We became fed up with the coverage of the Vodafone mobile broadband modem, we had become quite frustrated with the intermittent coverage that we had changed over to O2 and got one of their little modems instead. I have to admit that we are very satisfied with the coverage and glad that we changed.

Recently we needed another modem for a guest that was staying and for my use when I travel by myself that we unlocked it the unused vodafone modem and ordered an O2 mobile modem sim card to use with it instead.

Yesterday a small box came in the post and we wondered what it could be, we weren’t expecting anything, we hadn’t ordered anything big enough for a box.

Imagine our surprise on opening it…..

Open the box to find...

an itty bitty sim card

]]> http://econua.com/blog/sustainability/winner/feed/ 2 http://econua.com/blog/sustainability/raining-frogs/ http://econua.com/blog/sustainability/raining-frogs/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:03:28 +0000 Scribhneoir http://econua.com/blog/?p=719 We have had a few beautiful days of sun, light winds and starry clear nights. This week in August every year there are amazing night skies with shooting stars (Perseids) in the northern sky. Check out the Astronomy Ireland website for more details.

If you are blessed with clear skies then you owe it to yourself to go out at night, bring a rug, wear a warm hat and settle into your favourite deck chair to watch the show. If you have binoculars they may add to the fun however I often find it less frustrating to just gaze upwards and let the magic unfold.

I don’t think that I will get to see any stars tonight as we had a day of rain, all day…

I decided to make use of the rain to wash the outdoor bathtub so I put the plug in this morning to allow it to fill. After a few hours I went out to check on progress. Imagine my surprise to find two fine frogs swimming about in the tub…

A pair of happy frogs

Here is a close up of one of the swimmers, handsome fella isn’t he?

An Irish frog enjoying the rain

The grass has grown so quickly that we were nearly overgrown! The rushes on some of our land is waist high and has been uncut for a few years. The ground has been too wet for the last few years to allow a tractor on to it, the wheels would have caused too much damage to the land.

Recently we have had the excitement of getting a walk-behind grass cutter and we have been like two kids excitedly cutting the grass and raking it. Feeling the wet cut grass under my bare feet reminds me of childhood summers in hayfields, counting frogs, drinking cold tea from glass bottles and jumping over the freshly cut hay.

In honour of the amazing growth that we have seen this summer I have freshened the look of the blog a little. I hope you like it, it’s all my own work!

I have great difficulty accepting the contrast of Michele Obama growing organic veggies in the White House gardens while hubby Barack places pro-Monsanto and pro-GM people in the FDA and USDA.

It’s like having the bank robbers oversee the governing body for banking – actually that has happened too if you take a close look at Irish banking, oh dear, that was a bad example, however I hope you know what I mean….

I don’t know about you however I sure would not like my food to be sprayed with toxins. If you live and vote in the USA here is a list of the people who are pushing the widespread use of Roundup. Perhaps you live in the constituency of some of these politicians and could let them know how unhappy you are about their stand on toxic pesticides and herbicides…

Seventy-five House members ask USDA to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa planting despite the fact that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has yet to be finished.

A letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from 75 Members of Congress asks that farmers be allowed to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa (RRA) in the fall 2010 planting season.

The June 21, 2010, decision by the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a nationwide ban on the cultivation of biotech alfalfa, but remanded the case back to the District Court. Depending on the District Court’s decision, USDA can then decide what interim measures can be implemented while the agency completes its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The letter points out that the USDA’s draft EIS concluded that there is “no significant impact on the human environment due to granting non-regulated status to Roundup Ready alfalfa.” A partial deregulation would allow farmers to plant their inventoried RRA seed this fall while the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) completes its final environmental impact study.

Under the leadership of Reps. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Wally Herger (R-Calif.) and Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), the letter was signed by 75 Members of Congress including House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) along with 25 additional Agriculture Committee Members.
Representatives
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and seventy-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking the USDA to partially deregulate Roundup Ready alfalfa (RRA) and allow fall 2010 planting.

