Simples – the beautiful meerkat otherwise known as a suricate

This is an adorable, sweet, lovable mammal that comes from Africa. They are disarming, endearing and engaged with their surroundings. Their lifespan is usually six to seven years with a trade-off in captivity of between ten to fourteen years. Their group which is given the name clan or mob consists of as many as twenty although very occasionally it will sometimes grow to numbers nearing fifty. The meerkat belongs to the mongoose family and survives mainly on a diet of insects. They will as their family genus (mongoose) suggests, also take the occasional snake or lizard to eat and they love eggs. They have litters up to four times a year and the litters range from one to five pups. Although, as in other animals that survive in groups there are a stronger male and female known as the ‘alphas’ who are usually the only breeding pair, most of the remaining females produce milk and will help to feed the youngsters of the clan to assure its success.

The meerkat will sometimes actually share a burrow with other animals. There is a primal guard at the entrance of the burrow usually referred to a sentry, who constantly checks for the safety of the rest of the unit and is ever ready to give a warning call.

 

This little meerkat is from Durrell Wildlife Park (Jersey Zoo), Les Augrès Manor, The Channel Islands

The honey bees in February

There is a gentle hum coming from the hive. After a quick inspection we decided to spoil the sweet ladies to some liquid feed, some crunchy candy standing in syrup and a bag of candy pollen. They have been coming out for a quick fly during the last week and yesterday some of the ladies came back with their pollen sacks stuffed full. There are crocuses about now, so maybe this current hoard is from the pollen of these.

On Saturday we rubbed the small landing step with some fresh Danish oil to keep it nice and weather-proofed – and with all of the rain that we’ve had over the last couple of months it really was in need of a new coat.

Honey bees anticipating Spring – Buckfast honey bees are active ….

Herbs make you thin, spices fat

Maybe it is an English trait or maybe it isn’t that eating herbs keeps the body lean whilst indulging in spices makes the fat spread. It could well be the fact that spice added to food can disrupt the stomach and intestines in some people, thus creating the need for more food to dissipate the acid eruption. Dry spices are noted for their belching properties, which in turn may lead to the presence of burning rather like indigestion or heartburn. Dry pepper or ginger powder cause the body most difficulty as the burning from these two powders leads to sleepless nights.

For people suffering with any digestive problem, it is well worth checking exactly what foods they are ingesting and eliminating all forms of spice. They will most likely notice how much happier and healthier they feel from this one simple act.

The herb rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis

‘Parsley all the summer long, as thin as a lath but twice as strong.’ Anon

‘A heady green makes sinews lean.’ Anon

The herb parsley - Petroselinum crispum

The herb sage - Salvia officinalis

‘Cool as a pool, is a leaf of sage.’

Sage is known for cooling down the body, cooling down the blood.

 

‘Pepper fattens the meanest and leanest frame, but it will not bring a smile to their face!’ Anon

Pixabay …. Royalty free, copyright free, best quality downloadable

I have found an amazing website where pictures are available for use without attribution and I was extremely impressed by the variety and quality of the pictures on offer. They do not have watermarks. They are totally free for anyone to use so I decided to join up.

The company is called Pixabay. I am uploading my best quality photographs so that anyone can use them and enjoy them.

So, if you have a blog post and are in need of a picture; if you are a college or school and want to find pictures for projects; even businesses are able to use this particular site. It is the most innovative website that I have ever found that spreads free content for anyone to use.

Check out my profile page:  Polly Dot's Pixabay Profile Page

 

The weather is strange but a visitor has arrived

Although it's very windy and showery it is also quite warm for February and this has brought a hedgehog out from hibernation - looking for tasty treats. This one is tucking into cheese, cat nibbles, roasted peanuts in their shells and dates - (well it is Valentines evening, after all said and done).

What have you given your hedgehog to eat tonight?

I wonder just how many hedgehogs and other wild life have been lost during this Winter period and it still isn’t over? One weather cycle after another with threat after threat to people and animals alike. No one and nothing is safe. It shows just how vulnerable and fleeting life can be and how everyone, everything and each second in time is more precious than any jewel that man has ever cast his eyes on. No one knows who will be affected next or which area will succumb to either floods, winds or snow and ice or maybe even something else…

We’re in need of a spy

The failing with all people, is that having been taught something it tends to plant itself quite deeply setting itself in stone deep in our brains. Never mind whether a particular fact is accurate or right, if we have learnt it then as humans very few of us will question its accuracy. Yet facts are rarely ever concrete. They should never be written in stone. As we evolve then so should our knowledge and our capacity for recognising that anything may not quite be as we once thought. We should at the very least learn by our forebears who believed fervently that the Earth was flat; the Sun spun around the Earth; the Moon was made of cheese; all religious people were good; all fat was bad, and so on and so forth.

The latest findings about sugar has been a welcome revelation. The reason I make this statement is because so many people over the last few years have rubbished every kind of sugar as they have with salt.

Now according to a recent Horizon programme ‘if sugar is completely taken out of the diet the body loses the ability to produce insulin and therefore is more likely to develop diabetes.’

This programme will turn everything you have ever been taught to understand about fat and sugar completely on its head. So if you wish to lose weight without dieting, if you never want to gain weight then take a look at this Horizon programme: Sugar V Fat

 

 

Sugar V Fat

Learn from these doctors and never have to worry about being over-weight ever again ……. and remember the main rule – avoid foodstuffs with a 50% fat 50% sugar ratio this is usually processed food and is never found in nature. Look after your muscles – dieting on a high fat diet destroys muscle!

The ultimate diet ride – eat in moderation and be careful of any fad diets as you never know what harm they may be doing to your body and you only have one body!

White earworm

We all occasionally have an attack of ‘The White Earworm.’ This is the name given to one of those tunes that you hear playing on the radio or other device that keeps rolling round and round and round your brain – and for some reason you are unable to switch it off. It is usually an annoying tune or one that you do not even particularly like. It plants itself like a seed in the brain and no matter how hard you try you cannot rid yourself of its continual repetition. You are plagued with an attack of ‘The White Earworm’ and there it will stay, turning around inside your ear until it decides to wriggle away of its own accord … because no matter how strong a character you may be, this is one little addictive syndrome that you cannot discard all by yourself.

 

Mug shot of ‘The White Earworm’s’ face

To mock this nasty little creature, I decided to make an animated gif. I hope that you enjoy my little white earworm … and that perhaps next time you are attacked by one of these little brutes, you will think of him and perhaps laugh the problem away! It is rumoured, however, that if you hum a National Anthem theme for ten whole minutes the problem will just disappear, at least until it strikes again!!

The White Earworm Animated Gif.