The Wild Ewt of the Plains of Canada ([personal profile] ewt) wrote2007-07-29 08:37 pm

(no subject)

Still here. Just et sausages made from a pig raised here.

It is WINDY. If you come, bring something windproof. Looks like I might get my clear skies tonight, though.

There are blackcurrants here that are huge and sweet and juicy. I don't normally like currants but these are amazing. I've been eating a few every time I walk past, and used them to make a sauce for last night's pudding.

Tomorrow two people are leaving, which will bring us down to 4 (and me the only gurl). On the bright side one of them is vacating the yurt that has the proper mattress in it, so I will move there and hopefully sleep a little better. I've not been doing badly, all things considered, but my joints are Not Normal.

I went to the Culbokie shop hte other day for matches and bicarb. They have a product by Kraft that is called "Cheesy Pasta" (or is it Cheesey?) and is in the same size and shape box as Kraft Dinner, with the same cooking instructions. I resisted buying it, partly on the grounds that when it takes 45 minutes to make water boil it's really not economical to eat that shit, but I may well end up with a box before I leave, for I am weak. Other than that being in the shop was just strange, there was so much STUFF and so much of it is CRAP and it all just seemed a bit much really. They have Parma Violets, which I've heard about but never tried, but I'm not going to buy them unless someone says they'll eat the rest of the roll if I don't like them. They didn't even have any bicarb in the end, so I got baking powder instead and hopefully next time people do a big shop they'll remember the list and get baking soda.

I'm not particularly missing television or radio, because I mostly don't watch/listen that much. I think I might make more effort to listen to the radio once I get back. I do miss being in touch with people a little more online. I'm loving spendign so much time outside and I really want to get some kind of shelter up in the back garden so I can sit out there and work even if it's raining... all in good time I guess.

There are bits of me that are seriously considering moving to Scotland. It's quite wonderful, and it would be good to get the fuck out of the South East while there's still dry land available elsewhere, and I know a few people in Edinburgh now, and... but this is all stuff for After My Degree, which means the PLN will change 20 times between now and then and it's best not to think about it too hard.

It's a bit too cold for taking a long hot bath, I'm going to try to wait for a non-windy day, although I did sort out my hair this morning at least. Not much point trying to get the dirt out from under my fingernails as it'll be back within minutes but before I leave I'll have to hve a good wash so I don't smell on the train - it's fine here where we have plenty of space and excellent (ie: outside) air circulation, but in close quarters on a stuffy train I'd be offending people, I think.

I still smell of woodsmoke. Went foraging earlier and could hardly smell the plants for the woodsmoke on my hands. Taught another person here a bit about edible plants, that's always fun.

[identity profile] arosoff.livejournal.com 2007-07-29 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
do NOT buy the Cheesy Pasta!! It suckers you in with its appearance, but it tastes FOUL. Nothing like proper Kraft Mac&Cheese/KD (have had Canadian Kraft Dinner, tastes like the American kind).

If you really want KD you can get the American stuff in a couple of stores for a stupid amount of money. :-)

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:38 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the warning.
kake: The word "kake" written in white fixed-font on a black background. (Default)

[personal profile] kake 2007-07-29 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Hello! Glad to hear you're doing well up there.

I dropped the last three sofa cushions over today (I put them in your room so as not to distress m with more Stuff in the living room). Your garden's looking very green.

I left your GPS there as well (underneath the clothes dryer thing) — thank you very much for the loan! It was useful in that I now know I'd not make much use of it if I had one of my own, so I'll look into getting something else. I was All The Enthusiastic with it at first, but then I carried it around in my bag for a month without ever getting it out because I couldn't face wrestling the clunky interface.

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:42 am (UTC)(link)
Many thanks for the sofa cushions, and the return of the GPS.

