View allAll Photos Tagged gargle."
The dollar store also had Snickers bars.
Earlier I had bought and tried a Butterfinger but the crunchy center just turned to dust. It did not look good.
The Snickers looks better.
It's been raining off and on here for two days which is really great. My flash units love dry and I love wet. If I was more ambitious I could hook up a desiccating system to run dry air through the flash tube, but I would rather limp along with the existing system which works well enough.
I have my high pressure (200psi) set-up pretty much as it should be. Today I added a few pieces of insulating barrier to keep myself from touching 110AC in the dark.
The compressor is a joy. It is super quiet, unlike my conventional "scuba tank" style lower pressure compressor.
It frequently made me jump when it would kick in because it sounds like its gargling a tank full of marbles.
I'd also forget to turn it off and have to get up late at night and go into the garage to turn it off.
Navigating my glass and debris covered floor barefoot and half awake was always a less than welcome task.
Kathy didn't enjoy it either.
Cheers.
This is a strawberry flower, with luck and if I beat the birds I'll be eating a strawberry in a couple of months :-)
I'm going to be away for the next few days -a few days holiday at the country hut -I'm really looking forward to the break...
Culpeper says this about strawberries
Government and virtues : Venus owns the herb. Strawberries, when they are green, are cool and dry; but when they are ripe, they are cool and moist. The berries are excellently good to cool the liver, the blood, and the spleen, or an hot choleric stomach; to refresh and comfort the fainting spirits, and quench thirst. They are good also for other inflammations; yet it is not amiss to refrain from them in a fever, lest by their putrifying in the stomach they increase the fits. The leaves and roots boiled in wine and water, and drank, do likewise cool the liver and blood, and assuage all inflammations in the reins and bladder, provoke urine, and allay the heat and sharpness thereof. The same also being drank stays the bloody flux and women's courses, and helps the swelling of the spleen. The water of the Berries carefully distilled, is a sovereign remedy and cordial in the panting and beating of the heart, and is good for the yellow jaundice. The juice dropped into foul ulcers, or they washed therewith, or the decoction of the herb and root, doth wonderfully cleanse and help to cure them. Lotions and gargles for sore mouths, or ulcers therein, or in the privy parts or elsewhere, are made with the leaves and roots thereof; which is also good to fasten loose teeth, and to heal spungy foul gums. It helps also to stay catarrhs, or defluctions of rheum in the mouth, throat, teeth, or eyes. The juice or water is singularly good for hot and red inflamed eyes, if dropped into them, or they bathed therewith. It is also of excellent property for all pushes, wheals and other breakings forth of hot and sharp humours in the face and hands, and other parts of the body, to bathe them therewith, and to take away any redness in the face, or spots, or other deformities in the skin, and to make it clear and smooth. Some use this medicine: Take so many Strawberries as you shall think fitting, and put them into a distillatory, or body of glass fit for them, which being well closed, set it in a bed of horse dung for your use. It is an excellent water for hot inflamed eyes, and to take away a film or skin that begins to grow over them, and for such other defects in them as may be helped by any outward medicine.
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, roots used as diuretic; also used for dysentery and dysmenorrhea.
- Entire plant in decoction used as alterant and antiasthmatic.
- Root considered aphrodisiac, and used for bladder gravel and similar urinary complaints.
- Decoction or infusion of leaves used in asthma; expectorant.
- Used for hypertension, menorrhagia, glandular swelling, sore throat and hoarseness.
- Powdered seeds applied to wounds and sores.
- Bruised leaves applied to bruises.
- Decoction of leaves used for diabetes.
- Powdered roots and leaves taken with milk for piles and fistula.
- Juice applied externally to fistulous sores.
- Poultice of leaves for glandular swellings.
- Leaves and roots used for piles and fistula.
- Used as antifertility agent in some parts of India.
- 1:1 ethanol water extract used for pain relief.
- Seeds used a coffee substitute
- In China, used for treatment of anxiety and depression.
- In Ayurveda, used as antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac, analgesic and antidepressant; also used in diseases associated with corrupted bile and blood, bilious fever, piles, jaundice, leprosy, ulcers, and small pox.
- In India, used for birth control.
- In Ayurveda, root is used as vulnerary, and for the treatment of leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammation, asthma, fatigue, and blood diseases. In the Unani system, decoction of root is used as a gargle to reduce toothache. (52)
- In the Antiles, Guiana, and La Reunion, roots used vomitive.
- In Indo-China, seeds used as emetic.
- In Mexico, used to alleviate depression.
- In Punjab and Cashmere, seeds used for sore throat.
- In Concan, paste of leaves applied to hydrocoeles and glandular swellings.
- Infusion of leaves used for dysentery; also as bitter tonic.
- Roots used for leucoderma, vaginopathy, metropathy, ulcers, dysentery, inflammations, jaundice, asthma, small pox, strangury, fevers.
- Leaves used for hydrocoele, hemorrhoids, fistula, scrofula, conjunctivitis, wounds and hemorrhages.
- Whole plants used for bladder calculi; externally, for edema, rheumatism, myalgia and uterine tumors.
- Whole plant, crushed, used for itching and scabies.
- In Malaysia, root decoction drunk as tonic; pounded leaves applied as poultice on body swellings. (48)
source: stuart xchange
There is nothing puzzling or mysterious about it.
This is a list of some of many things that may have helped the Japanese to have suffered relatively fewer tragic deaths in the coronavirus pandemic so far include perhaps (I am not connected with medicine):
1. wearing face masks which have been de rigueur for those who are suffering from respiratory illnesses perhaps since the influenza pandemic of 100 years ago. ( Unfortunately the Japanese are being told that masks are ineffective protection despite there being considerable research in support of masks tiny.cc/maskswork )
2. a greater attention to covering ones mouth when one coughs (Japanese ladies cover their mouths even when they laugh),
3. far less dancing and discos,
4. bathing in the evening when arriving home dirty rather than the next morning (having passed the evening and night dirty at home!),
6. drying oneself after showering and bathing using small single use towels rather than large bath towels that may not be washed for a week,
7. high interpersonal distance,
8. boiled sweets (candy) provided at customer service locations for customers to suck upon as they consult sales staff, partly to reduce customer coughing,
9. generally lots of cleaning and sweeping by everyone from school children to university professors and monks as a form of spiritual practice which keeps Japan clean and everyone aware of the importance of cleaning,
10. food wrapping, and the lack of unwrapped food sales, polythene bagging of unwrapped foods such as fruit at the checkout,
11. non-food product wrapping so that even if the packaging has been handled purchased products are sterile when unwrapped at home,
12. changing of clothing upon returning to the home and arriving at school (school uniforms are worn only on the way there. Pupils often change to track suits in class),
13. removal of shoes indoors, using slippers or bare feet instead,
14. use of a separate pair of slippers inside toilets (domestic and some public toilets too),
15. passing things to other people with both hands thus interpersonal maintaining distance,
16. the widespread use of semi disposable gunte cotton gloves by service personnel such as ticket inspectors, taxi drivers and anyone doing a dirty task even at home*, which if worn in a pandemic helps people to be aware of their hands and prevent hand to face touching
17. the Japanese housewives' love of aprons which keep their clothes clean,
18. the way that Japanese taxi drivers open taxi doors for passengers so they don't need to touch the door handle**,
19. the predominance of uniforms in any job that may involve even a little dirt such as in any sort of manufacturing industry facilitating 12 above, or an extra change of clothes even before workers have left their workplaces,
20. preference for the "one room mansion" over shared houses and flats,
21. more vending machines per capita than anywhere in the world, allowing purchases without human interaction (and Japanese often prefer to use the machine than interact),
22. the practice of sterilizing ones mattress (futon) and duvet by hanging it out in the sun,
23. taking rubbish home rather than littering or even using (non-existent) public waste bins (if one asks to throw ones trash away Japanese traditionally often offer to accept it in their outstretched palms. This is probably not a good idea in the current pandemic but, perhaps this is a way of discouraging people from leaving potentially infected rubbish behind.)
24. plastic fairings along the sides of car windows to allow windows to be open a little refreshing car interior air even when it is pouring with rain,
25. a general preference for fresh air ventilation, over closed air-conditioned rooms,
26. a preference for new things rather than second hand,
27. a relative preference for disposable things (slippers, cameras, toothbrushes, cutlery) rather than things that can be reused (while this and the previous item are not good for the environment, the Japanese attempt to make up for it by being first rate at recycling)
28. a greater belief that "cleanliness is next to godliness" and conversely that sin is a sort of defilement,
29. regarding cleaning is a sort of spiritual practice (that at least teaches the importance of cleanliness),
30. respect paid to homes, temples, martial arts gyms and even shop premises and other spaces with markings such as piles of salt, cleaning and bowing and greetings at the entrance to such spaces, emphasising the importance of keeping them in all ways good and pure,
31. traditionally according to Shinto scripture considering (skin) disease to be one of the deadly sins,
32. the integration of hand and mouth washing (chouzu, temizu) into Shinto prayer ritual,
33. shame-culture severity towards mistakes and not things that one does intentionally (infection is generally unintentional caused by a lack of vigilance such as in failing to cover ones mouth when one coughs),
34. the traditional provision of hot hand washing wet towels (oshibori) and disposable chopsticks at restaurants (that remain open even now),
35. individual bowls and chopsticks rather than sharing a common stock of cutlery even within the home,
36. sitting beside partners and friends rather than facing them and enjoying their company side by side (e.g. using counter seats),
37 enjoying the presence of others without feeling the need to keep talking (and breathing on people) all the time,
38. swallowing ones nasal mucus rather than blowing ones nose (at least outside of the home),
39. the consumption of many healthy foods. An urban myth has it that natto (rotten soya beans) is preventative but the notion that it may help has been rejected by Japanese specialists. Something about the Japanese diet (which is higher in rice, soy, and) may help. Natto contains a serine protease (nattokinease) which may encourage the production of serine protease inhibitors (serpins) which may block infection, or do the opposite. I am not a doctor.
40. Washlet (and other brand) bidets fitted to toilets keeping coronavirus from wiping hands,
41. the avoidance of touchy feely greetings such as handshakes, hugging and kissing, which are all replaced by bows,
42. less petting at least in public and less sex out of courtship and procreation, and a greater use of prophylactic sheaths,
43. a greater use of the seated position by males when urinating (sometimes by order in public toilets) thus avoiding urine on the floor and seat and hand to genital contact (male genitals may act as a fomites and while it is not a Japanese tradition, I have taken to washing my hands before and after using the toilet),
44. washing ones hands inside toilet cubicles using a raised flush-cistern faucet/spigot or tiny sinks prior to touching, and infecting, the toilet door handle,
45. the provision of disposable paper toilet seat covers and or disinfectant for cleaning toilet seats in public toilets,
46. spitting is unacceptable,
47. flatulence is beyond the pale,
48. avoiding passing in front of people, for instance when someone is facing products in a shop isle, or facing a window or poster in a corridor. I thought that this was simply to avoid blocking whatever it is that the person is looking at but now see that it prevents infection to. Fewer germs come out of people's back sides (especially considering the previous item)
49. avoiding sitting on anything but chairs, and not on floors and stairs where people shoes have trod. Obvious really but when I go back to Europe I see people sitting everywhere.
