Leading up to Christmas..

More observations, things heard, seen and inwardly digested with my 365 day challenge..


Day 129: 19-Nov-14 Learned about Quatrefoils:
 
 decorative panels on medieval / Tudor buildings; Little Moreton Hall has examples.

Day 130: 20-Nov-14 Word 'unalloy' meaning = of emotions, complete and unreserved

Day 131: 21-Nov-14 PINETUM = conifer collection

Day 132: 22-Nov-14 Gertrude Jekyll 1843-1932; designed a walled garden planting plan on Holy Island, Northumberland; but she never saw the completed garden in her life-time.

Day 133: 23-Nov-14 The Gold Coast of Australia is so named after the financial & property development after the 2nd World War (not a descriptor of the beaches sand colour)

Day 134: 24-Nov-14 Peel Island south of Brisbane, Australia once housed a leper colony.

Day 135: 25-Nov-14 The Bridgewater Canal, 1st canal in the UK between Worsley & Manchester started construction in 1759, length 10.5 miles, cost £50k opened in 1765. Annually generated £75k revenue.

Day 136: 26-Nov-14 Chief Engineer, "James Brindley" of the Bridgewater Canal.

Day 137: 27-Nov-14 The height of the tallest spire of Truro cathedral is 250ft (it has 3 spires).

Day 138: 28-Nov-14 MONDRIAN wall - Dutchman Piet Mondrian geometric compositions

Day 139: 29-Nov-14 At RHS London Harvest Festival show 7-8 October, heaviest pumpkin weighed 305kg / 673lbs.

Day 140: 30-Nov-14 Risk to Eucalyptus trees in the UK from Eucalyptus leaf beetle

First found in Ireland 2007, has been noted in London in 2012.

Day 141: 1-Dec-14 In 1913, Ford Motor Company began operating the world's first moving assembly line for the mass production of cars.

Day 142: 2-Dec-14 During the last 500 years, 800 species have become extinct.

Day 143: 3-Dec-14 Reminded of lovely ornamental grass - Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'


Day 144: 4-Dec-14 First practical steam powered paddleship 'Comer', constructed & sailed on River Cylde (Scotland)

Day 145: 5-Dec-14 On BBC Bargain Hunt; learned about how Burr Walnut is formed.

Day 146: 6-Dec-14 Bruce Forsyth's great(x4) grandfather was plantsman & royal gardener (William Forsyth), born in 1737. The plant genus 'Forsythia' was named in his honour by Danish-Norwegian botanist Martin Vahl.

Day 147: 7-Dec-14 "Stokesay Castle", Shropshire, is England's oldest moated & fortified manor house built in the late 13th Century.

Day 148: 8-Dec-14 The word 'Antecedent'; a thing that existed before or logically precedes another, or a person's ancestors.

Day 149: 9-Dec-14 The inventor of Boolean logic, George Boole died 150 years ago aged 49.

Day 150: 10-Dec-14 The Waverley steam powered passenger paddle steamer is the last ocean going steamer in the world.

Day 151: 11-Dec-14 Abbotsberry sub tropical garden in Dorset has 3500 species from around the world.

Day 152: 12-Dec-14 Cumbernauld in Scotland - famed for IRNBRU production (by the Barr's company)

Day 153: 13-Dec-14 Saw a picture of a snowshoe hare (new animal to me)

Day 154: 14-Dec-14 Linithgow - birth place of Mary Queen of Scots

Day 155: 15-Dec-14 New word (from BBC Pointless game); Merlons - the parts of parapet walls between embrasures.

Day 156: 16-Dec-14 Saw a one legged robin close to me in a client's garden; it was still happy to sing!

Day 157: 17-Dec-14 Read article about OLED flat panel lighting - easier on the eye than bulbs - Acuity

Day 158: 18-Dec-14 On my RaspberryPi computer; finally succeeded in configuring file sharing across the network using SAMBA

Day 159: 19-Dec-14 Joined Facebook; so I can be part of the OLDHORTS group; also on Twitter & formerly Groupspace.

Day 160: 20-Dec-14 Joined ALLHORTS group on Facebook.

Day 161: 21-Dec-14 Learning about profile security on Facebook.

Day 162: 22-Dec-14 Saw article on TV how fresh garden peas are harvested & processed.

It's getting more difficult

My 'self-imposed' 365 day observing challenge continues, and it's becoming harder than I thought. Here is the next batch, the source of some of these has been quite surprising. If you find only one item interesting then I'd be pleased to hear from you..

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Day 109: 30-Oct
New word to me: 'deleterious' = harmful, injurious, hurtful.

Day 110: 31-Oct
Latin name for the horse chestnut tree = Aesculus hippocastanum


Day 111: 1-Nov
Received my Toilet Twinning certificate

Day 112: 2-Nov
Learned (on Put Your Money where Your mouth is programme) that the Chrysanthemum is the national flower of Japan (the crest and seal of the Emperor).

Day 113: 3-Nov
Plant 'Red Valerian' (Centranthus ruber) a common plant whose name I keep forgetting! This plant may be annuals or perennials - a woody based perennial, grey-green leaves, dense clusters of crimson, pink or white - slightly fragrant
flowers.

Day 114: 4-Nov
Watched a programme about soil - fascinating insights and some techniques to protect soil & prevent water run-off.

