Here are two lovely videos of cats. One shows a mother gently hugging her kitten who appears to be having a very active dream. The other is a wonderful cat who tells his owner most definitely ‘No!’ Enjoy!!!!
The weather has been so unusual that when I looked out onto the front lawn I wasn’t phased one little bit by a clump of daisies brightly bobbing in the grass. Upon closer inspection the pretty little daisies were in fact frilly toadstools! What a joke that lovely flowers were, in fact, a fairy ring!
The garden always holds many surprises but this year is surpasses itself in fairy tale beauty. I feel like I have stepped into a dreamy, story book as flowers are blooming all over again and with a vigour and urgency of youthful intent, not a half-hearted end-of-season show. They are out to produce moor seeds, moor shoots, moor trailers and vines and are twisting the world into a picturesque jungle of colour.
Honeysuckle – old English name of Woodbine – pictured end of November
This variety is one of two very special types that I have in the garden supporting twin flowers. This is the more yellow variety with a deep woody perfume. The other one has red-veined leaves and pink dipped flowers with a sweet sensual perfume.
It has recently been discovered that ‘Eve,’ Homo neanderthalensis (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) known simply to most as Neanderthals extensively integrated, lived with and bred with Homo sapiens. All Homo sapiens are from Africa but when some of them began to move out of Africa they moved into the same areas where Neanderthals lived which was very extensive and included most of Eurasia. DNA tests suggest that most people who are not living in Africa and of African decent have a percentage of Neanderthal in them making those of us who are not in Africa, hybrids. The Neanderthal gene helps to strengthen us against disease and may possibly have given us the love and key to science and technology. I for one shall celebrate my inner Neanderthal ..
Female Neanderthal, picture courtesy of National Geographic
We are currently towards the end of one of the colder parts of our history. Living in the last remaining years of an ice-age should be a welcome experience as the world temperatures begin to naturally climb back up to their more normal ambient levels.
Unfortunately, in this instance the world has to cope with human activities on top of natural means. Vast swathes of the world are under the influences of industrial change producing large pockets of carbon dioxide and methane. At the same time forests are being torn up, plundered, raped and left barren. Trees are the lungs of the world and we have fewer now than in the history of man. Our planet has the equivalent of emphysema, it is hardly able to breath and replenish the atmosphere with fresh oxygenated air. It doesn’t need an educated person to work out what is likely to happen unless we make more of an effort to contribute to improving our atmosphere – billions of people, animals, birds, fish and plant life will die because the planet will be unable to sustain life.
The most amazing and curious thing about this problem is that there appears to be very little evidence that much is being done to stave off the inevitable. Ask yourself the following: who is monitoring the amount of de-forestation that is occurring throughout the temperate regions of the world? What is being done to off-set the amount of pine trees that have been planted in recent years that have shamefully replaced the slow growing timbers where animals, birds and insects live? How many water courses including rivers are cleaned out, dredged, and fully maintained so that they make perfect homes for native species to reside and thrive? How many farmers are changing the type of crops that they grow and why? How many new boreholes have been recently drilled, whereabouts (what countries) have they been drilled, how many will be required to be drilled to maintain the current populations? The list of things we should know and do something about is frighteningly large and there is little if any evidence that anyone is doing much about it at all. We should all be involved, taking interest and writing about it. Urging schemes to improve lives in thirty to fifty years time because the way that this ice-age is warming up it will not take long at all for everyone to be affected by the events of the near future.
Remember what happened to the mammoth .. this was before man had begun to cut down forests, build sprawling towns, create large industrial deserts .. I don’t want man to go the same way as the mammoth, do you?
Went out shopping the other day to try and gauge what sort of things were in the shops with a view to compiling a small list, if not purchasing a few items towards Christmas. The shops were not too full, so we were able to meander through the various departments and explore the numerous offerings that were enticingly placed, often in precarious positions – so that the eye couldn’t miss every temptation.
