Category Archives: personal

personal, photography, pleasures

Christmas Cards

Now you might think this is a bit too early, but today I’m going to talk about our approach to Christmas cards.

First of all (and let’s get this out of the way) unlike many people we still send real Christmas cards. Not e-cards, and not a donation to charity instead. We do this because we like to, and feel it is a good way of keeping contact with friends and family. We also do it because, as you’ll see, we believe our approach adds value to people’s lives – and the evidence tends to support this.

Since 2005 we have created our own Christmas cards – that’s 17 years, including this year. But they are not traditional cards. Instead they are postcards. Many years they’re A5 size; some years DL or square. Each year, a new card.

I’ve included a few examples below, and I’ve also created a full gallery.

Many years the image on the front has been one of my photographs – and it’s quite fun choosing which one to use. A few years we’ve used an image of a piece of art we own (as long as it’s out of copyright). And a few years one of my late mother’s paintings.

Tulips [2017]

But, you say, this is expensive. Well actually it isn’t; it’s a lot cheaper than buying traditional cards, and a lot simpler. OK, in the early years it did feel expensive as we were using a specialist postcard printer; that tended to cost £150 to £200 for 500 A5 cards (so 30p to 40p per card) which was at least competitive compared with traditional cards.

The last few years we’ve used VistaPrint and designed and ordered online – having done it once it is really easy and quick to do again. This year the cost has been £67 for 500 A5 cards (or just over 13p each). Even allowing for the fact that we’ll use only about half of them that’s still only 27p each. Now tell me where one can get good cards at under twice that price. (OK, they still cost a horrid amount in postage, but so would anything.)

Waltham Cross (from a watercolour by W Bailey, 1889) [2014]

But the advantage doesn’t stop there. For a start there’s the fact that we create a postcard; with an image on one side and a greeting on the other. There’s still space for personalising the card, and for an address label. They’re also relatively light weight, thus saving on overseas postage. With printed address labels and no envelopes, they are easy and fiddle-free to write.

On top of which everyone gets something special – and many people tell us they love receiving our cards and often keep them to enjoy. And of course we have the spare cards in stock for later years when we may not be able to produce a new card.

Double Departure from Alexisbad [2008]

We ordered this year’s cards over last weekend and standard (free) delivery was expected to be in about 2 weeks. The cards arrived on Wednesday (so in 3 working days), and that is typical of VistaPrint‘s service over the years. But you’ll have to wait to see it as the design is staying under wraps for a while yet.

What’s not to like?

