Texas Ian's Yeehaw

New grass for the garden

2007-03-30T12:44:00.000Z

No, we haven't re-turfed the lawn. We went to B&Q last weekend to buy some green sticks for propping up our sunflower seedlings. £53 later we had sticks, we had shears, we had mastic and filler and, best of all, we had a selection of grassy plants.

We've an idea to create a grassy corner of the garden with the kind of plants that like a bit of light and a bit of shade. They'll be bushy little things, a perfect hiding place for wildlife in the garden.

All in all it'll add another area of contrast to a garden of contrasts and should look very good in a few months when the grasses have established themselves.

The garden is really starting to come together now, and we can't wait for the summer to arrive in earnest and all our plants to grow like they're enjoying themselves!

A sunflower year in the garden

2007-03-20T13:37:00.000Z

We were rather over-zealous in planting sunflower seeds recently and now we've more than 60 little seedlings at the stage where they needed re-potting before they grow too big for their small pots. Last night we spent a fair bit of time separating clumps of 8 or 10 seedlings into 1's and 2's and potting them into new pots. The only thing we didn't have is something to put those pots on to stop water leaking all over the kitchen surfaces. However we found inspiration in our recycling bin and now our pots are sitting on a varied assortment of plastic food trays from chickens, sausages and a range of tasty meaty products.

In a couple of weeks, after some hardening off, I think the sunflowers will be ready to brave the garden. With the amount we've got it will be quite some display and we'll certainly have plenty of seeds left for next year!!!

Another busy weekend in the garden

2007-03-13T08:37:00.000Z

Following our successes in the garden last weekend we decided to get back out there this weekend and continue with the garden make-over. We spent a few hours digging over our borders in preparation for planting out the seeds that are rapidly germinating in the kitchen, the decided to do a bit of tidying of the lawn. To this effect we purchased 10 meters of half-log border fencing and have enclosed the lawn with that (as you can see on the photo).

Elsewhere in the garden everything we planted last weekend still seems to be doing well, we've even harvested a bit of parsley to go with a salmon dinner - very tasty it was too. In the kitchen our seeds are germinating like mad. The sunflowers started to come through only 2 days after planting and are already a couple of inches high. Tomatos, chives, and sweetpeas are all on their way, the only no-show so far are the chillis - hopefully they're on their way!

Next up we need to install our water-butt so we've plenty of healthy rain water for the garden, do a bit more preparation in the borders and take a look at the lawn - it needs mowing and feeding. It's all good fun!!!

Spring time for Ian and Ana in Sturry

2007-03-07T08:44:00.000Z

Spring has sprung in our garden and so this weekend we headed for the garden centre to buy some green things. We have inherited quite a few large pots from the previous owners and decided to buy some established plants to put in these, the idea being that we could move these around the garden to fill in spaces until we decide just what we want to put there permanently.

We loaded our trolley with a selection at shrubs, herbs, flowers and ferns plus a few packets of seeds. We also picked up several different types of compost for our new friends. The rest of the weekend was spent re-potting camelias, azaleas, cordylines, box, ferns, lavender, parsley and rosemary. We've also planted seeds for tomatos, chillis, sunflowers, chives and sweetpeas. We've also got cucumbers and runner-beans waiting for sowing later in the season.

Our garden, which was rather empty, is now looking much better. As the season goes on we should be adding more and more and are looking forward to a good collection of flowers and our first harvest of vegetables. I should also mention the we've had some lovely looking bulbs flowering for the last few weeks - daffodils in the borders and crocuses in the lawn, mostly in the front garden.

We're discovering gardening to be a relaxing and rewarding activity. It's been a little expensive so far but that's the route we've decided to follow and for me it has been worth every penny. I'll let you know how we get on :o)

A Night at the Opera

2007-02-15T08:37:00.000Z

No... this posting isn't about the classic Marx Brothers film, or the equally classic Queen album. On Valentines night Ana and I spent a very enjoyable night at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury watching the marvellous Chişinău National Opera's production of Verdi's "Aida".

This was the second opera that we have attended together, the first being Puccini's "Madama Butterfly". The stage production was very impressive, the set was lavish, the singers loud and very professional sounding. Ancient Egypt was certainly brought to life and quite realistically as well. In my humble opinion it was money well spent, even if we were at the very back of the theatre.

Now I wouldn't say that I am an opera convert as I don't think I would put on a CD of this particular opera, but to see it performed live is an experience that everyone can and probably should enjoy. "Aida" doesn't have many of the popular opera pieces that you often hear on the classical radio stations or CD compilations, but the story is nevertheless operatic and yes, you've guessed it, ends with... well, I won't give it away but there isn't a big twist at the end. The story of slave princess Aida follows the standard opera theme of lovers divided by society, jealousy, betrayal and the inevitable demise of the protaganists; Sophocles couldn't have written a better tragedic outcome.

