Do you read me?

I have been pretty busy at college these past few months and my bag is full of books, bought and borrowed. I am seriously tampering with the idea of purchasing an e reader, the Kindle to be exact although of course there is a wide variety out there now including the iPad and its rivals. Part of me wants to save my back everyday, the other part says that if I can get some of these books as a download from the net then I am saving on paper. However the other side of me hates buying more plastic and encouraging its production. It is a dilemma although the reader is winning presently because of the amount of books I seem to need. This time I want your feed back on what is best to get. Do you have an E-reader and are you better off now for it or are you a stickler for a physical book. It has to be said that with all this technology, we cant really be looking after the local shops either. What do they do when people don't need them any more and turn to the Internet? Should we have a heart or should they just get with it? Gadget girl or not, I have a conscience and this is a tough one?

Mark-et down to experience

Its not the first time I have written about the local market and its not likely to be the last. As you know I am very much in favor of them but for the last few weeks our local market has dwindled down to only 3 stalls and it really didn't look great. I go as much as I can to support them but they cannot live off my measly few pennies. So last week I was disappointed although not surprised to hear that they were packing up. So sad. Local fresh produce on the door step and we still seem to run to the supermarket for preserved and processed items. I had interviewed them twice on the radio to see if we could boost sales but alas, it was not to be.

I was delighted though to hear that they are going got put their heads together and try to revamp it with more stalls. There was a great buzz to begin with, with many stalls, but some of those left when they were offered places in larger indoor markets. Can you blame them? Well, forgive me but yes I can a little. If you commit to something then doesn't that mean that you stick with it? I dont want people to lose money but I think that for some of the stalls, they were lured away very easily.

 "No point in crying over spilled milk". So, they are doing the next best thing by picking themselves up and dusting themselves off and getting back to the drawing board.

Can I please ask just once more, that if you have a local market, look after it. Do buy in the local supermarket as well  as we dont want to see empty shops in our towns closed down and looking a sorry site but people in these markets are bringing you the best you could possibly get and with out this competition then the supermarkets win, takeover and charge you all sorts for God knows what. We have a Supervalue, Dunnes and Lidl in Charleville and now there is talk of a Tesco............HELLO, what will happen to our local small shops that have been trading for years? Do we not want any individuality anymore?

 "You never miss the water till the well runs dry".

Well see..

I'll have mine without Crap please.

No I'm not being rude. I was in the local supermarket recently and have started to ask for "proper" ham for our lunchtime, homemade sandwiches. Having learned that butchers and other people in the meat business inject the Lord knows what into our ham and other meat I am now specifically asking for the most natural ham supermarkets provide. So the last time I went up to the meat counter to ask for 8 slices of it and she asked me which ham I wanted (and me being a little sleepy still with brain not quite awake) I replied " the one without crap in it please" I realised immediately that I sounded a little rude but she didn't pick up on it. She was not baffled by my request, she knew immediately which ham I wanted. This is good isn't it? Well I suppose so but at the same time I thought, wow she must know that most ham contains injected fluids or as I put it unnecessary "crap". I mean she knew exactly what I meant and there was only one ham there that was in its "natural" state among a wide choice of the same type of meat, so although I am pleased, I am concerned too that there is so much meat that is interfered with and lets face it, there are a lot of foods that are preserved in many ways that we would probably be shocked to hear about
Perhaps we all need to be asking for food to come "without crap please!"

Clean Energy at last!

Click the picture to go to Eamonn Ryan's website

I met a Eamonn Ryan the other day who is the owner of a company called complete alternative energy. I wanted to interview him for a radio show I was doing about energy in the house on a slightly bigger scale than just recycling, switching off lights etc. He was telling me about a device that is similar to solar but uses more energy from out side than just the sun. He even took me to a house nearby to meet a family who had just had the system installed. I was impressed by this alone as I knew then that there was nothing to hide and he was happy to show me the this system, happy for me to talk to the clients and there fore he had belief in what he was selling.

