Things to look forward to in January

The Longest Night has passed,

Santa has been & gone,

All seasonal sparkles are put away

So what's left to bring cheer,

In the gloomy months ahead?

Flowers of course!!!

So if you have not planted any - go out & buy a pot of Spring bulbs or Orchids or any lovely flowering plant to take your thoughts to easier days ahead.

(Pictures from Kew Gardens - one of my "favourite places")

A seasonal something!

A Christmas Quiz
Clue: Chilean Christmas Tree? (3 words)

* The three wise men (MAGI)
* A brand of lift/elevator & the 1st name of a famous rhythm & blues singer (OTIS)
* The 1st name of an actress that had a child named “Sunday Rose” in July 2008 (NICOLE KIDMAN)
* A fruit brandy made from the double distillation of morellos (KIRSCH)
* Austin Healey’s kiwi dance partner (first name) (ERIN BOAG)
* A fermented dairy product (YOGHURT)
………
>>>>> (New word)

* The bull fighting dance (PASA DOBLE)
* An item made famous by a “Singing in the Rain” routine & by Rhianna singing “you can stand under my ………” (UMBRELLA)
* An American Heavy Rock Band noted for their beards & sunglasses & “Gimme All Your Lovin”
(ZZ TOP)
* Biblical character (a fisherman) & springy cartoon character (ZEBEDEE)
* The title of Sir Cliff’s first chart-topper (LIVING DOLL)
* The birthplace of D H Lawrence (EASTWOOD)
……..
>>>>> (new word)

* An excitable Strictly Come Dancing judge (surname) (BRUNO TONIOLI)
* A type of deer with a shiny nose & balletic name (REINBEER)
* An old-fashioned & now rude term to use for the Inuit peoples of Canada & Greenland (ESKIMO)
* The first name of the man who sang “Eye-to-Eye (Contact)” & “H.A.P.P.Y. Radio” - he has a seasonal surname! (EDWIN STARR)



Another clue if you are struggling!
The national tree of Chile - an evergreen pine!

MONKEY PUZZLE TREE

seasons greetings

Birds and Books

Birds are featuring large in my world at the moment.

The hens are causing us a lot of concern. After extensive reading, experimenting, observing & asking a local egg producer we have come to the conclusion that the hens are BORED. Their supply of grass has run out and at the moment we are not in a position to move the run. So I guess we are going to have to be creative- boxes of soil with stuff buried in it, hanging up bunches of greenery, logs to sit on etc etc - so much for hens being low maintenance!

So far I haven't come upon a chapter in a hen book entitled "Boredom". I guess it is still a relatively new concept in the population at large that poultry warrant attention to their mental health. Yet again it is the caring "amateur" & welfare charities that are bringing about the positive changes to animal welfare - not the "professional" egg & meat producers. Long live the great British (& other nationality) amateur!

We have a simple bird table & feeders, attached to our run of bean poles. This year the local bird population has "found us". It is such a "simple pleasure" to watch the comings & goings of the little visitors. Supplying peanuts (whole & in a feeder), a "wild bird mixture" & bits of bread has so far attracted blue, great, coal, willow/marsh & long-tailed tits, a blackbirds, a robin & a nuthatch.

We are also the nominated geese-feeders on the park & this regular feeding pattern attracts more than just geese - there are ducks, moorhens, peacocks, crows, magpies & jackdaws & I bet there are other quieter birds watching & waiting for all the fuss to die down. I'd love to see the local ravens come down to eat!

Not far away is a rookery. Once the youngsters left the nest this summer the rookery became empty. In the last month or so huge numbers of rooks have been congregating at the rookery then flying off to roost somewhere nearby. As coincidence would have it, a few nights ago I picked up a book & started reading a chapter at random only to discover that the book is all about rooks & jackdaws. It's a beautifully written book so if you are still searching for a Christmas present for a bird-lover then this is worth a consideration - "Crow Country" by Mark Crocker (ISBN 978 0 224 07601). I borrowed my copy from the local mobile library - so here's plug for them - "USE THEM OR LOOSE THEM".

Also from the library, I have borrowed, read & can recommend the latest in the Maise Dobbs series "An Incomplete Revenge" by Jacqueline Winspear. So get down to your local library & see what you can find & don't forget that the staff are usually only too happy to help! On that note, it's time for me to log onto the library catalogue & order some books ready to dive- into over the Christmas break.

Great Ideas in Action

Making my world a more harmonious place.

Carpinus betulus - hornbeam

I found this fantastic picture at the following site - http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=1. It's from the "people's arboretum" - what a fantastic idea. It's a great web site to - well worth a tour around.

It reminded me of how much I have always loved Kew Gardens. When I first visited this magnificent place it cost 1p to get in! Years later I lived in London & visited it frequently - still very cheap- it was in the days before the sparkly new visitors centre. What a gem.

