Strictly Forbidden

The boys were urging him on. He was delighted to have been allowed to accompany them. Usually, he was relegated to the edges of the group, not a member, just an envious onlooker, longing to be as sophisticated and knowledgeable as them. He laughed at their jokes, not always understanding them, and sometimes wondering if he was the butt of them.

He was younger than them, but they had been friendlier to him in recent weeks, treating him almost as an equal and he was flattered by their interest.

They yelled to him again. What could go wrong? He had watched them a million times before from a distance, admiring their grace and athleticism. It was a kind of initiation ceremony, though no-one had ever called it that, but he knew he would be judged by his response to their exhortations. 

He chewed his lip. For so long he had wanted to be acknowledged and now was his opportunity to prove himself, to show them that he was at least as courageous as them.  

Imagination was his enemy. His head ached as he tussled with all the doubts and fears that assailed him. Words of warning tolled in his head and he pushed them aside. All he had to do was think of nothing and then it would be easy.

His pulse sounded in his ears, his veins felt too weak to contain his wildly pounding blood. Could they see his panic? Was it true that fear could be smelt?

Rivulets of sweat slid down his back, his hands were clammy and cold despite the heat of the day, and his legs trembled.

The boys were growing impatient. They were tiring of encouraging him and were beginning to jeer. He knew it was a tactic to spur him on, to make the adrenaline pump. He must commit himself or they would never bother with him again. 

He took a deep breath and jumped. His stomach lurched and he screamed as the water seemed to rush towards him. The shock of the cold sea made him gasp as he plummeted under the surface.

When, after a few seconds, he had not surfaced, the boys became uneasy, muttering to each other, wondering what they should do. One attempted to dive in but the others restrained him. Another boy rummaged in the piles of clothes on the sea wall and grabbed his mobile ‘phone. His fingers fumbled on the keys but at last he punched in 999.

It was difficult for the operator to make sense of the words the caller sobbed out. Soon afterwards ambulance and police appeared at the scene. His older brother, one of the gang members, was pale and incoherent with grief. 

Now, too late, he and his friends understood only too clearly why it was strictly forbidden to jump from the sea wall.                 

Burping

 

Burping

Elsie from River, wondered whether other animals can burp.

Most mammals are able to burp. Dogs burp more often than cats because they tend to gulp their food, swallowing air in the process, whereas cats eat more slowly and carefully. Animals whose stomachs have more than one chamber, like sheep, camels, and other ruminants, belch frequently to rid their bodies of the methane gas produced from the fermentation of food in their digestive systems.

Cows are renowned for the methane they emit. This is due to the corn and soy they are fed, which they cannot process efficiently. Some farmers alleviate that by feeding alfalfa and flaxseed which are similar to the grasses cows would have eaten before they were domesticated.

Our fellow primates, the chimpanzees, orangutans, and so forth, also belch, just like us. Gorillas produce great rumbling burps, which indicate gratification when they are eating delectable food.

Some marine mammals, like orcas and sea lions, also belch.

Among reptiles, crocodiles and alligators take in a lot of air with their prey, releasing it later in foul-smelling emissions. Similarly, large carnivorous lizards, like Komodo Dragons, will often burp after swallowing a whole egg or something similar.

There are some mammals which are physiologically incapable of belching or vomiting. Rodents, including mice, rats, squirrels and beavers are unable to burp. Sloths, rabbits, and horses also cannot burp or vomit. The gas that these animals produce is released as flatulence.

Burping and belching are two names for the same thing. The technical term is eructation.

 One of the two main causes of burping is swallowing air while eating or drinking. Some of that cannot be easily avoided, but it can be reduced by eating (or drinking) more slowly. Talking while eating and drinking through a straw will increase air intake. Chewing gum, smoking and loose dentures also add to the problem.

The second major culprit is the type of food or drink ingested. Carbonated drinks contain dissolved carbon dioxide that bubble in the stomach. These drinks include beer, and sparkling water, and what my nieces and nephew used to call ‘pop.’

