A-level results

 

A-level results

A-level results were published today. A-level examinations are taken by 17 and 18-year-olds in the UK. Congratulations to all who were successful.

Once again, more students achieved top grades – A and A*, almost one in ten were A* - and boys pulled ahead of girls. More than 78% of students receive A* to C grades. The most examined subjects were mathematics, followed by psychology and biology, while political studies, law, and economics increased their candidate numbers.

Most university applicants received offers of places from their first-choice institutions. That is laudable, and hopefully the courses applied for will involve a degree of academic rigour, and be taught by competent, coherent, articulate lecturers. There are no guarantees, of course.

University degrees are not the end of the learning process, but the beginning of a progression into the adult world, where the prizes must be actively, sometimes aggressively pursued. Further degrees are commonly undertaken, and it is not unusual for graduates with higher degrees to make upward of seventy applications before a job offer is made.

It is time more rigour was applied to examinations. The country has drifted into a culture of rewarding all efforts, however feeble, with praise and acclaim. Encouragement is necessary at all stages of life, but somewhere the realisation that triumph is not always guaranteed has been lost, with the subsequent expectation that success is inevitable. Young people are not given any favours with such an attitude.

Many young people should never be encouraged to apply for university. Many drop out after the first year. There are other means of furthering one’s experience and would be more, if the money and effort expended on urging students to attend university had been used instead on apprenticeships.

Perhaps the pendulum will swing away from university education being perceived as the gold standard ambition of a young person’s life.

Oily

It’s another bright sunny August day, spoilt only by an unpleasant oily smell in the air. No doubt it will dissipate. There have not been aircraft in a holding pattern. In fact, there have been very few aircraft flying over today.

One of life’s little mysteries – well, there’s nothing else going on today.  

Clacton

 

Clacton

                                                       Count Binface    

                                                                Image source

There is to be a by-election in Clacton on Thursday 13^th August, brought about by the resignation of its member of Parliament, Nigel Farage. It is alleged that he has wrongly accepted monetary gifts and gifts in kind from dubious sources. He denied all allegations and claimed that he was resigning his seat to put an end to press intrusion into his affairs. He announced that he would be standing as a candidate in the election, in order to test the will of Clacton voters to decide whether he should continue as their MP.

By resigning, he brought to a halt all investigations into his behaviour. Investigations will resume if he is re-elected.

A registered political party may stand more than one candidate if it wishes, provided each candidate has been nominated and authorised by the party. Each candidate must make a deposit of £500 as validation, which is only refunded to them if they gain at least 5% of the total vote.

None of the major political parties have put forward a candidate in the by-election, but there are 34 names on the ballot paper, the largest number in British electoral history, including three established political party candidates. Fourteen more somewhat less conventional contenders include Count Binface who has stood in six previous elections, once under his previous name of Lord Buckethead. He has contested four Parliamentary seats and two elections for London mayor. He lost his deposit each time.

Three candidates representing the Official Monster Raving Loony Party are on the ballot paper. They are Baron Von Thunderclap, (attempted 6 previous seats, lost all 6 and his deposit) Howling Laud Hope (contested 37, lost 37, and failed to get back his deposit) and Nick the Incredible Flying Brick (contested 13, lost 13, and his deposit).

I suspect that many people were hoping that Count Binface would be Nigel Farage’s only opponent, and the eventual victor, but more candidates have jumped on the bandwagon, and the vote is likely to be split several ways.

When all the votes have been cast and counted, the stage in Clacton will be shared by 34 candidates awaiting the declaration in the early hours of Friday morning.

Some may argue that the Clacton by-election is making a mockery of the democratic process by permitting candidates who do not appear to be serious to put themselves forward for election. I believe that we must hear the smaller voices – the man in the fox costume (though I think he may not be standing this time), the Inter-galactic warrior, the people we may abhor but who have a voice for at least some of the populace, those who campaign on just one issue, like having a local dentist in Clacton. We may not support them, but they have a right to be heard.