Wish I could get to the Eden Project..one day




What a pretty seasonal picture!








Eden has submitted plans for a wind turbine and has some very accessible information on this subject.http://www.edenproject.com/whats-at-eden/index.php

Come that great day when we have our own piece of land a wind turbine will proudly feature as one of our energy sources. We could have done with one this week as for two days in a row we were left with no electricity or a severely restricted supply. The reason why - the supply to this site is being exceeded & we are at the end of the chain so when there is too much use we don't get any - a dramatic demonstration of growing energy use & the need to be self-sufficient!

Onto another great development - BBCI - it may well have saved my marriage- OK that's a bit bold! Poor Mr PoppyM missed his much anticipated viewing of the Survivors (see above!) so I set-to exploring BBCi & found it there. So for the 1st time in his life Mr PoppyM watched a programme on a computer screen with headphone - he was really impressed. And of course as a spin-off from this I know that I can watch Strictly Come Dancing Results on Monday avoiding any clashed & squabbles about Sunday viewing - marvellous!

A week of wise words

Photo - from the "War Horse" production of the book by the same name by the brilliant Michael Morpurgo. A book I have been unable to bring myself to read as I have a horse & one of my biggest fears for her, has been that she would be requisitioned for war service. Yes I know it's totally irrational but that doesn't make it any the less real - perhaps it happened to me in an "earlier life".

"Living in Devon, listening to Mozart, and working with children have provided most of the stimulae Michael needs to discover and write his stories. He spends about half his life mucking out sheds with the children, feeding sheep or milking cows; the other half he spends dreaming up and writing stories. "For me, the greater part of writing is daydreaming, dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out - the writing down of it I always find hard. But I love finishing it, then holding the book in my hand and sharing my dream with my readers."http://www.michaelmorpurgo.org/

Still on the theme of the bravery of people & animals in war, I have now read all but the latest Maise Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. Lessons at school put me off history so regrettably I have great gaps in my knowledge - gaps I have discovered that I can fill through reading a certain type of fiction! This series of books has opened my eyes to some of the realities of the 1st world war whilst seemly engaging my brain in some complex investigative plots. Perhaps because of these books, I watched the Remembrance Day service with even greater sadness than usual. At the service was a 112 year old veteran who had fought in both wars - the angels must have been with him as I wonder what the odds were for his survival.

"As I grew up my curiosity about the "war to end all wars" deepened, so that I always seemed to be reading something about the war. However, my interest was not in the politics of the time so much as rooted in the experiences of ordinary men and women, boys and girls, not only on the battlefield, but on the home front. And though I never set out to write a "war" novel, it came as no surprise that this part of history formed the backdrop of Maisie Dobbs and other books in the series". http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/

Now onto the jolly fun stuff!

"My work is the result of a need to follow my creative spirit, to develop it and use it, fearlessly at times, to bring a sense of energy, depth and joy to my life and to those around me. In doing so I am constantly finding the same need in others. That is why I do what I do, and love what I do. I invite you to join me in this great adventure called life...squeeze the juice out of it!" http://www.violettesfolkart.com/aboutme.html

http://www.sarkjournal.com/2008/09/index.html

I've included the above two sites to celebrate being asked by a small local magazine for a poem to include in their January edition. I had one published there last year - it's brilliant to be asked for another. OK it's not a Faber & Faber publication - but people I don't know are going to read my poems - it's back to that need to be heard!

Change & Movement

What a week that was:


A week of sudden hard frosts and an earthquake - I bet this why the hens are currently laying only the occasional egg.
(Latest Headlines Earthquake is centred on Bromyard 3:54pm Tuesday 28th October 2008 TREMORS were felt from Malvern to Hereford when a minor earthquake struck the outskirts of Bromyard on Sunday evening. West Mercia Police received up to 20 calls from concerned members of the public as the quake, measuring 3.6 on the Richter Scale, rattled crockery and shook windows. )

Making mashed potatoes for the hen's evening feed. What a curious sight, a row of perching hens with mashed potatoes on their beaks! (Our current hen bible is "The Right Way to Keep Chickens" by Virginia Shirt, ISBN 978-0-7160-3018-8)

Walking out of the front door to see rows of frost-blackened, collapsed plants - the real start of winter. Time to get the remaining bulbs in for a bold display in the darkest days of the year.


Carving a pumpkin - I used a cat template this year & had a bit of slip with the knife. Very resourcefully (well I thought so) I fixed the tail back on with sewing pins -an invisible fix - marvellous! I'll take that as a "good omen" for the next phase of the year - easy fixes for all life's problems- it should be a great Christmas.


