This must have been the strangest birthday Margaret has ever celebrated. Just the two of us enjoyed her special day, as we are self isolated and locked down. She had some lovely calls from our friends and thanks to technology, we were able to chat to our family on Skype and Messenger. We took a 15 minute walk in the sunshine to the allotment for our daily exercise, where we watered our seedlings. We decided to have a special birthday dinner at home. We were unable to find any local takeaway delivery service that operates on a Monday. Margaret prepared a delicious meal at home and we set the table with candles and flowers she had had presented to her by our daughter, Helen. There was also wine and chocolates dips and crisps from a food hamper provided by our daughter Liz. We sat and enjoyed the close of a special day for the birthday of a special lady.
Six years ago, Margaret and I journeyed to the Isle of Wight, where we visited the wonderful Seaview Wildlife Centre. Sadly during November 2015, this interesting wildlife attraction closed down, due to problems with legislation. We were fortunate to be able to act as keepers for the day in 2014, which enabled us to help to feed and take care of the animals and birds for a single day. Although this involved feeding a variety of birds and animals, including penguins and wallabies, I intend to focus on the spectacular pink flamingos.
We snapped these photographs during our visit, although we didn’t get to actually feed these shy birds, probably because some of them were nurturing young.
I understand, Flamingos in captivity have to have their wings clipped to prevent them flying away. I did enquire whether the wildlife park had any problems with predators such as foxes, as I’m sure birds with clipped wings would be unable to fly away.
I found these interesting facts concerning flamingos on the internet. Mainly from the National Geographic magazine.
Greater flamingos live and feed in groups called flocks or colonies. They find safety in numbers, which helps to protect individual birds from predators while their heads are down in the mud.
The pink colour of flamingos is summed up by the phrase, “You are what you eat” This holds more truth than it might for humans. The bright pink color of flamingos comes from beta carotene, a red-orange pigment that’s found in high quantities within the algae, larvae, and brine shrimp that flamingos eat in their wetland environment.
Flamingos stand on one leg because it’s physiologically easier for them to do so. The way their legs work means they can rest all of their weight on one side without having to use their muscles to maintain balance.
It is thought that the legend of the rising of the Phoenix was actually based on a bright pink flamingo taking flight.
Wikipedia has a large fount of facts about these spectacular birds and it is well worth a visit to read up on the lifestyle of these interesting birds. There are several sites that deal with the myths and legends concerning flamingos I may collate and explore those facts in another blog post.
Margaret and I enjoyed our visit where we were to get close enough to the resident flamingos to enable us to take these interesting photographs.
The first of the big flowers to burst into bloom in our relatively small garden is this extremely attractive Camelia. We have nurtured and taken care of this extraordinary shrub for the last fifteen years. Buds are visible all over the branches in December which suddenly burst into a sensational covering of quite large blooms. They gradually fade and drop from the branches, covering the lawn with the discarded flower heads, loose petals and tiny buds. I am often filled with wonder at the effort this shrub makes to produce such perfection.
TREE PEONY
Next to make an impressive appearance is the incredible Tree Peony. A quite unassuming shrub for most of the year, our Tree Peony quietly merges into the background of the borders. We actually have two of these wonderful shrubs in the garden. One of the two is situated in a shady corner and doesn’t flower as prolifically as the other. In late March and early April large buds begin to appear at the ends of the branches. Then, with a burst of shocking pink the buds swell and reveal huge, showy, impressive blooms. Then after about ten days these lovely blooms complete their cycle of life, wither, and fall from the shrub. Another source of wonder to the thinking man.
I snapped these beautiful photographs of poppies when Margaret and I were working on the allotment today. They’ve just appeared over the last couple of days. The poppies on our allotment are so prolific and spread so widely and fast, we usually pull them up as weeds and consign them to the compost heap. I have to admit I’ve never seen any as beautiful as this single large poppy in the photograph below. The luscious petal arrangement could be likened to a rose, it’s almost unbelievable that this is just a common wild poppy.
My limited knowledge of Poppies was generally reduced to the fact they are almost universally associated with death and remembrance. I was also vaguely aware they were associated with opium and all the tragic history connected with that.
I decided to do some research on the mystical meaning of Poppies through the centuries. I gathered the following facts from Wikipedia.
Poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death: Sleep because the opium extracted from them is a sedative, and death because of the common blood-red color of the red poppy in particular. In Greek and Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead.
The poppy of wartime remembrance is Papaver rhoeas, the red-flowered corn poppy. This poppy is a common plant of disturbed ground in Europe and is found in many locations, including Flanders, which is the setting of the famous poem “In Flanders Fields” by the Canadian surgeon and soldier John McCrae. In Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, artificial poppies (plastic in Canada, paper in the UK, Australia, South Africa, Malta and New Zealand) are worn to commemorate those who died in war.