personal, ramblings

Unblogged September

Wed 1 Another first today. During lunch, for just a few seconds, a Garden Warbler skulking through the shrubbery outside the Dining Room window.
Thu 2 A very busy 2 days. Actually got done everything I needed to, but that’s not everything on my desk.
Fri 3 Sitting waiting for the supermarket delivery this morning, saw the clock on the cooker say 11:11. I’m always fascinated by times like this which show a pattern, like 01:23, 23:45.
Sat 4 Retrieved the two wasp traps that were put out last Saturday. Not a wasp to be counted – again! Very disappointing, but not a great surprise.
Sun 5 Another day struggling with the depression: sleeping too much; not eating properly; having to resist an excess of gin.
Mon 6 Payday; and time to do the monthly accounts. We’re solvent for another month – even after paying our outstanding income tax. Result!
Tue 7 We bought some Granny Smith apples a few weeks ago, but never used them. Still in their supermarket wrapper they’ve kept well on the sideboard and ripened to a greenish yellow. To my surprise they were rather good: crisp, juicy and slightly sweet: unlike the green cannonballs we are normally sold.
Wed 8 A lovely warm sunny day as it was 42 years ago when N and I were bound together at St Peter’s, Acton Green.
Thu 9 If anything happened today, I didn’t notice. Too busy analysing survey data.
Fri 10 It’s Saturday, so why is EastEnders on TV. Oh! Wait! It’s actually Friday!
Sat 11 There’s a big group on Facebook about the new recipe Felix catfood making cats ill. I’ve been running a survey to try to gather evidence rather than anecdote. Today I finished analysing the 499 records.
Sun 12 Just what are DPD doing delivering on a Sunday? They said the package would arrive Monday, but lo, here it is today. One does not expect this of any courier company.
Mon 13 What did I do today? Apart from starting the production of some pate, I have no clue.
Tue 14 So the hospital have finally decided to cancel my 2019/20 sleep study because of Covid. So glad they’ve finally caught up with reality.
Wed 15 Hurry, hurry, hurry … we’ve just realised we need the website updated … today!
Thu 16 Spent most of the day horizontal. Too dizzy in the head for vertical hold to engage properly.
Fri 17 Vertical hold working intermittently today, which is an improvement. But still not good.
Sat 18 What happened there? Awake-ish at 0600 with a purring, upside-down, cat for company. Next I know it’s 12 noon! But at least vertical hold is restored if not full functionality.
Sun 19 Got some British apples in the supermarket delivery this week – and so I should think at this time of year! Suffolk Pink (a fairly new and unusual variety) and Worcester. The Worcester were good, quite sweet but not over juicy. The Suffolk Pink, although more tart were juicier and crunchier which I prefer.
Mon 20 A day of fiddling about and catching up. Really fed up with the depression and inability to do anything.
Tue 21 Picked almost 3kg runner beans. Sadly they’ve been rather neglected so many are over grown and very stringy. But 4x 200+gm packs frozen. The rest stripped for the beans inside which gave another 600-ish gm.
Wed 22 Put some of the beans salvaged yesterday from our overgrown runners, in tonight’s casserole. And they were good. We Brits are apparently the only ones who eat the pods; everyone else grows them for the beans – and I quite see why!
Thu 23 A voyage of discovery trying to understand how to create flipbooks for websites without having to pay for someone else’s cloud storage.
Fri 24 Flu jabs are go! Invitation by text from GP. Booked in for next week.
Sat 25 That’s another acquaintance gone: Lord Gowrie who was President of the Anthony Powell Society. Former Minister for the Arts. Erudite, knowledgeable, and always friendly.
Sun 26 It could almost be Christmas: roast duck followed by biscuits and cheese (with red wine and port, of course).
Mon 27 Awoke early to belting rain, half a gale and Stygian gloom. A lovely sunny day by lunchtime, if still breezy.
Tue 28 Time to remove a bird’s nest amount of hair from my head. N doesn’t like it this short, but it’s a lot more comfortable and I can do it myself (with N’s assist).
Wed 29 It’s flu jab day, today! Let’s see if it knocks me out this year – like it does most years for a day or so.
Thu 30 Picked another 28 big red ripe chillies from the plants on the study windowsill. That’s 92 so far this summer, and there’s more to come; we should make well over 100. Almost all have gone in the freezer; they should keep us going for years!
Chillies on the bush a couple of days ago (left) and today’s harvest.
personal, ramblings

