It’s taken just voer a year (and multiple pairs of normal shoes) before the mrs and I finally managed to buy some wellies!

And just to celebrate:

We’ve been having loads of fun in the garden recently, although I must apologise to everyone in the clydesdale area for jinxing their weather this weekend by rashly going out and buying some patio furniture … cue the thunder and lightening!?

 

My last few blog entries have focused on one particular, if not peculiar, group of vegetables so I thought I should do a post on some others!?

It’s been a busy time in the garden, what with all the growing and hammering and digging and hammering and shovelling and growing and other gerdeney type stuff.  That’s what I like about growing stuff, once the hard work’s been done it’s mostly sitting back, relaxing, and watching … then eating!

So what going’s on have there been recently in my little plot of Scotland?

Well the seeds are sprouting …

Top to bottom we’ve got leeks, broccoli, something unidentified, and some perpetual spinach.  the photo isn’t exactly inspired, or even necessary but if anyone can identify the unidentified seedlings you can have a prize … here’s a close up …

Aside from the seedlings, which required no effort - that’s my favourite gardening activity! - I’ve also been busy with my hammer and some old floorboards making such marvelous creations such as a retaining border for my plot …

… very exciting, I’m sure you’ll agree!  Although the big hit in the garden this year has been …

… yes! The steps!  A work of genius I’m sure you’ll agree, the lass loves them anyway and has spent many a moment dragging herself up and down them on her bottom.  When she’s not eating them that is?!

Floorboards are great in the garden, which is just as well really as i have another 3 rooms to redo!  Floorboards aren’t the only useful piece of old tat that I’ve got lying around though, there are also chairs left by the previous owner.  Which was handy because I needed something to put around the fruit bushes (blackcurrant and redcurrant) that I bought from Lidl.  I had expected them to die - they are from Lidl - but the buggers only went and burst into life, anyway a bit of netting and the old chair frames later …

Aside from that I’ve ordered posts and mesh to make a rabbit proof fence … should arrive on Monday, so you can expect more on that in the next week or so, weather permitting.

Oh! and I spent Friday afternoon shovelling shit (for lack of a better term) that our neighbour has kindly donated to the cause.  Nothing like a bit of manure for the garden.  it’s about a 500 metre walk there and back and I had to do it 8 times with me wheel barrow in heat and humidity I’m unaccustomed to … it was muggy as hell and I was knackered by the end of it … least the tatties’ll appreciate it though!

Some, although probably not many, may recall I wrote to Karen Gillon some time ago in regard to Scottish Independence and a referendum for the issue.  I was, and am, a bit miffed that the only response I got from her was a request for my address and no actual response to my query … hell, if you’re going to ask people where they live the least you could do was respond to the substance of their correspondence.

Anyway, I now know where she stands on the issue, thanks to The Scotsman following a quick google after Salmond name-checked during First Minister’s Questions.  It turns out that:

Only one Labour MSP, Karen Gillon, has come out against a referendum, but she insists she is “loyal to her leader”.

She also opposed a referendum on devolution.

So there you have it, Karen Gillon is the only Labour MSP towing the party line!

The rift between Brown and Alexander became painfully obvious yesterday during Prime Minister’s Questions when Brown laboriously avoided either endorsing Alexander’s position or answering David Cameron’s questions … it was all too obvious and were it not such a serious issue it would be laughable.

As I alluded to previously I caught some of FMQ’s earlier today, well, enough to hear Ms Alexander’s attempts to bring Salmond to task, of course she had failed before she began as Salmond is able to quote from the SNP manifesto commitment to hold a referendum in 2010 - both Alexander and Brown have suggested that the SNP are failing to honour a manifesto commitment by not immediately holding a referendum.  Obviously, it’s a tactic that has been developed as it’s such a recurring theme, ‘the SNP aren’t meeting manifesto commitment A, b or C’, the problem is though the SNP are delivering … unlike Labour.