50. avoiding eating other than in eating areas, not while walking down the street, or in class, where people might cough or breathe on your food, or where the food eater might leave spittle coated food crumbs behind (when in public),
51. the provision of hooks for bags at ATMs, toilets or anywhere that people have to stay for a while using their hands, so that people do not need put their bag on anything that may be infected,
52. drinking green tea and various medicinal teas,
53. having been loved as children to the extent that they are the centre of Japanese homes, so that they grow up to be confident individuals with less of a desire to congregate during a pandemic (it is my belief that Western individualism and Japanese collectivism are expressions of that which each society lacks),
54. spending less time cuddling and snuggling up together on sofas (this is perhaps one example of 53),
55. using lunch boxes, and flasks, prepared at home, which allow the avoidance of crowded canteens and allowing many or most Japanese office workers to eat lunch at their own private space, their desks (as well as healthier lunches) ,
56. avoiding smoking while walking, and carrying portable cigarette butt ash-trays so that there far fewer (fomite) cigarette butts on Japanese streets,
57. holding doctors and medicine in particularly high esteem, the Japanese have a great health system with the most CT scanners per capita, the most MRI units per capita, the second highest availability of acute care beds, and the second highest number of visits to a doctor (thanks to ht)
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58. a preference for sliding doors, that have often been automated at the entrance to shops and businesses, which allows Japanese to avoid touching door knobs or at least touch them less
59. using Japanese style squat toilets, obviating the need for sharing a seat, which are still preferred in situations where toilet hygiene, and seat disinfection, can not be fully ensured (Western toilets could conceivably be convert into squat toilets by the addition of blocks on each side),
60. avoiding the use of perfumes and deodorants as ways of keeping body odour in check (this is partly due to the fact that Japanese have fewer apocrine sweat glands making them less prone to body odour)
61, using visual management in manufacturing and clinical practice which stresses the 5S (sort set in order shine standardize sustain) leading to a more hygienic as well as more efficient workplace,
62. guiding customers to the products they seek, often at a jog, rather than explaining to them that "I think its on the left hand side of isle number 11, or perhaps on the right hand side of isle number 9." which cuts down on face-to-face, talking time (as do many things in Japan)
63. using a wide variety of gestures (such as crossing ones fingers to mean "bring me the bill"), signs (such as the cards hung on cash registers that one can place in ones shopping basket to indicate that you want to purchase a shopping bag), and non-verbal communication systems (such as the app that allows people to order sushi via their phone in Kura Sushi) to avoid face to face verbal communication and breathing on service staff,
64. trusting ones governmental recommendations (such as to stay home) without the need for lock-down laws (as of 3/30)
65. wearing light coloured casual clothes that show the dirt as opposed to dark clothes that can be worn dirty and kept when stained (Japanese casual clothes are closer than British ones to medical whites, which are white for the same reason - to show the dirt and be kept clean)
66. a stronger tendency to gargle, or wash out ones mouth, the latter practice being likewise integrated into Shinto shrine-visiting/prayer (COVID-19 may infect the throat and sinuses first so gargling may stop it before it reaches the lungs maybe),
67. installing sinks in many and diverse places. There are or at least until recently there were sinks in the offices of teachers, and classrooms of my humanities departments in my university allowing us to wash our hands without going to a restroom, touching door knobs, and meeting people (I have set up a sink outside my home so I can wash and gargle before entering)
68. having an age respecting culture. There are many reasons for this such as the effect of Confucianism but for me the biggest reason is that Japanese homes, and culture, is matriarchal in the sense that the parent child bond is the most important relationship, people see adults as parents (or mothers/women) rather than lovers (or men/mankind), and couples focus upon their children rather than attempting to maintain an everlasting romance. This means that Japanese children are not shut out of the parental bed, and do not dream of getting into one, and shutting their own children out a parental bed one day. Hence rather than looking forward to payback time (a sort of enforced "pay forward"), Japanese young people realise that they will be paying back, out of gratitude later. This means that older people are not people that take, but people that give, and young people do not feel aggression towards them. The current virus kills old people. The social isolation of the younger generations will save them. In a society where young people feel a bit of aggression towards old people it will be more difficult to persuade them to socially isolate. In a society where old people are the nice guys, that are paying back, then young people are likely to be more inclined to socially isolate to save them.
69. identifying with ones visual self, as opposed to ones self narrative so that being dirty, unhealthy, overweight, or otherwise visually imperfect becomes acceptable and being visually healthy more important (one famous Japanese doctor says "If you want to live a long time, look in the mirror." It may be the case that practising "forms" such as in no drama, karate, tea ceremony, or even aerobics helps the Japanese see themselves as if they always have a mirror, which they are argued to have in their head, or mind, at least according to our research***)
70. using chopsticks as opposed to forks and knives since chopsticks may be easier to wash, keep hands further from food, and because the virus may live longer on steel than wood (I have read it lasts longer on steel than cardboard but I am not connected with medicine in anyway)
71. caring about reputation, and face, such that the Japanese do not want to be the person that gets COVID and requires co-workers to take the test, or brings disrepute upon a place of work, town, region or prefecture.
72. always washing, and peeling all fruit including even grapes prior to consumption (in the US requesting that grapes be peeled is indicative of pampered indulgence, as exemplified by May West's character in the movie "I'm no Angel" (1933) about which a commenter wrote "[ the request to peel a grape] shows that she's used to being pampered and has no sense of proportion or social propriety. Imagine being so spoiled and coddled that you'd expect someone to actually peel a grape for you!" In Japan not peeling grapes for others would be considered unhygienic and mean-spirited)
73. fear and awe of nature (which in Japan with its typhoons
and earthquates can be quite fearsome) rather than a
belief sometimes ascribed to Britons that we can brave
this one out by sheer courage, stiff upper lip (and arrogance?)
alone -- the Japanese are humbled by nature.
74. There is I think a preference for the negative version of the golden rule (do not do unto others, that which you would not wish to be done to yourself) over the positive version (do unto others as you would like do be done to yourself) which means that Japanese may be happier and feel more morally compliant when they are social distancing, whereas those who have cultural preference for the positive form may feel less inclined to leave others alone and isolate, feeling perhaps that to do so is non-morally compliant.
75. perhaps the practice of getting neck deep in clean (Japanese wash before soaking) hot baths, resulting in increased core body temperature, almost every night,
76. the use of hot spas (onsen) as a folk treatment for almost everything (also prevalent in Korea and as Saunas in Germany, at least until last week, both countries with low corona virus death rates).
The last two (bathing resulting in whole body hyperthermia) might even conceivably be one reason why untested Japanese are not progressing to the serious phase of the illness, and would be my Japan-influenced suggestions for attempting to treat the virus even in the face of WHO "myth busting", but I am not connected with medicine in any way.
I thought that the Japanese would be especially inclined to catch the coronavirus due to their genetics but Japanese culture proved me wrong.
I hope and pray that everyone worldwide stays safe. When Japanese schools reopen in April, the Japanese may face a resurgence of the coronavirus, so, I am praying for Japan too. Perhaps prayer should be added to the list of hygienic behaviours. Many Japanese people pray in the face of adversity (kamidanomi) even if they do not believe in the existence of that which they are praying to. This I think promotes awareness of the strength of ones yearning, and lack of ones power, thereby promoting a kind of humble diligence, hopefully.
The above inaccurate image was drawn freehand by me based on an accurate graph in the New York times. An graph with a linear scale, showing Japan to have hand 1/50 to 1/100 of the deaths of other Northern Hemisphere OECD countries can be seen here. Korea seems to have even more successful.
*One hygiene product that I felt to be lacking Japan is the (Great British!) nail-brush. Upon reflection, however, I have come to realise that there are few nail brushes in Japan because Japanese would always wear gloves before performing a task that is so dirty as to result in dirt getting behind their nails. Oops.
**I now think back with regret at the number of times I have opened Japanese taxi doors for myself, in an expression of autonomy, as if to say I don't need you to open the door for me, and thereby putting my nasty germ ridden hands on the taxi probably forcing the taxi driver to get out and disinfect the door.
***
Heine, S. J., Takemoto, T., Moskalenko, S., Lasaleta, J., & Henrich, J. (2008). Mirrors in the head: Cultural variation in objective self-awareness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(7), 879-887.
Takemoto, T., & Brinthaupt, T. M. (2017). We Imagine Therefore We Think: The Modality of Self and Thought in Japan and America. 山口経済学雑誌= Yamaguchi journal of economics, business administrations & laws, 66(1), 79-107.
Takemoto, T., & Iwaizono, M. (2016). Autoscopic Individualism: A Comparison of American and Japanese Women's Fashion Magazines. 山口経済学雑誌= Yamaguchi journal of economics, business administrations & laws, 65(3), 173-205.
I attempted to respond to the comments section of Why is Japan still a coronavirus outlier? | on "The Japan Times" website but, either they do not allow links, or they prefer comments from gaijin claiming there has been a cover up, as many of the comments there seem to be claiming, because my comment does not seem to have been approved.
There's a purpose and definition to my train of thoughts as I stumble on clumsy limbs and gently rub the sleep from my as yet reawakened eyes. Is stupid o'clock and even the birds nesting in the overhead cliff face are still gargling prior to the cacophony of their dawn chorus as the light from the glorious sunrise awakens my senses and fills me with a euphoric wave of well-being that catches me off guard emotionally. There are tears in my eye. Must be the salty sea mist hitting my face. There can be no other explanation that this Heathen heart can contemplate or accept.
You are on my mind.
Damn it, if truth be known then you seldom stray from the realms of my inward contemplation, my introspective analysis of data and actions from the wreckage of my life. I'm standing on the deliciously wet golden sands at six in the morning, unshaven, hair blowing in the deceptively aggressive breeze, dirty Nike's and jogging bottoms that billow in the wind, a tee shirt that neither covers my flesh nor affords me any sense of warmth or protection from the ravages of the icy cold that causes my nipples to harden and goose bumps to take the flesh on my limbs unwilling prisoner. I couldn't sleep again. The clock hands ticked around that big round face with monotonous precision, eyes wide open and brain buzzing with questions, none of which my stupid brain could answer. Shadows on the wall from the gap in the curtains playing tricks with my mind as Spunky the tabby cat rolled over onto his back, nuzzled up to my side for warmth and protection, and gave a contented yelp as he stretched out his paws and went in search of a few more zeds in those twenty two out of every twenty four that he sleeps.
So here I am, standing in the dampness as the tide begins to chase the horizon, each incoming wave leaving behind a veil of white foam that slowly crackles audibly as it dissolves in the air, the patterns formed not dissimilar to those that you and I used to identify, lying in the tall grass in our garden, staring up at the cotton wool like clouds as they skipped across the ocean blue sky. I must be getting mellow in my old age. I'm turning into a retrospective softy, doting on the past, reminiscing with the best of the. I'll probably get into jazz music next, and start shooting straight single malts from one shot glasses whilst dimming the lights and letting the dulcet tones of some Miles Davis number tease and invade the avenues of my soul. You'd find that pretty funny wouldn't you. I can hear you laughing at such a preposterous notion. Yeah, your laughter resonates and I can see your face right now, smiling back at me in the days before the blindness came like an assassin in the night and stole away any semblance of self worth and logic that ever I possessed.
I can't get you out of my mind. Try as I might, you are simply there all of the time to haunt my waking hours and plague the long lonely nights when the bed feels as wide as the ocean itself, as empty as my heart since you left. Spunky has those grey patches around the eyes and lower jaw that give away the truth of his longevity. At first he pined your loss, seeking scents, curling up and falling asleep ,in your old pink fluffy slippers that you left behind in your haste to get the fuck away from a past you so obviously hated. But now he seems over your loss, caring little for anything other than the hands that currently place his breakfast on the kitchen tiled floor, the lap that gives him comfort in the long and lonely evenings, and the reassurance of some loving words. In truth, don't I just long for the same as him?
Are you happy now, wherever you are? The changing PO box that I send on the mail to gives little away, and your Mother no longer phones to tell me all about you and cry softly at the end of our conversations as she recalls how perfect a couple we had always seemed. I still have reminders of you around the house, but I'm giving some serious thought to putting your clothes into some bin bags and making an uncharacteristically unselfish donation to the local charity shop in Maiden Avenue. I guess it's time for me. A man has to give up on a lost cause and move on at some point. Oh I've done the things that our friends have suggested out of concern and worry for my very sanity. I've pubbed and clubbed it, shaken my tush to loud music, drunk all manner of substances and woken up with a strangers touch and guilt for the actions of my desperation. After the fact, aside from the physical needs and emotional unburdening, there is nothing but a great black void and polite conversation as I make my excuses and slam the door behind me as I leave. They're not you, and I'm no longer seventeen and capable of bouncing back like a spongey rubber ball. This big dumb animal has a heart you know, and feelings like piano chords stretched over wooden rafters.
Did you find whatever the hell it was that you were liking for in some strangers arms? I've given up longing for the key to turn in the front door lock and you to walk back into the ashes of our former love nest, humbled and begging forgiveness, falling into my arms and begging for a second chance. I have my dignity you know. I guess sometimes the deceit of delusion comforts a broken heart more than the pain of reality and rational thinking. In my case at least I know it to be true. You are still all around me in this empty house, little reminders, a scent, a memory, a moment of joy and happiness that comes to mind every time I find a trinket under the bed, one of your belongings, even your favourite coffee mug with Garfield the cat on the front that we bought from the local market, that I still keep on the kitchen mug tree for God knows what reason.
So here I stand amidst the early morning purple rinse pensioners with their arthritic golden retrievers and polite conversation that frankly bore me. Here I am in the seafront town that we once loved and which now irritates the hell out of me me with it's accutely English eccentricities and quirky nostalgic overtones. It's just me against the world. Well, me and Spunky against the world I guess. As the tide screams yippee and heads for the horizon, I picked up my heels and start jogging in the drying sand, back along the beach front, past the cliff face towards the steep cemented ramp where my car is parked and waiting to whisk me back to the deafening silence of the house.
It's a really rather beautiful sunrise, as the golden hues of orange and yellow burst through the thin layer of clouds and the morning light permeates the coastline as far as the eyes can see. Time for a fresh pot of coffee and some pilchards for Spunky. It's the dawn of a new day, perhaps the dawning of realisation for this poor fool as I finally accept the inevitability of your betrayal and start to dust myself down and move on with my life. Right now I don't know where I'm heading or what my goals and objectives are, just getting through each single day without you like an addict escaping the clutches of his desire. You're killing me, drowning my emotional turmoil, suffocating the sense from my head, poisoni9ng my very soul without even being here to say a word. It's time to move on. This dumb ape is about to make a stand, step out from the shadow of you, leave behind the destruction of your cruel and selfish actions and learn to walk tall again, at last.
.
.