Unblogged August

Sun 1 I don’t understand the guy next door to me. He doesn’t like the pigeons because they go “flappy flappy” flying away when he goes down his garden. And yet he persists in chucking old bread out on his garage roof for the birds – mostly pigeons, of course!
Mon 2 A sad day. Returned from lunch to an email that my osteopath had died; he was only 72 although he did have failing kidneys. Over the years he’d become a friend as well as my osteopath. Because of lockdown I’d not seen him for 18 months. A true gentleman, remembered with great affection.
Tue 3 Phew! Work of various sorts today from about 0930 to 2045, including two Zoom meetings. But I did achieve pretty much everything I set out to, and a lot else too. I’ll call that a result!
Wed 4 Slept late, then had a day regrouping after yesterday, and clearing away some of the junk on my desk and in my in-box.
Thu 5 Time to take in the wasp traps (see Thursday 29 July). Oh dear, I’ve caught nothing but a few very small flies. Fuller’s London Pride is obviously not to wasps’ taste. I’m not really surprised as I’ve seen hardly any wasps yet this summer, and the last week hasn’t been good flying weather.
Fri 6 Managed to cock up defining a new website an installing WordPress. I hate having to get the hosting admins to fix it for me.
Sat 7 Slept very late again; achieved little.
Sun 8 Afternoon spent baking: rustic raspberry & blackberry tart; rustic tomato & onion tart; casseroled lamb shanks; stewed gooseberries; stewed blackcurrants. That should keep us fed for a bit.
Mon 9 Spent a large part of the day tinkering around building a website. Why can you never get WordPress to do exactly what you want?
Tue 10 When going out our cats are always told “Take care. See you later. No live prey please.” So what does Boy cat bring us in the middle of lunch? Live mouse. Which he then proceeds to lose in the study!
Wed 11 Anyone who shares their home with a cat, knows they are perverse creatures. Ours, when offered chicken from your plate will tell you it’s their favourite food and ask for more. Today, when taking the meat off the chicken carcass I kept some scraps aside for the cats’ tea. Result: universal disdain from all three!
Thu 12 Last night was supposed to be a peak for the Perseid meteor shower. Yet again, not a hope due to complete cloud cover. We never get to see these phenomena nowadays – just like we don’t get thunderstorms any more.
Fri 13 Friday 13th is always an odd day. Luckily there’s only one this year, compared with 2 last year (March & November). And just one again next year (May).
Sat 14 Last year’s 4 scotch bonnet chilli plants on the study windowsill were cut back in February. They’re being prolific. I’d already picked 15 fruit. Today I harvested 34 chillies, in sizes from “processed pea” to “large ping-pong ball”. They’ve been frozen whole, so small amounts of crushed chilli is easily available when needed. And there’s more to come!
Sun 15 Whatever it was that was going to be done today, wasn’t.
Mon 16 A lot of people are reporting their cats being ill after eating the new recipe Felix cat food; there’s a big group on Facebook, but it’s all anecdote and the manufacturers aren’t listening. So I spent some time drafting a survey to try to gather more reliable information which we can analyse.
Tue 17 Awake and up really early, so I had almost the whole day working on my family history. Many years ago, my mother did a lot of her father’s line, but I think I’ve proven her mistaken about 250 years back.
Wed 18 More work today on firming up yesterday’s family history work. And work on a website for the PPG, which is taking an age!
Thu 19 Wide awake at 0530; shall I get up? Next I know it’s 0930; I’d better get up. Then the next I know it’s 1100; somehow I manage to get up.
Fri 20 Sleep? What is this thing called sleep? Consequently feeling wrecked and the day went to Hell in a handcart.
Sat 21 Was that a day? Up early again on too little sleep so felt out of it all day. Definitely out of it after wine with dinner. Hic!
Sun 22 N picked 2 ice-cream tubs of blackberries from the front garden; it’s a really good, self-set and vigorous blackberry which almost always crops well. There’s also a big patch of large fungi by the wheelie bins; they’re not ordinary mushrooms and not deathcaps; trying to ID them.
Mon 23 Another Monday – at least I’m told it was Monday. And another itching collection of gnat bites.
Tue 24 Got a magnificent book on fungi [Roger Phillips, Mushrooms (2006)] to try to ID the fungi in the front garden. I think they’re probably The Prince, Agaricus augustus. If so they’re supposedly good eating (they’re the same family as commercially grown mushrooms) but I wouldn’t dare risk it.
Wed 25 Why is depression such a vicious spiral of inability to get out of one’s chair? Even on a nice summer’s day.
Thu 26 A hard day’s work organising two very different sets of announcement material for 1 September.
Fri 27 Another of those days where you’re busy all day but seem to have nothing to show for it; except perhaps fish pie for dinner.
Sat 28 Put up the 2 wasp traps for round 2 of Big Wasp Survey. At the same time noticed that the woodland floor between the old apple tree and the pond is prolific with small brown puffballs, probably Scaly Earthball (Scleroderma verrucosum).
Wasp Trap (left) and 3cm diameter Puff Ball
Sun 29 Awake just after 0630 this morning and looking out of the bedroom window. Suddenly in the ash tree outside a small sparrow-sized bird; looks odd; it’s not a sparrow; yes, a first for me: a juvenile Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Nice, as they’re now relatively rare due to loss of elm trees. Have now seen 3 of 4 native woodpeckers (all in the garden here); only missing Wryneck (and that’s very unlikely). It just shows what is around even in suburbia.
Mon 30 A grey, breezy, not very warm August Bank Holiday. Well at least it isn’t raining this year.
Tue 31 Had a couple of new season English apples today. It’s that time of year already. Discovery, an early variety. My memory was they’re not up to much, and it was right: they’re dry and only moderately sweet. A bit like the apple equivalent of a ship’s biscuit. But they do have pretty blush pink streaked flesh.
medical, personal, thoughts

On Depression – VIII

1 Comment

It’s three years since I last wrote about depression.

That’s not only because my depression has gone away; there just doesn’t seem to have been anything much worth saying about depression.

The depression hasn’t gone away. If anything it’s got worse. I seem to have descended from “I just don’t want to do anything” … through “I just can’t make myself do anything” … to “why am I even bothering to do anything”.

The rationale (such as it is) for not bothering isn’t just a lack of visible results for my efforts – although that doesn’t help – but has been significantly impacted by the plague of the last 18 months and the ongoing need to stay isolated.

