Gradually getting back into the routine of work, with a promising Skype conversation as well as the usual chats with Mr Heker as we drafted a new communication text together for his company.
Placed copies of both the Stereomicroscopy book by Mr Woolnough and the “A View from the Lodge” by Mr James as for sale on Amazon. This time I was offering to sell worldwide.
I also quickly generated German pages for the front and end of the Flash game and uploaded that as a separate entity.
Hermione the Triops has a carapace now around 1cm long, demonstrating the tremendous growth of this species.
Spent a large part of the evening beginning to collect annotations and information on the stained glass windows of Worcester Cathedral. Began with the seven East cloister aisle windows. This has introduced me to the Saxon Kings and the gradual penetration of Christianity into the British Isles.
Eve Arnold, photographer, died at 99. Spent some time browsing her pictures online. Rather than studio work, she appeared to photograph on location or behind the scenes at studios. The one that really struck me was a picture taken during the US integration crisis. It shows two girls, one black, one white, at an integration party eyeing each other with spontaneous smiles.
Showing posts with label natural history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural history. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Monday, 2 January 2012
Triops, sunspots, Snowdrops and Stencyl game design
A colder but sunny day led to the cheap refractor telescope being dusted off to project the sun onto the ceiling at around 11 am this morning. One bold and four fainter sunspots were clearly visible and Mrs Thomas attempted to photograph the image on my behalf – pictures still to be uploaded. Seeing the magnified solar globe at about 30cm diameter on the ceiling also brought home the Earth's rotation as the disc could be seen visibly creeping along at a couple of millimetres per second.
Hermione, the Triops seemed a bit slower today when she suddenly turned on her back and started twitching. I dashed to get a camera but by my return she had just moulted, leaving her ghost of a shell behind – collected for microscopic observation. Within an hour, Hermione was actively feeding again, now another millimetre or so larger.
It was such a lovely day and we were in dire need of exercise after all the Christmas feasting, that we drove to Anglesey Abbey for a walk. We took the longer path leading to the wildlife trail. As we were on the return part of the walk we came onto the open lawns where snowdrops were already emerging under the scattered trees. Diverting along the Winter Garden walk, we saw more snowdrops at various stages of emergence and flowering. They had been beaten to it by the dwarf blue Irises that were fully open. Winter cherries were in bloom and several other trees were also flowering.
Late afternoon and evening, I continued with the design of the flash based game that I had started using StencylWorks. I designed a few additional simple characters or actors and ascribed a variety of properties to them. I aimed to have some that would kill my main actor on contact, a number that my character could stomp on and also two items that could be “collected”. Wasted some time trying to get an active scoring system from the available StencylForge library but could not get them to work properly. The game will have to do without scores for the moment.. All characters and functions set, The remaining time was spent designing the maze and location of the different characters that would interact with my character. More work to be done yet.
Hermione, the Triops seemed a bit slower today when she suddenly turned on her back and started twitching. I dashed to get a camera but by my return she had just moulted, leaving her ghost of a shell behind – collected for microscopic observation. Within an hour, Hermione was actively feeding again, now another millimetre or so larger.
It was such a lovely day and we were in dire need of exercise after all the Christmas feasting, that we drove to Anglesey Abbey for a walk. We took the longer path leading to the wildlife trail. As we were on the return part of the walk we came onto the open lawns where snowdrops were already emerging under the scattered trees. Diverting along the Winter Garden walk, we saw more snowdrops at various stages of emergence and flowering. They had been beaten to it by the dwarf blue Irises that were fully open. Winter cherries were in bloom and several other trees were also flowering.
Late afternoon and evening, I continued with the design of the flash based game that I had started using StencylWorks. I designed a few additional simple characters or actors and ascribed a variety of properties to them. I aimed to have some that would kill my main actor on contact, a number that my character could stomp on and also two items that could be “collected”. Wasted some time trying to get an active scoring system from the available StencylForge library but could not get them to work properly. The game will have to do without scores for the moment.. All characters and functions set, The remaining time was spent designing the maze and location of the different characters that would interact with my character. More work to be done yet.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
First battles with Stencyl
The first day of the year was heralded in by firework displays occuring on the hour in a sweep from the first dateline in the Pacific until reaching us here in the UK. Judging from an earlier walk, many could not wait until the allotted hour of midnight, with fireworks going off sporadically in and around Milton and Cambridge. Still, not a patch yet on the explosive mayhem seen in Germany on “Sylvester”.
