The first fortnight

We have survived our first fortnight. We have moved in, without furniture which remains in storage, and have started to find out how things work. The house is sited jnside its land and the fields are clearly going to require sheep, or some other ruminants, to help us keep them in control.


The views are better than I remembered them with good aspects over Cadair Idris.

There have been a number of urgent tasks. We have started to look at our land and size up sites for a vegetable garden. We have discovered that the soil is largely clay so it will require quite a bit of work. We will need to work in a lot of organic matter into raised beds.

The first steps in this reminded me how difficult clay is to dig and prompted the thought that we might consider pottery as an alternative.

Most of the manuals suggest that, with enough work, clay soils can be fertile but they generally do suggest it is a major undertaking. We will need to look at local sources of manure.

We have made the hen-house so that we can arrange the flittings of our hens.  This came as a flat pack system and was remarkably easy to put up and much cheaper than the ones in the stores.


The shock of the move for the hens might be lessened when they discover that we intend them to share their new home with a cockerel.

The next major task has been to secure fire and wood. It prove very easy to set up the stoves and these have been very effective at bumping out heat. However, the collecting of wood has been much harder. 

A new axe made the felling of some trees reasonably easy work but we spend two days cutting this into a third of a cord. This work was dreadfully strenuous and slow. We alternated between the bow saw and, in desparation, an axe. However, after a trip to the local store and the purchase of a new saw we discovered the importance of a sharped and clean blade. Now we were slicing through logs like butter. A bad workman may blame his tools but bad tools do make a crap workman.

Just weeding in the rain.

One of the jobs I least look forward to is weeding the drive; pulling out recalcitrant dandelions and other long-legged weeds is extremely irritating. You pull and pull but the roots stick in the ground and you are left with a handful of leaves for your effort. Usually I tried to make this less unpleasant by choosing a pleasant day and working while listening to the radio. However, the best day to tackle this is actually when it is raining or it has just rained. The weeds have less of a grip in the damp ground and give up the fight much more easily. Pulling is less effort and is rewarded by long trails of satisfying root after the tug. So waterproof headphones are the next investment.


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I re-read this book on a whim and I am immensely glad that I did. I recall enjoying the book as a 15 year old boy but it is clear that most of it went over my head. I suppose expecting an adolescent male to see the horror in ready sex with pneumatic women was unlikely, and he was further not likely to recoil at the idea of easy access to mind altering drugs which gave free access to happiness. The true warnings, which have proven uncannily accurate, needed some tears and maturity to understand.


Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down by Nicey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very enjoyable and surprisingly informative. However, it fails to answer the question as to whether the biscuit is simply NICE or whether it hails from the South of France.




The Waste Makers by Vance Packard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is surprising how little that this book has dated in the two generations since it was released. The dangers of planned obsolescence remain as important as when he coined the term. We are now all too painfully aware of the risks of our excessive consumption on the finite resources of our planet and the consequences of the increased waste.

Many of the trends he predicted have proven to be correct and unfortunately the depressing effects on personality and culture seem to be taking place.


Maigret and the Idle Burglar by Georges Simenon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Maigret at his best. Humane and gentle and clearly on the side of the poor and suspicious of the intents of the rich. This is almost Maigret by Chandler, but still firmly set in a clearly recognizable Paris.





50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupre
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An ideal bathroom book. Short chapters just long enough for an average visit to the toilet. Basically superficial treatments of the major philosophical ideas but basically sound descriptions.

Tethered by Amy MacKinnon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I do not understand the extremely high ratings for this book. It was not that I found it a bad book but rather a rather mediocre book, neither one thing nor another - not really crime, not really supernatural thriller.


The plot seemed very predictable and I found some of the literary devices annoying, the bracketed characteristics of flowers added very little to the story and became rather annoying after a while.


There were passages which showed that the author can really write very well, but these were rather few and I was glad when the whole thing was tied up at the end, though this wasn't soon enough.


View all my reviews

Windy Meat

The garden has been quite productive over the past month or so. The best performers have been the potatoes, broad beans and onions. Therefore .. ..

this month I have been mainly eating beans, onions and potatoes.