High-fibre foods like pulses, onions, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts release gas as they are digested.

Some unfortunate people are unable to belch. This disorder is called abelchia – lovely name! – and was first identified in 1987. It causes great distress, with symptoms like bloating, flatulence, and chest discomfort. It is treated with Botulinum toxin (Botox) which relaxes the muscle inhibiting belching. One injection usually solves the problem permanently.

Burping in company may or may not be acceptable, depending on the circumstances and the culture. In Japan burping while eating is poor etiquette, while China and some middle eastern countries see it as complimentary to the chef. In the majority of Western societies, it is considered crude to belch in public. Sometimes it is unavoidable, and then most people quietly apologise.  

Of course, babies are encouraged to burp, and that is always acceptable and usually greeted with relief by parents and carers.

Feasting

 

Feasting

I do not usually fall victim to insect bites, but this summer seems to have made me more susceptible. Something small and insistent has been feasting on my arm. I have not seen it, but it has set up an almost irresistible itching.

When an insect bites, its saliva enters the skin. The saliva contains anti-coagulants to make it easier for the insect to feed on blood. The body recognises invasive allergens and releases histamine, which allows more white blood cells to come to the area to flush out the insect’s saliva. The increased fluid causes the swelling and redness and sends distress messages to the brain.

 Although scratching provides immediate relief, it activates the release of more histamine, causing even more frantic itching.

E45 Itch Relief Cream gave some slight relief, but in desperation I tried ‘bite away®’ which is described as a ‘chemical-free heat pen.’ Its purpose is to neutralise the venom by applying heat to the affected area and stop itching. Three seconds of 51º heat for children aged three or older or those with sensitive skin activates a response in the body which helps to reduce the release of histamine, stopping itching and swelling.

I quote from the information: ‘It was demonstrated in a clinical study with mosquitoes that bite away® can provide long-lasting relief from itching in as little as one minute.’

I cannot say it has had a significant impact on my bites. The swellings are impressive! If that's all I ever have to contend with, I shall not complain (much!)

I think a cold compress will be the next thing to try.

Mice can’t burp

 

Mice can’t burp

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Those of a delicate disposition may wish to skip this blog post.

In case you were wondering, mice can neither burp nor vomit.

The following story may be apocryphal but has some basis in fact.

Someone discovered that she had a mouse in her car and naturally she wanted to evict it. She tried traps humane and inhumane and the mouse escaped. She tried laying a trail of tasty treats out and away from the vehicle, but the mouse showed no interest.

Someone told her of a method which had worked for them in their garden shed. It involved a bowl of Coca-Cola. The mouse drank from the bowl, filled up with gas and was unable to relieve the pressure. It went outside for fresh air and exploded.

It may have been a method that was tried, but there is no data to support the story of an exploding mouse. Mice will drink Coca-Cola (other carbonated drinks are available) and may indeed become uncomfortable with stomach ache, but they will not explode.

 Baking soda is sometimes mixed with a tasty bait, like peanut butter, to make a homemade rodenticide. The soda reacts with the hydrochloric acid in the mouse’s second stomach** (the first is used for food storage, rather like a larder!) and creates carbon dioxide which builds up. The pressure created causes internal bleeding or organ failure, and eventually death, after several days. It is an inhumane way to deal with a problem.

However, if it were to be acceptable, maybe Coca-Cola could update its iconic advertisement and song:

Mouse Coke - it’s the real thing to solve your vermin problem!

I’d like to teach the mice to drink

A bowl of Coke for me,

I’d like to seem them try to burp,

Exploding messily.

 

It’s the cruel thing!

**Clarification: Mice don't have two stomachs, but rather one stomach divided into two distinct regions - a fore-stomach, and a glandular region for chemical digestion.

Swine flu

 

Swine flu

                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Looking back to 2009 to see what was happening then, I read that Barry had had a routine blood test. When he ‘phoned the surgery for the results, he was told that the laboratory had lost them, so he was asked to give another sample.

