Pieridae

aka Common White Butterfly



aka Cabbage White

Free West Indies match

What with the early finish to the 1st Test against the West Indies @ Lords and therefore no international cricket this weekend, it was off to the Bristol West Indies cricket club for a few hours, where a rounders ball could be chucked about in preparation for a Year 9 rounders team match.

"Are you with the visitors ?", someone asked.
"No"
"Are you with the home side ?"
"No - I'm a trespasser."
"But you're from Bristol, right ?"
"Yeah." (ish)
"Well, you're not a trespasser then."
: )

The visitors made a little over 200 from 40 ? overs, before the home side, starting off well at around five an over, lost a clatter of three or four wickets within the space of a few overs and were on about 50 for 4 when we left. (Move over Simon Hughes)

Radishes & Rhubarb

Pete Taylor

Pete Taylor, one of my neighbours at the allotment and a familiar local environmental activist and campaigner, has died. It's suspected that his death, at home, was connected to the asthma with which he'd had a lifelong struggle and which in part inspired his campaigns against, among other things, traffic pollution.

When I first took on my plot, Pete was very friendly, giving me spare tools, cuttings and advice. In return, I gave him pumpkins and helped to move some of his collection of saplings that he was famous for planting in and around the city. I learned early on of his asthma and hatred for bonfires, ensuring that if I did have to burn anything he wasn't around, although perversely, he still liked a smoke and would occasionally cadge tobacco from me.

He showed me photos of a house he'd acquired in Spain, gave me loads of "Thank You For Not Driving' stickers (a campaign which he'd masterminded) we shared responsibility for making sure the allotment cat had enough biscuits and often had a chat.

He was passionate and could be a bit angry and volatile at times, even to people on the same side, but I respected him the more for apologising when we fell out.

Having checked out now, Pete will be spared the redevelopment of the chocolate factory that lies between his home and allotment, but whatever happens, I'm sure I won't be alone in planting a tree somewhere in the vicinity in his memory.

More info & tributes @ bristolcars.blogspot.com

A B C D Eno

I can't remember where I heard it this weekend, but someone was on the radio explaining that the reason that Brian Eno has created and achieved so much in his lifetime, is that he has four identical twins - A, B, C and D.

The maestro then turned up on Radio 4's 'The Museum Of Curiosity', on which he talked about geothermal energy and the fact that he composed the start up chime for an early version of Windows, on a Mac, adding that he doesn't like Windows and never uses it.

Clean sweep

I've written to the council many times about the flytipping that goes on around here but it still happens every week. I'm not sure what winds me up more; the gits who do this sort of thing, or the council's unwillingness to take the matter seriously and catch the perpetrators.

It's in the trees - it's coming

Despite the Orwellian signs that have recently gone up on the Bristol - Bath cyclepath, there's no evidence of any cameras around. Perhaps the council have fitted birds with cameras or a satellite has been installed to monitor the area.



It's odd that these threatening / reassuring notices weren't around last year when there was a spate of a dozen or so muggings in the area. Surely, they couldn't have anything to do with the proposed development of the old chocolate factory and the mass opposition to the bulldozers that will soon start ripping up the hedgerows of this linear park.

Flora

Flora was the Roman goddess of everything flowery whose festival is celebrated in the first few days of May.

Pararge aegeria

Speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria)

Kershaw Conspiracy

There I was, looking forward to possibly the radio highlight of the year, an interview with DJ and journalist Andy Kershaw for Radio 4's 'On The Ropes' series, which they'd been plugging all week, only for the announcer to say, "In place of our advertised programme, here's some toss about The Wizard Of Oz."

I might not have heard him correctly, such was my frustration.

Whassup ? Did the BBC lawyers have a last minute collywobble ? Did his ex take out another injunction ? Did he go on the lash and do something silly, come off a motorbike ?

At the moment, it just looks like the Beeb are doing everything they can to prevent the return to the airwaves of one of the best broadcasters since John Peel.

UPDATE: I was right the first time - 'twas the lawyers and a last minute concern about privacy.

Reap what you sow

If you've any spare daylight hours at the moment, chances are you're not a gardener. It's one of the busiest times of year, with every windowsill at home crammed with seed trays. Barely a day goes by without sowing something. Today it was more parsnips, lettuce, beetroot, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

Still getting a good crop of purple sprouting broccoli, loads of chard, spinach and more leeks. Just as well, 'cos there isn't much food in the shops I can afford these days. 0 % inflation my arse.