No, it goes deeper. I’ve reached my “three score years and ten” and I’m not going to be around here for very much longer – especially given my medical history etc. Obviously I want to make it to at least 80 in a reasonable state; if I do I shall consider it a result. However I’m not optimistic that I will make 80. Which seems to make anything I do even more pointless.

But then, as Noreen pointed out to me last night, I have loads of longevity genes on both sides of my family. If I look at my parents and their siblings (8 of them) their ages at death were:

Men: 86, 3 (severely handicapped), 93 (and still going)
Women: 90, 99, 99, 78, 89
[I’ve ignored my father’s three half-sisters as they’re only half related to me.]

And if I go back to my grandparents and their siblings (23 of them) their ages were:

Men: 54, 1, 61, 3, 80, <1, 84, 9, 82, 80, 62, 24 (WWI), 78, 73, <1
Women: 26, 84, <1, 72, 83, 40, 88, <1

Stretching a point and going back to my great-grandparents generation (another 60 people) of the 29 I know about we find ages of:

Men: 57, 96, 71, 57, 40, 54, 43, <1, <1, 91, 87, 37, 46, 6, 67, 3
Women: 57, 73, 71, 57, <1, 66, 79, <1, 81, 76, 46, 88, 75

This last isn’t so brilliant, but remember with my great-grandparents we are talking about people born in roughly the middle third of the 19th century.

In all this we also need to remember:

  • We are not talking about wealthy people – even if my parents generation eventually became comfortable with advancing years.
  • Until post-WWII medical care was fairly basic, and had to be paid for (no money; no doctor); and it was more basic the further back you go.
  • Also pre-WWII child mortality was significant, and perinatal death not uncommon; again worse the further back you go.
  • There was relatively little regard to health & safety in the workplace, so industrial accidents were more common.

There are a number of interesting things which pop out at me in this data (though I admit it is incomplete).

  • Almost a quarter (14/60) don’t make their 10th birthday.
  • If you make 10 then you have an evens chance (23/45) of making at least 75; a 40% chance of making 80; and a 1 in 8 chance of making 90.
  • While I don’t know he cause of death for many of these people, only 3 of the 22 adult women could even plausibly have been perinatal deaths. That seems surprisingly few.
  • Only one of the cohort was lost in WWI.

So all other things being equal – which of course they’re not; if it weren’t for modern medicine I’d likely not be here now – I must have a decent chance of having another 10 years.

What would be interesting is to know how much of my depression has a genetic basis, and how much is environmental (in the widest sense). My father had depression (largely unrecognised, except by him, and latterly me) and his father was also depressive (although that was ascribed to trench fever from WWI). How many others of my (recent) forebears suffered from depression we shall never know.

Does that make me feel any better? Well sadly, as a fully paid-up pessimist, it doesn’t. Most people would doubtless say it should; but depression doesn’t work that way. And despite all my efforts I’ve yet to find anything which will kick this “black dog” hard enough in the nuts; although the antidepressants do keep me mostly functioning.

To cap it all, I just can’t get my head round the thought of not being here, doing what I do. How can I not be here, leaving everything in limbo?! It just feels so wrong; so unlikely; so frustrating; and yes, even depressing. Which luckily means I’ve never had any serious thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Wish me luck!

food+drink, personal

Eating 30-a-Week

A couple of years ago I wrote about how we should be eating at least 30 different plant foods a week. Research into this is continuing, especially by Prof. Tim Spector of King’s College, London. I’ll link to just two relevant items: Spector’s recent Top 5 Tips for a Healthier Gut Microbiome and this Mail+ article.

This prompted me to log how well I did against the 30-a-week target over four weeks starting on 5 July. Herere’s what I achieved.

