Category Archives: ramblings

environment, ramblings

Skyscrapers

It isn’t a commonplace for me to agree with Simon Jenkins, but I’ll make an exception for this in the Guardian a couple of days ago.

Skyscrapers wreck cities – yet still Britain builds them
Around 500 towers are proposed for London. They’re not just ugly:
they symbolise Britain’s greedy pandering to developers

Having said that, I don’t know where he gets his information “towers rarely offer higher densities than traditional Victorian terraces in their neighbourhoods”, which I find inherently unlikely.

In my view, no building should be more than four or five floors above ground, if only from a safety point of view. And let’s use up all the brownfield sites and under-used office blocks before building more; much more environmentally sound than taking out yet more greenfield land.

And while we’re at it, let’s require every developer, large or small, to plant at least one tree for every dwelling, and five (or even ten) for every floor of offices, with 50% of them within a mile of the property. That would be good for both carbon sequestration and for mental health.

personal, ramblings

Ten Things, July

This year our Ten Things series is focusing on each month in turn. The Ten Things may include facts about the month, momentous events that happened, personal things, and any other idiocy I feel like – just because I can. So here are …

Ten Things about July

  1. Start of UK school holidays
  2. The month was renamed by Roman Senate in honour of Julius Caesar
  3. Annual Swan Upping to count the Queen’s swans on the River Thames
  4. St Swithin’s Day
  5. Whitstable Oyster Festival
  6. Fence Month: the closed season for deer in England
  7. In 1799 a French soldier discovers Rosetta Stone
  8. Bikini first showcased in Paris in 1946 (right)
  9. First Moon walk in 1969
  10. Birth of Dr John Dee, Elizabethan scientist and magician
environment, personal, ramblings

Leisure

Another of the short poems we read at my mother’s funeral was this. Again it captures my mother’s quiet delight in the natural world.

Leisure
By WH Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

WH Davies (1871-1940) spent a significant part of his life as a tramp in both the UK and USA, but became one of the most popular poets of his time.

personal, ramblings

Nice Mice

For no obvious reason I was recalling, the other evening, one of the short poems we read at my mother’s funeral back in June 2015.

As some here will know she was a great nature lover, and unbeknown to anyone some while before she died she had been feeding a small mouse which lived under the bath in the en suite of her care home room. Everyone at the care home loved my mother; however Rosie, the care home’s lovely manager, when she found out about the mouse went fairly ballistic – quite understandably. So when we read this poem at the funeral, Rosie absolutely cracked up.

Here’s the poem …

Mice
By Rose Fyleman

I think mice are rather nice;
Their tails are long, their faces small;
They haven’t any chins at all.
Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
They run about the house at night;
They nibble things they shouldn’t touch,
and no one seems to like them much,
but I think mice are nice!

Rose Fyleman (1877-1957) is most famous for her poem There are Fairies at the Bottom of Our Garden.

food+drink, ramblings

Disaster. Result.

Well that was a very unexpected result from a bit of a disaster!

Sunday evening, about midnight. Noreen discovers the freezer is not working. I am summoned. I confirm the veracity of Noreen’s suspicion. No lights on the front panel at all; not a glimmer; and none of the buttons does anything. Socket checked: OK. Plug checked: OK. Fuse checked: OK but changed as a precaution. Obviously the kitchen ring main is OK, and there have been no power interruptions. Cable checked as far as possible: OK. How long has it been off? We don’t know; it could even be a day!

Bugger! Especially as the freezer is only 6 months old; an AEG bought from John Lewis. Unfortunately we’ve voided the warranty as we had to remove the moulded-on plug to wire it in. Fortunately it is packed solid. So leave the door shut and see what transpires.

Decision. Do not waste time on trying to get a repair; whether or not the warranty is valid it’ll take too long. Better to spend money and buy another new one as we can get next day delivery. Worry about the warranty later.

Not many people make free-standing, under-the-counter freezers these days; first choice Bosch don’t make them any longer. So at 1AM we’re ordering a new freezer from John Lewis (own brand this time); they’re trusted to do next day delivery. But we’re now in Monday so delivery will be Tuesday. Hmmm. Best we can do. We have neither time nor transport to try sourcing one locally in the morning.

Go to bed, hatching various plans for using the thawing contents.

Monday morning. John Lewis customer service confirm we’ve voided the warranty. Insurance company confirm loss of freezer food is covered on our insurance, but we have a £200 excess. Decide not worth contemplating a claim as contents unlikely to top £200. Still considering how to handle the freezer contents.