My usually very sensible mare has been behaving like a creature possessed. On a day that was freezing (literally), sleeting & blowing a gale - would she come in off the hill side into a nice comfortable stable, would she stand still & have a rug put on - of course not! Bet the earthquake has had something to do with this.

Visiting a "promising" piece of land for sale to find it's access blocked by 2 vans (one broken down). There were two young mares grazing on the land - they weren't so much grazing as trying to play with us - not a good experience on a hill side. All that was missing was a snarling dog (well there was one but locked up) & a man pointing a gun at us. We wont be making a bid.

I received a very touching letter from a friend describing a surprising reunion with a long lost brother. Letter's like that confirm my belief that something good always comes after something bad. I wish that reunited family every happiness for the future. It's easier to weather life's buffets when you have support.

I surprised myself at how cross I became at a sign we passed on the road - "Stop the XXXX Wind farm". I haven't lived near a wind farm but I have been up close to a generating windmill & been through a huge wind farm in the States. What made me cross was the comparison between the human & environmental cost of producing wind energy with "traditional" sources eg coal & nuclear: I have worked at a nuclear power plant & spent over 11 years living & working in mining communities. How can you compare the cost of human illness & death that coal/oil/gas extraction in this country & in other countries where life (human & otherwise) is cheaper with the minimal impact of a wind farm. As for nuclear power -don't get me started on that one. As a "first world" society we have so far to go it's disheartening. Here's a link to a summary of the wind farm arguments. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4610000/newsid_4614700/4614743.stm

On a happy note - my home made tomato chutney tastes great & that's after only a few weeks "maturing".http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/greentomatochutney_8201.shtml


At long last a "spring in the step" has returned to my large dog & her fur is as soft & glossy as it was before she was spayed. She is currently eating a dog food formulated by Debbie Connelly, a Dog Behaviourist so if your dog is not as perky as they should be or perhaps is too excitable or eats too fast why not give Debbie's food a go: the price includes delivery. ( http://www.intelligentfeeding.com/ )

So who is going to be the next leader of America? What will it really mean for us in the UK?

Woodlands & weather (Saturday 25th October)

This week has been dominated by woodlands & weather.

On a gloriously autumnal Wednesday I sat on one of my favourite trees, an alder with a curved branch that slightly overhangs a strongly flowing brook, and listened to the water move & watched leaves falling. I sat there and thought about the flowing water, things fall in it and get carried along for a way, then their journey stops, but the water flows on. It flows on, over things, under them, round and through things, fast & slow, smooth, turbulent. Water flows on as a wide mass, a narrow trickle, as creeping beads, then a stationary, independent droplet that vanishes. Similar in many respects to emotions, thoughts & ideas. Sometimes ideas feel sparklingly clear then become sullied by eddies or intrusions, from this they can recover, drop the load, and return to a singing perfection or of course, become turgid & slow with the weight of additional material. I doubt these are original thoughts to the world, but they are new to me & I have enjoyed them & feel they may be useful.

On the same walk with the large dog, I stopped to look into the sky, it was overcast but bright & breezy. For most of the walk I had been hearing the shriek of buzzards & the deep throated call of ravens & wanted to see if I could spot them. I stopped by a small stand of trees & a few moments later was treated to a buzzard swooping by only a few dozen metres away - I could clearly see it creamy underside. A few minutes later I saw a bird wheeling high in the sky, just hanging there without wing flapping. It is a familiar sight around here but for me, it's familiarity does not diminish it's beauty & impact. There it is suspended in nothingness, but that cannot be, so here is a bird demonstrating to the land-bound, the presence of an invisible force as potent as the invisible & incompletely understood charge that runs through our power lines. A power we simply call wind that can make us smile at a bobbing kite, cause wonder at a plane & swan taking-off, & rant & rail when it knocks out a phone line!

My Significant Other & I went off to look at a woodland- part of our on-going search to buy a piece of land. The estate agent's blurb included enticing words such as "wonderful avenue", "beautiful cover of bluebells" - hard to resist a look on a beautiful sunny day. Almost predictably is was a disappointment - an oak plantation with no undergrowth on a steep hill side with several dwellings close by! So the search goes on & I try to sustain my flagging optimism by reading books such as the ones below:
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the following book on the mobile library van “Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees” by Roger Deakin . Woodlands.co (a site that sells woodlands) have a really interesting blog site full of useful woodland-related articles including a review of this book: http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/. On their site I've also spotted this one- Badgers, Beeches and Blisters - Getting started in your own wood . It was written by Professor Julian Evans and sponsored by Woodlands.co.uk. & is available as a free download.

If it does not prove possible to buy a small reasonable woodland at a small reasonable price then I guess we'll have to "grow our own"! To this end, last year I started gathering seeds & seedlings of native & a few ornamental trees. A healthy number have survived & thrived. This year I have started gathering earlier & have high hopes of a thicket at the least, from my acorns, beech nuts, crab apples and sweet & horse chestnuts: mice & squirrels keep out!

