The Potato Harvest has come round again. It’s that time of year when a succession of tractors with trailers overloaded with potatoes crawls past my house. They start at dawn, and go past about every ten minutes or so until well after sunset. They don’t seem able to do more than 20mph down the hill, […]
Like many couples, Christopher and I divided the household chores up between us. There were jobs that he did, and ones that I did. Some of those were explicitly discussed and agreed upon – e.g. he did the cooking, and I did the laundry. Others just sort of happened without either of us really thinking […]
I’m really hoping that the weather stays dry this week, because I’ve got Rob, my trusty decorator, here all week doing an emergency paint job on my soffit boards and barge boards. A few months ago, I asked the gardener to hack back at the ivy that was covering the wall outside my bedroom window. […]
One unanticipated side-effect from my trip to Germany is that I’ve come down with an absolutely stinking cold. It started on Saturday evening, and bearing in mind the standard incubation period for such things, I’m convinced that I picked it up either at the conference or on the plane home. I was meant to be […]
The conference was in Dresden, and as it happens I’ve been to a conference there before, way back in 1997. Last time, the conference delegates were taken on a walking tour of the Old Town by some of the graduate students from Dresden University, so we got a good introduction to the city. This time, […]
As a research scientist, technical conferences have been part of my work life for the last twenty-something years. To start with, as a very junior researcher, I was really keen and eager to attend conferences, and it was always something of a surprise when my supervisor encouraged me to attend to present the research papers […]
A number of people have commented to me that the glass blowing looks downright dangerous, with no Personal Protective Equipment, and the tutor wearing shorts! In fact, I think the danger lies more in the perception and the potential than in reality. Yes, of course, if things went horribly wrong then it could get very […]
Eastnor Castle held its annual fireworks competition last night. I realised during the late afternoon that something was up at the castle, as there was more traffic than usual crawling down the hill past my house. It wasn’t too bad during the evening, as I had music on quite loud which drowned out any noise […]
I’ve never been particularly keen on potatoes. They are a staple part of my diet, but I much prefer them to taste of something other than potato – such as roast potatoes with goose fat, mashed potato with lots of cream and cheese, or chips with vinegar. I simply won’t eat plain boiled potatoes, not […]
It’s a Bank Holiday today, so I’ve got the day off. I decided to spend at least some of it sorting out my new laptop – ripping CDs to iTunes, labelling photos, and generally making sure that it’s set up the way I want it. My previous laptop was so slow that it was really […]
