Water wake

It’s Easter holiday Monday, unexpectedly warm, dry and sunny. A blue, blue sky and a soft, ticklish breeze – unbelievably perfect – like a day in a dream. The frogspawn had hatched several days ago and so the ever curious tadpoles endlessly wriggle eager for their legs to grow. Along the sides of the pond the algae clung thickly and somewhere near the middle floated a pale, golden fish, motionless. Scooping it out with a net it was apparent that one of the Golden Orfe had suddenly died … there was no movement of the gills, the mouth, the eyes … it was simply stiff. The underbelly was slightly red but apart from that there was not one mark on the body. No indication of disease or ill health. Such a sad end for a perfect, pale fish.

Golden Orfe alive and swimming

Land of Hope and Glory

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still, and wider, shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet!
Truth and Right and Freedom, each a holy gem,
Stars of solemn brightness, weave thy diadem.
Tho' thy way be darkened, still in splendour drest,
As the star that trembles o'er the liquid West.
Throned amid the billows, throned inviolate,
Thou hast reigned victorious, thou has smiled at fate.
Land of Hope and Glory, fortress of the Free,
How may we extol thee, praise thee, honour thee?
Hark, a mighty nation maketh glad reply;
Lo, our lips are thankful, lo, our hearts are high!
Hearts in hope uplifted, loyal lips that sing;
Strong in faith and freedom, we have crowned our King!

Music by Sir Edward Elgar and known as the Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 written in 1902. Although Elgar preferred his work without being accompanied by words, it is usually sung nowadays though often only the chorus is sung. There are two versions the one above and the original words which were written by Arthur Christopher Benson in the form of a poem. The original poem was as follows:

Dear Land of Hope, thy hope is crowned.
God make thee mightier yet!
On Sov'ran brows, beloved, renowned,
Once more thy crown is set.
Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,
Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,
By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained,
Thine Empire shall be strong.

Land of Hope and Glory,
Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee,
Who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider
Shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet.

Thy fame is ancient as the days,
As Ocean large and wide:
A pride that dares, and heeds not praise,
A stern and silent pride:
Not that false joy that dreams content
With what our sires have won;
The blood a hero sire hath spent
Still nerves a hero son.

Today is St George’s Day – 23rd April (a day to be patriotic and think of one’s home and country) and many people in England are longing for an English National Anthem. Some prefer Elgar’s ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ the words above. Some would welcome ‘Jerusalem,’ as below:

Jerusalem

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold!
Bring me my Arrows of desire!
Bring me my Spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

The Jerusalem tune was written by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry with words by William Blake. This was a hymn that was originally used in the movement of ‘votes for women’ and is still the official song sung by the Women’s Institute today.

Whilst the final choice is ‘I vow to thee my Country’ which is probably the most beautiful with wonderful words:

I Vow To Thee, My Country

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul, and silently, her shining bounds increase;
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

The words to ‘I Vow To Thee, My Country’ were originally written in 1918 by Sir Cecil Spring Rice. The words were later put to music by Gustav Holst.

Which should be the National Anthem of England … I do hope that it is the last of the three choices, don’t you?

The flag of England – St George’s flag

Strong nails

Years ago a lovely lady told me that the one thing a woman should never run out of was brewer’s yeast tablets. I confess I was intrigued by her statement … she went on to tell me that a little while before she had been to see a specialist. I was too young to enquire what sort of a specialist or why she had felt the need to see one. She told me that brewer’s yeast had brought back her nails from broken, ragged, jagged, weak and split to – beautiful, long, strong, smooth and bright white. Amazingly, not only does brewers’ yeast make finger and toe nails grow extremely quickly – the results are visible after a few short days.

• For best results take two brewer’s yeast tablets three times each day after meals …

Brewer’s yeast

Weekend flights

I am doing a little bit of detective work at the moment … not the usual kind that you see glorified at the cinema or on the television. I am simply trying to establish where my bird containers are going to. This mystery began a few short weeks ago and I am determined to crack the case! So with a bit of help and a motion sensor I am hoping to find which little rascal is carrying off bird containers full of food. Apparently, so strong that not one so far has either been dropped or discarded. I have not yet discovered either which animal or bird is the culprit but I have obtained some rather nice pictures whilst waiting …

Perfect poise pigeon

Crow and pigeon

Pigeon from the rear

Pigeon about to land

King of the magpies

Magical magpie

Marvellous magpie

Magpie mischief

Pigeon … forwards landing

Sparrow

So far these are the contenders of the bird container thief …… I think I can at least rule out the sparrow!

Moon

The sun was shining and the sky embroidered with fluffy white clouds. Directly above in the blue, blue, sky was a watery moon. Although it seemed almost pointless I took a couple of photographs but when I looked at them more closely I am pleased that I did. Who would have thought that so much would be visible of a satellite that looked as though it had been painted in a watery pale poster paint?

