Asparagus grower Keith Wright said he couldn’t estimate the damage to his crop outside Harrow Monday but said “it could amount to some serious dollars.”

The asparagus plants will grow more spears, and the season runs until mid-June. But he won’t be able to make up for the spears that froze and two or three days of lost production, Wright said.

The farm near Harrow had been harvesting asparagus for about a week when the temperature dropped on the weekend. Wright said some frozen asparagus has a water-soaked clear appearance and the spears will droop as it warms up and will have to be discarded. He has to wait for warmer temperatures to see the full extent of the damage.

Vineyards, which use fans to protect crops during cold spells, and strawberry growers, who put water on the plants to save the blossoms, were up all night trying to save their crops.

McLeod Farms posted on Facebook that they were trying to save their strawberry blooms by irrigating and protecting the plants with a layer of ice.

It is too early to tell if there will be damage in apple orchards since it takes 24 to 48 hours to see damage in the buds.

“We’re about 50 per cent full bloom. It depends on the variety, the area, so I am optimistic that we won’t see too much damage,” Leslie Huffman, apple specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, said Monday.

The most vulnerable time is when apple blossoms are fully open and published reports from the United States say blossoms can withstand -1 or -2 C temperaturs, she said. Huffman said she was hearing the temperature in Essex County orchards got down to – 1 and the frost warning for Monday night had been lifted.

Peaches are done blooming, she said.

Huffman said the forecast for Monday night has a low of 2 in Windsor but she said that could still mean ground frost in other areas.

Last year some apple orchards were in full bloom by April 12 but this year they are not in full bloom. The early bloom set up apples for disaster last year and much of the Ontario apple crop was lost on the frost of April 29, 2012, when the temperatures dipped to – 3.3, Huffman said.

Because pollination is still needed, Huffman cautioned that the next two weeks will be critical for apple orchards and growers who are depending on a crop this year. They would get paid for the 2012 crop this year and so are in a financial crunch. “After last year they’re more anxious than normal,” she said.

Last year’s April freeze ruined most of Ontario’s apple crop and was estimated to be a more than $50 million loss just in apples and an economic loss in the province of more than $350 million. Consumers had a difficult time finding some Ontario apple varieties.

Wright was more worried about his asparagus Monday than his apple orchards since the apple bloom seems plentiful, he said.

Huffman said there’s a “huge bloom out there this year.”

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After a few years combined experience of graphic design, signage & animation my friend and I have just set up our first company. Specialising in commercial vehicle signage, we will also be taking on all sorts of design work including; company branding, logo design, signage for windows including frosting and design for printed items such as business cards and leaflets.

If you would like us to design something for you whether it be a logo, the branding for your new company, leaflets or business cards we will be happy to help. We can offer our design services to anyone across a global scale through the wonders of the internet, file transfer and email.

If you live within the UK we can offer you supply of vinyl designs for your vehicles, offices, shops or homes. Or if you wanted some stickers to promote a project you are working on we can help.

If you are based around East London or Essex we can provide a design, production & install service for all vehicle graphics, window decoration/manifestation (including window frosting).

We have already had some satisfied customers, check out the cheeky bunch coming and going below:

On a more serious note, some vinyl we applied to some window panels for a local glass & joinery company:

If you are interested in keeping up to date with what we have to offer please follow our blog: www.distilledblog.co.uk

Follow our Twitter @DistilledD

Thanks for stopping by, and as always:

Tom out!

The HA 16 PX is a part of the range of Diesel articulated self-propelled boom, for the work in height. It has a great working height of 16m and an articulated boom arm to improve accuracy of the machine. It’s fully proportional controls and simultaneous boom functions improve productivity and it has continuous 360° turntable rotation. With a hydraulic differential lock and 16 in (40 cm) ground clearance, this boom has an improved rough terrain capability. And it’s improved design for travel and transport, and improved safety due to load limiter in the platform, means that this machine is versatile, robust and reliable.

The Haulotte HA16PX Cherry Picker is used primarily for outside work for construction, manufacturing or general industrial work where there is a need to reach difficult to reach heights. It has 4WD capability, hydraulic differential lock, rough terrain tires and good ground clearance.

The Haulotte HA16PX Cherry Picker is a medium sized diesel powered access cherry picker ideal for safe working at height outdoors on rough terrain where outreach is required. With an articulated boom and extra knuckle in the arm, this cherry picker has additional flexibility when working at height around obstacles.

