I thought it might be a good idea to post about my holiday. We went to Wales first, left here at about 4:00 pm on Friday 3 July and drove to Llangollen where we found a nice B&B for the night and a pub for the evening.
On the Saturday we went to Bedgellert and camped on the Forestry commission camp site, I can remember camping there as a child with my parents. The site is a lot bigger than it used to be and has hot showers and other such improvements. It was wet most of the 5 days we were there but we managed to see lots. We climbed Snowdon, we visited the Centre for Alternative Technology, we visited Carnarvon and looked round the castle.
We did not find that the area was good for vegan food, indeed it was really poor but we were able to cook our own food at the campsite and so had no real problems.
After Wales we went to Ironbridge which is the place that the industrial revolution started. Again we stayed in a B&B and explored the town, had a fantastic Indian meal, and visited two museums.
On the way home we stopped for a night in Blackpool, again a great place to visit and full of life.
Now we are home we are getting the garden back into shape and plan to get away for a few odd days as we are not back at work until next Tuesday, another week off work
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Thursday 28 May 2009
Just an update
It seems to surprise me when I come back here and see how long it is since my last blog. I always promise myself that I'll be more regular in my postings.
I've been busy as always. Some things have gone well others have seemed to grow to fill the time available to them.
An example is that I decided to repaint the railings and wall round two sides of our front garden. All that it seemed to require was to wire brush the rust of a few patches of the railings, scrape the loose white paint off the wall and then repaint both the railings and the wall. I realised that there were three breaks in the railings so I bolted them together and started to scrape the wall. It was then that I found out that the coping stone is in two sections and very loose and the railings are not really secure. I've now prepared it so next week I can fix some timber shuttering and pour a layer of concrete over to increase the thickness of the coping stones by about 50 to 60mm. I think that this will mean it is all solid and should last for many years. I have to cut back the honeysuckle which will grow again but even worse we had a lovely cotoneaster bush in the corner and I had to cut that back a lot to enable me to reach into the corner of the wall and fence. I hope it recovers quickly and grows back to its former glory.
As well as his I've started to pre-record some radio programmes. I work shifts in a call centre so can not have a regular time to record a show, or broadcast one live, so I am pre-recording with the idea of having three or four programmes ready so I can then record one or two most weeks and I expect them to start being broadcast on a Thursday evening with a repeat on a Friday. I plan to base each programme on a part or Glasgow or some event from the city's history.
We've managed to eat out a few times, for our wedding anniversary we went to our favourite Indian restaurant and had a great meal, and we are going back there tonight. Yesterday after doing some radio news reading we went for an Italian meal. It is so good when restaurants are willing to make small changes to their menu to ensure that our food is vegan.
Tomorrow I should get those railing painted and on Saturday we are walking along footpath that follows the River Clyde up to Cambuslang. This is a walk organised by our church minister and I hope a good crowd turn out and enjoy the sunshine that is promised for that day.
Sunday I'm working but there is a folk concert on the Tall Ship in the evening so I think we will go there and enjoy some good music. I sometimes find it hard getting up at 05:30 after a late night but I refuse to let my shifts stop me enjoying life.
I've been busy as always. Some things have gone well others have seemed to grow to fill the time available to them.
An example is that I decided to repaint the railings and wall round two sides of our front garden. All that it seemed to require was to wire brush the rust of a few patches of the railings, scrape the loose white paint off the wall and then repaint both the railings and the wall. I realised that there were three breaks in the railings so I bolted them together and started to scrape the wall. It was then that I found out that the coping stone is in two sections and very loose and the railings are not really secure. I've now prepared it so next week I can fix some timber shuttering and pour a layer of concrete over to increase the thickness of the coping stones by about 50 to 60mm. I think that this will mean it is all solid and should last for many years. I have to cut back the honeysuckle which will grow again but even worse we had a lovely cotoneaster bush in the corner and I had to cut that back a lot to enable me to reach into the corner of the wall and fence. I hope it recovers quickly and grows back to its former glory.
