Spring Flower

 

Slightly later to flower than the primrose, its cousin the cowslip perhaps more accurately prefaces the onset of Spring. I have several specimens planted around the beech tree in the lower garden.

 

It is maybe three or four years ago that I came upon three very young rabbits among these cowslips. Tempted as I was to, "dispose," of these horticultural terrorists I permitted them to remain sentient. They had disappeared by the following day whether by courtesey of their dam or a feline predator.

 

The Latin name for this flower/herb is, "Primus Veris," a reference to its springtime fluorescence. The derivation of its colloquial name from the Old English word for cowpat, "cuslyppe," is less laudatory. In the guise of a herb the cowslip was used to produce cowslip wine and tea both of which were valued for their calming and sedative qualities. The flowers provide a decorative addition to a salad and frozen in ice cubes add a certain something to a g & t.

 

Bean Day

The runner bean which I have selected for planting around my bamboo wigwams this year is a variety called, "St. George," The flowers look to be quite colourful and Marshalls' catalogue promises, "an early, high yield of crisp, juicy pods." I still have quite a few bags of last year's runner bean crop in the freezer so I expect to have fresh pods for picking by the time I am devoid of the frozen supplies.

I am starting off the beans in the greenhouse. I sowed them in individual small pots this afternoon. Not quite 23rd April, but pretty close. It shouldn't be more than seven to ten days before germination occurs and I would expect that the young bean plants will be ready for planting out at the beginning of June.

Go Faster Shoes

My Puma racing shoes are definitely coming to an end of their earthly life. It will soon be time to say my goodbyes, entomb them in the black wheelie bin and watch the waste disposal lorry drive hesitatingly up the road towards the recycling centre. All that will remain of them will be the memory of their wet, cheesy whiff after a damp race day. Happy days.

 

So what of their replacements? Even before the mute lined walk to the wheelie bin I have been a traitor to the memory of the trusty pumas. I ordered a pair, (I find that this is aways a good idea as I do not , thankfully, suffer any paucity in the lower limb department), of Asics Gel DS 9 Racing Shoes from Alton Sports. These colourful foot coverings arrived this morning, three days after I had placed my order. It is not long before the now traditional week of warm weather training so I think that I will keep these new shoes in pristine condition until they can feel the warm Portuguese sun beating down on them.

 

Tomatoes Pricked

I potted up some of my tomato seedlings yesterday, twenty three days after sowing the seed. As usual I have placed them in three and a half inch pots. They will grow on in these for the next three to four weeks after which they will be ready to plant out in rings in the greenhouse border.

 

These,"rings," are essentially bottomless pots. When I first started growing tomatoes, rings were made from a material called, "whale hide," which was a bit like roofing felt. The outside of the rings was a redish purple colour and the inside black. It is probably forty years since I saw them for sale.

 

I have to decide what to do with my surplus tomato seedlings. Do I just throw them out, or do I pot them on in the hope that I can dispose of them to good homes? I suppose that my surplus runs to about one hundred plants. A few denarii to invest in the garden would be good.

 

Finn Valley AC Display Lack of Time Tabling Skills

Finn Valley AC's mission statement declaims that the Club has, "a proven track record of delivering programmes and building facilities." What they didn't display on Wednesday evening was the ability to devise a realistic timetable for an open Track & Field Meet and then run it as near as possible in accordance with that timetable. Yesterday's weather provided no excuses and this is not a new club headed by people with little or no experience of athletics.

Why was it not possible to allocate specific times for specific events? Why did the organisers think that it was sufficient to provide a, "timetable," which listed nine track events with a commencement time of 6.30 pm for the first race and no further event times?

I had the misfortune of running the last event on the list, the 1500m. When was I to warm up? It was a cold evening and difficult to keep warm. It was 9.20pm before my race was called to the line.

Several Seniors and Masters had travelled a considerable distance to support this meeting. Most left  disgruntled. Must do better has to be the mantra for Finn Valley.

British Milers' Club - 50th Anniversary.

I received my six monthly edition of BMC News this morning. It is now fifty years since the British Milers' Club was founded by the irascible Frank Horwill. To commemorate this milestone and Frank's contribution to middle distance running a selection of his training and educational articles have been drawn together in a two part supplement. The first part accompanied today's magazine. The second part will partner the autumn edition.

 

Initially founded with the aim of raising the standard of British Miling the Club has extended its coverage of events over the years. It now organises races from 800m to 5000m including the steeplechase. All of these races feature a pacemaker. The unashamed aim is to assist runners achieve a. 'PB."

 

It was probably about twenty years before his death at the beginning of 2012 that I met Frank. It was at the La Santa sports resort in Lanzarote. He was there along with a group of athletes from Serpentine Athletic Club. I happened to know one of the Serpentine runners, one Tony Chada by name. He was my passport to training with Frank during my two week, "holiday." Frank referred to everyone, male and female alike, as, "comrade." Even Robin Kindersley , from I think a scion of the Guinness family, was met with this form of address. I also seem to remember that Frank had a penchant for red wine which he displayed with some alacrity at the party which was held on the last night of the holiday.

Dereliction Funding in Northern Ireland

Derelict buildings can be an eyesore. Most cities, towns and villages in Northern Ireland have vacant and deteriorating structures, or overgrown building sites. Much of this deterioration of the urban environment is a symptom of the property crash. Developers had purchased properties close to the top of the market and were then caught with them when land values plummeted; demand for housing and commercial units shrank and Banks cut off funding.

For a second year the Environment Minister, (aka Alex Attwood) has been providing local councils with funding for environmental improvements to tackle this problem of dereliction. A good idea I hear you say, but it is only painting over and buttressing the problem. Local Councils do in any event have powers to deal with dangerous buildings and indeed those in a ruinous and dilapidated state and to recoup the expense of the necessary works. Hopefully therefore the funds being provided by Mr Attwood are in reality nothing more than a series of loans which will be refunded to the public purse in the very near future.