If you listen to the clip, provided in the article linked to in the previous paragraph, you’ll hear Alexander telling us that it is Labour who want to give the people of Scotland a chance to have their say, yet it has been Labour policy since before the May 07 election NOT to have a referendum on independence and it wasn’t until Sunday when Alexander burst out with her now infamous “bring it on” statement that that policy was reversed.

I don’t think anyone is being fooled by Labour’s new line on the issue and everything Ms Alexander now says must be closely examined for contradiction and misinformation, the Labour party aren’t interested in the people of this country, be that the UK or any of it’s constituent parts, they’re only interested in the power that this country can provide them with.

I’ve been following with interest the story of Ms Alexander and her dramatic u-turn on an independence referendum over the last few days.

The leader of the Scottish group of Labour at Holyrood has seemingly gone out on a limb following her “bring it on” statementover the weekend when she challenged the SNP to bring forward their plans for a referendum.  Since then she’s gone even further suggesting she’ll bring forawrd her own Billif the SNP don’t.

This from a politician who, until Sunday, was vociferous in her opposition to any refrendum on the issue.  Now that she’s backing a referendum you have to wonder why the Calman Commission wasn’t instructed to consider independence along with the rest of the constitutional options.  Indeed if she feels that strongly about it, why hasn’t she backed the National Conversation, after-all what’s the point in a referendum if the people aren’t familiar with the debate on both sides of the argument?

Not unsurprisingly Ms Alexander has come in for widespread criticism not least of all from the Scottish Conservative Leader:

Scotland’s future should be the subject of a calm and considered debate, not knee-jerk panic by a Labour Party in political meltdown.  The Calman Commission should be left to get on with it’s health check on devolution.

The Liberal Democrats are quoted as saying:

This is a panic response from a Labour party in free-fall after last week’s English and Welsh elections.  Wendy Alexander does not support independence and politicians should not support a referendum which they do not back.  Voters in Scotland will not look kindly on politicians who put themselves and their party above the interests of the country.

Obviously the SNP are very pleased at Labour’s u-turn but have committed to sticking to their manifesto commitment of not holding a referendum until 2010, having allowed the people to have a calm and considered debate, which seems to be the Conservative preference also.

And those backing Alexander?  Well apparently she has the backing of the Cabinet at Westminster, although significantly Gordon Brown is keeping quiet on the the matter.  Alexander’s detractors certainly seem to be more numerous than her backers and as if to confirm this she has been royally savaged by virtually all corners of the media.

Much of the criticism concentrates on Alexander’s motivations for her move, namely that her interests have more to do with her own poor poll ratings (and those of her party) rather than any real interest in what’s in the best interests of the country.

Alexander is pushing for a quick plebiscite allegedly to diminish the ‘uncertainty’ which she claims is damaging the country.  Of course she should be aware that what really damages countries is poor governance, after all she’s been part of the Labour party which maltreated Scotland, and the UK generally, for the 10 years before the SNP took office at Holyrood last year.

No, I believe that Ms Alexander wants a snap poll so that the complex issues cannot be fully debated.  Once the debate has begun I’m confident that the arguments for the Union will show themselves to be as weak and irrelevant as they are, or even non-existent.  I still haven’t heard a single reasoned argument as to why the Union should be maintained, meanwhile those for full independence are wide-ranging and compelling.

Regardless of how people vote in the, now certain, referendum it is important that those casting their votes are informed and are able to make an informed decision based on facts rather than hyperbole.

One of the most significant things which Ms Alexander has stated is that she wishes any referendum to be based on a two option question … essentially this must take the form of a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the question of independence, of course, how any question will be worded will also be highly important.  I suspect that the vote for independence is most likely to succeed on the two option ballot, and regardless of the outcome it’s certainly the only way that a ballot can have any credence.

—–ooo—–
UPDATE
—–ooo—–

It now seems unlikely that Alexander could introduce her own Bill as she would need the support of at least one SNP and one Conservative MSP.  Also parliamentary rules also forbid Bill’s being introduced where the ruling party is planning to introduce legislation on the same issue before the end of the current term.

 

Some parents are apparently a little bit confused by the inherent risks to their children posed by over exposure to the sun:

Parents are confused about the need to protect their children from the sun, despite the fact that youngsters in the UK have the highest rates of skin cancer of any European country.

That’s the warning from the British Association of Dermatologists, to mark the start of Sun Awareness Week today, which says cases of melanoma - the deadliest type of skin cancer - increased fout-fold in UK teenagers over the years 1978 to 1997

A survey bu the British Skin Foundation found that a quarter of parents think that it unnecessary to apply sun protection before they go to school in the summer. The charity also found that 37% of parents buy sunscreens with lower than the recommended factor 30 protection.

I certainly was confused!  I had always beleived that any exposure to The Sun …

… will be detrimental to the mental health of the young and old alike.  But then how will sun-tan lotion help?  Then it dawned on me as I gazed upon the world from my parlour window into the late afternoon of an early summer’s day …

… obviously I took immediate action and broke out the factor 50.  Liberally, and without hesitation, I sprayed and smeared it over my wife, children and pets before be-decking each in turn in a selection of heavy knit sun hats and sandals and then …

out.

Out.

Out they go!

To bask in the warm summer weather and soak up some much needed rays so that they might overcome their Vitamin D deficiency which afflicts us all following the long winter months.

If, like me, you’re a bit sad you’ll no doubt have enjoyed looking over the figures from the recent local elections in England and Wales!

I suspect that if it’s true to say that the Lib Dems did well and that the Tories did very well then it must also be true to say that Labour have done spectacularly badly on a level not seen for somewhere in the region of 40 years, or so I hear.

In the end the Tories made significant gains both in terms of councillors and councils gaining control of 12 of the latter and 256 of the former, meanwhile Labour took an utter trouncing succeeding in placing some 331 of their councillors on the dole queue and losing control of 9 councils.  The cherry on the top of the cake as far as the Tories seem to be concerned is gaining control of Bury and North Tyneside, apparently a former Labour stronghold.

Of course as a far a Labour are concerned things could have been worse.  Much worse.  They could have been fighting elections in Scotland too.  At least one Labour MP in Scotland has been quoted as saying:

If we’d have had elections up here [in Scotland], it would have been worse, we would have been tanked.  we are not satisfying our heartlands, we have taken them for granted.

From the horses mouth then, so to speak.

It seems though that Labour’s party in Westminster has been paying close attention in how to deal with defeat from their Holyrood counterparts by dropping into a state of denial.  Geoff Hoon stating:

There is no crisis.  This isn’t something that’s going to effect the fundamental stability of the government.

Maybe not, but how many Labour MP’s are going to sit by and watch their jobs be sold down the river by the Labour leadership?  I’m guessing that things are about to become very difficult for Gordon Brown and if he doesn’t start sorting himself out he’ll either be going into the next General Election as a lame Prime Minister with no hope of winning or he won’t be going into the General Election as Prime Minister at all.

Just watch now for a raft of populist and ill-conceived policies to be brought forward and hastily implemented in order to sooth an electorate looking for blood.  The Labour leadership’s rambling about economic difficulties being responsible for the poor result is pathetic.

It won’t be the economic downturn that does for Labour it will be their poor management of it … witness Northern Rock.  This Labour government is unravelling at a frightening pace from it’s inability to formulate a budget which won’t hammer the poorest to their diplomatic failures to deal with the Holyrood Government to their management of the devolution settlement and the issues which that has brought to the fore.

New Labour is in danger of disintegrating and in this local election effectively finished third behind Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.  Remember that name, Nick Clegg, he could well be the next leader of the opposition …

Following the Holyrood elections in May 2007 there was an almost palpable change to politics in Scotland.  Labour saw their 50 year dominance of Scottish politics put to the knife by a dissappointed electorate following one of the most negative campaigns I can recall.  The SNP’s victory was not a landslide though, and it was against a back-drop of disallowed votes and failed coalition talks that a minority SNP Executive emerged under the leadership of Alex Salmond, the most capable mind in Scottish, if not British, politics.