It is ideally suited for civil engineering, electrical work, facilities management, mechanical engineering, film, television, security, property development, steel erection, industrial cleaning, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, agriculture, forestry and energy supply.

Saturday 15 June, 9:45am meet

On 15 June, the Twentieth Century Society is organising a walking tour to Frinton Park Estate in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. Mentioned in Jonathan Meades‘ The Joy of Essex, Frinton Park Estate is a partially complete 200 acre speculative housing development which was begun in 1934 by Coast Property Investment Company, who planned to build a whole new small town. The tour looks at the collection of Modernist houses on the Estate including those by the lead masterplanner for the estate, Oliver Hill. This all-day event, led by John Barter, Rachel Baldwin and volunteers of the Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust, also looks at the best houses in the ‘select Edwardian Avenues’ on the Powell Cooper Estate, for which Frinton is also famous. There will also be interiors and other surprises on the day and Liz Bruce, the Trust’s Archivist, will open the Trust’s Railway Gatekeeper’s Cottage Museum to be viewed at the end of the visit. For more information, visit: The Twentieth Century Society

• mini coconut cake
• mini smoked haddock scotch eggs
• sizzling chicken platter
• minty bean and courgette dip with pitta crisps
• warm quinoa salad with roasted vegetables
• blackcurrant, lime and coconut cheesecake

My favourite was the scotch eggs, which was surprising as I don’t really like fishy things, but I could hardly taste the fish. It was the hardest thing to make though so I probably won’t make it…

I went to work at 14:00 and was working alone in the shop, which was a bit lonely. There were electricians installing CCTV and one of them got his arm stuck in the ceiling (haha). It was really quiet for the first hour – I only sold one ice cream – but it got a little busier at the end of school time.

This morning I woke up at 03:00 because my throat was really hurting and I thought I’d got something stuck in it. I had loads to drink and a couple of biscuits to see if I could push it down but it didn’t work. It hurt a bit over the day, but when I got home from work it got really bad, and after dinner, Mummy took me to A&E. The triage nurse said that I should drink a can of coke and then see a doctor about taking some muscle relaxant. She said that the wait for the doctor was two hours, but I didn’t get to see him for five hours… and then he said there wasn’t anything stuck, I’d probably just scratched my throat and it would heal by itself. But at least I could stop panicking that I was going to burst my food pipe!

Thankfully they went away very satisfied with the service they received and they should be returning soon to have some more work done!

Distilled Designs

So here’s one of two posters that i have designed for 2 ‘indie gamer festivals’ that i have setup in Essex for my Games Students end of year exhibition. Should be good fun.. Both Posters have taken me about 2 hours in total this morning…… If your near Essex..come on down.

He’s influenced everyone from Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and James Cameron (who even did some early model work on Escape from New York) and special effects gurus such as the late Stan Winston and Dennis Muren.

Famously, when presenting Harryhausen with a special Academy Award in 1992, Tom Hanks told Harryhausen “Lots of people say Casablanca or Citizen Kane is the greatest film of all time… no way, it’s Jason and the Argonauts!”

He’s also had quite an effect on the next generation of talent, including up and coming animator, Rachel Barrass, 27, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

Rachel, whose picked and mixed her favourite dynamation creations to create the ultimate Harryhausen monster, said: “Watching Ray Harryhausen’s films at Christmas was almost a religion for me through growing up, and is something I continue to revel in.”

As a child Rachel was fascinated by the creatures and, like many of us, believed them to be real. Now older, and after having studied a degree in BA (Hons) Animation at South Essex College, Essex, she is enthralled by the movies Harryhausen had a hand in but now also appreciates his work from a technical point of view.

Rachel added: “The sheer detail that goes into his puppets, from the armatures to the skin is just so unique and once complete bring his creations vividly to life. His detailed imagination and skills flow through inanimate objects bringing them so vividly and memorably to life.”

For Rachel stop-motion animation is her medium of choice. She continued: “It’s a very personal thing, you create your subject and then you are in close contact with it for a long period of time, it is essentially your actor and you are controlling each and every movement and nuance, bringing your performance to it and for me that is the magic of Harryhausen. It’s almost as if you are god (or perhaps Zeus in Harryhausen’s last hurrah, Clash of the Titans) as you watch the movements made.”