We took the day gently and I resumed battle with Stencyl – a freely available flash game design software I had heard about on the BBC's Click program. The demonstration/tutorial of designing a simple walking and jumping flash game seemed straightforward enough.
Encouraged, I designed some simple PNG versions of a walking and jumping figure plus an enemy in CorelDraw and then attempted to import them into a new program. What I had not realised, was that for each new game, you had to access a resource that gave you the basic functions. Also, whenever features were changed within the program you were designing, you needed to update the game regularly. My first over ambitious attempt therefore failed in a combination of malfunctioning downloaded elements and lack of regular updating.
Going back to using one of the “kits” with most functionality included finally lead to the first signs of success. By the end of the afternoon, I was more confident of beginning to start a simple game that worked.
This was only the start, and I have to see whether I want to persist.
My Triops is now about 4mm long at the carapace and because of the potential hermaphrodite or even parthenogenic nature has been named “Hermione”.
We took the day gently and I resumed battle with Stencyl – a freely available flash game design software I had heard about on the BBC's Click program. The demonstration/tutorial of designing a simple walking and jumping flash game seemed straightforward enough.
Encouraged, I designed some simple PNG versions of a walking and jumping figure plus an enemy in CorelDraw and then attempted to import them into a new program. What I had not realised, was that for each new game, you had to access a resource that gave you the basic functions. Also, whenever features were changed within the program you were designing, you needed to update the game regularly. My first over ambitious attempt therefore failed in a combination of malfunctioning downloaded elements and lack of regular updating.
Going back to using one of the “kits” with most functionality included finally lead to the first signs of success. By the end of the afternoon, I was more confident of beginning to start a simple game that worked.
This was only the start, and I have to see whether I want to persist.
My Triops is now about 4mm long at the carapace and because of the potential hermaphrodite or even parthenogenic nature has been named “Hermione”.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Triops, Solar activity and where to buy your meteorites
I've taken a break from work over the Christmas period and one of the fascinations that has gripped me is the living fossil Triops longicaudatus.
I set up a hatch of half a commercial packet of dried soil purporting to contain Triops eggs during the day of Christmas Eve. Whilst the suppliers advice is to use water above 20degC, preferably around 25degC, a trawl through Google Scholar found sufficient reference to Triops longicaudatus being able to hatch and grow at lower temperatures. We have a 20degC/18degC Day/night temperature cycle in the house this winter.
Late night on Christmas Day I thought I could see microscopic hatched life, though it was still too small to identify. By Wednesday it was clear that I had some small freshwater shrimps, a couple of daphnia and one possible Triops. By Thursday, the Triops was approximately 1mm long as measured by its carapace and swimming continuously around the tank.
Friday saw a distinct leap in size to about 2mm and a change in behaviour. For the first time the Triops stopped briefly when it encountered food particles and it also spent a much greater proportion of its time at the bottom of the small tank. Today, it had grown to 3mm carapace length, was highly active and continuing to display the stopping to feed for a couple of seconds behaviour that first occurred yesterday. Since Triops, like all arthropods, have a hard shell exterior, they have to moult to grow by expansion. The continued growth of my Triops indicates that so far these critical moults have not been a problem.
Whilst hidden behind rain clouds, the sun has also been demonstrating a more interesting active phase after an extended quiet period. Checking out the SOHO solar observation site revealed several sunspots again at last, so I may be out with the telescope to try a projection if the sky is clear in the coming days.
Solar activity has also been shown in a recent flare that not only interrupted radio signals but also led to the last Aurorae of the year 2011. Whilst hunting for the solar information, I came across a site offering fragments of meteorites from the asteroid Vest, the moon and Mars for sale – something to bear in mind for future Birthday/Christmas lists. (http://www.shopspaceweather.com/asteroid-vesta-meteorite.aspx).
