Althaea officinalis is a very common plant of cretan flora. It is blooming early summer and it is very attractive to bumble bees and some other pollination insect. The generic name, Althaea, is derived from the Greek "ἄλθειν" (to cure), from its healing properties. The name of the family, Malvaceae, is derived from the Greek "μαλακός" (soft; Latin "mollis"), from the special qualities of the mallows in softening and healing.

The leaves, flowers and the root of A. officinalis (marshmallow) all have medicinal properties. In traditional Chinese medicine, Althaea officinalis is known as 藥蜀葵 (pinyin: yàoshǔkuí). It is claimed to increase the flow of breast milk and soothe the bronchial tubes.Marshmallow is traditionally used as a treatment for the irritation of mucous membranes, including use as a gargle for mouth and throat ulcers, and gastric ulcers.

In cretan cuisine. its leaves were cooked with egg white and they prepare an eggwhite meringue which was often flavoured with rose water. They often used it with meat.

And lo, sinusitis became tonsilitis and I ended up trying to stay awake in front of the telly while trying every home remedy that I could. Gargling salt water was by far the most effective.

The storm still lingers on but not the hard grades as 48144 and 8110 gargle and roar to the top of the grade at Bumberry with 8838 Manildra feeder service.

This train had originated at Quandialla on the Parkes-Stockinbigal line.

It's getting to be that time of year again when I think of going turkey hunting with old George.

George was my grandparent's neighbor in Pittsfield, Illinois. He drove a Cavalier Wagon that he believed could not get stuck, and depending on the time of year it would be filled with hunting and fishing odds and ends. I most vividly remember it in late spring, containing several 2x4's of varying lengths tethered together by twine and camouflage burlap, piles of odd sized hunting clothes, and a turkey decoy named Henrietta. I would wake up very early, so that the topic of the day and reason for any misfortune would not be that I slept in and made us late. Sitting on the tailgate of Pop's pickup and looking out the garage door window I'd wait for the old maroon wagon to rumble up the driveway from next door. As the garage door went up and let the cold air in the shivers would wash over me as I carried my stuff to the wagon and found a place for it in the back seat.

The passenger door would swing open before I was given the chance to open it, and the smell of George's cigars would wash over me. I've never been fond of cigar or cigarette smoke, but I never felt reason to complain about the little cigars George lit early in the morning and chewed on until the sun went down. I never, ever saw him light one. I can see the package sitting there in the cubby hole in the dash with no more that two of the little cigars in it, half obscured by an ancient can of bug spray. Finding a place for my feet was always a bit of a challenge because there were always shell boxes and papers on the floor boards. He'd always say "Bill up? Making a pot of coffee?" I'd show him the mountain dew can that was a fixture on my person and he'd grumble about it. "Want one of these?" he'd ask as he motioned to the little brown nub that had already created a brown ring on the corner of his mouth. Many times I had considered it, but always turned him down.

Conversation for drive out to the timber almost always consisted of a combination of information gathered from the landowners and people living nearby, as well as his recollections from hunting wherever we were headed in previous years. I never got a word in. Each new piece of information that was divulged was accompanied by a sharp tap from the back of his hand to the very same spot on my upper arm, which on long rides would begin to ache. He'd always ask about the young ladies. Even though I couldn't usually see his face in the dark I knew he was giving me the eyebrows as he nudged me with his elbow and inquisitive "Eh? Eh?" Every time we went hunting it was to a different spot usually quite a ways outside of Pittsfield, and even though the heater was always blasting I'd shiver. Sometimes the moon was still up and it would illuminate the roadsides. The cornfields and stock lots gave way to hilly tall grass pasturelands and deep hollows as we grew nearer to the destination. George always had his speculations about the day based on what the weather man said and what he'd heard about at coffee the week before, and they'd pour from him as the sun drew nearer to the horizon.

The road always ended in the grey light just before the sun began to color the sky. George would put out his cigar and pop it back in his mouth. He'd fling the door open, wrestle to get to his feet, slam the car door so hard I wondered if it would ever open again, and then cut loose with an often surprising imitation of a barred owl that always ended with a big hacking cough. Whether it caused a turkey to shock gobble or not, and it often did, there would be a motion and he would rasp "Over there!" He'd call me to the back of the wagon and begin hastily loading our gear into my outstretched arms. While I struggled to contain and carry everything George would get a head start and continue his long gargling "Whoo-ah's" as he went. It didn't matter where the toms called back from, he'd always already have a good spot picked out.

On one particular morning we'd set up our little blind in the lowest corner of a newly planted bean field. Though he remembered the location and previous hunts well, George could never remember which trees were the best to lean on. We would set the blind up in the dark at least once before thinking better of our situation and moving it. As the sun came up and lit the the thin clouds I could finally see Old Zebrun. Not having the mindset of young hunters like myself, George never even considered matching his camouflage to the season or situation. He wore the large blotchy patterns from before hunting was big business. Guys my age call those patterns "Old Skool" and wear them for fun and to pay homage to our hunting forefathers. From any number of his pockets would come calls to be arranged around us so that they were easily found by feeling when taking our eyes off the bird wasn't an option. He had box calls, and friction calls, locators, you name it. Most he'd saved from hunting buddies, and most made an awful thin sound since they were usually handled incorrectly or had been wet. One thing about George's turkey hunting collection amazed and baffled me more than anything else. Henrietta. She was an old, and I mean right after they were carved out of wood old, hen decoy with real skin and feathers stretched over it. I have no doubt that the entire thing was older than I was. Truth be told it looked like hell, but I doubt an amorous tom thought twice about the possibilities. She always seemed to do her job except for when I was around. Stage fright, I suppose. Across his knees lay an old single shot twenty gauge. He liked it because it was light and he knew just how to hold the bead in every situation. There hadn't been a great deal of activity on this morning, and it was soggy and cold. Behind us in the timber two small creeks came together and created a good sized pool at the base of an oak tree before meandering off to parts unknown as one. From my very low vantage point I'd always try to get a lay of the land without moving two quickly or sticking my head up. This usually got me pretty familiar with anything closer than twenty feet that wasn't in the field ahead of us. There George would sit next to me seemingly watching an invisible gobbler and clucking every now and then on one of his calls, his glassy eyes peering through his face net. Laying there on the ground as the sun came up, burning off the haze and warming the air, I was helpless to fend off sleep's embrace.

After nodding off and on for most of the morning, at half after nine I heard the distinct wing beats and a cluck behind us as a bird hopped across the nearest creek. I gathered that it was a hen making her way out to the field, and as long as we kept quiet she'd keep Henrietta company and help our situation. George had not heard her, which was perfectly understandable because he was into his eighties. Fifteen or twenty minutes later he batted me hard with the back of his arm and growled loudly and quickly "Jeez Ch... T'ere's a hen o'er here! T'ree o clock!" He didn't hear her leave, either. We spent the next hour waiting for her to come out into the field with the tom that George was certain was courting her. I sat there knowing better, but didn't want to tell him as he did his very best to coax the nonexistent tom out to the field edge. At about eleven George told me to take my gun and sneak around behind him. Anyone who's been in the turkey woods knows that there is no sneaking after the sun comes up, and I'm sure he knew that. He just wanted me to jump something. After Elmer Fudding my way through the timber for half an hour I reported back. George told me to go ahead and walk around a bit. "Take your time, I'll get all this gathered up and meet you back at the car." He did this no matter where we hunted. It was usually my favorite part because it gave me a chance to look for antlers and mushrooms on unfamiliar ground. Once back to the car we'd sit and chat about anything I'd found or seen while he finished his cold coffee and I opened the soda I hadn't quite gotten to on the ride out. At this point there was only one thing on his mind: a ham and cheese from Hardee's. He always accented both syllables, like if you were saying RD's. I went with George many times, but it just never seemed to come together. I didn't mind a bit. All he wanted was for me to get my gobbler.