As well as his I've started to pre-record some radio programmes. I work shifts in a call centre so can not have a regular time to record a show, or broadcast one live, so I am pre-recording with the idea of having three or four programmes ready so I can then record one or two most weeks and I expect them to start being broadcast on a Thursday evening with a repeat on a Friday. I plan to base each programme on a part or Glasgow or some event from the city's history.
We've managed to eat out a few times, for our wedding anniversary we went to our favourite Indian restaurant and had a great meal, and we are going back there tonight. Yesterday after doing some radio news reading we went for an Italian meal. It is so good when restaurants are willing to make small changes to their menu to ensure that our food is vegan.
Tomorrow I should get those railing painted and on Saturday we are walking along footpath that follows the River Clyde up to Cambuslang. This is a walk organised by our church minister and I hope a good crowd turn out and enjoy the sunshine that is promised for that day.
Sunday I'm working but there is a folk concert on the Tall Ship in the evening so I think we will go there and enjoy some good music. I sometimes find it hard getting up at 05:30 after a late night but I refuse to let my shifts stop me enjoying life.
Friday 8 May 2009
A week off work
I’ve had a week off work and the original idea was to go walking and camping but we eventually decide to stay at home and do a lot of work in our garden. The greenhouse was full of small plants that needed transplanting and I wanted to reply the drive where we park the car.
The weather has been atrocious, gales and heavy rain. I’ll try to go through the week day by day, or flood by flood.
Saturday was good, we went to Oran Mor, a Glasgow pub and listened to some live music which was part of an outside broadcast by Celtic music Radio. http://www.celticmusicradio.net/ We then went to Mono and had some great vegan food with friends before retuning to Oran Mor for more music and chat.
Sunday did not start well. A neighbour told me that at about 02:00 someone had taken two of the mono-blocks that I’d had delivered for my new driveway and thrown them through his greenhouse smashing a number of panes. I was pleased to be able to give him some of my spare greenhouse glass but it was till annoying that anyone could do that.
Monday I got the base levelled ready for the drive and hired a vibrating plate to compact it all.
Tuesday I started early and managed to get all the mono-blocks laid despite heavy rain at times. I’m not sure if I laid the blocks on sand or floated them on water.
Wednesday I went over the mono-blocks with the vibrating plate and it all seemed good and solid but not as level as I’d have realty liked. We then went shopping at B&Q, (10% off on a Wednesday for me). Anne had to go to a meeting and my plan was to go and record a radio show but it did not happen as the studio was too busy. We went out for a meal and then to the Tall Ship for a great Celtic music concert.
Thursday we cleared up a lot and stacked the spare mono-blocks and a lot of other bricks and blocks that we had around the place. Two trips to the local tip got rid of the old broken slabs. We managed to freecycle a lot of the good slabs and other things. This was followed by as trip to a garden centre where we bought a lot of essentials including a lovely vegan meal.
Friday has been at home and hardly venturing outside as it has been heavy rain most of the day. It is only 15:15 and we are planning to go to a concert in Rutherglen Town Hall tonight. One of the artists is Ciaran Dorris http://www.ciarandorris.com/
The weather has been atrocious, gales and heavy rain. I’ll try to go through the week day by day, or flood by flood.
Saturday was good, we went to Oran Mor, a Glasgow pub and listened to some live music which was part of an outside broadcast by Celtic music Radio. http://www.celticmusicradio.net/ We then went to Mono and had some great vegan food with friends before retuning to Oran Mor for more music and chat.
Sunday did not start well. A neighbour told me that at about 02:00 someone had taken two of the mono-blocks that I’d had delivered for my new driveway and thrown them through his greenhouse smashing a number of panes. I was pleased to be able to give him some of my spare greenhouse glass but it was till annoying that anyone could do that.
Monday I got the base levelled ready for the drive and hired a vibrating plate to compact it all.
Tuesday I started early and managed to get all the mono-blocks laid despite heavy rain at times. I’m not sure if I laid the blocks on sand or floated them on water.