Evolution

The Thursday Thank You has evolved......


In tune with the changing season I feel that it is time for the Thursday Thank You to became My World This Week.




The need for change & the new name came as I was was walking the small dog. The banner sounds grand as if it belongs to a celebrity reporter or a newspaper editorial. But then I reasoned that most BLOGS are at least a bit self indulgent. And all BLOGS are essentially a means to meeting that most human need to communicate with and be heard by others.

Some memorable experiences this beautiful autumn week:

Sunday - the late-evening dog walk - a cool crisp night - hearing ripe apples fall from the trees.(Laughter).

Monday - late afternoon - seeing an apricot glow over a newly plowed field. Sitting under a mature beech tree & listening to the wind rustle the widely spread canopy. Looking up & seeing a fleeting view of the shining full moon before it disappeared behind the clouds. (Wonderment).

Tuesday - mid morning - sitting on a fallen willow tree & looking at the collection of coloured leaves floating on a deep fool. A loud "plop" but no ripples - the dog looked & so did I- what caused that? A falling twig, a surfacing fish, the elusive otter or something else entirely. (Puzzlement).

Wednesday- afternoon - walking the small dog in the breeze with dry leaves filling the air, falling like rustling rain. Kicking aside great leathery poplar leaves: reminding myself to bring a bag to collect up the rich coppery bronze beech leaves to cover my winter bulbs. (Participation).

Thursday - mid morning - sitting on a roman battelement high on a hillside watching & hearing two squabbling ravens & a buzzard in the cool clear blue sky. (Peace).

Friday - mid morning -walking quietly through a dozing herd of horses & ponies - warming up in the bright sun after a cold night. (Stillness).

There has been a lot of beauty & abundance in this week. I have continued to gather windfalls for the horses, hens & for food. There are now jars of apple & rose hip jelly & pear jam in the cupboards, apples & blackberries in the freezer & cooking, as I write, is a vat of green tomato chutney. This is the first year I have been in a position to make the most of hedgerow, orchard, garden fruits so I am making the most of it- who knows what next year may bring.

In amongst all the activity I have been trying to fit all this happiness with the sadness in the world. Difficulties both close to home, affecting people I know & further afield, affecting people I have no personal knowledge of but feel linked to nether the less. I have been reading a book that a few years ago I would have scoffed at - one of life's lesson - it is never wise to totally dismiss any source of information! I found this thought comforting..

"If you remove tears of sorrow from one mourner; if you heal one sick person who has heard the dread verdict that he or she cannot be cured; if you have enabled one soul to find itself; if you have given direction to someone who believed he or she was in a morass or a maze from which there was no escape, then whole of your earthly life will have been worth while" Silver Birch

From the sublime to the the mundane - back to the washing-up, the cooking & the cleaning - so much to do.

Have a good week.

poppym

Recipes:

www.cottagesmallholder.com
www.overthegardengate.net
www.allotment.org.uk
www.selfsufficientish.com

Interesting stuff

www.williambloom.com
www.myss.com
www.tinasdivadiary.blogspot.com
www.anna-world.blogspot.com
newsletter@forbetterlife.org
www.silverbirchpublishing.co.uk
www.actsofkindness.org

Autumn Contemplations

Good Evening on what has been a truely beautiful Autumn day . Autumn has as usual moved me into a contemplative mood.

Spiders - 4 moments
1. I took the small dog for a walk this morning, one thick with mist. We walked along a footpath between fields, every section of fence post was festooned with glittering spiders webs: complete webs, fragments of webs, single strands. I could have counted them but on this occassion I felt it would have diminshed the organic abundance of the experience. That the invisible has been made visible - briefly.
2. I was collecting ripe seed pods from my Morning Glory screen & wondering who would like to have/be able to use some of these. I reached out to pluck a brown pod & withdrew my hand at the last moment when I realized it was a fat-bodied, short legged spider.
3. My significant other was rumaging amongst some old farm hardware & called me over to look at something. "There" he said, "don't touch it, watch out, it's a hole-in-the-wall spider, they bite". It was on the wall by now, disturbed from it's home, a dark brown, exotic looking spider unlike anything I have previously seen in this country. I looked it up on the internet when I got home - a bet it's a False Black Widow Spider & they do bite http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/
4. A friend directed me a lovely site - give it a go http://www.poweranimal.com/. I got a spider.

Ripples
I stood and watched a snatch of wind make a leaf quiver - just like an idea, an inspirational thought, an idea. One that hovers & makes a tiny ripple in everyday awareness, so small a movement that it may be missed by a preoccupied or trammeled mind. Fortunately today I had a quietish mind that welcomed the poetic, the inspirational the new.