The letter was signed by

Representatives:

Bobby Bright Bright, Bobby, Alabama, 2nd

, Marion Berry Berry, Marion, Arkansas, 1st
,, Mike Ross Ross, Mike, Arkansas, 4th
, John Boozman Boozman, John, Arkansas, 3rd

Dennis Cardoza Cardoza, Dennis, California, 18th
Kevin McCarthy McCarthy, Kevin, California, 22nd
, Jim Costa Costa, Jim, California, 20th
, Tom McClintock McClintock, Tom, California, 4th
Devin Nunes Nunes, Devin, California, 21st
, Wally Herger Herger, Wally, California, 2nd

Mike Coffman Coffman, Mike, Colorado, 6th
, John Salazar Salazar, John T., Colorado, 3rd
, Doug Lamborn Lamborn, Doug, Colorado, 5th

Joe Courtney Courtney, Joe, Connecticut, 2nd

Allen Boyd Boyd, Allen, Florida, 2nd
, Tom Rooney Rooney, Tom, Florida, 16th

Jack Kingston Kingston, Jack, Georgia, 1st
, David Scott Scott, David, Georgia, 13th

, Walt Minnick Minnick, Walt, Idaho, 1st
, Mike Simpson Simpson, Mike, Idaho, 2nd

Phil Hare Hare, Phil, Illinois, 17th
, Aaron Schock Schock, Aaron, Illinois, 18th
, John Shimkus Shimkus, John, Illinois, 19th

, Brad Ellsworth Ellsworth, Brad, Indiana, 8th

Bruce Braley Braley, Bruce L., Iowa, 1st
Tom Latham Latham, Tom, Iowa, 4th
, Leonard Boswell Boswell, Leonard, Iowa, 3rd
, Steve King King, Steve, Iowa, 5th
, David Loebsack Loebsack, David, Iowa, 2nd

Representatives Lynn Jenkins R-Kansas
, Jerry Moran Moran, Jerry, Kansas, 1st
, Todd Tiahrt Tiahrt, Todd, Kansas, 4th

Charlie Melancon Melancon, Charlie, Louisiana, 3rd

Dave Camp Camp, Dave, Michigan, 4th

Collin Peterson Peterson, Collin C., Minnesota, 7th
, Erik Paulsen Paulsen, Erik, Minnesota, 3rd
John Kline Kline, John, Minnesota, 2nd
, Michelle Bachmann Bachmann, Michele, Minnesota, 6th

, Bennie Thompson Thompson, Bennie G., Mississippi, 2nd

, Sam Graves Graves, Sam, Missouri, 6th
, Roy Blunt Blunt, Roy, Missouri 7th
, Jo Ann Emerson Emerson, Jo Ann, Missouri, 8th
, Todd Akin Akin, Todd, Missouri, 2nd,
Blaine Leutkemeyer Luetkemeyer, Blaine, Missouri, 9th
, Russ Carnahan Carnahan, Russ, Missouri, 3rd
, William Lacy Clay Clay Jr., William “Lacy”, Missouri, 1st

Adrian Smith Smith, Adrian, Nebraska, 3rd

, Harry Teague Teague, Harry, New Mexico, 2nd

Chris Lee Lee, Christopher J., New York, 26th
, Scott Murphy Murphy, Scott, New York, 20th

Howard Coble. Coble, Howard, North Carolina, 6th
, Larry Kissell Kissell, Larry, North Carolina, 8th
Mike McIntyre McIntyre, Mike, North Carolina, 7th

Earl Pomeroy Pomeroy, Earl, North Dakota

Patrick Tiberi Tiberi, Pat, Ohio, 12th *
Jean Schmidt Schmidt, Jean, Ohio, 2nd *
John Boehner Boehner, John A., Ohio, 8th *
Bob Latta Latta, Robert E., Ohio, 5th *
Steve Austria Austria, Steve, Ohio, 7th *

Frank Lucas Lucas, Frank, Oklahoma, 3rd

Greg Walden Walden, Greg, Oregon, 2nd

, Glen Thompson Thompson, Glenn W., Pennsylvania, 5th
Tim Holden Holden, Tim, Pennsylvania, 17th
Chris Carney Carney, Christopher P., Pennsylvania, 10th
Joe Pitts Pitts, Joseph R., Pennsylvania, 16th

, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie, South Dakota,

, Phil Roe Roe, Phil, Tennessee, 1st
,Blackburn Martha Blackburn, Marsha, Tennessee 7th**********

Mac Thornberry Thornberry, Mac, Texas, 13th
, Joe Barton Barton, Joe, Texas, 6th
, Randy Neugebauer Neugebauer, Randy, Texas, 19th
, Mike Conaway Conaway, K. Michael, Texas, 11th

Bob Goodlatte Goodlatte, Bob, Virginia, 6th

Cathy McMorris-Rodgers McMorris Rodgers, Cathy, Washington, 5th

Tom Petri Petri, Thomas, Wisconsin, 6th

Beautiful Beech

I am every day amazed by the loveliness that is around me here on the hill. How lucky am I to live here?