The last time I spoke to George I was home from for a visit from living in Alabama. He was seeing double. A growth far up in his nasal cavity was putting pressure on both his eyes, and he would be having it out soon. George told me many times, sometimes it seemed like every third sentence, that at his age there was no sense in slowing down. The day he stopped "going" would be the day that he kicked his bucket. He proved his belief and resolve to uphold it when he broke his foot squirrel hunting and never thought twice about having it casted. He just kept on going. As I've been told, and this information made it to me through the intricate system of small town conversation, George's surgery went off pretty much without incident. The doctor asked him to take it easy for a few weeks, but George said no. The doctor asked for a week. George said no. Seeing that he obviously wasn't going to come out ahead in the argument, the doctor pleaded for just a few days. George obliged, and spent the day after his surgery taking it easy. Taking it easy didn't sit well with him. The next morning he was up early and off to Coffee at Hardee's. He hopped in his wagon and off he went. He walked in, greeted the crowd, ordered his cup, and as he walked back to sit and gossip with all those in attendance he had a stroke. When he came to in the hospital the next day, or maybe the day after that, he was thoroughly aggravated. Having lost his power of speech and most of the use of one side it was clear to him that "going" was no longer an option. He made his wishes clear by withdrawing the IV's and tubes without proper medical assistance more than once.

I think back to that last conversation. Before I opened the glass door to Pop's garage I could see him musing to Pop while twiddling his thumbs and inspecting the state of his finger nails.There he sat in the chair nearest the east door in the afternoon light with one leg propped up on the other and a ring around the cigar nub hanging from the corner of his mouth. On his feet were grey shoes with two velcro straps, and sticking up from those below his short pant legs were what could only be mismatched socks. He wore a splotchy olive drab t-shirt with a few holes near the tail from carrying a leaky battery to his john boat some years past. He'd lift up a worn out Pheasants Forever hat he'd gotten free at a banquet to scratch the permanently tanned bald head he kept underneath it. As I opened the door he greeted me with a big smile, asked me how living down south was, and if I caught any good fish or seen any pretty girls on the beach. He updated me on all the goings on since I'd left early in January, commented about shifts in the weather at length, and proclaimed that he was happy because it was finally going to stay warm. When he wasn't telling a story or talking about his pals at the DNR office or about his cat Zoey, he was ribbing Pop about not going fishing with him enough. Pop would just sit and chuckle and shake his head as he fiddled with bits of a small engine he was fixing for poke money. After BS'ing for awhile I hesitantly asked George how he was doing, having heard of his predicament before my arrival from my grandparents. He said he was seeing doubles. "Two of everything past three feet out" he stated matter-of-factly. I asked doubtfully how his turkey season went. He told me who he'd hunted with and how the weather had been. He told about where they'd hunted and about the things they'd seen and heard, knowing fully well that he was skirting the answer I was really after. With a bright twinkle in his eye and a grin he finally said he'd helped a few guys get their bird, and filled both of his tags doing it. Incredulously, I asked how? His grin grew into as big a smile as I'd ever seen on his face, the little nub nearly loosing it's footing on his lip. He laughed loudly and said "Dammit, I shot t' one on the right!"

So there he sat, so pleased with himself and my reaction in the fleeting warmth of a late May afternoon. And there old George Zebrun will sit until I no longer have the luxury of memory, teasing Pop and smiling with that little cigar nub and tobacco ring in the corner of his mouth.

central city, colorado

1972

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part of an archival project, featuring the photographs of nick dewolf

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Stayed in the Marriott-Williamsburg where the VAST 2007 PDI was held. Wasn't able to check in until after 5:00PM. Upon taking a shower the next morning I was put off by how dirty the bathroom was.

I was gargling and looked up and this panel had a goober on the it.

22-09-2019

[group] Herons and egrets | [order] CICONIIFORMES | [family] Ardeidae | [latin] Egretta garzetta | [UK] Little Egret | [FR] Aigrette garzette | [DE] Seidenreiher | [ES] Garceta Comun | [NL] Kleine Zilverreiger | [IRL] Éigrit bheag

Measurements

spanwidth min.: 88 cm

spanwidth max.: 106 cm

size min.: 55 cm

size max.: 65 cm

Breeding

incubation min.: 21 days

incubation max.: 22 days

fledging min.: 40 days

fledging max.: 45 days

broods 1

eggs min.: 3

eggs max.: 5

Status: Resident along coasts and rivers throughout Ireland, but still scarce in the Midlands and north-west of the country. Little Egret was considered rare in Ireland until it first started breeding here in 1997. It has since expanded and now occurs in almost every coastal county, as well as at a number of inland sites.

Conservation Concern: Green-listed in Ireland. The European population is considered to be Secure.

Identification: Medium-sized white heron, with long black legs, yellow feet, black bill and blue-grey lores, and two elongated nape-feathers in breeding plumage.

Similar Species: Unmistakable in Ireland. Great White Egret is a rare visitor from Continental Europe, but is twice the size.

Call: Rook-like hoarse 'aaah' on alighting from the ground. At colonies, hoarse hard gargling 'gulla-gulla-gulla…' often heard.

Diet: Takes a wide variety of animals including small fish, frogs, snails and insects and forages across a range of wetland habitats from lakes to flooded grassland. Often forages alone; but maybe encountered in small groups.

Breeding: Clutch: 4-5 eggs (1 brood) Incubation: 21-22 days.Fledging: 40-45 days (Altrical). Age of first breeding: not known. Breeds in lakes, marshes, flooded fields & estuaries.

Wintering: Little Egrets use a variety of wetland habitats, including shallow lakes, riverbanks, lagoons, coastal estuaries and rocky shoreline.

.

temple to forcibly reconvert 72 dalits who embraced Christianity in 1995. The praises showered by the new BJP-appointed chairperson of .

ICHR on the "ancient caste system" is the gargling of the same. .

In the words of an ex-president of the BJP's Mahila Morcha: "We oppose women's liberation as it is another name for 1oose morals;· .

We oppose equal rights for both sexes; There is nothing wrong With domesttc violence against women; very oflen it is women's fault women should try and adjust, as her non-ac!justment creates the problem; Women's future lies in perpetuating the present, because .

nowhere else women are worshipped as we are in India.~ While woman's liberation movements have consistently fought against their .

in his CM-ship he dismantled the Violence against Women cells and replaced them with cells to monitor inter-religious marriages infossilization as objects of worship, it's the same message that Modi gave in Japan referring to 'hindu goddesses'. True to his RSS training, .

