Category: Nature

Photos #32 – A Winner

Sorry I am late, it has been a bit hectic around here the last few days, more about that later perhaps.

Anyway Photos,  a good selection of entries from many of the usual suspects, I thought they were all good but there can only be one prize.

It came down to being between Soutie and John Mackie in  the end.  Both captured the theme perfectly and both are good shots taken in difficult circumstances.  John’s cephalopod is of course a champion at camouflage and can render itself almost invisible on any background.    Soutie’s ‘bok ( I’m not smart enough to distinguish the difference between a Springbok and an Impala except that an Impala here would have four wheels and a big engine) has headgear so obvious that one wonders how it could become inconspicuous, but the thorny bush provided a perfect hiding place.    It was a revelation to me (no pun intended) that so distinctive a set of horns could become part of the background.  A well deserved win for Soutie and a very honorable second for Mr. M.   Thank you to all who entered and over to Soutie for the next.

In case you missed it here it is.

Gossip makes the best history

I’m reminded of this fact by Christina’s frequent anecdotes which round up all sorts of facts of every imaginable kind. Christina, you’re the Herodotus of the modern age! A strange comparison you may think, but akshully (thanks, Furry) the father of European history displayed an encyclopedic memory for both the valuable and the trivial, be it politics, geography, family life, war or mythology. He called it his ‘enquiry’, a record of his travels around the known world in the middle of the 5th century BC. “Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε” – “This is a presentation of the enquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos”.

Hedging

 

The garden is quite large, by modern (mid-70’s build) garden standards, about 60 beech hedges across, (placed roughly 15 inches apart.) And this year I decided that the hedge had become too tall, and in order to reduce the height I had to lop or saw through large stems with which the electric hedge trimmer couldn’t cope, at all. It was hard work, but I’m glad I’ve done it, as I can see out beyond our garden into the fields again. I planted this hedge about 12 years ago and now I want to maintain it at a certain height: to allow me to be able to trim it without the use of ladders. Continue reading “Hedging”

Cricket is all about statistics, so’s Ireland

It’s all Eoin Morgan’s fault. He was the catalyst for this blog.

While reading an article about the talented “English” cricketer Eoin Morgan in the Cricketer magazine (I know, I know, I need to get a life) the Irish diaspora was mentioned in figures. Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan was born in Dublin though when selected will bat in the middle order for England. Before we go any further I would like to say that Eoin is pronounced own or Owen, if you prefer. Don’t ask me to pronounce diaspora. Too many variables for a public schoolboy like me. Die-Asp-Or-A. Di-A-Spora. Is it something like aspirin? Och, I give up.

Anyway, It seems there are 70 million Irish diaspora worldwide, 34 million residing in the United States alone. Contrast this with the British expats that number 6 million worldwide. This means that the Irish abroad, if they had remained like the resolute second piggy and stayed at home the old country would have a population density to rival Bangladesh. The Irish that left definitely took the “Go forth and multiply” scripture to heart.

Raindrops keep falling on my head…

I have been Sunday working today, and when I got up at 7.15 am, bleary eyed, the sun was out. I woke up properly as I had my first cuppa….

I picked this from my garden yesterday, and snapped it this morning, back-lit by the promise of a beautiful day….

by the time I left the house an hour later, I had already seen rain and above there were very heavy clouds. I remembered to check that both the raincoat and umbrella were safely in the car, just in case. Continue reading “Raindrops keep falling on my head…”