There is such an abundance of information connected to the use of poppies and the significance of poppies, I didn’t want to turn this small blog post into a book. Suffice to say Margaret and I will try to save some of the seeds from this magnificent bloom to transplant into a corner of our garden. In the photograph below a cornflower took centre stage, but that will be a post for another day.
POETRY FOR A LONG AFTERNOON. Feeling in a philosophical sort of mood today I resurrected and updated a couple of my old poems. The first deals with Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, for short. If only the present horrors of Coronavirus, could be reduced to a need for more sunlight.
SEASONAL CHANGES by John Yeo
Spring into Summer with floral delight Blooms and blossoms fill the air. Farmers fields are bursting with growth, Green shoots and yellow rape everywhere. The weather forecast has the pollen count. Nothing to worry about, no surprise A fit of sneezing with watery eyes As hay fever sets in again.
Autumn into Winter with frost and rain, Windy weather prompts the leaves to fall. Reds, gold and russet, a beautiful sight, The shorter days with dark icy nights. The weather forecast predicts heavy snow. Nothing to worry about, no surprise A fit of sneezing with watery eyes Resort to bed with the flu.
Seasonal affective disorder strikes With a low mood and depression. Regularly during the Winter months Sunlight is reduced during shorter days. The weather forecast is dire. Nothing to worry about, no surprise The doctor’s diagnosis is incomplete Sit in front of a lamp and soak up the light.
Seasonal affective disorder retreats With the arrival of early Spring. Lightness and happiness sets in again Balmy breezes and very light rain. The weather person is smiling. Nothing to worry about, no surprise The world wakes up in a blaze of glory With thoughts of a relaxing holiday.
This hard Oak survived for many a year; Strong, weatherbeaten, standing up with pride, A powerhouse with stores of food for life, Birds, Squirrels and Insects make their homes here.
Lives that thrive in the overspreading leaves, With a multitude of living green shoots A sturdy thick trunk that branches and leads To an underground sea of tangled roots.
Spring brings forth a flood of budding new growth Summer settlement then Autumn leaves fall, Shooting and thrusting a thick strong outgrowth. A magnificent Oak sturdy and tall.
Huge machinery brings extra sharp blades Hopes cut down as a history cascades.
As current events have shown nothing is perpetual. I think life has shown that even the strongest people can be cut down with this Coronavirus. An abomination that certainly shows no discrimination. Yet there will alway be hope and renewal even from the tiniest acorn hiding in the undergrowth.
These beautiful photographs show more of the luscious blooms on our two Tree Peony shrubs in the garden. These impressive blooms have just burst open, they’re the first we’ve seen this year. The buds have been around for the last couple of weeks. The huge deep pink, flower heads, blossom freely, showing their ephemeral beauty. Then about 7 days later the heads wither and die, then drop off the plant. These superb plants originated in China, where they were once celebrated as the national flower. After much hybridisation they are now widespread in many parts of the world. In ancient times, Peonies were used for medicinal purposes including curing headaches, relieving pain during childbirth and the treatment of asthma. Long ago, people believed that Peonies protected them from demons. During the Victorian era, Peonies were extremely popular and could be seen growing in gardens throughout England. If you have ants in the garden, they will be attracted to a sugary coating on the Peony flower buds. I have to admit I have never noticed ants on our Peonies. Both Butterflies and Bees are attracted to the rich nectar produced by Peonies.
As another contrast to the tragic Coronavirus pandemic news that is continuously swamping our consciousness at present. I thought I would revisit and share another of our travelling experiences.
Three years ago, Margaret and I were on a cruise visiting Corsica in the Adriatic sea. The ship arrived at Ajaccio, a busy port in Corsica, where we were berthed in a harbour conspicuous by the absence of large cranes and the usual piles of freight containers. Later we were to learn that there is little industry on the island of Corsica, hence the crystal clear waters of the surrounding blue sea. The island relies heavily on the tourism industry for its main source of income. Everything here is expensive as it has to be imported.
We were booked to go on a panoramic tour of the island.
We left the port and the town of Ajaccio, and made our way through verdant green fields, with many nice houses with pretty gardens, and smallholdings with some farm animals.
We finally reached the rocky coastline, with pretty sandy coves and beaches. The seawater was an amazing greeny-blue colour, crystal clear and beautifully clean. Our tour guide warned us that when the sea is rough, the invisible currents can be deadly, and extremely dangerous. There were people enjoying the beaches, although the high season here hadn’t started.