Gujarat. The feudal-patriarchal core of RSS and its reflection in the Indian state machinery has been at its barest time and again. The .

Gujarat pogrom witnessed the horrors of police hitting the stomachs of pregnant Muslim women, shouting, "Kill them before they are born" .

AVHP pamphlet published how in Panvad village, aMuslim mother was "treated to the joys of the uncircumcised penis. Rape was an act .

carried out as part of the RSS ideology of ethnic elimination of Muslims as a group with full co-operation and participation of the saffron .

state machinery. Unabashedly, the same RSS and its various lumpen brigades hounds couples, particularly women and put open moral .

.

restrictions on their right to love or choose a partner. The same brahminical patriarchal ideology of the sangh is enshrined in the violent diktats of the Khap Panchayats, which routinely evoke morality and tradition to control the mobility and sexuality of women, to control their .

reproduction and livelihood, especially when they dare to marry or choose their partner outside their caste. And the RSS along with the .

entire state machinery is now evoking the bogus of 'Love jihad' to unleash their patriarchal control. With this bogey they persecute Muslims on one hand and control women on the other. It is driven by that same violent ideology that they hound LGBT people and the .

entire state machinery stand united in criminalizing homosexuality. .

In the words of Golwalkar, "The foreign races in Hindusthan must entertain no idea but those ofthe glorification ofthe Hindu race and culture. i.e.. ofthe Hindu nation and must loose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less anypreferential treatment-not even citizen's rights. .

There is, at least, should be, no other course for them to adopt. N Last month RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat reiterated the same saying, "Hindustan is a Hindu nation...Hindutva is the identtiy ofour nation and it (Hinduism) can incorporate others {religions) in itself. Modi, in his gifting of Bhagvat Gita to the Japanese emperor or Amit Shah in his engineering of communal pogroms in UP are only being true to .

their brahmanical hindu-fascist id~ology. While the UPA loyally implemented the imperialist "war on terror" and minority witch hunt, Modi is furthering the same with further more vigour and single-mindedness. Starting from the bogey of "Love-jihad', the vulgar profiling of .

Muslims in its name, to that of "Indian Mujahideen" and the bogey of "terror modules" or "plots to kill Modi", -the Modi regime is to further symbiotic alliance between the imperialist project of lslamophobia and the doctrine of Hindu Rashtra that has always deepen the .

dominated Indian polity. In this entire constructed cacophony about "Islamic terrorism", the terror network of the sangh giroh that was .

behind the series of bomb blasts in Malesaon, Aimer Sharif, Mecca Masiid, Samjhauta Express is carefully being obliterated from public .

discourse and memory. .

The same single-mindedness is visible in his furtherance of the UPA's anti-people pro-corporate policies of nee-liberalism & LPG. As .

the self-proclaimed "iron-man" of the brutal legacy of Congress's Sardar Patel, Modi is to deliver to his promises of ironing out dissent and all "road-blocks" in furtherance of the imperialist loot and plunder. It is 'pay-back' time for the inve,stment made by the MNCs, the Birlas, .

Adanis &Ambanis in his election campaign. For instance, proposed labor reforms of this government are being celebrated by the market as "long overdue" while it is to furthermore dehumanize working conditions and further curtail their right to unionize. The same "iron-fist" is deployed to pick from where the UPA had left in terms of further intensifying the loot & plunder of natural resources and pursuing Operation Green Hunt even more ruthlessly. From giving indiscriminate clearances to the mining mafias and SEZs to the pumping in of more troops to crush the revolutionary resistance of the people in the central &eastern heartland of India -Modi's vision of his hinda rashtra conjoins with that of imperialism. The RSS therefore, poses a threat not just to the religious minorities of the country, but to every other oppressed section -women, dalits. adivasis, people of occupied nationalities, workers, peasants, migrant labourers, LGBT people and so on. Having witnessed the violence that they have been living in their fight to survive, a "non-violent" India seems to be a cruel joke. But there has never been atime when this violence has gone unchallenged. Throughout the history of both Manu and market, people have fought then' battling oppression, exploitation, dispossession, discrimination, subordination, humiliation and persecution. And it is these strugglin~ hands and their struggles for emancipation that has always been the motive force shaping history. Brahmanism, imperialism &fascisn .

while unleashing the most brute terror has also produced the most spectacular resistance of the people. It is only the unity of th .

oppressed people forged in the fire of revolutionary struggle for acomplete overhauling of the syst~m that can confront fascism today. .

.

On Wednesday, after scattering my mother's ashes my sister and I went for a drink. I had half of cider and when I took a sip it tasted revolting. My sister tasted it and said it was fine, but the kind barman changed it. I chose a different cider and it still tasted revolting, really bitter. Later on that evening I had a glass of wine and that too tasted foul, but then I thought "hey it's pub wine" But then the following morning I made a cup of tea and that was disgusting and so was the toast that followed. I drove back home and had some lunch when I arrived and couldn't finish it because the taste was so bitter. Now I was worried. I always tell people never 'google' symptons because by the time you have finished you will have terrified yourself..............but I couldn't help myself. Everything I was eating and drinking was tasting awful. Think of when you have eaten a bad nut and that is the taste that was permanently in my mouth. The internet brought up diabetes, brain tumours but there amongst all these frightening illnesses I saw the words PINE NUTS! OMG I had eaten pine nuts on Monday and Tuesday with my lunch - I love them. The more I investigated, the more I realised that it was eating pine nuts that had done this to me. I have Pine Mouth!! And no I am not kidding. I had never heard of it either. I have eaten pine nuts before and never had this reaction. Will I be eating them again.........NEVER! Apparently you have to let it run its course which can take up to 2 weeks. Suggestions on the net to alleviate it are eat sugar, chew fruit chewing gum, gargle with diluted milk of magnesia and suck on a very sour sweet. We have an old fashioned sweet shop near to where I live so I bought their most sour sweets. The citric acid nearly takes the lining of your tongue off but it does seem to help for a while. I have just eaten my lunch (left over chilli con carne) and all I can taste now is that horrid bitterness. Even chilli doesn't get through this affliction.

Here is a snippet from wikipidea but I have read on-line that both the FSA in the UK and the FDA in the US are aware of this

"Risks of eating pine nuts

A small minority of pine nuts cultivated in China can cause taste disturbances, lasting between few days to a few weeks after consumption. A bitter, metallic taste is described. Though unpleasant, there are no lasting effects. This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001.[11] Some publications have made reference to this phenomenon as "pine mouth".[12] The Nestlé Research Centre has hypothesized that a particular species of Chinese pine nuts, Pinus armandii, is the cause of the problem. The suspect species of pine nuts are smaller, duller, and more rounded than typical pine nuts.[13] This finding has recently been confirmed.[14] Metallic taste disturbance, known as metallogeusia, is typically reported 1–3 days after ingestion, being worse on day 2 and lasting typically up to 2 weeks. Cases are self-limited and resolve without treatment.[15] Möller[16] has postulated an hypothesis that could explain why the bitter taste appears several days after ingestion and lasts for as long. A well known physiological process known as enterohepatic recirculation (EHR) could play a key role in the development of PNS."

I bought my pine nuts from Tesco's and yes they were a product of China.

