Tag Archives: Your host

Across the border

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We’ve had these plants in the soil for a year and a bit now and we are sure these are the penstemons we bought from QVC. Nothing happened last year and we were going to give up on them it now looks like they’re starting to give us a bit of a show. Here’s more about penstemons here. We’ve a few more of them dotted around the garden so hoping they all start taking off soon.

Here’s two tunes off the radio today. The first was heard on the excellent This is a music show (above) and it’s by Jackie Wilson and called You bought about a change in me and we don’t think we’ve ever heard it before even though it’s a bit of a classic and the B side of Reet Petite from a few years ago. It’s a tune! Cheers Your Host for playing it on the show. He’s right what he said that it put him in mind of The Supremes My world is empty without you.

And here’s something we’ve never heard before Sons of the Pioneers – Old Man Atom. Thanks to Justin Patrick Moore for linking us up to the Amsterdam Radio Collection (1991) on archive.org here. The track was played well speeded up on Maurice Di’s Happy Dirge Day recording at 19 minutes in. Crazy stuff!

And back to the garden, albeit the mad bit down the bottom, we’ve no idea what this wild plant is but it’s looking great and we reckon it came in on one of the Bees Bombs we got years ago or failing that a result of anarchic gardening, the scattering of seed from a random packet and hoping for the best.

(Good) Tune for a Tuesday

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVWIzTHYS9k

Cheers to Your Host from This is a music show for playing the version of Show us the way from Hell & Fire on last week’s show, and what a tune! And one that made us think of the wonderful Joya Landis and John Holt duet from years ago.

And talking of the excellent This is a music show here’s said episode of the show for your listening pleasure!

A tune for a frosty Friday morning

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A big cheers to Your Host of This is a music show “The finest second-hand vinyl finds only on shortwave” for alerting us to this tune from The Romeos from an LP called Precious Memories which was played on the show the other week. There’s is something about this tune that grows on you!

How we learned to stop worrying and love the bin

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When we first moved in we didn’t really know that much about composting and stuck everything into the classic wooden compost bin like large twigs, sticks and evergreen prunings. No wonder years later they still hadn’t rotted down. We filled that wooden bin right up and also had a pile of cuttings and prunings that we piled up at the bottom of the garden and covered with a tarpaulin (below) for some strange reason.

We considered either burying it, having a monster of a bombfire (the neighbours would have loved that and so would’ve the fire brigade) or paying someone to take it away or hire a skip. None of those ideas were followed up as we had a brainwave: Why not get one of those brown refuse bins and fill it to the brim and within weeks the stuff will soon disappear. I mean they now cost £80 a year from the council but imagine how much it would cost if you had to get a skip or pay someone with a van to take it up the dump?

Now that brown bin has been a godsend with material that we can’t stick in the compost bin and every week we love filling it to the brim. We cut our branches as small as possible (except any Pyracantha as that’s a killer to break down), we jump up and down on the contents and also leave the top open and leave it in the sun so it can dry out and then load it with more.

Got any good tips on how to put the most in your weekly brown bin without having that lid open when the garden refuse people come and collect it? Do send them as we’ll use them don’t you worry!

This post was written with the latest This is a music show (137) on in the background. There’s some great stuff as per (including this lovely Jamaican Ballad above from Joe White and Chuck backed by Baba Brooks and His Recording Band) so if you love music via shortwave radio you’ll love TIAMS! Big up Daz Man for posting up the show and to Your Host for doing it.

Shaw Taylor we need you!

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It’s been a funny old week, the weather did’t know what it was doing and we have sunflowers reaching silly sizes which is brilliant. As you know we love any seeds that say they’re “giant” or “massive”, half the time they don’t live up to their promise on ebay but the ones we got this year have.

The sunflowers down the side bed are doing well they’re well over 8 feet, a few have flowers. The ones that don’t have, have been the victim of the squirrels. They seem to be going for the buds this year rather than waiting for the large seed heads, very strange. We awoke this morning to one of the largest ones that was well over 9 feet, broken in half (below). To say we’re fed up is an understatement but they’re next to a fence so what can we do?

On a brighter note our Sweetcorn plants we got from Shannon’s and Chilli’s (Jalapeno) we grew from seed are coming on great guns! Whether we get any cobs on the corn to eat for ourselves are another thing. Squirrels aren’t keen on them are they?

And if you look hard enough you can see the Jalapeno’s we’ve already had a few off them and they’re great. Well worth growing.

This blog post was written whilst listening to This is a music show 125. Thanks to Dazman for putting it up on his cloud and cheers to Your Host for the selection. Some great stuff as ever including a lovely bit of reggae and some nice dub including the version of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGZ-qwD8nG4

A show always worth listening to and it’s on the shortwaves! Have a listen below, you won’t regret it!

Catch up (in) lockdown

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Today whilst trying to catch up with the last couple of episodes of This is a Music Show we came across some belters. The first was a dub of John Holt‘s Win Your Love. Then there was a track by Sketch Show called Ekot. This made us head over to their Loophole LP and listen to the whole thing. It’s something else, it really is.