He duly presented himself early one morning for a fasting blood test. He noticed that the nurse appeared to have drawn less blood than previously but said nothing. A matter of days later, the surgery ‘phoned, full of apologies, because not enough blood had been siphoned off for all the necessary tests to be conducted. They asked if it would be possible for him to attend the next morning.

Barry demurred, explaining that he had been feeling unwell for a couple of days. The receptionist asked him to describe his symptoms and then advised him to contact the NHS help line. After a short conversation, he was told that he had swine flu, to remain in bed, take paracetamol and drink plenty of fluids. Telephone consultations and subsequent diagnoses are not always successful!

Swine flu is usually contracted by pig farm workers and vets and is rarely passed between humans. It cannot be contracted through eating pork. Barry had never had any contact with pigs.  

How he came to contract swine flu, if he did, and I have my doubts, is a subject for much mirth. There was a swine flu pandemic in 2009 caused by the H1N1 strain which is now a normal seasonal flu that circulates in humans every winter.

The symptoms for swine flu are very easily mistaken for other strains of flu as they are almost identical. They all cause fever, cough, sore throat, headache, aching limbs and fatigue.

Flu can persist for ten to fourteen days and there is a lot of ‘gastro-intestinal disturbance’ with it, which is a feature of swine flu.

Happy days! I’m very careful not to call him a pig – at least, not too often.

 

 

Gatekeeper

 

Gatekeeper

 Gatekeeper or Hedge Brown (Pyronia tithonus) on oregano

July 2025

                               July 2026

We have seen many Gatekeeper or Hedge Brown (Pyronia tithonus) butterflies in recent days. They are called gatekeepers because they are often found in meadow edges, hedgerows, and field gateways where wildflowers grow. They are very common and widespread in Southern England and are on the wing from July to August.

Cultivated yarrow comes in a range of colours. 

Wild yarrow (Achillea) is white or cream

Gatekeepers are often confused with the Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) but are a brighter orange and have two white ‘pupils’ in the black eye spot on their wings. Meadow Browns also have a black eye spot but with only one white spot on it. They can be seen from June to September, and I was pleased to see one in the garden alongside the busy gatekeepers. They were attracted to the buddleja and the yarrow (Achillea)

 Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)  July 2026

      Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) on hydrangea 

July 2025

Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns are brush-footed butterflies, or Nymphalidae, belonging to the ‘brown’ or Satyrinae sub-family. They are sometimes called ‘four-footed’ butterflies, because they appear to have only four legs. The first pair of legs are short and hairy and look like brushes, and so they rest on only four legs.

The name Satyrinae originates from the Greek Satyros. Satyrs were creatures of the woods, and the ‘browns’ are often seen in shaded woodland glades. They do not share the other characteristics of satyrs, however.

Peaceful

 

Peaceful

It is a very peaceful Sunday afternoon. An occasional light aircraft bustles across the sky and birds call sleepily. No children are giggling and playing in their gardens. Maybe they’ve all gone away, the school holidays having started on Friday. Even the ice-cream vendors are silent, their jangling jingles mercifully absent.

Saturday afternoon was a different matter altogether. A helicopter buzzed and clattered above the trees, describing circles high and then low. Around and around it went, for what felt like hours, never hovering.

We established that it was a police helicopter and wondered if it was searching for someone. As with most of these occurrences, it is unlikely that we shall ever learn why it was circling. Local social media has not shed any light on it, though lots of people have had a merry time making ‘humorous’ comments.

I’m glad it wasn’t an air ambulance. We usually discover the reasons for those, especially if they’ve landed in the local junior school playing field, as incidents are reported in the local press.

Today, however, the sun shines gently, a soft breeze blows, butterflies dance in the warm air, and all is well with the world.

Testing, testing

 

Testing, testing . . .

 . . . the pool water.

                    Pretty colours, but are they the correct colours?

Limericks

Limericks have five lines and a rhyming scheme of AABBA. The first two and the last lines have eight to ten syllables each and rhyme together. The middle two lines have five to seven syllables and rhyme with each other.