Be warned!!

via WordPress biophytopharm.com/honey-and-cinnamon-remedy/

Honey and Cinnamon Remedy

Honey and Cinnamon Remedy

The blend of honey and cinnamon has been utilized both in oriental and Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years. Cinnamon is among the oldest spices recognized to mankind and honey’s recognition has continued throughout history. The 2 ingredients with unique healing abilities possess a long history being a home cure. Cinnamon’s essential oils and honey’s enzyme that creates peroxide qualify for the 2 “anti-microbial” foods having the ability to help stop the development of bacteria in addition to fungi. Both of them are used not only being a beverage flavoring and medicine but additionally being an embalming agent and therefore are used as options to traditional food preservatives because of their effective antimicrobial properties. antimicrobial properties. Individuals have claimed the mixture is really a natural remedy for many diseases along with a formula for a lot of health advantages:

1) Heart Diseases:

Apply honey and cinnamon powder on bread rather than using jam or butter and eat it regularly in the morning.

2) Arthritis:

Use a paste made of these two ingredients around the affected area of the body and massage slowly.

3) Hair Thinning:

Use a paste of hot extra virgin olive oil, a tablespoon of honey, a teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath, let it rest for 15 min and wash.

4) Bladder Infections:

Mix cinnamon powder and honey inside a glass of lukewarm water and drink.

5) Toothache:

Use a paste of cinnamon powder and honey and also on the aching tooth.

6) Cholesterol:

Mix cinnamon powder and honey in boiled water or green tea extract and drink.

7) Colds:

Create a glass of lukewarm honey water combined with cinnamon powder to assist improve your defense mechanisms throughout the cold season. This may also assist to clear your sinuses.

8) Indigestion:

Cinnamon powder sprinkled on the spoonful of honey taken before food relieves acidity.

9) Longevity:

Regularly take tea made out of honey along with a little cinnamon powder.

10) Pimples:

Mix honey with cinnamon powder and apply paste around the pimples before sleeping and wash away the following morning.

11) Obesity:

To lessen weight, daily drink a combination of a teaspoon of honey with half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder boiled in water having an empty stomach each morning about thirty minutes before breakfast.

Cinnamon comes with an insulin boosting property (water-soluble compounds called polyphenol type-A polymers)which have the capacity to boost insulin activity about 20 fold and may benefit individuals who have high sugar levels (obese people, pre-diabetics, and diabetics ). Also, look at the honey hibernation diet theory to discover how honey plays a role in the metabolizing of undesirable cholesterol and fatty acid, offers a fuelling mechanism for your body, keep blood glucose levels balanced, and let our recovery hormones hop on with burning excess fat stores.

12) Smelly Breath:

Gargle with honey and cinnamon powder mixed with warm water to ensure that breath stays fresh during the day.

Honey plus cinnamon together besides becoming an amazing potential remedy for numerous illnesses, their total fragrant, sweet and warm taste is another ideal match for your palate. The mixture adds a magic effect towards the taste of cakes, bread, biscuits and rolls and may make many winning recipes on the planet of tasty food, like the famous, easy-to-make, kids’ favorite classic – honey and cinnamon butter toast!

The post Honey and Cinnamon Remedy appeared first on BIOPHYTOPHARM.

Taken from the side of the road.

Wilfred Owen

Dulce Et Decorum Est

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 disappointed shells 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 floundering 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.

Bronze-winged Jacana & Common Moorhen - Part 2: The Squabble!

Bronze-winged Jacana

The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is the only member of the genus Metopidius. It has huge feet and claws which enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes that are its preferred habitat. It is found in south and east Asia within the tropical zone.

The bronze-winged jacana breeds in India and southeast Asia. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.

These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are 29 cm (11 in) long, but the females are larger than the males. They are mainly black, although the inner wings are very dark brown and the tail is red. There is a striking white eyestripe. The yellow bill extends up as a red coot-like frontal shield, and the legs and very long toes are grey.

Young birds have brown upperparts. Their underparts are white, with a buff foreneck.

The bronze-winged jacana's feeds on insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water's surface.

Call is a wheezy piping seek-seek-seek given mostly in alarm.

When forced they sometimes choose to hide by submerging themselves. The male may carry chicks between the wings and body.

The bronze-winged jacana was formally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1790 and given the binomial name Parra indicus. Latham had earlier included the species in a supplement to his A General Synopsis of Birds but had not coined a scientific name. The present genus Metopidius was introduced by the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The bronze-winged jacana is the only species within the genus. The name Metopidius is from the Ancient Greek word metōpidios meaning "on the forehead". The specific epithet indicus is the Latin word for "Indian". There are no recognised subspecies.

Common Moorhen

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the waterhen and as the swamp chicken) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.

The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests. Elsewhere it is likely the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.

The closely related common gallinule of the New World has been recognized as a separate species by most authorities, starting with the American Ornithologists' Union and the International Ornithological Committee in 2011.

The moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. In the related common gallinule of the Americas, the frontal shield has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.

The common moorhen gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. A midsized to large rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 17.6 oz).

This is a common breeding bird in marsh environments, well-vegetated lakes and even in city parks. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes.

This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes walking on lilypads or upending in the water to feed. They are often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the common moorhen remains plentiful and widespread.

The birds are territorial during breeding season. The nest is a basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. Laying starts in spring, between mid-March and mid-May in Northern hemisphere temperate regions. About 8 eggs are usually laid per female early in the season; a brood later in the year usually has only 5–8 or fewer eggs. Nests may be re-used by different females. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These fledge after 40–50 days, become independent usually a few weeks thereafter, and may raise their first brood the next spring. When threatened, the young may cling to the parents' body, after which the adult birds fly away to safety, carrying their offspring with them.

Bayberry (Myrica cerifera) (Wax Myrtle)

By Christa Sinadinos

Bayberry has potent astringent actions. It tightens the tissues, improving circulation and reducing chronic inflammation. Taken internally, bayberry is beneficial for treating conditions which result in excessive mucus secretions, such as allergies and sinus infections. It can also be used to reduce bleeding.

A decoction of the root bark, gargled, is helpful for treating a sore throat or for tender, bleeding gums. A well-strained tea can be used as a douche to reduce excessive vaginal discharge. A fomentation can be applied topically to varicose veins and hemorrhoids.

**Contraindications: discontinue using bayberry if it is overly drying.**

Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica)

Yerba mansa is a useful antibacterial agent for infections of the sinus, lungs, and urinary tract. It has aromatic astringent properties which reduce excessive respiratory secretions and address stagnant mucus. The root can be very beneficial for the treatment of respiratory infections and allergies. It acts as a urinary tract disinfectant as well a diuretic, and it can be used for the treatment of cystitis and urethritis.

Yerba mansa can also be used when tissues are inflamed and congested as a result of injury, prolonged infection, or inflammation. This often happens once an infection has continued past five to seven days. Yerba mansa helps to astringe the tissue, improving fluid transport and waste removal. Yerba mansa is effective in healing lingering infections of the mouth, gums, throat, lung, stomach, duodenum, and urinary tract. It also prevents scar tissue that can result from recurring infections.

