Kate McCarthy - Website Designer, Renovator and Search Engine Optimisation Specialist

Can I grow vegetables?

2010-09-28T22:24:00.001+01:00

It sounds like a lot of hard work and a lot of time
Maybe you only have a small garden...
It probably costs as much to buy all the seeds and equipment as it does to go to the supermarket and buy vegetables...
It all sounds very complicated - knowing when and where to plant what...

So, there are all sorts of excuses and reasons not to grow vegetables, the above are just some of them! It's not really as hard as you might think, don't get me wrong, there is work involved and some hard work too but... the rewards when you are eating what you have grown more than make up for any of the hard work put in (that is if you don't enjoy it - personally I love getting out in the garden and getting my hands dirty).

You really don't need a lot of space to grow a few vegetables - peas can be grown up a wall or fence and take up hardly any space, potatoes, beans and tomatoes can either take up a lot of space or if space is limited they can be grown in pots on a patio or balcony, it is well worth giving up a little space for these as they taste so much better fresh from the garden, not to mention the health benefits or getting all the vitamins and minerals that vegetables can provide if really fresh (and you don't get much fresher than straight from garden to kitchen!).

Packets of seeds cost less than a couple of pounds - do shop around for these as there are always offers on, plus there are many online seed providers. One packet of seeds probably costs what one or two portions of that vegetable would cost in the supermarket - you get a lot of seeds in a packet and will soon see big savings on you food bill! Also, after your first harvest you will find certain fruits and vegetables that you will be able to use seeds from - also see my article on how to get new strawberry plants from existing plants, without seeds!

Knowing what to plant and when can seem confusing at first - I am still learning, this was my first year properly growing vegetables. I have learnt so much this year because of what went right and what went wrong. You will find if you decide to start growing your own that you will be constantly learning new things - and no matter what you read you will find ways that suit you and your garden.

Book Review - Easy Learning Spanish Grammar

2010-09-27T17:28:00.000+01:00

I recently bought this book as it is needed for the Open University course that I am doing (BA in Modern Languages - French and Spanish).

I already had the Easy Learning Spanish Dictionary which has been invaluable during travels to Spain and Spanish speaking countries. I have actually learnt a fair bit of Spanish from it - to me it has been far more than just a dictionary as it has so much more to it.

So, when I saw the set books for the course I was really pleased, firstly because I already had one of them (Easy Learning Spanish Dictionary) and second because I was pretty sure the Easy Learning Spanish Grammar would be as good.

I am so far not disappointed - I have had a good look through the book and read bits and it looks every bit as good as I expected. It's not just a book of grammar tables - it has descriptions on all the different meanings, for example: pronouns, reflexive verbs and nouns and other things that I had forgotten. It goes further than that even, it explains how to use words and where to use them but also has many examples of their usage as well.

If you are looking for a Spanish grammar book then I would highly recommend this one to beginners and advanced students alike - it has everything starting right at the beginning. Also, as you can see from the Amazon link below it is available at the moment for only £2.00, which personally I think is an absolute bargain (it's £6.99 in Waterstones!). You can just click through from here if you want to order.

Tomatoes Galore!

2010-09-26T14:47:00.000+01:00

Outdoor tomatoes

Well, they took a while but now they're turning red, there seems to be no stopping them! I keep picking them and every day there are more - great as we use a lot of tomatoes, they most definitely won't go to waste. Also, there are still so many green tomatoes that I am thinking of making a green tomato chutney with some of them (recipe to follow - when I have tried and tested it!)

It is now starting to get cold so I think the days of tomatoes turning red outside may be numbered. Many of you may have the same problem and not know how to ripen that last glut of tomatoes - these do not have to go to waste as there are ways to ripen them, or there are many green tomato recipes out there. I will give a couple of suggestions on how to ripen tomatoes so you can have lovely juicy tomatoes after the season has ended for growing outdoors.

One way is to wrap each tomato individually in tissue paper and place them all in a box stalk up and leave somewhere with good air circulation (cellars and sheds are good for this, remember though that they need a temperature of a minimum 14C to ripen so make sure it's not somewhere too cold (temperature is more important than sunlight - if they have the right temperature they will ripen). This way will take around 3 weeks for the tomatoes to ripen.