Wednesday I went over the mono-blocks with the vibrating plate and it all seemed good and solid but not as level as I’d have realty liked. We then went shopping at B&Q, (10% off on a Wednesday for me). Anne had to go to a meeting and my plan was to go and record a radio show but it did not happen as the studio was too busy. We went out for a meal and then to the Tall Ship for a great Celtic music concert.
Thursday we cleared up a lot and stacked the spare mono-blocks and a lot of other bricks and blocks that we had around the place. Two trips to the local tip got rid of the old broken slabs. We managed to freecycle a lot of the good slabs and other things. This was followed by as trip to a garden centre where we bought a lot of essentials including a lovely vegan meal.
Friday has been at home and hardly venturing outside as it has been heavy rain most of the day. It is only 15:15 and we are planning to go to a concert in Rutherglen Town Hall tonight. One of the artists is Ciaran Dorris http://www.ciarandorris.com/
Friday 17 April 2009
A weekend off work :-)
A weekend off work approaches and I’m looking forward to some free time. The weather forecast is for no rain so we can get into the garden and do loads of work. I’ve started to build a frame round our soft fruit so we can fix netting and keep the birds, squirrels and cats off it. I think I’ll get it finished and painted tomorrow.
I’d like to go shopping and also maybe go for a swim, ages since I’ve been swimming. Sunday it will be good to get out the bikes in the afternoon and get out for a short ride and probably stop of for a beer and a rest somewhere.
I’d like to go shopping and also maybe go for a swim, ages since I’ve been swimming. Sunday it will be good to get out the bikes in the afternoon and get out for a short ride and probably stop of for a beer and a rest somewhere.
Sunday 5 April 2009
Later the same day
Today has been really good. I did not need to get up early as no work today. Went to church this morning and it was a good service remembering Palm Sunday.
This afternoon I got the grass cut, first time this year. It looks a bit neater but needs a lot of work to make a really good lawn as it has lots of weeds and moss at present.
I also continued building a wooden frame to hold netting to stop the birds and squirrels eating our soft fruit. I love fresh fruit but so do all he local wildlife.
In the evening I cut up all that remains of last year’s crop of onions and tomorrow I plan to make them into a big pot of soup that will be tasty and I’ll freeze and take to work each day.
This afternoon I got the grass cut, first time this year. It looks a bit neater but needs a lot of work to make a really good lawn as it has lots of weeds and moss at present.
I also continued building a wooden frame to hold netting to stop the birds and squirrels eating our soft fruit. I love fresh fruit but so do all he local wildlife.
In the evening I cut up all that remains of last year’s crop of onions and tomorrow I plan to make them into a big pot of soup that will be tasty and I’ll freeze and take to work each day.
Spring
Well Spring seems to have finally arrived, bright sunshine and no rain today. The weeds are growing well in the garden and even better the seeds are springing into life in planters on just about all our window sills. I plan to get loads of tomato plants transplanted this afternoon and then more seeds set. Also the first cut of the grass for this year will make the front garden look so much better.
Saturday 21 February 2009
Lentil Lasagna
I had expected to go to a local Vegan group pot luck meal today. I made some lentil lasagna but Anne was working and by the time she finished it was a bit late and she has to read a dissertation and make comments over the weekend as well so we gave the pot lick a miss. We ate most of the lasagna ourselves and the leftovers will be perfect cold for my lunch at work on Monday.
I’ve been surprised at how my Twitter account has taken off. My name there is the same as here; John4703 I’ve now got ten people following me and reading my tweets. Amazing how many people are interested in the stuff I write.
I’ve got a good chance of doing a regular radio show on a Glasgow based community radio so I’m thinking of a theme for the show. I might even include the odd cooking tip.
I thought I’d include the recipe for the sauce that I used for the lasagna. It is a Bolognese sauce ad can be served with vegetables, spaghetti or as lasagna.
Lentil Bolognese.
A really useful sauce to serve with pasta, such as lasagne or spaghetti. Can also be served as a sauce with vegetables.
