Isle of Wight in September

Another visit to the Isle of Wight (Mary has family there) in September this time rather than October. Normally, Mary would drive down and we would catch the Lymington - Yarmouth ferry. This time we decided to go by train (Hereford to Southampton Central) followed by a short bus ride to the Red Jet terminal and a very smooth, fast (28 minutes) trip over to West Cowes. Travel costs are similar to the car/ferry option. We were greeted by the magnificent sight of the Spanish Galleon, Andalucia moored up at West Cowes.

Photo 1: Galeon Andalucia at West Cowes (Sept 2024)

Note that the above is not a B&W photograph but just a very grey day! Indeed, grey is a good description of the weather during our 5 day stay; wet would be another excellent adjective for the weather. For example, this photo was taken while on a stroll along the beach at Compton Bay.

Photo 2: Glowering skies at Compton Bay, Isle of Wight (Sept 2024)

Mary always carries a small kite in her bag ...

Photo 3: Mary & Kite, Compton Bay (Sept 2024)

... and did finally get it up, up and away ...

Photo 4: Kite aloft

Unfortunately, one visitor was not having a fun-filled day at the beach ...

Photo 5: Washed-up Dolphin (Compton Bay, September 2024)

The dolphin had been reported a couple of weeks ago and was awaiting removal. It seems this is quite a common occurrence.

Despite the poor weather, we managed a trip to Yarmouth, including a walk on the pier, where youngsters were crabbing and the adults were angling ...

Photo 6: Yarmouth Pier Looking Westward (September 2024)

... and, of course, yachts were sailing ...

Photo 7: Yachts Sailing on The Solent, off Yarmouth Pier (September 2024)

There did seem to be a race on ...

Video 1: Racing on the Solent

... but then my knowledge of sailing is based on reading Swallows & Amazons.

Before heading home, we revisited Mottistone Gardens. We had visited these National Trust gardens in October 2023 so were hoping for a more floriferous display in early September. And we were not disappointed.

Photo 8: Looking Down the Herbaceous Border Towards the House

Photo 9: Dense Ginger Lily (Mottistone, September 2024)

The warm sun brought out the butterflies including this small copper ...

Photo 10: Small Copper (Mottistone, September 2024) 

But the pièce de résistance was the largest and loudest UK bush cricket ...

Photo 11: Great Green Bush Cricket (Mottistone, September 2024)

Great Green Bush Cricket (Mottistone, Isle of Wight)

 

Photo 1: Great Green Bush Cricket (IOW, September 2024)

On a recent trip to the Isle of Wight (IOW), the largest UK bush cricket was spotted at Mottistone, a National Trust property. This specimen was 2 - 3 inches long (5 - 7 centimetres) and was locally common (we spotted at least three of them).

The Great Green Bush Cricket feeds on vegetation and insects, and lives in trees and grassland. All our specimens were found in/on large bushes. They are well camouflaged despite their size ...

Photo 2: Great Green Bush Cricket among the Leaves

They are native to southern England and Wales which explains why I haven't come across them before. The male mating call sounds like a sewing machine left running. This video records the mating call (enhanced by the use of a bat detector) towards the end of the video; make sure you have the video volume turned up!

Classic Vinyl #1 (Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water)

Nearly four years ago, I started a thread describing my collection of vinyl records and how I still enjoy taking time out to sit down, listen and enjoy. My LP collection is 40 to 50 years old now with one or two more recent additions. Despite a few of the records having a noticeable background crackle, they are, if I say so myself, still mostly in pretty good nick. It helps always having had some decent kit to play them on.

This series is called 'Classic Vinyl'. The vinyl part is self-explanatory but you may ask, quite reasonably, what makes them classic. There is only one definition - it has to be in my record collection!

We'll start this series off with a classic from 1970, Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel. It was their fifth and final studio album, sold over 25 million copies and was number one in all the major record-buying countries.

Wikipedia does a nice potted history of Simon & Garfunkel and there are several biographies; for example, here, here, here, here and here.Their relationship was tempestuous, and at times downright acrimonious, with several splits and reunions. The fact they broke up after Bridge Over Troubled Waters, their most acclaimed piece of work, says it all really.

Here is the tracklist for Bridge Over Troubled Water ...

... and you can listen to them here ...

Bridge Over Troubled Water

El Condor Pasa

Cecilia

Keep The Customer Satisfied

So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

The Boxer

Baby Driver

The Only Living Boy In New York

Bye Bye Love

Song For The Asking

In my opinion there isn't a single dud on this album. My favourite is The Boxer but I will happily listen to the whole record in one session - as I did while I wrote this post.

