Wight Weirdos

The Gibson Family Blog

Walking day

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Today I’ve been out before 7am (despite it being a bank Holiday) with my Nordic walking poles (picture to follow when I have one)

Then we did the Lizard walk at Ventnor with Island 2000 Trust as part of the IoW walking festival. No lizards as it was too cold 🙁

This evening I had ants in my pants and decided to do another walking pole walk. This time I was accompanied by Bex, who is normally too embarrassed to be seen with a parent with poles, as we were unlikely to be seen by anyone too important.

Making Butter

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The other day i made butter at home (it’s easier than it sounds, really!!)
here is how i made it.

Step 1: get some double cream and whisk with electric whisk (you can use a jam jar but I’m to lazy to do that!)
until it starts to go yellow, and you get buttermilk!!

Step 2: drain off the buttermilk (you can keep it for other baking!) then put it back in and whisk some more.
Now you should have a scrambled egg like mixture!!!!

Step 3: you now have to add some water to the butter ad keep draining it off til you have completely (or relatively) clean, clear water!!!

now you add about half a teaspoon of salt (or not!) you can also use some Garlic and/or herbs.

Step 4: you can now shape it and wrap it, in either greaseproof paper or cling film.
It will be a bit soggy so put it in the fridge, and enjoy!!!!!

It’s very tasty and really not that hard to make, here is a link to the website where i found it!! http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/Making_Butter_at_Home.php

Tech Support

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I provide tech support to various people both formally and informally, so when a friend emailed this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE
I just had to post the link here.

Enjoy!

Who wants to live in a society where children are at risk? I do!

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So often we here statements along the lines of “but if one less child dies…” or “if we can stop one child being abused…”. Indeed the government cliche of the moment is “Every Child Matters”. The trouble is, in a simplistic way I guess most of tend to agree with these sorts of statements. There is a problem in that statement though – the word “simplistic”. These are not simple matters, they are complex, and cannot be boiled down to “Every Child Matters – how could you possibly disagree?” The dangers of children being abused or endangered in some form of another need to be weighed against the risk of a meddling nanny state really screwing our kids up, or risk aversion that leaves our children soulless and with no sense of adventure or enquiry.

And please dear reader, do not forget, the state has a history of acting in loco parentis. It is utterly useless at it. So I’ll keep looking after my kids, and ask the government to stick to what it’s good at. As soon as I find out what that is.

The state is a drug, time we kicked the habit

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Just been reading on the Solent TV website about a new survey which says the Isle of Wight is one of the worst places to bring up children. This is based on a survey of the things parents rate most important in an area, and then using statistical information to score each of these, duly weighted. Interestingly one of the important factors was “community spirit” – not quite sure what statistical measure they used for that?

Of course good state schools was at the top, good hospitals not far behind. It started me thinking about the amount of emphasis we place on what the state do.

I think the Island is a great place to raise kids. Lots of open countryside, miles of beautiful beaches, some really knowledgeable local people ready to share their skills and experience with people, good quality local food, relatively light traffic and clean air. But these aren’t things we can use a state statistic to rank how the state is doing. These are things we have to avail ourselves of, not something someone else will serve up.

So much of what makes somewhere a good place to live and raise a family is having some good raw materials, then making the most of them. Yes, I’d like good hospitals, and I can see good state schools might be a help for those who use them, but can’t we make things better ourselves? And when did community spirit become something you can buy into in a good area? Surely you have to help create it.

We’re addicted to the state. We think if they don’t provide, we can’t be happy. Time to wean ourselves off.