A more well known method is to use an apple - put the green tomatoes into a bag with an apple, the gas that comes off the apple (ethylene) will speed up the ripening process. Keep a check on tomatoes ripened using this method and ensure any with signs of rotting are removed.

Another way is to place them on a south facing windowsill at this time of year, it will be warm enough inside and any sun they do get won't be too hot now.

Grammer time!

2010-09-25T20:08:00.000+01:00

As I have just re-started my degree with the Open University in Modern Languages (French and Spanish), I thought I would refresh my grammar and share it with the world! As I go through the course I will post more on here regarding French and Spanish grammar.

A verb is a doing word which describes what someone or something does or what happens to them.

A noun is a naming word for a living being, a thing or an idea e.g. woman, desk, happiness, Kevin. In Spanish and French all nouns are either masculine of feminine.

A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun (see above), when you don't want to name something or someone directly. There are different types of pronoun (listed below)

Personal - I, you, her, they etc. They refer to the person you are talking to or other people and things. They can be either subject pronouns (I, you, he, she etc) or object pronouns (him, her, them etc)
Possessive - mine, yours, his etc - which show who someone or something belongs to.
Indefinite - Something or nothing, which refer to people or things in a general way.
Relative - who, which, that - which link two parts of a sentence together.
Demonstrative - this or those - which point things or people out.
Interrogative - who, what, which - which are used in questions.
Reflexive - a type of object pronoun that forms a part of Spanish reflexive verbs like "lavarse" (to wash) or French reflexive verbs like "appelle" (to be called).

A reflexive verb is a verb where the subject and the object are the same and where the actions 'reflects back' on the subject. It is used with a reflexive pronoun e.g. I washed myself, he shaved himself. These are much more common in French and Spanish than in English.

An article is one of the words - the, a and an - which is given in front

definite article - the
indefinite article - a or an in English

An adjective is a 'describing' word. It tells you more about a person or thing such as appearance, colour, size e.g. pretty, blue, big.

Time to plant new strawberry plants

2010-09-24T13:48:00.006+01:00

June 2010 - first strawberries of the year!

If you have strawberry plants in your garden then now is the time to get some new plants from them! - no seed sowing needed!

You will probably noticed that your strawberry plants have long stems shooting off all over the place - these are called runners. On these runners you will see new shoots. These are what you will use to get a whole new strawberry patch - depending how many strawberry plants and runners you currently have.

Pick the runners that look at their best so a couple of healthy looking leaves
Take some small plant pots and fill with compost (one per runner)
Place the part of the runner with the leaves into the compost, pressing down (you may need to use some garden staples to hold the runner in place to start with
Water and leave
Keep compost moist at all times
Once the plants are strongly rooted you can snip of the runner and replant into prepared ground - do this with them all and there you have your new strawberry patch, ready for next year.

New strawberry patch from runners

Strawberry plants in general only last around 3 years so by doing this, you will always have fresh strawberries in time for Wimbledon!

Light and fluffy victoria sponge

2010-09-24T13:14:00.000+01:00

The following recipe will give you a really light and very fluffy Victoria Sponge! Very simple to make and delicious to eat!

Firstly, turn on your oven to 180 degrees and grease 2 20cm diameter cake tins (round) - I would recommend some greaseproof paper too as unless you have amazingly non stick cake tins it does stick quite easily!

The ingredients you will need are as follows:
220g butter (room temperature) - margarine works fine
220g caster sugar
4 eggs
220g self raising flour
a little milk - this is optional but will make a slightly more moist cake
Jam of choice

Cream the butter and sugar together (an electric whisk is the easiest option here)
beat the eggs a little to break yolks
add a quarter of the egg with a spoonful of flour (this stops it from curdling and ensures a light fluffy cake) mix in
add the rest of the egg
if wanted add a little milk to make the mixture of a dropping consistency
divide mixture between the 2 cake tins and smooth
put in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes
as usual with a cake check at around 20 minutes - put a knife in and if it comes out clean then the cake's ready, if not give it a few more minutes. The cake should have come away from the sides a little.
When ready, leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Once cool spread jam on one half, put other half on top, sprinkle with a little icing sugar and serve!