W/C 5 July

  1. Strawberry
  2. Oats
  3. Avocado
  4. Tomato
  5. Cherries
  6. Wheat (bread)
  7. Apricots
  8. Onion
  9. Runner Beans
  10. Carrots
  11. Apple
  12. Potato
  13. Grape (wine)
  14. Gooseberry
  15. Horseradish
  16. Raspberry
  17. Almonds
  18. Chocolate
  19. Garlic
  20. Cannellini Beans
  21. Rice
  22. Spinach
  23. Butter Beans
  24. Banana
  25. Cashew Nuts
  26. Pecan Nuts
  27. Hazel Nuts
  28. Nectarine
  29. Kidney Beans
  30. Chicory
  31. Mint
  32. Mushroom
  33. Cabbage
  34. Coriander
  35. Tarragon
  36. Olives
  37. Yellow Pepper
  38. Chilli
 W/C 12 July

  1. Apricot
  2. Loganberry
  3. Avocado
  4. Wheat (bread)
  5. Nectarine
  6. Oats
  7. Gooseberry
  8. Chicory
  9. Tomato
  10. Garlic
  11. Onion
  12. Olives
  13. Coriander
  14. Lemon
  15. Walnuts
  16. Raspberry
  17. Grape (wine)
  18. Rapeseed (oil)
  19. Horseradish
  20. Cashew Nuts
  21. Chard (leaves)
  22. Radish (leaves)
  23. Lime
  24. Cucumber
  25. Potato
  26. Macadamia Nuts
  27. Butter Beans
  28. Cannellini Beans
  29. Mushroom
  30. Rice
  31. Parsley
  32. Strawberries
  33. Cherry
  34. Chocolate
 W/C 19 July

  1. Wheat (bread)
  2. Olives
  3. Tomato
  4. Avocado
  5. Nectarine
  6. Cucumber
  7. Barley (beer)
  8. Hops (beer)
  9. Lemon
  10. Cashew Nut
  11. Pistachio
  12. Potato
  13. Haricot Beans
  14. Cherry
  15. Apricot
  16. Chocolate
  17. Onion
  18. Mint
  19. Rice
  20. Aubergine
  21. Mushroom
  22. Spinach
  23. Peanuts
  24. Rapeseed (oil)
  25. Strawberry
  26. Pumpkin Seeds
  27. Pine Nuts
  28. Almonds
  29. Pecans
  30. Brazil Nuts
  31. Parsley
  32. Lime
  33. Raspberries
  34. Hazelnuts
  35. Black Currant
  36. Chilli
  37. Grape (wine)
 W/C 26 July

  1. Wheat (bread)
  2. Raspberry
  3. Cherry
  4. Avocado
  5. Tomato
  6. Rapeseed (oil)
  7. Lime
  8. Onion
  9. Garlic
  10. Lettuce
  11. Red Pepper
  12. Mint
  13. Olives
  14. Brazil Nuts
  15. Pecan Nuts
  16. Almonds
  17. Gooseberry
  18. Oats
  19. Nectarine
  20. Horseradish
  21. Lemon
  22. Chicory
  23. Fennel
  24. Potato
  25. Cucumber
  26. Walnuts
  27. Apricots
  28. Spinach
  29. Butter Beans
  30. Rice
  31. Peanuts
  32. Mushroom
  33. Strawberry
  34. Parsley
  35. Grape (wine)
  36. Barley (beer)
  37. Hops (beer)
  38. Chocolate
  39. Pineapple
  40. Mango

[This excludes most condiments & pickles; tea; squash etc.]

That’s over 30 every week for four weeks, and is fairly typical of my normal diet – perhaps slightly better than average because of the availability of summer fruit. I really didn’t try especially to pick foods which would add to my total!

What’s more I make it 64 different foods over a four week period. Which is just plain crazy!

Could I do even better? Yes, probably; but apart from adding in winter vegetables I’d have to try fairly hard.

personal, ramblings

Unblogged July

Taking a leaf out of Diamond Geezer‘s book, I’ve decided to write a post each month of strange, interesting, unusual, or just tedious things that happened each day, but which I didn’t write about at the time.

So here are 31 things I didn’t blog about in July.