One thing is certain – all the contestants will claim victory, for that is the way of modern politics.

                                            Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Well!

 

Well!

I bought a book recently. There’s nothing unusual in that except that I keep telling myself not to buy any more books. Actually, I’ve bought several in recent days. One, ‘Remember’ by Lisa Genova, I bought after reading another blogger’s review of it.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember who recommended it (should make a note of these details) but thank you, anyway. I read it in one sitting.

I also bought ‘The wild bee handbook’ by Sarah Wyndham Lewis. This has some nice drawings of bees in it, but the photographs are disappointingly blurry.

‘The Importance of Being Interested’ by Robin Ince is rather harder going than ‘Remember,’ and Rosy Thornton’s ‘Sandlands’ was another blogger recommendation (again, my apologies as I cannot recall who it was.) I suggested it to my youngest daughter who is compiling a collection of short stories she has written, hopefully to be published some time next year. It’s always good to know what the competition is presenting.

During 'From My Mental Librarys's visit to Ripon this summer, Meike mentioned ‘Topping and Company’ in York, where she and her sister tarried a while. She included a link to the website, so of course I had to have a look. 

I discovered a book that looked interesting, ‘A Year with Gilbert White’ by Jenny Uglow.  He is considered the first great nature writer and he lived in Seldon, not far from my home, so a ‘local,’ much like Jane Austen.

I noticed that a signed first edition of the book was available at no extra cost, so I ordered one. I’ve always liked the idea of signed first editions. When I was teaching in Reading, the staff were invited to buy a signed first edition of David Attenborough’s book ‘The Living Planet.’ We were greatly disappointed when the print run of the first edition was exhausted and we had to be content with a signed second edition. Even so, it was something to be treasured.

The book by Jenny Uglow arrived, beautifully packaged, and it was several days before I could bear to remove the inner wrapping. New books are so special, with a wonderful smell and feel of their own, and I felt almost reverential as I opened the cover.

Well!

I couldn’t find the signature! I looked everywhere, knowing it ought to be on the title page, but searching every end page, front and back, I could find it nowhere.

I ‘phoned the company, expressing my disappointment, and they offered to send me another if I returned my copy. I demurred, not wanting to go to the trouble of parcelling and packing it. I suggested that it was unfortunate that a company should make such an error, as it would not be good for their reputation. 

After a short discussion between the person who had been dealing with me and her supervisor, they decided to send me another copy, free of charge, which I was not expecting, but for which I was most grateful. Now I have two copies, one signed, one unsigned. (Maybe it’s saved a Christmas present problem!)

I really must stop buying books! 

Achillea millefolium

 

Achillea millefolium

Achillea millefolium, more commonly known as yarrow, is a UK native perennial wildflower with umbels of small flowers providing a convenient landing pad for insects. It is a member of the daisy family (Asteraceae) It is a valuable source of nectar for bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and flies, and has a long flowering period, from June to October, and sometimes into November.

Gardeners regard it as a companion plant to their vegetable or flower crops because some of the insects it attracts feed on pests. Ladybirds eat aphids, just as the larvae of hoverflies do. Lacewings eat mites, aphids and whiteflies, while parasitic wasps lay eggs inside garden pests.

The foliage remains green and ferny even in drought. The plant can also withstand wet conditions, but it needs to grow in full sun and will not thrive in shade. It gives shelter and food to the larvae of several moths, notably pug moths, though its natural oils are said to repel mosquitoes. The closely divided leaves are a folk remedy for treating cuts and stopping bleeding.

Yarrow spreads through seeds, and rhizomes will produce new shoots up to 30 cms from the original plant.

It has been cultivated as a garden plant with colours ranging from white and pastel yellow to bright orange and red. It is resistant to rabbit and deer.

Dar Młodzieży

 

Dar Młodzieży

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

This beautiful three-masted sail training ship is
currently approaching Cowes, following her return from her appearance in the Parade of Sail commemorating the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. She is owned by the Gydinia Maritime University and has trained Polish merchant navy officers for more than 44 years.