It seems that this year, one of the cheapest and most plentiful of presents especially for females are ear-muffs. These are in every type of fabric from hand-knitted woollen animal heads, pompoms, faux fluffy sheepskin to trendy embroidered pretend designer ranges (may be some were in fact true designer ranges .. I didn’t take the time to check them all out). They do, however, offer the possibility for younger members of the family to make their own either for themselves or to hand out as presents. Next to the ear-muffs were displays of hats of all kinds many having similar effects as either a deer-stalker (Sherlock Holmes varieties) or woollen Norwegian types that had dangling plaited tassels. Then there were the half-head knitted semi-bonnets similar to ladies’ Cromwell caps embroidered with beads and looking very pretty. Rows and rows of mittens and gloves dangled and touched as we walked by. (DOES SOMEONE THINK THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A FRIGHTENINGLY COLD WINTER THIS YEAR!) Scarves trailed down from pillars and thick flannelette pyjamas toppled over from enormous piles on shelves. The walls were decorated with thick ‘all-in-one granddad tunics’ for young ladies – they were extremely baggy and looked as though they had been cut from the design of a baby grow that intentionally or not was meant to cater for a NAPPY!!
Now isn’t that good fun?
No matter where you venture in Shakespeare’s Warwickshire, there is beauty. Wild, wonderful, haunting sights and scenes that stay with a person forever.
There are many wonderful, magical facts that are learnt about animals and birds over a lifetime – here is one that I recently found out about: powder down. Like moths and butterflies which have fine like powder on their wings in the form of overlapping scales, birds produce a dusting of waxy like powder over their feathers which is called powder down. In the case of birds the powder is designed to help waterproof their bodies from the rain. Occasionally, we are able to see this when a bird flies into a pane of glass usually twixt the end of one day and before the dawn of the next. A friend forwarded a picture of a bird imprint in powder down on to me when they found one on their office window.
Bird impression in powder down on a window pane
Wonder why they say that perennials are best planted in October? I have been trying to fill up some of the bare patches that developed in the garden borders due to last years extended cold and snow bound Winter. So many plants withered and died. I don’t think that we have ever lost so many at once before. So there has been a need to purchase more and hopefully find some that will weather a little better than before. This not only means they need to be able to withstand the cold but also the ever changing weather patterns – whether we are experiencing lack of rainfall, blustery winds, torrential downpours or any other unusual combination of weather conditions.
It has been very dry this year in England and trying to plant out deep rooted perennials has proved to be very difficult. Some of the roots have required not only depth but half an arms length in several directions. The easiest of the gap fillers has been some of the more common of the Spring bulbs.
I am hoping for a wonderful garden of Eden next year … I hope that these new plants all take and do not disappoint!
One plant that I have always wanted to introduce into the garden is the perennial or everlasting sweet pea. As it is known for its length of flowering time and the quantity of flowers produced it was a popular flower during Victorian times. I have bought five small plants which have been placed by two of the apple trees to hopefully eventually form a pretty backdrop to the far border … all they have to do is Winter well this first year and then they should be sturdy enough to bring years of beautiful colour … I do hope that they survive.
Perennial or Everlasting Sweet Peas
As I have said before, October is a very strange month. The other day I was greeted with a large, round, female spider nearly ready to lay her eggs. This particular spider is more at home in a bush but somehow had gained access to my kitchen. Perhaps she senses that there is a very, very cold spell on the way as they are not noted for venturing indoors very often. Time will tell … I hope that it isn’t a portend to extreme weather …
Araneus quadratus - female full of eggs
It is important to be optimistic especially in the month of October. This month takes more than it gives; hates more than it loves; curses more than it nurses: it is a month that is often feared. Whether it’s the damp, the dark nights, the wet, the wind or something that is indefinable the chances are if you catch a cold or a cough in October it will last nearly up until Christmas!
This is the most wonderful Indian Summer with temperatures soaring not only in the tail of September but the mouth of October. October 1st it is claimed has been the hottest on record and in the Midlands has nearly tipped 30º Centigrade which is around 86º Fahrenheit. Phew! It is magnificent. I am so glad that there is no air conditioning – just plain old-fashioned windows – so that I can embrace every last second of Summertime even as we are well into Autumn!
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