tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-11-14:/MokoFeed2009-11-14T20:46:16+01:00tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-10-03:/2009/10/03/shower-gel-saturday-3-october-7090827/Flynns2009-10-03T14:54:07+02:002009-10-03T14:54:07+02:00 <p>My husband recently got shower gel dispensers for the bathroom when we (finally) had it redone. You know the sort that go on the wall and they have in hotels. Having previously squirted the stuff willy nilly from a bottle I'm amazed at how little shower gel you actually need to use, and how much you waste by using a flannel - today's green tip! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/10/03/shower-gel-saturday-3-october-7090827/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-08-11:/2009/08/11/stuff-i-wish-my-mum-had-told-me-01-tuesday-11-august-6702890/Flynns2009-08-11T21:51:34+02:002009-08-11T21:51:34+02:00 <p>I never knew until now that if you put leftover salad leaves in a bowl of water they keep all fresh and crispy and you can eat them a couple of days later. Of course you have to drain them off and shake them well to get the water off but I'd despaired of what to do with left over salad. I take out the tomatoes and peppers and throw them in a spaghetti anglaise but the leaves, until now, have had to go on the compost heap. And, since we're eating salad faster than we're growing it at the moment, it's saved me a quid too. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/08/11/stuff-i-wish-my-mum-had-told-me-01-tuesday-11-august-6702890/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-06-17:/2009/06/17/bread-wednesday-17-june-6323249/Flynns2009-06-17T11:47:06+02:002009-06-17T11:47:06+02:00 <p>I've spent about the last 10 days experimenting with making my own wholemeal bread for husband's sandwiches. It all came about because he got himself a new stand mixer with a hefty dough hook attachment. Started off with some leftover Allinson strong bread flour, which rather usefully had a recipe on the back, and Hovis sachet yeast for breadmakers or hand baking. Tasted nice but didn't rise as much as I'd hoped and was a bit solid, also a tad overdone. (Fan ovens are great for cooking evenly but you do have to knock the temp done a bit, my recipe said 230°c, I'm now using 200°c and for a bare half hour instead of 35 mins.) Very definitely edible though. Continued tinkering - tried the recipe on the back of the yeast sachet which said 500gms of flour instead of 650gms and less water, better but still didn't rise as much as it should. The other problem with the lower amount of flour was it made less dough which meant the dough hook just rolled it around the edge of the bowl instead of kneading it and I had to keep stopping it and shoving the dough back over the hook. It did seem better with slightly less water though. </p> <p>So I did a bit of a net search for bread advice and discovered that you can add a bit of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Holland and Barrett sell it, the net assured me - not in my branch they don't, but they directed me to Healthy Pulses in Sidwell Street (in Exeter) who did have it, oddly I thought, under the counter (I guess because it could be used to dissolve heroin but I don't know). Tried a loaf with a pinch of vitamin C in it, not a huge amount of difference.</p> <p>Anyhow, as the object of the exercise was really to save a bit of money I got back on the net to track down the most competitively priced wholemeal bread flour (at time of writing both Sainsburys and Tescos do a stoneground 1.5kg bag for 99p. Coop, Aldi, Lidl <em>et al.</em> are not on the price compare site I used) I had been using an organic one from Seasons in Well Street. In my research I found that Sainsburys do Allinsons dried active yeast at a lower price per gram than the sachet yeast so I got some of that as well. You have to reactivate this stuff by dissolving 1 teaspoon of sugar in 150mls of warm/hot water - they say 1 part boiling to 2 parts cold and then sprinkling a level tablespoon of it on top and whisking well (by hand - try it with an electric whisk and it goes f**king everywhere - I used a fork in the end) then you leave it for 10-15mins in a warm place until there's 2cm of froth on the top then you rewhisk it and add it to the mix. Today's loaf has just come out and it certainly looks bigger - it rose further when it was proving too. So, for the record, here's Flynn's current wholemeal bread recipe.</p> <p>650gms (nearly one and a half pounds) strong wholemeal bread flour<br> 2 tsp salt<br> large pinch ascorbic acid<br> tablespoon vegetable oil<br> 150mls (5floz) warm/hot water<br> Further 270mls (9floz) warm/hot water<br> 1 tsp sugar<br> 1 level tbsp dried active yeast</p> <p>Mix the flour, salt and ascorbic acid together in a bowl (the bowl of your mixer if you use one)<br> In another bowl dissolve the sugar in 150mls warm/hot water and sprinkle the yeast over the top, whisk with a fork and leave in a warm place for 10-15 mins until it has 2cm froth on the top.<br> Rewhisk the yeast mixture and add it to the flour mixture with the vegetable oil and a further 270mls of warm hot water.<br> Mix this all together by hand with a spoon at first and then use your hands to make an even dough<br> Knead the dough in a mixer with a dough hook for 5 mins OR knead by hand for 10 mins, you should end up with a ball of dough that is warm, damp and elastic.<br> Put it in an oiled 2lb (large) loaf tin, cover with a cloth and leave it somewhere warm to rise for at least half and hour (I do mine for an hour - it should double in size)<br> Put it in an oven at 200°c for half an hour - when it's cooked the bottom will sound hollow when tapped.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/06/17/bread-wednesday-17-june-6323249/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-05-18:/2009/05/18/recurring-dreams-monday-6135372/Flynns2009-05-18T14:11:56+02:002009-05-18T14:15:48+02:00 <p>Last night I had a recurring dream I haven’t had for ages, years. It’s the one where I have committed a murder and the police are gradually closing in. It not a horrific dream, the details (or even the broad outline) of the actual murder or any clue as to the identity of the victim are absent. The dream is just about the inevitability of the net closing and, unlike most of my recurring dreams, has different plots on the same theme. Last night it mostly involved sneaking in and out of a church, moving things around in a car, two different leather motorbike jackets and a packet of cigarettes which for some reason had to be in the correct leather jacket’s pocket. Finally I emerged from the choir stalls, hoping I’d fooled the police, and got arrested. Its not even frightening just a sense of calm inevitability.</p> <p>That’s not a particularly common one. My most common is to do with water and recurred throughout most of my late teens and twenties and periodically up until now. There are two of them both locations, one a beach with huge waves crashing into a corner where I dive in and swim through the waves or get washed up onto the beach again. The second is a bend in a stream in the countryside with a bridge and a small weir, occasionally I swim round the bend.