June 21st

 

June 21^st

                                Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) 

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Many will be marking the Summer Solstice on 21^st June, but it is also World Giraffe Day, also known as International Giraffe Day. This day was inaugurated by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) in 2014 as an occasion to acclaim the tallest animal in the world. It is appropriate that the tallest animal should be associated with the Longest Day.

Giraffe populations have been in decline since 1985 and there are currently only about 117,000 animals left in the wild. This is known as a ‘silent extinction’ because it’s occurring gradually, without much notice.

Giraffes can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa, their major habitats being grasslands and open woodlands in which acacia trees grow abundantly. Giraffes favour acacia trees!

A giraffe is a giraffe is a giraffe, right? That is largely accurate, but there are at least four distinct species. As with all things scientific, knowledge increases over time, and so some zoologists argue for further subdivision.

Masai and Reticulated giraffes are the species of least concern. The Masai are found in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Reticulated giraffes live in southern Ethiopia, Somalia, and northern Kenya.

Detail of Masai giraffe's coat  

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) has large irregular patches of coloured fur on its body and can reach heights up to six metres, the bulls being taller and heavier than the cows. It is the largest of the giraffes.

                            Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) is often seen in zoos. Its coat pattern is very different to the Masai giraffe, with clear lighter markings between the reddish-brown squared-off patches, giving the appearance of a net.

The two most endangered species of giraffe are the Northern giraffe and the Southern giraffe.

Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) has suffered many local extinctions and is extremely vulnerable. It lives in protected and unprotected areas in Kenya and Uganda. In unprotected areas, the adults are most at risk, perhaps from poaching, but in protected areas, the young are vulnerable to predation.

Southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa)
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) is mostly seen in southern Africa.

Giraffes have long, prehensile tongues, which are used for tearing leaves from trees. Their tongues are dark, to avoid sunburn, because they spend much of their time browsing. While the front of the tongue is black or purple, the back of the tongue, which remains in the mouth, is pink.

Giraffes are pregnant for about fifteen months and often remove themselves from the rest of the herd to give birth, thus offering a measure of protection from predators.

New-born giraffes calves are about the height of an adult man and are able to run within hours of birth. This is essential in an environment in which they are in danger from predators.

Giraffes can live for thirty years in the wild. Each giraffe’s coat pattern is unique, just as each human’s fingerprints are unique.

2025 Ospreys

 

2025 Ospreys

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I haven’t looked at all the UK sites, but this year seems to be a better year for Ospreys than 2024. The Loch Arkaig pair, Louis and Dorcha, hatched three eggs, but one chick perished, cause unknown. The remaining two osplets look healthy and vigorous.

In Manton Bay, in Rutland, the nest site has been occupied each year by the same female, Maya, since 2010. An experienced parent, she has raised four chicks this year, with the mate she has had since 2015.

The Poole Harbour ospreys have also successfully raised four chicks, but at Loch of the Lowes, both eggs were lost, predated by crows. The breeding pair here was inexperienced.

When the birds depart in August or September for their winter grounds, they do not retain their pair bond. The siblings do not maintain family connections, either. When or if the adults return in March or April, they will go back to their familiar sites and resume their relationship.

Osprey chicks or Osplets, five weeks old

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

About 70% of osplets will not survive to the age of three, when ospreys start breeding. However, there are now about three hundred breeding pairs in UK, a huge recovery from the extinction they suffered in the 1880s. The first ospreys to return to Scotland arrived from Scandinavia in the 1950s and numbers have gradually increased.

Ospreys are still rarer than Golden Eagles.

 Togetherness

Togetherness, or Possession is nine-tenths of the law.

The Giver

 

The Giver

I don’t read much Young Adult (YA) literature but chanced upon ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry. Published in 1993 and receiving the Newbery Medal a year later, it is a short dystopian novel, dealing with a managed society in which no-one is allowed to experience deep emotion, or to learn about history. Society does not operate independently or democratically.

When children reach the age of twelve, they are assigned their lifelong tasks by the Elders. For example, if girls are appointed as Birth mothers, they will bear three children, and then become labourers. Babies are assigned to family units. Adults are matched with appropriate partners. There is no love, romance, courtship, or choice. In order to combat ‘stirrings’ of emotions, a daily pill is taken to suppress them.

