Garden Makeover 2020

 Like many people, at the start of Lockdown back in late March, I had several ideas of what to do with this 'gift' of free time at home.

The only one I have actually succeeded at is transforming the front garden from being generic lawn to a cottage garden in the making.

As I can no longer do the heavy lifting and the rest of the family is going to 'do it later', I employed a local gardener to help me for a few hours each week. I have the knowledge and the equipment, but not the physical ability to get it done.

Peter also helped out as part of his Exercise Break during his homeschool time.

so we mowed the grass down short, leaving the clippings in place. Then the turf was loosened with a garden fork to allow good penetration of water

We had a good supply of home made compost that we had garnered over several years occupancy. Even when we did not actively garden we composted.

So we put down a thick layer of cardboard, gathered from various local sources, added a good layer of compost and then a further layer of garden soil, including some potting mix I had never gotten round to using.

We had to cut down a Very Large bunch of palm boles due to it

encroaching on the neighbours yard and needing a new fence, so we used the logs to edge the sections as we worked over a few weeks.

Next time I will tell you a bit about my choice of planting

What I Did On My Qualidays: Lockdown Projects Pt 2

 I have never been a particularly good baker. I am pretty good at soups, casseroles and so on, but add sugar? and I am completely at sea.

Years ago, one of my kids pronounced "I don't really like this cake, but I am going to eat it anyway to make Mummy happy." I have also been known to bribe them "Eat my cake and you can have a donut."

One time the cake was so bad the kids would not eat it, nor the dog and even the chooks left it alone....

In fact, I was so bad at it, I gave up and let Tony take over once he was big enough to handle the oven. Now Michael has the touch as well - he made his own birthday cake this week as he could not get home due to Lockdown.

What I Did On My Qualidays: Lockdown Projects Part 1

 As many of us did, I had a list of things I could use my Lockdown time to achieve. Did these actually happen?

I have hardly written a word - though I made plenty of plans

I did start Bullet Journalling, which I guess is writing of a type..

This really refers to my initial plans. I did take up Watercolour classes - interrupted by a return to Stage Three Lockdown - and so some of my stuff is actually looking like ART

Blakes 7 Classic Audios 1:2 Battledgorund & 1:3 Drones

I have included these two episodes together, as they really work best listened to as a pair, though they are stand alone stories also. 

In Battleground, the Liberator crew are searching for someone who has information they need to search for a Federation Super Computer. 

As the ship comes into teleport range of the planet known as Battleground 9, they are attacked and the Liberator is damaged.

 

Avon and Blake meet a group struggling to survive this terrible world and help them avoid destruction, find their target and make it out intact. 

In the meantime those left on the Liberator try to remain intact and available for the ground crew to get away when necessary.

 

The whole episode is excellent and sets us up for the next one which is entitled Drones. 

On board Liberator, Orac has taken over control of the ship as Zen’s attention has been completely taken up by damage control. This leads to a time of waiting while repairs take effect and the crew become bored, so Vila, Cally and Blake teleport out and find themselves in the middle of a refugee group struggling to avoid anihilation by the Training Corps trialling a new, deadly weapon. 

 

During this time, Jenna and Avon are caught up in Liberator’s ongoing struggle to repair itself and have to attract its attention to self defence before things get worse. 

Building on previous cannon this episode highlights the impersonal nature of the Federation and their total readiness to treat all their citizens as dispensable. 

The ability of people in extreme circumstances to maintain their principles and social mores is well shown. Also the desperate way people can be pushed to behave when dealing with circumstances they have no hope of escaping.

 

The characters of each of the crew is well developed – even Orac, who is showing more and more signs of self-interest. Vila again shows his versatility, and Cally her compassion. Blake is again focussed on the Bigger Picture, while Jenna and Avon have to deal with what is happening in the here and now. 

GuestsDan Starkey, Tim Bentinck, Abigail Hollick, Tim Treloar, Sara Powell hold their own while playing against our regulars.

  

Writers Andrew Smith and Marc Platt have produced excellent stories well worth listening to. 

 

 

 

 

Blakes 7 Classic Audios season 1 : 1 Fractures

This is one of my favourite of the first volume of Classic Audios and I think you will enjoy it also.

Written By: Justin Richards 

Cast:  Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, Michael Keating, Jan Chappell, Sally Knyvette, Brian Croucher, Alistair Lock, Bethan Walker  

Director: Ken Bentley  

Sound Design: Alistair Lock  

Music:  Alistair Lock  

Cover Art: Damien May  

Released: January 2014 

 

The second Full Cast production. The original crew except for Gan are here, and Control is mentioned, so I would place it in Season 2, before Gambit. 

 

The Liberator suffers damage in an encounter with Travis and needs to hide while auto repairs take effect.  The Derelict Zone seems a worthwhile place to go as the Federation fleets are forbidden to enter. Power fluctuations send the crew off around the ship, hoping to help the repairs to speed up – but it seems someone is trying to first isolate and then kill crew members.  

What can I say? The writing is tight, although the suggestion of the Liberator threatening to ram Travis, and Travis being surprised and shocked does not really fit with the Season One episode Duel, where the same thing happened. Sound effects and music are terrific, recording highly professional, and acting magnificent.  The production values assist the listener to picture the action. I am a True Fan, and these audio performances continue to feed my need very thoroughly. 

Each cast member gets a selection of terrific, appropriate dialogue which they deliver well within character expectations. They bounce well off each other as we have come to expect. Parts of the story are quite funny.

The story’s twists and turns are interesting and intriguing, and although I had correctly suspected the ending it was still well done.  

 

Thanks again for reading 

                                                Nanna Sally Nelson