</p> <p>And there’s a building with a circular tower on the corner. Winding round inside the double wall of this tower is a staircase, it leads from a landing into the room inside the tower. Sometimes I go further and climb out through the window onto the roof or the gable windows. The whole building is very big, it has a large central room downstairs with rooms all round and an almost separate side wing with lots more rooms downstairs and upstairs. Sometimes there are people I know living in the rooms or parts of the building subdivided as flats. There’s always somewhere for me to live and to put other people up. I don’t think the house is ever mine, but I always want it to be.</p> <p>The worst dream is the neglected gerbil one. I have a gerbil in a cage which I keep forgetting about and have to retrieve from the bottom of the wardrobe where it’s got full of bedding. I dig through the bedding in terror of finding the gerbil dead, but it’s always alive, I’ve always got away with it again. This is the only one that disturbs me, I used to have it a lot when I was worried about mum. Since her death 16 months ago I haven’t had it at all.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/05/18/recurring-dreams-monday-6135372/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-04-15:/2009/04/15/slugs-wednesday-15-april-5947673/Flynns2009-04-15T11:01:28+02:002009-04-15T11:01:28+02:00 <p>Caught a grand total of 18 slugs over one 24 hour period in my slug pub in the veggie patch yesterday! We also went out at the weekend and got a cage structure and netting because of the devastation with cabbage white caterpillars last year. Hopefully we'll get to eat some of the vegetables we grow this year instead of just feeding the local wildlife. The bluetits are back to ripping the hanging basket liners apart for their nests as well - bunch of freeloaders in my garden . . . </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/04/15/slugs-wednesday-15-april-5947673/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-04-08:/2009/04/08/greenhouse-wednesday-8-april-5909398/Flynns2009-04-08T09:25:01+02:002009-04-08T09:25:01+02:00 <p>Finally got around to building the greenhouse I got for my birthday at the weekend. Some engineering project, no wonder I went off meccano as a kid. Anyhow, there it is, all four foot six square of it round the back of the house. One piece of glass was too big so have made a couple of trips to Exeter Glass on Sowton Industrial Estate to get a bit shaved off, great company, they didn't even charge me. So this weekend I'm all ready to get my seed planted, got tumbling cherry tomatoes (which will go in three hanging baskets in the end, alicante tomatoes, italian plum tomatoes (will try bottling those), chilllis, Chris from work has offered pepper plants (in addition to the 12 broad bean plants he's already given me) and there's cauliflowers too. I read somewhere that it was a good idea if you don't have much veg garden space to concentrate on things you eat all the time so have salad leaves and rocket (I must spend 6 or 7 quid a week on those at the moment) to go in and cut at all summer (free seeds from the Daily Mirror collected from Somerfield - bit disorganised - the branch in town didn't have any seeds at all and the one near home never knew what they were supposed to be handing out, so I ended up with two sets of vegetable and herb seeds which is what I wanted anyway so no problem there). And I've got one of those turned wood paper potters where you can make planting pots out of newspaper instead of buying peat pots or using those throwaway plastic seed trays. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/04/08/greenhouse-wednesday-8-april-5909398/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2009-04-01:/2009/04/01/solar-powered-phone-wednesday-1-april-5870719/Flynns2009-04-01T10:03:02+02:002009-04-01T10:03:02+02:00 <p>Finally I have achieved a solar powered phone! I bought a solar Freeloader in November which charged my ipod and nintendo ds but the listed connector for my Nokia phone was wrong. After some research, and (finally) sending off the hands free kit as an example I got hold of a Unified Micro USB connector. The advantage of a Freeloader is that it stores the power from the sun so you can leave it charging during the day and plug the phone into it at night. Some years back I took a solar charger on Woodcraft camp to keep my phone going, but it didn't store any power - your could only charge when the panel was in the sun, which was during the day, which made the mobile phone - well immobile. So definitely worth going for a Freeloader over cheaper solar panels. (If you need to take an extra schlock of power with you when travelling you can also still charge a freeloader from the mains with a USB adaptor which was what it was originally designed for). And, since they have been a good company to deal with I will also tell you I got the Freeloader from a company in Tewksbury called Solar Technologies. <a href="http://www.solartechnology.co.uk">www.solartechnology.co.uk</a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2009/04/01/solar-powered-phone-wednesday-1-april-5870719/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-07-17:/2008/07/17/community-supported-agriculture-for-exet-4459861/Flynns2008-07-17T11:33:54+02:002009-04-24T17:16:32+02:00 <p><em>From Exeter Flying Post issue 306 Aug-Oct 2008</em></p> <p><strong>Nicola Beglin reports on an exciting initiative in the city to forge a new alliance between farmers and the local community.</strong></p> <p>Edit: Friday 24th April 2009, Exeter CSA now have a website <a href="http://www.exetercommunityagriculture.co.uk">www.exetercommunityagriculture.co.uk</a></p> <p>An exciting new food initiative is setting up on the outskirts of Exeter. Following in the footsteps of many similar projects around the country, this initiative bases itself on the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) - a term first used in the USA to describe a partnership bewteen farmers and the community.</p> <p>Why the need for such an initiative? Food production in the UK and beyond has become increasingly intensified with centralised distribution and sales – mainly through supermarkets. Small farmers and growers are struggling to survive. At the same time we have lost connection with both the land and how our food is produced. Although we can buy almost any food we want at any time – at least in Europe – we no longer recognise the seasons.</p> <p>Fresh, nutritious, affordable locally grown food for local people is at the heart of this project. So much of our food is transported thousands of unnecessary miles around Britain, whilst at the same time we face the challenges of increasing carbon dioxide emissions and oil depletion. Figures vary on the contribution made by food production to CO2 in the atmosphere – but it is significant.</p> <p>The project aims to create real partnership between producers and consumers – where the responsibility and rewards of farming are shared. It is an opportunity to create a pioneering economic model that will supply local food to our tables. It will also give people the chance to re-connect with the land, enjoy the health benefits of fresh local food and provide security for the farmer.