Emmerdale
My Significant other is an Emmerdale fan so we watch it every weekday evening. I have been following the battered wife story-line & wondered where it would fit on the realism-TV gloss continuum. It appears that they are going for a dose of realism. Unlike Jo, many women do not find close friends & family who believe them: they chose to side with the man -who lies to cover his tracks, not prepared to question his story or character. Jo is an intelligent, accomplished woman with low self confidence. She is able to realise that by beating her & mentally & emotionally degrading her, her husband is pushing her along the road of brutalisation & thus acceptance of the way things are (the way he wants things to be). It will be interesting to see how the story continues to unfolds. I applaud the writers & producers who have chosen to deal with an unglamourous but wide-spread issue.

So my Thursday Thank You this week is to a quivering leaf that has enabled me to understand that, the time, when I chose to believe an unpalatable truth & take action, was a gift to that person. To the spiders who have reminded me that there are hidden things revealed at the special moments. To the good things TV soaps can chose to do, and actually do..

An Autumn Patchwork

Hello again on a beautiful autumn day - blustery, showery & sunny often all at once

Autumn is perhaps, just by a sliver, my favourite season. This week has been really autumnal & busy, so I thought today I would put together a patchwork of seasonal images:

A young raven sat on top of a spindly, redwood on a hilltop, cawing away as I gathered windfall pears in the sunshine.
The first real "autumn blow" sending golden leaves & fruit tumbling.
A butterfly feeding on a windfall pear in the sunshine: a Comma butterfly I think.
Buzzards gliding high in the clear blue sky.
Collecting a pound of rose hips for rose hip & apple jelly.
Discovering a crop of enormous blackberries whilst walking the dog around a stubble field.
A butterfly eating a ripe blackberry: another Comma I think.
Cutting a posy of pink roses from our wedding roses in time for our anniversary.
Pulling up exhausted & dead annuals - making room for spring bulbs.
Leaving the Autumn Festival tent at a show, exhausted & bewildered: the giant vegetables were magnificent, weird & grotesque.
Having an impromptu picnic under a huge umbrella watching the weather change from showers, t0 gusts to sunshine & back again.
Collecting the last flowers of dandelions, clover, yarrow & flea bane for the hens.
Turning on the central heating.

So my THANK YOU this week are for having a warm dry home (however imperfect), for being able to gather abundant hedgerow/orchard fruit and for the colour & energy provided by the late autumn flowers still growing in my tubs.

Birds, Bees & Bananas

Some interesting thoughts for the week......

Birds

Couple backed over bird feeding

pa.press.net

A couple who were warned by council bosses to stop feeding birds in their own back garden have won the backing of wildlife charity the RSPB.
Mick and June Dunny, from Belford, Northumberland, were told to stop leaving food on a bird table for birds by Berwick-upon-Tweed Council.
But the RSPB said it was vital that birds were given a helping hand - even in the middle of summer - and said responsible feeding was to be encouraged.
The council acted after a neighbour complained that the Dunny's nature-loving ways were attracting birds, and therefore mess to their pretty rural village.
An official wrote: "Birds cause some considerable problem in forms of noise and dirt. Not only do their droppings damage and contaminate property, the birds also carry various diseases such as salmonella."
The warning letter said nesting birds can block chimneys and gutters, adding: "Food put out for the birds will also attract rats and vermin. If we establish that a nuisance or pest problem does exist, we may have to reconsider further action."
Mr Dunny told the North East-based Sunday Sun newspaper: "Let them put me in jail... It's just crazy. What do they mean by noise? I'd hardly describe the dawn chorus as noise."
An RSPB spokeswoman said: "We would encourage people to feed their garden birds throughout the year. This is an important time when a lot of adolescent birds are putting down fat to see them through the winter, and they need to feed up."
She said responsible feeders made sure their tables were regularly cleaned and no food was allowed to spill onto the ground.
"Over half of adults in the UK feed birds in their garden," she said. "Providing birds with supplementary food brings them closer so that we can marvel at their exciting behaviour and wonderful colours."

Bees

http://www.britishbee.org.uk/bees4kids/index.php

Throughout the ages, bees have been used as weapons. Beehives were dropped or thrown at opposing soldiers. As recently as 1915 in Africa, the German army used bees to delay the advance of British troops.

For centuries, bees have been used to guard valuables. In India bandits used the large Asian honeybee Apis Dorsata to guard loot near mountain caves.

Bees are pollinators vital to our food chain. One third of the food we eat would not be available but for bees.