Written on April 12th 2011
Photograph taken on April 10th 2011 at 06.30am in Botany Bay, Broadstairs, Kent, England.
Nikon D700 14mm 1/125s f/6.3 iso200 -0.7 step EV comp
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. UV filter. Hoodman right angled viewfinder. Manfrotto 055XPro & Manfrotto 327RC2 pistol grip ball head. MetaGPS geotag
Latitude: N 51d 23m 19.54s
Longitude: E 1d 26m 13.78s
Typical Cebuano sauce ("sawsawan") for meat (pork, chicken or fish): a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar, with or the without hot chili. The pepper variety here is the hottest in the country, referred to as the Philippine bird's eye red hot chili variety of "siling kulikut" in Cebuano or "siling labuyo" in Tagalog.
condiment tradition is prevalent all over the Philippines
photo taken in Mandue City, Cebu, the Philippines
more pics and journeys in colloidfarl.blogspot.com/
Someone has picked some black-eyed susans and thrown them into the mouth of a "giant," at Grounds for Sculpture.
The Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada. It is notable for its capacity to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (they can feed from the hand).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee
Sounds of the Black-Capped Chickadee
Shortcut: Chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee; fee-beee
Song: The song of the male is a clear two-note whistle that drops in pitch: fee-beee (the last note is often double-pulsed). Call: The familiar chicka-dee-dee-dee call, after which the species is named, is given during flocking and helps insure flock cohesion. A gargled tseedleedeet is given during agressive encounters. Other calls include a simple tsit (the contact note) and various outbursts of notes www.birdjam.com
Cây Ngải Tiên ginger lily, white butterfly ginger lily, garland flower
Tên khoa học :Hedychium coronarium Koenig
Thuộc họ Gừng Zingiberaceae.
www.botanyvn.com/cnt.asp?param=news&newsid=708
- Cây Ngải tiên (Hedychium coronarium Koenig) mọc tự nhiên ở một số vùng núi có độ cao 1400 - 1800m .Cây Ngải tiên ngày nay được trồng nhiều nơi trên thế giới với mục đích làm cảnh và lấy tinh dầu thân rễ để làm nước hoa và làm thuốc .
Thân rễ và quả của Ngải tiên có vị cay, mùi thơm, tính ấm, có tác dụng khu phong trừ thấp, ôn trung tán hàn, thường được dùng chữa đau bụng lạnh, bụng đầy trướng, tiêu hoá kém, đau mình mẩy phong thấp, nhức mỏi gân xương, cảm sốt, chữa rắn cắn. Tinh dầu thân rễ có tính gây trung tiện, trừ giun. Tinh dầu của hoa là một loại hương liệu cao cấp.
Giá trị làm thuốc của Ngải tiên đã có một số công trình ghi nhận, nhưng nghiên cứu chi tiết thành phần hoá học của tinh dầu phần thân rễ Ngải tiên thì hầu như chưa có công trình nào đề cập tới
Ở Việt Nam Ngải tiên phân bố tự nhiên ở một số tỉnh Lào Cai, Lai Châu, Hà Giang.
Một số đặc điểm sinh học
Ngải tiên là cây ưa ẩm, hơi chịu bóng, ưa khí hậu mát mẻ. Năm 2000 được đưa từ Sa Pa về trồng tại Hà Nội tuy nhiệt độ có cao hơn nhưng cây vẫn sinh trưởng, phát triển tốt. Trồng ở trại thực nghiệm Cổ Nhuế cây có chiều cao trung bình khoảng 1,2m, thấp hơn trong tự nhiên khoảng 0.5-0,7m. Đường kính thân trung bình là 1,7 cm. Thân nhẵn. Lá mọc so le, không cuống, hình dải hẹp - mũi mác, nhọn 2 đầu, mặt trên nhẵn màu lục sẫm bóng, mặt dưới nhạt có lông dễ rụng. Bẹ lá to, có khía màng, lưỡi bẹ 2 - 3 cm, nguyên. Kích thước trung bình của lá là 31,6 x 6,8 cm. Cây ra hoa vào trung tuần tháng 8 hàng năm. Cụm hoa hình trứng dạng nón mọc ở ngọn thân, dài 5 -7 cm gồm nhiều lá bắc lợp lên nhau, lá bắc và lá bắc con có màu lục ở đầu. Hoa to, màu trắng rất thơm. Thân rễ mập, ít phân nhánh, có nhiều ngấn ngang, dài trung bình 38,5 cm, đường kính 2,8 cm, năng suất tươi đạt 4,2 kg/m2. Trồng sau 2 năm, vào mùa thu đông có thể thu hoạch thân rễ để chưng cất tinh dầu
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedychium_coronarium
The White ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium) is originally from the Himalayas region of Nepal and India where it is known as dolan champa दोलन चम्पा in Hindi, দোলনচাঁপা in Bengali, takhellei angouba in Manipuri, sontaka in Marathi, and suruli sugandhi in Kannada. The species was introduced to Hawaii by settlers. The native Hawaiians refer to white ginger as 'awapuhi', using the juice of mature seed head as a hair and skin treatment.
In Brazil it is very common and considered to be an invasive weed. It was introduced in the era of slavery, brought to the country by African slaves who used its leaves as mattresses.
In Cuba it is the National Flower, known as "Mariposa blanca" literally "White Butterfly Flower", due to its similarity with a flying white butterfly. This particular species is incredibly fragrant and women used to adorn themselves with these flowers in Spanish colonial times; because of the intricate structure of the inflorescence, women hid and carried secret messages important to the independence cause under it.[citation needed] It is said that a guajiro's (farmer's) house is not complete without a white ginger in its garden.[citation needed] Today the plant has gone wild in the cool rainy mountains in Sierra del Rosario, Pinar del Rio Province in the west, Escambray Mountains in the center of the island, and in Sierra Maestra in the very west of it, but the plant is not endemic of Cuba.
Its fragrance can be extracted by "enfleurage".
**** PHILIPPINE MEDICINAL PLANTS
www.stuartxchange.org/Kamia.html
Family • Zingiberaceae
Kamia
Hedychium coronarium Koenig
GINGER LILY
Botany
An erect shrub, 0.5 to 1.0 meters high. Leave are smooth, the lower surfaces hairy, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 10-50 cm long, 3-11 cm wide, with slender pointed tip. Ligule is prominent, 1-3 cm long. Ellipsoid spike at the end of the stem, 5-12 cm long. Bracts are green, ovate to obovate, about 4 cm long, and each with 2 or 3 flowers with a fragrance that is more pronounced in the evening. Calyx is tubular, clefted on one side, and about 4 cm long; lobes are narrow, involute, and about 4 cm long. Lip is obovate, 5-6 cm in diameter, white or pale yellow in the center. Staminodes are white, oblong-elliptic, narrowed at the base, 4-5 cm long and 2-2.5 cm wide.
Distribution
Cultivated for ornamental use; in some places, naturalized.
Parts utilized
Rhizome, stems.
Chemical constituents and properties
Dried rhizome contains: starch, 3 %; glucose, 4.5 %; albumen, 1.6 %; fats, 0.33%; resinous acid, 3.6%; resin, 5.9 %; gum, 13.7 %; organic acids, essential oil. the flower yields a fragrant essential oil; the rhizome, a volatile oil.
Decoction of the rhizome is anti-rheumatic, tonic and excitant.
In Ayurveda, considered febrifuge, tonic, stimulant and antirheumatic.
Uses
Culinary
Young buds and flowers are edible. Used as flavoring.
Roots used as famine food.
Folkloric
Decoction of stems near the rhizome used as a gargle for tonsillitis; or the raw stem chewed for same purpose.
The juice of the stem applied externally for swellings.
In India, sold in bottles of extract called Gulbakawali Ark; used as eye tonic and for to prevent eye cataracts.
In Chinese medicine, used for headache, inflammatory pains, rheumatism.
In Thailand, boiled leaves are applied to relieve stiff and sore joints.
Others
In the provinces, the fragrant flowers popular in the making of wreaths and bridal bouquets.
Stems are 45% cellulose, used in making paper.
Studies
• Antifungal / Antimicrobial / Essential Oil: The essential oil from fresh and dry rhizomes yielded 44 and 38 constituents and was shown to have antifungal and antibacterial effects. Antibacterial effects were higher in the fresh sample than the dried; both showed activity against Trichoderma sp. and C. albicans, B. subtilis and P aeruginosa.
• Analgesic / Anti-inflammatory: Different extracts of HC exhibited significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. The effects could be due to inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis, inhibition of histamine and/or serotonin.
• Antibacterial / Cytotoxicity: Study of methanol and dichlomethane extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram positive (S aureus, B subtilis, B megaterium, Sarcina lutea) and Gram negative (E coli, S sonnei, S shiga, P aeruginosa and S typhi) bacteria. Cytotoxicity was evaluated agaiinst brine shrimp nauplii.
• Antioxidant / Anti-inflammatory: Five genus of Zingiberaceae plants from Taiwan, including Hedychium, were studied for their functional properties. Hedychium sp. were found to have antioxidant properties. Most Zingiberaceae plant extracts exhibited antimicrobial activity against all food microorganisms; Hedychium did not show activity against E. coli and Vibrio parahemolyticus.
• Flower Essential Oil / Anti-inflammatory: Study on the oil exhibited significant inhibition of paw edema but showed poor antioxidant activity with DPPH. There was no direct correlation between inflammatory and antioxidant activity of the essential oil.
• Phenolics / Antioxidant: Study showed HC to have the highest phenolic content and ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant capacity of leaves of 26 ginger species.
Availability
Cultivated and wildcrafted.
**** TROPILAB.INC
www.tropilab.com/butterflylily.html
HEDYCHIUM CORONARIUM - BUTTERFLY LILY.
Common name
Butterfly lily, ginger lily, white ginger, garland flower, dolan champa, takhellei angouba, awapuhi.
Family
Zingiberaceae (Ginger family).
Overview
The butterfly, native to Southeast Asia, is a tropical perennial that grows up to 7 feet tall.
Its fragrant clusters of white - or pink flowers, resembling butterflies, grow atop the green stalks.
After some time, the flowers give way to seed pods full of bright red seeds.
The juice of the mature seeds is used as a hair and skin treatment by native Hawaiians.
The leaves are oblong and acuminate.
This plant tolerates an occasional freeze and frost will kill it to the ground but it will grow back if temperatures rise.
Midnight comes and goes and Venice’s Grand Canal is still hopping, with boats and water buses humming by every minute or so.
I need to be at the airport in nine hours so I pack it in after this last photo.
I went to check what the group name for swans was, assuming it to be a 'gaggle'. Well, according to 'answers.com', it appears that "A group of swans is called a bevy, lamentation, herd, game, team or wedge (flying in a "V" formation)". I know you shouldn't trust everything you read on the internet, so I double-checked.
Wikipedia listed a "wedge, bank, bevy, whiteness, gargle and eyrar".
I also found anything from a "ballet" to a "regatta".
English can be a funny old language!
01.05.2009
For Rogues and free verse.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
It's one of those poems that's always stuck with me and is still as relevant now as it was in 1917. The latin translates as "it is sweet and right to die for your country", a very old lie indeed.
I wish I could have done more justice to the poem but I can't even write on myself properly and didn't have much time as usual.
A wildflower in Texas known as the Purple Coneflower is a member of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). The pink-flowered coneflowers have long been in cultivation and are readily available from most nurseries. They also may be started by root division. The stiff, sharp-pointed chaff which protrudes beyond the disk flowers gives this genus it's name, coming from the Greek word echinos, meaning "hedgehog". The roots contain the drug echinacea and Indians used a decoction (process of extracting the essence of something) as a blood purifier, as a wash for wounds, and as a gargle for sore throat. It is used today in the treatment of septicemia or a life-threatening complication of an infection, i.e. blood poisoning. They look so unusual on the side of the roads when the petals have drooped... they are tall and stately even as they fade away!!! Makes me think of life.. we can't remain young and fresh and beautiful forever but as we age may we do so with grace and gratefulness and still shine!!! Have a blessed Sunday!!! Hugs!!!
Its name Mugwort has been attributed to "moughte," a moth, or maggot, this title being given to the plant because Dioscorides commended it for keeping off moths. Its Anglo-Saxon synonym is "Wyrmwyrt".
In Native American folklore Mugwort was also a Witchcraft medicine, rubbed the leaves on ones body to keep ghosts away or wearing a necklace to prevent dreaming of the dead. In the Middle Ages a crown made from its sprays was worn on St. John's Eve to gain security from evil possession. Mugwort derived its common name from being used to flavor drinks like beer before the introduction of hops. The Name Artemisia is from the Goddess Artemis (1st century AD) who inspired the plants genus name.
Other Names....