The Moon on a warm Worcestershire day, in April

Moon Facts: Sadly, every site that you may visit will show quite large variations in any measurement concerning the Moon. So, having looked through several books and visiting countless sites the measurements that I have here appear to be a best guess. The Moon is approximately 238,897 miles (384,467 kilometres) distance from the Earth but is gradually pulling away from Earth’s gravity. Every year it succeeds in becoming a little further away and eventually, it will tug itself free. The Moon has an approximate diameter of 2,159 miles (3,476 kilometres). It is made up of a large outer crust which covers a hard mantle then a partially melted inner mantle and lastly an outer iron core which is fluid and finally a hard inner core.

April eventually brings forth her showers

After a parched March and a weekend of temperatures which have rivalled many of the more sunny climes we now have thirst quenching showers. How beautiful and refreshed everything looks …

April showers showing Muscari which are also known as Grape hyacinths

It bloats and fattens …

We have all read current reports on the main food items that are causing obesity, addiction, and depression in recent times: namely sugars, refined carbohydrates and processed foods. What is astonishing though, is what appears never to be mentioned. Allegedly, one of the most fattening things that can ever pass your lips is caffeine! Surprisingly, it is not the coffee with the lashings of full-fat milk or cream, but the caffeine it contains that tricks the body into manufacturing high amounts of insulin. A very simplistic explanation of why we make insulin and what it does is: insulin is a hormone that is made in the body to help convert sugars and carbohydrates and store them as fat. So if we eat or drink foods that create insulin then we will get fatter. So perhaps it’s time to avoid such caffeine stacked drinks as: coffee, cola, ‘innocuous sounding – high energy drinks,' and lastly with not quite so much caffeine is tea.

Wet look

March was probably the driest we have ever had, at least on record. April nudged its way in with the ground parched. For once it was easy to mow the lawn and even that hadn’t grown with its usual burst of Springtime urgence. We need the April showers … the pepper shaker sprinkles of water to ensure the wellbeing of the remainder of plants that made it through the razor cold frosts of last Winter.

Spring mix of Muscari, fondly known as Grape hyacinths, Bluebell leaves, Foxglove leaves, bright lime-green Feverfew leaves and one odd stray Dandelion leaves – not spotted until now!

Muscari – Grape hyacinth

Lesser celandine and the leaves of wild garlic

Slow, sloe, quick, quick, sloe

Hedgerow lace and hedgerow elegance as it is embroidered with blackthorn white petal blossoms hides a dark, dark secret. Despite being first in line to adorn the earth with the promise of Spring, sometimes even as early as the end of January and beginning of February, its wood was prized as a weapon in mediaeval times. A branch would be quickly hacked off and stripped of the lower thorns to make a comfortable handle whilst the top part would be left as knobbly as possible so when used, it would crack and tear at flesh and bone causing maximum damage. This early weapon was called a cudgel. Since those times the wood of the blackthorn or sloe as it is often called in Autumn has been used for making handsome walking sticks. Weathered branches that have been cleaned of their thorns make excellent garden canes for peas and dwarf beans.

Stick of the blackthorn or sloe made into a cudgel for attacking or defending persons or property

Blackthorn blossom – Autumn sloe late afternoon facing west

Close up of blackthorn blossom or sloe blossom

Little extra note: as you can see by the flowers of the blackthorn, it is related to the rose family. It has the Latin name of Prunus spinosa. Blackthorn is often used for hedging as it forms thick impenetrable walls to keep farm stock safely in the fields. The Chaffinch often nest in its branches which reach around six metres tall and it homes Hairstreak butterflies which are now quite rare.

Mineral maintenance, luxury laxative

I have always read … mostly factual – and so, it feels that I have always known about the wonders of cocoa. Dark, dark, chocolate bars are worth consuming as they are a food source that is full of nourishment. It is not worth having light-weight chocolate as it is just full of sugar but the heady, sultry black chocolate bars enrich the body with life-giving minerals for health and strength.

Dark, dark, chocolate bars contain magnesium, which helps with regular movement of the bowels; iron, which enriches the red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body; phosphorous, which not only helps to strengthen bones, teeth, cells and membranes but also helps to destroy feelings of anxiety, stress, general weakness and irritability; copper, which is also a multi-use mineral, it helps maintain hair colour, skin youthfulness, it maintains bones, heart and brain tissue, production of red blood cells, basic energy, fights infections, skin healing; calcium, which helps to strengthen bones and teeth, acts as natural pain relief, relaxes muscles, (people who are short of calcium are apt to be bad tempered, get irritated and sometimes become violent); Zinc, which is surely the saviour of mankind as it has the propensity of destroying viruses and keeping the body safe, it also helps the nurturing of the white warrior cells or T cells in the blood stream, it is essential for the healing of wounds … So never feel guilty about eating the dark, black, chocolate that holds so much abundance of goodness. It is best to try and eat chocolate that is at least 70% cocoa solids and with little sugar and never any sweetener. Munch on one or two squares each day and enjoy this nourishing food.

