Laundry's little helper

I wonder if many know what this is? 

I had one. 

It was made by Hotpoint and lasted for well over 10 years.

I used it frequently and it saved me money by not having to switch on the washing machine.

It's a small spin dryer.

Popular in Japanese households, it allows you to spin out clothes which have been hand washed such as wool jumpers, underwear and the like.

Most people discarded them when front loading machines came down in price and did everything for you.

I must admit I still favour these little machines. Rated at A+++ they have good credentials and use little electricity because you use them for such a short period (they spin out the excess water very quickly, in seconds really).

Yes, it means getting up close and personal with some of the washing but if you've already paid for hot water why not use it without adding more electricity to the mix.

Oh, but shoving it in the washing machine is easier!

Yes it is. Some of us just prefer a less high tech way of doing things I suppose. 

Changing natural patterns

Normally, this orchid flowers later. The tulips are meant to be 'lates' and the apple blossom, May.

Things are changing rapidly; I wonder how many people acknowledge this?

Flooding, torrential rains and gale force winds have graced us this year.

Fields which should be green with autumn sown crops are partly under water and where they did get planted, many have swathes of empty soil where the crops have rotted.

My garden is looking splendid. A riot of colour in fact. Yes, the bumble bees are out as are some of the honey bees are too. Surprisingly there's also a wasp or two. As yet no hornets but the green fly have been feasting for some time now.

Yesterday I saw an intrepid butterfly attempting to remain aloft even in the gale force gusts we were experiencing. 

I hoped it found food. 

I hoped it found shelter.

I look around at people as the scurry from place to place. Are they seeing the changes or just enduring the inconvenience? Are they aware worse is to come as change continues in our atmosphere? 

Do they get the point that the hotter it gets feels good but brings with it monsoon rains, gale force winds and the probability of malaria, denji and other mosquito borne diseases as they get blown over from the continent?

I look at my garden and enjoy today. I cannot control tomorrow, I can only be aware of it. I thank the natural world for giving me one more year of pleasant surroundings. I thank the natural world for bird song, warm days and cool nights.

Sight to behold on the Tube

There are many things one can observe whilst Tube travelling. 

One is the state of the eyes of those still under the effects of alcohol from a potential boozy lunch.

Some will be eating their lunch whilst thinking about something or other.

Others will be deep in chatter whilst others in a silent repost.

And of course, there are many, heads down, oblivious of their surroundings, ear buds in place, fixated by the small screen they cradle in their hands.

However, the one which caught my eye, mainly because he looked like Moose from the Step Up series of films, got on the train with trousers so very low the only thing holding them up was will power and the forward projection of his genitals. 

Why was I fixated? Well, his reaction if they went lower 🤣 

Feels like Spring is pushing through

The winds maybe high but the sin is out, clouds scud by and the birds are most definitely in Springtine mood.

I feel it too.

I want to act a bit like a March hare, jumping and bounding all over the fields, leaping in the air and basking in that balmy air. 

I'd want to and would love to, but the old joints are almost wooden with age.

Sigh. 

The mind is willing but the body, like an aging car, needs constant attention and careful handling.

Hey, I still dream of running along the beach and falling into the waves. Of playing with the damp leaves, finding early leaf buds on hawthorn and eating them and looking for aconites just opening.

Yep, I can sense it and the winter blues are starting to lift.......mind you I've soo much gardening to get done. 😄There's always the down side. 🙂

Bumble bees, violas and warmer weather

That cold snap we've just experienced was harsh. Fortunately, it did something important, it stopped Spring in its tracks, well, for a few weeks anyway.

The ground is certainly thawing fast and walking round the woods today, I could see buds beginning to open once more, squirrels out chasing each other and that almost balmy warmth in the air.

My worry is, we are in a short window of warmth which will trigger all sorts of movement in nature; something which is highly confused already. These changes in our usual climate is certainly faster than the natural world is able to adapt to.

Take for example the bumble bee.

It over-winters in crevices where it hibernates until the ambient temperatures wake it up. 

Usually by this time, the first Spring flowers are starting to come out ready to be pollinated. Plant supports bee and bee supports plant. A well developed strategy which allows the plant to create seed and the bee to feed, reproduce and continue pollinating other plants as they come out.

Well that's the theory.

I hunted for anything which was in flower; some magnolias had attempted to open but were caught by the frosts but that was it.....oh apart from the sweet box which fills the air with perfume around about now.

I came home thinking I might need to put out some bee flowers (brightly painted MDF flowers with sugar water in the middle) out...and then

I remembered the humble viola. Always flowering, always pushing through and most importantly, always there. 

A lone bumble bee went from flower head to flower head possibly getting its first food since late autumn.

Next year I'll plant many more violas in my garden and anything else I can think of which will provide food for our humble bumble because without them this planet would lose many plant species as well as that lazy buzzing when the sun is warm and we drink coffee outside once more.

Hopefully this will stop the advance

Life in my garden seems most confused. Some plants are nicely tucked up as they should be whilst others think Spring has sprung and are showing definite signs of sprouting.

I grow a lot of soft fruit. My loganberry is already thinking of opening it's fragile buds. 

My hyacinths are showing their flower crown and my bulb irises are already in full leaf ready to send up their flower spikes.