There’s more including B sides, a great tune by the boxer Joe Frazier and Bob Andy’s Sun Shines for me. Pop over to the new look website here and check the show for some excellent tuneage. You won’t be disappointed!  #shortwavesnotdead  #thisisamusicshow

An alternative to lockdown lumbago

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Last week wasn’t the best this end what with sciatica raising its ugly head followed by a bit of lockdown depression combined with the cold weather. And the dahlia tubers are still in the ground (hopefully not rotting away), their frost-blackened foilage a constant reminder that they have to be dug up. But in this weather? We think not. It’s better to stay in listen to some music and think of what seeds we’re going to be buying very soon as spring is not that far away!

Because of the bad back we’re still catching up on a couple of episodes of the great This is a music show that goes out on the shortwaves. If you click here you’ll be treated to the 100th edition of the show featuring 2 hours of the best in thrift shop classics, across the board genre-wise and some great reggae. A big shout to Your Host for getting the show to the landmark number! Tune in and turn on. And check their new website here and if you fancy donating a few quid/dollars to pay for airtime there please do as it’s a wonderful show!

And still on the theme of shortwave, if you’ve visited a supermarket masked up a few times this lockdown here’s a broadcast (below) that might interest you called KMRT. Listen out at 27.45 for a mix by One Deck Pete called “Buy one get one free” featuring tunes by Tyler Newman, Allen Ginsberg, Anima Universalis, Japanese Sound Portrait, Beatz for Food, Lullatone, Cantoma (Phil Mison) and Z Lovecraft. So break open a big tube of Voltarol and work yourself up into a shopping frenzy. #Supermarketsarethenightnightclubs #shoppingconnectsusall

https://soundcloud.com/user-25048993/kmrt-one-stop-shortwave-shopping-experience-9395-khz-3112021

The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know

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A big shout to Your Host of the excellent shortwave radio programme This is a Music Show for earlier this year turning us on to a cracker of tune Night Owl by Lee & The Clarendonians with a wonderful version on the B side.

Today whilst going through a couple of shows we missed over the festive period another version of the rhythm by Roy Richards called Dead and Wake was played. Another firecracker of a track!

And as if by magic we found another version on youtube by the great Dennis Alcapone called Fine Style.

And here’s the original doo-wop version by Tony Allen & The Champs.

And talking of This is a Music Show here’s the last two episodes featuring the best of Your Host’s thrift show finds from 2020. These shows will definitely cheer you up especially after tonight’s rubbish news of another bloomin’ lockdown a loomin’ (until mid February) here in the UK. #anotherlockdownaloomin #thisisamusicshow #shortwavesnotdead

https://soundcloud.com/thisisamusicshow/this-is-a-music-show-095

https://soundcloud.com/thisisamusicshow/this-is-a-music-show-096

 

More music (than your average gardening blog)

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The first is a “clean as a whistle” recording of This is a music show 80 thanks to Tim Gaynor from Unique Radio Australia. As you know we love a “off the air” shortwave recording like the next person but it’s great to hear the show like this! Cheers to Tim and Your Host for this one! The link to the clean audio is here. Some nice tunes as ever including Todd Terry/Royal House’s “Can You Party” and First Choice “Let No Man Put Asunder” and a Jimmy Riley dub.

Also here’s a preview of DJ Frederick’s Radio Lavalamp due for broadcast later this month featuring One Deck Pete’s Purple Nucleus of Creation 003 mix at 9.40 minutes in. As Fred says Radio Lavalamp is your place for “Jazz, acoustic, ambient, experimental sound excursions & chill out music”. Tune in and definitely drop out!

https://soundcloud.com/djfrederick/radio-lavalamp-september-2020-show

And not to leave gardening out of the post here’s a frog who made his/her home in a B&Q 99p bucket before being turfed out pronto into the wild near the pond (and away from those pesky cats who’d probably make its life hell!) #frogsinlockdown

Blimmin’ eck the sun’s out!

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https://soundcloud.com/thisisamusicshow/this-is-a-music-show-074

This blog post has been written whilst listening to this week’s This is a music show. We love the intro, over Max Greger and his orchestra’s Never Can Say Goodbye we hear Your Host with “Lot’s of different countries (played this week) including Germany, Brazil, The Cayman islands, Haiti, France…” Great stuff!

And we also love this tune by The (Fabulous) Wailers from Seattle (not Kingston, JA.) that was played at the beginning. That’s what’s great about the show, there’s always something great that you’d never heard before. Big shout to Your Host!

On a gardening note, we nipped out to the raised beds this morning to thin out the carrots (below) as it’s a bit of a jungle out there. We’re proud as punch as these were put in at the start of lockdown. We also found out the hard way that it was tons easier pulling out the carrots in the beds with the bought multi-purpose compost in them rather than the ones with London clay. We will rectify that come the spring!

We reckon that the carrots we pulled this morning were the early nantes free with Kitchen Garden magazine pre-lockdown in January. We’ll be getting some of them next year for sure. Anyone else having a bit of success with their veg? Do send us your pics! onedeck (@) gmail (.) com.

And on that note we have to say goodbye even if we can’t, we have gardening to do and the odd sunny interval to enjoy! #classiclockdowneweather #gardeninginlockdown