Nurturers look after newborn babies. Other people live their lives cleaning up.

Jonas, the ‘hero’ of the book, is called to be a Receiver. In that role, he receives all the memories hidden from the rest of his community, and learns about pain, colour, hunger, happiness, and family. In time he will become the Giver of memories.

Inevitably, he decides to escape and takes with him the baby Gabriel, who has been destined to be ‘released’ because he is not considered strong enough to live in the community. They set off on an arduous journey to reach ‘Elsewhere,’ an unknown location.

The story feels like a slighter form of George Orwell’s powerful novel, ‘1984.’  It comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying end, when Jonas and Gabriel, cold and starving, see colour and warmth in a cottage at the foot of a steep, snowy slope.

It was interesting to read the author’s comments at the end of the book. She claimed that the ending was deliberately ambiguous and then wrote sequels to the book in later years.

It is not a book I would recommend. It starts well, but runs out of ideas once the hero leaves his secure environment, as though the original premise was exciting but had not been thought through thoroughly.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

The Mystery

 

The Mystery

If we want to freshen the air in the house, we open all the windows and have a good breeze running through. I also have reed diffusers in the porch and the cloakroom with a citrus scent. These give a subtle, unobtrusive, fresh, warm smell.

On Friday, the day before Bethan and Robert were due to visit us, I noticed an unpleasant smell in the sitting room. I had recently bought a different diffuser. It was so strong that the aroma caught in the back of my throat and gave me a headache. I moved it to the porch, where it continued to choke me when I went to the front door.

I tried a different one, which smelt fresher, but again, it eventually irritated my throat.

We wondered if there had been a chemical reaction somehow, though with what we couldn’t imagine. Eventually, I put the diffusers in the garden, but the nauseating smell remained indoors. Meanwhile, Barry took the dogs out for a walk, leaving me to continue last minute tasks.

I thought the revolting smell might be coming in from outside, and wondered if maybe it was the drains, so I shut the patio doors. The smell remained. I opened the doors again to allow some fresh air in. The smell seemed to gain in intensity, and I could not pinpoint the source.

When Bethan ‘phoned to say they were on their way, I thought that I must warn her of the awful smell. That way they could change their plans if they decided they didn’t want to share the odour with us. I would have understood completely, and rather fancied being somewhere else entirely myself.

However, they continued their journey and arrived just after midday. They noticed the smell – how could they not? – but said it was not as disgusting as I had suggested.

We had a very pleasant day together, but the smell lingered, and I was sure it was increasing. Just before Bethan and Robert left to return home, they traced the smell to a cupboard housing electronic equipment. Opening its doors released an almost overpowering malodorous stench.

As soon as the front door had closed behind them, Barry put on his head torch and started searching. There was nothing in the cupboard that shouldn’t be there, but on the floor behind it, among the wires, was the decomposing body of a mouse. It was swiftly removed and consigned to the bin and the smell dissipated almost immediately.

I believe we have Jellicoe to thank for this unexpected and undesirable gift. When he catches mice, he likes to bring them into the house. They are not always extinct. Obviously, he had brought one in while we were not in the room and it had had enough strength to escape, only to die behind the cupboard, poor little thing.

We are relieved that the drains are not problematic and that the floorboards will not have to be lifted. We will continue to do what we did the other day, and that is, to shut the patio door if we are not in the sitting room, to prevent Jellicoe bringing his prizes indoors.

Indeed, a couple of days ago, he was yelling at the door to be let in. As I opened the door, I noticed a lifeless mouse on the patio. Once they are dead, Jellicoe is no longer interested in them. Fortunately, he does not eat them. It’s better than being overrun with mice, anyway.

Preparations

 

Preparations

Gillian is apt to descend on us with no prior warning, with one or more of her children and grandchildren. It’s always lovely to see her, but we have to rely on what is available in the way of refreshments, though, to be fair, she usually brings her own. That way, the children are not faced with unfamiliar food.

Impromptu family visits are fun, but those which have been telegraphed in advance – that is, planned – take on a different countenance. Absolutely no-one in our family is at all awkward or demanding, but it’s always nice to ensure that things are as welcoming as they can be.

Part of the fun is making sure we have acceptable provisions. For example, dairy milk is not well tolerated by some, so almond milk is provided, but that’s not good for everyone, either, so we order oat milk. Some are vegetarians, and food provided for them must be kept at a safe distance from the offerings for the carnivores.