:)

Yeah, the interface is a bit too clunky for regular use, which is one of the reasons I don't use it much. Do let me know if you find something easier - what I'd like to do is mapping of foraging sites with regards to most edible perennial plants and some fungi (which tend to come up in the same spots most years), and I've yet to figure out a sensible workflow for doing it with that particular GPS as it is just... clunky. Eventually I'd like to connect this to somethign like openstreetmap and have flags for what time of year things are ready and so on and so forth. It's a big project. Keeping the foraging log helps a bit because then I know what to go back to, and when I was there, and this in itself is useful information even if it isn't in the database that I have a vague plan for.

kake: The word "kake" written in white fixed-font on a black background. (Default)

[personal profile] kake 2007-07-31 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
You mentioned this before, and I don't think I said this at the time: it sounds like OpenGuides would work very well for what you want, and we could host one for you if you like. It lets you make a page for a specific lat/long point, and add it to different categories (so you could have "Fungi", "Salad Leaves", "Ready in June", "Ready in July", etc). There are built-in maps (Google maps with markers) and you can do things like "find me everything within 500m of point X".
kake: The word "kake" written in white fixed-font on a black background. (Default)

[personal profile] kake 2007-07-31 09:21 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, and re the GPS, I think I might end up getting something that works with my phone, but I need to borrow Bob's one and see if I like it. I seem to remember that when we were using both in parallel his readings were often much less accurate than mine (with your Garmin), but I'll have to check.

[identity profile] feanelwa.livejournal.com 2007-07-29 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I will happily eat the rest of the Parma Violence if you do not like them.

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:43 am (UTC)(link)
Okies, I might get a packet then. Need to send someone up there for milk today anyway...

:)

[identity profile] squirmelia.livejournal.com 2007-07-29 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps you should sprinkle Parma Violets onto Cheesy Pasta?

[identity profile] shuripentu.livejournal.com 2007-07-29 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
No! KD should be left as it is: virgin and touched only by milk!

(Well, okay, as virgin as KD gets, which with all those additives and wotnot, it really isn't... but still!)

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:43 am (UTC)(link)
I use butter too. My father swears up and down that it is better made with margarine than with butter, but margarine is so variable anyway and I never buy it, so butter it is.

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
That sounds unspeakably Wrong.

[identity profile] damerell.livejournal.com 2007-07-30 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[livejournal.com profile] weds says it is not a patch on real Kraft Dinner.

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the warning! I shan't bother...

(Anonymous) 2007-07-31 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
Canada has more high and dry places than Scotland....Mum

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
It also has piss-poor rail infrastructure, a shorter growing season and even more dependence on oil than Scotland has.

ext_74: Baron Samadai in cat form (Wicked Witch icon)

[identity profile] siliconshaman.livejournal.com 2007-08-01 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Cost of living is about a 1/3 higher too, having been to both. [probably not unconnected to your previous points].

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-08-01 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Nope, sorry. I grew up in Canada and it is definitely cheaper to live there than anywhere in the UK.
ext_74: Baron Samadai in cat form (Firefly-pagan)

*ping*

[identity profile] siliconshaman.livejournal.com 2007-08-01 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Just posted a How To make... for the Kelly kettle.

Turned out I had to go over it again and figure a few things out, as my memory was a bit spotty. Last time I did this was over 20 years ago when I was in the Scouts. As I recall, I got my merit badge for that, so it should work.

Re: *ping*

[identity profile] ewtikins.livejournal.com 2007-08-01 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Cool, thanks, will have a look and pass the link on.

[identity profile] welikegoats.livejournal.com 2007-08-01 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Would you be interested in taking a group of scouts (14-18) foraging in woods in Surrey (about 50 minutes out of Waterloo)? I am thinking it could be combined with cooking over campfire and camping until the morning. What are your thoughts?

(Anonymous) 2007-08-01 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd be quite happy to do that, yes, but if it's possible for the Scout group to pay my transport costs that would make it much easier. How many Scouts are we talking about? It would also help if I could go over the route beforehand to make notes of anything particularly interesting - foraging isn't much fun when there's nothing but bracken for miles and miles.

What sort of date are you thinking of? I usually teach Sundays, and sometimes teach Saturdays now too; Friday nights probably make most sense although I suppose if I'm not free the next morning I could just leave before the camping bit easily enough.

[identity profile] welikegoats.livejournal.com 2007-08-01 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Can we take this to email? Use lj (at) welikegoats dot com (then delete this post).