The Upwey

Found an old demo on a minidisc.

Old Smoothy

Great grandma Mary Byford, nee Smoothy, with Violet, Archie, Daisy, Stanley and Ivy, c.1897. Great grandpa Edwin seems to have been otherwise engaged. Collectively, they appear resilient, inquisitive, forlorn, haunting and haunted.

Daisy, possibly the one in the hoodie, later met Henry, aka Harry and together they became my grandparents. I remember great uncle Stan and great aunt Ivy but have no memory of Violet and Archie.

Mary's paternal grandfather, Stephen Smoothy, was born in Essex around 1798. Her father, William Smoothy, was born in 1837 and married Essex girl Elizabeth Mynott who was born in 1836, daughter of James and Letitia.

Edwin Byford's father was another William, son of George, born in 1782, husband of Sofia.

The photograph only turned up this week and is the oldest family portrait by years, unless you count the painting reported to be of Elizabeth Mynott, c.1860 (below) which came to light last year.

A Good Hoot

(Press Play for a hoot)

No-Anchor Zone

The westernmost part of Studland Beach, aka South Beach. A voluntary 'no-anchor zone' has recently been introduced to protect the local seahorse population..

Hope it's more successful than the mandatory 20 mph Home Safety Zones back in the big smoke.

Shag watch

Perched on the cliffs at Old Harry Rocks, looking for shags, or are they cormorants ?

Cormorants and shags


(Press play for Sealoop)



A dozen canoeists paddled by.

Wild Garlic Wood

Walked along the coast path and through the wild garlic wood.



My mother reminded me that wild garlic is also known as Ramsons.

Enjoying it's culinary properties tonight - leaves or flowers, it doesn't really matter. A few sprigs with a salad or mixed with oil or a dressing is a nice treat.

Beebirdcrow

(Press play to hear field recording)

Antler

Walked along the beach to Shell Bay then wandered over the sand dunes, trying to find a path to the Ferry Road. Our way was blocked by a wood and a boggy swamp, on the edge of which we found this antler.

Spider Orchid

After much tramping around at Durlston, involving my father walking in one direction, my mother another while I practised rounders with my daughter in the middle, we found a rare spider orchid, near to where we were playing. One day, I'll remember not to get so close with my camera phone that I blur the piccies.

Bogbean

Up past the cowslip meadows at Durlston, near Swanage, my parents remembered a pond that they had seen being constructed fifteen years ago. When we found it, smaller than they'd remembered, it had become a habitat for the indelicately named but rather beautiful bogbean, rising from a bed of water lilies.

Roadkill

Walked to the village shop to get a newspaper and found this female badger by the road. The speed limit here's 30 mph so I guess she didn't stand a chance, especially if the car was travelling that usual bit faster.

Upsetting start to the day.

The shop didn't have any copies of The Guardian either

Dorchester Brewery

When you've missed your connecting train at Dorchester and you have to wait for an hour, thanks to First Great Western's incompetence, there are worse sights to stare at than the old brewery. Part of the site has been redeveloped and this bit will be getting a makeover soon.

BBC : Brewery Square Development

Garlic & Artichokes

Now that it's warming up, things are starting to put on some growth, like the garlic and artichokes.



James Wong was using artichoke leaves and hawthorn berries to make a chewy low cholesterol bar in the last of the series of Grow Your Own Drugs last week. My Dad takes artichoke pills to lower his cholesterol and help the digestion of fatty foods.

I like combining the garlic, with artichoke heads and a bit of butter, in about three months time.

Coming Up

A few seedlings are emerging - spinach, carrots, beetroot, lettuce, radish. The lines of string help me to know where to look and are supposed to deter puss cat..



.. who is now in training for the low hurdles in the Olympics.

Tree down

Even when you can see that maybe it was getting to be a problem, blocked out some light and perhaps might have posed a risk to local residents in a violent storm, it's still gut wrenching to see another mature tree felled, like this cherry in Edward Street, Redfield.



It was heavy with gorgeous pink blossom a couple of weeks ago. Had I known of its impending execution (what happened to tree preservation orders and published notices of intent ?) I would have photographed it then.