Artemisa, Carline Thistle, Chiu Ts'Ao, Common Mugwort, Douglas Mugwort, Felon herb, Sailor’s tobacco, Wormwood
A perennial herb native to Africa, temperate Asia, and Europe, widely naturalized in most parts of the world. Found growing on hedgebanks and waysides, uncultivated and waste land. Cultivation is fairly easy Mugwort prefers slightly alkaline, well-drained loamy soil, in a a sunny position. A tall-growing shrubby plant, with angular stems, which are and often purplish, growing 3 feet or more in height. The leaves are smooth and dark green above and covered with a cottony down beneath. They are alternate, pinnately lobed, and segmented. The small greenish yellow flowers are panicled spikes with a cottony appearance. Blooming is from July to October. Mugwort is closely related to Common Wormwood (Absinthe). Gather leaves and stems when in bloom, dry for later herb use.
Mugwort leaves are edible, young leaves are boiled as a pot herb or used in salad, they aid in digestion although said to have a bitter taste.
Used for centuries as an alternative medicine, it is antibacterial, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, haemostatic, nervine, purgative, stimulant, stomachic, and tonic, cleansing toxins from the blood.
An infusion of the leaves and flowering tops is used in the treatment of all matters connected to the digestive system, it increases stomach acid and bile production, eases gas and bloating, improving digestion, the absorption of nutrients and strengthening the entire digestive system.
It is used in alternative medicine to expel intestinal worms, nervous and spasmodic affections, asthma, sterility, functional bleeding of the uterus and menstrual complaints, and diseases of the brain.
As a gargle for sore throat, a wash for sores and a poultice for infections, tumors and to stop bleeding.
These actions and uses are now backed by scientific studies on the plants main constituents volatile oils containing 1,8-cineole, artemisin, azulenes sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids, coumarin derivatives, tannins, thujone and triterpenes.
The leaves have an antibacterial action, inhibiting the growth of Staphococcus aureus, Bacillus typhi, B. dysenteriae, streptococci, E. coli, B. subtilis, and pseudomonas.
This is so cool…….. A weak tea made from the infused plant is a good all-purpose insecticide. The fresh or the dried plant repels insects.
Year Made: Between 1895 - 1905
Glassmaker: unknown
Color: cobalt blue
Product: sore throat medicine
Bottler: Maselli's Drug Store, 620 Clay Avenue, Jeannette, PA
Volume: 5 fluid ounces
Height: 5 15/16"
Diameter: 2 1/4" by 1 1/4"
Weight: 5.6 ounces
Seams: 2 fade out on neck below lip
Label Type: paper
Closure Type: cork
Notes: There are three small air vent marks or bumps on both short sides of the bottle, putting the date at about 1895 - 1905. Bottle is mouth blown with many air bubbles and a tooled top. I can't find any information on the history of Maselli's Drug Store in Jeannette. But according to Bing.com the address and building is still there.
Many of you will have seen Gerry at one time or another over the years and in a variety of states. He was a real character and as someone commented "the Alpha Male of the Belfast Street Drinkers". At over 6 feet he was a big man with a beard to match. Who knows what lurked in there *shudders* but i always found him to be alright.
One of the more affable street drinkers Gerry passed away earlier this
week. A little bit of Belfast history has passed on. We won't see the likes of him again as the newer generation of drinkers have a harder edge to them without the humility and old school character of Gerry.
Sad to think that he never got to get inside the Victoria Centre (which opens today) to annoy the staff in his own inimitable style!
Where ever you are Gerry i hope you are happy.
edit to add
Check out this incredible set of images.
1st Health Wheat Grass & Barley
100% Natural
Packaging: 500 grams 60 capsules/ box
40 Points about Wheat grass & its Nutritional Values
1. Wheatgrass Juice is one of the best sources of living chlorophyll available.
2. Chlorophyll is the first product of light and, therefore, contains more light energy than any other element.
3. Wheatgrass juice is a crude chlorophyll and can be taken orally and as a colon implant without toxic side effects.
4. Chlorophyll is the basis of all plant life.
5. Wheatgrass is high in oxygen like all green plants that contain chlorophyll. The brain and all body tissues function at an optimal level in a highly-oxygenated environment.
6. Chlorophyll is anti-bacterial and can be used inside and outside the body as a healer.
7. Dr. Bernard Jensen says that it only takes minutes to digest wheatgrass juice and uses up very little body energy.
8. Science has proven that chlorophyll arrests growth and development of unfriendly bacteria.
9. Chlorophyll (wheatgrass) rebuilds the bloodstream. Studies of various animals have shown chlorophyll to be free of any toxic reaction. The red cell count was returned to normal within 4 to 5 days of the administration of chlorophyll, even in those animals which were known to be extremely anemic or low in red cell count.
10. Farmers in the Midwest who have sterile cows and bulls put them on wheatgrass to restore fertility. (The high magnesium content in chlorophyll builds enzymes that restore the sex hormones.)
11. Chlorophyll can be extracted from many plants, but wheatgrass is superior because it has been found to have over 100 elements needed by man. If grown in organic soil, it absorbs 92 of the known 102 minerals from the soil.
12. Wheatgrass has what is called the grass-juice factor, which has been shown to keep herbivorous animals alive indefinitely.
13. Dr. Ann Wigmore and institutes based on her teachings has been helping people get well from chronic disorders for 30 years using wheatgrass. 14. Liquid chlorophyll gets into the tissues, refines them and makes them over.
15. Wheatgrass Juice is a superior detoxification agent compared to carrot juice and other fruits and vegetables. Dr Earp-Thomas, associate of Ann Wigmore, says that 15 pounds of Wheatgrass is the equivalent of 350 pounds of carrot, lettuce, celery, and so forth.
16. Liquid chlorophyll washes drug deposits from the body.
17. Chlorophyll neutralizes toxins in the body.
18. Chlorophyll helps purify the liver.
19. Chlorophyll improves blood sugar problems.
20. In the American Journal of Surgery (1940), Benjamin Gruskin, M.D. recommends chlorophyll for its antiseptic benefits. The article suggests the following clinical uses for chlorophyll: to clear up foul smelling odors, neutralize Strep infections, heal wounds, hasten skin grafting, cure chronic sinusitis, overcome chronic inner-ear inflammation and infection, reduce varicose veins and heal leg ulcers, eliminate impetigo and other scabby eruptions, heal rectal sores, successfully treat inflammation of the uterine cervix, get rid of parasitic vaginal infections, reduce typhoid fever, and cure advanced pyorrhea in many cases.
21. Wheatgrass Juice cures acne and even help to remove scars after it has been ingested for seven to eight months. The diet must be improved at the same time.
22. Wheatgrass juice acts as a detergent in the body and is used as a body deodorant.
23. A small amount of wheatgrass juice in the human diet helps prevents tooth decay.
24. Wheatgrass juice held in the mouth for 5 minutes will help eliminate toothaches. It pulls poisons from the gums.
25. Gargle Wheat grass Juice for a sore throat.
26. Drink Wheatgrass Juice for skin problems such as eczema or psoriasis.
27. Wheat grass Juice keeps the hair from graying.
28. Pyorrhea of the mouth: lay pulp of wheatgrass soaked in juice on diseased area in mouth or chew wheat grass, spitting out the pulp.
29. By taking Wheat grass Juice, one may feel a difference in strength, endurance, health, and spirituality, and experience a sense of well-being.
30. Wheatgrass juice improves the digestion.
31. Wheat grass juice is high in enzymes.
32. Wheatgrass juice is an excellent skin cleanser and can be absorbed through the skin for nutrition. Pour green juice over your body in a tub of warm water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse off with cold water.
33. Wheatgrass implants (enemas) are great for healing and detoxifying the colon walls. The implants also heal and cleanse the internal organs. After an enema, wait 20 minutes, then implant 4 ounces of wheatgrass juice. Retain for 20 minutes.
34. Wheatgrass juice is great for constipation and keeping the bowels open. It is high in magnesium.
35. Dr. Birscher, a research scientist, called chlorophyll "concentrated sun power." He said, "chlorophyll increases the function of the heart, affects the vascular system, the intestines, the uterus, and the lungs."
36. According to Dr. Birscher, nature uses chlorophyll (wheatgrass) as a body cleanser, rebuilder, and neutralizer of toxins.
37. Wheat grass juice can dissolve the scars that are formed in the lungs from breathing acid gasses. The effect of carbon monoxide is minimized since chlorophyll increases hemoglobin production.
38. Wheatgrass Juice reduces high blood pressure and enhances the capillaries.
39. Wheat grass Juice can remove heavy metals from the body.
40. Wheatgrass juice is great for blood disorders of all kinds
HEALTH BENEFITS OF BARLEY
• Promotes cardiovascular health and helps prevent heart diseases.
• Aids in reducing high levels of cholesterol in the body and helps prevent high blood pressure.
• Helps in prevention of stroke (ischemic stroke).
• Helps prevent cancer.
• Aids in the fight against diabetes by providing essential elements needed by diabetic patients.
• Aids in the improvement of Asthmatic condition.
• Provides good supply of iron to organs and may help improve anemic conditions.
• Helps in increasing the numbers of red blood cells in the body and aid in the body's ability to use oxygen.
• Increases stamina or energy level of the body as well as strengthening the immune system.
• Aids in the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders such as duodenal and colon disorders.
• Promotes a healthy circulatory, digestive, immune and detoxification system of the body.
• May help improve memory and clarity of thought.
• Helps in purifying the blood and liver from toxins and other free radicals by washing it out of the body.
• Helps decrease carbon dioxide in the body.
• Helps in the healing process of wounds, scrapes and sores.
• Helps fight harmful bacteria that might cause infection to wounds and scrapes.
• Helps provide help in the treatment of any inflammation in the body due to its
anti-inflammatory properties.
• Helps in the prevention against gallstone formation.
• Helps fight body odor and bad breath.
• Cleans and deodorizes tissues in the bowel system.
• Promotes better looking skin, hair and nails.
• Helps prevent the dryness of the skin due to aging and promote a youthful looking skin.
• Improves sexual energy
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Folkloric
- In the Philippines, root decoction used as sedative in the treatment of nausea, hiccups, and loss of appetite.
- Used for dysenteric diarrhea and associated colic pains.
- Flowers used for dysentery and leucorrhea.
- Poulticed fresh leaves and stems for sprains, eczema, boils and contusions.
- Diluted tincture of roots for mouthwash and gargles for sore throat.
- Flower decoction used for hypertension, amenorrhea and irregular menstruation, hemoptysis, catarrhal bronchitis.
- Decoction of leaves for wounds and skin ulcers.
- In Bengal, roots are used for dysentery.
- In Bombay, flowers used for dysentery.
- Flowers and bark used for blood-shot eyes.
- Root, ground into pulp, mixed with water and pepper, or as tincture, used for diarrhea and dysentery.
- Externally, powdered roots moistened with a little water on a piece of lint is applied to sores and chronic ulcers.
- In Indo-China, root decoction used to clarify the urine.
- In India and Sri Lanka, the fruits are eaten and the flowers used as flavoring.
source: stuart xchange
Jessie Pope (1868-1941) was a jingoistic, pro-war writer who was very popular during the First World War. These days, she is mainly remembered because of the anger she roused in many poets who, unlike her, fought in the trenches. She glorified war and wrote enthusiastically about 'laddies' longing to 'charge and shoot' – as in The Call, featured in this 1915 edition of her war poems.
Wilfred Owen's most powerful war poem is probably Dulce et Decorum Est (which can be translated as 'It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country'). He wrote it in direct response to her own poems, and in an act of great irony, he originally dedicated the poem 'To Miss Jessie Pope' – but was later talked out of it. Instead, in the final stanza, he makes reference to her as he declares:
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues –
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
Many of Pope's war poems were published in the Daily Mail. No surprise there, then.
a six pack case (empty now of course) of the Philippine beer San Miguel beer bought in Australia (hence the mark, imported) and some tamer drinks for a summer's day.
*********************************************************************************************
By the latter half of the 19th century Malacañang had become the official Palace and the main street of Arrabal de San Miguel was known as La Calzada de Malacañang. In mid-19th century the grounds of the Palace were used as experimental ground for the planting of Chinese tallow-trees, at around the same period that the main streets of Manila were being planted to flame trees.
Besides Malacañang, two other establishments were to make San Miguel a national byword, and these were: the Fabrica de Ginebra de San Miguel and the Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel, both among the last of the Creole enterprises, though both would rank first and very high (as blessings!) in our pop culture.
Ginebra San Miguel originally belonged to the Zobels, now belongs to the Palancas, and carries a label created by a promising young artist, Fernando Amorsolo, who in the 1900s, designed that logo of St Michael vanquishing the devil now known throughout the land as the Marca Demonio. It's unquestionably Amorsolo's most famous work! The big and small bottles of the ginebra are respectively known as the cuatro kantos and the bilog. The gin itself is, of course, nationally famous as the "inumin ng tunay na lalaki". But long before that ad was thought of, this ginebra was already associated with virility. In the old days a country boy's first initiation in sex was usually preceded by a slug or two of ginebra, to give him courage and staying power; and a morning rite for cockers was to gargle a mouthful of the gin and then spit it into the face of a fighting cock, to make the bird cockier. Ginebra San Miguel is "proletarian", being the drink most within the means of the masses --- but even the kanto boy who happens to have enough cash for a case of beer wouldn't think of buying anything except a cuatro kantos if his barkada's pulutan is dog!