Dark, dark chocolate … is surely not only good for the body but good for the soul

Little extra titbits about dark, dark, black chocolate:

Firstly, chocolate is produced from the cocoa bean (cacao, kakaw or cacaua), which is a herb. The cocoa bean and in fact dark, dark, black chocolate contains vitamin P. This is the magic vitamin that many will refer to using the term flavonoid. There are approximately 5000 flavonoids to be found in natural fresh foods. Flavonoids are known for their antioxidant properties. They are widely believed to give us longevity (long life), they protect us from free radicals (these are the little electrons that storm through our bodies pillaging our cells like pirates, they damage our organs, bones, joints, cartilage, in fact wherever there are cells in the body free radicals travel and attack). By eating foods that contain antioxidants we equip our bodies with armies that defend, protect and enable us to mend and rebuild ourselves. So besides dark, dark, black chocolate keep an army within by eating the best possible nourishing foods that you can: fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, seeds and avoid those that inhibit health such as processed, manufactured foods, sugars and starches.

Daffodil or Lent lily

It will soon be the equinox, the time of equal day and night, and to celebrate the daffodils are all coming into bloom. The wonderful deep scented, soulful, smell that is often the magic extra ingredient to expensive perfumes, wafts its way in bursts of heady, breezy, draughts. The daffodil family are within the genus of Narcissus. The term refers to the whole of the daffodil family. The standard yellow daffodil is often referred to as jonquil, which means yellow coloured or the colour of yellow.

There are forty days, not including Sundays that precede the time before Easter which make up the period of Lent. This is the period when the daffodil looks at its best.

Daffodils are the flowers of friendship and are given as friendship posies. Cut flowers are best purchased whilst in bud, they have an average vase life of ten days. Place one tear drop of house-hold bleach into the bottom of a medium size vase and fill with fresh water – this prevents the water from discolouration and keeps it fresh and clear.  Daffodils are usually placed in clear glass vases as they have regimented and standard width stems.

 

Daffodil fondly called Lent lily

Lambs tails, fur catkins

So many of our trees produce catkin flowers and this year they have all appeared to be full-stretched a few weeks earlier than usual. The main varieties are Alder, Birch, Hornbeam and Hazel all of which have several varieties within their families. Whilst walking around the lake I came across a most unusual catkin. It was fat, long, grey and fluffy. I have since been researching trying to find out the name of the tree with this beautiful lamb tail … You would think with all of the reference books available and the ever growing resource of the Internet that finding the name of something would take but a few moments. Wherever I looked there was not one reference to this catkin. I am not one for giving up and so ventured into book shops where I looked through further books and then I found one picture reference with the identical catkin with the exception that it wasn’t grey.

The detective in me continued searching and although I have now found what I believe could be the name of the tree that produces the ‘fat furry catkin.’ What is surprising is that tree specialists list different facts and descriptions for this tree and its flowers (the male long catkins and the female short catkins).

The tree that produces ‘fat furry catkins’ is the Downy Birch, Latin name: Betula pubescens. It is native to both Europe and North Asia – height is listed from 21 to 25 metres depending upon source. Bark is smooth and grey, may be brown or white and peeling like paper also depending upon source. Leaves are similar to the Silver Birch but have rounded bottoms towards the stems. This tree does very well and spreads rapidly in areas of woods or forests that have been cut back or burnt. As with other birch the Downy Birch provides a home to many insects and is especially occupied by moths.

Downy Birch with soft furry grey male catkins

Cardboard–recycled packaging health risks

Warning

The world is recycling more and more of its waste products which is only a good and right thing to do. It is only wise to look at what these recycled products contain and where they are best used. Apparently, this is being done – but only after the stable door has been opened!

There is now a worry that recycled cardboard containing mineral oil toxic chemicals from old newspapers has been leeching into food products. Items affected have been listed as cereal boxes and other food containers. According to reports, the quantities of toxins have been allegedly recorded as being from 10 to 100 times greater than agreed safety limits.

The poison is alleged to cause internal organ inflammation and cancer.

The cardboard needs to be checked at the point of use as many cardboard items increase the amount of toxins they contain because they themselves are transported in recycled corrugated boxes which are also made of recycled and contaminated toxic material.

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Good hiding

As the bristles of cold begin to melt into Spring, the cat finds it much easier to fall deeper into heavier slumbers. For the first time she starts to roll onto her back in the wicker hide and not even the sound of her dinner being spooned onto her dish wake her from her ever lingering slumbers…

 

Good hiding place

Lake lustre

The sun was still shining. The sky was distant, clear and blue. The late afternoon or early evening air had a cool punch to it. The weather was ideal for a stroll and somehow we ended up at the lake.

The water birds noisily chatted amongst themselves and most had paired off in courtship. Gulls circled tightly over the tall copse, like raptors in the plains during a drought. Trees clapped their thin, twiglet branches politely in the breeze. The sun began painting the surface of the water, licking into the ripples … it was beautiful.

 

The lake, early evening in March