Day 115: Black spots on Sycamore tree leaves (tar spot - Rhytisma acerinum) - essentially a harmless virus.


Day 116: Came across a new word to me: Aphorism = a terse saying embodying a general truth, or maxim.

Day 117: Plant Nicandra physalodes - common name is the shoo-fly plant.


Day 118: The RHS was founded in 1804.

Day 119: Read a brief description about the future version of MS Windows operating system (Windows 10).

Day 120: The plant Buxus (Box) suffers from Box Blight (Cylindrocladium buxicola). Symptoms are dark brown leaf spots, black streaks on stems & severe leaf loss.

Day 121: The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics - awarded for the invention of the blue light emitting diode; Red leds were invented in the early 1960s.

Day 122: The word 'mercurial' - in the context of gardening conditions; unpredictable.

Day 123: Amethyst; a violet coloured variety of quartz; semiprecious, birthstone for February.

Day 124: Flyer through the door advertising 'Ear Candling' - new one on me; suggest you might want to read this first at Quackwatch

Day 125: Leeds Castle in Kent; a castle has been on site since 1119.

Day 126: Found out today that Dr Myles Munroe, an inspirational Christian teacher & leader of the Bahamas Faith Ministries International, died in an aircraft crash (9-Nov-2014)

Day 127: Sourced an electronic component (a thermal fuse) to repair the blower fan in my van, cost was £1.29. Recent garage bill previously to source & replace previously was £63.19 inc labour!

Day 128: Building technique known as 'Jettying' introduced in C14/15th - used in medieval timber-frame buildings where an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. Stokesay Castle is a good example

Further observations...

Further observations...

Day 89: 10-Oct

We have a hedgehog leaf pile nest in a corner by our house bay window - I spotted a small hedgehog with leaves in its mouth (11pm), it triggered our outside light on and I took great pleasure watching the hedgehog enter the leaf pile.

Day 90: 11-Oct

Found an advert for a 'syringe' like tool for pointing in brick work and paving slabs - pointmaster could be useful to re-point some patio slabs and window sills.

Day 91: 12-Oct

On Flog it; showed an electrostatic generator, known as the Wimshurst machine: Wimshurst machine

Day 92: 13-Oct

Euphorbiacharacias subsp. wulfenii propagate by division early spring or basal cuttings in spring / early summer.

Day 93: 14-Oct

Read about Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Joseph Hooker (1817-1911). He identified in 1871 that gardeners nor foremen know anything about plants(nomenclature, soil, techniques, geography and climate) - this represents an insurmountable obstacle to progress (The Garden - RHS magazine Sept 2014). [seems we are facing similar challenges today]

Day 94: 15-Oct

Transplanting Globe Artichokes - rejuvenate by removing side shoots & roots, to make new plants. Attempting to move the whole plant is difficult due to large tap roots.

Day 95: 16-Oct

At the Snowshill Manor (NT) apple festival preparations, discovered some new to me apple varieties; Tremlett's Bitter, Knotted Kernel, Lord Burghley & Sweeny Nonpareil.

Day 96: 17-Oct

Watched a bee search out the final flower on a lavender plant; it's important not to be too eager to tidy up plants as wildlife needs all the help it can get to live/survive.

Day 97: 18-Oct

The spire of Salisbury Cathedral is the highest in the UK. The tower has no bells for fear that the vibration would lead to structural damage.

Day 98: 19-Oct

The collective noun for ladybirds is a 'loveliness of ladybirds'.

Day 99: 20-Oct

Quince pruning (trained): Quinces fruit mostly on the tips of the shoots made the previous year. They do not form many fruiting spurs. Prune and train in the dormant season between late autumn and early spring. The branch framework is developed along the same lines as for an apple. After the fourth year, only light pruning is necessary apart from the occasional removal of crowding or low-lying branches.

Day 100: 21-Oct

Noticed in a garden today, an ant 'hill' in the lawn, height about 3 inches & 1 inch diameter, made of very fine damp soil. Never seen one like that before.

Day 101: 22-Oct

Rosemary plant noted flowering in a client's garden. Apparently this can often happen (September through to the winter).

Day 102: 23-Oct

Metastatic cancer; is a cancer that has spread from the part of the body where it started, to other parts of the body.

Day 103: 24-Oct

The 6 acre garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex, from 1910, was set out by architect Edwin Lutyens & the then owner Nathaniel Lloyd. 

Day 104: 25-Oct

Started filling my leaf 'basket' on the allotment. Last year's 'heap' has broken down to lovely leaf mould. It never ceases to amaze how leaves change to produce 'black gold'.

Day 105: 26-Oct

After a period of consideration, I decided to make a donation to 'Toilet Twinning' organisation to support provision of sanitation - I twinned one of my toilets with one in Sierra Leone. I hope to provide more donations and 'twinning' in the future.

Day 106: 27-Oct

Climbing rose care; reduce tall stems to minimise winter damage; prune flowered sideshoots back to 2/3rds of length, remove dead, dying & diseased branches, tie-in new shoots to supports, remove old/congested branches from the base.

Day 107: 28-Oct

In client's garden, Aubretia starting to flower unusual as flowering should be March to May.

Day 108: 29-Oct

Needed to find out how & when to prune Fig tree (small specimen in a pot). In March, remove a proportion (1/4 to 1/3rd) of older branches.