Alternatively, I might try catching micrometeorites for free later in the year.
I set up a hatch of half a commercial packet of dried soil purporting to contain Triops eggs during the day of Christmas Eve. Whilst the suppliers advice is to use water above 20degC, preferably around 25degC, a trawl through Google Scholar found sufficient reference to Triops longicaudatus being able to hatch and grow at lower temperatures. We have a 20degC/18degC Day/night temperature cycle in the house this winter.
Late night on Christmas Day I thought I could see microscopic hatched life, though it was still too small to identify. By Wednesday it was clear that I had some small freshwater shrimps, a couple of daphnia and one possible Triops. By Thursday, the Triops was approximately 1mm long as measured by its carapace and swimming continuously around the tank.
Friday saw a distinct leap in size to about 2mm and a change in behaviour. For the first time the Triops stopped briefly when it encountered food particles and it also spent a much greater proportion of its time at the bottom of the small tank. Today, it had grown to 3mm carapace length, was highly active and continuing to display the stopping to feed for a couple of seconds behaviour that first occurred yesterday. Since Triops, like all arthropods, have a hard shell exterior, they have to moult to grow by expansion. The continued growth of my Triops indicates that so far these critical moults have not been a problem.
Whilst hidden behind rain clouds, the sun has also been demonstrating a more interesting active phase after an extended quiet period. Checking out the SOHO solar observation site revealed several sunspots again at last, so I may be out with the telescope to try a projection if the sky is clear in the coming days.
Solar activity has also been shown in a recent flare that not only interrupted radio signals but also led to the last Aurorae of the year 2011. Whilst hunting for the solar information, I came across a site offering fragments of meteorites from the asteroid Vest, the moon and Mars for sale – something to bear in mind for future Birthday/Christmas lists. (http://www.shopspaceweather.com/asteroid-vesta-meteorite.aspx).
Alternatively, I might try catching micrometeorites for free later in the year.
Friday, 30 December 2011
December in brief
- Alan James' book, “A View from the Lodge” published and printed.
- Contrast to the financial meeting in London – photography and filming of the public sector demonstrations in Cambridge see http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/12/nine-points-learnt-photographing.html.
- Three trips to Hereford and back – family related. I used the opportunity to take a better set of all the available stained glass at Worcester Cathedral and spent time editing the images.
- Also climbed up the Malvern's British Camp and Worcester Beacon with the SLR and tripod to try some panoramic views – images still to be edited.
- Completed the total recreation of the company brochure for Jos-Reinigung Nord - http://issuu.com/miltoncontact/docs/jos-procedure-by-juengst.
- Personal accounts and most of Company accounts done.
- Timing totally out for my most recent speech at Toastmasters – need to tackle for 2012.
- Had fun with Chinese Brush Painting, creating Robins and Holly for a video Christmas Card http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-do-robin-holly-feature-at-christmas.html. Originally initiated by a request by Ms Mix in Germany for an e-mail Christmas Card.
- Saddened to hear of death of Gregor Scholz who visited the UK earlier this year and whom I acccompanied in London – article at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/12/cheers-to-gregor-scholz-farewell.html.
- Saw a program about living fossils – Triops. Was so captivated, bought a kit to hatch at home and am currently nurturing a small specimen of Triops longicaudatus in a tank.
- Had a lovely Christmas with the family.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Shubunkin and Light
Mr James has decided on using Optima at 11 point for his book so I reformatted the text and also included drop capitals for the chapter beginnings. The six images to be used in the book were then introduced into a separate word file with the same margins in readiness for insertion.
At Mrs Evan's Chinese Brush Painting class, I battled with fish. Strangely, the normal carp shape was the more difficult to master than that of the rotund Shubunkin. Unencumbered by dental pain this week, as the antibiotic appeared to have achieved its effect, I had more success and time this week to master the fish - at least in part.
Met up with Mr Cooper in the evening to discuss an evenings entertainment and education for the cub scouts. We explored a variety of options to play with light, using ubiquitous materials such as DVD disks.