Yerba mansa also has anti-inflammatory effects, similar to aspirin, which can be helpful for some types of joint problems. A gargle of the tea is helpful for bleeding gums, sore throat, or mouth ulcers. The root is also an anti-fungal agent; it can be used internally for the treatment of candidiasis of the intestines or of the vagina.

Topically, a dust of powder or a salve is beneficial for athlete’s foot, ringworm, and other kinds of skin tinea. Yerba mansa has been used as an alternative to goldenseal.

**Contraindications: discontinue use of yerba mansa if it is too drying to the mucus membranes

Celebrating Vernal Equinox...both day and night are of equal length. Just Beautiful today...spent time just smelling and picking the daffodils! :)

I'd Pick More Daisies

By Nadine Stair

If I had my life to live over,

I'd try to make more mistakes next time.

I would relax. I would limber up.

I would be sillier than I have on this trip.

I would be crazier. I would be less hygienic.

I would take more chances, I would take more trips.

I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers,

and watch more sunsets.

I would burn more gasoline. I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I am one of those people who lives

prophylactically and sensibly and sanely,

hour after hour, day after day.

Oh, I have had my moments

And if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them.

In fact, I'd try to have nothing else.

Just moments,one after another.

Instead of living so many years ahead each day.

I have been one of those people who never go anywhere

without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a

raincoat, and a parachute.

If I had to do it over again, I would go places and do things.

I'd travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted

earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

I would play hooky more. I wouldn't make such good grades

except by accident.

I would ride on merry-go-rounds.

I'd pick more daisies!

COMMON MOORHEN :

The Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird in the Rallidae family with an almost worldwide distribution. The North and South American Committees of the AOU and the IOC have voted on or before July 2011 to split the American forms into a new species Common Gallinule, however, no other committee has voted to change taxonomy yet. In that light, the American forms can now be found under a separate species listing Common Gallinule, however all forms can still be found here until further actions are taken. It lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the Polar Regions, or many tropical rainforests. But elsewhere the Common Moorhen is likely the most commonly seen rail species to most people, excepting the Eurasian Coot or American Coot in some regions.

> Description and ecology

The Moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red facial shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. It has a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. A mid-to-large sized rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 18 oz).

This is a common breeding bird in marsh environments and well-vegetated lakes. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as southern Canada, the northern USA and eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes. This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes upending in the water to feed. It is often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the Common Moorhen remains plentiful and widespread. They fight over territories and also hop around Lily pads.

The nest is a basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. Laying starts in spring, between mid-March and mid-May in N hemisphere temperate regions. About 8 eggs are usually laid per female early in the season; a brood later in the year usually has only 5–8 or fewer eggs. Nests may be re-used by different females. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These fledge after 40–50 days, become independent usually a few weeks thereafter, and may raise their first brood the next spring. When threatened, the young may cling to the parents' body, after which the adult birds fly away to safety, carrying their offspring with them.

Despite being an abundant and widespread species, small populations are more prone to extinction. The Hawaiian Moorhen or ʻalae ʻula (G. c. sandvicensis) is suspected to be threatened by the Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) which was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands to hunt rats but found the local birdlife easier prey. The Mariana Common Moorhen or pulattat (G. c. guami) is very rare nowadays due to destruction of habitat. Only some 300 adult birds remained in 2001, and it is listed as Endangered both federally (since 1984) and locally.

The population of Palau, belonging to the widespread subspecies G. c. orientalis and locally known as debar (a generic term also used for ducks and meaning roughly "waterfowl"), is also very rare, and apparently the birds are hunted by locals. Most of the population on the archipelago occurs on Angaur and Peleliu, while the species is probably already gone from Koror. In the Lake Ngardok wetlands of Babeldaob, a few dozen still occur, but the total number of Common Moorhens on Palau is about in the same region as the Guam population; less than 100 adult birds (usually less than 50) have been encountered in any survey.

On a global scale – all subspecies taken together – the Common Moorhen is as abundant as its vernacular name implies. It is therefore considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

The Common Moorhen is one of the birds (the other is the Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra) from which the cyclocoelid flatworm parasite Cyclocoelum mutabile was first described. This species is parasitised by the moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae.

> Subspecies

About one dozen subspecies are today considered valid; several more have been described which are now considered junior synonyms. Most are not very readily recognizable as differences are rather subtle and often clinal. Usually, the location of a sighting is the most reliable indication as to subspecies identification, but the migratory tendencies of this species make identifications based on location not completely reliable. Old World birds have a frontal shield with rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. American birds have a frontal shield that has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.

In addition to the extant subspecies listed below, there are two Pleistocene populations known from fossils; they were distinct (generally larger) birds and probably the direct ancestors of some of today's Common Moorhens: The stout and long-winged pale subspecies G. c. brodkorbi is known from the Ichetucknee River deposits in Florida; it was originally described as a distinct species. The presence of fossils typical of the shorter-winged and more delicate G. c. cerceris in the same deposits suggests that brodkorbi was not ancestral to the "Florida Gallinule" of our time but rather to the more northerly "Common Gallinule". An undescribed form is recorded from the Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu in Turkey.

Photography : Kaushik singha roy

This weekend I had the pleasure of dining with the hungarian a Hungarian poet, writer and translator. What a spirit.

****

Learn by heart this poem of mine, by George Faludy

Learn by heart this poem of mine;

books only last a little time

and this one will be borrowed, scarred,

burned by Hungarian border guards,

lost by the library, broken-backed,

its paper dried up, crisped and cracked,

worm-eaten, crumbling into dust,

or slowly brown and self-combust

when climbing Fahrenheit has got

to 451, for that's how hot

your town will be when it burns down.

Learn by heart this poem of mine.

Learn by heart this poem of mine.

Soon books will vanish and you'll find

there won't be any poets or verse

or gas for car or bus - or hearse -

no beer to cheer you till you're crocked,

the liquor stores torn down or locked,

cash only fit to throw away,

as you come closer to that day

when TV steadily transmits

death-rays instead of movie hits

and not a soul to lend a hand

and everything is at an end

but what you hold within your mind,

so find a space there for these lines

and learn by heart this poem of mine.

Learn by heart this poem of mine;

recite it when the putrid tides

that stink of lye break from their beds,

when industry's rank vomit spreads

and covers every patch of ground,

when they've killed every lake and pond,

Destruction humped upon its crutch,

black rotting leaves on every branch;

when gargling plague chokes Springtime's throat

and twilight's breeze is poison, put

your rubber gasmask on and line

by line declaim this poem of mine.

Learn by heart this poem of mine

so, dead, I still will share the time

when you cannot endure a house

deprived of water, light, or gas,

and, stumbling out to find a cave,

roots, berries, nuts to stay alive,

get you a cudgel, find a well,

a bit of land, and, if it's held,

kill the owner, eat the corpse.

I'll trudge beside your faltering steps

between the ruins' broken stones,

whispering "You are dead; you're done!

Where would you go? That soul you own

froze solid when you left your town."

Learn by heart this poem of mine.

Maybe above you, on the earth,

there's nothing left and you, beneath,

deep in your bunker, ask how soon

before the poisoned air leaks down

through layers of lead and concrete. Can

there have been any point to Man

if this is how the thing must end?

What words of comfort can I send?

