The Greenhouse, part I

So, after months of gentle steering, I have convinced my man that he really wants to build a greenhouse. Or more correctly, an enclosed veggie garden. Hopefully monkey-proof :-)
I will attempt to document our progress via this blog.
We pulled down the jungle jim, since the boys had outgrown it without actually using it much. The only ones who made use of it were the monkeys, who loved to lounge around on the upper deck, and Jenny's cats - who used it to escape from Java and Chelsey.
The general idea is to create the greenhouse using the wood and shade-cloth from the JJ, and only have to buy monkey-wire to cover the frame.
We got started a couple of days ago, cleaning the old wood poles and slats.
Today Max was here to help, and we got the four corner poles into the ground.
We had hoped to have the house situated right up against the retaining embankment, (see photo below) but discovered - while digging the first hole - that the retaining stones actually extended quite far under the lawn. So we had to move everything about 40cm away from our original starting point.

Photo 1: Retaining embankment on left - we wanted to plant the "back wall" poles right at the foot of the embankment, just where the groundcover ended. We had to move about 40cm to the right to be able to dig deep enough.

Photo 2: James and Max removing an existing pole left from the old jungle jim. This was meant to be a doorpost, but because of having to move further away from the retaining embankment, this one also had to move.

Photo 3: Digging for the 4th corner post ... Our finished greenhouse will be roughly 2m x 3.8m, and really tall so we can have lots of shelves and trellises for climbing veg - reckon that should be big enough?

Photo 4: There's always something! While digging the last hole, Max hit a plastic pipe. No idea where it comes from or goes to. We tried flushing the outside loo, and poured water down the side drain to see if it was attached to either of those ... nothing. It could be builders rubble, for all we know! Anyway, we covered the hole (dark patch in the centre of the shadowed area) with a piece of plastic sheeting, and hoped for the best! Thankfully it didn't get in the way of our corner pole!

Just heard that Daryl has donated an old gate to use for my entrance door, so we don't have to build one - yippeee!So there you grow!
Hopefully we'll be done with the building in the next couple of weeks ... then I can start getting my seedlings going :-)
Watch this space :-)

Reaction time ...

Hello friends,

We need to work together to prevent the ruin of our environment.This letter was sent to me by email, let's pass it on and get busy!

PUBLIC HEARING INTO PROPOSED FRACKING FOR GAS
BY SHELL IN THE KAROO, SOUTH AFRICA

Speech by
Lewis Pugh, OIG

Cape Town - 25 March 2011

STANDING UP TO GOLIATH

Ladies and gentlemen, thank for the opportunity to address you.  My name is Lewis Pugh.

This evening, I want to take you back to the early 1990’s in this country. You may remember them  well.

Nelson Mandela had been released.  There was euphoria in the air. However, there was also widespread violence and deep fear. This country teetered on the brink of a civil war.  But somehow, somehow, we averted it.  It was a miracle!

And it happened because we had incredible leaders.  Leaders who sought calm. Leaders who had vision.  So in spite of all the violence, they sat down and negotiated a New Constitution.

I will never forget holding the Constitution in my hands for the first time. I was a young law student at the University of Cape Town.  This was the cement that brought peace to our land.  This was the document, which held our country together.  The rights contained herein, made us one.

I remember thinking to myself - never again will the Rights of South Africans be trampled upon.

Now every one of us - every man and every women - black, white, coloured, Indian, believer and non believer - has the right to vote.  We all have the Right to Life.  And our children have the right to a basic education.  These rights are enshrined in our Constitution.

These rights were the dreams of Oliver Tambo.  These rights were the dreams of Nelson Mandela. These rights were the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, of Desmond Tutu and of Molly Blackburn.  These rights were our dreams.

People fought – and died – so that we could enjoy these rights today.

Also enshrined in our Constitution, is the Right to a Healthy Environment and the Right to Water. Our Constitution states that we have “the Right to have our environment protected for the benefit of our generation and for the benefit of future generations.”

Fellow South Africans, let us not dishonour these rights.   Let us not dishonour those men and women who fought and died for these rights.  Let us not allow corporate greed to disrespect our Constitution and desecrate our environment.

Never, ever did I think that there would be a debate in this arid country about which was more important – gas or water.  We can survive without gas. We cannot live without water.

If we damage our limited water supply – and fracking will do just that – we will have conflict again here in South Africa.  Look around the world. Wherever you damage the environment you have conflict.

Fellow South Africans, we have had enough conflict in this land – now is the time for peace.

A few months ago I gave a speech with former President of Costa Rica. Afterwards I asked him
“Mr President, how do you balance the demands of development against the need to protect the environment?”

He looked at me and said “It is not a balancing act.  It is a simple business decision.  If we cut down our forests in Costa Rica to satisfy a timber company, what will be left for our future?”

But he pointed out “It is also a moral decision.  It would be morally wrong to chop down our forests and leave nothing for my children and my grandchildren.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what is at stake here today: Our children’s future.  And that of our children’s children.

There may be gas beneath our ground in the Karoo.  But are we prepared to destroy our environment for 5 to 10 years worth of fossil fuel and further damage our climate?

Yes, people will be employed – but for a short while.  And when the drilling is over, and Shell have packed their bags and disappeared, then what?  Who will be there to clean up?  And what jobs will our children be able to etch out?

Now Shell will tell you that their intentions are honourable.  That fracking in the Karoo will not damage our environment.  That they will not contaminate our precious water.  That they will bring jobs to South Africa. That gas is clean and green.  And that they will help secure our energy
supplies.