San Miguel beer is "class" --- for those who still have to move on and up to Stateside, brandy and cocktail. Our favorite cerveza began as a Barretto enterprise in 1890 on No. 6 Calzada de Malacañang, or right next-door to the Palace. St Michael was to have presided over the inauguration of the brewery but typhoons forced Don Enrique Ma. Barretto de Ycasa to transfer the inaugural flow of his cerveza from the feast day of the Archangel to October 4, 1890, when Manila Elegante, headed by General Weyler, the Marquis of Ahumada and Archbishop Netter (who blessed the first barrels), got a taste of the Barretto brews in a brilliant pavilion where the tables were laden with "succulent viands, sandwiches and desserts". An artillery band played waltz music (the waltz is pre-eminently the stein music) and the stylish beer-drinkers danced under a profusion of colored lanterns. Outside that elegant pavilion raged the inclemencies not only of the weather but of history (Rizal had already erupted). Such was the first flow of the beer born only two years before the Katipunan.
Through the ensuing decades, the brewery passed from the hands of the Barrettos to those of the Brias-Roxases and thence to the very capable hands of Don Andrés Soriano, who took over on the eve of the Jazz Age. He could depend on the trade of the American soldiery, who found beer, the proper drink for a hot climate, but not on the taste of Filipinos then, who either clung to gin (the proletariat) or to Jerez and Domecq (the gentry) but in general thought beer rather newfangled. However, of the two San Miguel brews --- pale pilsen and Cerveza Negra --- the latter entered our pop culture faster, because it became a tradition among our mothers to take Cerveza Negra when breast - feeding. Among the menfolk, beer --- the pale pilsen --- became the traditional accompaniment to the potaje de habichuelas; and beer with balut was supposed to be a good tonic for the newly married, the convalescent, and the TB- stricken. But generally speaking, the pre-war Filipino was not a beer - drinker --- in fact, not a drinker at all.
Our conversion occurred in 1945, during the Liberation, when Filipinos became accustomed to beer on tap at the G.I. camps; and this newly acquired taste of ours begot the "soda fountains" of the 1950s. Followed the "cocktail lounge", the "supper club", and today's more frankly titled beerhouse. For some reason we never took to calling such places "bar" or "saloon". Old-timers who remember tasting strong drink only in their 20s cannot but marvel at the kids of today, already addicted to "toma" in their early teens. Epochal was our postwar transfiguration from a race of mild drinkers to a nation of boozers.
From Aparri to Jolo, the true patron saint of the Filipino is San Miguel --- and the national refrain is: "Isa pa nga!"
--- from Almanac for Manileños by Nick Joaquin, 1979
[11:18] Myca Ling lunges at Gwen, likely toppling her over and slashing at her viciously with her remaining claw, bearing her feline fangs
[11:18] Gwendolyn Writer pulls her guns by the end of their handles and tosses them over the side.
[11:19] Gwendolyn Writer is knocked over, emotionlessly she does not struggle.
[11:19] Ashur Kentoku lands on the roof just as Gwen goes down.....
[11:20] Anais LeShelle motions at the body of the cadet "the girl got a deathwish or whats going on?"
[11:20] Myca Ling slashes at Gwen's chest with her claw, moving to bury her teeth wherever she could find exposed skin at her neck
[11:20] Gwendolyn Writer: "I swore loyalty.. but not to Mari. For the last time, I offer my life to you. If you do not trust me, then end my life and let me die having tried one more time to rejoin my family here."
[11:21] Evelyn Syaka perks an ear slightly looking away at the clawing, "She wouldn't get off the roof, and Myca wass and now is attacking as you can see."
[11:21] Angel Slocombe growls "You shot at a Kitten, you joined the Pigs you have no loyalty to offer Gwen"
[11:21] Ashur Kentoku watches carefully, knowing what feral cats are capable of....
[11:21] Maritanouuu Arna smiles and tucks her pistols away.
[11:24] Myca Ling: (( last post - please respond, Gwen. Myca Ling slashes at Gwen's chest with her claw, moving to bury her teeth wherever she could find exposed skin at her neck ))
[11:25] Gwendolyn Writer doesn't resist.
[11:25] Gwendolyn Writer: "Kill me if you don't trust me. End my suffering. I pledged my loyalty to Rith, and that has not changed."
[11:25] Gwendolyn Writer: "I will try again and again to come back to my family."
[11:25] Maritanouuu Arna shrugs and smiles at Myca. "You heard her. Have fun, Myca."
[11:25] Gwendolyn Writer: "Until I am dead."
[11:25] Angel Slocombe repeats even more angry "YOUR SHOT A KITTEN ... THAT'S NOT LOYALTY"
[11:26] Gwendolyn Writer: "I defended myself."
[11:26] Anais LeShelle looks curiously on the body being slashed at
[11:26] Angel Slocombe: "you shot first Gwen and you know it"
[11:26] Gwendolyn Writer: "Not true... Never true."
[11:27] Ginseng Kyong "what kitten did she shoot? why would you shoot family?"
[11:27] Gwendolyn Writer: "I haven't BEEN family since you exiled me because of my sister's stupid decision."
[11:28] Myca Ling tears into her throat viciously with her teeth, claws slicing at her body repeatedly
[11:28] Gwendolyn Writer: "Since Mari shot me down when I asked if I could be a renter."
[11:28] Angel Slocombe looks to Gin she shot "Naomi and was shooting at Mari, took all three of us to bring her down, all because Rith wouldn't let her back in cos her sissy's a Pig and SHE's a pig"
[11:28] Gwendolyn Writer groans in pain.
[11:29] Maritanouuu Arna smiles some. "Well, kitties, let's give Myca some room, hmm?"
[11:29] Myca Ling stabs at her with her claws, likely hitting internal organs with the long blades, tearing flesh from her throat
[11:29] Ginseng Kyong "that was after she got kicked out ?"
[11:29] Angel Slocombe nods at Gin
[11:29] Anais LeShelle turns away as more blood is being shed
[11:30] Evelyn Syaka folds her ears back, "Kittens... get on the other roofs."
[11:30] Angel Slocombe slowly steps down to the other roof
[11:30] Gwendolyn Writer gargles, "Had...no *cough, choke* choiccee..." *drops a piece of paper in her hand as she loses consciousness*
[11:30] Ginseng Kyong is only a kitten and takes his lead by the others"
[11:31] Anais LeShelle grudglingly heeds what evely said and moves onto another roof
[11:31] Evelyn Syaka growls softly, but followed by a soft purr, "That's enough Myca...."
[11:32] Ashur Kentoku holds up her hand and looks at Eve..."No...let it finish"
[11:32] Maritanouuu Arna nods. "Yeah, let her finish."
[11:32] Myca Ling backs off Gwen as she stops fighting, growling softly as she waits to see if she makes any movement.
[11:33] Ashur Kentoku moves forward and checks Gwen quickly for any sign of life... [11:33] Evelyn Syaka notices that Gwen dropped a note and perks her ears at it, only to fold her ears back against her head at the sight of all the blood
[11:34] Gwendolyn Writer bleeds profusely, blood streams to the edges of the photograph.
[11:34] Maritanouuu Arna wanders forward, tugging a small black rope from her belt, and loops it around Gwen's wrist.
[11:34] Angel Slocombe stands silently below listening, swallowing the emotions she was feeling, the girl up there being mauled by her mentor had once been her best friend here, until she chose to betray the pride and attack forcing her to shoot het. She breathes deeply calling up "Is she dead?" trying not to sound concerned
[11:34] Ashur Kentoku picks the photo up, stares at it and hands it to Mari...
[11:35] Anais LeShelle looks at angel concerned "you ok angel?"
[11:35] Maritanouuu Arna takes the note, blinks, and folds it, tucking it into her armor, before jerking at the rope, trying to make Gwen move,.
[11:36] Angel Slocombe swallows and repeats visibly shaking from holding in her emotions "Is she dead?"
[11:37] Ashur Kentoku , angered by the endless savaging of Gwen's body and her refusal to die, stands over to Gewn and fires a single shot into her head...
[11:37] Ashur Kentoku murmers...."Yes, she's dead."
[11:38] Maritanouuu Arna continues to tug at the rope, trying to make the body twitch, and get myca's attention.
[11:38] Evelyn Syaka looks away at the shooting of Gwen
[11:38] Anais LeShelle walk up to angel and puts an arm around her shoulders
[11:38] Maritanouuu Arna: Ah, well. C'mon, we gotta make a delivery.
[11:38] Angel Slocombe shrugs Anais off she walks up the ramp
[11:39] Maritanouuu Arna leans down and unties the rope, before re-tying it around Gwen's neck.
[11:39] Ginseng Kyong acepts what has happend today, but a little sad
[11:39] Evelyn Syaka speaks up, "Where you taking the body Mari?
[11:39] Ashur Kentoku holsters her firearm and stands for a moment, looking down at Gwen....
[11:39] Maritanouuu Arna: You'll seee...
[11:39] Myca Ling pads slowly back down to the ramp, holding her injured wrist as she begins to groom herself.
[11:39] Maritanouuu Arna drags the corpse along the ground, purring.
[11:39] You: ....then turns and walks away, face expressionless.
[11:40] Evelyn Syaka just closes her eyes thinking a bit
[11:40] Angel Slocombe looks down at the body she says quietly almost a whisper "Thank You" before leaping away
[11:41] Evelyn Syaka flick an ear, eyes still closed, "We need to watch the kittens, after this."
[11:42] Ashur Kentoku nods...."Yes. We need to. They are our future."
Early flowering, Blackthorn provides a valuable source of nectar and pollen for bees in spring. Its foliage is a food plant for the caterpillars of many moths, including the lackey, magpie, common emerald, small eggar, swallow-tailed and yellow-tailed. It is also used by the black and brown hairstreak butterflies.
Birds nest among the dense, thorny thickets, eat caterpillars and other insects from the leaves, and feast on the berries in autumn.
Despite safety concerns, people take blackthorn flower to treat colds, breathing conditions, cough, fluid retention, general exhaustion, upset stomach, kidney and bladder problems, and constipation; and to treat and prevent stomach spasms. Some people use it to cause sweating. Blackthorn flower is also an ingredient in some “blood cleansing” teas.
Blackthorn berry is used as a mouth rinse (gargle) for mild sore throat and mouth. The syrup and wine of the blackthorn berry are used for emptying the bowels and increasing urine production to relieve fluid retention (as a diuretic). A marmalade made from the berry is used for upset stomach.
The wood is mainly used to manufacture walking sticks and Irish shillelaghs and witches use wands and staffs made from the wood.
..and WE make sloe gin from its fruits, mmmm!
#AbFav_START_of_AUTUMN_🍄
ROWAN and Hawthorn berries.
I found these on the ground, in the ‘wild’.
Berries are so autumnal, only very few are edible now, except for the birds and other animals.
A jelly made from them is popular for dressing game.
According to Robert James in 1747, the fruit is excellent for treating the scurvy, and the exudates from the bark is good for the diseases of the spleen.
When dried and powdered the berries have been turned into a type of bread, and in an infusion make an acidulous drink.
A gargle made from the berries is good for a sore throat and inflamed tonsils.
However, it is bitter – very bitter.
Sorbus is a genus of about 100–200 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family Rosaceae. Species of Sorbus are commonly known as white-beam, rowan, service tree and mountain-ash.
This upright, tree is the most compact of the Rowan trees making it ideal for small gardens. Fluffy, white corymbs of flowers appear in April-May that are popular with bees.
Mid/dark green pinnate foliage turns vibrant shades of orange and red in the autumn which complements the reddish orange berries that hang in heavy clusters and are a treat for the birds.
Popular folklore maintains that a heavy crop of fruit means a hard or difficult winter.
Similarly, in Finland and Sweden, the number of fruit on the trees was used as a predictor of the snow cover during winter.
However, as fruit production for a given summer is related to weather conditions the previous summer, with warm, dry summers increasing the amount of stored sugars available for subsequent flower and fruit production, it has no predictive relationship to the weather of the next winter.
Have a great day and thanks for viewing, M, (*_*)
for more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Berries, red, Rowan, Sorbus, Lijsterbes, Hawthorn, leaves, Autumn, "mountain ash", design, "conceptual art", studio, black-background, square, "Magda indigo"
lunch time medicine
antibiotic , tylenol, I don't konw that pill;; and gargle
doctor say.. I have a bad sore throat
damn..
but take a medicine.. it's more better!!
100% Natural
Packaging: 500 grams 60 capsules/ box
40 Points about Wheat grass & its Nutritional Values
1. Wheatgrass Juice is one of the best sources of living chlorophyll available.
2. Chlorophyll is the first product of light and, therefore, contains more light energy than any other element.
3. Wheatgrass juice is a crude chlorophyll and can be taken orally and as a colon implant without toxic side effects.
4. Chlorophyll is the basis of all plant life.
5. Wheatgrass is high in oxygen like all green plants that contain chlorophyll. The brain and all body tissues function at an optimal level in a highly-oxygenated environment.