Shall I admit you've filled my mind

for countless years, through the blind

oppressive dark, the bitter light,

and, though long dead and gone, my hurt

and ancient eyes observe you still?

What else is there for me to tell

to you, who, facing time's design,

will find no use for life or time?

You must forget this poem of mine.

So I read this recipe a few weeks back for cucumber soup. The recipe called for cucumbers, onions and cilantro among other things. Well I love all three of those veggies so I thought...I have to make this!

Turned out to be the worst thing I have EVER made. I took about 3 or 4 spoonfuls. I thought it would get better with each bite. Nope. This went straight to the garbage disposal. lol. The onions were so strong, Jane was complaining a few hours later (even after I had gargled with mouthwash) that I had onion breath.

Served(disposed of) on Nov. 5, 2009

the view of a gas mask on a wall, reminded me of the poem by owen, "dulce et decorum est"

(It is sweet and fitting)

DULCE ET DECORUM EST1

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest3 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 hoots4

Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind.

Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . .

Dim, through the misty panes10 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,11 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 cud12

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13

To children ardent14 for some desperate glory,

The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est

Pro patria mori.15

Crawling through the wal of the Dernier Bar avant la Fin du Monde in Paris.

"Le Dernier Bar..." is on Avenue Victoria in the first, very close to the Hotel de Ville. This place is fantastic - it mightn't have the widest range of beers on tap, but a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster appears on the cocktails list. The board games, the books and comics, the posters and the wall displays will delight your inner geek.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) on the log at Teal Pond, Thomson Marsh, Kelowna, BC.

At times, s/he appeared to be gargling pond water, but that couldn't be true, so I'll leave to the heronophiles to explain this behaviour....

Groot Waterhoender

Jongeling

Juvenile

(Gallinula chloropus)

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the waterhen and as the swamp chicken) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.

The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests. Elsewhere it is likely the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.

The closely related common gallinule of the New World has been recognized as a separate species by most authorities, starting with the American Ornithologists' Union and the International Ornithological Committee in 2011.

The name mor-hen has been recorded in English since the 13th century.[5] The word moor here is an old sense meaning marsh;[5] the species is not usually found in moorland. An older name, common waterhen, is more descriptive of the bird's habitat.

A "watercock" is not a male "waterhen" but the rail species Gallicrex cinerea, not closely related to the common moorhen. "Water rail" usually refers to Rallus aquaticus, again not closely related.

The scientific name Gallinula chloropus comes from the Latin Gallinula (a small hen or chicken) and the Greek chloropus (khloros χλωρός green or yellow, pous πούς foot).

The moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. In the related common gallinule of the Americas, the frontal shield has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.

The common moorhen gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. A midsized to large rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 17.6 oz).

Wikipedia

Yellow-breasted Chat, Turri Road, Los Osos, CA

Vocalizing

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-breasted_Chat/sounds

SONGS

Males have a large repertoire of songs made up of whistles, cackles, mews, catcalls, caw notes, chuckles, rattles, squawks, gurgles, and pops, which they repeat and string together with great variety. Songs of Western birds may be higher in pitch and more rapid than those of eastern birds. They sing in morning and evening (and even at night during the height of the breeding season), either concealed in thickets or exposed on prominent perches within their breeding territories.

CALLS

They have a variety of calls, including a distinctive harsh scolding. Females also make a gargling growl when disturbed at the nest. Wintering males and females give a “chuck” call to defend winter territories.

OTHER SOUNDS

Males produce a hollow, thumping sound during display flights, probably made with their wings. Females may also make this sound while flying, and may clap their bills with a soft, snapping sound when at the nest.

central city, colorado

1972

antique advertisements

part of an archival project, featuring the photographs of nick dewolf

© the Nick DeWolf Foundation

Image-use requests are welcome via flickrmail or nickdewolfphotoarchive [at] gmail [dot] com

De ode aan de wansmaak is terug :(

www.mechelenblogt.be/2011/10/nmbs-verwijdert-gargles-ipan...

Het controversiële "kunstwerk" Gargles from Ipanema is nu wordt nu in de strot van de Mechelaars geramt in de Garage in Mechelen, helaas weeral zichtbaar voor iedereen die passeert.

U raadt wel dat ik geen fan ben.

Explore - Dec. 28, 2008

Tsaang Gubat is one of the 10 herbs that is endorsed by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) as an antispasmodic for abdominal (stomach) pains. And is registered as a herbal medicine at the Philippine Bureau of Food & Drug (BFAD).

Tsaang Gubat is a shrub (small tree) that grows (from 1 to 5 meters) abundantly in the Philippines. In folkloric medicine, the leaves has been used as a disinfectant wash during child birth, as cure for diarrhea, as tea for general good heath and because Tsaang Gubat has high fluoride content, it is used as a mouth gargle for preventing tooth decay. Research and test now prove it's efficacy as an herbal medicine. Aside from the traditional way of taking Tsaag Gubat, it is now available commercially in capsules, tablets and tea bags.

Tsaang Gubat is also knows as: Wild Tea, Forest Tea, Alibungog (Visayas Region), Putputai (Bicol Region) and Maragued (Ilocos Region). Scientific name: Ehretia Microphylla Lam.

www.philippineherbalmedicine.org/tsaang_gubat.htm

Yes, I do have a thing for cherries...but didn't intentionally post a cherry-involved SP 2 days in a row. It was an accident.

You see, this is the smallest glass I have & there is no way I am going to drink any more of this foul juice than what this glass holds. Look at it! It's ecto-plasm green! It's not natural!

You see, there is this juice company in California called Bolthouse Farms and they make a variety of delicious wholesome juices. It's been fun trying out different flavors, with the exception of this sludge.

There is spinach in this juice. Wheat grass, something called spirulina, and effing blue green algae. ALGAE. I am fairly certain there is also a decent amount of ogre phlegm in it, too.

Now if you'll excuse me...I have to go gargle some beer.

Per the too many chins selfie thing from yesterday, I googled how to take a good selfie. I could hardly get thru the 1st YouTube video of it. People go to a LOT of trouble to look good in pics.

So... here's me doing everything wrong. I'm tired, no makeup, PJs on, etc. All wrong!

Only thing I did was to put a filter on it. Your welcome. :-)

Pages 2/3: Mr Boyce wrote that the school was outside for most of the time and the boys were free from illness, despite the bad weather. The school had to keep its own fires burning and so had to fell, cart and chop up their wood.

Wood cutting was a necessity. The school relied on heating on wood procured on the spot and one of the boys' chores was to saw logs, both at Rannoch and Talladh-a-Bheith, using a Bushaman bow saw or cross-cut and earning service points by splitting the big birch logs with axe or wedge. Injuries from this activity were surprisingly few. Each room had its own fireplace which in winter was kept burning all day. It was still cold though and there was sometimes ice on the floor of Talladah-a-Bheith classrooms. That winter it was so cold that the loch froze over completely and boys were able to skate over the Loch, much was William Wordsworth must have done over 200 years earlier in the Lakes. On occasions, Barbara Boyce on her skis was the only link between the lodges. Paraffin stoves were also used; the paraffin was kept in a drum in a shed behind Rannoch Lodge, a useful source from which the boys helped ourselves generously when they wanted to light fires up in the wood behind.