</p> <p>It will enable people with no farming experience to have access to the land, and, in the longer term, training possibilities. At present our agricultural system does not encourage young people to get involved in farming and with the average age of UK farmers being 58 this is one aspect of farming that needs to change if we are to rise to the challenge of producing more of our own food.</p> <p>A small group of people concerned about these issues came together in January and has been working with two local farmers on ways to turn this vision into a reality. The group has been offered 4 acres of high grade, uncultivated, organic land to rent on the outskirts of Exeter – equivalent space of 100 standard allotments.</p> <p>We will be involving the community in its evolution, growing a range of produce according to the needs and interests of the members. Members of the project will be able to contribute to its development in whatever way they choose. Some people may wish to subscribe a receive produce; other may wish to help formulate the direction of the project and/or work on the land. by joining this project you'll be able to know where your food comes from; support the local economy and help build a future based on sustainable agriculture.</p> <p>A launch meeting will be held on Tuesday 16 September 2008 at Alphington Primary School, so come along to find out more. In the meantime for further information please email: <strong>nbeglin@ukonline.co.uk</strong> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/07/17/community-supported-agriculture-for-exet-4459861/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-07-09:/2008/07/09/bonekickers-wednesday-9-july-4424312/Flynns2008-07-09T11:45:13+02:002008-07-09T11:45:13+02:00 <p>Yes, well that was Time Team meets the Da Vinci Code! They've tried a lot too hard to make archaeology really dramatic for non-archaeologists. I'm sure archaeology is fascinating for people who know all about it but dramatic? not often I would think. And is it just me or could you drive a bus through some of the plot holes. First of all this fight between the Knights Templar and the 'Saracens' in Bath was an amazing discovery and then, all of a sudden, everybody knew about documentary evidence and where to find it from the Grandmontine monk, written in books, and the fact that the 'Saracens' were English mercenaries. So how come the fight was such a mystery in the first place?.</p> <p>Young archaeologist gets trapped in flat by modern day Knight Templar with huge sharp sword - and she didn't grab her mobile and ring the police?!!</p> <p>Group of moslem students seriously threatened by guys with big sharp swords in a mosque - and neither did they!</p> <p>Heroes win in the end by trapping the baddies burning to death in a newly discovered vault and decide to go to the pub - even in Midsomer Murders Barnaby would have required a few statements before people were allowed to get the rounds in.</p> <p>Kinghts Templar (the originals) collected loads of crucifixes from the Holy Land in case one was the true cross - OK but the KT's were collecting at least 1000 years after the event - masses of crosses had been lying around that long? and the locals hadn't incorporated them in buildings or cooking fires in ten centuries?</p> <p>Ah well, I like a new drama - unlike a school report though I think we should say 'don't try so hard'. Think its about slavery next week. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/07/09/bonekickers-wednesday-9-july-4424312/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-06-29:/2008/06/29/needlework-sunday-29-june-4378996/Flynns2008-06-29T08:52:48+02:002008-06-29T08:52:48+02:00 <p>Among various little jobs yesterday (shopping - with list to save money, dying my husband's irretrievably stained polo shirt chocolate brown) I took my Mum's old sewing machine up to the repairers. I'd tried to use it to stitch something up at the beginning of the year and suddenly smoke issued from the foot pedal and it started sewing by itself (bit like Close Encounters). Anyhow I finally got around to contacting the repair shop and asking if they were up to repairing a 30 year old sewing machine. They were calmly confident that they were, knew what the problem was, and that it would probably be a breeze - so I dropped it off and now they're finding out if it is a breeze and I'm awaiting a phone call.</p> <p>The main reason for this lurch into domestic science is that I like to wear baseball undershirts. But I'm picky about them. I like them with three quarter length raglan sleeves, lowish neckline, scooped hem and made of heavy cotton jersey. A company called toxico used to make some I liked but they've stopped. Also, recently, my work colleague came in with a couple of baseball undershirts he'd ordered for his 3 year old daughter and the contrast sleeves were made of patterned print cotton jersey which was really nice - and which don't come in adult sizes. Only one thing for it - make my own. Over the next few weeks I will be attempting to rediscover my Home Economics skills from sec school - I'll let you know how I get on . . . </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/06/29/needlework-sunday-29-june-4378996/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-06-28:/2008/06/28/flat-fashion-saturday-28-june-4378074/Flynns2008-06-28T23:35:12+02:002008-06-28T23:35:12+02:00 <p>You know how useful a sarong is on holiday – you can use it as a skirt, headscarf and we’ve all seen people do that thing where they make a top out of it by twisting the ends round their neck. What if you could do a lot more with it?</p> <p>The idea following occurred to me on holiday one time, but fashion design isn’t a strong point with me so I thought I’d just put the idea on this blog so anyone who wanted to run with it could, might be useful as a project starting point for a fashion design or jewellery design student.</p> <p>The idea of Flat Fashion is to design a set of accessories so you can make more interesting creations with sarongs (and other flat pieces of material). As I said, I’m no fashion designer so I haven’t tried to do this, but I’m thinking along the lines of possibly a ring that would convert a bandeau type bikini top (made from a sarong wrapped round your chest) into one with more shape. Maybe buckle shaped pieces, would an S shaped piece help to make interesting sarong creations? I also got the idea from the intricate folding that makes a sari stay where its put and the fact that Romans and Saxons wore quite simple clothes held in place with decorative brooches, buckles and pins.</p> <p>So, first thing to do is to research clothing past or present, that relies on folding or brooches/pins. Then, start experimenting with interesting ways to wear a sarong (you could also use smaller scarves for variety) and design maybe half a dozen attachments/accessories which could be used to help create a variety of ways of wearing a sarong (scarf etc.) You might not want to stop at clothes but design attachments to turn a sarong onto a bag for example.