6. Chlorophyll is anti-bacterial and can be used inside and outside the body as a healer.
7. Dr. Bernard Jensen says that it only takes minutes to digest wheat grass juice and uses up very little body energy.
8. Science has proven that chlorophyll arrests growth and development of unfriendly bacteria.
9. Chlorophyll (wheatgrass) rebuilds the bloodstream. Studies of various animals have shown chlorophyll to be free of any toxic reaction. The red cell count was returned to normal within 4 to 5 days of the administration of chlorophyll, even in those animals which were known to be extremely anemic or low in red cell count.
10. Farmers in the Midwest who have sterile cows and bulls put them on wheat grass to restore fertility. (The high magnesium content in chlorophyll builds enzymes that restore the sex hormones.)
11. Chlorophyll can be extracted from many plants, but wheatgrass is superior because it has been found to have over 100 elements needed by man. If grown in organic soil, it absorbs 92 of the known 102 minerals from the soil.
12. Wheatgrass has what is called the grass-juice factor, which has been shown to keep herbivorous animals alive indefinitely.
13. Dr. Ann Wigmore and institutes based on her teachings has been helping people get well from chronic disorders for 30 years using wheatgrass. 14. Liquid chlorophyll gets into the tissues, refines them and makes them over.
15. Wheatgrass Juice is a superior detoxification agent compared to carrot juice and other fruits and vegetables. Dr Earp-Thomas, associate of Ann Wigmore, says that 15 pounds of Wheatgrass is the equivalent of 350 pounds of carrot, lettuce, celery, and so forth.
16. Liquid chlorophyll washes drug deposits from the body.
17. Chlorophyll neutralizes toxins in the body.
18. Chlorophyll helps purify the liver.
19. Chlorophyll improves blood sugar problems.
20. In the American Journal of Surgery (1940), Benjamin Gruskin, M.D. recommends chlorophyll for its antiseptic benefits. The article suggests the following clinical uses for chlorophyll: to clear up foul smelling odors, neutralize Strep infections, heal wounds, hasten skin grafting, cure chronic sinusitis, overcome chronic inner-ear inflammation and infection, reduce varicose veins and heal leg ulcers, eliminate impetigo and other scabby eruptions, heal rectal sores, successfully treat inflammation of the uterine cervix, get rid of parasitic vaginal infections, reduce typhoid fever, and cure advanced pyorrhea in many cases.
21. Wheatgrass Juice cures acne and even help to remove scars after it has been ingested for seven to eight months. The diet must be improved at the same time.
22. Wheatgrass juice acts as a detergent in the body and is used as a body deodorant.
23. A small amount of wheatgrass juice in the human diet helps prevents tooth decay.
24. Wheatgrass juice held in the mouth for 5 minutes will help eliminate toothaches. It pulls poisons from the gums.
25. Gargle Wheat grass Juice for a sore throat.
26. Drink Wheatgrass Juice for skin problems such as eczema or psoriasis.
27. Wheat grass Juice keeps the hair from graying.
28. Pyorrhea of the mouth: lay pulp of wheatgrass soaked in juice on diseased area in mouth or chew wheat grass, spitting out the pulp.
29. By taking Wheat grass Juice, one may feel a difference in strength, endurance, health, and spirituality, and experience a sense of well-being.
30. Wheatgrass juice improves the digestion.
31. Wheat grass juice is high in enzymes.
32. Wheatgrass juice is an excellent skin cleanser and can be absorbed through the skin for nutrition. Pour green juice over your body in a tub of warm water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse off with cold water.
33. Wheatgrass implants (enemas) are great for healing and detoxifying the colon walls. The implants also heal and cleanse the internal organs. After an enema, wait 20 minutes, then implant 4 ounces of wheatgrass juice. Retain for 20 minutes.
34. Wheatgrass juice is great for constipation and keeping the bowels open. It is high in magnesium.
35. Dr. Birscher, a research scientist, called chlorophyll "concentrated sun power." He said, "chlorophyll increases the function of the heart, affects the vascular system, the intestines, the uterus, and the lungs."
36. According to Dr. Birscher, nature uses chlorophyll (wheatgrass) as a body cleanser, rebuilder, and neutralizer of toxins.
37. Wheat grass juice can dissolve the scars that are formed in the lungs from breathing acid gasses. The effect of carbon monoxide is minimized since chlorophyll increases hemoglobin production.
38. Wheatgrass Juice reduces high blood pressure and enhances the capillaries.
39. Wheat grass Juice can remove heavy metals from the body.
40. Wheatgrass juice is great for blood disorders of all kinds
HEALTH BENEFITS OF BARLEY
• Promotes cardiovascular health and helps prevent heart diseases.
• Aids in reducing high levels of cholesterol in the body and helps prevent high blood pressure.
• Helps in prevention of stroke (ischemic stroke).
• Helps prevent cancer.
• Aids in the fight against diabetes by providing essential elements needed by diabetic patients.
• Aids in the improvement of Asthmatic condition.
• Provides good supply of iron to organs and may help improve anemic conditions.
• Helps in increasing the numbers of red blood cells in the body and aid in the body's ability to use oxygen.
• Increases stamina or energy level of the body as well as strengthening the immune system.
• Aids in the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders such as duodenal and colon disorders.
• Promotes a healthy circulatory, digestive, immune and detoxification system of the body.
• May help improve memory and clarity of thought.
• Helps in purifying the blood and liver from toxins and other free radicals by washing it out of the body.
• Helps decrease carbon dioxide in the body.
• Helps in the healing process of wounds, scrapes and sores.
• Helps fight harmful bacteria that might cause infection to wounds and scrapes.
• Helps provide help in the treatment of any inflammation in the body due to its
anti-inflammatory properties.
• Helps in the prevention against gallstone formation.
• Helps fight body odor and bad breath.
• Cleans and deodorizes tissues in the bowel system.
• Promotes better looking skin, hair and nails.
• Helps prevent the dryness of the skin due to aging and promote a youthful looking skin.
• Improves sexual energy
the local pharmacy advised me this to gargle with and I always like to try out old remedies ....... My teeth turned green first day, yellow following day............ brushing with neem toothpaste did not help ( yet) I hope it eventually disappears !!! :P
File name: 10_03_001153a
Binder label: Medical
Title: Merchant's Gargling Oil. A liniment for man & beast. (front)
Created/Published: Buffalo, N. Y. : The Courier Lith. Co.
Date issued: 1870-1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 13 x 8 cm.
Subject: Horses; Patent medicines; Oils & fats
Notes: Title from item.
Statement of responsibility: M. G. O. Co.
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.
#AbFav_START_of_AUTUMN_🍄
I found these on the ground, in the ‘wild’.
Berries are so autumnal, only very few are edible now, except for the birds and other animals.
A jelly made from them is popular for dressing game.
According to Robert James in 1747, the fruit is excellent for treating the scurvy, and the exudates from the bark is good for the diseases of the spleen.
When dried and powdered the berries have been turned into a type of bread, and in an infusion make an acidulous drink.
A gargle made from the berries is good for a sore throat and inflamed tonsils.
However, it is bitter – very bitter.
Sorbus is a genus of about 100–200 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family Rosaceae. Species of Sorbus are commonly known as white-beam, rowan, service tree and mountain-ash.
This upright, tree is the most compact of the Rowan trees making it ideal for small gardens.
Fluffy, white corymbs of flowers appear in April-May that are popular with bees.
Mid/dark green pinnate foliage turns vibrant shades of orange and red in the autumn which complements the reddish orange berries that hang in heavy clusters and are a treat for the birds.
Popular folklore maintains that a heavy crop of fruit means a hard or difficult winter.
Similarly, in Finland and Sweden, the number of fruit on the trees was used as a predictor of the snow cover during winter.
However, as fruit production for a given summer is related to weather conditions the previous summer, with warm, dry summers increasing the amount of stored sugars available for subsequent flower and fruit production, it has no predictive relationship to the weather of the next winter.
Also Hypericum, found in bouquets.
Have a great day and thanks for viewing, M, (*_*)
for more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
goBerries, red, Rowan, Sorbus, Hypericum, leaves, Autumn, "mountain ash", design, "conceptual art", studio, black-background, square, "Magda indigo" NIKOND7000
I do not remember her name. She is an Aravaani too. The reason why she is in a mans clothes is simply because she has to extensively go work outside and mingle with strangers. This may bring unwanted negative attention and abuse if she is in her womanly attire. Aravaani lifestyle is one filled with folk art. She volunteered to sing us a song. I recommend you listen to the song here before you read further.
As she started singing I could instantly recognize the number. Its an old Tamil classic from a film called Raani Yaar Kuzhanthai. I was moved by her pick, its an instant heart throb. The song is about a lullaby to a infant who is adamant and its filled with emotions.
As she sung the song Claude and I taped this and we were occasionally disturbed by other people in the room. If you listen closely to the audio, you would find noise from the cooking pan, frying of something interfere. Thanks to the kitchen which is 2 feet away. Again noise from the gargling and spitting of someone who is bathing in one corner of the room, thanks to the fact the bathroom is another 1 foot away from the kitchen. Not to mention the rambling sound of the broken ceiling fan that hardly produces any air but aptly contributes to noise pollution and is so rusty it may fall down any moment on someones head.
Thanam and Noorjahaan argue in the background about what to buy in the market for the day for cooking food and if they have the money to buy it. The occasional cocking of our camera shutter breaks shrill in the air.
I thought I was living inside a malgudi days episode on DD. I could not come to terms with reality as to why this is happening to these people. Every moment we were there myself and Claude were addressed with endearment as Kannu and Raaja (tamil words for eyes and princely/kingly) by everyone of the aravaanis in the house. It reminded me much of my Accountancy faculty in high school who used to address all the students this way with endearment.
If someone has to suffer for being who they are or for trying to be who they want to become I think is fundamental violation of human rights. Our kids want college education, the wife longs for jewellery, the servant maid wants a raise and you are bored carrying the same shiny smart phone mobile you brought 6 months back and now want a PDA. We fight with all our might to get to these things, no matter what the cost. It’s funny how in this game we ignored the necessity to treat these people like other human beings and give them basic rights. Sadly, our aravaani’s suffer for being who they are…
Canon EOS 400D with the Sigma EF 24 - 70 MM F/2.8. Manual, F/4 at 1/200th of a Second, ISO100. Canon Speedlite 430EX fired, Manual 1/64.
This tale can also be seen within my Blog over at: blogitandscarper.blogspot.com/
Taken from the old fishing port area of Parte Vieja, tucked under the green slopes of Monte Urgull at the eastern end of the stunning – ‘La Bahia a la Conche’. A magnificent, golden, sandy beach, which forms the main sweep to the elegant, sun soaked promenade of Donastia-San Sebastian. The urbane jewel in the crown of Spain’s northeastern 'Basque' coastline and the capital of the province of Gipuzkoa.
This is a special city and more than deserving of its worldwide kudos and esteem. Sophisticated, vibrant, graciously proud and chic, with some exceptionally beautiful sundown views from 'La Conche' beach to the Atlantic swells that beckon beyond the protection of Monte Urgull and Monte Igueldo - with the little ‘Isla de Santa Klara sometimes appearing to link the two promontories together and enclose the bay completely. Every day about an hour before sundown, people come out on mass to walk the promenade and circuit the Monte Urgull, either in couples or large family groups, just chatting and exchanging news, while ambling gently and peacefully under the suns warm and final favours.
In north east Spain and south west France, about 650,000 of the 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community speak the Basques language. A language that is quite unique and completely unrelated to any other language around it, including Castilian Spanish. Around the world there are an estimated 18 million Basques. A resolute and deeply alluring society with an extensive history and cultures that are as fascinating as they are varied and ancient - pre dating Roman and Indo-European times.
During the 17th and 18th centuries it has been estimated that some 45% of the population of Chile were Basque immigrants, with their descendants becoming the major influence in Chile's subsequent economic and cultural development. Che Guevara, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician and intellectual was probably of Basque as well as Irish descendancy. 'Guevara' is actually the Castilianized form of the Basque: 'Gebara' which is the name of a village in the Basque province of Alava, as originally recorded back in the second century AD.
According to the extensive research studies of Stephen Oppenheimer, a British paediatrician and geneticist - British ancestry mainly traces back to the Palaeolithic Iberian people, now represented best by Basques, when they migrated northwards to Britain as hunter gatherers, when the ice shelf's receded in Britain after the end of the last ice age. It is therefore said that if you want to better understand the true history and ancestry of the British - ask a Spaniard, or more specifically.... a Basque.
I had a great few days here meeting other travelers from Norway, France the US and Spain, deep inside the softly lit maze of streets in the old town quarter of Parte Vieja, that make up 'Tapas Shangri-La'. Roaming freely with my appetite and my nose out on point, from one tempting and intriguing bar to another, liberating my taste senses to whole new levels of discovery and culinary enlightenment. There is nowhere collectively better or more fun, whilst remaining so casual and unpretentious - at least on this planet anyway. I miss it a lot. A natural foodie Nirvana.