She didn't come in under full sail.

Climbing the rigging. Safety harnesses and a good head for heights are required.

She began her maiden voyage, in July 1982, and following several days of training she competed in the regatta from Falmouth to Lisbon. Early one morning the crew saw red distress rockets and found the German yacht ‘Peter von Danzig’ in the Atlantic with an injured sailor onboard. He was transferred to Dar Młodzieży, treated by the ship’s doctor initially and then flown to hospital by air ambulance.

Dar Młodzieży had lost more than four hours in the race to Lisbon but rejoined and crossed the line first. Her captain, Tadeusz Olechnowicz and his crew were presented with the Fair Play Award of the 1982 Polish Olympic Committee.

Crew working hard to haul in the sails.

Climbing higher . . .

. . . and higher. She flies the Union Flag as a courtesy flag because she's in British waters. The red and white Polish ensign flies at the stern.

                                Approaching her mooring buoy.

                                        Crew on the bowsprit . . .

                                        . . . hauling in the jibs and staysails

She has trained over 12,000 students from maritime universities and schools and has taken part in the Tall Ships’ Races many times. In addition, she has provided cruises for journalists, musicians, and cardiologists, and circumnavigated the world via the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn. She received the Boston Teapot Trophy in 1988 for the greatest distance under sail in 124 hours. It was during that voyage that she passed under the Sydney Bridge in full sail.

I was disappointed that she was not greeted by a flotilla of little boats as she hauled sail and approached her mooring buoy. We have noticed that there seem to be fewer sailing craft on the Solent this year, Cowes Week being a notable exception!

She has now moored!

Shingles

 

Shingles

Shingles is a virus that causes a painful rash. It usually clears within  four weeks, but can cause complications that may take a long time to resolve in some people. 

In case anyone needed further encouragement to accept the shingles jab, a number of major research studies suggest that there has been a discernible decline in the number of dementia diagnoses. According to research published in journals like ‘Nature’ and ‘Nature Medicine’, older adults accepting the shingles vaccination have a markedly lower risk of developing dementia, compared to those who do not receive the vaccine.

Stanford Medicine published the results of research conducted with 280,000 older adults in Wales. It showed that in adults with early cognitive impairment the zoster vaccine cut the likelihood of dying from dementia in a nine-year period in half. A 2026 paper showed that two doses of the vaccine were linked to a 51% reduction in the risk of developing dementia. Though it has not been proven, it is seen as a potent contributory element.

Shingles is caused by the reactivation of the varicella herpes virus (chicken pox). The vaccine blocks the recurrence of the herpes-zoster virus which is dormant in the body after chickenpox. People who have not had chickenpox cannot develop shingles. However, it is not always easy to be sure that a person has not had chickenpox if it was a very mild case and not recognised as such. Additionally, chicken pox may be contracted from someone who has shingles through contact with fluid from the shingles blisters, for example.

Other vaccines, like those for the prevention of influenza, diptheria/ tetanus/pertussis, and RSV, may also play a role in reducing the risk of dementia. In short, anything that reduces the influence of systemic infections helps to protect the ageing brain.

Repurposing drugs approved for other conditions is a reliable and cost-effective way of providing treatments for many illnesses. New drugs can take 10 to 15 years to develop and test.

Two professors at the University of Exeter have found three drugs from a panel of 80 that could be the most helpful in treating and possibly preventing dementia. They are the shingles vaccine, (Zostavax), Viagra (Sildenafil), and one used for MND (Riluzole), with the shingles vaccine proving to be the most favourable, as it requires just two doses and has proved to be safe.

 

 

More crow!

 

More crow!

Anvilcloud suggested that I save him some trouble by finding out the origins of ‘something to crow about.’ It means that an event or result is worthy of being bragged about, but all I have been able to discover is that it is a phrase that has been in use since the 1500s and is associated with the morning crowing of cockerels (roosters). Cockerels crow loudly to assert their dominance over their domain. 