So all in all I'd say if you get the chance to see a production of "Aida" then you'd be foolish to turn it down - you never know, you might actually enjoy yourself just as I did.

The 2007 Quiz Season has started again

2007-02-09T08:52:00.000Z

First of all let me give a big greeting to anyone who has been keeping an eye on my blog and wondered if I had been abducted by aliens. I have to say that I haven't, but I also haven't felt much in the way of inspiration for writing recently; all that is about to change.

So let's kick things off with a posting about quizzes, as Ana and I seem to be lined up to go to a few in the next couple of months, culminating in the KM Big Quiz in which our team, "The Quizlings", came a respectable 11th out of 60 odd teams last year.

Last weekend we went to a "warm-up" quiz at Graveney Village Hall. The teams comprised of mainly the over 50s, with questions to match. Mostly the questions were fairly easy with the odd brain bender in there, but all teams generally scored 9 or 10 on each round. Consequently it was a close fought contest but our knowledge of 1940s and 1950s acronyms and shopkeeper phrases let us down. Who knows what a costamonger is? I just couldn't remember it's the old word for a fruit seller! We managed a reasonably respectable 4th(ish) place our of 9 and went away happy with our performance. I don't think we could have done any better; we certainly weren't kicking ourselves over the answers we missed.

The highlight of the evening eventually turned out to be our good friend Neil winning not 1 but 4 prizes in the cheesey raffle. None of the prizes were cheese in the literal sense of the word, that would have been preferable. He went away happy though with a good stock of presents to give at future christmases and birthdays.

The next quiz event is in a week. The great Canterbury Christ Church University Staff Association Wine and Wisdom evening. We've put together a crack team and will hopefully get a top 3 finish, maybe even first if we play our joker right. Adding to the interest of the evening is getting to meet the new girlfriend of that perennial layabout Chris. How he managed to land himself a girlfriend in the first place is beyond me, and perhaps I'm not too interested to find out.

I'll be sure to let everyone know how we perform on the night. I predict at least a top 5 place, which will be an improvememt on last year. The only real dilemma we have at the moment is what to call our team!

Is there life on Mars?

2006-11-13T21:18:00.000Z

Captain's log, Stardate 13112006.2128

David Bowie once pondered on this, and I have too. Or more specifically I've been wondering about sentient and intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. Current thinking puts our Universe at 80 billion light years across so in the countless galaxies, solar systems and planets it is hard to believe that life has not evolved in the 18 billion years since the "Big Bang" kicked everything off.

One question that interests me more than most is what form might this life take, and I suppose that very much depends on the conditions in which it is to survive. On our own planet life takes many different forms, although the dominant ones are land-based and the superior one is bipedal leaving two limbs free to manipulate its environment. On other worlds is life structured in much the same way that we are, all muscles and tendons stretched over a supporting skeleton, or may it have evolved in the air or in liquid? What might it look like, how might it communicate, reproduce, eat, sleep and move? These are all questions that we are unlikely to ever know, since the distances required to travel find out are so vast that, I suspect, nothing has been able to cross it yet.

Is there life on Mars? If there is it is probably nothing more than primitive bacteria or other single celled creatures but proof of its existence would be a key milestone in man's evolution. Is there life in the Universe? How can there not be. I don't believe human kind could be arrogant enough to believe that the happy coincidences that have led to our existence cannot have occurred elsewhere in the vast and mysterious Universe that we inhabit.

Migraines and me

2006-11-08T23:05:00.000Z

I didn't feel all that well on Monday, and by about lunchtime I could feel the familiar symptoms of a migraine starting. I started to lose concentration on my work and what people were telling me. I developed an aching behind my eyes and started yawning more than usual. Then the worst part of a migraine started - the headache, it's a kind of pain that you never forget, and on that day it started in earnest at about 6pm. Before too long the pain throbbing behind my right temple was unbearable almost to the point of madness, the only thing that I can do to ease it is to take some painkillers (ibuprofen seem to work best for me) and lay down in a quiet and very dark room. Eventually I had to go to bed and try to sleep as this sometimes stops the pain, but on this occasion it only seemed to make it worse. I awoke at about 1am in worse pain than before and, upset and a little frightened, it took a further 2 hours before I was able to get back to sleep. When I woke in the morning thankfully the pain was gone, but it has taken another 48 hours at least for me to start feeling more like my normal self. I am extremely lucky in that my wonderful wife Ana understands what I am going through and does everything possible to help me and look after me until I am recovered.