This is not as bad as it sounds as they are the staples for many meals. A new recipe we found very edible was that below. This was so good that there are no photographs - as it did not hang around long enough.

Slice 2 onions, 1 lb of potatoes and one aubergine.
Crumble 4 oz of cheese. Dice 6 rashers of bacon
Use 2/3rds of this mixture in layers in a casserole.
Then lay a tin of topped tomatoes and some oregano on top.
Use the remaining 1/3rd of the mixture to make the top layers.

Bake for 1 hour at gas mark 4 then uncover for a further 20 minutes.








Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One Man's Quest to Uncover the Books That Taste Forgot by Robin Ince

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. At times embarassingly funny as it provoked laughter that was impossible to suppress - milk through the nose type of laughter



Excellent and also educational, providing a service by signposting books to avoid, well recommended



View all my reviews

A timely reminder ..

The riots and looting in our cities in England has been a timely reminder that I remain keen to leave the urban landscape and head to the country. It is difficult to watch what happened and fully appreciate the changes that are happening in our society. There seemed to be an outburst of greed and violence much greater then we had ever seen before. People seemed truly shameless, there seemed no self control or awareness of others.

I suppose we are reaping what we sowed; our years of tolerating and promoting avarice, indulgence, and ego- centric celebrity have caught up with us. We not only forgot the seven deadly sins but promoted them - lust, greed  and gluttony were clearly promoted in our mainstream media, sloth was not a sin on the welfare state, vainglory was a key part of our celebrity culture, and envy and wrath were well represented positively in our media. Nothing now is wrong, nothing should stand in the way of our consumption and woe betide any fool who stands between me and my plasma TV.

While we will all get angry and demand that people play for this we have to think what we can do to improve our culture. In addition to what the state does to reduce inequality we have to look at what we can do personally. Just as we won't tolerate racism in public we should start to criticise the crass and unethical. We should switch of 'Shameless' as it is no more than misguided pornography for the middle-class, mute out N.W.A. , 50 Cent and the rest as it glorifies violence, zap MTV and shopping channels with their incessant promotion of bling and consumption, stop 24 hour shopping, burn celebrity magazines instead of trees, laugh at the person that needs "me time", and the list goes on and on.

All of us need to reconsider how we think and feel, for those of us with kids it is infinitely more important.

Despondently yours ... ..





My Epileptic Lurcher by Des Dillon
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Dya like nugs. Daddymummy like nugs. Nugs doing no no things. Bitey bitey no no. Good writer use all words, biggy big words and wee totty words. Book writer no use all words. He no likey grammer and stuff. This are big bookybook and only short storywory. You not likey this review - then avoid this book  like the plague


View all my reviews

A view from the cut.

 

 The green gym took us to both Birkmyre park and the Greenock Cut this week. The Birkmyre's who bequeathed the park in Port Glasgow, and another in Kilmacolm, were huguenots who fled from France and took safety in Scotland. The park is beautiful, especially pleasant for the range of trees it offers. The most impressive of these are the large redwoods which border the walkways. Today's tasks were scrub clearance and litter removal.

The litter,  which reveals our bad habits (fast food wrappers and alcohol bottles predominate)  is quite depressing. It is sad to see a pile of polystyrene cartons on the grass only a few yards from an empty bin. Obviously those who had their dinner on the lawn had not thought, at all, of their remains. Thankfully, perhaps weighed down by their meals, the litterers stay in the lower reaches and  as one climbs up the valley the litter gets gradually less and by the time one reaches the cut there is very little. At this point the cleanliness of the air and ground do make the walk pleasant and the view over Greenock is a compensation.

The litter does echo concerns that come up in the book "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard. This book on excessive growth and consumption was written over two generations ago and concerned the baby-boomer/post-war generation. However, it seems as relevant today and Vance Packard seems again to have been prescient. This book was my main reading while in Wales this week.   Also when in Wales we went to see David play in the Buffalo Lounge in Cardiff. This turned out to be a pleasant bistro bar in the Cathay's district. The music was good and all three performers went down well. It was enjoyable to see authentic music being played though I was struck by the change in folk music. In  my youth folk music held rural and rustic associations, now it seems to be class and city bound. Perhaps in a marxian way they are saving folk form the "idiocy of rural life".