Monday lunchtime. Noreen extracts fish fingers from freezer for lunch (may as well use what we can). Reports everything still well frozen. Decide to leave freezer shut and wait until new one arrives tomorrow. Then we’ll consider what to use and what to bin.

Tuesday. New freezer delivered at lunchtime. We install it (without removing the moulded-on plug this time!) and leave it to settle, as instructed. Turn it on at about 5PM. By 8PM (after eating) the freezer’s getting well cold. Decide to unpack the old freezer. We divide contents into 4 categories:

  1. Definitely going to be binned as not immediately useable: ice lollies; bags of stock; bags of fresh pasta; odd portions of curry; couple of small packs smoked salmon (damn we’d even fed the cats, so the fox can have the benefit!); half bag of peas; the same of cauliflower. We knew this was going to be a lot.
  2. Thawing fast, needs using now: couple of boring nut roasts; bag of crumble topping. Is that all? – Not bad. Nut roasts go in the oven and will be OK cold for lunch tomorrow; large dish of fruit crumble also in the oven.
  3. Thawing but useable tomorrow, put in fridge: 3 packs of bacon; pack of sausages; some pork slices; small bag lamb’s liver; some garlic butter. Make casserole? No, a better idea: terrine.
  4. Still well frozen; keep frozen but use ASAP: all the meat in the centre of the freezer (small lamb joints; some bacon; turkey joints; a pheasant; couple of steaks; 2 large boxes fish fingers); pack of pastry; even a bag of ice cubes! And yes this stuff really was rock solid.

Wow! That’s a result! Around 50% of the contents of the freezer (and most of the expensive stuff) is saved. Amazing! We know one is always told a switched off freezer will be OK for 12-24 hours. But we really hadn’t expected to salvage anything much after almost 48 hours.

Yes, it would have been better to have the freezer fixed. But doing so would have taken time and probably lost the whole of the contents and cost for the repair. When added up would that have been greener that buying a new freezer? Maybe. Maybe not. But buying a new one was probably the more economic decision.

Oh, and that (large) terrine has just come out of the oven; now cooling and being pressed. Basically it is a variant of our Ennismore Terrine. It smells gorgeous!

Moral(s): Know when to leave well alone. Do quick risk analysis to enable quick decisions. And above all don’t panic!

amusements, ramblings

Auction Amusement

Our local auction house haven’t recently turned up the usual outstaning collections of oddly composed lots or strange things being sold. However here are the highlights of the last three sales.

A quantity of Egyptian dried scarab beetles

Two person tent, a quantity of cricket bats, a Mandoline Pro in box, a toaster, a Daewoo deep fat fryer, and one by Russell & Hobbs, plus five sculpture puzzles including Darth Vader and an Egyptian

A pine tool-box, an African drum, a vintage three-legged milking stool

Metal milk crate containing 19 milk bottles Middle Edgarley Farm, Glastonbury and a vintage Burroughs adding machine

An Edison Bell Gem phonograph, London-made, No. 21090, a Piccolo zither, a small oak barometer of banjo form, and a combined timepiece and barometer of lancet form

A cut-glass claret jug with Continental silver-plated mount, and a pewter mug inscribed to H Churchill of the Madras Fire Service

Ten saddle stands

A vintage cast iron tram controller dead man’s lever stamped BTH Co Ltd, Rugby, England

A Bo Peep sheep stool with wool cover

An interesting 19th century pine cabin trunk the black front panel painted Pte W Bryers 7/9th Regt the inside lid pasted with a period paper ‘Presentation of Colors to the 9th Regimental of Foot’ 1848, also a paper cutting reporting the death of John Bryers by drowning in the Regents Canal following a contretemps in a local alehouse

A good quality artist’s easel with full adjustments by Winsor & Newton, and two antlers

Four shelves of mixed items including a Tiffany style ceiling light plus another, photo frames including silver-plated, a Victorian silk table screen, framed pictures, a chess set, a four-drawer jewellery box, a cased set of Apostle tea spoons, wicker baskets, a brass clock in the shape of an over-sized pocket watch, vintage advertising tins, display cases, a Cardiff City shield, Chinese scrolls, replica swords, work boots, a Thomas the Tank Engine toy etc.