Vegetables!

2010-09-23T13:52:00.003+01:00

I am loving having a garden so much! We moved into this house in December last year and previous to this I had been living in a flat close to the centre of York (about 20 minutes walk). We now live about 15 minutes drive away from the city and a mile out of a village!

Spring time - looking bare!

Before I moved to the flat I was used to country living having lived in a few houses out in the country and at least 3 of them had been at least a mile from a village so this part wasn't totally new to me but having lived in the flat for 5 and a half years it was certainly a big change - a very welcome one I must add!

I loved living at the flat due to it's convenience but I was constantly wishing I was out in the country and in particular I missed having a garden. We now have a big garden - both front and rear which is fantastic!

Kevin made me a raised bed - my salad garden

I have claimed a large (and growing!) part of the rear garden for my vegetable plot. Although I have grown a few vegetables before I have never grown them very seriously - just sown a few seeds in a spare bit of garden! This is very different - I have a part of the garden allocated solely for growing vegetables. So this year I made a start albeit a bit less organised than I would have liked - but it's all part of the learning process and I think I have learned a great deal from this years crops.

So far we have had:

Potatoes - many (we haven't bought potatoes for a good few moths now - we had new potatoes early in the season and we are still harvesting them now!)
Runner beans - these went on for ages and although they are a little stringy now, they are continuing to grow!
Strawberries - we had quite a few fresh strawberries, I have to say though that not many of them made it from the garden to the house as they were so tasty!
Spring Onions - we use a lot of them and we have been harvesting them bit by bit and still have many left.
Beetroot - although we don't use much of this we have had quite a few, my grandma loves fresh beetroot so she has benefited from the fact that most of the household here don't like it (though they did all like the Chocolate and beetroot cake - recipe pinched from my brothers blog, also posted on here, I believe he stole it so I will do the same!)
Lettuce - another thing we use a lot of, we still have lettuces coming through now and looking very healthy. Unfortunately due to lack of knowledge some of my earlier lettuces bolted (went to seed), the good thing is, I know why and how to avoid it next year.
Pumpkins - these are looking great and starting to turn orange now.
We have apple trees that were here when we moved in and are just ready now - and delicious!
Chillies - we have had a couple of chillies from the chilli plant - and maaaaan they are hoooot!
There are carrots nearly ready and a few parsnips.
Tomatoes are just turning red now - we have had a couple so far and they are so tasty.
Cabbages, curly kale and brocolli are also on their way ready for a winter harvest!

Small selection of the herbs that are growing

I almost forgot to mention the herbs I have grown too - plus the ones that were here already, there is: mint, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, purple sage, lemon balm, basil and lavender (I may have forgotten some here!), next year there will definitely be some coriander and parsley added to that - amongst others!

>I have to say, things from the garden are so much tastier than from the supermarket and of course being fresher they are also so much healthier too and completely organic at the same time.

I now need to get myself a greenhouse so we can enjoy more all year round!

Beetroot and Chocolate Cake!

2010-09-23T12:30:00.000+01:00

The idea for this cake and indeed growing beetroot came from my brother Ciaran. I didn't think it sounded like a particularly tasty cake but then carrot cake is delicious so why not beetroot?! So I decided to give it a try. Here is the recipe and I can highly recommend giving it a go as it was a very tasty cake - I think it got tastier on the second day (no idea if it would have got tastier later as it was obviously already very tasty and there was none left!):

First switch the oven on to be heating up to 180 degrees C
Grease a tin and line with greaseproof paper.
Grate about 4oz of raw beetroot (straight from the garden if you grow it of course!)
Melt 3oz of dark chocolate (preferably one with 75% cocoa) with 3 oz of butter - I use the glass bowl over a pan of boiling water method.
Beat 2 eggs.
Sift 8oz self-raising flour into a bowl
Add

1oz cocoa powder
4oz caster sugar
1tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
grated beetroot, eggs, melted chocolate and butter

Mix it all together to a dry dough-like consistency
Put the mixture into the tin and squash down
Cook for around 45 minutes depending on your oven (keep checking - use a knife and stick in, if it comes out clean then the cake's ready!)