CGI just doesn’t have the same draw for the Essex-based animator as she explained. “For me it just doesn’t have the same connectivity as your involvement as a creator is through machines and software so therefore I feel that you are more disengaged from the piece, or I guess you could see it as not being as involved with the ‘actors’.”

Rachel goes all Victor Frankenstein and creates the ultimate Harryhausen creation, a greatest bits if you will.

‘Hair’ of Medusa – Clash of the Titans

Rachel says: “My all-time favourite character, her eyes are just fantastic, and who wouldn’t want to be able to turn the odd person into stone. Perhaps Harryhausen’s finest hour for a single character and her final showdown is an epic, fitting end to his big screen career.”

Head of skeleton – Jason and the Argonauts

For those who don’t know Ray Harryhausen by name, then they will probably know him as ‘the fighting skeleton guy’, a scene that has been riffed in everything from The Mummy to Army of Darkness. Rachel says: “One of the most memorable fight scenes ever and certainly perhaps the most oft-shown and quoted this side of Kong as a standout in stop-motion.”

Eye of Cyclops – 7th Voyage of Sinbad/Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Rachel says: “The eye has it. The Cyclops feature in several Harryhausen epics and they made great noises.”

Torso of Talos – Jason and the Argonauts

Rachel says: “One of the ‘largest’ of his characters this was the original ‘iron man’. The noises he made as he walked still make me shudder. Great interaction with real actors as well that really made you believe he was that big.”

Arms of statue of Kali – The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Rachel says: “A great battle scene with brilliant timing, echoed in the first Lara Croft movie.”

Tentacle of sea monster – It Came From Beneath the Sea

Rachel says: “People forget Harryhausen wasn’t just a master of the ancient monsters, he also did a good line in sea creatures as well, even though the budget and time constraints did only allow his creature to have six tentacles. When I talk to anyone about old film they always mention this one.”

Leg of dinosaur – Beast from 20,000 Fathoms/ One Million Years BC

Rachel says: “Reptilian beasts made several notable appearances under Harryhausen and he just went to show that he could turn his hand to any monster, mythical or not and still make them fresh, exciting and full of character. Of course it did help that they were often far more animated than some of the actors they appeared alongside.”

Wings of Pegasus – Clash of the Titans

Rachel says: “Most girls I knew wanted a My Little Pony when growing up, I wanted Pegasus. Who wouldn’t want a flying horse? One of the few heroic Harryhausen creations and everyone loves a hero…apart from perhaps that clockwork owl!”

And there we have it, perhaps not the prettiest looking creature around but certainly one of the most formidable. What parts from Harryhausen’s back catalogue would you have chosen? Thigh of Mighty Joe Young anyone?

Which is why Boon, my Mum, Step-Dad and I headed to The Cock Inn, Rochford.  According to Mum, it has recently been refurbished and re-opened as a ‘Fayre and Square’ pub (which is a chain that definitely rings a bell with me, but I can’t remember where from).

It was nice enough inside, traditional decor, comfy chairs, nice art on the walls.  We found a table and took a look through the menu… there was a huge selection of food on offer and all at very cheap prices.

You order at the bar, which I understand from Boon wasn’t an overly pleasant experience.  He says that the bar staff were rather miserable and the service was poor (bearing in mind we’re used to the terrible Belgian service, this is really saying something).

Our food arrived rather quickly and our waitress was an absolute delight.  Boon and I opted for the ‘two for £10′ meal deal and I couldn’t believe how big the portions were.

The XXL Burger was delicious, good quality and tasty meat and nicely cooked chips and onion rings.  The bun and burger were both square, which Boon was very impressed with.

My New York Chicken, was rather tasty; the chicken wasn’t as fresh and juicy as it could have been, but the abundance of melted cheese and BBQ sauce made up for that!  Chips and onion rings were great and the peas were perfectly cooked.  I like a pea that is just cooked. I didn’t finish it all, because as you can see, there was loads of it.

Mum went for the Gammon Steak and jacket potato… which must have been tasty as she ate the lot!

We were intrigued by the ‘sharing’ desserts and decided to get both the Fun Fayre Combo and Cookie Dough Pizza to share between the four of us.