SERVES 6
1 Onion chopped
2 Garlic cloves crushed
2 carrots coarsely grated
2 celery sticks chopped
45ml (3tbsp) olive oil
115 gram (4 oz) (2/3 cup) red lentils
1 400 gram (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes
30 ml (2tbsp) tomato puree
450ml (3/4 pint) (2 cups) stock
15ml (1 tbsp) fresh marjoram chopped or 5ml (1tsp) dried marjoram
Ground black pepper.
In a large saucepan gently fry the onion, garlic, carrots and celery in the olive oil until they are soft.
Add the lentils, tomatoes, tomato puree, stock, marjoram and seasoning.
Bring the mixture to the boil then partly cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes until thick and soft.
Use the Bolognese as required.
I’ve been surprised at how my Twitter account has taken off. My name there is the same as here; John4703 I’ve now got ten people following me and reading my tweets. Amazing how many people are interested in the stuff I write.
I’ve got a good chance of doing a regular radio show on a Glasgow based community radio so I’m thinking of a theme for the show. I might even include the odd cooking tip.
I thought I’d include the recipe for the sauce that I used for the lasagna. It is a Bolognese sauce ad can be served with vegetables, spaghetti or as lasagna.
Lentil Bolognese.
A really useful sauce to serve with pasta, such as lasagne or spaghetti. Can also be served as a sauce with vegetables.
SERVES 6
1 Onion chopped
2 Garlic cloves crushed
2 carrots coarsely grated
2 celery sticks chopped
45ml (3tbsp) olive oil
115 gram (4 oz) (2/3 cup) red lentils
1 400 gram (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes
30 ml (2tbsp) tomato puree
450ml (3/4 pint) (2 cups) stock
15ml (1 tbsp) fresh marjoram chopped or 5ml (1tsp) dried marjoram
Ground black pepper.
In a large saucepan gently fry the onion, garlic, carrots and celery in the olive oil until they are soft.
Add the lentils, tomatoes, tomato puree, stock, marjoram and seasoning.
Bring the mixture to the boil then partly cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes until thick and soft.
Use the Bolognese as required.
Friday 20 February 2009
TGIF
It's Friday and I'm off all weekend. I went to Sloans last night and got tickets for their ceilidh tonight so we'll go along and dance away the evening. As we were out and hungry we then went to a South Indian restaurant and ate far too much lovely food. It's a great place in Glasgow's Merchant City and they cook with oil not ghee so most of their vegetarian dishes are vegan.
I managed to but some individual oven to table dishes yesterday; I'm hosting a 'Come Dine With me' party next month and want to try to make the food look good as well as taste good. I may need to cut down on the spices for guests; I always add loads of extra garlic and chillies.
I had my first music lesson from Anne on Wednesday evening. Really interesting and enjoyable so I might manage a tune on the piano one day.
I've been asked to consider doing a show on community radio and I am getting keen to to it. I just need to think about a theme and get my thinking cap on.
I managed to but some individual oven to table dishes yesterday; I'm hosting a 'Come Dine With me' party next month and want to try to make the food look good as well as taste good. I may need to cut down on the spices for guests; I always add loads of extra garlic and chillies.
I had my first music lesson from Anne on Wednesday evening. Really interesting and enjoyable so I might manage a tune on the piano one day.
I've been asked to consider doing a show on community radio and I am getting keen to to it. I just need to think about a theme and get my thinking cap on.
Saturday 14 February 2009
Saturday Afternoon
Hi,
I'm grabbing a quick tea break at work so thought I'd add a line or two to this blog.
I've been disappointed in our weather as we've had so little snow, not enough to really enjoy but still better than the rain/
We were out last night at a Ceilidh at Sloans in Glasgow. It was good once it got going and the majority of dancers were from a local college where they were studying English.
It's valentines day but I'm not sure if we'll go out tonight, I'm tired after the ceilidh and need to be up at 05:30 again tomorrow for work.
I'm grabbing a quick tea break at work so thought I'd add a line or two to this blog.
I've been disappointed in our weather as we've had so little snow, not enough to really enjoy but still better than the rain/
We were out last night at a Ceilidh at Sloans in Glasgow. It was good once it got going and the majority of dancers were from a local college where they were studying English.