Bananas

pa.press.net
Sunday, 07 September 2008

Deadly spider found in fruit bunch

A cashier felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end after discovering a deadly South American banana spider nestling in a bunch of bananas.
The highly-venomous arachnid was spotted by Kate Whitmore, 25, as she unpacked a box of fruit to put on display at the Co-Op store in Wayfield Road, Chatham, Kent.
The palm-sized eight-legged creature, otherwise known as Phoneutria nigriventer, ranks alongside the black widow and funnel-web as one of the most dangerous spiders.
Recalling the close encounter during her Monday night shift, Ms Whitmore said: "I lifted the lid off the box, ripped the bag open and in the very first bunch I noticed something.
"I picked the bunch up, held it close to my face and thought, 'What is that?' It wasn't a very nice spider."
After alerting her supervisor, the shop was promptly closed while the RSPCA was called out. They were advised to keep the spider contained and not approach it until the animal collection officer arrived.
Mother-of-two Ms Whitmore said: "He lifted the separate bunch off with leather gloves and put it in a box which had a separate container. He asked to borrow a pen and as he nudged it to try to move it into the container, the spider reared up, hissing and put its fangs out.
"It made us all jump."
RSPCA officer Anthony Pulfer said: "It was very aggressive and trying to go for me when I was putting it in the box. It was really jumping around and trying to attack me."
Ms Whitmore added: "We had customers coming in saying, 'We'll kill it for you, it's only a spider'. We thought, 'If you knew exactly what it was like you wouldn't'."

This week's Thursday Thank You goes to MSN for directing me to these fascinating facts & news items. The couple who had problems with bird feeding are not alone, I seem to be surrounded by people who feel birds have no right to exist along side people. All summer I have watched bees visit our trees, vegetables & flowers & have benefited directly from their activities.Visit the bee site & see what can be done to benefit threatened bees. I thought the "spider in the bananas" story was an Urban Myth - it would appear not!

Autumn, Fruits & Words

Hello on this beautiful Autumn Thursday (18th September)

This morning was calm & misty with a sharpness that says winter is well on it's way. For me it was the first real day of autumn & to celebrate I took the little dog for a walk & watched the sun break through the mist. We collected rosehips, hawthorn berries & elderberries from the hedgerows for the hens. The trees & bushes are profusely covered in fruits, does that mean we are in for a severe winter - what I believe is referred to as a "blackberry winter"?

All week I have been gathering fruits for the pets and, for me & the significant other. Whilst the gathering of food for the bleak months ahead is an ancient ritual the searching of the Internet for recipes & storage advice is not! It feels to me like an excellent juxtaposition (what a fabulous word) of the oldest & newest of human technologies. It also set me reflecting on serendipity (another wonderful word) - lucky chance. Many years ago whilst I was at university I went out with a chap who was at Cambridge doing research on how to get the world's computers to talk to each other - yes - that now indispensable Internet. He went off to Silicon Valley & I expect he is now earning a 6 figure salary or has dropped-out & is trekking in the Himalayas searching for yetis!

In my fruit gathering I have discovered that :
* one flimsy supermarket plastic bag is totally inadequate for collecting blackberries - the thorns just rip holes in it - smugly returning the berries to the ground!
* the green husks of walnuts really do stain your hands brown & it doesn't come off easily.
* the same husks can be used for dying things - I now have a soft-brown cloth bag (much better for fruit gathering).
* that chickens love shiny berries & run round excitedly with them in their beaks.
* too much fruit gathering gives you sore feet, sore hands & a bad back,
* but the aforementioned complaints are ameliorated (a lovely soothing word) by eating puddings made with them, accompanied by lots of custard: with the side-effect of a warm lingering virtuous feeling!

On leaving the army my significant other took a course in furniture making -little did he think that those skills would be used to build a "Poultry Palace" or "Cluckingham Palace" as someone has labelled it. All the wood is reclaimed, the floor was bought at an auction for few pounds, the nails & roofing materials are new but bought as great prices. Even so - I estimate that labour costs alone would price the Palace at £1,200!! That doesn't include the flasks of coffee & moral support that a perfectionist, master craftsman requires!

So my Thank You's this week are to the wonderful words in the English language (my favourite word is lozenge- what's yours?), the abundance of the hedgerows & a husband who loves his hens so much he builds them a Palace.

Pears, Poultry and Pets

Hello again on an overcast September Thursday (11th September)

Pears - Today I was gathering windfall apples for my horse when I was delighted to discover pears. They were small conical pears with a slight blush, very beautiful little fruits. I have walked passed that pear tree for a year now & had thought that it was an apple tree like the others in the little orchard. When I really looked at the tree it was clearly a pear - I've taken it as a little reminder about making assumption & jumping to conclusions!

