Life, the Universe and Everything

Back in May, I wrote about the 99p restaurant that opened in Cheltenham and it has not only survived, they've opened another branch up in the Strand area of the High Street. Every few weeks, I'm in town and get a serious attack of the munchies so I've taken to popping into this place and having a reasonable and generous pizza slice for 99p

Joni Mitchell once sang about 'putting all the trees in a tree museum and charging everyone a dollar and a half just to see them' but at Westonbirt Arboretum they charge 9 quid and I pop back there every now and again to marvel at the autumn colours and to relive some of my gardening roots. For it was here I first saw a blue spruce, a larch and an Acer Palmatum - and I was inspired to plant specimens in the garden of the house where I was brought up. The Acer is still going strong 36 years later - I drive by it occasionally. The other notable tree, Calocedrus decurrens, I've not planted yet and don't know why it isn't seen more in parks and gardens. In its native California it grows big and wide but in the UK climate it goes for tall and very thin which means you get a lot of impact without taking up space and blocking the sun. More information Wikipedia RHS

This is either funny, crazy, hypocritical or just good politics depending on your point of view. You could argue that continuing to deny all prisoners voting rights is a great bit of justice and will bring home to criminals the perils of breaking the law. Unfortunately, the policy has been ruled unlawful by Europe and continuing to apply it is itself illegal. Which sends a rather curious message to offenders. On the other hand, the policy is said to be enormously popular with voters - and "standing up to Europe" even more so. There's also a crazy idea that society should attempt to rehabilitate offenders. Allowing all of them a (postal) vote would be a cheap and easy way of sending a message that we're serious about it.

The council turned an old railway line into a path and it's attracted some "art" both official and unofficial. Click pictures to see larger versions.

When I wrote suggesting that bookshops use DRM to  license books rather than selling them I little realised the implications for the book lover. Amazon has been doing this via their Kindle device for some time and recently decided that one of their customers in Norway was perpetrating some sort of fraud. So they broke into her house and cleared her bookshelves - well not literally - they threw a switch somewhere and rendered all her Kindle purchases unusable. In fact they've (electronically) banned her from using a Kindle for life. (Full story) Related:  Mr Depot Censor, Minister of Repression and Censorship in the Republic of Unsavouria today announced an ambitious project to give away millions of Kindles to citizens. "We will also recycle all book and bookshelves in the country to produce electricity," he continued, "under the guidance of the Party, we have improved access to information and reduced CO2 at a stroke"

After my recent visit to Coombe Hill I decided to pop back because I'd spotted ideal weather for photography and to check the footwear issue. This time, I took standard wellies and got all the away along the boardwalk through the osiers to reach the Grundon Hide (see below).  Mind you, if there was another 4" of water, it would have been difficult to keep my socks dry. Now, the hide might have seemed like a good idea when they built it, but yer modern wildfowl has Internet access, uses Google Maps and likes its privacy. As a result the birds know about the hide and were keeping a good few hundred yards away from it As sunset approached, I went over to the South side of the canal and got some pictures - click for bigger versions.

The hamlet of Coombe Hill between Tewkesbury and Gloucestershire must once have had a somewhat over-zealous marketing person. The "hill" is about 30m above sea level and only 21m above the canal leading to the River Severn. Still, it attracted the attentions of the geologists and they determined that it was made of Rhaetic Limestone. I'd long been aware of the canal - seen it on maps and noticed it where it met the road but there was a huge middle part I'd never explored so I thought I'd give it a go. The builders started in 1796 and it was open for business for 80 years conveying coal to Cheltenham until the lock connecting it to the River Severn was damaged and it wasn't worth repairing. In the 1950s it got a "Site of Special Scientific Interest" badge and was bought by the local wildlife trust in 1999. This was because the canal was still wet and the area around it flooded most years which is good for birds and other wildlife. Actually, it didn...

I remember my first ever visit to a Chinese Restaurant very many years ago. It was in South Kensington near the Underground - if fact the toilet window of the "The Rice Bowl" looked out over a mass of railway tacks - but I digress - I particularly remember enjoying the Chicken Fried Rice. It's very easy to make (anything) Fried Rice even with one pan on a camp site. The trick is to use something like these - packets of ready cooked rice. Yes, they're designed for use in a microwave but don't worry . Tips: Usually on sale for about £1 although supermarket "own brand" products can be less There's lots of varieties but fairly plain flavours work well Don't confuse with "savoury rice" that is a mixture of uncooked rice and flavourings - if it takes more than 3 minutes with or without a microwave you don't want it. When I cook this at home, I often throw in some frozen peas at the same time as the rice OK, so what you do is...

I was in Lidl recently and I came across a pile of these for 99p each. I almost cried! The nostalgia - I first bought one of them back in around 1970 and thought they'd faded away like Corona soft drinks and Spangles but no... Not that Vesta Beef Risotto was particularly nice - it contains mainly dried meat, vegetables and rice but it has its good points: It weighed in at 124g which was pretty handy for cycling and/or camping trips It could be stored for ages It only uses one pan When you're hungry, it tastes pretty good It inspired me to try my own risotto from better ingredients - see below  Now, I don't have a standard risotto recipe to offer you - more a basic idea with some clues and tips. It's basically rice cooked in some sort of sauce with vegetables and possibly meat or fish. The "official" plan is to fry the uncooked rice for a couple of minutes in a little butter but that step isn't essential. Then add water, the rest of your ingr...

I bumped into an acquaintance recently. I had an idea she was some sort of student but it seems she's now working as a fundraiser. “Oh no, not a chugger ?” I ask and she denies it. She doesn't stand in the street with a clipboard accosting shoppers and trying to get them to sign up for a monthly direct debit – no, she turns up on your doorstep and does roughly the same thing. Anyway, I asked if she enjoyed it and she said yes. How does she cope with the rejections? Well, she quite likes being told to b*gg*r off because it's short and she gets to move on to someone more receptive. She also tells me it's best for people if they do actually answer the door because otherwise she'll keep going back again and again. I told her I had a “No cold callers” sign and she said they were instructed to ignore those! If challenged, her riposte is that it's not a “cold call” because she has a very warm heart! I told her that my sign also bans charity fundraisers. She ha...