Mid-Winter Blue s--kies----
These sparkling, cold mid-winter skies hereabouts (Midlands, UK) seem to be blue-er than at any other time - ? Maybe it's the white frost cover on the ground which sets the skies off - whatever, they're fantastic days. Helpful too, here on the eco micro-holding (small smallholding) - yesterday got quite a pile of wood sawed, all courtesy of solar power. The sawbench is relatively small but handy to saw up the smaller stuff, whilst the electric chainsaw then comes into use for the bigger pieces. They're useful tools - the one here must have, done about 6 years now, with no servicing costs, just the chainsaw cutting oil to keep topped up and the chain to periodically sharpen, and still seems A1, although overall to be fair, it's probably not been worked too hard. Wood sawing on cold bright days is a good job - pretty meaningful in the cold air - and there's then the glowing woodstove to look forward to.
'Countryside combing----'
A couple of 'wood gathering' forays recently yielded a useful haul - it's surprising how much of it can be found just 'lying around' literally by the sides of lanes -the aim is to run the front room fire in the evenings 'for free' virtually, which then adds a secondary 'inner' glow. Not too much to do this time of year on the growing front. A few containers full of soil and compost are 'warming' on top of the dresser in the living room, awaiting tomato, celery, onion and lettuce seed in a day or two. On germination, they then go into a glasshouse, under a little plastic 'tent', with a small paraffin lamp to keep the temperature ok for a week or two.
When the frost goes, predicted in a day or two, a glass windshield will cover a small patch of ground and under which all the home-saved broad bean seeds will be 'bunged in' in mid-Feb to give plants to plant out mid March for an early crop - germination is generally good this way. And a plastic sheet will go over the early spud ground in preparation for their planting late Feb/early March-broadly same time as onion sets ('baby' onions). Work, or rather 'labours of love', will start more in earnest in Feb when half the allotment-size growing area will receive coverings of woodash and compost. The compost rate was more or less doubled about two/three years ago and it seems to be paying off- the winter greens this winter, growing on the half that didn't get ash or compost this last year, are a good crop, as are the swedes (about time for them) - the purplesprouting's come six weeks early with the milder conditions this winter.
Cause for alarm----?
The latest phrase being used to describe those people 'creaming it off' for themselves appears to be 'crony capitalists', presumably describing those in the current 'gravy train' club, seemingly seeking big rewards and profits at the expense of the rest of us. This drive for inflated profits seems to be still with us as only the other day it visited the eco micro-holding here, where normally a double layer of 'freerange' antennae are on watch. Very clever in its own way it was too - first move was a very 'non-selling' factual type of phone call from a well-spoken lady, suggesting that her alarm fitting company wanted a few 'guinea pigs' to be fitted up in the area, as this was their method of advertising. The whole caboodle was to be free; the only charge was a 'modest' fitting charge of £199, which for those lucky to be selected had been reduced from £499. Doubts of course occurred, assuaged not only by the memory of her 'matter-of-fact' non-selling style, but also by a further call, this time from a male, but in the same reassuring vein as the first call.
Fitting for who's purpose----?
A day or two later, the 'security consultant' (not 'salesperson') duly arrived, all very buoyant, presumably anticipating 'lambs to the slaughter'. Not long, though into his 'spiel', the warning bells started to ring, detecting some psychological selling moves such as him prompting affirmations to his positive statements. Good job, too as of course it was too good to be true - the system came only fit to equip three rooms i.e. half a job, and to get a 'proper' job would entail buying a further four units at £100+ per time, plus the £199 fitting charge (fitting involved screwing onto a wall one small unit per room, one outside unit and plugging in one control unit to an ordinary electric plug, so the initial fitting charge quoted of £499 was excessive to say the least). This little made-up scenario, like many it seems today, appears to have the aim of duping people to then part with money, so to what degree is it then fraudulent? There seems to be a lot of it about - the days when firms just offered good goods and services to the customers needs and spec seem to be numbered, although fortunately there are still firms in these parts who have a reputation for integrity, and to whom the locals turn. As for the others, what scenarios will they come up with next?
And it'll no doubt pay to keep on the ol' freerange toes.
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