Poultry -For ages we have wanted hens for eggs & are at last in a position to have some. After extensive research we decided to start out with about 10 rescue hens & some Light Sussex. At the weekend we bought 30 hens of different breeds - so much for sticking to a plan! Once my impulsive husband saw the hens on offer he said yes to them all! So we are now the proud owners of 5 Calder Rangers (brown), 5 Black Rock, 9 Bluebelles (smokey grey) & 11 Light Sussex (mainly white). And the final touch - we have been offered free a Light Sussex cockerel - fate! The hen house (aka Poultry Palace) is not quite complete so the horse has been evicted & the girls are squatting in there for a few more days. More on hens in another post....

Pets (& Domestic Animals) - I believe that there are people in the world who don't have them, don't want them & cant see the point of them! I can remember a time in my young adult years when I didn't have any & those were definitely days with less colour, action & responsibility. It's very hard to explain to non-pet wanters the expansion, even a tiny, low maintenance pet can bring to a life.

There's the research into what makes them happy & comfortable & then finding the suppliers that can provide their material needs: whether is be the familiar supermarket, locating a specialist store or talking a local greengrocer into giving you unwanted veggies!

Then there is the activation & accessing of latent wells of care, love & commitment - these often "gushing" when the pet is not well or has presented the owner with a challenge: eating through the phone cable, trashing a door, standing on a foot, knocking over the spouse, biting and so forth!

And for those pets that require regular exercise, there are safe routes to find, leadership & socializing processes to get to grips with & fitness development - on both sides!

Then there is the sadness & grief we feel on discovering those pets who don't have caring owners, who suffer abuse & neglect & outright violence & malice. This part of pet ownership can change people's lives for good & bad. Think of all those animal shelters, welfare workers & veterinary staff, they all involve individuals who have been profoundly moved to take action to directly alleviate the suffer & misfortune of unfortunate & sick animals.

And then there are those who are prompted to question the wider relationship between pets & animals & people & who lead us all to insights about compassion, about relationships & about what it is to be human.

So this is a Thank You to those countless animals who have directly enhanced individual people's lives. It is a Thank You to all those animals who by living, dying, suffering & interacting with people have helped the evolution of compassion in society at large - everyone & everything has benefited from that.

Some interesting Links
http://www.cesarmillaninc.com
http://www.safepets.co.uk/index.html
http://www.trallwmfarm.org.uk/index.htm
http://www.dog-training.com/springer.htm
http://www.animalaid.org.uk
http://www.janfennellthedoglistener.com
http://www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk
www.montyroberts.com

Fungi, Frills & Fun

Hello again on this wet & windy Autumn Thursday (4th Sept)

Puffballs
For the last few week I have been gathering giant puffballs - to quote "Mushrooms - River Cottage Handbook (no 1)" by John Wright :
"If there is one edible fungus that cannot possibly be mixed up with anything inedible, it just has to be the wonderful Giant Puffball."
I found them on an old muck heap amongst the nettles & burdock - softly glowing. Now I'm not one for eating mushrooms of any sort - they just don't agree with me- but I am reliably told but my "significant other" that a puffball omlette is a culinary delight. So if it's "safe & legal" get out there & try one -even better share one with friends!

Bread Making (more fungi)
After years of complaining to those around me that commercial bread was horrible I went out & brought a bread-maker. With a bit of experimentation I have found it possible to produce - REAL BREAD. Not only has this stopped me moaning I have discovered how pleasurable it can be. I know all the books go on about how satisfying it is but it really is. Call it alchemy or science - it is fascinating mixing the wet & dry ingredients, adding the yeast (more fungus), letting the mixture sit & voile la - a frothy mass. I recently tried a new recipe that required a very wet mixture, I let it over rise & it became a creeping mass that nearly fell off the work surface! Then from this bubbly mass comes bread - with that wonderful aroma matched by taste, especially when spread with butter!!!

Gladioli (the frill)
Gladioli- no wonder the word "glad" is in there - they always make me smile: yes I know it's derived from word for a the roman sword. I have some at home at the moment, great spears of outrageous ruffled pink. They rise from the slim vase like an effervescent fountain or a placket of frills on a summer blouse! Absolutely no restraint - a most un-English flower- hurrah.

Fun on the TV
Still on a theme of fun, this week I watched an old episode of the "Good Life", I'd forgotten how good that series was. Of course the best part was given to Margo Leadbetter perfectly played by Penelope Keith. Later on in the week I managed to catch "Bride & Prejudice" - a Bollywood version of "pride & Prejudice" The music is infectious, the costumes jewel-like, the tone up-beat & the storyline comfortably close to the original. Get a pizza, frothy coffee & some friends round & get dancing to this movie!

So this week it's a "Thursday Thank You" to the wonders of nature (& science) and to the script writers/film makers/actors who have made me laugh.