The American expression, ‘to eat crow’ means to admit that one is wrong, particularly when a position has been robustly defended. It implies a degree of humiliation and arose from around the middle of the 19^th century. Humorous stories recounted how a conceited farmer was tricked into ‘eating boiled crow,’ which tasted foul. The idiom was shortened to ‘eating crow.’

‘Upstart crow’ was a description applied to William Shakespeare about 1592. Whether it was intended as an insult to demean him or used as a means of amplifying his eminence is probably a theme for a doctoral thesis (it becomes ever more difficult to find suitable subjects for dissertation in literature) One suggestion is that Shakespeare was denigrated as an impudent actor who had ambitions to become a playwright. That leads on to further discussion about who ‘really’ wrote Shakespeare’s plays.

‘Upstart Crow’ was a 2016 BBC television series written by Ben Elton. This excellent sitcom loosely traced the beginnings of Shakespeare’s life as a writer in London. It starred David Mitchell as the playwright, and had a superb supporting cast, including Liza Tarbuck, Mark Heap, and Gemma Whelan.

‘Stone the crows’ has its roots in early 20th century Australia, when farmers threw stones at crows which raided crops or attacked newborn lambs. It migrated to the UK and became ‘Stone me!’ as an expression of surprise.  

Crows’ feet are the tiny wrinkles that form over the years at the outer corners of the eyes. They start to appear from the late twenties and are the result of repeated smiling. They are more kindly referred to as laughter lines.

Crows are revered as messengers in many cultures and folk lore tells many tales. In Ancient Rome crows were used to divine the future. In later centuries, a single crow over a house foretold death and crows were believed to transport a person’s soul to the afterlife. A popular saying was ‘a crow on the thatch, soon death lifts the latch.’

The thought that crows are associated with death and mourning is borne out by observations of behaviour around a dead crow. The first crow to see the body called out and soon others flew in to join in a strident chorus of loud cries. The explanation was that the ceremony helped the crows to warn of danger and to cope with the reality of death.

I have not seen this happening with crows but have seen magpies behave in a similar manner. A cat carried off a young magpie and the other magpies, in all the trees around, set up a cacophony of grief, for that is what it seemed to be, that continued for almost half an hour. It was deafening and impossible to ignore.

Cowes

 

Cowes

I saw the hygienist on Wednesday afternoon, prior to a dental check. She was mightily confused when I told her I’d been watching Cowes and was clearly wondering why I would be watching bovines. Eventually she understood when I explained that I was talking about a sailing regatta.

Some of the names on the Cowes Week race results boards show the usual slew of birds - Gosling, Nightjar, Goosander, Waxwing, Osprey – and simple names, like Josh, Salt, Snap, Ice, and Jade. Then there are the boats that indicate where they’re from or where they’re usually moored – Dodger of Gosport, Io of Dartmouth, and Emily of Cowes, for example. Some have names of girls, like Thora, Joy, Gladys, Margot, and Maisy.

Choosing a name for a boat is almost as difficult as deciding on a baby’s name. It must withstand calls to the Coastguard for routine calls like radio checks, so a name that seemed amusing when first dreamt up may seem less so when contacting official bodies.

Bottoms Up, Hare Brain, Repeat Offender, Men Behaving Badly, and Hair of the Dog are fun, and probably indicate something about the owner’s attitude to life. The names that particularly caught my attention this year were Yes!, Dads n Lads, and Does Your Mother Sail?

I was wondering what it would be like when calling the Coastguard for a broadcast check. Would the owner feel a little sheepish?  

‘Solent Coastguard, Solent Coastguard, this is Does Your Mother Sail? Radio check. Over.’

In other sea regions, the Coastguard has a different call name. For example, for Liverpool Waters call Holyhead Coastguard, Kent is Dover Coastguard, Scilly Isles is Falmouth Coastguard.