There are an incredible number of Olive trees here, both growing wild and many cultivated to make Olive oil. Eucalyptus trees have been introduced, apparently to soak up the excessive water in the atmosphere and in the soil.
Cultivated Grapevines are in evidence everywhere to produce the wonderful Corsican wine.
We passed many goats and pigs foraging along the side of the roads. Our guide informed us there were wild boar roaming freely on the island that sometimes bred with the domesticated pigs. There is a short season when it is permitted to hunt these wild boar for meat.
We slowly climbed the mountains where we viewed some spectacular pink and orange granite cliffs with some dramatic red rocks, known locally as Piana Calanche. Breathtakingly beautiful, these wonderful rock formations made for a dramatic background to the green pine trees. Everywhere one turned there was a wonderful view of pine forest or rocky escarpment.
We watched Red Kite birds of prey circling in the skies above, as we climbed the mountain. Our guide informed us that these are a protected species here as is the Fish Eagle.
The roads through the mountains are extremely narrow and our coach driver had great difficulty manoeuvring, whenever another vehicle approached us.
We stopped at another point along the way where we were able to take photographs of some more of the large local Pigs and some Cattle. The guide explained these animals were owned by people who left food for them at the same spot every day. He also warned against trying to stroke or to touch these animals as there were Sows there with Piglets.
We then began to descend from the mountain and finally we reached the beaches again, with their blue crystal clear waters.
We reached the dockside where we boarded our ship, carrying a head full of memories and many photographs to savour later.
Sadly, at present it seems it will be a long time before we are able to go on our travels again. Love ♥️ and Peace ☮️ from John and Margaret
So far Margaret and I have come through this lockdown period extremely well, despite being confined together in our home for 24 hours a day. We have been quite happily following our separate pass-times and interests. My writing is keeping me occupied and Margaret has just taken some tentative steps to return to writing again, having set up her own independent website. We both love reading and we never differ about what programmes to watch on television. Above all, the secret of our lives together, lies in the fact that we actually like each other as people. Quite a good recipe for both of us, after we initially fell madly in love with each other and got married 15 years ago.
Sometimes the old aphorisms seem to contain more truth embedded in them than we realise at face value. I can see this even more now as we were thinking of taking a holiday in the near future. The lure of distant lands and exploring different shores and scenes is always strong. Excitedly the build-up and the preparations fill the mind with expectations of a change of scenery. New horizons beckon with the magic and the mystique of unknown cultures that one has barely had any contact with. Then in some of the quieter moments, between the pressure of the arrangements, uncomfortable feelings creep into the consciousness. A look through the kitchen window reveals the beauty of some Spring flowers still displaying beautiful colourful blooms in the garden. The lush green colour of our lawn, still fiercely full of growth and looking homely familiar and attractive
This brings to mind the very old aphorism.
‘The Grass is always Greener on the other Side of the Hill.’
In my experience this is never the case in reality. Often when one heads for distant parts the different climate has the habit of scorching the grass and the green rapidly becomes a dried up brown.
This is also very true of the living conditions for the residents in some of these tropical holiday destinations. From the shelter of the other side of the hill, that tropical paradise, beckoning invitingly on the surface, seems to reflect a real easy pace with a laid-back style of living. Sadly this is often not the case and the inhabitants are looking with longing to visit our homeland. There is a tremendous envy of our standard of living and our way of life, wherever we roam.
The warm sun reflected on the surface of a calm tropical sea with sandy beaches and palm trees, sometimes hides the tropical storms of unemployment, poverty and the hidden dangers that can rise to the surface without warning.
This brings to mind another very old aphorism.
‘There is no place Like Home.’
Yes! I think it is wonderful to travel abroad and see the world. That to me, makes the coming home all the sweeter.
When this lockdown, due to the Coronavirus pandemic is over, Margaret and I will probably become home-birds and think deeply and carefully before we make any future travel plans.
As an antidote to the horrors of this evil Coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the country. I thought I would relive one of our journeys again.
In April 2014, Margaret and I were on a sea cruise, aboard a Saga Cruise ship, one of the destinations we visited was Malta and the off-shore island of Gozo, on an organised excursion. We boarded a coach from our ship in the harbour, for a 40 minute drive to the ferry crossing, situated in the North of the Malta. Our tour guide was an informative, enthusiastic Maltese lady. As we crossed the island our guide gave us a wonderful running commentary of the history of the two islands. There is a third island that is almost uninhabited.
Malta is the business centre and the tourist destination of these small islands and is obviously a lot more built up and densely populated than Gozo. Most of the industry and the University is located in Malta and the inhabitants of Gozo commute by ferry to work and study, on a daily basis. There are some fortified stone towers spread over the island of Malta. These were used in the days before electronic communication to warn of approaching danger, a fire was lit and the warning spread from tower to tower.