If you try it - let me know what you think, if you are giving to anyone else don't mention the beetroot straight away and get their opinion before mentioning it!

Estoy aprendiendo espanol con OU

2010-09-23T11:27:00.002+01:00

I have 'spoken' Spanish for many years now. Although I can understand a fair bit and sometimes reply (more likely after a glass or two of vino!), I have never done a formal qualification in Spanish.

If you have been reading this blog you will know I recently registered to do my degree in Modern Languages (French and Spanish) through the Open University. I have now received my course materials for the first Spanish module with the French ones winging their way to me right now, hopefully!

I have started to read through the Spanish module as I want to get through this one as quickly as possible - my next Spanish module starts in February so I would ideally like to get this one as near to finished as possible before that one comes through. I am really looking forward to being buried in books and CDs - it's been a couple of years now since I last did any serious studying. Looking at the materials for this module I think I should be able to get through it pretty quickly and although I think I know most of what's in this one I am going to read it word for word in case there are bits I have missed anywhere along the way - having not actually studied for a qualification in Spanish previously there are almost certainly many parts of the grammar that I don't yet know.

Keep reading this blog and if you are familiar with Spanish I may even - when I feel confident that my Spanish is good enough - post some blogs with a Spanish translation (and a French one while I'm at it!). For now I won't subject you to my bad grammar!

The time has finally come!

2010-09-18T12:08:00.000+01:00

Finally! 13 years after doing my first module I am finally able to get on with my Open University degree! I have been trying for 13 years to be able to carry on with it and the time has now come.

I started in 1997 with my L120 (Intermediate French) with a view to doing my Modern Languages Degree, but due to financial circumstances I was unable to get any further.

I have now registered for Beginners Spanish and Intermediate Spanish. The first on starts in about a month from now. I do already speak some Spanish having spent time in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries but have no formal qualifications in it and as I have never seriously studied the grammar side it will be great to start from the absolute beginning.

So what have I been doing over the last 13 years you may ask?! Well, other than raising my gorgeous daughter who is now 19, many things have happened in that time. I have done an accounts qualification, and interior design qualification, nails and spray tanning (including owning my own salon for a little while), I have been an analytical chemist and done my Chemistry A'level, I have been a lettings negotiator and valuer (lister) and an estate agent! I have learnt some HTML (via my fantastic partner) and we have completed a few websites between us including our own which advertises our website design business which is based here in York, where we live. Our website is http://www.byITsizePro.co.uk and has links to the other sites we have done. I am now getting back to my real passion which is languages.

I am really looking forward to getting my head back into some language books and am eagerly awaiting the course materials arrival. Once they arrive there will be more to go on here as I intend to keep my blog updated with my progress.

Pork Rissoles!

2010-09-14T23:07:00.000+01:00

There was pork leftover from yesterdays Sunday roast and I couldn't decide what to do with it - fancied trying something different.

If I have beef leftover I like to make rissoles with it - absolutely delicious, so I wondered what they'd be like using pork instead. Here's what I did (i am deliberately leaving out the amounts partly because I never really measure anything unless it's a cake and partly because anyone reading this will have different amounts of leftovers):

Put some potatoes on to boil, meanwhile grind up the leftover pork - ideally in a food processor - with some onion plus any leftover carrots, add an apple, once everything is finely ground add some black pepper, a bit of hot sauce (I use Jamaican hot sauce), and then mash the potatoes and mix in.

Sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and then make patties with the mixture. Fry for a few minutes until golden on each side and serve with fresh vegetables and gravy.

Turned out really nice - so next time you have some pork leftover, give these rissoles a try, really easy to make and very tasty. The apple really added something - I would possible put a few more herbs in next time.

Ugly Kid Joe - Cats In The Cradle

2010-09-01T22:04:00.000+01:00

Road Trip 2010 in a VW Camper

2010-08-18T13:17:00.000+01:00

Anyone who has been reading this blog will know that Kevin (my partner) and I recently did a website for a VW Campervan hire company up in Northumberland, North East England . We decided we should try out the hire - I have been a lover of all thing VW for as long as I can remember (in particular, the classic beetles and campers).