Limericks first appeared in the early 18^th century. They were frequently men’s obscene humorous drinking songs. Their contemporary equivalent would probably be bawdy rugby songs. (Other sports may be included!)

The following is an anonymous limerick which is not coarse:

The limerick packs laughs anatomical

Into space that is quite economical,

But the good ones I’ve seen

So seldom are clean

And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

The next one is also anonymous and fairly innocent:

The thoughts of the rabbit on sex

Are seldom, if ever, complex;

For a rabbit in need

Is a rabbit indeed.

And does just as a person expects.

They were popularised in the 19^th century by Edward Lear, though his limericks were not lewd and were written and illustrated to entertain children. It’s easy to assume that most of the limericks that are heard were composed by him. That is the mistake I made about the young lady who rode on the tiger. It led me to wonder when the first limericks were written.

It has been suggested that St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) wrote the first one in Latin in the 13^th century, though it seems to be more of a prayer than a joke.

Sit vitiorum meorum evacuatio

Concupiscentae et libidinis exterminatio,

Caritatis et patientiae,

Humilitaris et obedientiae,

Omniumque virtutum augmentatio.

It was translated approximately by Fred Hornaday (1973-present) as:

To circumvent brimstone and fire

Expelling unsav’ry desire

I piously pray

And devoutly obey

As my soul soars progressively higher.

James V. Schall, S.J. (1928-2019) was an American writer, philosopher, and teacher who wrote a limerick encapsulating the philosophy of Aquinas.

There once was a Jesuit knight

Who proved with his logic air-tight

That all of infinity’s

Touched by divinity

Starting with ‘Let there be light.’

This verse form was not known as limerick to Edward Lear. The name seems to derive from a parlour game played in Limerick in Ireland in which the refrain asks ‘Will (or won’t) you come up to Limerick?’

There is a plaque in Limerick, in County Limerick which says:

The Limerick is furtive and mean

You must keep her in close quarantine,

Or she sneaks up the slums

And promptly becomes

Disorderly drunk and obscene.

Writing limericks can be a lot of fun and there are many examples of different forms.

A H Reginald Buller (1874-1944) was a British Canadian botanist and mycologist who wrote the following famous scientific limerick called Relativity:

 There was a young lady named Bright,

Whose speed was far faster than light;

She set out one day,

In a relative way,

 And returned on the previous night.

Some writers set out to deliberately flout the ‘guidelines.’

There was a young man from Japan

Whose limericks never would scan,

And when they asked why,

He said, ‘I do try!

But when I get to the last line I try to fit in as many words as I can.’

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) was an American writer and polymath, acclaimed as one of the finest writers of his day.

God’s plan made a hopeful beginning,

But man spoiled his chances by sinning.

We trust that the story

Will end in God’s glory,

But at present the other side’s winning.

To finish, here is a very clever limerick created by Leigh Mercer (1893-1977) a man who indulged in wordplay and puzzles.

 

 12 + 144 + 20 + 3√4/7 + (5 x 11) = 9²+ 0

It reads as follows:

A dozen, a gross, and a score

Plus three times the square root of four

Divided by seven

Plus five times eleven

Is nine squared and not a bit more.

Signs of darkening clouds?

 

Cumulus

We need rain.

One hibiscus flower (Hibiscus syriacus)

One lizard tail (Saururus cernuus)

Aspirations

 

Aspirations

Roxy with daintily crossed paws

This was going to be a short post, but sidetracking occurred as usual.

 I started by thinking about aspiration as ambition. Do we all, did we all have aspirations? Many young children have aspirations, inspired by who or what they see on television and the foibles and fancies of their peer group. Parents hope that their offspring will eventually realise that aspiration needs to be partnered with hard work and tempered by common sense. It’s no good longing to be a pop star if you have no rhythm and cannot sing. (That’s debatable . . . )

In many countries, aspiration relates to the strong puff of air accompanying consonants like ‘k,’ ‘p,’ and ‘t.’ As an example, in English, the initial ‘p’ in ‘pan’ is aspirated, but in ‘span’ it is not. The speaker may not register the breath out, but speaking the first word ‘pan’ close to a lit candle will make the flame flicker. The second, unaspirated word ‘span’ will not. In lieu of a flame, try speaking the words close to the palm of your hand and feel the difference.