Finnart Lodge for the 11 junior house boys was established during 1940 and the numbers at the school totalled 71 children with several new boys having entered the school. Mr Lampen managed Finnart assisted by Miss Henderson and also by Miss Lyle.

Miss Ewen gave drawing and painting lessons at Rannoch as well as being the school's secretary. There was no school magazine - paper was in short supply and the facilities for reproduction were confined to a laborious process operated by Miss Ewen involving purple ink on a tray of jelly over which each sheet had to be individually rolled.

Miss Vickers: Although Mr Boyce comments that they were fortunate with regards health, general welfare was monitored with equal care and concerns. Selby Martin (a pupil during the Rannoch Years) has written a memoir of these days. He recalls that "General welfare was monitored with equal care and concern. We were, on the whole, a healthy lot. At Rannoch the severe Miss Vickers, who always wore her blue nurse's overall with starched cuffs which rattled frighteningly when she shook down the thermometer, kept a close check on us." Miss Vickers was a sister of Matron. Coughs and colds were dealt with efficiently with Dettol gargling, throat swabs and doses of malt extract. More serious complaints and infections might lead to prolonged stays in the sickroom. There were no antibiotics and poultices would be applied under the supervision of Dr McLean who lived at the other end of the Loch, in the first house on the right just before the blacksmith's house where Donald kept the school bus.

It was difficult to provide the range of sports which the school had practised in Broadstairs. There was, however, a field of sufficiently size and flatness at Rannoch Lodge and on this football, rugby, and cricket were played, albeit to a limited extent, as well as athletics in the summer term. Boys at Talladh-a-Bheith had no field immediately available but once or twice a week would cycle to the field alongside the Ericht hydro-electric power station, which they shared with the Army garrison whose duty was to guard the station against possible sabotage by enemy agents. It appears the boys were busy with many outdoor pursuits during this time and because of the particularly cold winter skating and tobogganing were the chief activities.

Each boy had a bicycle and as there was virtually no traffic, the boys could safely cycle up and down the lochside.

The school was using bicycles to get to and fro - each boy had their own. They had also built a 12-holf golf course!

New Boys: Ronald Aitken left in 1947 with a scholarship to Cheltenham. His brother, Wilson, left in July 1942 for Glenalmond College in Scotland.

Thomas Becker left in March 1944 for Charterhouse. His brother Simon (SC) Becker arrived in Jan 1942 and left in 1944 for Charterhouse. He died in 2009.

RJ (Ronald Eden) was the brother of Ian Eden, the 9th Baron of Auckland, whose son Robert Ian Burnard Eden is the 10th Baron Auckland (born 1962) . The heir presumptive is the present holder's first cousin Henry Vane Eden (born 1958), grandson of the 8th Baron Auckland. Henry's parents are the late Ronald Eden (died 2007) and Rosemary Crowder, daughter of John Crowder.

Blair (BA) Stewart-Wilson was Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Blair Aubyn Stewart-Wilson KCVO (17 July 1929 – 24 May 2011) Equerry to Her Majesty The Queen and Deputy Master of the Household in the Royal Household from 1976 to 1994.

Born Blair Aubyn Wilson in Chelsea to Aubyn Harold Raymond Wilson (a member of a cadet branch of the Royal House of Stuart), and his wife, Muriel Athelstan Hood Stewart-Stevens, 10th of Balnakeilly, Stewart-Wilson was educated at Wellesley during the Rannoch Years and then Eton College. In 1962, he married Helen Mary Fox; the couple had three daughters, including actress Belinda Stewart-Wilson.He joined the Scots Guards on 14 July 1949, three days before his 20th birthday, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Atholl Highlanders (the Duke of Atholl's private regiment) in 1952. He served in the United Kingdom, the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and the Far East. From 1955 to 1957, he was adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards, and Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand 1957–1959, Viscount Cobham. In 1960–1962 he was Equerry to His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester. He was regimental adjutant 1966 to 1968. He was staff qualified, but did not attend the Staff College, Camberley.

Stewart-Wilson was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel and was a General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) in the foreign liaison section (Army) 1970 to 1973, and Defence Military and Air Attaché in Vienna, 1975–1976. In 1976 he joined The Queen's Household. He retired from active military service on 17 July 1984. In his later years he was a supernumerary list officer. From 1994 until his death he served as Extra Equerry to Her Majesty The Queen. He was HM's Representative Trustee on the Board of the Royal Armouries, from 1995 to 2004, and served as the Somerset County Patron for the charity Cancer Research UK from 1997 until his death.

He was made a LVO in 1983, a CVO in 1989 and a KCVO in 1994. He received the General Service Medal, the Campaign Service Medal, Borneo and Malaya bars, and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953). (Source: Wikipedia)

He said he was "coughing up gray stuff" for quite awhile.

Thought I'd post this for fun (my first video!):

We put up a speaker yesterday at my church. I mainly helped here and there--the hard part was for Corey in the video; he was the one who had to crawl through the ceiling! I decided I would capture the after effect.

Took a long time to do, by the way--problem after problem. Turns out hanging a brand new speaker in 40 foot ceilings is difficult. Go figure. Started at 1:00 and it was all done at midnight. Not bad!

Was gargling with this acid yellow mouthwash cos I had a sore throat cold when I got back to durbs from london. The mouthwash is super bubbly, and it all ran down my chin and neck.

I spat it out, wiped my face, and wandered off...then started feeling burning.

So I look in the mirror and see the above... oi vey!

San Benito County, CA

For the six word story group

#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

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Berries, red, Rowan, Sorbus, Lijsterbes, Hawthorn, leaves, Autumn, "mountain ash", design, "conceptual art", studio, black-background, square, "Magda indigo"

images culled from: images.google.com/images?rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS227US227&hl=...

Tiachanku God is fine skin, grind them and snort it.

images culled from: images.google.com/images?imgsz=huge&&um=1&hl=...

MUSICOGRAPHY Here is a list of all the DVD's Ruud appears in, the most recent is on top....

Ruud composed Romance voor Melissa which is an MP3 recording by Melissa Venema (Trumpet)...