Oh – and that box of perfectly chilled white Catalonian Corbieres (French!) wine with the plain labels, that our fantastic barman snuck out back for, around 3.00am that morning, after his boss had expired behind the sofa. Wow! Your still the man. And your secrets still safe with me. Providing you keep up the payments…..ho ho.
CAUTIONARY NOTE !! - Pointing Etiquette & Conduct ! -- When sitting on a high stool at a crowded tapas bar, often hemmed in by other tourists and locals alike, the accepted method of communication - if you don't speak the language - is to 'point' at your chosen beverage or the plate of delicious looking food that has just appeared in front of a nearby diner. However - as the evening progresses and you become more fluid and casual with your pointing gesticulations’ - just make sure you remember to keep your eye on the finger at the end of your outstretched 'pointing arm', as it sweeps back and forth like the boom of a runaway crane, while your other hand is frantically trying to secure the attention of the harassed looking waitress down the other end of the bar. One evening, I didn't - and managed to completely clear three full wine glasses, two beer bottles, a steaming bowl of very yummy looking fisherman's stew and an open handbag....all into the laps of the cool and beautifully dressed Italian couple sitting right next to me. Oh dear. Instant commotion & chaos. I was kind of grateful I didn't understand any Italian - although I pretty much got their general drift, as did everyone else in the establishment. It became immeasurably worse when some kind soul pointed out that the bowl of missing stew was now hiding in her handbag. God... didn't she scream!
Here are a couple of You Tube links to 'Basque Region' videos and so on:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCmVuIccESM&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae3tcnmpFnI&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVeI-VndCTQ&feature=related Great helicopter 'fly by' video short of San Sebastian and the nearby region.
If while visiting the region, you take the trouble to write down and try using a few basic Basque words and phrases - In Basque, Basques call themselves 'Euskaldunak' by the way - you will be received like a blood brother!
And here are a few essential Basque (Euskara) greetings & phrases I prepared earlier:
* Hello = Kaixo - "Kay-so"
* How are you? = Zer moduz? - "Sere modoose"
* Very well thankyou, & you? = Ongi, eskerrik asko, eta zu? - "Ongee, esk-ellick ass-ko, eh-ta soo?"
* Yes = Bai - "Bi"
* Please = Mesedez - "Mess-eh-dess"
* Thankyou = Eskerrick asko - "Esk-ellick ass-ko"
* Goodnight = Gabon - "Ga-bon"
*** Bye = Agur - "Ah-gorrr" Note: This is one of those testing pronunciations where they kind of 'gargle/rattle the tongue' as they say the word. Bon chance then!
CAUTIONARY NOTE 2: ... For the more determined local lingo practitioners, when attempting to use and correctly pronounce the word... 'Agur' in a public place - read this........
There is often an impulsive desire to make an impression - as wine & beer practice peaks - to appear to be the coolest and most admired new foreigner in town that evening to all your imagined new Basque & worldly comrades, by casually saying 'Agur' - (Basque for Bye) - in front of all your mullered & now happily delinquent friends, as you decamp to the pavement outside --
Know this first, 'pretty please'... If after say 20 minutes of growing confusion & disillusionment, you find yourself now alone but still struggling to get your 'arrrggths' and your 'gorrrthhs' in perfect sinc together for the 137th time on this one, and the bar staff & locals you were going to impress are now collectively arms a folded and frowning darkly... at you! Your tonsils feel sore, your tongue's gone numb and your erstwhile friends have now faded away to another bar..., while those two swarthy looking Guardia policemen that have appeared off the street, are now stalking over in your specific direction --- take my advice, don't try and say another 'Agur' .... just smile...crinkle your nose...wave goodbye ....and withdraw gracefully. You've probably had way too much Cava, and by now, your ex Basque bar friends couldn't care less if you speak Urdu, Welsh or Native American Schaghticoke - - they just wanna go get a Big Mac and crash.
* I'm sorry, but I don't understand you = Barkatu, baina ez zaitut ulertzen - Just point to your pre written text. Much-o quicker-o. You can always shake your head of course - but this can sometimes be misinterpreted with dire results.
* Do you speak English/Spanish/French? = Badakizu ingelesez/gasteleraz/frantzesez? - Just point to your pre written text. Moocho easier-o. If you illicit a resounding "Non!" from this one - either bow politely and move next door, or be prepared to spend the rest of the evening pointing to your wanton desires while pulling increasingly unnatural facial expressions, to the eternal joy and amusement of all your fellow patrons.
File name: 10_03_001155a
Binder label: Medical
Title: Merchant's Gargling Oil is the oldest and best liniment now in use throughout the United States and foreign countries. It is put up in white wrapper for human, and yellow for animal flesh. (front)
Created/Published: Buffalo, N. Y. : The Courier Lith. Co.
Date issued: 1870-1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 8 x 14 cm.
Subject: Men; Horses; Horseshoes; Patent medicines; Oils & fats
Notes: Title from item. Unrelated advertisement printed on verso: Then go to D. S. Marsh & Son, shirt makers, agents for the Troy Laundry, Waltham, Mass.
Statement of responsibility: Merchant's Gargling Oil Company
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, roots used as diuretic; also used for dysentery and dysmenorrhea.
- Entire plant in decoction used as alterant and antiasthmatic.
- Root considered aphrodisiac, and used for bladder gravel and similar urinary complaints.
- Decoction or infusion of leaves used in asthma; expectorant.
- Used for hypertension, menorrhagia, glandular swelling, sore throat and hoarseness.
- Powdered seeds applied to wounds and sores.
- Bruised leaves applied to bruises.
- Decoction of leaves used for diabetes.
- Powdered roots and leaves taken with milk for piles and fistula.
- Juice applied externally to fistulous sores.
- Poultice of leaves for glandular swellings.
- Leaves and roots used for piles and fistula.
- Used as antifertility agent in some parts of India.
- 1:1 ethanol water extract used for pain relief.
- Seeds used a coffee substitute
- In China, used for treatment of anxiety and depression.
- In Ayurveda, used as antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac, analgesic and antidepressant; also used in diseases associated with corrupted bile and blood, bilious fever, piles, jaundice, leprosy, ulcers, and small pox.
- In India, used for birth control.
- In Ayurveda, root is used as vulnerary, and for the treatment of leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammation, asthma, fatigue, and blood diseases. In the Unani system, decoction of root is used as a gargle to reduce toothache. (52)
- In the Antiles, Guiana, and La Reunion, roots used vomitive.
- In Indo-China, seeds used as emetic.
- In Mexico, used to alleviate depression.
- In Punjab and Cashmere, seeds used for sore throat.
- In Concan, paste of leaves applied to hydrocoeles and glandular swellings.
- Infusion of leaves used for dysentery; also as bitter tonic.
- Roots used for leucoderma, vaginopathy, metropathy, ulcers, dysentery, inflammations, jaundice, asthma, small pox, strangury, fevers.
- Leaves used for hydrocoele, hemorrhoids, fistula, scrofula, conjunctivitis, wounds and hemorrhages.
- Whole plants used for bladder calculi; externally, for edema, rheumatism, myalgia and uterine tumors.
- Whole plant, crushed, used for itching and scabies.
- In Malaysia, root decoction drunk as tonic; pounded leaves applied as poultice on body swellings. (48)
source: stuart xchange
This tale can also be seen within my Blog over at: blogitandscarper.blogspot.com/
Taken from the old fishing port area of Parte Vieja, tucked under the green slopes of Monte Urgull at the eastern end of the stunning – ‘La Bahia a la Conche’. A magnificent, golden, sandy beach, which forms the main sweep to the elegant, sun soaked promenade of Donastia-San Sebastian. The urbane jewel in the crown of Spain’s northeastern 'Basque' coastline and the capital of the province of Gipuzkoa.
This is a special city and more than deserving of its worldwide kudos and esteem. Sophisticated, vibrant, graciously proud and chic, with some exceptionally beautiful sundown views from 'La Conche' beach to the Atlantic swells that beckon beyond the protection of Monte Urgull and Monte Igueldo - with the little ‘Isla de Santa Klara sometimes appearing to link the two promontories together and enclose the bay completely. Every day about an hour before sundown, people come out on mass to walk the promenade and circuit the Monte Urgull, either in couples or large family groups, just chatting and exchanging news, while ambling gently and peacefully under the suns warm and final favours.
In north east Spain and south west France, about 650,000 of the 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community speak the Basques language. A language that is quite unique and completely unrelated to any other language around it, including Castilian Spanish. Around the world there are an estimated 18 million Basques. A resolute and deeply alluring society with an extensive history and cultures that are as fascinating as they are varied and ancient - pre dating Roman and Indo-European times.
During the 17th and 18th centuries it has been estimated that some 45% of the population of Chile were Basque immigrants, with their descendants becoming the major influence in Chile's subsequent economic and cultural development. Che Guevara, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician and intellectual was probably of Basque as well as Irish descendancy. 'Guevara' is actually the Castilianized form of the Basque: 'Gebara' which is the name of a village in the Basque province of Alava, as originally recorded back in the second century AD.
According to the extensive research studies of Stephen Oppenheimer, a British paediatrician and geneticist - British ancestry mainly traces back to the Palaeolithic Iberian people, now represented best by Basques, when they migrated northwards to Britain as hunter gatherers, when the ice shelf's receded in Britain after the end of the last ice age. It is therefore said that if you want to better understand the true history and ancestry of the British - ask a Spaniard, or more specifically.... a Basque.
I had a great few days here meeting other travelers from Norway, France the US and Spain, deep inside the softly lit maze of streets in the old town quarter of Parte Vieja, that make up 'Tapas Shangri-La'. Roaming freely with my appetite and my nose out on point, from one tempting and intriguing bar to another, liberating my taste senses to whole new levels of discovery and culinary enlightenment. There is nowhere collectively better or more fun, whilst remaining so casual and unpretentious - at least on this planet anyway. I miss it a lot. A natural foodie Nirvana.
Oh – and that box of perfectly chilled white Catalonian Corbieres (French!) wine with the plain labels, that our fantastic barman snuck out back for, around 3.00am that morning, after his boss had expired behind the sofa. Wow! Your still the man. And your secrets still safe with me. Providing you keep up the payments…..ho ho.
CAUTIONARY NOTE !! - Pointing Etiquette & Conduct ! -- When sitting on a high stool at a crowded tapas bar, often hemmed in by other tourists and locals alike, the accepted method of communication - if you don't speak the language - is to 'point' at your chosen beverage or the plate of delicious looking food that has just appeared in front of a nearby diner. However - as the evening progresses and you become more fluid and casual with your pointing gesticulations’ - just make sure you remember to keep your eye on the finger at the end of your outstretched 'pointing arm', as it sweeps back and forth like the boom of a runaway crane, while your other hand is frantically trying to secure the attention of the harassed looking waitress down the other end of the bar. One evening, I didn't - and managed to completely clear three full wine glasses, two beer bottles, a steaming bowl of very yummy looking fisherman's stew and an open handbag....all into the laps of the cool and beautifully dressed Italian couple sitting right next to me. Oh dear. Instant commotion & chaos. I was kind of grateful I didn't understand any Italian - although I pretty much got their general drift, as did everyone else in the establishment. It became immeasurably worse when some kind soul pointed out that the bowl of missing stew was now hiding in her handbag. God... didn't she scream!
Here are a couple of You Tube links to 'Basque Region' videos and so on:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCmVuIccESM&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae3tcnmpFnI&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVeI-VndCTQ&feature=related Great helicopter 'fly by' video short of San Sebastian and the nearby region.
If while visiting the region, you take the trouble to write down and try using a few basic Basque words and phrases - In Basque, Basques call themselves 'Euskaldunak' by the way - you will be received like a blood brother!
And here are a few essential Basque (Euskara) greetings & phrases I prepared earlier:
* Hello = Kaixo - "Kay-so"
* How are you? = Zer moduz? - "Sere modoose"
* Very well thankyou, & you? = Ongi, eskerrik asko, eta zu? - "Ongee, esk-ellick ass-ko, eh-ta soo?"
* Yes = Bai - "Bi"
* Please = Mesedez - "Mess-eh-dess"
* Thankyou = Eskerrick asko - "Esk-ellick ass-ko"
* Goodnight = Gabon - "Ga-bon"
*** Bye = Agur - "Ah-gorrr" Note: This is one of those testing pronunciations where they kind of 'gargle/rattle the tongue' as they say the word. Bon chance then!
CAUTIONARY NOTE 2: ... For the more determined local lingo practitioners, when attempting to use and correctly pronounce the word... 'Agur' in a public place - read this........
