Green shoots?

Not oak, but new rose leaves.

Not all new spring growth is green. The leaves in the oak trees near us are a rich bronze-red colour when they emerge, turning green later on in the year. The red colour is from high levels of anthocyanins, which provide an important natural defence against damaging sunlight. The chlorophyll in young leaves is protected until the leaves mature, and turn first light and then darker green.

Red leaves are less likely to be eaten by pests. Studies have shown that red indicates that a plant is not good enough to eat, lacking nitrogen, or is tough and more difficult to chew. Additionally, some sick or dying plants have red leaves, so will be avoided by herbivores, both insect and mammal.

Freelance

 

Freelance

Where did this expression originate? Were freelancers otherwise known as mercenaries, ‘lances for hire,’ ready to fight for whoever would pay them?

I digress. Our middle daughter, Susannah, is an excellent organiser. Weeks ago, she organised a day’s sailing for her father, brother, and eldest nephew. As the time drew near, she fretted over weather forecasts, but all looked set fair for a glorious day on the Solent. Every day this week the weather was beautiful until today, the day of the projected sail. The forecast was dismal. After much deliberation, they decided to make the most of it anyway. It might be a bit damp and there probably wouldn’t be much wind, but they’d have a good day out together.

Susannah is a television producer. When her contract ended recently, she became freelance. ‘Times is hard’ and jobs are few and far between. The nature of the work means that she is called at sometimes very short notice to work unsocial hours. That happened on Friday evening and she found she would be required to work all weekend as well as next week. She was very torn. Obviously, she couldn’t refuse the job, needing to keep her name in the forefront of potential employers’ minds, and not knowing when or if another would crop up any time soon. She thought long and hard about taking her laptop with her to the boat, so that she could work there. Reluctantly, she decided against that, needing to be on immediate call, and concluding that it would be difficult to concentrate on the job.

She was really upset, especially when her brother, Gareth, drove up with one of his sons. It was the right decision, but it has unsettled her. She had intended staying with us for a few days, but now has to return to London, as the job requires her to go to the office on Tuesday.

The men had a most enjoyable day. The sun shone, the wind blew gently, and the projected rain didn’t appear until late afternoon. It was very pleasant for them to spend time together. Callum, our eldest grandson, and Louis, Gareth’s younger son, are close in age, and employed in the same world as their elders.

Meanwhile, Susannah has highlighted another day for sailing. If nothing else, it may ensure that she is provided with work! She wasn’t very amused by that observation.

(Postscript: I just looked up the derivation of freelance and found the following:

The term “freelance” originates from the Middle Ages, where it was used to describe a “free lance,” referring to a medieval mercenary or knight who was not permanently employed by any lord or king. These knights offered their services to the highest bidder, often being hired for specific battles or campaigns.)

A veritable forest

 

A veritable forest

Api noir apples

Image source

This morning a long cardboard container was delivered to our front door. We knew from the depiction of flowers on the box that the contents were living plants, but we hadn’t ordered any.

They were carefully packed and secured to prevent damage during transit, and we soon discovered that we had been given a veritable forest of fruit trees and shrubs. There were six altogether. If we’re lucky and look after our trees properly, we should be rewarded with some sweet fruit, though probably not this year, of course.

‘Peregrine’ peach is reputedly one of the best-flavoured peaches, heavy cropping, and giving juicy white-flesh fruit from August. It is self-fertile, so does not need a compatible partner.

Apricot ‘Large early’ is also self-fertile, providing large, sweet fruit with orange-yellow flesh from late June to early August. It is described as ‘hardy’ and ‘dependable.’

‘Patio’ nectarine is grown on dwarf root stock and should not grow more than two metres tall. It does not need to be pruned, and is loved by bees. It, too, does not require a pollination partner.

‘Early Rivers’ cherry is an English tree that gives large, almost black, sweet cherries in the first half of June. It is one of the earliest cherries to ripen. It is said to be a heavy regular cropper, and has been grown since 1872. It is self-sterile, so needs a partner. We will attempt to identify our current cherry tree, which produced masses of white blossom this year, and hopefully it will be compatible.

‘Api noir’ apple is a French dessert apple, probably dating from the seventeenth century. It, too, is self-sterile, so perhaps one of our apple trees will fulfil the required task. The apples are small, and purple to almost black. They are plentiful and sweet and keep well.

The Goji berry (Lycium barbarum) is a member of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae) and is native to China. It was originally used for hedging and as a decorative garden plant when it was first brought to the UK by the Duke of Argyll in the early eighteenth century.

All six plants are suitable to grow in patio containers.

They were a gift from our eldest daughter. Thank you, Gillian!

Bow windshield

 

Bow windshield

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Watching the Solent to see if the sea was as rough as we had been led to expect (it wasn’t) we saw the CMA CGM Montmartre leaving Southampton on her one-month voyage to Port Klang in Malaysia.

