Spring really has sprung

Hello again

In my view, there is no better time of year than the first flush of spring. Plants and gardens are bursting with life, the birds are busy nesting, the sun is warm, the air is cool and everyone feels a little more optimistic.

We have been through a long, cold winter; both meteorologically and economically and finally we can see the first signs of hope and positivity. Winter clothes are put away, the evenings are lighter and the barbecue can be dragged out of the shed and set up for the coming months. I run a garden irrigation and garden lighting business and we are finally into the spring and are busy visiting and maintaining around 550 gardens that have a watering system and/or garden lights.

Individually, we might not be able to do much about the recession (apparently, it's a global issue that was made in the USA!) but collectively we can make our worlds a better place. It's the little things that everyone can do that can make the biggest difference. It's about creating and reinforcing communities. Imagine the difference there would be if everyone said good morning to each other, smiled at each other a bit more, looked out for their neighbours, picked up a bit of litter, planted a tree in their front garden. These are all things that we can do that will improve our lives and the lives of the people that live around us. We all get bogged down in the day-to-day "busyness" of life but all we can do is try to make an extra effort.

Planting a tree in ones front garden (if you have one) is a good example of a minor effort producing a huge reward over many years. A single tree in a front garden will improve the look of your house, prevent wall-to-wall paving of front gardens, soften the architecture, provide shelter for birds, convert CO2 to oxygen and reduce particulate pollution. A tree in every front garden in a road will completely change the atmosphere from being a street to being an avenue or boulevard, provide shade from the harshest sun, slow the windspeed and take the visual emphasis away from hard surfaces to a softer, more natural feel. It's no coincidence that the most desirable streets are those that are lined with trees.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to preach at anyone, I just think the recession has changed the rules for ever. It is no longer acceptable for us to behave in the way we have for the last decade or so; consumerism, conspicuous consumption, greed and turning a blind eye to the environment is unsustainable. It is apparent that we will all have to change our behaviour over the coming years. Changing the global environment is probably best achieved via the ballot box but your your local environment can be positively influenced you, now. So, don't wait for everyone else, do something.

Until later

Welcome to the C21st confessional

Hello again,

This is another observation about rubbish and hopefully not a rubbish observation.

It seems to me that the recycle box has now become a C21st confessional or a window on the soul. You can now tell so much about a person by their recycling, I don't mean rummaging through people's recycle bins - just what you can see as you walk on by.

You can tell their politics from their newspapers. You can see their interests and aspirations by their magazine choices. You can assess how afluent they might be by seeing which supermarket they shop in. Do they buy "Basics" value offering, the standard range or the premium "Taste the Difference" range. You can see how many ready meals they buy. You can see what they like to drink, whether its wine, beer or a drop of the hard stuff. You can see how much they drink and whether it is good quality or not. You can see if they are watching their weight with healthy choices and diet drinks.

Self conciousness will soon take hold and Soon people will start to hide the things that they might be embarrassed about.

What next?, maybe the government or local council will begin inspections of your recycle bins and then lecture you on how they believe you should be living your life.

It's probably not as far fetched as you might think.

Until next time

Recycling in the "community"

Hello again

The issue of recycling is something that has occupied my mind of late.

In principal, most people agree that recycling is a good thing. It is certainly not as good as minimisation ie use less packaging in the first place but, as a response to consumerism it is ok. It is how recycling is implemented that has got everyone's goat.

Firstly, it is the Local Councils that are charged (by the government) with having to recycle; they must meet their targets to reduce landfill. To our credit, there is a willing and enthusiastic public out there who are happy to assist for the greater good, but it is not the legal duty for the public to recycle (as far as I know). That being the case the Councils need to adopt an inclusive, helpful and co-operative approach to recycling and not become bullies. Rather than use a carrot, the Councils have adopted a stick approach. The whole recycling thing has rapidly evolved from being the the Councils responsibility, to being our responsibility, to us being policed by the Council.

When I say responsibility I want to be clear that I mean legal responsibility and not the moral imperitive, I accept it is everyone's moral responsibility to recycle.

It has now got to the point where the public are punished if the binmen ajudge that someone might have broken the rules. Since when did the binmen become the arbiters of such matters? This is wrong, if the Government and the Councils want recycling to be a success then they should/must reverse this trend and start working with the electorate or they will find that the electorate won't want to work with them.

I shall get off my soapbox now.

Until next time

Sledging is fun

Hello again,

A really short blog today. We have just come back from a weeks holiday in Scotland and a fine time was had by all. When we arrived it was snowy and -8 degrees (excellent for sledging). Two days later it was +12 degrees and we were on the beach in shirt sleeves - excellent.

Will blog again next week

Until then...

It's snow joke!

Hello again,

You might have noticed on the news this week, that we have had some snow in London & the South East. Actually it was a decent snowfall, some 200mm. Obviously, everything ground to a halt; cars, trains, buses, schools etc. but that is to be expected. It was even the case that we couldn't do any work with the business either - you try installing irrigation & lighting in gardens covered in snow! Anyway it resulted in a day off for pretty much everyone and a fine time was had by all.

