Chamomile
roots and hyacinths
Have you ever seen a new invention and thought “That was my
idea”?
I come up with (I
think) loads of ideas all the time which I imagine would make my life a lot easier
but just assume they exist already or get distracted.
Even if I did have a great invention it’d take years to
design and get onto the market and as I have the attention span of a few
seconds nowadays it just seems like too much trouble. I wouldn’t want to go on Dragons’
Den either.
Big Idea
One idea I had when I was a youngster was to have a car
fuelled solely by a tank of rain water with some sort of natural reaction
happening. The vehicle would have no moving parts other than the wheels and
steering and need no maintaining. We’re not there yet with the water power but
electric cars are certainly becoming more common and it won’t be long before we
wonder how on earth we managed with the combustion engine run on petrol and
diesel. The negative press is happening already with diesel – watch out for the
hype!
I did have one great idea that actually became a big seller
in the transport industry. Way back in the 1980’s I used to work in a quarry
and used to see the HGV drivers struggle every load to fasten all the clamps
that kept their sheets in place on the tipper section. I thought at the time it
would be a better idea to do away with the clamps and have a rolled up sheet at
the front or in the middle of the tipper similar to a roller blind.
My idea is made...
Thirty years later they are on most tipper lorries now and probably save up to an hour a day where the driver has to scramble around fastening sheeting. The only problem I had with this great idea was I forgot to tell anyone at the time, so there are no royalties coming my way. Although after saying that I think the same mechanism would work perfectly for instant plant covers in the garden made with thick transparent plastic sheeting. They could be rolled on and off in an instant. You heard it here first.
A revolving shelter
I have one more idea, a recent one (they just keep on
coming). This came about whilst walking the dogs in our local park. Apart from
a few trees, there isn’t anywhere along the pathways in the park where you can take
shelter when the rain comes. Sometimes the shelters that are erected in parks
don’t do their jobs very well especially when the wind is blowing straight at
it. It’s the same principal as huddling in a bus shelter.
How about having a shelter where you can revolve the opening
depending on which way the wind is blowing?
It’d be similar to bandstand type of structure with half of it having a
revolving screen. If there was a device
on the top of the roof like a weathervane to operate the screen that’s do away
with us having to do it manually. The idea doesn’t stop there, fit a smaller,
portable device to an umbrella or it could be incorporated into your porch - or
better still the whole house! I think I’ll stop now; winter madness seems to be
setting in.
Lots of Life
I will be keeping my sanity looking at life under the soil
this week. It might not seem as anything is happening in the garden but there
are many signs of life if you look closely - so enough of this ‘winter
dormancy’ malarkey. The bulbs are coming up, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus are
bursting into life and the roots of perennials are forming fast. I dug out a few
of my chamomiles and the roots have grown a few inches in a week. We don’t even
have to look on the ground for signs that spring is coming as there are some
hazel trees with their catkins showing already. The shops are stocking up on
seeds so it won’t be long until planting time starts.
PS. I’ve been reliably informed that moveable transparent
plastic covers for plants already exist and have done for years. Also I’ve just
run the idea past Julie about revolving shelters in the park and she tells me
“That’s what trees are for””
My idea of a
greenhouse heated entirely by solar radiation isn’t something new either so
I’ll give up inventing for today I think.