Gadaffi's body and that of his son were buried at a secret location in the Libyan desert, to avoid his grave becoming a shrine or focal point for followers or opponents.
In Turkey, two days after the Earthquake, people are still being pulled out of the rubble alive. Over 400 dead so far and several hundred still missing.
Am now watching the luscious Joanna Lumley on her Greek Odyssey – Lovely!
At Mrs Evan's Chinese Brush Painting class, I battled with fish. Strangely, the normal carp shape was the more difficult to master than that of the rotund Shubunkin. Unencumbered by dental pain this week, as the antibiotic appeared to have achieved its effect, I had more success and time this week to master the fish - at least in part.
Met up with Mr Cooper in the evening to discuss an evenings entertainment and education for the cub scouts. We explored a variety of options to play with light, using ubiquitous materials such as DVD disks.
Gadaffi's body and that of his son were buried at a secret location in the Libyan desert, to avoid his grave becoming a shrine or focal point for followers or opponents.
In Turkey, two days after the Earthquake, people are still being pulled out of the rubble alive. Over 400 dead so far and several hundred still missing.
Am now watching the luscious Joanna Lumley on her Greek Odyssey – Lovely!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Ely parking, crop smudging and child trafficking
Off to Ely for the pre-breakfast event “Business Support is Changing”. Arriving for a 7:30am reception, this meant that the parking in the all day car park had not yet started; anyone arriving before 8:30 had to leave the car park after 90 minutes.
After the meeting there was a bacon butty breakfast, to be followed by a consultation between the county council and interested businesses. The start of the consultation was briefly interrupted as the realisation set in that our cars were at risk of exceeding the 90 minute parking time. Indeed, a car park attendant was counting down the minutes and gave us a good natured good morning as we all dashed out to move our cars to another car park before returning.
The main message of the meeting was that business support was being dramatically pared down by the UK, whilst there was still free support from EU programs promoting cross border partnering between businesses.
After lunch and catching up with mail, I photographed the watercolour paintings that author Alan James wished to use in his book. The images were optimised for contrast and then both colour and grayscale versions saved.
The afternoon passed quickly with other work interspersed with an uncharacteristic number of Skype calls.
My mind was slightly disconnected by the early start and so some of the messages that I received took on separate meanings. A tweet by London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, “Mayor secures more than £11m to boost homeless hostels in London...” raised the spectre of a fleet of hostels without a home. A friend attending a meeting “Inspiring Entrepreneurs” was equally ambiguous.
Later that evening, watching “Midsommer Murders”, one of the key items was protection of apple blossom from frost damage by “smudging” - creating a protective smoke blanket to keep frost at bay.
A search revealed that smudging was indeed a possible method for frost protection as listed in an Ontario Factsheet. However there more successful methods that could be used, including using the downdraft of a helicopter to displace the cold air boundary close to the ground. Spreading lots of small heating units through out an orchard would also work - more so than fewer large heaters which would create counterproductive convection, drawing in colder air from the surroundings.
The other reason that I would also have thought that smudging was less adviseable is that if the smoke is generated by combustion, it will invariably contain significant amounts of ethlylene, a gas known for its ability to induce senescence of leaves and flowers. Indeed this ethylene effect had beenfirst seen when the first gas street lights were installed – causing damage to nearby trees.
The most horrific news story of the day was of Ugandan children being trafficked into the UK (several hundred a year) for abuse in black magic blood rituals. Apparently the perceived value of blood in rituals is rising.
After the meeting there was a bacon butty breakfast, to be followed by a consultation between the county council and interested businesses. The start of the consultation was briefly interrupted as the realisation set in that our cars were at risk of exceeding the 90 minute parking time. Indeed, a car park attendant was counting down the minutes and gave us a good natured good morning as we all dashed out to move our cars to another car park before returning.
The main message of the meeting was that business support was being dramatically pared down by the UK, whilst there was still free support from EU programs promoting cross border partnering between businesses.