This month's BBC Focus magazine has an article in it about migraine and I hoped it might give me some insight into understanding my own condition a little better. Described as frightening, disabling and unpredictable (all of which I agree with) migraine is more common than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined. In fact 6% of men and as many as 18% of women in the UK are affected. The trigger for these attacks is not well understood, I have certainly never been able to predict when an attack might occur or do anything much to prevent it. My attacks are infrequent, perhaps one or two per month, but can cause me to miss work if their timing is bad. I was quite shocked to read some people might suffer one or two attacks every week, life for someone like that must be difficult especially if those attacks are severe. It is generally thought that migraine is an inherited tendency, and may be related to a defect in genes responsible for ion transfer essential to the correct functioning of the nervous system. It can be triggered by many factors either singly or in combination, such as lack of food, sleep, certain foods, stress or even the weather. The brain doesn't like change and this also seems to be a trigger. I don't know what might be triggering mine but that is not for want of investigation.

I think migraines are misunderstood by people who don't have first hand experience of them, or experience caring for a sufferer. Imagine if you will the worst headache you've ever had, then concentrate it into a pulsating, one-sided severe pain, then multiply that by 10, add sensitivity to light, sound and touch until experiencing them are also painful, then add nausea, sweating and shivering. Now you're in my migraine country, but even that description doesn't make it sound as bad as it can be. I think there is a stigma attached to migraine and that is very unfair because it is an illness like any other, but perhaps not so well understood. Migraine suffers don't just have a headache that a couple of paracetamol will take away, but are often affected by pain so disabling that they can't move for fear of making it worse. So next time someone you know gets has an attack do all you can to help them because they are about to enter a world of pain that you probably didn't realise existed.

Latest iTunes purchases

2006-11-02T22:16:00.000Z

My mum sent me some codes for free iTunes tracks that she got off of six-packs of coke. Now I don't know what she's doing drinking all that coke, we were never allowed any as kids, but as I've got 4 free tunes out of it I won't complain. These are the tunes I decided to buy and, I think, reflect my reasonably varied and eclectic taste in music.

Sophia (unplugged) - Nerina Pallot
Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens
Massacre - Iron Maiden
Take 5 - Dave Brubeck

Sophia is an amazingly haunting song which I first heard on TOTP2 a couple of weeks ago. You can view the video of this performanace on YouTube. Once heard it is never forgotten and I have to say I prefer this unplugged version to the standard radio version I heard the other day.

Tea for the Tillerman is the song used for the credits of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's Extras series. It always makes me smile to hear it as that was such a good tv series, better even than the incredible The Office.

Massacre is a cover of a Thin Lizzy song, if you don't own a copy of Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous then you don't know classic rock. Iron Maiden perform a true rock cover, not messed about with, but the Maiden sound is there. Myself and Mrs Williams are off to see the Maiden at Earl's Court in December, can't wait!

Take 5, I love this song by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Although everyone knows the saxophone melody and piano intro it is also famous for its drum solo. Mmmmm, nice.

So much good music in the world, my mum better keep drinking the coke!

Halloween

2006-10-30T19:40:00.000Z

It's almost Halloween and that got me thinking about why we mark occassions such as this one. All Hallow's Eve originated with the Pagan Celts of the British Isles and Europe at the time of their harvest festival. In a treatment common with many Pagan festivals, the Christian feast of All Saint's Day was moved to November 1st to give Halloween a more Christian interpretation. So does this kind of treatment hold true for other festival days?

Christmas, Christ's Mass, 25th December, the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact it was timed to coincide with the Pagan winter solstice festival of Yule, and the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia. The true date of birth for Christ remains unknown, but by timing the celebration to coincide with other festivals the early Christians were able to popularise their own.

Even Easter, the most important event in the Christian calendar, is not without controvesy. It has been claimed that this feast may be derived from the Anglo-Saxon celebration of the spring equinox and its goddess Eostre.

Ever since the first Council of Nicea in 325AD the Christian church has hijacked Pagan festivals to suit there own purposes and further the message that Christianity sought to deliver. Whether this is a good or bad thing is not for me to say but for you, the reader, to decide for yourself. Bear it in mind though the next time you're tucking into the Christmas turkey or chomping on a chocolate egg.

The Muckin' o' Geordie's Byre

2006-10-22T20:48:00.000Z

The following are the lyrics from a version of a lively Scottish song, usually sung at fast tempo - anyone care to offer a translation?

