a bit by surprise because I thought they were a spring variety and have been pruning them accordingly - they did fruit in the spring so I lopped off the canes that had fruited (which is what you should do) but the ones that were left fruited this autumn rather than next spring. Weird.

Work has been really quiet (have done nothing gainful since the end of September) but I've just got a new contract to deliver an accredited programme for a company I've not worked for before starting the week after next. It's particularly exciting because I'll be delivering - for the very first time - to a totally private sector audience, an audience from the production sector. Mind you, the lack of work hasn't been for lack of effort but, unfortunately, two companies I was due to see (one to do a presentation to, the other to do a week's training with after passing the first two parts of their selection process) have been messing around with dates. It's all been a bit messy .....

So, with lots of time on my hands and not much gardening to do, what have I been doing in addition to chasing work? Well, to tell the truth, I've started to write a book - it's going to be called something like "An A - Z of Work Based Learning" and is really a natural extension of the research I did for my Master's. I'm aiming for around 30000 words to begin with (around 3000 done so far) and then we'll see where we are. I haven't set myself a deadline though, but I suppose I ought to. Oh yes, and we went to the caravan for a few days, have been down to Brighton to see Emily a couple of times, up to Nottingham for Laura's birthday, had the latter at home for a few days during reading week, have done lots of visiting friends (but should do more), and that's about it.

I'll really try to be back a bit sooner next time .....