Once the food has been organised, we set about ‘tidying.’ This is a mammoth task, as we have many interests and are untidy and apt to be distracted.

Finally, ‘alles ist in Ordnung.’ For no particular reason, we use German phrases occasionally. I suppose we use French, too – ‘tout de suite,’ for example. Somehow, foreign phrases seem so much more fitting than our pedestrian English, and, of course, our language is littered with Latin expressions. What a mongrel nation we are!

Anyway, the house is at last less of a tip than usual, the dogs have been exercised, and we welcome our visitors with open arms.

A couple of weeks ago, Susannah and Arthur came to stay for a few days. Susannah works to a different timetable from everyone else, rising at 4:30 and retiring in the early evening. Her childhood friend, Jo, was staying with her for a few weeks. She now lives in Ecuador, but came to see us, which really touched us. She’s a breath of fresh air, a vibrant personality, and great fun. She and Susannah make a wonderful double act, with a terrific sense of humour.

 Yesterday, Bethan and her family came for lunch. They arrived with a beautiful bunch of sunflowers and a loaf of chollah. They never come empty-handed and always bring us chollah from a Jewish bakery close to them, as they know how much we like it. My first experience of chollah was more than thirty years ago when I saw it in a supermarket and thought it would be interesting to try. Robert’s grandmother used to make her own.

We aimed to eat at 1:00, and nearly made it. I think we sat down about 1:30, which is rather good, for us. Charlie and Jack are older now and better able to control their hunger pangs, so it was all quite relaxed.

                  The beef joint prior to cooking. It didn't end up on the floor this time!

Barry had prepared a beef joint ‘sous vide,’ garnished with rosemary and thyme from the garden. It cooked slowly for twenty-four hours and sliced as easily as butter. Bethan took over and cooked the vegetables – carrots, green beans and tenderstem broccoli. I only recently discovered that tenderstem broccoli, sometimes called broccolini, is a hybrid of kale and broccoli. It is delicious cooked al dente (there we are, an Italian phrase to enrich our English) or eaten raw in salad.

Almost as soon as we sat down, Charlie asked if I had made a trifle. Luckily, I had. Out of curiosity, we looked up the French and German translations for trifle and were rewarded with ‘bagatelle,’ and ‘kleinigkeit,’ both meaning ‘a little thing, a minor detail.’ Clearly, trifle is not something familiar in French or German cuisine. It is English in origin, first appearing in cookery books in the sixteenth century.

Roxy and Gilbert were thrilled to see more family members, nudging and nosing them, Gilbert bringing them toys. Robert, Charlie and Jack were delighted to see Herschel and Jellicoe. They would love to have cats of their own, but Robert is allergic to them, and has to take antihistamines before he visits us – or maybe it’s us to whom he’s allergic.

The cats were fussed and stroked and talked to and played with, and responded with grace and patience.

Jack trawled the raspberry canes to discover edible berries, which turned out to be anything which was pinkish. He also discovered a few more cherries and strawberries. Charlie concentrated on training the cats!

                                        Roxy snoozes and dreams

It was a lovely day, and we all slept well last night. My back was stiff and sore by evening, but that was a small price to pay for the pleasure of seeing much-loved family.

                                Gilbert enjoys a well-earned rest
As children and grandchildren grow and create their own family units, it becomes more difficult to arrange meetings. Barry and I are the older (oldest!!)  generation now and as is normal, older family members tend to fade a little into the background, or possibly it is that we become observers more than participants. I know our children would hotly deny that this is the case, but it is the natural order of things, which they will realise in the fullness of time.

 

Humour

 Couriers are well known for leaving deliveries in odd places - thrown over a wall, tossed into a hedge - the 'designated safe places' are not always respected.

Q: Which is fastest, hot or cold?

A: Hot, because you can catch cold.

 

Q: What ring is square?

A: A boxing ring.

 

Q: What’s the best way to stop food going bad?

A: Eat it.

 

Q: Why was six scared of seven?

A: Because seven eight nine.

 

Q: What goes up, but never comes down?

A: Your age.

 

I like the next one:

Q: What do you give a man who has everything?

A: Antibiotics.

 

The last one is probably my favourite, for today. Yes, there will be more at some point . . .