The Fun Fayre Combo consisted of eight profiteroles on skewers, two vanilla and strawberry and chocolate mini Victoria sponge type cakes, toffee popcorn and chocolate and strawberry sauces for dipping.  This was an insane amount of sugar, but it tasted delicious, I’d really quite like one now – all to myself.

Cookie Dough Pizza (we went for the thin crust version) was make up of a cookie dough base and topped with; chocolate sauce, chocolate brownie pieces, marshmallow, maltesers and toffee popcorn.  Absolutely bloody lovely, although sickly as hell, I don’t think I could manage more than a quarter at a time.

Although the atmosphere and bar service weren’t great, The Cock Inn is a great way to get a HUGE amount of food, for very little money.  The sharing desserts are really good fun, if I was going back, I’d eat my dinner somewhere else and head there for the dessert.

You’ll find The Cock Inn at Hall Road, Rochford, SS4 1PD. I couldn’t find a website, but Fayre and Square have one here

Sex offender teacher turned EastEnders actor fired after former pupils spot him on soap

• Rob Turner was convicted in 2009 of sexual activity with a young girl

• But 39-year-old Essex actor was on BBC soap as extra in 2011 scene

• EastEnders did not know of his conviction before he was on show

A sex offender teacher was spotted acting in EastEnders by his former pupils

Rob Turner, 39 – a former music teacher who admitted sexual activity with a young girl at Basildon Crown Court in Essex four years ago – was on the popular BBC soap for one episode as an extra.

Turner was sacked from the programme after he was seen appearing with stars such as Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale, and Cheryl Fergison, who played Heather Trott, reported The Sun.

He was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register and given a suspended one-year jail sentence in 2009 after being charged with ten counts of sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 17.

Turner, of Leigh-on-Sea, who was sacked as a teacher, is still on the register and each year is seen by authorities. He told The Sun: ‘I believe EastEnders had a complaint. They hit the panic button.’

The revelations of his 2011 appearance come as the fallout continues at the BBC from child sex scandals involving the corporation’s late former DJ Jimmy Savile and veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall.

An EastEnders spokesman said a complaint was made about Turner by a viewer, before the show contacted his agency. He then confirmed the conviction when asked about it by the agency, she said.

The spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Rob Turner appeared as an extra in one episode and as soon as EastEnders were made aware of the allegations we immediately stopped working with him.

‘EastEnders books supporting artists through agencies that have undergone an approval process with the BBC.

‘EastEnders was not notified prior to Mr Turner’s appearance of his conviction and had we known, we would not have employed him. 

‘EastEnders has the highest safeguarding procedures in place for any child working on the show, which are held up across the industry as best practice. 

‘Every young person has a chaperone with them at all times and at no point could anyone be left alone with a minor.’

Highlights of the Essex Sunday League match between Orsett CC v Harold Wood CC (A Teams) at the Orsett ground. To See all the pictures please click on this link. www.leighdawneyphotography.com

A scary tiger at a Tudor stately home

A lovely, Tudor house near Tipree, Essex

Daddy and Barbara took me out for dinner at Shima. I had samosas and chicken tikka masala and some sides that we shared. Because I’m working pretty much every day now, I can’t go to the yoga class that we thought we’d like to do every week together

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Flowers on my long walk to work. They really cheer me up. I arrive feeling alive.

I loved the waves created by the windows.

Eve is weaaring a lace dress by H&M and heels by Faith. Love that dress.

For her second look, our fashion diva is wearing a kaftan top bought in Dubai, jeans by Next, watch by Cartier and flats by Dune.

For Eve’s final look, she is wearing a pink top by Jane Norman, blue jeans by Next, black belt by Debenhams, bangle by Kamz Dubai and watch by Cartier.

If you want to feature as a fashion diva of the week, please send full length pictures of yourself and a brief description of what you have on to fashionandstylepolice@gmail.com

Have a fabulous week everyone

Stella

The National Lottery’s corporate logo from the late 1990s– 2008. The original 1987 logo was similar, but with the text “National Lottery” in a serif font however (with the word “National” in mixed case), and the boxes were not rounded. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 40 millionaires have been created within the boundaries of the RM postcode. Now I’m not one to follow the money trail…which probably explains why I’ve never had much money, but perhaps its time to up stakes and move to Romford and start buying lottery tickets. I do wonder however what the Romfordarians will make of me? What is Essex etiquette in relationship to public drunkenness, fake tan and tattoos?