Of course it didn’t take long for the SNP to rebrand the ‘Scottish Executive’ as what it really is, ‘Scottish Government’

That aside though, just how long could an administration with only one seat more than their nearest (New Labour) rivals actually survive, this was surely an administration doomed to flounder and fail in short order allowing hte old Labour Liberal coalition to re-emerge and continue in their lack-lustre Execution of the country. 

Question.  If a Government governs and has governance, just what else can an Executive do other than execute and have executions?

Yet, whilst Labour reeled and wrapped itself up in denial, the SNP came out of the election and at such pace that it seemed that being a minority government might be some sort of advantage?!  The SNP has managed to deliver on a variety of levels from cutting prescription charges (with a view to abolishing them), to saving A&E units set to be axed under the previous administration, to saving certain key services from centralisation which would have meant massive round trips for patients and their families.

One of the SNP heroes of the hour is John Swinney, former leader of the party, with possibly the largest political portfolio in the history of Scottish politics ever, managed to deftly negotiate and deliver a budget thanks to the maturity of the Conservative opposition and Annabel Goldie’s willingness to work with the SNP in the interests of delivering benefits for Scotland.  Bizzarely, this led to the SNP’s manifesto committment of 1000 new police officers being delivered despite the SNP seemingly dropping this earlier!

The SNP have delivered parliamentary votes on local income tax, trident, and higher education, even though the numbers were against them.

Despite their success in their first year they obvuiously have their detractors, those who would have us languishing under the ‘formidable intellect’ of Wendy Alexander no doubt.  Wendy Alexander has been heard to be banging on about failed promises on Student debt, grants for first time homebuyers, and the new school building programme.

Yet the graduate endowment has been abolished even if the SNP have gone as far as they promised, new schools continue to be built and Labour complain that certain schools will not be closed.  As to the grants for first time homebuyers, well let’s face it that’s a stupid bloody idea anyway …

Any failure of a minority administration to deliver on their manifesto in it’s entirety is hardly surprising.  What is surprising is when, given 11 years in Westminster Labour still fail to deliver on theirs.  At least the SNP still have the remainder of their term to at least attempt to get through the changes they wish to make.

I’m considering having my blog hosted on my own domain to get away from some of the restriction that ^^this^^ type of blog has … besides, wordpress.com has been bugging me recently, you know, like when it freezes up and you lose the post you’ve just spent 3 days trying to write!?

Only problem is I’m not sure what software to use, I’m not keen on going back to Dreamweaver as I can’t really bothered working within the restrictions of the version I have (and I can’t afford the new version).  I was thinking wordpress.org, b2evolution, moveable type, text pattern or some such, but then I’m too lazy to do proper reading research so would prefer recommendations … if anyone has any, please!

Whilst I’m talking about changes, I’ve rejigged the blogroll a bit, no particular reason other than a change is as good as a holiday!

I’ve removed some of the blogs I never visit anymore, nothing personal you understand, it’s just that I don’t seem to have the time to read around as much as I’d like to … sorry!  If I’ve taken you off my blogroll and you’re miffed let me know and I’ll come and visit you again, can’t promise I’ll make it a regular event but if I do you’ll be back on!

There are also a couple on there which appear to have become inactive, but I’m leaving them on there just now in case the author should return … failing that I’ll remove them too, such is life!

 

I really like Spring-time, the season of blooming bulbs, returning birds and finally shaking of the last shackles of Winter.  Of course, predicting when Spring will finally be sprungisn’t quite as easy as it once was but I’m fairly confident that it has now arrived, the real giveaway was the warm breeze, sunshine and all our daffodils bursting into bloom over the last week or so.