It's valentines day but I'm not sure if we'll go out tonight, I'm tired after the ceilidh and need to be up at 05:30 again tomorrow for work.
Saturday 7 February 2009
No real snow yet
So it's not been quite as long since my last entry as between the previous ones.
I've been reasonably busy. The end of January is a great time here in Glasgow with Celtic Connections http://www.celticconnections.com/ and we were at lots of great concerts.
I did two live shows on Celtic Music Radio http://www.celticmusicradio.net/ called review of preview of Celtic Connections. That was my first experience of presenting a live show although I've been presenting the News once a week for a long time now.
We have missed most of the snow here in Glasgow. I'm not sure what I think as I like the snow but am pleased to have avoided the disruption of it all. Its been cold and cycling to work through a light snow fall with a strong wind was interesting.
Cycling, walking and going to ceilidhs seems a good way to keep fit. We are starting to plan a holiday in May walking in the Cairngorms and camping so we'll be carrying all out kit which makes it more challenging.
I'l leave it now and promise myself that I'll get back on here again soon.
I've been reasonably busy. The end of January is a great time here in Glasgow with Celtic Connections http://www.celticconnections.com/ and we were at lots of great concerts.
I did two live shows on Celtic Music Radio http://www.celticmusicradio.net/ called review of preview of Celtic Connections. That was my first experience of presenting a live show although I've been presenting the News once a week for a long time now.
We have missed most of the snow here in Glasgow. I'm not sure what I think as I like the snow but am pleased to have avoided the disruption of it all. Its been cold and cycling to work through a light snow fall with a strong wind was interesting.
Cycling, walking and going to ceilidhs seems a good way to keep fit. We are starting to plan a holiday in May walking in the Cairngorms and camping so we'll be carrying all out kit which makes it more challenging.
I'l leave it now and promise myself that I'll get back on here again soon.
Thursday 22 January 2009
Been a long time
I realised it so ages since I posted anything on here. Do others find they want to post but never find the time?
January is a busy time for me here in Glasgow as it is the Celtic Connections music festival with hundreds of performers in various places across the city. Details are at http://www.celticconnections.com/
I've already been to a few concerts and some were amazing. It is good to hear the new young performers as well as the older established big names. I'm looking forward to Saturday when there will be a big ceilidh to celebrate the birthday of Scotland's poet Robbie Burns, he would be 250 this month (I wonder if there will be a cake or would 250 candles be too big a fire risk?). I've started doing some broadcasts on a local community radio so I might even get to do a report on this event. Anyone who likes Celtic music should listen to this station http://www.celticmusicradio.net/
Other aspects of life seem to good as always. I'm at work today then have four days off which is very welcome, I only had a couple of odd days off over Christmas and New Year so a break will be very welcome and there is lots to do around the house. I also would like to get out for a decent length of bike ride if the weather is good but it may be simply too wet to enjoy riding far.
I'll leave this now but promise myself to post regularly in future. Just a final thanks to those who have left comments on previous blogs, always good to hear from others on here.
January is a busy time for me here in Glasgow as it is the Celtic Connections music festival with hundreds of performers in various places across the city. Details are at http://www.celticconnections.com/
I've already been to a few concerts and some were amazing. It is good to hear the new young performers as well as the older established big names. I'm looking forward to Saturday when there will be a big ceilidh to celebrate the birthday of Scotland's poet Robbie Burns, he would be 250 this month (I wonder if there will be a cake or would 250 candles be too big a fire risk?). I've started doing some broadcasts on a local community radio so I might even get to do a report on this event. Anyone who likes Celtic music should listen to this station http://www.celticmusicradio.net/
Other aspects of life seem to good as always. I'm at work today then have four days off which is very welcome, I only had a couple of odd days off over Christmas and New Year so a break will be very welcome and there is lots to do around the house. I also would like to get out for a decent length of bike ride if the weather is good but it may be simply too wet to enjoy riding far.
I'll leave this now but promise myself to post regularly in future. Just a final thanks to those who have left comments on previous blogs, always good to hear from others on here.
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