Thu 1 I bid for 2 paintings live, online at our local auction house. Didn’t get them; wasn’t prepared to pay more than £50 and they sold for £75.
Fri 2 Waitrose new Fulfilment Centre near home made rather a mess of this week’s grocery order. Lots of items unavailable and an unusual number of errors. Unavailability of items possibly down to the shortfall of lorry drivers?
Sat 3 Picked a good handful of chard & radish leaves for salad. Having removed everything slug eaten, I was left with enough for half a sandwich. But supplemented with some coriander, and a big bunch of mint and basil, it made a nice quantity of baby leaves.
Sun 4 Having lost the last of our koi a couple of years ago, we still have at least 4 goldfish in the pond: one large pale one, and at least 3 orange/red ones of various sizes (one of which must be home grown).
Mon 5 We’ve a couple of bags of date expired cashew nuts and have been feeding them to the birds in a wire peanut feeder. And are they appreciated! This evening for an hour, while eating dinner, there was a procession of great tits and blue tits (at least 5 birds altogether) feasting on the nuts; one, often two, on the feeder at all times in a perpetual relay.
Tue 6 Trip to the optician to collect new glasses; will have to finish adjusting them myself. Then I filled in & filed both our tax returns. And all before lunch.
Wed 7 Why is it that without an alarm set I seem unable to surface before 10am?
Thu 8 Glad to be side-tracked this afternoon into doing maintenence on N’s PC, thus avoiding tedious work for the PPG.
Fri 9 Had to do the work I avoided yesterday. One piece I can’t complete yet as I need input from others. The second, some data analysis, proved too much for today’s addled brain.
Sat 10 Awoke to find a wondrously clean white plate in the garden. N had put out some lamb chop bones, fat topping from some paté, and a cracked egg. Mr Reynard clearly had a tasty buffet. Must see if they like banana.
Sun 11 40 years ago today we moved into this house. Saturday 11 July 1981 was hot & sunny. With the help of a colleague and a van we moved from our dingy rented flat into this house. I lost half a stone in the process. This latter needs to be repeated, many times over.
Mon 12 Today’s thunderstorm was the nearest we’ve had to a decent one for some years. We used to have lots, but they seem to have dwindled in the last 10 years or so.
Tue 13 Selection workshop for a local council community review panel. Don’t expect to get through as they’ve probably got too many white middle-class men of a certain age.
Wed 14 One of those tedious days where nothing much happens and you don’t have much to show for it either. Although I did finish a couple of short articles for AP Soc Newsletter.
Thu 15 Had to email friends and decline a dinner date. After much discussion we both still feel much too vulnerable in current Covid situation – much though we want to go back to socialising and these friends are the very top of the list. Hope they’re not too pissed off with us.
Fri 16 Up early (for me) to a lovely sunny morning, and the squawks of next door’s African Grey parrot out on their veranda.
Sat 17 Hottest day of the year so far. And far too hot and uncomfortable to do anything; so I didn’t.
Sun 18 Waitrose new Fulfilment Centre near us is still not at the top of its game, and I’m fed up with talking to Customer Services about it; now in conversation with the John Lewis’s executive office.
Mon 19 Freedom Day for some. But not for us. We’re still feeling just as vulnerable as ever thanks to our short-sighted government.
Tue 20 I’m retired. So why did I spend almost the whole day working?
Wed 21 Chaired the early morning meeting of GP’s patient group on Zoom. Poorly attended. At times you wonder why you bother!
Thu 22 Contrary to expectations the local council have appointed me to their community review panel. They’ve clearly not twigged that I belong to The Awkward Squad.
Fri 23 Extra meat rations today! As we were about to receive the supermarket delivery, Tilly the Cat presented us with a small freshly dead rat.
Sat 24 Thunderstorms? What thunderstorms? It was touted to be heavy thundery rain all day today, but not a rumble of thunder, nor a single drop of rain – although it was dark like November.
Sun 25 Well, after complaining yesterday, the fairies were moving the furniture around upstairs this afternoon, and finally after days of waiting, at teatime we got some good thundery rain.
Mon 26 Mid-afternoon there’s a sudden, hard smack on the study window. Obviously a bird strike. Very dead wood pigeon later found on the patio below the window.
Tue 27 N had moved yesterday’s dead pigeon onto the lawn. This morning it had disappeared, one suspects with an assist from Mr Reynard – later confirmed by the trail camera.
Wed 28 Awake just before 0500hrs, I was alerted by a nearby security light. After a minute or so, a fox trotting briskly and purposefully up the road carrying something which in the half-light looked like it could be dead rat.
Thu 29 I’m taking part in the Big Wasp Survey again this year (the 5th year), and today I set the first two wasp traps. BWS are doing two survey sessions this year, now and in late August. I’m not hopeful of this session as the weather looks rather iffy for flying.
Fri 30 Not having got everything we wanted on today’s supermarket order, we tried a small delivery from Amazon Fresh.
Although maybe not up to Waitrose quality, and one doesn’t like giving Amazon even more money, it certainly worked well as a stop-gap.
Sat 31 It’s one thing being depressed, but it’s a bit much when you spend the night dreaming about being depressed.
Especially as it leaves you even less inclined to do anything than before.

So what will next month bring, I wonder?

personal, pleasures

Ancestral Byways

What did you do in the lockdown? I spent time with my ancestors!

