Grow Yer Own!

Time for a new challenge, I think! This month I shall be growing vegetables and then blogging their progress. I would warn you that it won't make for a thrilling read, as most of them have already been either dug up by TR or ravaged by slugs, but by now you are used to the standard of blog I churn out. In fact, Mr Ruby has just remarked that this whole thing reads like the private diaries of an Edwardian lady: 'Nothing much happened today, but I'm going to write about it anyway.' Ha-ha - harsh, but true.

So, anyone fancy joining me in a bit of veggie growing? It's a bit late to start really (mine are already in) but you could grow some cress...?

It didn't rain and we did walk!

Not only that, but the following week TR and I finally got our acts together and caught a bus. We walked to the library and then caught the number 48 bus to Farnborough, nipped round Wilkinsons and Sainsburys and caught the bus back.

True to form, TR wasn't that taken with the whole idea of bus travel. I think he is so used to being strapped into either the car seat or the buggy, that the idea of just bouncing about on a bus or train seat makes him feel very insecure. Trying to cling onto TR, fold a buggy and not obstruct the gangway, all while the bus moves on is, I would say, a bit of a challenge! My mistake was to take the hefty 3-wheeler buggy: comfortable to push all the way to the library, but a b***** to take on a bus! I had dim memories of large luggage/buggy storage areas on the buses I used to ride with my mum when I was little, but either they were bigger buses, or age has dimmed my memory! Also, I hadn't accounted for the sheer numbers of tartan shopping trolleys travelling by bus. Next time I will take either the sling or stroller!

Buggy struggles apart, I found bus a good way to travel and would do it again. TR has enjoyed pointing out any buses he's seen since, so I think he might be up for it.

In other news, my parents have just returned from a holiday in Cornwall. They took their car (because how else are they going to tow a caravan, I ask you?) but my mum proudly informed me that they hardly used the car once they were there. Has she been reading my blog, I wonder? My dad now has his bus pass, which meant that he was able to travel for free. The dog, however, had to pay her fare like anyone else.

Woo-woo!

I had better luck with the car-free thing this week. Today, TR and I took a trip on the train to Guildford, for a spot of clothes shopping. TR is very much into trains, or 'woo-woos', so I thought the train trip might be a real treat for him. He enjoyed waiting on the platform and waving to any departing trains, but he found the actual ride quite alarming, bless him. After a litany of 'Oh dear', 'Oh no' and 'requests to go 'Back!' he asked to sit on my 'lack' [lap] and made sure I had both 'hand' firmly around his middle. Only then was he, if not actually happy about the train ride, suffiently relaxed to look out of the window for tractors and other points of interest.

Poor TR - that's the second time he's been disappointed by modes of transport. The other great loves of his life are 'rac-racs' [tractors] so I recently took him on a tractor and trailer ride, at Longdown Activity Farm. He was very excited about this, right up until the point where the driver bounced us all over a very bumpy field. TR cried the whole way round!

Whilst in Guildford, I bought myself a sandwich for lunch. It was made by Foo.Go: a darned silly name, but a rather nice sandwich. I had salmon with lemon mayonnaise. I mention it here because it came in packaging that the manufacturers assured me was fully biodegradeable and compostable. I confess I bought it because it looked tasty, rather than because of it's eco-credentials, but, it still seemed worth a mention.

The Mouse has also been doing her bit for the planet. This week is 'Walk to School Week' and her school is taking part in the 'Golden Boot Challenge'. We usually walk to school anyway, although I did rather regret that last Thursday morning, when we did so in a torrential downpour. Despite a rain coat and umbrella, the Mouse was soaked to the skin by the time we arrived at school and it took me several days to dry-out TR's buggy. Tomorrow's weather forecast doesn't look great, so we might not feel quite so virtuous by then. We'll see!

Speaking of biodiversity...

...and I seem to remember that, at one stage, we were. I recently discovered that possibly my most favourite animal is now so endangered that its future looks decidedly uncertain. The Bonobo chimp lives only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has never been on my wishlist of 'Places to See Before I Die.' (Although if ever I do want to fully realise that list title...) This is such a great animal and it is just unthinkable that it may soon go the way of the dodo.

You may be wondering what makes the bonobo such a cool animal. Googling it will provide you with all sorts of information on the topic, but to save yourselves acquiring an education normally gained only by channel hopping late at night...in a motel room (they are extraordinarily randy, apparently!), either follow the bonobo link above, or stick this handy quick-ref guide to your refrigerator door:

1. Bonobos are smaller - and cuter - than regular chimps
2. They look - and act - in ways that are so human, it is almost uncanny
3. They live in matricarchal, or female-dominated, societies
4. They are experts in conflict-resolution (ironic, given their location!)
5. They care for and nurse their babies for up to five years

If you want to donate to the Bonobo cause, apparently you can do so through the link above, or you could buy your dog a Bonobo T-shirt. I don't know what would possess you to buy dog apparel in the first place, but there we are.

The Mouse did her bit for biodiversity yesterday. The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day and played at being indoor explorers. We set up a tent, packed a picnic and sat waiting for wild animals. I had furnished the Mouse with a toy camera, so that she could photograph any interesting specimens. However, when 'a lion' passed close by the tent, she instructed me to, 'Shine the torch on it so I can shoot it!' After a few loud 'bang!' noises, she informed TR and myself, 'Good - I got it! Now, light the camp fire so we can eat lion meat for our supper.'

Clearly, the next Dian Fossey is not in our midst.

In summary, I've yet to have a car-free day this week. I blame the fact that TR has a terrible cold. It's not actually illegal to use public transport if you have a cold, but TR simply isn't in the mood for waiting around at bus stops. I promise to try harder, once he's feeling better.

Let's be 'avin You!

It's very quiet around here. I mean, I know this is the most tedious blog in all of blogdom, but where are my fellow pledgers? In the words of a tired and emotional Delia Smith, 'Where are you? Let's be 'avin you!!!!!!!!!'

So far, about the only comment I've had is that someone likes the colour of my blog (why, thank you, Mr Badger) as it matches the colour of his VW Camper.

As it turns out, going car-free once a month is not that inspiring - I find I keep doing it by accident, so do sign up for a dead easy 'challenge' before this one expires and I replace it with something more difficult. I'm warning you all - those yaks are going to take up more lawn space than you imagine!