</p> <p>Produce a leaflet/booklet of the ways you’ve invented (or a downloadable web pdf) and then the basic set of attachments can be customised to various styles. There could be for example a bling set, or a carved wood set, the designs are added to the basic set of attachments (like, for example in jewellery, you can have a gold bangle or a silver bangle or a wood bangle – but it still basically a bangle).</p> <p>From the marketing point of view the designer just needs to sell the rights to make the patented attachments to various costume jewellery and fashion chains. There’s scope to have them made in craft collectives with Fair Trade certification if the designer wanted to give the rights to them. Or sets made in pewter or copper or ‘celtic style’ (for example) from the various tourist boards. It would be possible to make a larger set of attachments if a company wanted to put matching flip flops with the attachments for example.</p> <p>There are other advantages to wearing flat pieces of material. Cheaper, easier to iron, fold and pack and you can wear all that beautiful ethnic material you bought on holiday as a souvenir.</p> <p>And that’s about it for the idea. Anyone who wants to run with it is more than welcome – good luck.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/06/28/flat-fashion-saturday-28-june-4378074/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-06-27:/2008/06/27/go-karting-friday-27-june-4370766/Flynns2008-06-27T10:14:12+02:002008-06-27T10:14:12+02:00 <p>Took my nephew and his mate (15 and 16) up to the Mansell Raceway in Dunkeswell in east Devon (the Blackdown Hills) yesterday. Can't recommend it highly enough - 800 metre outdoor track, 40mph karts and computerised timing (£25 for two 15 minute sessions). The staff were great and really friendly, happy to give advice and tips. Its the home of the Devon Karting Club and at the moment doesn't advertise much as they are going to build a restaurant etc. Currently all the offices and things are in portakabins. A great afternoon the boys had a whale of a time.</p> <p>Its just up the road from Dunkeswell Airfield which has a flying club with a restaurant open to the public, flying lessons and flights, and a privately run wartime museum. (Must be the largest flat area in Devon which is otherwise really hilly). </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/06/27/go-karting-friday-27-june-4370766/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-06-25:/2008/06/25/magpies-again-wednesday-25-june-4363214/Flynns2008-06-25T17:51:18+02:002008-06-25T17:51:18+02:00 <p>Excellent - the magpies I watched building a nest earlier this year have been hopping around with a young one (still a bit fluffy, shorter tail). There were also three wrens around yesterday so a couple of those were probably young ones. And there was a young robin without its red chest. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/06/25/magpies-again-wednesday-25-june-4363214/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-04-24:/2008/04/24/thieving-bluetits-thursday-24-april-4088024/Flynns2008-04-24T13:50:58+02:002008-04-24T13:50:58+02:00 <p>What a cheek! Not content with the milk bottle trick our local bluetits are helping themselves to bits of the fibrous liners in our hanging baskets to make their nests. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/04/24/thieving-bluetits-thursday-24-april-4088024/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-04-18:/2008/04/18/magpies-friday-18-april-4061236/Flynns2008-04-18T12:26:59+02:002008-04-18T12:28:27+02:00 <p>For two or three weeks now I've been watching a couple of magpies building a nest in a large tree near the path that runs between Northernhay Park and Central Station (in Exeter). Keep trying to see if they have chicks yet but both are still off the nest at the same time, hopping about together and squawking to each other, so I suspect they still haven't laid eggs. Soon there will be too many leaves on the trees to see them clearly. There's been a recent complication in the shape of a couple of carrion crows - also collecting nesting material - who seem to be encroaching on the magpies' territory. One magpie hops around a nearby pine tree presumably distracting the crows from the magpie nest site and there are chases through the trees both crows chasing magpies and vice versa.</p> <p>That path is a good area for birds it's also the usual haunt of three or four wood pigeons, a few longtailed tits, blue tits, great tits and a coal tit, plus a wren, a robin (the remaining robin from three or four earlier in the year - presumbably the winner in the territorial fight), blackbirds, a songthrush and on one occasion a goldcrest. At least three grey squirrels as well. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/04/18/magpies-friday-18-april-4061236/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-04-14:/2008/04/14/more-gardening-monday-14-april-4042271/Flynns2008-04-14T11:51:22+02:002008-04-14T11:51:22+02:00 <p>Spent Saturday dodging the rain and doing more planting. Strawberries into the strawberry planter that we'd been using for herbs up to now (now we have a garden we have a herb patch). A row of peas to grew up the trellis on the side of the shed, two rows of beetroot. Garlic in between the broad beans (thought the broad beans would have cropped by now - need the space!). Earlier on I put in a horseradish root and two rhubarb crowns - leaving space for a courgette plant currently growing on in the conservatory. Also growing on ready for planting out later are french beans, tumbling tomatoes for the hanging baskets and a chilli plant - going to get some that will go outside too. Oh and there's spuds in the potato planter round the back - and a large basil plant on the kitchen windowsill. Lots of little gnats appearing in the garden now the weather's warmer so hopefully we will get house martins and swallows later. We get lots of sparrows - the houses here have these square section plastic edgings on the roof tile edges and the sparrows nest up them. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/04/14/more-gardening-monday-14-april-4042271/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-02-18:/2008/02/18/fags_and_tampons_monday_18_february~3744101/Flynns2008-02-18T11:48:20+01:002008-02-18T11:48:20+01:00 <p>If the government are keen to stop people smoking why don't they take a leaf out of the tampon manufacturers book and cut down on the number in the packet. A year or so ago all the tampon manufacturers kept the prices of their product down by cutting a ten pack to an eight pack and a 20 pack to a 16 pack. If the tobacco manufacturers did this they could appear to keep their prices down and at the same time keep the government happy because most people would end up smoking four less fags per packet. One or two might buy two packets where they would have bought one but a lot of people would continue to smoke the same number of packets per day as they used to. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/02/18/fags_and_tampons_monday_18_february~3744101/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-01-14:/2008/01/14/if_i_could_travel_in_time_monday_14_janu~3574938/Flynns2008-01-14T14:14:39+01:002008-01-14T14:14:39+01:00 <p>If I could travel in time and bring people back to my own time for a short while I would go back to the formation of the RSPB and collect some of their first volunteers. Then I would bring them back to 2008, take them to the high tide roost at Bowling Green Marsh on the Exe Estuary and show them the hundreds of avocets that flock there now, just to say thankyou. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/01/14/if_i_could_travel_in_time_monday_14_janu~3574938/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-01-12:/2008/01/12/jamies_fowl_dinners_saturday_12_january~3567084/Flynns2008-01-12T18:57:37+01:002008-01-12T18:57:37+01:00 <p>Watched Jamie Oliver's programme on TV last night. A number of people said that they bought eggs from caged hens and cheaply produced chicken because they were on a low budget and couldn't afford to buy the more expensive humanely produced meat and eggs. I sympathise with this (while thinking that <em>some</em> of the people who claim poverty actually could quite well afford to eat better produced food). What interests me is how much the supermarkets pay farmers for chickens from each type of production. The farmer of birds reared intensively said he makes 3p per chicken from the supermarkets - is this the amount after he's taken off what it costs him to rear the birds? Just how much of a mark up do supermarkets put on chicken - could they do more to make humanely produced food affordable? They do make huge profits each year - including the cheaper supermarkets. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/01/12/jamies_fowl_dinners_saturday_12_january~3567084/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-01-10:/2008/01/10/confusion_thursday_10_january~3555711/Flynns2008-01-10T12:05:43+01:002008-01-10T12:05:43+01:00 <p>OK, car parks are really good places for recycling bins, but I wish the council would put them next to the Pay and Display machines. The number of times I've trekked across the car park towards a large notice thinking its the ticket machine and discovered its a bottle bank . . . </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/01/10/confusion_thursday_10_january~3555711/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2008-01-07:/2008/01/07/kenya_anarchism_love_and_peace_monday_7_~3540824/Flynns2008-01-07T13:16:28+01:002008-01-07T13:16:28+01:00 <p>As Kenyan politicians fuel the fires of tribal rivalry for their own ends, the Independent on Sunday coverage suggests the light of anarchism emerging faintly. While voting has indeed been along tribal lines and some Kenyans have responded to incitements to tribal hatred, reports suggest a number of them are fed up that ordinary people are reaping the whirlwind of the power-hungry politicians machinations. It’s not the politicians, fat and rich on the proceeds of nepotism, who are losing their homes, families, businesses and lives – it’s working Kenyans, many living on only a dollar a day as it is.</p> <p>Kenyan politics has been riven with corruption for years, now it seems more and more ordinary Kenyans are deciding that the enemies are not their neighbours from different tribes, but their rich, machiavellian and dishonest ‘leaders’. The philosophy of anarchism – that giving power to leaders, rulers and politicians leads to tyranny – is writ large in Kenya at the moment. If you give people the right to rule you, you invite them to grow rich and powerful at your expense. The ordinary Kenyan people have the power to break the cycle of poverty and corruption in their country, and the fact that many neighbourhoods and families are from mixed tribal backgrounds may give them the will and the tools.</p> <p>It is often said that anarchists must have a lot of faith in human nature, no one has yet explained why the belief that no one is fit to rule over anyone else requires faith in human nature.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2008/01/07/kenya_anarchism_love_and_peace_monday_7_~3540824/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-29:/2007/12/29/apple_pressing_saturday_29_december~3503915/Flynns2007-12-29T18:52:45+01:002008-01-07T13:17:10+01:00 <p><strong>From Exeter Flying Post no. 304 December 2007</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Paul Vincent </em>investigates a Devon tradition</strong></p> <p>On this cool Sunday afternoon there is a smell of dry fallen leaves as we walk down a rough farm track. We are following the sound of a tractor engine and the growling of an apple crushing machine. At the end of the track a gathering of vehicles – cars, flat-bed trucks and trailers frame an untidy scene of old wooden barrels and heavy-duty plastic bags full of apples. A dozen people stand chatting outside an open-fronted shed, while others are busily engaged inside, emerging from the darkness every now and then, carrying buckets of delicious-smelling liquid.</p> <p>This scene is in mid-Devon in late autumn, as friends and neighbours get together, pooling their bags of windfall apples they have brought over, joining the communal task of turning ripe fruit into juice. In the evening they will return home with their ­barrels, leaving them undisturbed until the warmth of next spring, when they will be broached for the fresh strong cider they contain.</p> <p>Inside the shed the activity is focused and urgent. The bagfuls of apples, cider varieties mixed with sweet dessert apples, are poured into the crusher, its jaws driven by a drive belt powered by the tractor. Out at the bottom comes a supply of crushed fruit, shoveled up by two men, and ­transported to the cider press, a looming giant of a thing at the back of the shed. Two or three people are standing on bales of straw on all four sides of the press, ­spreading each shovel-load of mush as it is tossed onto each new frame of straw they are busy constructing.</p> <p>They are building what is known as a cheese, a broad square tower of straw with crushed apple, bound by the long stalks into twelve layers up to a height of five feet or so. The straw is the same as grown for thatching houses: grown without pesticides and harvested by hand to preserve its full length.</p> <p>The process is simple, but it needs to be done carefully and evenly, so that the cheese rises firm and upright. One man is in charge, judging when it is ready to start a new layer, supervising the ratio of straw to apple, and calling for the straw to be folded over at the edges when the layer is ­complete, to keep the juice and pulp from leaking out when the pressing begins. The cheese is built up using a square wooden frame, which is raised each time a layer is completed. When finished, the cheese is a perfectly formed block ready to receive the weight of the press. It takes about two hours to build the cheese, so the team is refreshed from time to time as everyone takes a turn.</p> <p>When the cheese has reached its maximum height there is a short lull, and silence as the crushing machine is rested. For a moment, the only sound in the shed is the trickle of apple juice already flowing out into a half-barrel below the press. There are murmurs of approval from the company present: a beautiful looking cheese! Mugs are filled with fresh juice, mixed or not with a little cider from last season.