There is often an impulsive desire to make an impression - as wine & beer practice peaks - to appear to be the coolest and most admired new foreigner in town that evening to all your imagined new Basque & worldly comrades, by casually saying 'Agur' - (Basque for Bye) - in front of all your mullered & now happily delinquent friends, as you decamp to the pavement outside --
Know this first, 'pretty please'... If after say 20 minutes of growing confusion & disillusionment, you find yourself now alone but still struggling to get your 'arrrggths' and your 'gorrrthhs' in perfect sinc together for the 137th time on this one, and the bar staff & locals you were going to impress are now collectively arms a folded and frowning darkly... at you! Your tonsils feel sore, your tongue's gone numb and your erstwhile friends have now faded away to another bar..., while those two swarthy looking Guardia policemen that have appeared off the street, are now stalking over in your specific direction --- take my advice, don't try and say another 'Agur' .... just smile...crinkle your nose...wave goodbye ....and withdraw gracefully. You've probably had way too much Cava, and by now, your ex Basque bar friends couldn't care less if you speak Urdu, Welsh or Native American Schaghticoke - - they just wanna go get a Big Mac and crash.
* I'm sorry, but I don't understand you = Barkatu, baina ez zaitut ulertzen - Just point to your pre written text. Much-o quicker-o. You can always shake your head of course - but this can sometimes be misinterpreted with dire results.
* Do you speak English/Spanish/French? = Badakizu ingelesez/gasteleraz/frantzesez? - Just point to your pre written text. Moocho easier-o. If you illicit a resounding "Non!" from this one - either bow politely and move next door, or be prepared to spend the rest of the evening pointing to your wanton desires while pulling increasingly unnatural facial expressions, to the eternal joy and amusement of all your fellow patrons.
File name: 10_03_001160a
Binder label: Medical
Title: $1000 reward for the proof of the existence of a better liniment for human & animal flesh than 'Merchant's Gargling Oil' or a better worm remedy than 'Merchant's Worm Tablets' (front)
Created/Published: Buffalo, N. Y. : The Courier Lith. Co.
Date issued: 1870-1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 8 x 14 cm.
Subject: Horses; Patent medicines; Oils & fats
Notes: Title from item. Unrelated advertisement printed on verso: Ross & Eberhardt, merchant tailors, no. 29, south side Main Street, Leroy, N. Y.
Statement of responsibility: Merchant's Gargling Oil Co.
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.
Anyway, to Sunday. And something quite exciting, in that we were going to leave Kent for the first time together since, I have no idea, maybe December, and only the second time I have since March 13th. Jools has become a member of the RHS, and she found out that came with free entry to all their gardens, so she said how nice it would go to Wisley, so we picked what looked like it would be a good day, booked tickets as numbers are very limited, and Sunday was the day.
The alarm went off at six, it was just getting light in the east, cats and kittens fed, made coffee and breakfast, so all ready to leave the house at half seven to the gardens, planning on arriving just after nine when it opened.
It was an uneventful trip, up the M20, through the Operation Brock work between Ashford and Maidstone, which I guess will come as a permanent thing after Christmas.
Along the M25, quite quiet and the weather was glorious. Was going to be perfect for snapping, he said with a boot-full of cameras and lenses.
We turned off onto the A3, then half a mile down there, turned into the lane leading to Wisely, a few dozen cars were already there, it was five past nine.
We wait in line, me wrapped in cameras. We are allowed in after Jools flashed her membership card, and the morning was ours!
RHS Wisley I wanted to get round as much as possible, get shots before too many people arrived and got in the way. So, it was supposed to be a trip for Jools to look at borders and plants for ideas, and of course it turned into a photographic trip.
No real surprise, there.
We walk past the large ornamental lake, where the refelctions were perfect, but a week or three to early for really nice autumn colours. Don't stop me snapping, mind.
From there we walk to the glass house, which did not open until ten, so we walk round the beds surround the reflection pool, no lake, which surrouned the building.
Most of the plants were in seed or had withered, but there was enough to keep us interested, and give us ideas for our little slice of botanical heaven.
The glass house opened, so we go round in our winter coat in tropical heat and humidity. My Nana would have said we'd catch our death of cold. As expected, I fnd the orchid display, and snap them.
We walk back outside and the coolness of the autumn morning hit like a pan galactic gargle-blaster.
We go for a coffee, but there was no food on, so we make do with sesame seeded honey covered peanuts. They were good, but at £2.50 for a small bag, they should have been.
We go to the rock garden, which went on for quite a while, really well done with a couple of fake streams tinkling down.
We sit on a bench at the bottom of the rock garden, and look at the familes complete with screaming and hyper kids running about. We look at each other and say, "have you had enough?" We agreed.
So we walked back to the shop, looked round and bought nothing. Jools went into the plant shop to look round and again bought nothing.
We went back to the car and drove off, 90 minutes from home, if the traffic would be kind.
The wind had got up and it was clouding up, but I had dozens of shots in the can, or on the memory card.
This tale can also be seen within my Blog over at: blogitandscarper.blogspot.com/
Taken from the old fishing port area of Parte Vieja, tucked under the green slopes of Monte Urgull at the eastern end of the stunning – ‘La Bahia a la Conche’. A magnificent, golden, sandy beach, which forms the main sweep to the elegant, sun soaked promenade of Donastia-San Sebastian. The urbane jewel in the crown of Spain’s northeastern 'Basque' coastline and the capital of the province of Gipuzkoa.
This is a special city and more than deserving of its worldwide kudos and esteem. Sophisticated, vibrant, graciously proud and chic, with some exceptionally beautiful sundown views from 'La Conche' beach to the Atlantic swells that beckon beyond the protection of Monte Urgull and Monte Igueldo - with the little ‘Isla de Santa Klara sometimes appearing to link the two promontories together and enclose the bay completely. Every day about an hour before sundown, people come out on mass to walk the promenade and circuit the Monte Urgull, either in couples or large family groups, just chatting and exchanging news, while ambling gently and peacefully under the suns warm and final favours.
In north east Spain and south west France, about 650,000 of the 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community speak the Basques language. A language that is quite unique and completely unrelated to any other language around it, including Castilian Spanish. Around the world there are an estimated 18 million Basques. A resolute and deeply alluring society with an extensive history and cultures that are as fascinating as they are varied and ancient - pre dating Roman and Indo-European times.
During the 17th and 18th centuries it has been estimated that some 45% of the population of Chile were Basque immigrants, with their descendants becoming the major influence in Chile's subsequent economic and cultural development. Che Guevara, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician and intellectual was probably of Basque as well as Irish descendancy. 'Guevara' is actually the Castilianized form of the Basque: 'Gebara' which is the name of a village in the Basque province of Alava, as originally recorded back in the second century AD.
According to the extensive research studies of Stephen Oppenheimer, a British paediatrician and geneticist - British ancestry mainly traces back to the Palaeolithic Iberian people, now represented best by Basques, when they migrated northwards to Britain as hunter gatherers, when the ice shelf's receded in Britain after the end of the last ice age. It is therefore said that if you want to better understand the true history and ancestry of the British - ask a Spaniard, or more specifically.... a Basque.
I had a great few days here meeting other travelers from Norway, France the US and Spain, deep inside the softly lit maze of streets in the old town quarter of Parte Vieja, that make up 'Tapas Shangri-La'. Roaming freely with my appetite and my nose out on point, from one tempting and intriguing bar to another, liberating my taste senses to whole new levels of discovery and culinary enlightenment. There is nowhere collectively better or more fun, whilst remaining so casual and unpretentious - at least on this planet anyway. I miss it a lot. A natural foodie Nirvana.
Oh – and that box of perfectly chilled white Catalonian Corbieres (French!) wine with the plain labels, that our fantastic barman snuck out back for, around 3.00am that morning, after his boss had expired behind the sofa. Wow! Your still the man. And your secrets still safe with me. Providing you keep up the payments…..ho ho.
CAUTIONARY NOTE !! - Pointing Etiquette & Conduct ! -- When sitting on a high stool at a crowded tapas bar, often hemmed in by other tourists and locals alike, the accepted method of communication - if you don't speak the language - is to 'point' at your chosen beverage or the plate of delicious looking food that has just appeared in front of a nearby diner. However - as the evening progresses and you become more fluid and casual with your pointing gesticulations’ - just make sure you remember to keep your eye on the finger at the end of your outstretched 'pointing arm', as it sweeps back and forth like the boom of a runaway crane, while your other hand is frantically trying to secure the attention of the harassed looking waitress down the other end of the bar. One evening, I didn't - and managed to completely clear three full wine glasses, two beer bottles, a steaming bowl of very yummy looking fisherman's stew and an open handbag....all into the laps of the cool and beautifully dressed Italian couple sitting right next to me. Oh dear. Instant commotion & chaos. I was kind of grateful I didn't understand any Italian - although I pretty much got their general drift, as did everyone else in the establishment. It became immeasurably worse when some kind soul pointed out that the bowl of missing stew was now hiding in her handbag. God... didn't she scream!
Here are a couple of You Tube links to 'Basque Region' videos and so on:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCmVuIccESM&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae3tcnmpFnI&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVeI-VndCTQ&feature=related Great helicopter 'fly by' video short of San Sebastian and the nearby region.
If while visiting the region, you take the trouble to write down and try using a few basic Basque words and phrases - In Basque, Basques call themselves 'Euskaldunak' by the way - you will be received like a blood brother!
And here are a few essential Basque (Euskara) greetings & phrases I prepared earlier:
* Hello = Kaixo - "Kay-so"
* How are you? = Zer moduz? - "Sere modoose"
* Very well thankyou, & you? = Ongi, eskerrik asko, eta zu? - "Ongee, esk-ellick ass-ko, eh-ta soo?"
* Yes = Bai - "Bi"
* Please = Mesedez - "Mess-eh-dess"
* Thankyou = Eskerrick asko - "Esk-ellick ass-ko"
* Goodnight = Gabon - "Ga-bon"
*** Bye = Agur - "Ah-gorrr" Note: This is one of those testing pronunciations where they kind of 'gargle/rattle the tongue' as they say the word. Bon chance then!
CAUTIONARY NOTE 2: ... For the more determined local lingo practitioners, when attempting to use and correctly pronounce the word... 'Agur' in a public place - read this........
There is often an impulsive desire to make an impression - as wine & beer practice peaks - to appear to be the coolest and most admired new foreigner in town that evening to all your imagined new Basque & worldly comrades, by casually saying 'Agur' - (Basque for Bye) - in front of all your mullered & now happily delinquent friends, as you decamp to the pavement outside --
Know this first, 'pretty please'... If after say 20 minutes of growing confusion & disillusionment, you find yourself now alone but still struggling to get your 'arrrggths' and your 'gorrrthhs' in perfect sinc together for the 137th time on this one, and the bar staff & locals you were going to impress are now collectively arms a folded and frowning darkly... at you! Your tonsils feel sore, your tongue's gone numb and your erstwhile friends have now faded away to another bar..., while those two swarthy looking Guardia policemen that have appeared off the street, are now stalking over in your specific direction --- take my advice, don't try and say another 'Agur' .... just smile...crinkle your nose...wave goodbye ....and withdraw gracefully. You've probably had way too much Cava, and by now, your ex Basque bar friends couldn't care less if you speak Urdu, Welsh or Native American Schaghticoke - - they just wanna go get a Big Mac and crash.
* I'm sorry, but I don't understand you = Barkatu, baina ez zaitut ulertzen - Just point to your pre written text. Much-o quicker-o. You can always shake your head of course - but this can sometimes be misinterpreted with dire results.
* Do you speak English/Spanish/French? = Badakizu ingelesez/gasteleraz/frantzesez? - Just point to your pre written text. Moocho easier-o. If you illicit a resounding "Non!" from this one - either bow politely and move next door, or be prepared to spend the rest of the evening pointing to your wanton desires while pulling increasingly unnatural facial expressions, to the eternal joy and amusement of all your fellow patrons.
Dr. George W. Merchant was a Lockport, New York druggist. In 1833 he created a "liniment for man or beast" marketed as “Dr. Merchant’s Gargling Oil.” It is not clear why the product was called gargling oil, when it was as a liniment. If someone were to gargle with it, they certainly would have regretted it.
-- Doug Farley, Lockport Union-Sun and Journal
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen, 8 October 1917 - March, 1918
Taffy was a VERY BAD DOG! Just found this picture of her. She was cute but mean. After biting several of my friends my dad banished her to the moving company where she lived the rest of life as a warehouse guard dog.
Her bed was under the desk on the loading dock. Whenever a trucker came in and asked to use the phone the foreman would point him to the desk. We'd wait for the growl and the scream. Taffy would go for either the leg or the crotch. These big truckers running out "There's a fucking dog in there!" It was an ongoing joke, never got old. Hilarious!
Towards the end Taffy became obese. Daily excursions across Sheffield to Pat's Pizza eating their garbage made her that way. This waddling mass of fur crossing the street was a common sight on Sheffield back in the late 70s.
I remember this hillbilly trucker's wife laughing at her "That's the fattest damn dog I ever done seen!" I wanted to punch to her. Making fun of somebody's pet, regardless of how fat it may be, is like making fun of somebody's kid. You don't do it, at least to their face. ( I also remember that woman telling me her husband could gargle peanut butter and asked me if I wanted to see. I didn't.)