Earlier and earlier

 

Earlier and earlier

In a bid to enjoy the freshness of the morning and give the dogs a chance to stretch their legs before the heat sets in, we have been getting up earlier and earlier. Consequently, we are going to bed while there is still much light still in the sky.

That makes me feel like a child again, lying in bed listening to the birds, while other people are still up and about. It makes a pleasant change, though the day seems curiously truncated, with 3:00 pm feeling as though it’s five hours later.

This morning, we were up – I was going to say ‘bright and early’, but it transpired that some of us weren’t as awake or aware as others. Barry disappeared downstairs to make coffee and then reappeared a short while later. He had put his trousers on over his pyjamas. It wouldn’t have mattered, really, as they were pyjama shorts, and no-one would have known. He just felt he didn’t actually need the extra layer.

In other world-startling news, my elderly ‘for the time being’ laptop which was pressed into service has been replaced by my newly repaired computer, the one with the pretty LED lights.

 As it is now effectively a new machine, everything has had to be reinstalled. The hunt for passwords and other verifications has been long and trying. Tempers have occasionally been shorter than they should have been, but now, all is well. We just had a brief hiccough with the bank, which initially refused to recognise the new/old/new machine, but that has been resolved, too.

Just one or two things still to deal with . . . shouldn’t take long . . . oh, those weasel words!

 

More pretty vegetables

 

More pretty vegetables

Sweetstem cauliflower is sometimes marketed as Caulilini cauliflower.

The commonest variety is green and white, but there are other varieties which are purple, lime-green, or orange. The purple colour is natural and comes from anthocyanins, the antioxidants which also occur in blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, and red cabbage, among others.

Eaten raw or lightly steamed, it is a delicious addition to any meal.

The roof

 

The roof

We are delighted and relieved in equal measure with the work that has been completed on our roof. It was in a truly dreadful state. It looked fine on the surface, from ground floor looking up, but a cursory inspection soon showed that all was not well. A closer look revealed the dreadful truth.

It’s hard to believe that a week ago we had no inkling of what was about to be undertaken. Now, many £££ later, we are advising all and sundry to make sure they have a roof inspection at regular intervals. We have never been advised to do so, and it would seem a sensible thing to insist upon under house insurance renewal guidelines.

Looking online, I see that the advice is to have a house roof that is older than 25 years professionally inspected annually. Ours was 75 years in parts, and 50 on later extensions. Roofs on houses newer than 10 years can usually be left for three to five years. Obviously, if there appears to be a problem, it’s wise to seek advice.

At one point there were ten men scurrying around at dizzying heights. The weather was favourable for the work, in that it was dry, but it was very warm.

We shall be writing a glowing review for the company that carried out the work. We were shown videos and photographs of conditions and progress at all stages and given information and technical terms that we shall never need again – valleys, drip trays, and bird guards being just three.

In addition, when the scaffolders were erecting the scaffolding on Monday, they braced hard against our neighbour’s wall. She happened to be in her lift and the whole thing juddered. She was momentarily frightened and worried that the lift would malfunction and she would be stuck. Our builder apologised to her and cleaned the moss off her roof and did one or two other little jobs for her, free of charge.

Everything was executed efficiently and the whole area tidied up on completion of the work. We cannot fault them.

Now, when the rains come and the winds howl, we shall shelter inside our weatherproof house, poor but dry.

Life begins at forty

 

Life begins at forty

If a baby is carried to full term, it has been 40 weeks in development, so in that sense, life (outside the womb) really does begin at 40.

Forty can be significant for people taking examinations, when it may be the pass mark, and denote the difference between success and failure.

It may be even more important to the workforce, when a 40-hour week can be standard, though it may vary between 37.5 and 40 hours. Shift workers usually work a 40-hour shift.

 In tennis, 40 indicates the third point won in a game. Athletes and dancers reaching the age of 40 used to be regarded as veterans, ready to retire. In modern times players at the top of their game are seen as elite performers.

Minus 40 degrees is the point at which Fahrenheit and Celsius scales are exactly equal.

In religion, 40 frequently represents a time of tribulation or preparation. Noah’s flood lasted 40 days. Moses fasted for 40 days, as did Jesus, while the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years. Many Christians fast or abstain from luxuries for the 40 days of Lent.

In Islam, 40 symbolises spiritual growth. The prophet Muhammad experienced his first revelation when he was 40, the age of full maturity and strength. The baby in the womb develops in 40-day stages before its soul is breathed into it.

In the 14^th century, during the Bubonic Plague, ships were held in port for 40 days before any crew members or passengers could disembark. This was to ensure that the danger of passing on the disease had been overcome. The 40-day period, still observed today in cases of communicable disease, is called quarantine, deriving from quaranta, the Italian for 40. Emerging from quarantine is like a return to life, another starting from 40.