</p> <p>At the top of the press, a wooden bar is inserted into a capstan to lever down the heavy iron press onto the cheese. Two men heave the bar round a half turn, and the plate squeezes into the tower of apple and straw. They repeat the action several times, until it is too hard to push the bar any more. The juice comes flowing out at the bottom of the press, and new helpers form a chain with buckets, carrying the liquid and decanting it, through straw-lined funnels, into the mouths of the wooden barrels. After a short time the press can be screwed down further, and the juice starts to flow again. The process is repeated at lengthening intervals over hours, even days, to obtain as much juice as possible.</p> <p>When the cheese has been fully pressed, it is just a quarter of its original size, and will have yielded 1½ cubic metres of apple juice, or nearly 300 gallons. During the next six months, and with no other treatment, this juice will turn itself into a strong rustic cider ready for drinking through next ­summer. Its alcoholic content is around 7-8%.</p> <p>Like the old orchards that were once part of every small farm in Devon, cider presses are no longer a common feature of life in the countryside. However, while many orchards have vanished entirely, quite a few 19thC cider presses have simply remained dormant, undisturbed, awaiting a ­generation with renewed interest in the cider-maker’s craft. </p> <p>For some it is a love of restoring old skills and machinery; for others it is the attractive thought of making a large amount of free alcohol. The seasonal occasion makes a lovely social event, and it’s all quite legal so long as you don’t sell it – and don’t make more than 7,000 litres year. At 7-8% that’s probably enough to get on with, anyway.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/29/apple_pressing_saturday_29_december~3503915/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-28:/2007/12/29/flying_scotsman_friday_28_december~3501545/Flynns2007-12-29T00:59:04+01:002007-12-29T00:59:04+01:00 <p>They always do it this time of year, take advantage of everyones' need to make new starts and resolutions to do constructive things in the new year. For 2008 you can get a part work which enables you to (eventually) build a metal model of the Flying Scotsman, £4.99 per week. So will this thing ever get built? by anyone? the component parts will come to you in a total of 125 weeks - so building the model will take you nearly two and half years at a cost of £619.24 - that's got to be nearly the time and money it took to build the original - and you have to buy the track and engine separately.</p> <p>I tried a part work thing one new year, Quest it was called, scientific things, interesting short articles introducing the reader to scientific developments, with periodically produced ring binders to keep them in. I subscribed with the publisher so I didn't miss an issue and in case my newsagent stopped stocking them after a few issues. About eight issues in I got a letter from the publisher saying they were stopping publication of the title. </p> <p>Will the Flying Scotsman part work publisher keep going for all 125 issues? We shall see . . . </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/29/flying_scotsman_friday_28_december~3501545/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-19:/2007/12/19/education_wednesday_19_december~3465032/Flynns2007-12-19T13:50:30+01:002008-01-07T13:18:32+01:00 <p>Should people be allowed to leave full time education at 14 - retaining the right to take a further four years of state funded education later in life? A number of my school friends wished in later years they'd taken more notice of their education at the time, maybe they'd have done better if they'd taken it when they'd realised how useful it would be to them and had an idea why they wanted to - rather than being forced to do it a 15 and 16 years of age when they weren't that interested.</p> <p>Most kids would probably stay on straight through, but a few might do better if able to go to work/apprenticeship and take their education later when they knew what they needed - or if settled in a profession, use the years for professional training or courses for interest. Not everyone is at their best with exams and qualifications although the current thinking seems to be that this is the only important thing. (Impossible to organise but wouldn't it be good if schools had to provide league tables showing their ex-pupils success in relationships, job satisfaction and social usefulness 5 and 10 years after leaving!)</p> <p>Lets stop telling our kids that academic success is the only thing worth having, and value non-academic careers more. Where would we be without cleaners, waiting staff, shop workers, carers, plumbers, decorators, mechanics, public transport drivers - to name a few. Illegal immigrants are employed as cleaners because its a job most people don't want but if it was valued more and paid better then people would want the job. It's a vital job - but we'd only appreciate that if we shopped in filthy shops and worked in filthy offices and used uncleaned toilets. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/19/education_wednesday_19_december~3465032/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-18:/2007/12/18/maths_joke_tuesday_18_december~3459769/Flynns2007-12-18T11:52:02+01:002007-12-18T11:52:02+01:00 <p>There are 10 kinds of people in the world . . .<br> . . . those who understand binary<br> . . . and those who don't </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/18/maths_joke_tuesday_18_december~3459769/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-17:/2007/12/17/christmas_oranges_monday_17_december~3455178/Flynns2007-12-17T12:13:59+01:002008-01-07T13:19:04+01:00 <p>Spent yesterday evening making Christmas oranges with cloves pushed into the skin to put on the radiators so they dry out and smell nice. We had a big bag of mandarins and a huge jar of cloves from Makro. Its strange how you can get to the age of 43 and still not have ever done some of these things - this was the first year I had done them (though Husband made some last year). Fingers got all sticky and covered in crumbled clove. This year was also the first year I'd ever made a guy for Bonfire Night.</p> <p>We've also completed most of the shopping for Christmas, Husband is due to ice the cake soon and has been busy making jars of picked shallots (we had to buy the shallots this year but will hopefully be growing them next now we have the new vegetable patch sorted), fruit in alcohol and herb vinegars, all ranged along the kitchen windowsill looking decorative. Earlier in the year we also make sole gin from the sloes in the garden and they'll be ready for Christmas too.