The first August finally arrived - I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get out and about in Felicity (Felicity is a Brazilian T2 bay camper converted by Danbury). We left York mid morning and arrived at Felicity's home at around mid-day. Paul and Denise, (the owners) have become good friends over the time doing the website so it was lovely to see them too. There was lunch waiting for us when we got there which was a lovely start to our holiday. We had a nice relaxed lunch and catch up with Paul and Denise and then we were on our way in Felicity.

We headed up the coast road first towards Beadnell Bay. The views were fantastic - beautiful coastline and it lots of castles! The first night we stayed in Budle Bay which is just up the coast from Beadnell Bay and near Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The next day we decided to head further north and ended up crossing the border into Scotland and up to North Berwick. We found a lovely campsite in North Berwick overlooking the coast and just a very short walk down to the beach. Bass Rock could be seen from the campsite too. Here we had some German neighbours with whom we had wine and snacks the first night and then on the last morning they invited us for breakfast. They were a really lovely family and we intend to keep in touch and hopefully visit them at some point in the future. We are also, possibly, having the daughter to stay next summer to help her out with her English (although it's way better than my German has ever been already).

From North Berwick we had a drive into Edinburgh for the day and had a wonder around. We saw Edinburgh Castle and many of the other sights and sounds of Edinburgh - a really lovely and lively city.

After 3 nights in North Berwick we decided to head to the Lake District for a couple of nights. We drove down to Lake Ullswater in Cumbria and stayed at Park Foot campsite right on the lake for 2 nights. We drove around a few of the lakes and spent a couple of hours in Keswick. We took Felicity right up to the top of Borrowdale where the views were absolutely amazing, we spent a lot of time up in the clouds! The climb by road was very steep and very bendy but Felicity managed it all with absolutely no problems.

After the Lakes we head over the Penines towards Alnwick and then stayed our last night back in Northumberland.

Unfortunately, the time then came for us to hand Felicity back to Paul and Denise. We had had a fantastic time with her and will hopefully have her again sometime. She was so much fun to drive and to spend time in. Stopping here and there to make a coffee in the back was great. And cooking dinner was also great fun.

Thanks to Paul, Denise and Felicity for a fantastic week. I would definitely recommend North East VW Camper Hire to anyone with a love for campers, it's a great way to see some of the country!

Cats and Rabbits!

2010-06-10T16:42:00.000+01:00

Last night our young cat (Dizzee) brought in a baby rabbit - the biggest catch so far (he had mainly been bringing in little voles up to now). The rabbit was still alive so I did the only possible thing to get the rabbit from Dizzee - I picked him up by his tail and swung him about until he let go. I then chucked the cat out of the kitchen and chased the rabbit around until I eventually caught it.

It was very scared - of course - and so I found a pet carrier and some lettuce and put him in there. He didn't have any obvious injuries and was just in shock. We then left him overnight and I checked him this morning, he seemed okay but I decided to keep him in for the day to be sure.

When we came home this evening we found two more baby rabbits - 1 dead and the other half eaten, I wonder how many more there will be to come.

After a coffee and a piece of carrot cake (quite appropriate) we took the rabbit round to the lake behind the house where we knew there were hundreds of rabbits and released it. I opened the pet carrier and he jumped out and ran off to a little hill where there are many rabbit warrens - hopefully this is where it came from and it has now found its way home - if not, a new home.

North East VW Camper Van Hire!

2010-04-30T19:33:00.003+01:00

Here it is the website we've been working on this week. It's been such a great one to do and we and our client are very pleased with the end result. Because of this I wanted to put a few words on here about Felicity the VW Camper.

Ever thought of hiring a VW Camper for your holiday, I had thought about it on many many occasions (not being able to get one myself - YET! - this was the next best thing). Nearly 2 weeks ago Kevin and I went to Scarborough for the day, had a lovely day there, we went out on a cruise around the bay and on a pirate ship, had fish & chips (you can't go to the seaside and not! - same goes for ice creams of course!). Fran and her boyfriend joined us for part of the day and came on the pirate ship with us, we were then made to go into a haunted house (which I thought would NOT be scary)....we got chased by the guy from Scream and actually ran out at the end.