Two points to make:

Firstly, see the image of Brian the Badger. He has moved from the boot of my car to the porch of my house. This is real progress, a definite step forward. For now Brian is Brian the guard badger, protecting the house from undesirables. He did however get a bit covered in snow, even with the protection of the porch. I think he looks rather magnificent there but I still have plans for him. I will faithfully report any devleopments on the Brian front, as and when they occur

Secondly, snow men are becoming so sophisticated. The winner this week was the snow dalek that was made in Kingston, a faithful reproduction of Dr Who's foe. Congratulations to the people who made it

Until later

Lift the spirit

Hello again,

These are uncertain times that none of us has experienced before. Recessional gloom, the economy seemingly in meltdown, the footsie crashing, the pound plummeting and unemployment rising at an alarming rate. We are all fed a daily diet of this information by the self-satisfied "I'm still going to get my pay cheque no matter how bad the economy is" BBC news department. They revel in the misery, amplifying it to create bigger and bigger headlines and thereby creating a self-fullfilling prophesy.

I am not denying that things are bad; I run two small businesses, a garden irrigation & lighting contracting business and a wholesale business and trading conditions for both have never been tougher. Money in the economy is scarce, protecting jobs is getting harder, winning work is more testing and getting payment more challenging. With all this gloom though, whether it is real or magnified by the press, it is hard not to be dragged down and to only see the negatives in life.

This is where public art has an important part to play in life. Art lifts the spirit, it takes you away from the "now", it refreshes the soul and lightens the mood. It won't take the problems away but it might just divert your attention for long enough to believe that this recession will actually end at some point, things will eventually improve and the BBC will eventually find something else to gloat about.

See the photo? This beautiful sculpture called Horse and Rider is by Dame Elizabeth Frink (1930-1993) and stands majestically at the corner of Dover Street and Picadilly, outside a coffee chain. Happening upon such a sculpture unexpectedly is a joy and is a credit to whomever commissioned it. Public art doesn't usually get much attention, except for the spare plinth in Trafalgar Square, but it does contribute to and enrich our lives. Like good architecture, public art affects us coniously and subconciously and taking a moment to admire a work can help us through these trying times.

Sadly though, as a footnote, when ordering my coffee I remarked to the member of staff about how lucky they were to be able to see the sculpture every day. The "Trainee Barista" stunned me with his mumbled reply "what sculpture?" before shoving my overpriced, weak Americano in a paper cup at me . I was lost for words and that doesn't happen very often.

Until later

A Badger's Tale (Tail)

Hello again.

Long time, no blog... My New Years res is to blog more consistently.

For some time now I have been keen on the idea of adorning the interior of my house with a stuffed Badger. I had the idea that I would like to cut one in half (cross ways), mount it's front end on one side of a wall and it's back end on the other. To make it a bit more surreal, I intended to attach said Badger about 2m above ground level.

I thought this was a great idea, sadly my wife (and daughters) weren't in agreement. I was surprised by the strong resistance I met when I mooted the idea and even though I badgered (sorry for the pun) her for some time, she did not bend. To her, it was a black and white issue - no dead animals in the house, full stop.

Anyway, over a couple of months, I kept my eyes open for a suitable bit of taxidermy. I had a hope that presenting my wife with a "cute" stuffed Badger would soften her resistance to the idea. However, I didn't find anything and the idea began to drift to the back of my mind.

However, two weeks before Christmas, a large box was delivered to my office from one of our suppliers in Birmingham. We get quite a lot of deliveries of garden irrigation and garden lighting product and the box raised no eyebrows until I opened it. Inside was a stuffed Badger, an old, dusty Badger mounted on a board. Clearly the old fellow had seen better days, his ear has been chewed, his underside is bald and he has a very "interesting" aroma. However, none of this mattered to me, it was a Badger and it gave me the opportunity to carry out my plan.

I took Brian, as he has been named, home that evening in my car. However, before I left I thought I might give him a bit of a spruce up and and tried vacuuming his fur. Sadly the vacuum sucked the fur out of one of Brian's back legs leaving it looking like a plucked turkey, so I stopped and decided to take him as he was.

Upon entering the house, I was met by my daughters; Dolly (5) burst into tears, Daisy (7) screeched "yeuucggkk". At that point I started to think that I might struggle to get my way on this one. Upon entering the kitchen, I held Brian up, trying to show off his best side (if he had one) and to make him look as cute as possible. I failed and my wife looked sternly at me before stating firmly "do you really need me to comment?". Knowing the taste of defeat, I responded with "shall I put him back in the car then?"

So since then, that is where Brian has been residing, in the back of my car. He has spent Christmas & New Year in the boot of my car like an aged dog, frozen in time. It hasn't been a problem until yesterday;, my sense of smell had been ineffective (due to a winter cold) and I was happily co-existing with Brian. However, on my journey home last night, my olfactory abilities returned and Brian's "individual" aroma nearly got the better of me. So much so that I had to turn the heater off in the car and open the window.

So, what now for Brian? Should he stay or should he go? As the Pulp Fiction quote goes "he's got personality and personality goes a long way". The problem is, the type of personality that Brian has is not that desirable. However, I have new plans for Brian, watch this space and find out.

Until later.