A pair of silver-plated three-branch candelabra, a mantel clock, a doorstop alarm, a fold-away rucksack, a micro jet tool, cord strap, fly swats, a sensor night light, packs of card, a charger, putty, a briefcase, a hobby drill, a red bag, a portable brush holder etc.

A French bronze spelter figure of an Arab horseman, circa 1900, together with a copper and brass bugle, and four similar horns

An antique AEG Mignon typewriter, Model 4, with TCM London transfers

Three black vintage telephones, a pair of 19th century Lucas bicycle lights, two lanterns etc.

A vintage PerryBuoy lifebuoy, a Smith Maritime rev counter, two old metal pulleys, three pairs of binoculars

An American Todd Protectograph cheque writer, with label for Halsby & Co Ltd, list of patents to December 30th 1924

A Clarice Cliff Bizarre Gayday dwarf candlestick painted with flowers, and an Art Deco vase with runny decoration

A Lark tuba made in China model no. M4050

An to end with, good though this is …

A vintage taxidermy display of three ermine on simulated rocks, with paper label of W.C. Darbey, Naturalist, 12 Banbury Road, Oxford

… the pièce de résistance surely has to be …

Henry John Yeend King, an oils on panel triptych of a classical idyll typical of the Aesthetic Movement, signed, applied to a Victorian upright piano in figured walnut by Justin Browne of London, the lower panel by the pedals also painted with steps to a lily pool

More as and when the mood takes the auction house!

personal, ramblings

Ten Things, June

This year our Ten Things series is focusing on each month in turn. The Ten Things may include facts about the month, momentous events that happened, personal things, and any other idiocy I feel like – just because I can. So here are …

Ten Things about June

  1. June marks the start of meteorological Summer
  2. Dedicated to Juno, Roman goddess of marriage
  3. Magna Carta signed on 15 June 1215
  4. Summer Solstice …
  5. … which is the longest day
  6. Midsummer’s Day is on the Feast of St John Baptist, and not at the Solstice
  7. Well dressing, which is still practised in Derbyshire
  8. Trooping the Colour (above) is part of the Queen’s Official Birthday celebrations
  9. Ratcatchers Day, Hamelin, Germany
  10. Birthstone: Pearl
personal, ramblings

Ten Things, May

This year our Ten Things series is focusing on each month in turn. The Ten Things may include facts about the month, momentous events that happened, personal things, and any other idiocy I feel like – just because I can. So here are …


Ten Things about May

  1. May Day …
  2. … which is also the pagan festival of Beltane
  3. May Day holiday, which in the UK naturally doesn’t fall on May Day but the first Monday
  4. Spring bank holiday which falls on the last Monday and replaces the old Ascension Day holiday
  5. Both my parents died in May: Father in 2006 and Mother in 2015
  6. State Opening of Parliament
  7. Helston Furry Dance (above)
  8. Dedicated to Roman goddess Maia
  9. Oak Apple Day
  10. Birthstone: Emerald
personal, ramblings

Ten Things, April

This year our Ten Things series is focusing on each month in turn. The Ten Things may include facts about the month, momentous events that happened, personal things, and any other idiocy I feel like – just because I can. So here are …

Ten Things about April

  1. In most years Easter falls in April
  2. All Fool’s Day
  3. New financial year in UK
  4. St George’s Day
  5. The birth (allegedly) & death of William Shakespeare
  6. First cuckoos & swallows normally arrive in UK
  7. Start of asparagus season
  8. Buddhist Hanamatsuri (Buddha’s birthday)
  9. Start of cricket season
  10. Walpurgis Nacht on 30th
history, ramblings

Easter? Confused?

One of our favourite London bloggers, Diamond Geezer, earlier this week picked up on something I’d missed.

If you follow the rule, Easter should be this weekend – the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. The Equinox was on 20 March and the full moon on 21 March. This would make Easter almost as early as it ever can be.

But it isn’t.

Easter isn’t until 21 April, apparently a full four weeks late, and almost as late as it can be!

WTF is going on?

Well it turns out that the rule isn’t quite what we think it is. Why? Because it was set by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD who, amongst other things, set the date of the Equinox in concrete as 21 March when it actually moves around by a day or so. No-one has since redefined it.

This means in some years Easter falls on what appears to be the wrong date, although this is only likely if the full moon and the Equinox are very close together, as they are this year.

I’ll leave it as an exercise for the student to read DG’s post and understand the details.

Another example of the Law of Things Aren’t What They Seem.