The point of writing this was that walking back to the car we saw a beautiful VW Camper Van and spotted on the back that it was available for hire. I took down the website details so I could get some more information when we got home.

Pretty much as soon as we got home I went online to get some information on the VW Camper Van hire, unfortunately the website was still under construction and there was no information on there except for a mobile telephone number. I decided to text them and ask for some more information, in the text I thought it would be worth asking if they had someone working on the website. Almost immediately we got a text back saying they would post out some information and asking if we do websites as they had a friend doing it and it was taking rather a long time. Of course, I texted straight back saying that is what we do and would they like us to look at theirs the answer was yes and the rest they say is history. Felicity's website is now online still working on the search engine optimisation side of things but it's there and - we think - looking great!

Felicity is a 2006 Brazilian T2 bay camper converted by Danbury, she is water cooled and is the height of camping luxury. If you are interested in hiring her then please check out the website for more details including how to book. Also, more information below:

There are seat belts front and rear for 5 people and sleeps four - there is a king size bed and a double bed above with mattress if required and for extra space you can hire a 2 or four man awning. The stereo system has MP3/iPod connection so you can take all your favourite music with you on your travels. http://www.northeastvwcamperhire.com

Toad in the Hole!

2010-03-24T21:52:00.000Z

This afternoon I went down the garden to the vegetable plot to see if there was any sign of life yet. There most certainly was but it was far from what I expected.

While I was there inspecting the soil for seedlings I realised I was being watched - I spotted what looked like a little eye sticking out and looking up at me! I gradually moved some of the soil away to discover what looked like a frog. As I moved the soil away a little more here is what I found. Anyway, I had a good look at him and then popped him back into the soil to bury himself again.

Then later when I went out to the car to get something I stepped out of the front door and guess who was there with something to show me.....

Gardening Time

2010-03-19T11:05:00.000Z

The time has come and I have made a good start on the planting of vegatables.

I finished a temporary employment contract a couple of weeks ago and am finding it very hard to find something else at the moment - there doesn't seem to be very much around at present. I am basically applying for anything that my CV matches up to but not hearing much back - I sometimes think that the majority of jobs advertised online don't even exist and they are just there to get you registered with the agencies.

Anyway, I have decided to use this time productively and while the sun is shining I thought it would be great to make a start on the massive garden we now have.

I started by sowing some chilli and sweet pepper seeds inside which I had saved up over winter, these are already growing very nicely and I have now separated them and put them in pots of their own. I am going to give a few away as more grew than I expected.

Earlier this week I dug over the vegetable patch, I have now sown quite a few seeds both vegetables and herbs - the list so far is as follows:

Basil
Beetroot
Broccoli
Chillies
Garlic
Lettuce
Mint
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Peppers (capsicum)
Potato
Spring onions

I have planted more than enough of each of these for now and in a few weeks I will plant more of some of the vegetables to ensure a good ongoing crop.

I will keep posting as things grow and I will also be adding pictures so anyone who wants to can see the progress - it's as much for me as anyone else really so I can see which things work best. I am hoping everything grows as this will cut down the food bill by quite a bit - we get through a lot of vegetables each week.

I now need some sort of greenhouse as there are certain things that I want to grow that are unlikely to grow outside and space inside is limited to windowsills. The problem with this is the two cats have a habit of jumping up there and I'm not sure how safe they'd be - I can imaging soil all over the floor due to one of the cats knocking things off.

For now I have a few that are growing on windowsills but am keeping a close eye - especially on the kitten who seems to think everything is his toy!

Oscar's Bedtime

2010-03-13T23:10:00.000Z

Peppers

2010-03-12T22:46:00.001Z

A couple of weeks ago I decided to plant some seeds I had left to dry out in the laundry room. Some were peppers - red and green as far as I can remember - and the others were chilli seeds. They started to grow within days and so far are doing really well - almost time to separate and replant.

I have taken a few pictures of their growth so will upload them later so you can see how well they are growing.

There's going to a lot of hot food served in our house due to a possible abundance of chillies that are going to need using! - everything will contain chillies for a while I think! I didn't expect so many of the seeds to grow although I'm sure I will easily be able to give at least a couple of them away.