Malta is not as dependant on agriculture as Gozo and is more densely populated. We boarded a modern passenger ferry for the 20 minute, four mile crossing from Malta to Gozo. There is a wonderful large church overlooking the harbour of Gozo, with a large statue of the virgin Mary built into the rocks.
We boarded another coach for our whistle stop tour of the island of Gozo. The scenery on our drive through the island was mainly agricultural and beautiful. There are many small-holdings and the unique stepped method of culture is used everywhere, sadly the young workers commute to Malta to work and for their education and finding labour to work the land is becoming an increasingly difficult problem.
We visited the famous Azure window, a circular ring of rock that is very beautiful to photograph, this area was amazing, the ground underfoot was incredibly uneven, we were actually walking over many limestone fossils dating back thousands of years, from when this whole island was under water.
We then visited the incredible Citadel, an impressive fortress with incredibly thick walls that is situated on a hill. I climbed the hill and took some photographs leaving Margaret to wander around an interesting little street market at the bottom of the hill.
Margaret visiting a convenient market
We then boarded our coach again to visit the Gjantija Temples, a World Heritage site, where we viewed the ancient ruins of some incredible buildings constructed of huge blocks of stone, many thousand years before the birth of Christ. They are said to be older than the pyramids of Egypt.
They were situated in a pretty area with flowers everywhere and we took many more photographs.
We boarded our coach to catch our ferry back to Malta with our photographs as wonderful memories and with fond thoughts of the island of Gozo.
Travelling through Malta on our way back to the ship brought more contrasts between the two islands and we both agreed this has been an unforgettable visit.
Old Ted leaned on his hoe, scratched behind his left buttock and sneezed. Suffice to say the aforementioned buttock was currently encased in a grubby pair of creased unwashed, gardening trousers that hadn’t seen a good laundering for weeks. Ted was in his late sixties, retired after a long colourful career he was set in his ways. Since Carrie his late wife had sadly passed away a good few years ago, he’d developed a solid routine. Today was the day of the allotment. Ted was a shortish sort of a man, short and quite stocky with a pugnacious sort of a clean-shaved face. He sported a crooked nose that apparently had been altered in a few boxing matches during his schooldays. Ted bent to pull out a few more pernicious weeds and felt a sharp pain, ‘Flip’, he exclaimed loudly, enough to send a scavenging Blackbird, two plots away flying high in the air with a squawk of alarm. Just at that moment, Jim, his neighbour on the next plot arrived, ‘Hallo there Ted!’ he called from a good distance away. ‘How are you keeping? What do you think of this here, virus malarkey?’ Ted looked up and moved towards Jim. ‘Keep back! Keep your distance! Keep at least two metres away!’ Shouted Jim. Jim had never managed to get rid of the authoritative tone of voice he’d developed during his long career as a Sergeant Major in the Army. Ted, who was not one to take much notice of anyone who raised his voice, stopped dead in his tracks at the urgency that was evident in this request. ‘OK! No need to get irritated; I may be a dumb leper, but I’m not flipping stupid.’ ‘What do I think of an evil pandemic that is sweeping the world with people dying everywhere and enforced lockdowns?’ Ted looked around at the simple beauty of nature spread out and unfolding all around them. Scratched his right buttock and continued, ‘I think the worlds inhabitants have been pushing the boundaries for far too long and the day of reckoning is not far away.’ Ted then sneezed again into the crook of his arm and pulled up a stray dock leaf root. Jim straightened his well laundered shirt collar, and adjusted his flat cap to a more jaunty angle and replied. ‘We all have to be careful Ted! These damn virus spores are everywhere. I hear one of the most powerful leaders in the world is advocating the injection of disinfectant into the body. I reckon that would be like injecting weed killer into the dung heap and spreading it all over the plot.’ ‘That sounds like a good idea Jim. That would kill the weeds at the same time as feeding the vegetables and you may have touched upon a good way of introducing the disinfectant into the body without the need for a painful injection. Of course it may kill a few vegetables until an immune response is established. Sort of a high level trial and error basis without the need for applied Science.’ ‘You could be right there Jim. Have a good day!’
SUNDAY 3rd MAY 2020
We snapped these photographs during our visit, although we didn’t get to actually feed these shy birds, probably because some of them were nurturing young.
I understand, Flamingos in captivity have to have their wings clipped to prevent them flying away. I did enquire whether the wildlife park had any problems with predators such as foxes, as I’m sure birds with clipped wings would be unable to fly away.
FRIDAY 1st MAY 2020
THURSDAY 30th APRIL 2020
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