The panel on the roof is smaller than a
door

To break down what might otherwise be a very technical post that even I would get lost in, he fits a panel to the roof of the side of the building (any side but North) and this is where the similarity to the solar panel comes in. There is then a pump which needs to be fitted and this would replace in many cases the boiler under the stairs/in the hot press. This pump is large but then so is the boiler you would be replacing so, so far so good. The family I met who had just had this fitted, now has hot water all of the time without burning oil or gas or putting on the immersion plus their pressure had improved immensely. They live in the country and so are not on the mains. They are delighted with the improvement and will be saving a fortune in the long run.

Diagram of the pump and panel

Even better in my opinion is the fact that you could get 2 pumps. One to heat the water and one to replace the heating! No more gas or oil required and all because of a panel or 2 on the top of your house.  You do need room for this though and 2 pumps may not fit into many houses but if you are building your own or have the room then there could be no stopping you.
It does cost a few grand and the price depends on how many pumps you are getting I'm sure but in Ireland there are grants for this to help and if you do the sums correctly, you are definitely hanging on to your pennies for the long term.
Please check out Eamonn's website by clicking the top picture and you can even ring him for advice on getting the pump and panel fitted and there is no pressure on you to buy. If you like you can join a mailing list to get tips every month for nothing. Please take a look to see if you can make a change like this in your house and if you are living too far away then maybe Eamonn can find someone fitting this system in your area to make things easier. I am happy to recommend Eamonn from what I have seen myself and from the satisfaction of the clients of his that I met.

Finally...

 ...got out today and tidied the garden. I dont like overdoing it as I like to allow nature to enjoy the long grass and the wild flowers that grow from it but it was time for a clear up and so nice to be out in the sun and getting a little vitamin D. I have been following Gardeners World lately and in their July magazine they were on the hunt for butterflies. I must admit that they are very scarce in Ireland this year and even though I bought 2 shrubs especially to attract them into my garden I am afraid I haven't seen one butterfly. I did however find plenty of caterpillars munching away on my cabbages though last week so I am wondering, as with the flowers and other wildlife and the summer we've been having are they just a little late? If so then maybe I have something to look forward to but I hope my Buddleia (which is a butterfly favorite) will hold for them and not have died off. I do put it all down to climate change and wonder what the future holds?

Beautiful Buddleia but where are the butterflies?

Have you seen any butterflies this year? Are you trying to attract them into your garden? Let me know.

There's nothing more...

...satisfying than finally being able to sit down at the table and eat some of the produce that you have been growing all summer. My cabbages need a little more space now so I thought I would dig one up and try it out. It was delicious and then I picked the few strawberries I had (granted there weren't many but it is only the first year) and they were gorgeous. I can honestly say that I never knew how good strawberries really tasted until this year and I have been eating supermarket ones all my life. I feel quite proud that there are no chemical sprays on them or preservatives and while I am in no position to feed myself long term it is still very satisfying to see and taste the results. I have a few other things that I hope will fruit shortly but if they dont it wont deter me. Not now that I know what can be done with a little nurturing. I'm afraid my taste for supermarket food will soon be lacking and I will turn my nose up at what they offer me in a while Ha! I would encourage you to grow something if you have never tried it. Ok so it's getting late in the summer now but herbs on the window sill would be lovely and sooo good for you.

  Wouldn't you like a little satisfaction for dinner?

Nature carries on even when you stop.

What a gorgeous day today is as was yesterday.  We have just finished mowing the lawn and intend to have dinner soon outside. Heaven knows when the opportunity will come again. Anyway I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been cutting the grass and if you have been doing the same, where are you putting that cut grass? Hopefully you are putting it to good use by placing it in your compost heap. While you have finished working nature will carry on so that you can have a lovely compost in the future. If so, you are not paying for it to be carted away and giving compost mixture to another source for free. If you haven't got a compost bin or heap then take a look at starting one up if you have a garden. You can place peelings, grass, paper twigs and leaves into it and after a certain amount of time (depending on the type of heap you have and the amount of turning you do to it with a garden fork) then you will have lovely compost for your plants and flowers over the next year or two. If you do pay for the bin man to pick it up then chances are he is using for himself or maybe it could go towards making compost that could be sold on. I dont know for sure but I cant imagine someone isn't making good use of it. Are you paying for it (again) when you buy it from the garden centre next year? Think about it and see if you can save yourself a few pennies and when all that is done get outside and enjoy the sun and the garden with a nice cool drink. Cheers!

To get your composting mini guide click here from the Limerick County Council website.