Any recipes with fresh chillies in will be gratefully received and tested! As for the peppers I don't think there'll be a problem there as we go through so many of them anyway.

Famous York Street Wins Award

2010-03-09T10:37:00.003Z

York’s famous cobbled street The Shambles has won Google Street Views award for the most picturesque street in Britain.

'The Shambles' is one of York’s most famous streets and attracts thousands of visitors each year including as part of the Yorkshire Trail. The overhanging timber-framed buildings of the Shambles date back to the late 14th and 15th century (around 1350-1475) with the street itself dating back even further - there is mention of it in William the Conquerors Doomsday Book from 1086.

This stunning little cobbled street was originally full of houses and butchers shops many of which had their own slaughter houses to the rear. It was back then known as ‘The Great Flesh Shambles’ - possibly from the Anglo-Saxon word Fleshammels which literally meant ‘flesh-shelves’. Fleshammels was the word for the shelves that the butchers used to display their meat. The meat would have hung outside and been laid out on the window sills for sale. Butchers hooks can still be seen attached to the shop fronts. At this time there were no sanitary facilities or hygiene laws as there are today and raised pavements on either side formed channels for the butchers to wash away their waste blood and offal twice a week. There are records showing that as recently as 1872 there were twenty-five butchers’ shops on the Shambles. The last butchers to trade on the Shambles was Dewhurt’s at number 27.

Among today’s buildings there is a shrine to Margaret Clitheroe who was married to one of the butchers of the Shambles. This house is open to the public where the full story of Margaret Clitheroe can be read. You can also find more information here http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/york-margaret-clitherow-shrine.htm

Today the Shambles is better known for its array of souvenir shops, tourist attractions, cafes and restaurants and is often called Europe’s best preserved medieval street. As it is in Britain’s most haunted City the Shambles is included in many of the ghost walks and historic tours of the city, no trip to York would be complete without paying this beautiful historic street a visit.

Got a Website? How well is it Doing in the Searches? – Search Engine Optimisation

2010-03-03T23:13:00.001Z

Ever wondered what search engines (Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo etc) find when they visit your site? Do they find lots of related text and links to other parts of your site? If they do that’s great. If not then there is some work do be done and quick! If the search engines can’t find you then how will potential clients? If you, like most depend on your website to bring in some or most of your business and it can’t be found then something needs to be done now – every day of your website not working to its full potential is losing you money.

Search Engine Optimisation is something that should be done when your site is designed and built, it can be done later if you have a site that is not working for you. If you already have a site then Search Engine Optimisation will improve the amount of traffic to your site and make it appear higher up in the search engine rankings – therefore making it visible to the people you want to see it. A website can look like the best site in the world but this is not what counts when it comes to search engines finding your site. Website optimisation is one of the most important parts of designing and building a website – without optimisation your site will not be found by search engines and in turn potential customers. There are basically two types of visitor to your site – the human kind and the search engine kind. Your site needs to be attractive to both and these are two completely different things and both of equal importance. This is where the designer has to work on two levels – there are certain things that can make a site look very attractive to the human visitor but if done incorrectly can prevent the search engines finding content and therefore will make for a low ranking website.

It could even be that you put your website into a search and the result comes back “did not match any results” – it is possible for search engines to be unaware of a site. This can be fixed quickly and easily but is extremely important if you want your site to work for you.

byITsizePro.co.uk can help you to optimise your website - Email us for more information

Kate McCarthy
info@byITsizePro.co.uk
www.byITsizePro.co.uk

Microsoft To Offer Browser Choices Across Europe

2010-03-01T09:41:00.002Z

From today Microsoft is asking European Users if they would like to use a different browser other than Internet Explorer (IE).

This change has come as part of a deal that Microsoft have made with the European Commission after being accused of abusing its market position.

From 1st March 2010 a pop up will appear prompting users to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or to stay with IE. This software will come via the Windows Update software that Microsoft use to distribute their security patches.

The update has been prepared for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, even so, not all users of these will see the pop up. It will not appear for those who are already running a different default browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla FireFox or Safari. Users that have IE as their default browser and who have taken the option of allowing Windows to automatically install updates are guaranteed to see the pop up.

