All hallowe’en – All Saints’ Eve Today has been a beautifully warm, sunny, late autumn day. Last weekend the clockswent back, supposedly day-light saving (introduced in the UK during the First World War) making the days seem so much shorter and the nights so much longer! Today is also the last in October, making it, […]
Archives for October 2014
New dinosaurs discovered!
You would think that a newly discovered dinosaur species would be big news. Definitely something you’d hear about on the news. I did hear the other day that a new dinosaur had been discovered somewhere in the world so I decided that might be something interesting to have a look into and share with you, […]
The Christmas Cactus – Schlumbergera
This pretty succulent plant is one that to me, should almost be called the shrimp plant, or even prawn! Because the prolific blooms that are borne on it late autumn to early winter really do resemble those sea creatures… I once saw one in water on its own and really thought for a moment it […]
Update on my Aartappels
To my utter amazement, my potatoes seem to be doing OK. So last week I decided I had better earth them up – I think that’s the right phrase… Anyway, I covered as much of the growth as I practically could whilst leaving the growing shoots free to […]
Another Coral Tree for Gumby!
Gumby, for those of you that don’t know, was a keen gardener, with very specific interests. When he came to the UK to stay the last time, it was to study horticulture, so that he could get his RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) certificate and to hone his skills with a view to establishing a nursery […]
Wow!
Wow! What a descriptive word! It conjures up thoughts of unimagined delights & surprises, things that amuse, amaze or astonish us. These are moments that we treasure at the time, but with everyday life being so hectic, are apt to be forgotten, often not thought of again, or even shared with others. Last Sunday was […]
Gumby & the Coral tree
Thanks to Louis in Sodwana for sending me a picture today of a Coral tree he planted in Gumby’s memory. This picture, my earlier post this week about coral and the fact that it’s been 8 months today since Jeremy was killed, made me think that today’s perfect topic would be to find out more […]
Love them or hate them – spiders are pretty amazing!
Love them? Congratulations you are an arachanphile Hate them? Poor you, you have Arachnophobia, and you probably shouldn’t carry on reading this! Don’t really care? Read on anyway, because you might just change your mind! There are apparently around 650 different species of spiders in the UK alone with an estimated population of 750 Million […]
Coral – what is it, how’s it made, why is it important?
Most people have heard of coral reefs and know that they are a massive attraction for scuba divers but did you know that although they make up only 1% of the marine environment, they are home to more than 25% of all known fish species. I have written before about the fact that human activity […]
Natural remedies for coughs & colds
With all the sniffles and snuffles going around with the change in seasons, here are some natural remedies to try for halting a cough or cold in its tracks. Coughs The most frustrating annoyance when you can’t sleep because you can’t get rid of a tickly cough in your throat. Many pharmacists and GP’s will openly tell […]