Covid Booster

Saturday morning and I have a head cold which does not bode well, as I have had my flu jab and I was under the impression that this would stop me from getting a cold. On Wednesday I had my covid booster and the next day I did feel a little under the weather but shrugged it off to the jab. No such luck, so if this blog seems to ramble a little more than normal, blame it on my cold.

What to cook tonight, I think Sausage, chicken and squash traybake, with spinach and potatoes, will be good comfort food for a man in my position. Although Greek Lamb chops is an alternative, with a good amount of chillis. 

What to listen to? My favourites are slowly getting to that moment in time when they have been heard too many times and a fresh list needs to be added. Elbow, comes to mind, ‘One day like this’ album.

'Cause holy cow, I love your eyes

And only now I see the light

Yeah, lying with you half awake

Stumbling over what to say

Well, anyway, it's looking like a beautiful day

Yes, you guessed the rest. 

So, throw those curtains wide

One Day Like This a year would see me right

Enough rambling, let’s get to more important matters. Cop26. With that in mind, I did a Facebook post for one of our clients on ‘Ways for a more sustainable garden.’ Doing some research I discovered the following simple fact that can make a huge difference to climate change.

Plant a tree. My mum was a passionate tree planter and whenever she moved into another home, she planted a tree. Turns out, if the Royal Horticultural Society can be believed, if all the gardeners in the UK planted a tree and made sure it matured, it will store enough carbon for someone to travel around the world 11 million times. 

My favourite is making your own compost. Every 10kg of homemade compost saves 1kg of fossil carbon. The other fact that caught my eye was using rainwater, buying a water butt and storing the rainwater from your roof to water your garden. It has a catchy slogan, Mains to Rains, water the way nature intended. Robert, the eternal sceptic, derided that theory as he wanted to know how much carbon it would take to make the water butts and transport them to all the gardens. As he has a masters degree in Behavioural Science and does quite a substantial amount of research, I will leave the answer to that question for him to supply.

Talking of Robert, he has just washed his bicycle in anticipation of a ride with Gary through the Purbecks. He is very conscientious and will wash the bicycle before and after every ride, I swear that boy will wear the paint off.

The big news is Russell has just come back from Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, we are pleased he is back, they are places that conjure up the most exotic of locations and also the darker side of Africa. ‘Is it far to Zanzibar’ comes to mind. Russell lives in Tanzania. We have the Purbecks and Sandbanks beach, he has the plains of Serengeti and Kilimanjaro. Yes, let’s not forget Zanzibar, with Arabic influences and Mafia. There is a beauty to Zanzibar with a marine park, which is home to whale sharks and coral reefs. Not sure who has the better deal, the Purbecks are awesome when covered in snow. Kilimanjaro is very high, not for the casual Sunday stroll. Tough call.