The Roaring Forties are westerly winds blowing strongly and persistently in the Southern Hemisphere, causing huge swells, because there are no landmasses to interrupt them. Merchantmen used them in the 18^th and 19^th centuries to speed their journeys through latitudes 40˚ and 50˚ between Europe and Australasia. On their return journeys, they used the Furious Fifties!

 

Patty pans

 

Patty pans

 It had been many years – at least ten - since I had seen patty pans for sale, so I was delighted to be able to buy some recently.

Patty pans (Cucurbita pepo) look rather like flying saucers. The name derives from the vegetable’s resemblance to a shallow baking pan used for cooking patties or pasties. It is an ancient crop, archaeological discoveries indicating that it was cultivated around 8 to 10,000 years ago in North America.

They are known by a variety of other names, including custard squash, and granny squash.

I cooked them in the air fryer with no dressing or seasoning and they were soft and delicious with our main fish dish.

 

How much is too much?

 

How much is too much?

 Water makes up around 60% of our body weight. We need it to keep our bodies working efficiently. When we are well-hydrated, our blood circulates as it should, our body temperature remains at the right level, and our food is digested properly. We become dehydrated when we lose more water than we take in. Then we become tired, our heads ache, and small tasks seem impossible.

Thus we are advised constantly to make sure we’re drinking enough to remain healthy.

Of course, requirements vary according to body weight and activity, but official guidelines suggest that women should drink about 2.7 litres a day, and men around 3.7 litres. That includes all sources of fluid, including plain water, tea, and fruit. Some people worry that tea is a diuretic, and causes more liquid to be lost than gained, but studies have shown that the loss is minimal, and tea is an acceptable way to maintain fluid intake.

When high temperatures are forecast the constant advice is to drink plenty of water and stay well-hydrated.

Is it possible to drink too much water?

Human kidneys can process about one litre of fluid an hour. Healthy adults should drink enough fluids to make their urine a pale straw-yellow.

It is dangerous to drink more than the kidneys can cope with. Too much liquid dilutes the blood’s sodium levels. Water then enters the body’s cells, including those in the brain, causing them to swell. This is called water intoxication (hyponatremia) and can be fatal.

Mild symptoms of hyponatremia include completely colourless urine, needing to urinate more frequently – that is, more than nine or ten times daily, or several times at night – stomach upsets like vomiting, or diarrhoea, and a persistent throbbing headache.

Serious symptoms indicating a medical emergency include disorientation, muscle weakness, cramps, seizures, or coma.

If people are expending a lot of energy in intense exercise, or are living in hot, dry climates and sweating constantly, 4 litres might be an appropriate amount of liquid.

Athletes in endurance events are the people most at risk of over-hydrating.

Rather than worrying about the volume of fluid you are consuming, the best method of ensuring good hydration is to be aware of your body, and drink when you feel thirsty.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

         

Sleep tight

 

Sleep tight

Night night, sleep tight,

Don’t let the bed bugs bite.

What does ‘sleep tight’ mean?

There is a plausible, but possibly mistaken explanation for this. Rope beds were invented in the 16^th century. Before the 19^th century mattresses were stuffed with straw or feathers or horsehair and suspended on and supported by a web of ropes. (The very poorest people slept on a filled sack mattress on the floor!)

With time, the ropes would sag and need to be tightened with a wrench. This led to people thinking that ‘sleep tight’ referred to the tightening of ropes to provide a sounder night’s sleep.

However, rope beds gradually fell out of use after sprung mattresses were produced in the mid-19^th century. The phrase ‘sleep tight’ was not seen in print until 1866 and became common usage in the early 20^th century. By that time, rope beds were a thing of the past.

To ‘’sleep tight’ or ‘sit tight’ means to remain still or secure. Bidding someone to sleep tight was a way of wishing them a good, restful night’s slumber.

‘Don’t let the bed bugs bite’ was added to the phrase later, although it is certain that mattresses were repositories of many types of tiny pests. Mattresses had to be shaken and beaten regularly to dislodge bugs. Usually, if the stuffing was of straw or hay or pea husks, it would be replaced entirely at harvest time.

There is an alternative suggestion which is that ‘bed bug’ was the name for the tightening wrench for a rope bed, and it would sometimes jump back and hit or’ bite’ the hand that was holding it.

Bed bugs are not entirely the affliction of poverty-stricken people. Like cockroaches, they are ancient insects and have adjusted to living with humans. It is thought that they originally lived in caves in the Middle East, where they fed on bats. Eventually they adapted their feeding to humans who inhabited the caves. They are attracted to body heat and the carbon dioxide humans exhale.

