Locksmiths unite!

Keith, in his capacity as locksmith and auto-locksmith, belongs to several organisations and forums but has now decided to create his own forum as he was a bit irritated by constraints appearing on some of the established ones. Hence, lots of computering and creating has been going on chez Jennyta over the last couple of evenings. If you would like to visit it, it is on my sidebar or you can just click here.
Of course, as it is brand new, there are, as yet, no members, so I was invited to register to try it out. So now, there are two members, Keith (Admin) and Bikerchick.
YES, Bikerchick!! So what's wrong with that???

A warning to all you men!

It's been a while since I have shared any of TK's gems of wisdom so here is one for the men to read ...

Good day...................A warning to the blokes.

Beer contains female hormones. Last month, the National University of Lesotho scientists released the results of a recent analysis that revealed the presence of female hormones in beer. Men should take a concerned look at their beer consumption. The theory is that beer contains female hormones (hops contain phytoestrogens) and that by drinking enough beer, men turn into women. To test the theory, 100 men drank 8 pints of beer each within a 1 hour period. It was then observed that 100% of the test subjects :

1) Argued over nothing.

2) Refused to apologise when obviously wrong.

3) Gained weight.

4) Talked excessively without making sense.

5) Became overly emotional.

6) Couldn't drive.

7) Failed to think rationally.

8) Had to sit down while urinating.

No further testing was considered necessary to prove the theory.

All total rubbish, of course.

Biting the bullet

Well, I did it. I've been thinking of it for months now but decided that maybe I would play safe and wait a bit longer, but last night, I took the bull by the horns and changed my template. It was easier and far less fraught than I expected. Memories of my early days of blogging had put me off a bit. Those were the days when I would plunge in, without backing up the blog first, in the sublime confidence of the novice that all would be well and I would get to grips with the html without too much trouble; I was consistently proved wrong in that, of course!
But last night's venture was easy by comparison. The purists may claim that the new format is too constraining but these days, I'm happy with that. The main thing putting me off was the thought of having to re-do my blog links and of course, I did pick the one day that Blogrolling was having its annual makeover, meaning I had to search for links through other links, so if I have inadvertently missed anyone off, apologies in advance and please let me know.
In the meantime, I'm off to play with the add-ons!

Bird watching anyone?

Now that I have more time to 'stand and stare', I have rekindled my interest in birds. There are lots around here and I spend a little time every morning, weather permitting, just listening to the birdsong in the garden and testing my powers of indentification.
However, I was most impressed to see this on BBC Breakfast this morning. Haven't managed to spot any of those around here yet.

When Can I eat them?

This morning I went to buy my compost bin, some more containers and some seed potatoes and carrot and parsnip seeds, although I couldn't get started in the garden until this afternoon because 'rain stopped play'.
So this afternoon, I have been mainly gardening. Tomato, chard, spinach and dwarf runner beans have been duly planted and my aching back duly massaged. (Note to self: You are not quite as agile and fit as you thought!)
Then Keith came home.
"Have you planted them then?" he queried, his gaze travelling through the back window.
"Two hours ago," I said.
"Oh good." Upon closer inspection, his face fell. "When am I going to be able to eat them then? They haven't grown yet. Get K**** on the phone. She didn't tell us we'd have to wait for them to grow!"
"Should be ready about July, I think," I said nonchalantly. "Not long really."

Gardening in a pot

When Elder Daughter visited last week, she waxed enthusiastic about growing vegetables in her garden. When I said I would like to be able to do the same but our garden is really too small, she suggested growing some vegetables in containers.
What a great idea! Later, on the phone, she was full of tips and advice.
"You need to get 'Gardener's World'," she ordered, "it has free lettuce seeds in it this month. Oh and get 'Grow it!' too." I could hear her partner sniggering in the background. Obviously not a fellow gardening enthusiast.
So I duly purchased the two magazines, with their free seeds and then yesterday, dragged Keith off to buy a wheelbarrow, compost and some plants to start off with.
Mind you, reading those magazines is an education in itself. I mean, what on earth is a forcing pot and how am I supposed to remember to plant, for instance, potatoes with nasturtiums because they are good planting companions?
And I bet you didn't know that sweet peas work to fix nitrogen from the air into the soil through special nodules on their roots? (I presume that is A Good Thing?)
Oh, I shall soon be able to bore for England (sorry, Wales).
Watch this space!

Sun, snow, showers?

Belated good wishes to everyone for Easter. The weather, of course, is behaving quite normally for a bank holiday weekend. Yesterday we went over to Bradford to see Elder Son and family. Here, it had been pouring down while I was out for my walk but stopped as soon as I got home again. (Yes, perfect timing as always!) On our journey over to Yorkshire, we had sunshine at our end and snow on the hills near the other end and...a huge chunk of cold!
Today Elder Daughter is coming from Liverpool for lunch here before her trek back to snowy Sheffield. Younger Daughter in Newcastle, however, reported last night that the weather where she is was fine, no trace of snow.
So all this rambling is really to conceal the fact that I actually don't have anything to tell you. Life is uneventful and, anyway, it's British to talk about the weather and, given the variety we've had this weekend, it's understandable - even if the weather isn't - if you see what I mean.
Ah well, have a good day, everyone.