Aspiration in English does not affect the meaning of the word, but in other languages, like Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, or Thai it may distinguish completely different words.

Medical aspiration refers to the usually accidental inhalation of fluid or a foreign object into the airway and lungs. This can lead to serious respiratory illness, though commonly it results in coughing, spluttering, watering eyes, and a red face. Medical treatment should always be sought in emergency.

There is also a medical procedure involving aspiration, in which fluid is drawn out of the body with a syringe for biopsies.

Roxy had aspirations last week. She is a Labrador, getting on in years, and becoming lumpy. This is a common occurrence in this    breed and usually signifies nothing of note. Nonetheless, aspirations were taken for biopsy to make sure that nothing sinister was happening. The results came back this week, and all is well. The lumps are all harmless lipomas.

A lipoma is a slow-growing, benign fatty lump. Lipomas can safely be left alone, to be removed surgically only if they are in a position that interferes with movement. However, they should be monitored regularly to track any changes.

People with lipomas may choose to have them removed for cosmetic reasons. Roxy has no such concerns.

 

Silver-washed fritillary

 

Silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia)

This large butterfly flew into the sitting room on Monday morning, completed a couple of circuits and then fluttered out again. It then flew about as if looking for somewhere to perch and I wondered if it was looking for a place to lay its eggs.

The Silver-washed fritillary was named because of the silver streaks on the underside of its wings and is on the wing from late June to early August. It can be seen on heaths, moors, meadows, gardens, and in broad-leaved woods, particularly oak woods. It breeds in shady woodland in the south of England. 

 It is widespread in southern England and Wales and is seen more locally in northern England and Ireland. Though its population declined in the twentieth century it is not classed as endangered and is ‘of least concern.’ Numbers have increased during the first years of the twenty-first century.

Catspaw

 

Catspaw

Catspaw, sometimes called a catsclaw.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Catspaw is a name applied to a few things, apart from the obvious, of course.

It can be a light breeze on calm water which creates ripples, apparently. Barnacle Bill, who lives with me, had never heard or used the expression in his many years of sailing. Ah, well, learn something new every day.

For carpenters and those who want to attempt do-it-yourself tasks around the house, a catspaw is a heavy-duty metal tool with a V-shaped tip, which is used to extract nails from wood.  It is sometimes called a nail puller or a cat’s claw. Hammers which have a head with a hammering end and a V-shaped end are known as claw hammers.

 Claw hammer

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

In the US, ‘cat’s paw liability’ refers to cases in which”a biased individual passes along negative information about a worker to an ‘unbiased’ decision maker. The ’unbiased’ decision maker then takes a negative action against the worker based on the information provided.”

In UK law an equivalent doctrine, though not known under the ‘cat’s paw liability’ states that “an employer can be held vicariously liable for an employee’s discriminatory dismissal, even if the actual decision-maker is completely unbiased.”

Perhaps the most common application of ‘catspaw’ is as an idiom for a person manipulated by another to do their unpleasant or dishonest bidding. It originates from a 15^th century fable which became famous in the 17^th century when recounted by the fabulist Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695)

‘The Monkey and the Cat’ (Le Singe et le Chat) tells how Bertrand the Monkey persuades Raton the Cat that they can share the roasted chestnuts in the fire if Raton will scoop them out of the embers. Raton complies, but as he pulls out the nuts, Bertrand gobbles them up one by one and Raton receives nothing but burnt paws.

The fable is also the source of the expression, ‘to pull someone’s chestnuts out of the fire’ – that is, to undertake a hazardous task for someone else’s benefit.

 
The monkey and the cat painting, 1739, by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755)

                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons