Oops! (by sarah)

Ok on the cooking front I have learnt two valuable leasons this week 1) when making a sponge don't use the electric whisk as the cake collapses and 2) don't try and soup Protien Chunk Gunk unless you like ministroni type soups and even then beware!

p.s. Al eat the soup!

Tentative First Steps (by sarah)

Photos coming soon - honest!

Sorry baby lovers this is about the cats. Both the kittens and Mini have been bravely venturing outside but not too far! We were very chuffed that Mini came back 🙂 So we must be doing something right!

The kittens have only just started venturing to the other side of the drive, much prefering the 'jungle' as a place of saftey.

Hydrogen is definently the more adventurous and bold of the two - she was the first out of the box and always the first into a situation but then again she is also the first to dart back into cover. Today they met Betsy for the first time - this is Barbara's cat, again there was hissing - Betsey made a bee line straight for H and hissed, H stood her ground with minimial back arching until (to our suprise) Betsey ran away! So yet again our little kittens have faced of a bigger older cat and won! Unfortunatly they have started sniffing around the Stable which is most definatly Tim terratory - this could proove interesting!

Mini too has been venturing outside though she took longer to approach the open door, mainly it would appear , becuase she has to go through 'prime kitten terrotory' to get to the door - yes she does seem scared of the kittens! We just cant believe the way all the adult cats are behaving. Anyone would think the kittens were pit bulls or something!

Carrots and Parsnips (by sarah)

Oops fogot to post - it was a few days ago now! (actually I then forgot to post it again so it was ages ago!)

I picked our first corrots ages ago but never posted about them! We had them in stir fry and they looked the way I remember carrots looking:)

Today I did some more weeding of the veggi plot, including culling some of the spinach which is almost taller than me! I picked our first parsnips 🙂

Once I started to prepear them I realised I was dealing with Monster Parsnips and that the Wiggly Pets would have to be involved!

The parsley is doing really well but the garlicks have bit the dust 🙁 I need to clear more of the plot for the globe artichokes wwhich are still sizzling in the propergator!

Libertarianism (by alaric)

I just came across this in a text file while cleaning up an old home directory prior to deletion, so thought I'd put it up here...

It occurs to me that we do live in a libertarian world. At the global level, there is no higher level of government; all nations are free, limited only by their own desire to not invoke their neighbour's wrath. Organisations like the UN are voluntary, and have to bargain or impose sanctions to get their will followed, rather than being able to impose.

What does this mean? Read more »

Learning to drive (by alaric)

It's been many months since I passed my driving test now, but as my instructors had warned me, you never stop learning to drive.

You see, in order to pass the test you have to be a super-perfect driver; you need to think carefully about everything, and follow precise procedures, because that's what the examiners want to see.

Then you start driving around "for real", with passengers talking to you, having to think about your route rather than being told to take the next left. Driving starts to happen automatically, without thought.

This is why new drivers are prone to crashing, and have to pay more for their car insurance... Read more »