As the crow flies

 

As the crow flies

One of the crows we used to feed in the woods.

This is a frequently used idiom to describe the distance between two points. It means the most direct route, ignoring natural or man-made barriers. A journey by foot or in a vehicle may take eight miles, but if it were possible to take an unswerving path, it might only be four or five miles.

Crows do not literally fly in straight lines, but their flight is steady with little of the dipping and swooping associated with some other birds. The expression may have arisen from the fact that crows are noisy and noticeable and can often be seen beating alone across the sky.

The earliest printed record of the phrase occurred in 1761 in the Irish periodical ‘The Gentleman’s and London Magazine.’ It was used in that publication to discuss distances in America.  More than sixty years later, it was used by Charles Dickens in his 1838 novel ‘Oliver Twist’ and came into popular parlance thereafter as a way of estimating distances and travelling times before maps were commonplace.

Panice

 

Panice

Panisses

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I kept writing ‘panice’ instead of ‘panic’ in yesterday's post. Maybe it’s because my name is Janice and I’m accustomed to writing ‘e’ following ‘c.’ 

So, I looked up Panice. It is an Italian family name for a supplier of millet, just as Cooper is a maker of casks and vats, and Smith is a person who works with metal.

Panice is also an alternative spelling of panisse, which is a French street food popular in Provence. It is made from chickpea flour and fried in olive oil until golden on the outside and soft in the centre.

Panisse was introduced to Provence by Italian workers from neighbouring Liguria, where is it known as panissa or panelle. It is particularly popular in Nice and Marseilles, traditionally eaten sprinkled with salt and pepper and accompanied by a glass of wine.

Image source

Panic!

 

Panic!

I was in a terrible panic this morning. I needed to be out of the house in a matter of minutes, but could only find casual clothes, not the sort suitable for the day ahead. In addition, the house door into the garage was ajar, and the garage door itself was open, so I didn’t immediately know whether the cats were in or out. They don’t go into the front garden because it’s not safe for them. Luckily, I saw them sauntering into the kitchen, so that worry was set aside.

I managed to find some clothes, though they were far from smart, but now I was dreadfully worried that I was going to be late. Barry was flapping around in the background, wanting to help but not knowing how.

Then I woke up.

What a relief. It took me a few minutes to realise I had been dreaming and that I wasn’t having to get to work.

It took me about twenty years to stop having bad dreams about exams I had to pass. How long will it be before nightmares about getting to work on time cease to trouble my slumbers?

Cowes Week 2026

 

Cowes Week 2026

Cowes Week commenced on Saturday. It is the largest sailing regatta in the world, packing in forty races a day across thirty to forty different classes.

2026 marks the 200^th year of this gathering of sailors and boats old and new. There are more than 630 yachts taking part and crews’ members total more than 5,000. Some classes of boats, like the X One Design (XOD) class, are more than 100 years old. Designed by Alfred Westmacott in 1901 and raced for the first time two years later, the XOD is a 21-foot wooden boat, made from mahogany. The prototype, Mistletoe, was built at St Helens on the Isle of Wight and can now be seen at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall.

It is a wonderful sight to see a fleet of yachts jostling for space prior to crossing the start line at the beginning of a race. Those who cross the line too soon pay a penalty by having to restart.

 Black sails have become popular in recent years. Made from carbon fibre, they are the strongest material in modern sailmaking. They are lightweight and do not stretch in heavy winds, so they are a good choice for racing yachts.  However, nothing beats a flotilla of boats with white sails beating across the water like a flock of sea birds.

Competitors come from all over the world.

Seven days of racing allow professionals and amateurs to mingle on the Solent doing what they enjoy most. Some boats are carefully maintained vintage craft, while others are modern builds with the latest technology and crews of highly trained and competitive athletes.

This year, conditions look good. In fact, the first races were delayed because of a lack of wind. In other years, the weather has been atrocious, with lashing rain and howling gales. There is no knowing months in advance what will face a yachtsman during Cowes Week.