Author Archives: james

Swimming, 9th January 2022

Posted on January 10, 2022 by james

A sign of the times, I guess… I was actually in the car and turning it around to leave to swim when the sports centre phoned to let me know that the pool was closed due to lack of lifeguards … Continue reading →

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I finally found a beer that I just can’t drink

Posted on January 8, 2022 by james

Decades ago when I was a student there was a not-as-uncommon-as-one-might-prefer drink available in the Student’s Union called a “Frogbite”. My memory is a little vague (I wonder why?) but if I recall correctly it was a pint of Snakebite … Continue reading →

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The Great Leek Scape

Posted on January 7, 2022 by james

Or perhaps not, given today’s weather, but the weather is presumably what is responsible for the behaviour of this particular leek that I noticed in the veggie plot yesterday and photographed today after a snow shower with the biggest snowflakes … Continue reading →

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Growing Degree Days

Posted on January 7, 2022 by james

I’ve come across the concept of Heating Degree Days or Cooling Degree Days in work I’ve done (basically the number of days where the temperatures has crossed some specific threshold where heating or cooling of a building is required) and … Continue reading →

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Swimming, 6th January 2022

Posted on January 6, 2022 by james

I have to admit that I really wasn’t feeling keen on swimming today. It may just be a reaction to the Covid booster that I had on Tuesday, but I was feeling quite tired. It never feels as bad as … Continue reading →

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Garlic comparison

Posted on January 6, 2022 by james

As I posted a couple of days ago, this year’s garlic has finally made it out of the ground. I’d been feeling a bit apprehensive about what was going on because it seems to have been far slower to get … Continue reading →

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Swimming, 5th Jan 2022

Posted on January 6, 2022 by james

First swim of the new year, and not entirely to my surprise the pool was unusually busy. Past years suggest that it will have all calmed down again by the end of the month 🙂 I wasn’t expecting too much … Continue reading →

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At last we have garlic-sign!

Posted on January 4, 2022 by james

I’ve been a little apprehensive about the garlic for next year. I saved four of my best bulbs from this year’s harvest to replant, and did so back in October. Despite the fairly mild weather however there’s been no sign … Continue reading →

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Smoke #2

Posted on January 2, 2022 by james

This morning I’ve smoked the second batch of cheese, or, at least, the Tesco own-brand cheese. The rest somehow “disappeared” from the fridge and is nowhere to be seen. It’s a mystery… This time I used apple wood dust from … Continue reading →

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My first attempt at smoking…

Posted on January 1, 2022 by james

Cheddar cheese in this case. It rolls ok, but it’s a pig to get lit 😀 Slightly more seriously, I bought just over a kilo of cheese earlier in the week. Given that this was going to be my first … Continue reading →

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