Shut your bin!

The old blood pressure has been somewhat raised this morning by this little gem on bin emptying which is in the news today. Our local council has long decreed that bins have to have their lids closed in order to be emptied. The binmen (sorry, refuse disposal operatives) also refuse to empty them if they are up to a centimetre away from where they think they should be placed outside one's house and they only empty the general rubbish bins fortnightly now instead of weekly. They also have this neat little trick of dumping the empty bin right in the middle of your drive, so that you can't drive in or out without having to move it first. We have green boxes for recyclable rubbish, but only certain types. You can put plastic bottles in there, but woe betide you if you sneak in any other plastic containers; the 'wrong kind of plastic' you see.
Already we are sorting the rubbish for them, dragging our bins out of the garden onto the pavement, with the threat of dire punishment if we do this on the wrong day, of course and having to harbour rubbish for two weeks instead of one, with the attendant hygiene issues. Now we are further limited by the amount of rubbish we can leave in the bin. So if the bin is overflowing, which can easily happen in the case of a large family, what are we supposed to do with the excess? If we were still in the days of rubbish bags having to be picked up and thrown onto the wagon, I would agree that the job was physically tiring and probably didn't do the back muscles much good, but now, all that is required is to line two bins up so that the wagon picks them up. I could do it with one hand tied behind my back; it's hardly dangerous. But it's a different matter for elderly and infirm people who have to struggle to pull a heavy bin down a path onto the pavement if they want it emptied. It obviously doesn't matter if they injure themselves. I am waiting with impatience to read of the first court action against a local council brought by a resident who has injured him/herself in the struggle to put the bin out.

This morning, not for the first time, I have had to drag my bin up the road to the wagon because some of the rubbish had been left in it, so they don't even check that they have been properly emptied. Today there was some polystyrene packaging which had been jammed down the side, so with my best, most charming smile (No, OK, I dispensed with that - I was annoyed!) I approached one of the men, dragging my bin behind me. It's quite a surreal experience round here, as our binmen are a bit like the traditional brass monkeys, but in their case, they are obviously recruited for their abilities to 'see nowt, hear nowt and say nowt.' What this means in practice is that I say, very politely,
"Excuse me, there is still some stuff in my bin."
Silence as he continues to load two other bins onto the wagon, apparently completely unaware of my presence. I hastily look down and check that I am fully dressed and have not suddenly become invisible. After a couple more minutes, he grabs the bin from me, without sparing me so much as a glance, loads the bin once more and, this time, empties it, before flinging it conptemptuously in my direction. I am overcome by a wild impulse to ask him which charm school he graduated from but if I do, assuming that he will actually register that I am speaking to him this time, he may refuse to empty my bin at all next time and I may be arrested and charged on the grounds of being intimidating towards a council employee.
Maybe next time, the solution would be not to be dressed if I have to chase the wagon with my bin. It would have to be a warmer day than today though!

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!