Category: health

Moist

I acquired a peace lily plant when my last boss retired in November. I feel a great responsibility to keep it alive. I’d killed 2 of his previous plants and bought this a couple of years ago to make amends.

A desk with a peace lily plant in a white pot. To its right is an IKEA watering can. To the right of that are some papers. In the foreground is a mug with a cat motif, it is full of a very dark brown liquid.
A desk with a peace lily plant in a white pot. To its right is an IKEA watering can. To the right of that are some papers. In the foreground is a mug with a cat motif, it is full of a very dark brown liquid.

Until recently it positively thrived in my care, but this week it drooped. It has browning leaves too despite it being watered to the same schedule and with the same volume of water my ex-boss used. (Science)!

Now if you hear in mind that I’ve been poking my finger into the soil between twice-weekly watering sessions, and it’s always been just slightly moist. But today I tested at 180ā° from my usual place.

The photo caption mentions a dark brown liquid. My poking finger submerged up to the first knuckle.

Oops!

Kitchen roll pushed into the pot absorbed some of the surface water, but it just kept on absorbing and absorbing andā€¦

I cradled the plant and tipped up the pot over my mug (which needed a wash anyway). Most went in the mug.

Next week I’ll trim the dead leaves.

It’s a plan.

Phase 2: I’ll buy a soil moisture meter/monitor.

And, erā€¦

That’s it folks.

Books

I replied to a toot by @greghiggins457@appdot.net about the frequency of new books sent by ‘Book Bub’.

“I signed up for Book Bub a while back. Everyday I get free books on my Kindle thanks to this email. Problem is I am not a fast reader. I have so many unread books on my Kindle that will probably last me the rest of my life. I need to learn how to read faster and read more consistently.”

A slightly enhanced version of my reply follows.

Greg’s words got me thinking of where I am, not actually reading, but definitely collecting books for some time in the future when the ‘book thing’ switches on againā€¦

About 40 years ago I began to make weekly or slightly less frequent visits to a used books market stall that bought the books back for half the purchase price. Their science fiction collection drew 100% of my interest and I struggled mightily to come away with only a few at a time.

As an already insatiable reader I learned to read fast, to get the meat out of a story, and maybe a little more. Books l loved I kept, the rest eventually got returned. I read them all. And things slowed down a bit.

The candidates for keepers I read again, more slowly this time, and culled those that didn’t entertain me. So things slowed down a bit more.

Finally I read again what was left, savouring the nuanced stuff I’d inevitably find in and between the lines. And there I found the keepers.

A 1978 reprint of Isaac Asimov's 'Pebble' in the Sky' novel. Originally purchased used for Ā£0.40 I could have got Ā£0.20 from the market stall if I'd returned it. But I did not. (The turned over corners are not my doing, I abhor it).
A 1978 reprint of Isaac Asimov’s ‘Pebble’ in the Sky’ novel. Originally purchased used for Ā£0.40 I could have got Ā£0.20 from the market stall if I’d returned it. But I did not. (The turned over corners are not my doing, I abhor it).

Eventually life changed and I stopped visiting that market stall. I found enough to fill the void. Family, responsibility, different stuff.

Retirement’s a few years off yet, but close enough that I know what I’ll be doing for at least a part of it.

And last year I found another market stall, one town over.

Oddbox

We had a first ‘Oddbox’1 of fruit delivered yesterday. Priced against a major supermarket chain there’s a distinct disadvantage to a consumer having a literal box of fruit delivered weekly or fortnightly2, but life’s about so much more right?

The company’s basic premise is that they take the fruit (and vegetables) supermarkets deem too misshapen, too large or too small, or with slight weather damage. It’s ‘wonky’. It stops farmers having to throw produce away because of some ideal.

Back to economics.

For just over Ā£15 including a delivery fee they delivered (in a ‘Modern Milkman’ van) 9 apples, 6 not-quite-ripe bananas, 6 oranges, a punnet of grapes, a similar weight of small sweet tomatoes, and a ripe pineapple.

7 apples and 6 oranges in front of a fruit bowl, the contents of which aren't shown.
7 apples and 6 oranges in front of a fruit bowl, the contents of which aren’t shown.

I know I’m paying for the convenience and yes, feel good factor, but right now I don’t care. I have to do something to get my blood pressure and cholesterol down and so I think I can support this, at least for a while.

Filing this, in my head, under ‘healthy’.

And now all I have to do is wean my habits off Spam, big meaty breakfasts once a week, kebabs, andā€¦ (gulps) chocolate.

So, ideas, that’s why I signed up. You’d think I’d be old enough to know what I want.

Apparently not.

  1. https://www.oddbox.co.uk – tagline: “Rescue the “too wonky” and “too many” direct from farmers to your door, and help fight food waste with every deliciously odd fruit and veg box delivery.” ↩
  2. A term for every 2 weeks, in case you’re thinking instead about a multiplayer video game with a Battle Royale. ↩