Nick's Pumpkin Parade

For the first time this year I've experimented with growing squashes. From the various squashes I ate last year I collected the seeds and germinated them. Only about 10% seemed viable and after and head start on my windowsill I transplanted them out into the vegetable patch. I wasn't quite prepared for the extent to which they would spread - the longest vine was about 5 meters and meant that the pumpkins ended up growing on my new lawn.

It's been exciting watching these things grow and I've still got a few left on the various vines. I've also recently found some baby butternut squashes have begun to develop. More to come...

My pumpkin fleet


The largest is quite a size and weight


Green pumpkins are turning orange


A gaggle of squashes


Barney our free range garden rabbit




, ,

Picasa on my Mac

Die iPhoto, die!

Today I finally deleted iPhoto from my Macbook Pro. My Mac is now free, set free from the horrid photo hell that was iPhoto.

What brought this on?

Because I now have Picasa on my mac.

You who the what now?

YES I can successfully run Google's gloriously free and super fantastic Picasa on my mac. I'll post a photo as proof shortly as well as details on how I achieved this feat.

Wondrous.

, , , , ,

F***ing Big Spider

Big! I mean really big. I don't think I've seen such a massive spider. Hopefully from this iCam photo you can grasp just how big this sucker is. Released to the wild safely I and confirm.

One big spider


One big spider in a pint glass

Landed in the Capital

Sitting in my 8th floor State Plaza Hotel room in downtown Washington DC things are pretty good. I flew in this afternoon from London Heathrow with United Airlines flight 919 on a Boeing 777. A very acceptable flight - my first time in a triple 7, I was staggered by the sense of space. Spiderman 3 was on the playlist which I'd not seen (and missed the middle as I nodded off) and my vegetarian meal was superb: a truly good curry.

ToP Advice: when booking a flight with meal options go for 'Indian Vegetarian'. For a start the veggie meals are better, having been specially prepared, but this was the best I've tasted. There was rice with two dishes - one aloo dahl and the other a vegetable curry. There was also a little naan bread, but not the highlight.

Our flight landed an hour early, so we made it to the hotel in good time. After a little rest and a great shower (which has a blissful 'massage' setting) John and I headed out to a diner for a burger + chips dinner. A good meal with nice veggie burger, but I was staggered by the salt content - they weren't even trying to hide the saltiness.

A little wonder round the streets and chatting to a few passers by and we were back at the hotel. Tomorrow I'm going to head to Mount Vernon Methodist Church to say hello to some of the friends I made when I was here back in March. But perhaps I might squeeze in another shower before bed...

Chilling in my hotel room



, ,