There are always some unexpected places one gets taken by the ancestors and family history. This is one of those, and a connexion which I had never expected.

I have just acquired at auction a copy of A Display of Heraldrie by John Guillim; 4th edition from 1660; probably in its original binding (if not, it has been very carefully rebound).

John Guillim (c.1565–1621) was an antiquarian and officer of arms at the College of Arms. He was made Portsmouth Pursuivant Extraordinary in 1608, and Rouge Croix Pursuivant in 1618. Guillim’s A Display of Heraldry was first published in London in 1610, although there is some dispute about the original authorship. It was revised and reprinted a number of times up to 1724, with the fourth edition of 1660 generally considered to be the best of them. Samuel Pepys appears to have had a copy of the fifth edition in his library.

I’ve known this work for many years, having first seen a copy in Harrow School in the early 1980s (on a work visit!) – it was lying on a huge Cromwellian refectory table for anyone to browse. I’ve always coveted owning a copy. Somewhere around 20 years ago I acquired a fairly poor, rebound and damaged copy of the fourth edition, and have since been keeping my eyes open for a copy in good condition. At last I found one, and was very surprised to get it rather more cheaply than I expected.

And now we get to the family history bit, which I only discovered in the last couple of years!

As you’ll see on the title page the fourth edition is “Faithfully collected by FRANCIS NOWER Arms Painter (and Student in Heraldry) in Bartholomew Lane, London“.

There are two branches of the Nower (or Nowers) family. The senior branch is in Oxfordshire; the tomb of Sir George Nowers (died 1425), a companion of the Black Prince, is in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

The junior branch was centred around Pluckley, Kent, and it from them I am descended by way of a string of younger sons of younger sons. Francis Nower (1624-1670) was indeed a herald painter who died tragically with his two infant daughters in a house fire in Bartholomew Lane, London in 1670. He’s not a direct ancestor, but he is my first cousin 10 times removed – ie. the grandson of my 10x great-grandfather, Joshua Nower, Yeoman of Pluckley (c.1555-1618).

That was totally unexpected! I didn’t know I had Nower(s) ancestors until a handful of years ago, and only found out about Francis Nower during the first lockdown last year. Catherine Nowers (born 1820) married into my paternal grandmother’s line. Luckily the Pluckley Nower(s) are well documented at least back to the early 16th century. And to think that my Marshall line appears to be nothing more exciting than AgLabs all the way down.

And the moral is? It’s worth doing your family history, and following all the lines, not just your father’s father’s father’s line. And follow the lines as far back as you can. You never know what delights – or skeletons; we’ve all got some of them too! – you’ll find.

current affairs, medical, personal, ramblings

Horrible Times 22: Lockdown 450

In this instalment … Today, Saturday 19 June 2021, is day 450 of lockdown for us.

And still not a lot has really changed since I last reported on Day 400

So why don’t we get the “bad” news over first?

  • In the last 50 days I’ve managed to get off the premises just twice. Once for part 2 of my annual diabetes check-up & shingles vaccination, and secondly for an optician’s appointment. That makes a grand total of just 9 “outings” in 450 days. Which is quite pathetic really, although rather understandable.
  • I managed to miss the partial eclipse of the sun on 10 June. I don’t remember when we last had clear skies, at a sensible time, for any astronomical phenomenon.
  • We’ve had two friends in hospital. One with heart problems, which have needed a pacemaker fitted; the other with a broken leg (luckily not a hip).
  • In other medical news I got a talking to by my diabetic nurse for letting my blood glucose control slip somewhat over the last year, and not losing any weight. Moral 1: must try harder. Moral 2: the medical profession need to understand quality of life.
  • And of course our pathetic government has delayed removing all Covid restrictions. I have to say I think this is the right decision, given the apparent extra transmissibility of the Covid delta variant. However it is entirely of the government’s own making: they could have nipped this in the bud by introducing travel restrictions to/from India in early April rather than waiting 3-4 weeks. But then this is entirely consistent with their whole approach.