She is an extremely large vessel, but was making way on her own, without the assistance of tugs, so presumably was relying on large, effective bow thrusters to make the sharp turn into the main channel.

We noticed her large green bow windshield, or wind deflector. Such devices have been fitted on container ships since 2015. They have proved to improve a ship’s aerodynamic profile, reducing resistance, fuel consumption, and carbon emissions.

At present, bow windshields can only be seen on container ships, but it is expected that environmental considerations will see them becoming more widely employed. They can be retrofitted on existing ships in dry dock.

 

Ligers

 

Ligers

Liger

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Ligers result from a mating between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a female tiger (Panthera tigris) They are the largest known cats in the world. They have been recorded since the 1800s, when they were first publicly exhibited.

 Ligers do not occur naturally in the wild, since the habitats of lions and tigers are quite separate and do not overlap. Although there is a small Asian population of lions, they are generally associated with Africa. Tigers are found only in Asia. Therefore, ligers can only occur in captivity, where the two species have been kept together.

It was human curiosity, and an urge to conduct deliberate experiments in controlled breeding, that led to them being mated. The resulting litters produced animals which developed into exceptionally large adults, much larger than either of their parents.

 As with most hybrids, the males, though interested in and capable of copulation, are sterile. Female ligers have the ability to conceive and reproduce viable cubs, but these may be more delicate and prone to congenital defects and other health problems. Tiger mothers often reject their liger cubs. In one well-documented case, in 1824, a terrier bitch was employed to suckle three rejected liger cubs in Thomas Atkins’ travelling menagerie. These were probably the first ligers ever seen in Britain.

Ligers display characteristics of both lions and tigers. They are sociable animals, like lions, whereas tigers are solitary. They enjoy swimming, which is something tigers enjoy. In appearance, they display faint tiger-striped patterning on the tawny background usually associated with lions.

  Cubs produced from a mating between a male tiger and a female lion are called tigons.

House of Commons Select Committee

 

House of Commons Select Committee

House of Commons flag

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It’s a drizzly morning, so a good opportunity to sit and watch a House of Commons select committee.

Such committees are an excellent example of how cross-party politics could work.  They are composed of small groups of MPs appointed to conduct inquiries, question experts and ministers, and make recommendations. They cover a variety of topics like education, public spending, allegations of misconduct.

This morning’s committees followed Sir Oliver Robbins’ appearance last week. The first to be questioned was Sir Philip Barton, former Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, preceding Olly Robbins. He was followed by Morgan McSweeney, former Downing Street Chief of Staff.

The answers to the questions posed raise more questions about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the USA.

The plot thickens!

 

 

 

Axolotls

 

Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

On holiday recently, a ten-year-old girl found an axolotl under a bridge over the River Ogmore in Bridgend. Experts said that the axolotl would have died if she had not rescued it, either as a tasty morsel, or because of conditions to which it was not suited. It is possible, though not proven, that this specimen was an unfortunate pet that had outgrown its fascination for its owner. Such is the fate of many creatures.

Axolotls are found in the wild only in the lakes of the Mexican Central Valley. They are a critically endangered species.  They are named after Xolotl, the Aztec god of fire and lightning. The legend holds that he turned himself into an axolotl to avoid sacrifice by other gods. Axolotls are an important feature in Mexican culture, appearing in murals and on bank notes.

They are bred in captivity for research purposes, because they have an extraordinary ability to regenerate parts of their bodies, including limbs, and parts of their eyes, brains, and hearts.

They are neotenic, meaning that they reach maturity without metamorphosing from a fully aquatic form to an amphibious being, as salamanders or tadpoles do. Consequently, they retain their feathery gills and live their entire lives in water.

            They can be triggered into metamorphosis in laboratory conditions through an injection of iodine or thyroxine. Following that, the gills and fins are resorbed, while lungs develop, and eyelids grow, allowing them to adapt to life on land. They then resemble salamanders, though differences are visible. For example, a metamorphosed axolotl’s toes are longer than a salamander’s!

Wild axolotls are carnivorous, preying on small fish, worms, molluscs and other aquatic beasts. They are attracted to food by smell, and suck it into their stomachs. They have teeth, but they are vestigial and serve no practical purpose. The average lifespan of a wild axolotl is five years, though some manage to survive for ten. In captivity, they typically live between ten and fifteen years, though exceptionally, some can reach twenty years.

Axolotls become sexually mature between eighteen and twenty-four months, and reproduce through external fertilisation. The average length of a mature axolotl is 23 cms (9 inches) though there is some variation.

Concern about the axolotl’s decline has led to attempts to release captive-bred individuals, but the very real fear is that they will suffer the same fate as wild-bred animals. Pollution, the introduction of non-native predators, and greater urbanisation, all threaten the future of these fascinating creatures.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons