Slugs and Snails, but no puppy dog tails....

It's that time of year again, the war against the slugs is being waged across the country. I finally planted by dwarf french bean plants yesterday, having put it off for days due to the fear of losing them to the slugs in one night.

Typical then that the day I put them in we have a wet night for the first time in weeks! I put in beer traps during the evening, Stella lager in 2 sunken pots by the bean wigwam and went to bed hopeful......

Popped out this morning to a very wet garden, removed snails from the patio pots and plants before heading off to the raised bed and wigwam.

Current score Beer traps 1 Slugs and Snails 1 plant

I then removed a large slug and 2 snails from other tender helpless young plants and popped them in the traps, which seems the most effective use of them, to be honest.

A friend has recommended bran, as it sticks to the slimy little suckers and sucks the moisture out before they can get to your seedlings, so once I work out where you can bran from (am guessing the health food shop?) I will be trying it and reporting back!

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Standby gizmo

Well, it's arrived, it's plugged in (after a rather nasty 'oh my god it's filthy down the back of the telly' moment!!) and it appears to be working.
I feel better about the whole telly-on-standby thing
job done
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I may be slow, but I get there in the end.......

The electricity-Nazi in me has been yelling about the telly being on standby for ages. I meant to sort out a multiplug with individual switches and then sort out the plugs and then blah blah blah, but never got the proverbial Round Tuit.

However the Ethical Superstore has come to my rescue with a clever little gizmo which you plug your TV into and it knows when it is in standby mode and safely switches it off. No seriously, it's so intelligent not only does it know when to do it, but also how to do it safely so it doesn't upset any over sensitive software in your telly, how fab is that?

There's one winging it's way to Old Nonsense Towers as I type, I'll let you know whether its any good, oh and in the meantime, here's the link........

http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/oneclick/intelli-plug-%28for-televisions%29/

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Pot Holes

I have a theory that the post-snow pot holes are really a secret green initiative, no, bear with me, I have not lost the plot, honest!

I don't know what the roads are like around your way, but around here they are a nightmare, a tyre bursting, chassis-snapping nightmare since the cold weather. The net result is that in order to avoid getting a burst tyre or a snapped chassis people are driving slower and (if they are anything like me), actually driving less because of the state of the roads.

We are always being told that 2 ways to reduce your carbon footprint are to a: drive slower and b: drive less....... see not so mad really!
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New Year, rather late!

Frankly I had forgotten all about this!!
Anyhoo, what's new in the increasingly eco-friendly home of Old-Nonsense? Well, my brother and family bought me an electricity monitor for Christmas, so according to Mr Old Nonsense I have turned into an electricity Nazi. Harsh I feel, but it does make you realise how far the meter jumps when certain lights or appliances are switched on, so I do wander round the house switching off lights, turning down radiators and replacing bulbs with low energy versions!
I am also in the process of getting a room thermostat fitted, as prior to this we have relied on individual radiator thermostats and that is just not economical, I'll let you know how it goes once I have managed to get hold of the heating engineer to fit the damn thing!
Spring is just around the corner and this year I am really hoping to get my poo together and sort out a small raised veg bed in the garden, so I'd best start thinking about it! I need some wood to make the bed, so will put the feelers out for something reclaimed, reused, generally unwanted and try and put it to use. The compost to put in the bed is taken care of, as I have been contributing to a friends compost heap for about 6 months now.....
maybe I should clarify that(!), my house rabbits have been contributing straw, paper and other matter to said compost heap and it is coming along a treat, so that should be a cheap/free way to get top quality compost for the veggies!
You never know, I may even get Mr Old Nonsense to build it for me :-)
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A great idea

Just saw this in today's Indy

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/the-australian-town-that-kicked-the-bottle-1794273.html

Excellent initiative, also heard on the News Quiz that the first new drinking fountain in 30 years has opened in the UK too, so bring on the fountains!

And in the meantime, don't buy plastic water, nasty, nasty things, I love my SIGG bottles and they will last forever.......

http://www.sigg-aluminium.co.uk/?gclid=CNPoq7Hik50CFaBb4wod60JJ3Q

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Really good little film

http://wakeupfreakout.org/film/tipping.html