This is my second spring this year, my first spring was back in January sometime, which was silly really since that’s actually the middle of winter!  Still, it got me started in the garden and today I finally got back into the garden for the first time since then … more-or-less!

Over the last week I’ve been out digging my new non-rabbit-proof vegetable patch which kinda beggars the question why I bother as anything I’m likely to plant in it will probably be eaten by the aforementioned.  The only thing they didn’t touch last year was the broad beans, and some species of wasps got them …  Here’s where I’ve been digging:

I have to pinch myself every-time I go up there … just look at the view!  I don’t really care about the rabbit, it’s just a good excuse to go out and enjoy one of the ‘little things’ in life.  I think though that I’ll be installing a rabbit proof fence in the near future as there is little more depressing in the garden than going to check on your ‘big’ plants only to discover that there’s nothing left other than a wee stem!

My main task today was planting out the 30 broad bean plants and 20 pea plants which I started off in our substitute green house, otherwise known as the ‘front porch’.  Of course nothing is ever as simple as it should be and planting anything in my veg plot (above) really is pointless and beyond defence at the minute, so a substitute veg plot was required … of course! the flower border!  Last year we had potatoes in it which required me to dig out hundreds of daffodil bulbs which I graciously donated to anyone who would take them!

Anyway, the border is easier to defend as it’s not so isolated as the ‘bit up the back’, here’s what we’ve got now:

Pretty isn’t it!!

What we have here is the remnants of an old chair that I found in the loft when we moved in some bricks, planks of wood and some netting.  The whole thing is aimed at discouraging - obviously -  the bunnies. Regrettably though it turned out I didn’t have enough netting to cover an area large enough to protect the peas as well, so this is just the broad beans planted up in three rows of ten … with luck they’ll still be there in the morning!

The peas, incidentally, have been repotted into troughs until such time as I can jimney something together (possibly in the border) to protect them too.

As for the sprintime surprise I alluded to in the title well:

 

Some of last years baby potatoes which we must have missed when we were digging them up last year.  They just popped-up out of the ground as I forked it over to take this years offering.  Yay!  The daffodils weren’t such as a surprise as I’ve been watching them grow, but sheesh, you wouldn’t believe how many bulbs I took out of the border last year!

The daffs are in a vase now, along with the ones the dog keeps knocking over, and we had some of the tatties for dinner, yum!  They’re just basic whites that you’d buy in the supermarket, but they taste so-o much better!!

That’s the question posed on this thread on the Our Kingdom blog.  The question has been raised in reference to a poster (below) which was being used as part of Matt O’Connor’s campaign to become London Mayor.

(click for larger image) 

I had written a lengthy post attacking this poster, but on reflection I realise my mistake.  It really isn’t worth the effort.

I would point out though that public spending per head in London is £9,781 whilst in Scotland it’s £9,631, and never mind the current budget of £9.3 billion being spent in London on the forthcoming 2012 olympics.  Where’s all that money coming from then?  There certainly isn’t being any equivilent spend being made in Scotland or any other part of the UK.  If you’re interested in how Scotland spends ‘your’ taxes read this: we iz in oor coontry spendzing  yourz taxez.

So you see the poster’s a load of mince.  Even the image says more about the narrow minded cliched pish people like Matt O’Connor and his supporters believe … it’s sad really.  At a time when Scottish Nationalism moves forward, it would seem that English Nationalism moves backwards, I can think of another party which wouldn’t be too discomfited were the image replaced by that of any other minority group.

It’s sad really.  So long as the Union stands England really does deserve a devolved parliament equivalent to that which we enjoy in Scotland, the current arrangement benefits no-one and provides idiots like O’Connor a platform to propagate fear and hate against whichever group of people they’re opposed to.  To be honest though I really don’t care, after-all I want to see the end of the Union and then maybe we can all get on with running our own affairs.

A final point though.  Can you imagine the uproar if a Scottish party ran a similar campaign?