</p> <p>Today I'm due to post off the last of the Christmas parcels (except the one for the kids). For my aunts we bought glass Christmas tree decorations from the Christmas markets (icicles, stars, balls and doves) in Bruges and Brussels which we visited when we went over to Belgium for the Tottenham v Anderlecht match in the UEFA cup. I've packed them up in silver starry boxes from Paperchase (they've just opened one in Exeter - hurray) with labels saying open immediately. I also finished decorating the Christmas tree in Mum's window (on the front of the house) all in white with white ribbons and flowers as well as balls and bells</p> <p>All that's left to do now before Christmas is to plant the broad bean seeds so they'll be ready for early spring, need a bit more topsoil for the vegetable patch so probably a trip down to B&Q Warehouse one evening this week required. We got the bird feeders up a week or so ago and they've started to get a lot of visitors, sparrows, great tits and blue tits so far. We also have a couple of regular grey squirrels. Not so many birds at the feeders on the front of the house despite there being a fair number of trees around. We also got the plum tree planted in the patch where we had the bonfire on Guy Fawkes night - dunno how long that'll take to start fruiting. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/17/christmas_oranges_monday_17_december~3455178/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-12:/2007/12/12/master_rat_wednesday_12_december~3433124/Flynns2007-12-12T15:57:37+01:002008-01-07T13:23:18+01:00 <p><strong>The following article is a regular column in the Exeter Flying Post by longstanding contributor <em>Sinbad McCaffrey</em> </strong> </p> <p>The other day I was discussing rats with a friend of mine. She has lived in the country all her life and, though her exact age is moot, she is definitely past retirement. You see, I keep chickens - not a lot, but enough to have the splendid ability to convert food scraps into enough eggs for us.</p> <p>Part of the original idea was to stop the rats that were living in our compost heap from having a source of cooked food. There are always rats about but if they find easy pickings they breed very fast, and you end up with tunnels and a problem with your neighbours. I was explaining that we had simply moved the rat problem from our compost heap to the chicken run, and that our new rat-trap was catching one or two a day, which I then had to drive up the road and release miles from anywhere.</p> <p>She suggested that this was sentimental of me and that I should drown them or something, and I told her that last week we had trapped two large rats simultaneously and that one had killed the other. The surviving rat was very cross when I found it, and with many bites and scratches. This tale reminded her of what her father and many others used to do when there was a rat problem, and she explained how they used to create a Master Rat. I will tell you about it now, but first I must say that I have no intention of following her advice.</p> <p>Rats are sociable creatures with sophisticated social rules and hierarchies and seem to be able to co-exist fairly peacefully in large numbers, but if they are stressed they become very aggressive. To create a Master Rat one must first catch a large and aggressive rat and put it in a bin with only a dish of water. When it is good and hungry you feed it a dead rat and so you go on. When it is really big you give it live rats that you have trapped and it gets a taste for them. Now you have a Master Rat, and, when you release it, it will then decimate its fellows and sort out your rat problem. I didn’t mention to my friend the worrying thought that now you had instead a huge and highly trained killer rat.</p> <p>I thought also I would tell you about some research I came across recently. It was discovered, in the 2nd World War and during psychological research during the Vietnam War, that soldiers very rarely tried to kill the enemy during battle and that the great majority of enemy casualties were inflicted by just a few soldiers that aimed to kill. When psychologists investigated further they found there was a very strong, near universal, human inhibition to killing others, and that overcoming it often resulted in severe psychological problems later for the soldier involved. </p> <p>Army strategists realised that this made a mockery of the majority of the army and that this inhibition led to a huge waste of effort. So they set about devising a way of training their men in ways to prevent this inhibition from affecting their ability to carry out their orders. </p> <p>The first of the two main techniques was to train their men to fire at suddenly appearing, realistic, targets in chaotic conditions until it became an automatic response. The second technique was to use weapons and systems that allowed people to kill in a more disembodied way, and to train soldiers using simulators (sophisticated computer games). Thus the enemy becomes perceived as just another simulated target and the inhibition is circumvented in another way.</p> <p>Of course this training may later be responsible for a far greater level of psychological trauma for the returning heroes, but by then they will be out of the army and of no further use.</p> <p>It may be that this article does hang together after all.</p> <p>Yours sadly, Sinbad McCaffrey.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/12/master_rat_wednesday_12_december~3433124/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-10:/2007/12/10/cultural_champions_in_devon_monday_10_de~3423687/Flynns2007-12-10T18:54:48+01:002008-01-07T13:20:44+01:00 <p><strong>The attached article is from the Exeter Flying Post and written by <em>Ghee Bowman</em> of the Global Centre at Exeter Community Centre</strong></p> <p>People move to Exeter all the time – it’s a part of living in a beautiful, prosperous part of the world. I moved here from London ten years ago, my mum came to England from Germany in the 1930s. Migration is a common human experience.</p> <p>Exeter’s growing black and minority ethnic population is something to be celebrated on many levels - not only with the widening variety of restaurants and good shops. Recent letters in the Express & Echo seem to point towards the ethnic mix here as a problem, but for many of us it’s a cause of celebration and a learning opportunity. </p> <p>The fact that Exeter schools have children speaking many different languages, that our mosque is growing fast and planning a new building, that the faces seen on the High Street are increasingly not just white ones – all these are signs of positive change. But there is an enormous amount of ignorance in Exeter and the wider county about people and their cultures, which can breed misunderstanding, fear and racism. </p> <p>That’s where the Cultural Champions come in. A Cultural Champion is a Devon resident from another culture or religion, who comes into the classroom (or workplace or community or wherever) to give people an authentic, personal view of their culture. In this way, Devon children and Devon adults can learn about other cultures and people that live here, broadening their minds and breaking down barriers. </p> <p>Cultural Champions come from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds, and can deliver interactive sessions on a wide variety of topics – slavery, Islam, culture of Pakistan, ancient & modern Egypt, games from around the world, the list goes on. And because the Cultural Champions are local people talking about their own experience and their own culture, they can cut through the flannel that sometimes exists in inter-cultural situations and give clear, honest, personal answers. </p> <p>The Cultural Champion programme is run by Devon Development Education from the Global Centre at Exeter