I noted a queen bumble bee up and about, but with nothing to eat, she will have woken early and hopefully not died as a result.

Changing weather patterns are certainly starting to show everywhere, not to mention on farm land which seems to spend more time flooded during the winter than it has done in the past.

Country lanes are almost impassable due to excessive flooding and even the 3 m deep ditches along the edges resemble ponds. 

I must admit I was travelling along a lane the other day to be greeted by a pair of mallards happily ensconced in the flooded ditches.

So, how is my part of Kent holding up?

Poorly is the answer.

We were considered the market garden of UK. Not any more. Vegetables from overseas are cheaper in the supermarket than farmers can grow them for. Weather is so unreliable too, it makes for expensive outlays not experienced in the past. 

So most are getting out. 

Solar farms are springing up as are new housing estates, neither of which seem to help the land drain well.

The tree surgeons are out virtually 365 days of the year attempting to keep our ancient trees going or removing those which have given up the fight.

It's a sad story but not unexpected. 

Me thinks we are in for hotter, drier summers where droughts are commonplace and fires spread across fields and estates as we saw the year before last. 

Winters will be mild but very wet, stripping the soil and dumping it in the rivers and streams, flooding homes and villages and as this year, cutting some places off from surrounding towns. 

Already we've had guidance on preparing for floods; what to do as preparation in advance, what to do in case or when it happens, what to expect from local authorities and 999 services.

Sounds almost dystopian.

Me? I'm going green as much as I can. I eat local to support our community and travel by bus much of the time. 

Now it's the future proofing of the garden. 

Almost there but the remaining plants which are struggling with soggy roots in winter and rock hard clay in the summer are giving way to shrubs. Once that's done it's time to sit back and enjoy.

Mid-winter Solstice at last

This is my favourite time of year. It's the point at which we, in the northern hemisphere reach that all important tipping point where the days are now beginning to get longer.

We have reach mid-winter, from here in its all onward to Spring. 

We have survived to this point so we celebrate with a fresh Yule log to see us through to Springtime, eat heartily and use up the meats and perishables  saved from summer, tell tales to each other of past conquests, of tall tales, of ghosts and demons and faery folk.

Have a wonderful festive season everyone. 

Spiders with boots on

Quietly sitting reading, I heard the patter of tiny feet. When I say tiny, we're not talking children, pregnancy or anything remotely connected but to a bloody big house spider scurrying across the new floor. 

Last time I heard a sound like that it was in Spain when a super-sized cockroach lifted itself up and legged it across the floor in front of me 😳

Glad to say, this set of hob nail boots belonged to a friend not foe (house spiders eat flies and other insect intruders).

My visitor however, was caught under a glass and a piece of card was slid between her and the floor.

It's mild, it was dry, so I put her outside. 

Rather not have her marching across the bed when I'm in it thank you very much.

Never dreamt I'd still be here

Blimey, me 70 years old, 😳 still finding it an interestingly difficult number to digest...

I do remember a time back when I was still about 16 years old wondering about the turn of the century.

I had recently come out of a lecture on CFCs, ozone holes and pesticide/herbicide overload in soils.

I was sitting in the Library in Luton Tech contemplating how the world would look at the turn of the century.

I started working dates out; 2003(age:50), 2013(age:60), 2023(age:70)

I started thinking about what state the world would be in and made mental prophesies;

+ petrochemicals would need to be reduced in use

+ pesticides and herbicides would need to be reduced or terminated. 

+ plastic usage needed reduction especially in the home. Too much wrappings ended up being put in the bin.

+ soil could be dead by then having had too much chemical treatment 

+ a very polluted water course....water wars?

+ general public would have to stop using petrol/diesel cars.

Frightening just how close to the actual state of world health I was back then which was around 1969!

Christmas is coming and the tills are getting fat

One place I tend to avoid when we get close to this festive season is a town centre, but especially Maidstone. It becomes an ill mannered, angry,  discordant mass of frantic people willing to part with any amount of money to solve the problem...

Christmas is fractious, long live the Christmas spirit.

Bags upon bags of 'stuff' squeeze their way around shops with mothers dealing with crying children demanding what they feel is theirs.....now.

To add to the exasperation it's raining....hard.

All I do is smile and retreat to Starbucks. Tea is OK, coffee passable but most importantly at the monent anyway, quiet.

Back to basics

I had a bit of a shock a few weeks ago. It appears the building regulations dictating there should be a damp proof layer on top of a concrete raft (which underpins the house) didn't come into being for a couple of years after my house was completed. 

You can imagine my joy at this.

Next door had their's done. It cost close on £6000 but the difference it'll make to humidity levels and warmth..... Well, it goes without saying. 

Cost as well! 

With the levels of dampness, wintertime tended to be miserable with heaters flat out and top temperatures of 12°C during the coldest months of the year.

I turned to look at my room thermometer; we've reached 16°C but the humidity is still 76%, way above guidelines for safe living.

Yesterday morning my bedroom was 12°C but the humidity was up to 92%.

Gawd it was cold!!

So, what's next

Yep, once more, it's clearance of furniture, leaving me with a chair, fold up table and a bed.

Thank goodness I'm going away!

Thank goodness I still have a kitchen and bathroom I can use but........

I'm so glad I'll be away whilst this place becomes a floor-no-go area.