Herefordshire Reuse and Recycling Organisation (HRRO)

 Today, Mary & I attended the official opening of the Herefordshire Reuse & Recycling Organisation at their new warehouse. Our invitation was through Hereford Open Door, a local charity supporting homeless people in Herefordshire for which we are both trustees (I am also the treasurer).

This organisation started about 4 years ago with the aim of, as their title suggests, reducing the amount of landfill waste by providing a service and facility to enable the reuse and recycling of unwanted items. As a non-profit organisation it donates any earned money from the sale of items to local good causes. It is a facility that Hereford Open Door would use to purchase items for our work - including furniture for a homeless person just entering unfurnished accommodation.

From its early origins in a cricket pavilion on Widemarsh Common, it now has a large warehouse, part of which is the shop displaying for sale items. For those on a limited budget, it is an Aladdin's Cave of clothes, furniture, toys, utensils, white goods, furnishings, bedding, etc.

Photo 1: HRRO Warehouse and Offices

Photo 2: Furniture Department

Photo 3: Household Furnishings

Collections are by arrangement, often through house clearances, but there are some handy recycling bins for everyday items. In Photo 4, there are bins for postage stamps, spectacles, small ink cartridges, scrap metal, electrical cables, aluminium foil and cans, and bras.

Photo 4: Recycling Bins I

In Photo 5, there are bins for Babybel cheese wrappers, biscuits wrappers, Tupperware/drinks bottles, bread bags, water filters, Pringle tubes and cheese wrappers.

Photo 5: Recycling Bins II

Certain items are collected for a very specific local group; e.g. Babybel wrappers for Herefordshire Girl Guides. The manager and volunteers are always looking for new opportunities to reuse/recycle those items that nobody seems to want. At Hereford Open Door, we are often asked it we take duvets (we don't, but we do take sleeping bags which are more practical for someone who is homeless). Apart from animal shelters and vets, we haven't been able to find a suitable home for  these. HRRO are still looking ...

We did enjoy some tea and cake and bought a few items (two vinyl LPs and a jigsaw).

The shop is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm. Support it if you can.

Note: Jesse Norman is the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Herefordshire.

Cat & Mouse

 A few weeks ago, a field mouse (also known as a wood mouse or meadow vole) was spotted in the garden (h/t Ash who took the picture below).  It was only a few feet away from the bird feeder (Photo 1 and Photo 2) so there was plenty of food going spare thanks to our messy feathered friends. 

Photo 1: Field Mouse in the Garden

Photo 2: Close-up of Field Mouse

A month later, I came across a young & dead field mouse about 6 feet away from the original sighting.

Photo 3: One Deceased Field Mouse

Later the same day, Mary was doing a little bit of weeding and spotted two more carcasses ...

Photo 4: Second Deceased Mouse

Photo 5: Third Deceased Mouse

... in the same vicinity. 

The most likely predator is one of the local cats because the alternatives (birds of prey, owls, etc) are extremely rare in our garden and would have, in any case, eaten their prey.

The litter size for breeding field mice is between 4 and 7. Although some of the young from this litter may have survived the attack, there is a good chance none of them did; we may just not have found the bodies yet.

All three mice have been given a decent burial. RIP

Royal Welsh Show 2024

Alex Rowe of Gittisham Forge returned to stay with us while stewarding at the 2024 Royal Welsh Show. Alex is a fifth-generation blacksmith working alongside his father, Julian, at their forge just outside Honiton, Devon. He lodged with us while a student at the Holme Lacy Campus doing his blacksmithing course. Alex very kindly gave us two free tickets for this year's show; having also given us tickets for the 2023 Show. In 2023, we went on a Tuesday; this year it was a Thursday - the last day of the show. If you are interested in the show animals, there is an 8-hour video here.

Video 1: Alex & Julian Rowe (aka Gittisham Forge), Royal Welsh Show, 2024

We always find ourselves drawn to the wood-chopping arena with different events occurring throughout the day. I'm sure the various categories have special names - but all are based on the use of aces and saws to chop/slice wood. This one has two men taking turns to chop through a trunk of wood

Video 2: Axe-Chopping Competition (RWS, 2024)

Photo 1: Two-man Chopping Competition

Video 3: More Chopping

Video 4: The Final Cut

We made our way over to the blacksmithing area to see Alex and family and to admire the work of the artist blacksmiths.