In more positive news …

  • We’ve had a mini heatwave, which is rather a nice change from the cold wet weather which preceded it.
  • And the good weather has enabled us to get our runner beans planted, as well as a selection of salad leaf veggies. Nothing to harvest yet a while although I have harvested the first dozen chillies from last year’s plants (on the study windowsill) which I overwintered.
  • The good weather has also brought the roses into bloom. The garden is a riot of roses at the moment, including a dog rose flowering right at the top of our mature silver birch tree. Walking down the garden there is a heavy scent of roses.
  • Having found a very dead Rose Chafer on the patio table, I was finally impelled to buy a macro lens for my camera so I can take more/better close-ups. So far this has mostly meant flowers.
  • As well as splashing out money on a new lens I also bought two paintings by Adrian Daintrey at auction. For security reasons I’m obviously not going to post them here, but members of the Anthony Powell Society will find out more in due course (as Daintrey was a friend of Powell’s).
  • And finally, I’ve been doing quite a bit of work on my family history. I’ve especially been trying to unravel the Marshalls back in the late 17th and early 18th centuries around the Weald of Kent. I have a brick wall there in my father’s line; I’m sure there are connexions between all those I’ve found, but currently I’m unable to prove it – or satisfactorily work out exactly who is related to who. It doesn’t help that the men are all called Stephen, Thomas or William. The one guy with an easily identifiable name, Reynolds Marshall, seems to parachute in from nowhere in the late 17th century. It’s a tangled web which should be solvable, but for the fact that back then parish records were patchy and often haven’t survived. And along the way you get diverted down some (usually irrelevant) rabbit holes – so just who was the rather improbably named Samuel Drawbridge? Such are the joys of family history!

So what happens next? Well who knows. By the time of my next report at day 500 we’ll either have had all restrictions lifted and told we can go back to (some approximation to) normality, or we’ll be deep in another wave of Covid cases. Or, the pessimistic side of me suggests it might be both of those.

We’re not even in the lap of the gods, but the whim of our government. Gawdelpus!

amusements, personal, ramblings

The Village. VIII.

The Village – A Story in Eight Pieces

VIII. King George’s Oak

Abundant the Acorns, cached by the Jay,
While well furrowed Bark keeps fungus at bay.

Cork’s from an oak, it’s preserving our wine,
The Dove’s in her nest, a love bird divine.

Look there’s our Ellen, snuggling her swain,
Ripe for the Fuck, that they’ll soon entertain.

Old Billy Goat’s browsing anything low,
Turning Herbs to manure, and helping things grow.

Ever green is the Ivy, hiding a drey,
While the old Jay’s still caching away.

Katt is the cat who’s stalking the Jay,
While thousands of Larvae are munching all day.

Growing the Moths which make food for the Bat,
And leaving the Nuts which make Squirrel all fat.

Over the Orchard, grow apples to munch,
By agéd Piers Ploughman, who’s eating his lunch.

Pretty’s the Quince, with pink flowers in Spring,
While later a Robin Christmas greetings will bring.

Slyly the Stoat’s on the lookout for prey,
While circles of Toadstools, grow in the hay.

Shady the Umbra, we all sit beneath,
Not knowing the Vixen’s her den underneath.

Wispy the Wool, from the sheep of the croft,
While woody old Xylem, sends water aloft.

Here there’s a Yew, that great tree of old,
Protecting our Zzzzleeps, more precious than gold.

Well I hope you’ve enjoyed this little drollery. Watch this space in case there are further developments.

amusements, personal, ramblings

The Village. VII.

The Village – A Story in Eight Pieces

VII. More Village People

First there is Alice, whose surname is King,
her husband is Bert, who can mend any thing.

Clive is the one who tends to our hair,
He’s living with Dana, exceedingly fair.

Starchy is Ellie, she’s really a prude,
While Fanny relaxes, sunbathing nude.

Gary and Greg live as husband and wife,
And then there is Hannah, the vicar’s young wife.

There’s Arthur’s girl, Izzy, living alone,
With twins Jane and Jemima, father unknown.

Here is Nurse Karen, who tends to our ails,
And lazy old Leslie, who lodges at Gail’s.

We all love Matilda, a Master of Wine,
But no-one likes Norman, a breeder of swine.

There goes Orlena, who lives by her snatch,
While Pete the Policeman watches our patch.

Quaintly old Queenie lives down The Streete,
And Robin the farmer, grows barley and wheat.

Susy the sculptor carves objects in wood,
Her Toby’s a terror, mostly up to no good.

Doctor Umberto’s an expert on soils,
He lives next to Vikki, a painter in oils.

Old Walter’s a wonder, he’s still mending clocks,
Next to Miss Xandra, a stitcher of frocks.

Yanko is ancient – he came in the war,
and lastly there’s Zoe, our expert on law.

Piece VIII will appear on Tuesday 18 May.