Lost

It was the first time it had happened to me and I felt awful. I was a relatively late adopter and I'm not a heavy user, but losing your mobile phone can ruin your day. It was initially in a pouch attached to my waist, but as I reached to use it in a side street, I noticed to my horror that the pouch wasn't there. Had I left it on the train ? Had some nimble fingered thief unfastened it from my belt hoop ?

The first thing you think of doing is to phone and / or text your phone, but for this you need a phone and of course, your number. These things are not always easy to come by at the time and once they are, it's a bit sad to hear your own voice on the ansaphone . Once you've texted it too, from another mobile, all you can do is wait.

If the mobile that you used to text your own phone isn't your own and by chance someone else does find your phone and attempt to contact you, there can follow a confusing sequence of relayed messages. But even getting to that stage is immensely satisfying and immediately sets your mind to thinking about how to convey this gratitude, reward the kindness and honesty and sees you knocking on a door in another part of the city later that evening.

Przeczytać Podręcznik

I've been reading my friend Yaro's blog with the aid of an online translator, which sometimes gives it quite a surreal and unpenetrable twist. The last one was about reading manuals, which, clever chap that he is, he's able to do in English. He's well familiar with the acronym RTFM (Read The Fecking Manual) which doesn't seem to translate into Polish.

I'm not very good at reading manuals myself, although I do often refer to them. I remember photocopying 100 pages of a manual for Cubase for my Atari for £10 and taking them to Poland 18 years ago. I still find pages of that manual floating around today.

Recently I've been getting into Ableton Live, but I haven't glimpsed a manual yet. Instead, the marvels of YouTube provide a load of professional and amateur video tutorials, which help me bumble around.



Despite sticking to the manual / recipe, this banana cake didn't quite turn out right first time and was uncooked in the middle although looking fine from the outside. Trouble is, I don't have the manual for the oven and without it, I don't know how much the fan assistance contributes to overall cooking time, or whether cooking time stays the same and the temperature should be reduced. A handy YouTube video about Phillips ovens would help - or more cake practice.

Frogspawn

Having played at being god in recent years, raising froglets from frogspawn in jars at home , I'm leaving it all in the pond this year.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Despite the pigeons having a go at it over the winter, the half a dozen purple sprouting broccoli plants have survived, thanks to a bit of netting and make a tasty, healthy harvest.

Dead Ball

Besides England securing a win in the 4th ODI against the West Indies at the weekend, the match was notable for being the last in which Steve Bucknor will be umpiring, having decided to retire at the age of 62 after a sometimes controversial 20 year career.

Today I've been invited to a local cricket club's pre season meeting and advised that outdoor net practice starts in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I've already retired at least once due to injury and other demands on my time and the preponderance of perpetual league cricket is difficult to dip in and out of.

Ah for the days of friendly matches in the Mendips and much scrumpy and ale at the boundary edge and an afternoon on a cricket field on the outskirts of London in the 80s, when I bowled an over to Sunil Gavaskar and wasn't carted around the ground and later towered over him at the urinals. Now, if HE had time for friendly matches against tiny club sides celebrating their centenary, so should everyone.

Observer Blubs

Since getting into gardening, this time of year always brings a sense of urgency. There's so much to do; sowing, planting, taking cuttings, watering, controlling pests. So it's nice to sit back once in a while, to enjoy the daffs planted in the autumn, before burying the newly arrived summer flowering bulbs from an offer in The Observer.



Not exactly LIVE PLANTS, more like dormant bits of wood which don't need to be opened or planted with quite the sense of urgency that the capital letters convey.

British Summer Time

Despite the forecast, the first day of British Summer Time* was great. We went for a cycle up the River Avon (well ok, the towpath) and turned off by the herons' nests up through the woodland.



And despite having watched all of 'Victorian Farm' on the telly, I still don't know what this bit of agricultural machinery is.



What a lovely wall ! Skilful, beautiful stuff.

* Ultramarine - British Summer Time


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Feel The Force

You're only supposed to harvest rhubarb when there isn't an 'R' in the month, unless you 'force it', by putting a bucket or old chimney pot on top of the plant, which encourages early, soft growth. We harvested our first few stems of the year this weekend.

