Random Ramblings

Random Ramblings: Personal observations on a wide variety of subjects. Photographs of creatures and things that are taken on seeing the unusual as well as everyday things.

From Russia with love?

What a very strange month it is … for we have had days that have required even the most cold blooded of us to parade in blouses and t-shirts. Now we are being blasted with cannons of cold air, attacking with military precision, straight over the sea from Russia. The temperatures have plummeted so much that it has been colder than any other November day on record. Not content with teasing us with icy fingers the Russian winds have brought buckets of snow. So much snow that some places are snow bound with no electric, milk, bread and very little fresh vegetables. The weather experts advise that it will continue for some time but cannot make up their minds how long … It is December tomorrow, but we have our Winter today!

Earlier I looked out with the notion of taking a picture of the scene but all was grey and depressingly gloomy. The cold appeared to give an air of sludgy mist which made everywhere appear menacing …

Nudge.. nudge.. nudge.. November

So far it has been an altogether strange month. There have been parts of November that have been warm, almost balmy for the last but one month of the year. Then half-way through the month, we were hit with some ground frost that chilled deep within the bones forcing everyone to turn up the heating a ratchet or two. Suddenly like a seductive señorita, we were fanned by another reasonably mild spell. The weekend saw temperatures plunge once again and deliver more carving and cutting frosts.

This morning has brought the first real snowfall to many areas with the promise of more on the way. Higher ground has registered a good six inches and lower areas, especially in the North have as much as two inches under foot, which has fallen onto icy ground.

So far, here in Worcestershire we have escaped the downfall … though the temperature is -1°C.

Snow shovel - png

Snow shovel’s at the ready … have you made yours yet?

The longest and oldest worm in the world

The other night I was just taking a few scraps of food down to the bird table so that the dawn chorus would have something for their early morning breakfast when I saw a worm on the path. It appeared to extend to some eighteen inches or possibly more. It had been raining and there were still the odd drop or two coming down but I raced back into the house to grab a camera – any camera – before it slithered away between the slabs. Never had I seen a worm as long as this it must be a great, great, great grandfather worm. It was black outside so I couldn’t see where I was aiming the camera. I just put it onto flash and clicked a few times in the hope of one of the pictures being reasonably visible. All at once the worm began to slither between two of the slabs. I grabbed a torch … the worm, it seemed had attached itself to a piece of grass stem that had turned brown – so rather than a really long, long worm it was in fact an ordinary worm and certainly not the longest and oldest worm in the world.

When I was a little girl my father would often say to me “Never assume that something is as it first appears it is always wise to stop and take a second look!” He certainly proved himself right with this little creature, didn’t he?

The longest and oldest worm in the world

The longest and oldest worm in the world

Serious Blogger link

Serious blogger badge

It takes courage to commit your thoughts to paper. The written word, after all, is a weapon of immeasurable strength in its ability to pursue both good and evil with the consequences that could only truly be compared to the devastation that a bomb or bullet could wield. It is more powerful than a bomb or bullet but is rarely given credence of its strength of power to maim, injure or change a life, a country, a person’s perception of themselves or others or indeed the way the masses act or think about any subject under the sun. Yet there are very few that put its uses to good. That know that through their strength in using this weapon they may be able to change just one thing and do some good in the world.

I recently wrote about slavery in the modern world and that there are alleged to be 27 million people who will spend their lives locked into slavery. I compelled others to add their abhorrence of the imprisonment of man and the fetters of this lifestyle in the pursuit of the empowerment of one man over another and all this entails for further generations. A chink of light appeared through a crack in the Internet … a man who some people call Russ and others call Grampy, runs two Blogs and decided to do more research which he has added in the form of a post to help the fight for freedom. Please visit the following sites – feel free to comment and if you can summon up a little courage too then a post or a tweet on the subject would add strength to the cause. Thank you to Russ for knowing how powerful the right word can be.

Grampys WorldVintage fun for all

Serious Blogger link to Grampy’s World article on Slavery.

Freedom and slavery

In the world of the free; and each land of the free …

I was horrified to recently hear that there are currently more slaves in the world than at any other time in man’s history. It is said that the number of slaves throughout the world now totals some –

                               

 

27 Million

comprising of men, women and children.

 

A new anti-slavery law has only recently been introduced into Britain. How could one man use another in this way? It is utterly sickening. I wonder how many other countries there are in the world that have yet to make this abhorrent lifestyle against the law.

I have never yet compelled other Bloggers, Members of Facebooks, and those on Twitter to write about anything but if you have a heart for your fellow man then please write about this shocking act of your fellow man. Let us STAMP OUT SLAVERY FOREVER!

 

Link to the new Anti-Slavery Laws.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month …

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Poppies of the Great War - The War of all Wars - WW1

We will remember them


On a plate

Cats and dogs have their tongues, teeth, mouths and noses as their cutlery when they are trying to pick up morsels of food from their dinner plates and dishes. Pieces are scooped up often with the utmost of difficulty and very often all kinds of food items end up surrounding their dish, saucer or plate. Satellites of food nuggets surrounding a shiny sun of a plate. Many animals will try and find the escaped morsels that have deposited themselves on the floor. Others, often a little fastidious will simply walk away and leave the trail of debris for their owners to clear up!

Whilst out shopping the other day I came across a different shaped feeding bowl. It had a slightly raised back and slightly higher sides … it was also quite heavy, despite being made of plastic. In fact, it had the appearance of crock. On a whim I purchased one – it was a sort of sixth sense that came from somewhere from within and telling me that this was the answer to feeding time. To my surprise, my whim paid off … so far I have had not one spillage or stray piece of fish or nugget of meat finding its way out of the dish and onto the floor. I am so pleased that I have finally – after years of dogs and cats – discovered the ideal feeding bowl for animals that use their mouths as cutlery!! So if you may be thinking of having a pet or perhaps already have one then look out for this new style feeding bowl with a raised back and you’ll find that feeding time will be much better not only for yourself but also for your pet. I purchased mine from a local supermarket but I should imagine that this new shape should be available at any good retailers that cater for pets.

Feeding bowl for cats

 

Feeding bowl for cats and kittens

Feeding bowl with high back and raised sides -  clean feeding for four-legged animals

Dry hands

This time of year, at least here in the UK, brings on the onset of dry and sometimes sore hands. The backs of hands become at dry as ‘pork scratchings’ or perhaps I should say parchment. It is difficult to understand why hands are so quickly affected this way as it can happen even when the skin is not exposed to outdoor weather conditions. There are thousands of good hand creams that may be purchased to counteract this problem - and for those who have endless time on their hands to keep slathering it on and rubbing it in every time they come into contact with water or before they tackle household chores then that is fine. However, for an easier and more time efficient answer to the problem the solution is to purchase a small tube of Savlon Antiseptic Cream. Just one little bead rubbed into the backs of the hands two or three times each week makes them as soft, smooth and youthful as a baby’s without any of the daily effort of standard hand creams.

Savlon Antiseptic Cream


Note: one of the worst culprits of permanent dry palms – is paper. People who handle paper regularly need to wear gloves for protection as paper draws the moisture out of the pores. A little saying that people would use years ago is: ‘Paper sucks the soul out of the skin.’