Well, we don’t usually do things the “normal” way and building our home is no different! We are doing it by ourselves, with a little help from our friends. We also have not taken the mortgage route, prefering to save the money and buy or salvage materials as we go along. Of course this does mean that we are moving slowly and the build is taking some time.

Right now we want to get the roof on and that is what we have been concentrating on this summer. We have put up most of the wall framing posts and the ridgeboard for the roof.  We are using purlins which are like ridgeborads and do basically the same work – they help to hold up the rafters. The purlins run parallel to the ridgeboard, either side of the ridge equidistant from the outside walls and the ridge and they act to cut the rafter span in half.

Currently we are putting up the northern purlins and rafters. We have five rafters up and are hoping to get a few more up today. The building space is beginning to feel like a house now. For the last year we have had the floor platform up and covered with the floorboards. We have sometimes used the space as a platform for gathering with friends to drum, I have often brought up a garden chair and sat there with a coffee and a book.

Now that we have most of the wall frames up and we are putting up rafters we can feel the shape of the rooms and it is all becoming a little bit more real. It is great to look up now and really see where the roof is going. There are ways in which the slowness of the build is frustrating and there are ways in which the slowness is an advantage.

We are getting to really feel our home become real and we have the time to change wee things as we go along, make adjustments, see where the evening sun shines in, where the summer breezes come from. We will really appreciate it when the house is finished enough for us to move in – everyone says don’t move in until it is finished however our current home is becoming way too small and cluttered and is getting ready to fall apart – it was old when we bought it and really shouldn’t even have lasted as long as it has! We have been reluctant to put any time or money into repairing it as we really need to be concentrating on our new home so I think that as soon as we can we will be moving into the new house.

I am getting a bit ahead of myself though, the moving time is quite some while away yet, today we need to concentrate on getting a few more rafters up…

Our own whitethorns were not as spectacular as last year and I have been told that often happens with flowering or fruiting trees, they seem to rest every now and then.

Whitethorn

Luckily I happened upon some very lovely trees this springs and took some photos….. I hope our trees won’t be jealous!

Onion and Garlic with Leftovers

I then chopped up some leftover salami sausage from yesterday’s lunch and added that to the softening onion and garlic and next in the pan were leftover veggies from last nights dinner. Fry up until cooked through.

Colourful Pan

Just grate some cheese and check that the pasta is cooked.

Pasta and Cheese

There is no photo of the food on the plates – it didn’t stay on the plates for long, it was yummy and we were hungry…..

Do you like leftovers?

I also did some baking – a “what have I got in the cupboard” crumble.

I had a few slightly over-ripe pears and two big cooking apples which I sliced thinly and put into a saucepan with a few spoons of water, two spoons of pear & apple spread, a few chopped dried dates and a spoonful of honey.  I cooked this gently until well softened.

For the crumble I used three spoonfuls each of Linwoods flaxseed, brazil and almond nut mix, Linwoods hemp seed and Linwoods flaxseed, sunflower and pumpkin seed, three spoonfuls of oat flakes,  two small spoons of organic brown sugar and three spoonfuls of dessicated coconut. I added about 50 grams of butter to mix through all of this and make it suitable for a crumble.

I put the fruit mix onto a baking tray and covered it evenly with the crumble mix, this went into the oven at gas mark 4 for about 45 minutes and allow it to cool when done – that’s the hard part

The crumble mix is a little more exotic than I would normally make for the simple reason that I had no flour and I have all the ground nut and seed mixes for adding to my breakfast muesli.

Serve cooled with natural yoghurt - yummy!

Daisy and Friend

These are common flowers found in the shelter of hedgerows and easily overlooked if you are moving quickly. Sometimes it really good to slow down and really see what is all around you.

Unfurling Fern

These ferns are now all stretching skyward, drinking in the sunshine and the rain.

Forget Me Not?

Sometimes I am amazed at the ability of a  mobile phone camera to get detail at the macro level. I rarely think to carry my camera when I nip out for a wee stroll however the phone is often in my pocket and it comes in very handy.