Q: Why is it so difficult to train dogs to dance?

A: They have two left feet.

Checking the harvest

 

Checking the harvest

Our blueberries have come to nothing again this year. We suspect a lack of rain may be to blame. We have apples aplenty, and a fair amount of stone fruit – greengages and plums, and even a few apricots, which mostly seem to fall before they ripen. 

Plums

                                                     Greengages 

🎜Cherry ripe, cherry ripe🎝

Cherry - it's not really the size of an apple!

Pear

Apricot - again, another close-up!

The cherries have been a treat for the birds, though we have eaten a few. There are pears on a couple of trees – they’re not often successful. They didn’t have enough water at the right time, either. There are lots of crab apples – I might even do something with them this year, although, again, as with most things, we grow them for the wildlife.

Crab apples

Raspberries are growing very well, and we have enjoyed a handful. 

I couldn’t understand why there were so many leaves and unripe berries on the ground. I assumed Barry had been pruning them – it’s a bit of a jungle out there - but he claimed innocence.

 Jellicoe preceded me down the path

What a mess!

Latterly, Gilbert has been spending a long time in the garden, not coming in as swiftly as normal when he’s called. We noticed that he was licking his chops as he came indoors and couldn’t think what he had found to eat. We were a little concerned, though we were pretty sure there was not much out there to damage him. Then we caught him, expertly sucking the raspberries off the canes. They grow at just the right height for him to reach.

                                                    Searching

 Getting closer

Nearly there!

                                Get stuck in there, lad. That's right! 

 Roxy hasn’t caught on yet, though I’m sure she will. They both like fruit.

The strawberries are ripening, but they’re too high for the dogs to pick. The birds will not have much competition.

Our first Labrador, Whisky, was three years old when she came to us. She really appreciated having a home of her own, and spent her first year or two before we were married, living in the officers’ mess, attending lectures, and enjoying a dish of beer in one of the local pubs. She used to eat blackberries from the hedgerows. She did it so delicately, but then, Labradors have incredibly soft mouths.

Five times

 

Five times

This is the fifth time in eight years that I’ve composed a post about stag beetles. The first time was when four-year-old Frankie had been alarmed by ’a big, black thing’ on the floor in the conservatory. On that occasion it had been brought in by the curious cats. That summer, they brought in three, all unharmed and returned safely to the great outdoors.

It is around this season of the year that stag beetles emerge from their underground lairs, having spent the majority of their lives, between three and seven years, as larvae, feeding on decaying wood.

As adults, they also spend their first winter underground, eventually tunnelling to the surface, to mate. The female then returns to the spot from which she emerged, digs down and lays her eggs in the soil. The larvae may be found as much as half a metre underground.

The adults will not survive the summer, dying by the end of the season. None will live through the winter, apart from the new adults underground.

Stag beetles are the largest beetle native to the UK and are in decline. They are quite widespread in Southern England, but rare or even extinct in other areas of Britain. They are drawn to the warmth of roads and pavements and often end their lives being crushed under the wheels of cars or the feet of pedestrians.

Despite their rather aggressive appearance, they are completely harmless, except to each other when fighting.

This year we found two stag beetles sadly drowned in a bucket of water. We tipped them out, but it was too late to save them.

They fall prey to foxes and corvids. I have just seen a beautiful jay in the garden, so I wonder if it has spotted a stag beetle making its stately way across the ground.

If you’re interested in reading my previous stag beetle posts, just type ‘Stag beetles’ in the ‘Search this blog’ tab.

 

The mute

 

The mute

            Trombone with a straight mute. This is the most commonly used mute for brass instruments

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

                                    Trombone with a cup mute

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

A mute is used on musical instruments to change the quality or tone of the music produced. It can be used to allow a player to practise more quietly, hence the saying, ‘Good mutes make good neighbours.’

 Hat mute for trumpet
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Perhaps the mutes most familiar to onlookers are the plunger mute or the harmon mute that create the ‘wah-wah’ sound.

                                 Harmon wah wah mute for trumpet
                                        Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Gilbert doesn’t play a musical instrument, though he has some squeaky toys. He does use mutes, though.

 

On this occasion, the mute was a yoghourt pot. 

At other times, it’s a ball or a toy.

Arthur favours the double mute method!