2 B R O 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It is quite difficult to review this short story.It is almost too short and is rather slight, the review could end up larger than the subject. There is also a danger of giving the story away and taking away the little enjoyment if offers.Consider it an amuse-bouche on the subject of longevity and population control.



View all my reviews


The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't usually read science fiction but I did enjoy this. Despite the book's age it has weathered well. The science is just enough, and just plausible enough, for the story. The main interest is in the effect of invisibility and isolation on man and that is as relevant today as when it was written.

View all my reviews


Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass by Theodore Dalrymple

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For anyone who has read previous works, this collection of essays will cover familiar territory. The writing remains excellent and the wisdom is still there. Many of these are simple anecdotes and thus limited in their explanatory power.



View all my reviews
Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal In the 70s by Andrew Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is an antidote to the "tragic life" books and the opposite of "My Life up a Close". This is nostalgia.and nothing much else. While entertaining for a short while, if you are the target demographic, as little happens it does not hold one's attention through to the end



View all my reviews

Can you see what it is yet

Our holiday to France this year was well planned. We waited until the glorious summer in Greenock arrived. Then when the sun was shining from azure blue skies in Scotland we drove to Normandy where the skies were gray and the drizzle, and maize, obscured the view. As it was cold and wet we stayed indoors -this made the limitations of a two room cottage apparent. There really isn't enough space when you have two alsations and one is in heat. At least the rain made the dogs damp as well as hot and the room was soon filled with the aroma of German Shepherd.

In an attempt to relax we sought the good life in reading and drawing. I had taken two books to learn how to draw. These were rather less helpful than I thought. In essence they both comprised some text saying "It is very easy to draw", then a picture drawn by someone with drawing skills, and then the instruction "draw like that". It doesn't work and I have posted two images to prove the point.

Once we had relaxed and become oblivious to the dogs' courting behaviour fate decided to intervene. The alarm system went off at home, during the fixing of this the telephone lines at home failed and once this was rectified the electricity went off.If there was a God he was a giving clear signs it was time to pack up and go back home. We duly obeyed.

On our return home these were found to have been false alarms, although we had been truly save by the bells.


The Selfish Society: How We All Forgot to Love One Another and Made Money Instead by Sue Gerhardt


This really is a book of two halves. The first half relating to child-development and the second a political treatise.

The first half is well written and well researched. It is lucid and contains a good degree of common sense regarding child-development. She does tend to be uncritical of biological facts and theories and argues often well beyond the evidence base in this area. However, on issues of child rearing, parenting roles or the place of the infant in society there is a deal of good information and evidence of wisdom.

There is a trait, common amongst those who work with children, to forget that development of character is lifelong. While the early years may be vital and highly formative later life experience and learning also plays a part. This tends to be neglected. But for parents in modern society, attempting to deal with the confusing and contradictory statements about bringing up your child, the advice here is sound.

The second part of the book is unfortunately less impressive. This is a chemotherapeutic assessment of politics which is overly simple and often just wrong. The psychoanalytic chapters on Blair and Bush are rather cringeworthy. Generally this is an unsatisfactory part of the book. The end call for a state running programmes to improve the emotional literacy of the population and promoting right-hemisphere thinking is almost laughable were it not serious. The nanny state with a psychotherapist as the nanny is hopefully unlikely to be the next stage of post-capitalist development.

View all my reviews


Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Emil Frankl

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is in two parts. This first is Viktor Frankl's account of his life in nazi concentration camps and how he and others survived or died. The second part is a summary of logotherapy, a school of existential therapy which he developed. The latter is much easier to understand having read the former and its roots are much clearer, as is the authority of the writer.

Frankl has carried on from Adler and his therapy has much to commend it. Unfortunately it has been largely ignored by the mindless approaches in the UK and USA and the soulless approaches of other existential european writers.Doctors, especially psychiatrists should read this for the information on suffering alone

View all my reviews

Plays by J. B. Priestley (Study Guide): An Inspector Calls, Time and the Conways, When We Are Married, J. B. Priestley's Time Plays by Books LLC

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Initial fears that this book may be dated by the scene descriptions and the references to topical characters such as H.G. Well or G.Shaw are quickly dispelled as the clear easy writing carries us into an apparent 'who-done-it'. It is best read almost aloud as it was clearly written to be performed but it still works well as a novella. While it remains as easy to read as pulp fiction it is an effective morality tale. All the deadly sins are here and the importance of these and personal responsibility are deftly displayed.

View all my reviews

Snake in the Grass by Georgia Blain

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book is slow to start, plodding when it gets going and ultimately unrewarding. The twist at the end can be seen form the first pages and the characters are suficiently unlikeable that we really don't care what happens to the. We really wish that some-one about 20 pages in would discover a note saying "look this what happened on the holiday" so we can fold it shut.

There is also an irritating tendency to use italics excessively.


View all my reviews


The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An excellent novel. Written as a one-sided conversation it explores the interface between western and islamic cultures and gives some insights into the reasons why some might be tempted to view the holy fight necessary.

View all my reviews

The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is an excellent novel and can be enjoyed at many levels. It is a well written family saga and also a suspenseful thriller. It covers war, terrorism, love, religion, science, honour and redemption in its broad sweep from 1914 to today.



It is as well writted as 'Atonement' with which it shares similar concerns. The characters are well drawn, believeable and likeable. (And dislikable in the case of the villians). The contemporary passages on marital relations and modern life are as well handled as the passages in trench warfare.



The religious imagery is handled well and doesn't seem forced or hectoring and does act as a glue to bind the book together.





View all my reviews


It's only me: Pieces from a column by Jill Tweedie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It is interesting to read these pieces a generation after they were written. They are more nuanced, more sensible and more balanced than similar items in the current feminist press



View all my reviews

Editor's Wife by Clare Chambers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This manages to be a succesful 'romcom' It is more com than rom but the is a simple romantic tale which is well told. The family history between the two brothers is the greater source of enjoyment and is the source of the humour



View all my reviews
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I first read this when I was too young to appreciate it. I was around Alex's age and was looking at life with a young man's eyes. At that stage I did not see some of the horror that is now clearly evident in the violent scenes. I could not have seen how prophetic a novel it was to be. In addition to a clever tale illustrating the morals of free-will and responsibility there is also a warning over the risks of consumerism and idolatry of the young. A book well worth reading twice with 30 years in between.



View all my reviews



Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have to admit that I chose to read this book for rather base reasons, it was free. I downloaded an epub copy to test out the reader on my 'phone. I am glad I did. Although the first pages can be heavy going once the voyage to meet Kurtz gets underway the novel lifts off. As has been said it may have served as the model for the search in Apocalypse Now and it is difficult to read the book now without conjuring up images from the film. It is a yarn told to warn us of the nature of things and it behoves us to listen.



View all my reviews

Tall Ships Redux

This week the tall ships came back to Greenock for the third time. As before the ships managed to change a wild, wet and windy west coast town into a sunny, bright and cheerful river port. It was out with the grimy and grim post-industrial feel and in with the cheerful, multicultural bonhomie.

There were ships in all shapes and sizes, from the 95 meter long Dar Mlodziezy from Poland, or Mir from Russia, to the 12 meter St Barbara V from the UK with most combinations of size and sails in between.

The most popular ship was generally agreed to be the Columbian Gloria. The Colombians were well received in their smart uniforms and their genuinely cheerful and helpful disposition. Their status was finalized when they left with the staff aligned along the rigging and the loudspeakers booming our Lulu's "Shout" to the watching crowd.

The riverside area temporarily stopped looking like a wasteland. Though still an obstacle course in many areas, especially if you were pushing a wheelchair or buggy,  the whole are had the air of the funfair. But folk were offering assistance. If you had money which was weighing down your pockets and threatening to split your seams there were people here ready to help you out. If your BMI had fallen dangerously low or you had missed out on your essential fats and carbohydrates there were people here ready to help you out. The stand on healthy eating seemed rather futile between the bars and burger stalls.

There was also entertainment;  Lulu, Deacon Blue and The Magic Numbers were all acts I avoided seeing.There was the obligatory dog show but this one comprised only some Labradors and some Spaniels who had mastered sit, stay and fetch. Although there an exciting "jump over a fence" act. Many actors mingled with the crowds and managed to randomly irritate passers-by.

In a completely biased way I was also pleased to have seen Dave Hughes and the Renegade Folk Punk Band. Familial bias aside they played a tight set that seemed to be, if anything,  slightly better in their slimmed down three man form. The dancing, singing and clapping of others in the Sugar Sheds suggested I was not alone in my opinion. The public found this a good venue and there is now a campaign to reclaim the sugarsheds as a community music venue.

The ships have now left, most of the litter has been swept up and the crowds have dispersed. However, the sun still shines, the river still flows and the capabilities remain.



Devil's Advocate by John Humphrys

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is an enjoyable book which is written with a deft but light touch. In it Mr Humphries looks sadly at the changes in British culture and society which he feels has become brash, sentimental and commercialized. He blames comsumer populism and materialism for the change and implicates the media as a major driving force in this. It is similar to the writings of Theodore Dalrymple but without the venom and without some of the wit.



View all my reviews




The Roots of Consciousness: The Classic Encyclopedia of Consciousness Studies Revised and Expanded by Jeffrey Mishlove

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This is a very unusual book. It looks at first like a serious study on aspects of consciousness. However, on further exploration it is a garbage can filled to the brim with every new-age, alternative, cultish, psychic, telekinetic and mysterious piece of crap. It is harder to imagine a book containing more misinformation or one less well edited. As an anthology of weirdness it may be useful. Some chapters are so badly written that, at least, their incomprehensibility does spare the reader's incredulity being further stretched.

Green Gym

 This was one of the better days at Green Gym today. Although last week's labours in Wemyss Bay woods, logging trees and digging ditches, was a better workout today's work taught more.

As it was raining we spent the morning make bat, bird and butterfly boxes for the local primary schools. During this I found out some useful woodworking tips and also some ideas for this years Christmas presents.

In the afternoon the rain cleared. This allowed us back out to work on the aeroplane engine exhibit. After finishing the digging out we were able to start building the plinth. During this valuable experience on mixing cement and laying stones was gained.

There were a smaller number of participants today, probably as a consequence of the weather, but the company  was,  as always, good.




Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has repeatedly been described as one of the most important or influential of recent decades. This is not unreasonable. This small but exceptionally well written book contains a great deal of wisdom and advice. Some aspects, particularly those relating to technologies, have been overtaken by events but others, especially those related to morals or culture have stood the test of time very well and remain important today.





View all my reviews



Do Llamas Fall in Love?: 33 Perplexing Philosophy Puzzles by Peter Cave

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a genuinely funny and thought provoking book. It tackles important philosophical issues in an accessible and enjoyable manner. The issues and topics are wide ranging, from free-will, human rights  and the nature of knowing to the problems of sharing your lymphatic system with an attached violinist.
Short, puzzling and witty chapter, perfect for the bedside table.



View all my reviews






Gently With the Painters by Alan Hunter

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is one of the George Gently detective series and is rather plodding and dull. The characters are too stereotyped to be truly real and, as a consequence, it is difficult to take them seriously.

A further problem is that the novel is now too dated. Some of the references no longer click and it is difficult to feel the menace of a criminal who is referred to as "chummie".



View all my reviews

Success ?

Drug related deaths in Scotland over time. 

(Now on average 1 in three are due to methadone.)

 Prescriptions for methadone in Glasgow.

Crime Rates

Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality by Theodore Dalrymple

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is perhaps less weighty than some of his other works but is still well-written and very enjoyable. At times this can be extremely funny and at other worrisomely accurate about concerns for our culture. There is much common sense and some sacred cows are given a rough time.



View all my reviews