Community Centre on St David’s Hill. Six Cultural Champions completed the training course last year, and are available now, for a negotiable fee. We’re currently seeking funding to run the course again this year – if you know of any possible sources, please let us know. </p> <p>Feedback has been very positive. Penny Carvill from St Sidwell's school said: <em>‘Super lesson. Children totally on task. All were interested and motivated by presentation. Excellent props and resources. Great manner with children’</em>. Amy Doherty of Exeter Woodcraft Folk said: <em>‘The henna hand tattoos and the samosa-making were very popular . . . thank you to Waqar for a really good evening’</em>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.culturalchampions.org.uk">www.culturalchampions.org.uk </a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/10/cultural_champions_in_devon_monday_10_de~3423687/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-12-02:/2007/12/02/more_gardening_saturday_1_december~3381444/Flynns2007-12-02T01:03:35+01:002007-12-02T01:03:35+01:00 <p>Well, last Saturday we got the vegetable patch built, three decking planks along the long edge and two along the short to hold the soil back. While husband did that I built the compost heap with premade slats sawn in a workshop for people with learning difficulties in Blackbird Leys. Feels so much better to have the compost heap at last, and I also put in the bird feeder poles and washed all the feeders. Now we have peanuts and high energy seed mix back and front of the house. Must get round to putting up the suet blocks as well. In the week I ordered a Victoria Plum tree off the net and today we went to B&Q and got hold of 12 bags of top soil for the vegetable patch (quite a lot of subsoil came up with building and also with shifting the slate that was all over this garden - so a bit of new top soil is a good idea) and a large bag of compost and some blood fish and bone to plant the tree with. Came home just before a big storm and planted trees and spread topsoil in the pouring rain before running back indoors for hot soup and toast and an afternoon devoted to Sky Sports (Exeter lost to Bury in the FA cup so no good draws like a couple of years ago with Man U).</p> <p>During the shopping trip this morning we got the Christmas cake fruit too, after having to rummage through the shed and find my Rose Elliot Christmas Book for the recipe. So now there's a big brown plastic mixing bowl on the wine boxes on the kitchen windowsill with just over a kilogram of fruit soaking in sherry - smells lovely. I've always used the brown plastic bowl for this job, it's rubbish for mixing cakes as it's too light (and anyway these days I do all the hard work with the food processor) so as it's the only bowl I have big enough to take a whole Christmas cake for mixing. As a result I pour the cake into the fruit rather than the fruit into the cake. We've also got pickled shallots and pickled beetroot on the windowsill as husband has been busy in the last few weeks (and three or four litres of sloe gin in the cupboard).</p> <p>Anyhow, ironing footie shirts for tomorrow whilst watching Back to the Future (again) so better go. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/12/02/more_gardening_saturday_1_december~3381444/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:flynns.blog.co.uk,2007-11-17:/2007/11/17/broad_beans_saturday_17_november~3311669/Flynns2007-11-17T19:13:05+01:002008-01-07T13:22:07+01:00 <p>Made an abortive (due to Jewsons closing at lunchtime on a Saturday) attempt to make the vegetable garden today. As our garden is on a bit of a slope, the idea was to flatten out a piece about 2 metres by three and a half and hold the soil back with decking planks. We'll have to do it next week and get the timber from Jewsons in the week. I'm looking forward to having the vegetable plot, nowhere near as big as the allotment I used to have (and I have my name down with the council for another), but probably about as much as I can manage at the moment. (The allotment waiting list is so long you just put your name down on the off chance that when one finallly turns up your circumstances mean you can work it.) Full time work plus full time husband and mother tending (I'm sure kids would be easier) mean I have very little time. However, hopefully I will end up growing peas (adore them raw straight off the plant), shallots (husband likes to pickle them), tomatoes and courgettes (use them by the megatonne) parsnips (easy, keep for ages in the soil), beetroot (yuk! but husband likes it) beans and herbs. Have got seeds for broad beans, useful because you can plant them in November and they produce fresh veg in about March when nothing else is up and your running out of the winter stuff. Thought I was going to have to get cloches for them and them found a sort that can be planted outside in November as seeds and don't need cloches - might get some anyway because always useful for early beans, and now we've moved to a house with a garden we have a shed and can store all that stuff.</p> <p>Anyway due to the abortive nature of today's vegetable plot building I ended up taking Mum into town to Marks and Sparks for a new skirt and trouser suit. Tried out the new Shopmobility here, good drop off outside and I can put the car in the carpark for free as shopmob validate your ticket. Anyhow, stopped for the usual cuppa in the Milkmaid near the Cathedral and met a couple who live in our road. the guy commented on the clayey nature of the soil, it is, and it stains too, rusty red stains on your clothes, never encountered soil that does that before - even in this bit of Devon where it's all brick red.</p> <p>The cornet playing is coming along both better and slower than I hoped - my brain seems to have grasped, in an unconscious way, which harmonic each note is made on (so A to E which is the same fingering, different harmonic is done by the lip) but staying on control of producing the notes in tune without splitting for more than half a tune before I get tired is taking longer than I hoped. Husband seems to have decided that playing a footie matches this year is out. (Sorry I've taken a real leaf out of Belle Du Jour's book by referring to him as 'Husband' - d'you think she's for real?, I think shes a writer - after all I'm not bad at putting thoughts on paper but she's in a different league when it comes to enjoyable writing.)</p> <p>What I intended to post up today was my idea for Flat Fashion. It's not an idea that I have time to take forward myself and I've gone through phases of thinking about writing out the idea and selling it to a fashion house (probably not a good enough idea) selling it on Ebay to a fashon student desperate for a project (that might work) or just putting it on here and letting anyone who wants to run with it. As I've said before, the net is a big free for all, so lets throw out ideas into the fertile seas out there and see what evolves. So will have to work on Flat Fashion in the next few days - tell all your fashion student mates. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://flynns.blog.co.uk/2007/11/17/broad_beans_saturday_17_november~3311669/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>