Happy quotes, plants & dogs

Hi again on this windy, gloomy end of August day


Foundation For a Better Life.
I was directed to this site by a friend - what a great site. There is so much gloom in the news & so many people far & near in need, that is sometimes becomes difficult to remain positive & thankful. Get a quote sent your inbox each day & be uplifted!




Seeds
Imagine it is late winter & you have just put some great big seeds in pots, then you have put them to one side (in the greenhouse, on the window sill, in the spare room etc) and waited. Soon you excitedly see lovely shoots emerging & watch these grow into lushious leaves - time to pot on. Then one beautiful day you lovingly put them in the warm, nutritious ground & wish them well with a good watering. Jump to late July. Those seeds are now 8 foot monsters, leaves 6inches across, red flowers humming with bees & festooned with long green beans. Beans, beans everywhere!! However many times this pattern of seed - plant - fruit/flower/vegetable - seed occurs I am always thrilled & it is as if I am watching it for the first time. So Thank You to "nature"/nature spirits/God/the divine spark - whatever it is that makes it happen - Thank You.



Butterflies/moths.
Until this year, when I began growing brassicas for the first time, I had really looked forward to seeing butterflies. It has come as a bit of a shock to realize that those pretty, almost weightless fragile dots of life are MONSTERS!!! I find it hard to describe the mixed emotions I felt seeing my baby broccoli plants, with their rapidly expandly, dark-green healthy leaves, covered in eggs & holes! I have searched to strike a balance between the needs of the butterflies & my need for food!!!So this is it - fine netting over the brassicas except for one large unidentifed wild sown brassica & no attempt to save my nasturtiums. I now have a large leafy plant with great holes in it's leaves & lots & lots of leaf stalk but few leaves on some of the nasturiums. I don't eat the latter & have really enjoyed them for months so the loss of them seems a small price to pay for my peace of mind. (More on battles with invading creatures on another post).

Monday Moments
It gives me pleasure to tell you all out there that a good friend has re-started her Monday Moments slot. I really enjoyed that first batch so I'll be eagerly visiting the new site of these thoughts http://www.tinasdivadiary.blogspot.com/.

Dogs
just a few words on another of my enthusiams - dogs. Those hairy creatures that are always there for you with:
* paws that have stomped in fox poo,
* a back caked in horse-pat,
* a lick after they have just eaten a bowl of smellie dog food,
and not forgetting
* the unforgettable "arome de pond water" now all over the car!!!

The First real "Thursday Thank You"

This is a big

THANK YOU

to lots of medical personnel!

One week ago my much love, but very naughty dog, was spayed. I had been rather appreensive but these misgivings have thankfully all come to nothing. One week on & the scar is almost healed & she has managed a normal, if rather gently-paced walk on the lead. The biggest problem has been a nasty bit of razor rash but that's looking much less angry & sore.
So it's a big thank you to the staff at the Marches vet centre for doing an excellent job. The thank you is for my dog & for my horse who had a very nasty accident a few months ago).
I'm also grateful for Rescue Remedy, homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy oils & Reiki - all of which I put to good use to.

On Tuesday,the 90 year lady who owns the park where I currently live had a heart attack & fall which severly damaged her arm. The medical team spent an hour stabilizing her heart then she was air-lifted to hospital. The next morning she was reportedly sitting up in bed - marvellous news. I'll be visiting her later in the week.
Events such as this act trigger in me immense gratitute, gratitude to the large number of people directly & indirectly getting this lady safely to a hospital bed. From the people who put in-place the procedures for airlifting patients, the designers of the helicopters & ambulances, the producers of medical products to the more obvious medical personnel & concerned friends. What a huge interconnected web of people & materials & ideas all working positivly together to bring about help, support & healing.

I believe that healing energy is all around us if we choose to tap into it: it sometimes uses surprising vehicles. I've grown lots of plants from seeds this year & some of them I planted specifically to use for cut flowers e.g my dwarf sunflowers. But I have only been able to bring myself to cut one sunflower bloom, why? Well I have watched the bees feed from them & feel they need the flowers more than I do (bees are under serious threat globally). Every time I see the sunflower's bold, vibrant faces they make me smile, to me that means they are generating healing energy - an energy that I want to share with everyone who walks or drives past. Flowers are truely "spiritual food" & really do lift the heart & soul - so much from a £2 packet of seed- what amazing value.

The Thursday Thank You

This is my first real post so "hi" to the blog community.


I've been reading friend's blogs for a long while now & finally feel ready to have a go myself. I love the idea of a regular blog slot (Wellness Wednesday by Anna's World comes to mind) - making it a discipline/commitment rather than a random event, which I feel sure will not happen. So I'm going for a day of the week but not a necessarily weekly posting. Thursday feels good- The Thursday Thank You- to emphasize the positives in life.

poppy m