Noo when I want taw lauchin' I think on the scene
When a'body roub' aboot cam; ower tae clean,
And clairted themsel's richt up taw the e'en
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
Wi Robbie the Rochie and Willie the Doo,
The auld wife hersel' an' Teeny McCrew;
And a'body else the left aff the pleugh
For the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Oh! Siccan a sotter was a'body in,
Five mile awa' ye could hear the din;
Even the vera coo had to grin
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Noo the bobby cam' roun' tae quell doon the soun'
The cratur got lost whaur the rucks hae their foun'
He feel in the midden and was like taw droon
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
The weicht o' him syne sent the barrow in bits,
The wheel cairred on and the auld wife it hits;
Losh! ye should hae seen how she did the splits
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Oh! Siccan a sotter was a'body in,
Five mile awa' ye could hear the din;
Even the vera coo had to grin
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Oh the whisky gaed roun' Tammy flein' the doo'
And aye as they drank, the mair they got fou'
The only anes sober, the calf an' the coo
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
Tammy roared oot "Ring the bell noo for mair"
Syne tuggit the coo's tail, and pu'd oot a hair;
When she kickit oot he gaed up in the air
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Oh! Siccan a sotter was a'body in,
Five mile awa' ye could hear the din;
Even the vera coo had to grin
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

The World in turmoil

2006-10-22T20:19:00.000Z

In the Far East, North Korea is allegedly testing nuclear weapons. In the Middle East violence fuelled by Islamic zeal and intolerance is rife. In the USA an equally zealous breed of ultra-conservative Christianity is taking hold. In the midst of it all two hard-working souls are battling the forces of wallpaper and paint in an attempt to make their little corner of England a green and pleasant one.

Trouble in the World seems to come and go, but it is important not to get so swept up by events that we forget that we too have a life to live. We're no more likely to be blown up by suicide bombers, or nuked by the press of a red button, than we are to win the lottery and get knocked down by a bus on the same day. The reality is that the world can be a dangerous place, but that life isn't as frightening as we see on the news.

It would be easy to place blame for the world's ills on the shoulders of fundamentalist Muslim clerics and Christian preachers, or the socialist Communist leaders. The views of these people are often distasteful and irrational, but these days we perhaps spend a little too long focusing on such large issues when far more important is the time we spend with our friends and families, embracing life and all it has to give us.

And so endeth the sermon, peace be with you brothers and sisters.

Electric River

2006-10-16T19:50:00.000Z

We did a bit of shopping at the weekend and, while walking up Canterbury high street, we came across a crowd of people watching a local band performing. I was about to walk on when I realised that they were playing a cover of Pearl Jam's classic "Alive", and followed it up by playing "Once". Now these guys can't have been any older than 16 or 17 but they rocked, and so did I. I even paid a fiver to buy a copy of their CD.

Now it seems I wasn't the only one impressed by their talent and taste in music. I've had a quick check of their myspace site and it turns out they're quite a popular group with a whole score of gigs lined up for the rest of this year (presumably when they're not revising for their GCSEs). I have a feeling they tend to draw the teenage rebel girls most of all as their audience but I don't suppose they're complaining. I'm gonna give their CD, which contains their own tunes, a bit of listen but if it is anything like the stuff the bands that influence them put out them I'm sure to like it - I mean, you can't go wrong with a bit of Dream Theater, Green Day or Thin Lizzy can you?!?! It'll be interesting to see if these guys get signed, they have the talent but just need the break.

Hello, Alo, Hallo, Dobrý den, Saluton, Sveiki

2006-10-12T22:00:00.000Z

Welcome, everyone, to my second attempt at blogging. I began with a wordpress blog but abandoned it once I found out I couldn't change how it looked without paying for the privelege. I've seen blogger used by a number of my friends and everyone seems to agree it is pretty good, at least I can hack around with the css and get it looking a bit cool although some of these standard templates are funky.

So what is Texas Ian's Yeehaw all about? Like most people I'm just going to stick stuff on here that I find interesting, you may not of course but you're always welcome to tell me that. I'm hoping that I might be able to educate my readers a little by imparting a few choice facts that I've picked up in my 30 odd years. I was commenting only today to Ana (my wife for anyone who doesn't know her) that I seem to have a good memory for useless facts but don't always remember the important things. I prefer to draw a gardening analogy on this though because, like weeds, my facts are only flowers in the wrong place. Perhaps my blog is the place to plant and cultivate these comforting friends, let's see shall we...

The title of this entry is a simple greeting in 6 languages, all of which are spoken by some very good friends on mine. In order we have English, Romanian, Afrikaans, Czech, Esperanto and Lithuanian - what a cosmopolitan group of friends I have.