Photo 2: The Art of the Blacksmith

Photo 3: Gate

Our attention was drawn to the nearby show ring where a team of dancing JCBs were entertaining the crowds ...

Video 5: Dancing JCBs #I

                                                           Video 6: Dancing JCBs #II

Video 7: Dancing JCBs #III

There were the usual farm animal competitions for sheep, pig, goat, cattle, poultry, etc.

Photo 4: Customary pose for the pigs

Photo 5: Modern Hairstyles?

We stopped briefly to watch the pole climbing competition ...

Photo 6: Pole Climbing

Video 8: Pole Climbing

... and the magnificent shire horses ...

Photo 7: Shire Horses in the Main Show Ring

... before heading back to the coaches waiting to take us to our car.

As with the 2023 show, everything was efficiently organised and there was plenty to do and see. A full day's entertainment. We even left with some free fresh corn on the cobs courtesy of Aldi - they had clearly overestimated the quantity they would sell. We enjoyed them once we got home - not as sweet as the maize I grow in the kitchen garden, but nice enough. Will we go to the 2025 show? Who knows ...

Fruit/Vegetable Anomalies #6 Swiss Chard

 

Photo 1: Swiss Chard 'Giant'

Continuing this occasional series about odd looking fruit and vegetables grown in the kitchen garden, today's feature vegetable is Swiss Chard. Previous posts have featured strawberries, carrots, potatoes, garlic and courgettes/zucchinis.

It is not unusual for my Swiss Chard to grow to 4 - 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres) but this specimen is over eight-foot tall (>2.4 metres). The leaves are still tender, edible and sweet but the stem is a little on the tough side. When Swiss Chard bolts like this, the leaves can become bitter.

My normal practice would be to take out the growing tip at 3 foot (0.9 metres) to encourage more growth from the base. Not quite sure how this excessive growth crept up on me, if it is, indeed, possible for a giant to creep up.

I've seen a few other reports of very tall Swiss Chard plants; e.g. here. I like to think it is the fertility and living complex organic structure of my soil that enables such supersonic growth. Apart from digging in my homemade garden compost and the very occasional watering when establishing the small plants, these vegetables are left to their own devices.

Chard has been grown in England since at least 1596 and is known by a number of alternative names: silver beet, beet spinach, seakale beet and leaf beat. Its origins can be traced back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 7th Century China, and 4th Century Greece. It is chock full of vitamins and minerals which explains its widespread use as a medicinal plant. Plenty of scientific papers have been written about Swiss Chard.

As noted above, Swiss Chard is an excellent addition to anyone's diet and is, fortunately, very easy to grow as an all-year-round vegetable. Chard is particularly rich in Vitamin A, β-carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium and Potassium. It is also an excellent source of dietary fibre. There are lots of ways to add it to your diet; I add it all and any savoury dish including soup, curries, stews, pasta/tomato sauces, salads, cauliflower and macaroni cheese - or simply steam as a side vegetable.

That's a bit cheeky!

 

On our return from a short holiday, we found this business card slipped behind the rear windscreen wiper of our camper van. Mary was (mildly) offended though we both agreed the car looked far from pristine and clean. While I just chuckled at the cheekiness of it all, Mary went for a sponge and bucket of water to clean the rear of the van! So now it looked well cared for provided you didn't look at the sides, front, or roof of the van! An example of the idiom, sweeping something under the carpet (or rug, if you are American).

As a general rule, I don't see the necessity for spending time and/or money cleaning the outside of a vehicle. There are probably a few reasons why you would want to wash the car: e.g. if it was being used for a special occasion such as a wedding, to remove bird faeces that corrode the paintwork, or as a paid task for a child to earn pocket/sponsor money (bob-a-job).

On the negative side, it wastes a valuable resource (potable water), pollutes the environment (detergents, waxes), and, on a personal note, I can think of many things I would rather spend my time on (such as writing this blog!!). Somewhere in the region of 100 - 300 litres of water will be used to wash one car. According to this study, the combined carbon footprint for drinking water production (0.5 kgCO2eq per 1000 litres; range: 0.18 to 0.79) and wastewater disposal (0.8 kgCO2eq per 1000 litres; range: 0.51 to 1.14) is around 1.3 kgCO2eq per 1000 litres. A carwash, therefore, has a carbon footprint of between 0.1 and 0.4 kgCO2eq provided you didn't drive to the car wash. In itself, not a big deal unless you are doing it week-in and week-out.