Maastricht V aka Under the Stars

Home For Christmas

#4 White Christmas - Briefly featured

#13 Jingle Bells - Briefly featured

And The Waltz Goes On

Fiesta Mexicana aka The World of André Rieu

Roses From The South

Maastricht 4 aka A Midsummer night's Dream

My African Dream

Live in Australia

#20 Strauss & Co - Balanced Trombone on his chin

I lost my heart in Heidelberg

Live in Sydney 2009

#5 Torna A Surriento - Throws up in Hans, French Horn

#21 Strauss & Co - Agnes gives a flower to Ruud after he balances his trombone on his chin

Live in Maastricht 3

Live in Australia

#7 Elyen A Magyar - Bela offers goulash to JSO & Ruud throws up in Tuba

#19 Radetzky March - briefly featured with Trombone

Live in Maastricht 2

#21 Strauss & Co - Balances trombone on chin

Live in Dresden aka Semperoper aka Dancing Through the Skies aka Ich tanze mit dir in den Himmel hinein aka Wedding at the Opera

#18 Strauss & Co - Balance Trombone on chin

Wonderland aka Eftling

#16 The Second Waltz - Trombone, briefly featured & standing

Live in Vienna

#11 Perpetuum Mobile - entire brass section pig out on a big meal during the music & finally offer the entire choir 1 measily bite of food, which Nicolle ate

New York Memories aka Live in New York aka Live At Radio City Music Hall - Part 2 of concert

#9 Radetzky Marsch - Balances Trombone on his chin

Schönbrunn

#16 Wenn ich mit meinem Dackel - intersperse dog barks, tongue licks, ear scratches & dog panting during the song

#22 Strauß & Co - Balances Trombone on his chin

Songs From My Heart aka Live in Maastricht

#12 Chianti Song - Duet with Noel ends with a kiss

Christmas Around the World

#12 Jingle Bells - briefly featured

New Years Eve in Vienna aka Silvester in Wien

#17 Second Waltz - Close up & briefly featured

New Years Eve Punsch aka Silvester Punsch

#19 Klarinettenmuckl - Impromptu dance

Flying Dutchman

#7 Bummelpetrus - gargle the tune with Leon

Christmas with André Rieu aka Mein Weihnachtstraum

#1 O Daughter of Zion - Trombone, part of the quartet of musicans playing outside in the snow

#5 Come Little Children - Duet with Marc

#7 O Tannenbaum (O Christmas tree) - solo

#8 The Little Drummer Boy - Duet with Marc

#19 I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas - briefly featured

Live in Dublin

#12 All Men Shall be Brothers - briefly featured

#18 The Last Rose - briefly featured

#19 Chianti Song - Vocal duet with Noël which ends with Ruud planting a kiss on Noël's cheek, much to his surprise & dismay

100 Years of Strauss

#4 On Holiday - imitate the sound of chicken squawks

#9 Fata Morgana - Bass Tuba

Dreaming

#10 Greensleeves - Base Tuba, briefly featured

Gala Concert

#13 Strauss & Co,- Balanced Trombone in his hand, not on his chin

#15 Chianti Song - vocal duet with Marc is kissed on the cheek at the end, to his surprise.

Walzertraum(PAL only)

Royal Albert Hall

#13 The Second Waltz - Briefly featured

In the past it was used in beer-making instead of hops. Hence its other name Ale-hoof.

Culpeper:It is an herb of Venus, and therefore cures the diseases she causes by sympathy, and those of Mars by antipathy; you may usually find it all the year long except the year be extremely frosty; it is quick, sharp, and bitter in taste, and is thereby found to be hot and dry; a singular herb for all inward wounds, exulcerated lungs, or other parts, either by itself, or boiled with other the like herbs; and being drank, in a short time it eases all griping pains, windy and choleric humours in the stomach, spleen or belly; helps the yellow jaundice, by opening the stoppings of the gall and liver, and melancholy, by opening the stoppings of the spleen; expels venom or poison, and also the plague; it provokes urine and women's courses; the decoction of it in wine drank for some time together, procures ease to them that are troubled with the sciatica, or hip-gout: as also the gout in hands, knees or feet; if you put to the decoction some honey and a little burnt alum, it is excellently good to gargle any sore mouth or throat, and to wash the sores and ulcers in the privy parts of man or woman; it speedily helps green wounds, being bruised and bound thereto. The juice of it boiled with a little honey and verdigrease, doth wonderfully cleanse fistulas, ulcers, and stays the spreading or eating of cancers and ulcers; it helps the itch, scabs, wheals, and other breakings out in any part of the body. The juice of Celandine, Field-daisies, and Ground-ivy clarified, and a little fine sugar dissolved therein, and dropped into the eyes, is a sovereign remedy for all pains, redness, and watering of them; as also for the pin and web, skins and films growing over the sight, it helps beasts as well as men. The juice dropped into the ears, wonderfully helps the noise and singing of them, and helps the hearing which is decayed. It is good to tun up with new drink, for it will clarify it in a night, that it will be the fitter to be drank the next morning; or if any drink be thick with removing, or any other accident, it will do the like in a few hours.

Extracted from here:http://www.dcbuzz.us/culpeper2/alhf.htm

elements culled from: images.google.com/images?q=painting&sourceid=navclien...

Vinca minor

The flowers of the garden periwinkle are the inspiration of the lavender blue color name periwinkle, and this viney shrub is a popular and attractive ground cover with numerous cultivars, flower colours and variegated foliage. I particularly like the variations of greens in the leaves of this variety. Periwinkle has been used in the tradition medicine of many cultures and peoples worldwide including Europe, China, India and the Pacific and Caribbean Islands. In the Caribbean, practitioners of voodoo magic sew Periwinkle leaves into the mattress to keep husband and wife forever in love, and the home peaceful. They are sometimes mixed with magnolia leaves, which also have a reputation of promoting faithfulness in love. The blue flowers of periwinkle are symbolic of spiritual peace and harmony. The well-known Periwinkles - both Greater (vinca major) and Lesser (vinca minor) are familiar plants of our woods and gardens. This is the species more generally used in herbal medicine, as an astringent and tonic, in menorrhagia and in hemorrhages, also as a laxative, and gargle. Made into an ointment, useful for piles and inflammatory conditions of the skin. Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor) is employed in homeopathy for preparation of a tincture used for hemorrhages.

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ain't nobody cares?

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 gas-shells dropping softly 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.

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 gas-shells dropping softly 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.

Medical use: The fruit juice is used in folk remedies for tumors of the faucets. Reported to be antidotal, antiphlogistic, antitussive, antivinous, astringent, bactericide, diaphoretic, ditiretic, emollient, escharotic, expectorant, fungicide, laxative, nervine, purgative, refrigerant, restorative, sedative, tonic, and vermifuge, white mulberry is a folk remedy for aphtha, armache, asthma, bronchitis, bugbite, cachexia, cold, constipation, cough, debility, diarrhea, dropsy, dyspepsia, edema, epilepsy, fever, headache, hyperglycemia, hypertension, inflammation, insomnia, melancholy, menorrhagia, snakebite, sorethroat, stomatitis, tumors, vertigo, and wounds . Medicinally, fruits are laxative, refrigerant in fevers, and used locally as remedy for sore throat, dyspepsia, and melancholia. Roots and bark are purgative, anthelmintic, and astringent; leaves considered disphoretic and emollient; a decoction of leaves being used as a gargle for inflammation of throat kingdom.

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Siena's Duomo Cathedral façade.. Part Frech-Gothic, part Pisan-Romanesque-Gothic. Amazingly ornate and intricate designs on the façade. Something interesting I learned from this façade was the origins of the term gargoyles. This cathedral used a rain drainage system that utilized various animals' mouths to drain water. As the rain would pour out of these mouths, they would make a gargle-type noise. Hence the name... This cathedral houses sculptures by Nicola Pisano, Donatello and Michelangelo. It also has a massive inlaid marble floor depicting different scenes from the bible. The thing I found most interesting was the manuscript nave. This had many original hand-drawn illuminated manuscript pages that were simply breathtaking. In the same room was a painting showing a storm at sea, the first of its kind.

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.

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 gas-shells dropping softly 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.

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And floundering 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 - Dulce et Decorum Est