Mr Sweet Potatohead

Trying to grow sweet potatoes for the first time this year. What you're supposed to do, is cut up small pieces and get them to sprout and root individually, before planting them out for a lengthy growing season. I'll probably plant this out whole at the earliest opportunity with a bit of protection and see what happens. I've got another one which hasn't sprouted at all yet.

Beans

Sowed some very early borlotti beans a week or two ago, which I planted out under glass.



Same with the broad beans, which are better suited to colder weather, although the ones I planted last autumn are in a right state. Just as well I've got a fresh couple of dozen to supplement them with.

Colder

Watched a documentary on the 1984 miners' strike, reminding me of its effect on my politicisation at the time, but also setting me off to hunt down a haunting song which appeared in the soundtrack.

I seemed to know it well, yet I couldn't put my finger on it. Was it Echo & The Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs ? No, too electronic for that, but it wasn't New Order or Joy Division and it was too European to be Suicide.

So I typed a few of the lyrics into googly and eventually identified the song. It was quite a shock to discover that the track was only 6 years old, not 25 as I'd assumed, that I hardly recognised the artist's name and he wasn't British.

But what a track ! Crikey !! It's got bits of all the bands mentioned above and he's clearly into his Joy Division. I remember now that I must have recorded it onto MiniDisc from a John Peel show, the year before he died.

It's a great one for doing the Ian Curtis dance to ; )

Last FM (Some interesting remixes too) : Colder - Crazy Love

YouTube : (Until they block all music vids)

Took the once in a blue moon opportunity of going sledging this morning. Actually that's not correct, as a blue moon occurs every 2.72 years and we haven't had snow like this in the west country for about 14 years. So long ago in fact, that the sledge which I bought for my daughter seven years ago, hadn't been used.

Started off with a couple of runs on the deserted Netham recreation ground, on the bank leading down to the Feeder, then walked up the towpath of the River Avon towards Troopers' Hill. Found a good run starting from the base of the chimney, descending steeply in a channel, crossing over a path before ending up in a bramble bush. Half way down, there was a small ridge, enabling a nanosecond of flight if you got your speed up.

After a while I was joined by a few others, who noticed that I seemed to have found the best run, although their own slippy devices were no match for my purpose built technology from the plastic crap shop. They apologised for cramping my style and asked if my back was OK. I told them that it hadn't been to start with, but the sledging into bramble bush therapy was working a treat.

At one point, I upset a small dog, though not its red coated owner, who uttered words of encouragement as I careered across the other path en route to the prickly buffers. It's great how a bit of frozen precipitation can make people sociable. Later on, as I headed home, I passed the red coated woman on a narrow woodland path. Normally, I would have felt aware of being perceived as a potential threat. You know what it's like when you find yourself walking behind a woman late at night or in a secluded place. You try so hard to act normal and unthreatening that you actually make yourself appear more like a stalker. In this instance, the woman said hello and we exchanged a few words as I passed.

A bit further on, there was a white transit van blocking the pathway and I muttered a sarcastic, 'Oh, nice one !' as I approached. I don't know if he heard me, but out of nowhere, a young builder appeared and seeing me with a sledge he piped up, 'Someone's got the right ideal'. His cheery Bristolian disarmed me from my petty irritation at the parking violation.

Since starting to photographically document evidence of parking violations, blocked cycleways, etc. a while ago, I've noticed others in the city doing it, but rather than feeling solidarity, they've brought home to me how futile opposition is, given the apathy of the council and police towards enforcing the law. Pissing into the wind has its drawbacks. It's also reminded me of the potential for nasty confrontations, such as the time I got followed home by a maniac who heard me cursing him for parking on the pavement and forcing me out into the road with a pushchair.

Checked out St George's park on the way home, but the snow was already melting fast and I was more concerned by the sight of the demolished and fenced off play area, undergoing complete redevelopment. It only seems like yesterday since the last time it was renewed, but it appears that the council feel the need to close and redevelop quite a few play areas in parks around the city, possibly in response to even tighter health & safety regulations.

Back home by midday after a five mile round trip, chuckling as I read blogs by Londoners complaining of having to walk a couple of miles in the crippled capital. By the evening however, I was getting a bit tired of the BBC, who devoted 13 minutes of the 10 o'clock news in an overreaction to an entirely predictable weather occurrence - though it was awful to learn of the tragic death of a 16 year old in a sledging accident.