When I hear this – I have one burning question.  Why should we trust them? Africa is to Shell what the Gulf of Mexico is to BP.

Shell, you have a shocking record here in Africa.  Just look at your operations in Nigeria.  You have spilt more than 9 million barrels of crude oil into the Niger Delta.  That’s twice the amount of oil that BP spilt into the Gulf of Mexico.

You were found guilty of bribing Nigerian officials – and to make the case go away in America - you paid an admission of guilt fine of US$48 million.

And to top it all, you stand accused of being complicit in the execution of Nigeria’s leading environmental campaigner – Ken Saro-Wira and 8 other activists.

If you were innocent, why did you pay US$15.5 million to the widows and children to settle the case out of Court?

Shell, the path you want us to take us down is not sustainable.  I have visited the Arctic for 7 summers in a row.  I have seen the tundra thawing. I have seen the retreating glaciers. And I have seen the melting sea ice. And I have seen the impact of global warming from the Himalayas all the way down to the low-lying Maldive Islands. Wherever I go – I see it.

Now is the time for change.  We cannot drill our way out of the energy crisis.  The era of fossil fuels is over.  We must invest in renewable energy.  And we must not delay!

Shell, we look to the north of our continent and we see how people got tired of political tyranny.  We have watched as despots, who have ruled ruthlessly year after year, have been toppled in a matter of weeks.

We too are tired.  Tired of corporate tyranny.  Tired of your short term, unsustainable practices.

We watched as Dr Ian Player, a game ranger from Natal, and his friends, took on Rio Tinto (one of the biggest mining companies in the world) and won.

And we watched as young activists from across Europe, brought you down to your knees, when you tried to dump an enormous oilrig into the North Sea.

Shell, we do not want our Karoo to become another Niger Delta.

Do not underestimate us.  Goliath can be brought down.  We are proud of what we have achieved in this young democracy – and we are not about to let your company come in and destroy it.

So let this be a Call to Arms to everyone across South Africa, who is sitting in the shadow of Goliath: Stand up and demand these fundamental human rights promised to you by our Constitution.  Use your voices - tweet, blog, petition, rally the weight of your neighbours and of people in power.
Let us speak out from every hilltop.  Let us not go quietly into this bleak future.

Let me end off by saying this - You have lit a fire in our bellies, which no man or woman can extinguish.  And if we need to, we will take this fight all the way from your petrol pumps to the very highest Court in this land.  We will take this fight from the farms and towns of the Karoo to the streets of London and Amsterdam.  And we will take this fight to every one of your shareholders.  And I have no doubt, that in the end, good will triumph over evil.

Screaming like a girl. (or) The Terror of Lazarus the Coackroach.

It's been a tense week. No internet, and all that. I'm stressed.

Anyway, I was checking the "little loo" to make sure it was
visitor friendly.
There he was, lying legs-up on the floor - just one antenna twitching
sporadically. In the throes of roach-death, he looked harmless.

I ripped off a couple of sheets of toilet paper and leaned over to pick him
up. As my fingertips closed around his little body, a miracle occurred, and he
scuttled off - resurrected just seconds before he would have been flushed
away.
A tiny squeal escaped my lips, and I hurried out to fetch the can of certain
death.
He was waiting for me, a gleam in his roachie eye. I should have known ...

As I sprayed him, he headed directly for me, and as I jumped he veered left to hide behind the ironing board and a pile of old school books in the passage.
Great, I thought, he would die there and my Cleaning Fairy could sweep him
up when she arrived on Tuesday.

I turned back towards the bathroom to rinse my hands and flush the sheet of
toilet paper I had been holding.

He chose that moment to COME BACK – flashed past my foot and just brushed my toes on his way behind the loo.

Bigger scream this time. And to my shame, I ran!
Dearest Love wasn’t sure whether to laugh at me or not. Just leave it, he
said.
But I was determined to finish this monster off, once and for all.

So back I went, armed with my spray can.
I peered cautiously behind the loo, where I expected him to be.
Nothing.
I stepped backwards to get a better angle.

Crunch! Squelch!
Me screaming like a girl!
That awful feeling under my bare foot.
In my desperate effort to not leave a trail of roach-gunk, I hopped towards
the kitchen, and realised - in my state of horror - that the back door was
locked.
No time to look for keys, I prayed that the front door would be open so that
I could wipe this nastiness from my heel.
Please don’t tell the kids I rinsed Lazarus off in the pool J
It’s all over now. The memory is fading. But I’m watching where I walk ...

Recipe for Smoky Lemon Rice

1. Cook rice as you usually do.
2. When it's just about done, put the lid on and turn the heat down really low (i.e. turn the dial past "off" all the down to "high")
3. Go to your computer and log in to FB to check all those status updates while you wait for the dinner to finish off.
4. When you smell smoke, rush back to the kitchen. The rice should be nicely blackened at the bottom, and crispy at the top. If it's black all the way through, order pizza instead.
5. Scrape the crispy (not blackened) rice into a sieve or small-holed colander and rinse thoroughly.
6. Put the rice into a clean container, sprinkle with half a cup of sugar and let it rest for 5 minutes.
7. Rinse again and drain the rice, taking care to spill some of the rice into the sink.
8. Put rice into a microwave-safe container.
9. Slice a lemon into 8ths, add to rice. Season well with Lemon and black pepper seasoning, and dot with butter.
10. If the rice is a bit too dry, add a bit of boiling water.
11. Pop into the microwave and heat through.
12. Serve with overcooked meat & veg of your choice.
13. Leave your other half to pack the dishwasher, and get back to FB as soon as you can, preferably with a glass of wine in hand :-)