Anyone who has the automatic install of updates turned off will today be prompted today to install and run this software. These users may also go to the Windows Update site, run a "Check For Updates" and get it. When the software runs it will now present users with a window saying "An important choice to make: your browser". It also asks users to ensure they are connected to the internet. On clicking "Ok" they will then see the choice of the 12 browsers available with information on each to help users decide which suits their requirements. There is also an "opt out" option will will allow users to make a decision at a later date and will then place a shortcut icon on the users desktop giving users this browser choice at another time. Users wanting to stick with IE will be prompted to upgrade to the latest IE version which is currently IE8.

Currently the browser market share is:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 62.12%
Mozilla Firefox 24.43%
Google Chrome 5.22%
Safari 4.53%
Opera 2.38
Mini Opera 0.59%
Other 0.68M

It will be interesting to see what if any effect this change will have on the browser market share.

The pop up is already confusing many users who have been thinking they have a virus or that their computer has been taken over.

2010-01-25T22:07:00.001Z

Bearded Dragon - 5 months old

2009-11-30T17:50:00.002Z

Left: 31/08/09 Right: 03/12/09

So Hagrid will be 5 months old later this week and has turned into a real character! He gets moody if I go away for the weekend and is usually angry with me for a few hours after I come back, he is moody when shedding - this is very normal shedding can be quite stressful for dragons and they just like to be left to get on with it in peace mostly (still try to handle a little bit but less than normal). During this time they are likely to display their beards and even hiss - Hagrid does this when he really wants to be left alone - mainly when he's shedding. The rest of the time Hagrid is generally very friendly and loves to be handled, he really enjoys coming out of his vivarium and will literally bang on the glass when he really wants to be out.

I'm pretty sure Hagrid is male now, he is showing all the signs of being male and when he does display his beard it sometimes looks black - which means that it is more likely to be male (I'm hoping he is - Hagrid wouldn't be a great name for a female!)

He is eating a lot more in the way of vegetables than he used to along with plenty of crickets, he also really loves locusts (I'd say they are his favourite and he gets them as a treat). Favourite vegetables - anything and everything so far, there doesn't seem to be anything yet that he doesn't like.

Hagrid has more than doubled in size since I got him - not surprising with the amount he eats and he does seem to shed quite often - due to his growth speed!

Hagrid at 8 weeks old

Hagrid at 5 months old

What to plant and when to plant it!

2009-11-21T12:42:00.004Z

Ok, moving house in a few weeks - finally. After living in a flat for nearly 6 years it will be so nice to have a garden again (an enormous garden too!).

There is in place already an area set aside for a vegetable patch, so I need to plan what to plant, when to plant it and how many different things I can fit in. Obviously there will be the usual - potatoes, carrots, cabbages but I'm also wanting some things that are a little different. I've had my orders regarding what certain things I have to plant for my lobster aka Kevin to make his soups so there are squashes and pumpkins going in and a few other things that I'm unsure as to how or if they'll grow in this climate - but time will tell and I have to say I like a challenge so will give them all a go!

So, we move in in December so there isn't much that can be done at that time of year as regards sowing, and pretty much the only thing that can be planted is rhubarb. So to start - rhubarb it is! Other than that the only work to be done is preparation of the beds ready for sowing things like onions, sprouts, lettuce, potatoes and peas - so this is where I'll make a start. New pair of wellies needed at the time of the big move too - plus a number of gardening tools will be required as I got rid of mine on moving to the flat (there may be some of my tools in my parents garage along with all sorts of other stuff of mine that I just couldn't fit into a 2 bed flat!). So that's December sorted - what with moving in, Christmas and parties I reckon that's plenty.

Doesn't seem there's much to be done in January either - I guess making plans of what to plant where and when will be the main thing for the colder months when sowing can't be done, a strawberry bed could be prepared at this point if planning to grow strawberries of course!

Then comes February and that's where the excitement begins! All sorts of things can be sown at this point from sprouts, to carrots, to onions - if sown this early they will need protection from any frost.

Enough planning to be getting on with I reckon, keep checking back for progress reports and pictures!