All posts by Keith

I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
natural history

Be Nice To Nettles Week

15 to 26 May is Be Nice To Nettles Week, which looks nearer two weeks to me, but who’s counting?!

What?! Shouldn’t those nasty stinging nettles be destroyed? Well no, and in fact this is a relatively modern conception. In fact the humble nettle has played, and continues to play, an important role in the natural world: they are favourite place for ladybirds (which eat aphids) to lay their eggs, they are a favourite food plant for some of our more brightly-coloured butterflies and the young shoots can even be used in our kitchen much as you would use spinach — so our forebears actually cherished the nettle as an early Spring green vegetable.


So yes, we should continue to cherish the nettle as a valuable part of our ecology by leaving a patch of rough ground for them to grow in.

AS always there is more on Be Nice To Nettles Week oin their website at www.nettles.org.uk/.

medical

Walk to Work Week

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This year’s Walk to Work Week runs from 13 to 17 May.

It is generally agreed that in modern society we don’t walk enough (guilty as charged!) because walking is a great way to maintain fitness and helps keep the heart healthy. For those who work outside the home, walking to work also saves on petrol and bus fares, and is better for our planet. OK, walking to work isn’t feasible for everyone so as an alternative why not have a lunchtime stroll in the park or along the river?


You can always use walking to work as a way to raise money for your favourite charity, or just to be like Charles Dickens and Wordsworth who went on walks to get inspiration!

Find more information at www.walkingworks.org.uk.

personal

Mislaid Pussy

I’ve lost my pussy! Yep, somehow we seem to have mislaid a cat! Sally, our small striped tabby cat has been AWOL now for over 24 hours. She was last seen about 11pm on Thursday night on the upstairs landing, but didn’t appear for breakfast yesterday, nor since.

Tabby Tiger
We’ve checked all the known/vaguely possible, apparently (in)accessible, hidey-holes in the house and garden and there’s been no obvious RTA. Noreen has talked to the immediate 15-20 neighbours. Sheds and garages have been checked where possible. There are no obviously empty properties, nor any building work, within at least a couple of hundred metres. However there are lots of inaccessible, overgrown and impassable alleyways.

What is odd is that Sal is a homebody. At 15 neither cat goes out a lot (especially given the tarty girl cats next door and their boyfriends), and Sal has never strayed very far from our garden even when young. And she’s not allowed out the front door, although has been know to sneak out when we don’t have an eagle eye open.

Sunday Morning Lay-in
There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot more one can do. We could put up posters around the street, but I’m never convinced how useful they are. And we ought to talk to the 6 or 8 houses in the next street that back onto us.

Obviously if she turns up we’ll be delighted. But if not, then so be it. Sal was 15 and appeared in good health — even the vet when she was last there a few months ago said he would have thought she was more like 7 or 8 than 15! But we know that cats are often aware when their time is up and wander away to die peacefully somewhere on their own terms — and who should blame them!

food+drink

British Sandwich Week

Also timed to coincide with National Mills Weekend and National Real Bread Maker Week is British Sandwich Week which runs from 12 to 19 May.

We have become a nation of sandwich eaters, and why not because they can be a wholesome, filling and nutritious fast food. Since (allegedly) invented by 4th Earl of Sandwich the eponymous snack has blossomed from the original beef between two pieces of bread into an endless range of varieties.

As part of this year’s fun there will be an attempt on the World Record for the largest number of people simultaneously making a sandwich in the same place.

So why not celebrate the great British sandwich as well as raising a toast to the 4th Earl.

There is more information about sandwiches and British Sandwich Week over at www.lovesarnies.com.

words

Word: Petrichor

Petrichor

The sweet smell of rain on earth.

The pleasant, distinctive smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather in certain regions. Also applied to an oily substance obtained from the ground in which this smell was concentrated.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

Petrichor was concocted from the Greek petros (stone) plus ichor (the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology).

food+drink

National Real Bread Maker Week

11 to 17 May is Real Bread Maker Week which is Britain’s biggest annual celebration of Real Bread and its makers and is timed to coincide with National Mills Weekend.

The aim of Real Bread Maker Week is to encourage people to get baking Real Bread or buying it from independent bakeries to support their local communities.


In addition this year they are raising money to provide opportunities to help people who, for one reason or another, have a tougher time than most of us enjoy the social, therapeutic and employment opportunities Real Bread making offers.

More information can be found at www.sustainweb.org/realbread/national_real_breadmaker_week/.

There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread to get your taste buds tingling!

history, science

National Mills Weekend

National Mills Weekend is Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 May.

National Mills Weekend is the annual festival of our milling heritage and provides a fantastic opportunity to visit mills, of all types, many of which are not usually open to the public.


Until the advent of the steam engine, wind and watermills provided the only source of power for many different processes — from making flour, paper, cloth to hammering metal and extracting oil. You can explore mills that produced, or still produce, these products — some restored to working order, some derelict, some still working commercially.

As usual there is more information on the National Mills Weekend website at www.nationalmillsweekend.co.uk.

photography

Weekly Photograph

Suitably for a Bank Holiday weekend this week we have a photograph of the English seaside. This is a montage of shots taken almost 5 years ago (eeekkkkk!!!) of Lowestoft South Beach, looking south towards Kirkley from near the Central Pier. As you can see it was a miserable day, with heavy, squally showers blown onshore by a stiff breeze. Typical of England really!

Click the image for larger views on Flickr
Lowestoft Seafront (2)
Lowestoft Seafront
6 September 2008