They cannot fly or jump but can crawl quickly onto clothing or other personal items. Thus, when travelling to places where bed bugs might be encountered, it is advisable to keep luggage off the floor and away from mattresses and walls. Bed bugs creep into small crevices and seams.

 Furthermore, unpack immediately on returning home and wash and dry everything at as high a temperature as possible. An infestation of bed bugs is difficult to eradicate.

Ramping up

 

Ramping up

 Solar Orbiter's widest high-res view of the Sun, March 2025

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The heat is ramping up again in the UK, though it’s not going to be as extreme as it was in June. At least, that’s the forecast. It could all change . . .

It will be hotter in Europe.

Drink plenty of water and keep as cool as possible.

Green for Go!

 

Green for Go!

Green is an energising colour. It’s all around us in the trees and the plants.

A green traffic light tells us it’s safe to proceed. People even say they’ve ‘given something the green light,’ meaning that they accept the proposition, whatever it may be.

The green light on our vacuum cleaner operates at floor level and tells us something different. It highlights every particle of dust. Operating the vacuum cleaner is quite mesmeric, as it shows a never-ending quantity of small detritus to be sucked up from our hard floors.

We have animals so there is fur and dust in abundance.

It is not the gadget for an obsessive homeowner, because however many times the machine is passed across the floor, there is always more to be picked up.

Vacuuming in our house is a Sisyphean task.

 

 

My Boy Lollipop

 

My boy Lollipop

This song popped into my head the other morning for no apparent reason. Perhaps it was the unusually high temperature.

It was a bouncy, cheerful song, sung by 16-year-old Millie Small who was credited with popularising Caribbean ska. Ska was the precursor to rocksteady which led on to reggae.

My boy Lollipop

You make my heart go giddyup

You are as sweet as candy

You’re my sugar dandy

 

Whoa oh, my boy Lollipop

Never ever leave me

Because it would grieve me

My heart told me so

The remaining verses continue in similar breathy, excitable fashion.

Millie Small had a stroke and died in London in May 2020. She was 72.

Noise!

 

Noise!

We are having a lot of work done on the ageing roof of our house. Today it has involved the erection of scaffolding, which is a very noisy process.

The scaffolders have been drilling, sawing, screwing, and dropping scaffolding for several hours now. The dogs have given up barking. I wish I could say my head had given up aching.

 Later, maybe . . .

Tomorrow, a huge skip is being delivered to collect all the rubbish which will come from the removal of damp felt, membranes, timbers, and birds’ empty nests. The tiles will be reused, so that’s something to celebrate.

At least we shall have a leak-proof roof by the time all the workmen have gone, by the end of the week. It is not what we were planning but sometimes these events are thrust upon us.

Happy Days are here again!

False impressions

 

False impressions

For the avoidance of doubt, I have to research much of the information I write in my blog posts. There are a few things I know, like how to tell the difference between male and female starlings, or the colour of an octopus’s blood, or what is meant by a fronted adverbial (one of the dafter things ten and eleven-year-olds need to know, apparently)  but even those I check to make sure I’ve got my facts right.

Sometimes what we know to be right evolves to become incorrect or inaccurate as new evidence is discovered. That makes history interesting, and science ever more fascinating.

I’m learning all the time, as so many of us are. New knowledge is retained sketchily, the most outlandish or gruesome facts sticking more readily than the commonplace.

I find real experts fascinating to listen to. They are enthusiastic, articulate, and able to explain complex ideas in a readily comprehensible way. They also enable their listeners to feel, albeit fleetingly, almost as intelligent as them. Leaving an audience feeling good about themselves is a gift and is likely to encourage at least some of them to pursue a passing interest in more detail.

 

FOLFIFOAP

 

FOLFIFOAP

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Do you suffer from folfifoap? Have you ever caused someone to experience the folfifoap, either deliberately (I hope not!) or unwittingly?

It is not a pleasant sensation and can show itself in many ways. For some, it results in stuttering and stammering. (Stuttering and stammering mean the same thing, but stuttering is the term more likely to be heard in Australia, Canada, and the US. Stammering is mostly used in UK, Ireland, and Singapore.)

In other people, folfifoap causes blushing, while yet others are reduced to speechlessness. This is uncomfortable, particularly in an interview situation, where the onus is on presenting oneself in the best light possible.

Most professionals do their best to put those who may be feeling insecure or nervous at their ease, but in some cases, this leads to further embarrassment or discomfort.

Is there a cure? I doubt it. The only way to overcome Fear Of Looking Foolish In Front Of A Professional  (FOLFIFOAP) is to equip oneself with as much knowledge as possible about a particular subject, event, or dilemma, and build up one’s self-confidence.