After lunch and catching up with mail, I photographed the watercolour paintings that author Alan James wished to use in his book. The images were optimised for contrast and then both colour and grayscale versions saved.
The afternoon passed quickly with other work interspersed with an uncharacteristic number of Skype calls.
My mind was slightly disconnected by the early start and so some of the messages that I received took on separate meanings. A tweet by London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, “Mayor secures more than £11m to boost homeless hostels in London...” raised the spectre of a fleet of hostels without a home. A friend attending a meeting “Inspiring Entrepreneurs” was equally ambiguous.
Later that evening, watching “Midsommer Murders”, one of the key items was protection of apple blossom from frost damage by “smudging” - creating a protective smoke blanket to keep frost at bay.
A search revealed that smudging was indeed a possible method for frost protection as listed in an Ontario Factsheet. However there more successful methods that could be used, including using the downdraft of a helicopter to displace the cold air boundary close to the ground. Spreading lots of small heating units through out an orchard would also work - more so than fewer large heaters which would create counterproductive convection, drawing in colder air from the surroundings.
The other reason that I would also have thought that smudging was less adviseable is that if the smoke is generated by combustion, it will invariably contain significant amounts of ethlylene, a gas known for its ability to induce senescence of leaves and flowers. Indeed this ethylene effect had beenfirst seen when the first gas street lights were installed – causing damage to nearby trees.
The most horrific news story of the day was of Ugandan children being trafficked into the UK (several hundred a year) for abuse in black magic blood rituals. Apparently the perceived value of blood in rituals is rising.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Identifying Stentor on a snail's shell
Received first feedback on the draft press release for the NRW delegation – we sought approval from our various hosts. Some changes required, including a revision of the original title which had been emasculated by the suggested revision. Sighed, accepted my lot and made the changes, then sent on to Ms Luetje and Mr Juengst to keep them informed. Still have another permission/edit outstanding to be mailed to me.
The mood was enlivened by the arrival of Ms Fleming and Mr Snoswell with a pond sample containing small ramshorn snails with strange green goo at the central depression of their whorls. I had been intrigued by the photos on Ms Fleming's Facebook post, which tantalisingly lacked sufficient detail for clear identification. We soon had the stereo-microscope out and were chasing the snails in a petri dish as they threatened to zoom out of view at 6x to 20x magnification.
I attached my camcorder to the microscope and made some recordings which we then replayed on a larger television screen, with identification guides on hand. We soon established that the green matter comprised colonies of Stentor polymorphus, which absorb chlorella as symbionts. The vase shaped organisms, with their cilia rimmed apertures, were oblivious to the movement of both the snail and the petri dish.
I edited a short video with a range of clips. Mr Heker called in via Skype on another matter and was roped in to help with the audio editing via shared screen! The video was uploaded to YouTube and also embedded in a short blog article which was subsequently submitted to Micscape, an online microscopy magazine.
The rest of the afternoon was a return to continuing the manuscript review begun yesterday.
The evenings news is is full of the Libyan rebels storming Gaddaffi's compound, a key target in Tripoli. No sign of the colonel or his sons though.
The mood was enlivened by the arrival of Ms Fleming and Mr Snoswell with a pond sample containing small ramshorn snails with strange green goo at the central depression of their whorls. I had been intrigued by the photos on Ms Fleming's Facebook post, which tantalisingly lacked sufficient detail for clear identification. We soon had the stereo-microscope out and were chasing the snails in a petri dish as they threatened to zoom out of view at 6x to 20x magnification.
I attached my camcorder to the microscope and made some recordings which we then replayed on a larger television screen, with identification guides on hand. We soon established that the green matter comprised colonies of Stentor polymorphus, which absorb chlorella as symbionts. The vase shaped organisms, with their cilia rimmed apertures, were oblivious to the movement of both the snail and the petri dish.
I edited a short video with a range of clips. Mr Heker called in via Skype on another matter and was roped in to help with the audio editing via shared screen! The video was uploaded to YouTube and also embedded in a short blog article which was subsequently submitted to Micscape, an online microscopy magazine.
The rest of the afternoon was a return to continuing the manuscript review begun yesterday.
The evenings news is is full of the Libyan rebels storming Gaddaffi's compound, a key target in Tripoli. No sign of the colonel or his sons though.
Saturday, 20 August 2011
New car, giant caterpillar and battles in Tripoli
Awoke surprised that there was no pain or stiffness in my legs despite the marathon cycle ride yesterday. I did not escape totally unscathed, as I soon found my backside still saddle sore when I sat down on a hard surface. I had had a migraine in the night, which disappeared by after treatment by midday.
Mrs T had discovered a possible car online, to replace our elderly vehicle, and after lunch we set off to Marshalls to try it out. Wheels grind slowly in our household, but today the car we tried, a Honda Jazz, appeared to be ideal and we progressed to initiating a purchase. As if acknowledging imminent retirement, the exhaust on our existing car came off some of its rubber rings, giving a rattle as we made out way back home.
Our neighbours had shown me a giant insect larva, some eight or more centimetres long. It was relatively smooth, white on the underside and dark brown on top, and was armed with a fierce set of manibles. My first thought yesterday was that it was a beetle larva, but an internet search did not find anything similar enough. Today, in a spare five minutes during cooking dinner, I took out my Collin's Guide to Insects and flicked through the image plates and almost immediately found an equivalent, the caterpillar of the Goat moth.
The Goat moth, Cossus cossus, is a large moth, with a wing span up to 96mm. It is so called because of the goat like smell of the caterpillar, which lives for up to five years boring in wood until emerging to pupate in the soil, hatching out in the following year.
In the evening, I watched the DVD version of Dune with Mr T. This was an extended version, as we found out by watching to the bitter end after three and a bit hours! Slow paced, it was still interesting and unintentionally amusing.
Turning on the news afterwards whilst writing up the day's events, I found it dominated by the potential advance of the rebels in Libya into the suburbs of Tripoli. The question is, are Colonel Gaddaffi's days numbered? Is he even still in the Capital?
Mrs T had discovered a possible car online, to replace our elderly vehicle, and after lunch we set off to Marshalls to try it out. Wheels grind slowly in our household, but today the car we tried, a Honda Jazz, appeared to be ideal and we progressed to initiating a purchase. As if acknowledging imminent retirement, the exhaust on our existing car came off some of its rubber rings, giving a rattle as we made out way back home.
Our neighbours had shown me a giant insect larva, some eight or more centimetres long. It was relatively smooth, white on the underside and dark brown on top, and was armed with a fierce set of manibles. My first thought yesterday was that it was a beetle larva, but an internet search did not find anything similar enough. Today, in a spare five minutes during cooking dinner, I took out my Collin's Guide to Insects and flicked through the image plates and almost immediately found an equivalent, the caterpillar of the Goat moth.
The Goat moth, Cossus cossus, is a large moth, with a wing span up to 96mm. It is so called because of the goat like smell of the caterpillar, which lives for up to five years boring in wood until emerging to pupate in the soil, hatching out in the following year.
In the evening, I watched the DVD version of Dune with Mr T. This was an extended version, as we found out by watching to the bitter end after three and a bit hours! Slow paced, it was still interesting and unintentionally amusing.
Turning on the news afterwards whilst writing up the day's events, I found it dominated by the potential advance of the rebels in Libya into the suburbs of Tripoli. The question is, are Colonel Gaddaffi's days numbered? Is he even still in the Capital?
Sunday, 7 August 2011
The slight disappointment of Whipsnade
Thursday, 28th July: The whole family made our outing to Whipsnade zoo. Having visited Banham zoo and Colchester zoo in the past years, we did have high expectations of this zoo as part of the Zoological Society of London.
The tone was set with the entry price which included an optional donation that one had to actively opt out of, the map we were given to find our way around contained inaccuracies and there was no indication of the feeding times of program of events given at the outset.
However, with warm and mainly sunny weather and cameras in hand, we made the best of the day. The impressions that remain from the day were the Maras and small deer that ran around freely, the pigmy hippopotamus mother with her calf, the antedeluvian appearance of the White Rhinos and the lively action at the end of the day at the elephant enclosure.
The tone was set with the entry price which included an optional donation that one had to actively opt out of, the map we were given to find our way around contained inaccuracies and there was no indication of the feeding times of program of events given at the outset.
However, with warm and mainly sunny weather and cameras in hand, we made the best of the day. The impressions that remain from the day were the Maras and small deer that ran around freely, the pigmy hippopotamus mother with her calf, the antedeluvian appearance of the White Rhinos and the lively action at the end of the day at the elephant enclosure.
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Dictating v Typing, and the patience of spiders
I was effectively chained to the computer and laptop today, producing labels and other written material for the weekend's Open Studio. Trivial items that still take up a considerable amount of time. However, from this point on, any additions will be icing in the cake.
The activity was enlivened by the use of a new speech recognition software bundled with an earlier purchase, Dragon 11. It is so reminiscent of futuristic fantasies, that when you speak , the words miraculously appear on the screen – with the odd correction or two. I did note that it is still easier for me to coherently type text than to dictate it. I am inclined to believe that this is due to different paths of the brain being used in verbal delivery as opposed to physical typing, though I cannot immediately find a suitable reference. No doubt increased practice will speed up the flow of dictation.
A small item of natural history has been residing patiently in its web on one of my office windows. The specimen is probably a common garden spider, Araneus diadematus, a well known orb weaving spider with a distinctive white cross on it's abdomen. Set up for over a week and tolerated by Mrs T, albeit reluctantly upon my request, It seemed to be in a region particularly devoid of prey.
Today this changed as an irritating slender bodied house fly entered the office, evading capture and eventually hiding in the paperwork by the window. Five minutes later, I looked to the window and saw a triumphant spider dealing with its already wrapped package of a meal with the same body length as itself!
The activity was enlivened by the use of a new speech recognition software bundled with an earlier purchase, Dragon 11. It is so reminiscent of futuristic fantasies, that when you speak , the words miraculously appear on the screen – with the odd correction or two. I did note that it is still easier for me to coherently type text than to dictate it. I am inclined to believe that this is due to different paths of the brain being used in verbal delivery as opposed to physical typing, though I cannot immediately find a suitable reference. No doubt increased practice will speed up the flow of dictation.
A small item of natural history has been residing patiently in its web on one of my office windows. The specimen is probably a common garden spider, Araneus diadematus, a well known orb weaving spider with a distinctive white cross on it's abdomen. Set up for over a week and tolerated by Mrs T, albeit reluctantly upon my request, It seemed to be in a region particularly devoid of prey.
Today this changed as an irritating slender bodied house fly entered the office, evading capture and eventually hiding in the paperwork by the window. Five minutes later, I looked to the window and saw a triumphant spider dealing with its already wrapped package of a meal with the same body length as itself!
Friday, 1 July 2011
Networking workshop, sand, parasites and a Pet Shop Boys ballet
Miss T suffered an incompetent interviewer today and, as a distraction, accompanied me to the Huntingdonshire Business Network, where I presented the workshop on effective networking. The preparation and effort put in was rewarded by the involvement of the audience, whose contributions enriched the event.
Mr Howell had returned from his holidays on the Greek Islands with a sample of sand, a delightful gift for a microscopist. The sample glittered with the presence of mica and I am sure that there are some foraminifera present too amongst the minerals.
The promise of further microscopical samples came unexpectedly during the later Tutorcloud meeting, when Ms Heeneman declared that she had some zoological slides from her biological days, including a variety of parasites. I look forward to sharing viewing of them with her.
Stayed up overlate tonight to watch the ballet “The Most Incredible Thing”, devised in collaboration with Pet Shop boys and Saddlers Wells. A delight of contemporary dance, interpreting a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale that had its origins in his disillusionment with the increasing militarisation of Germany during the Franco-Prussian War. The same tale was published in rebellion during WWII in Denmark.
Mr Howell had returned from his holidays on the Greek Islands with a sample of sand, a delightful gift for a microscopist. The sample glittered with the presence of mica and I am sure that there are some foraminifera present too amongst the minerals.
The promise of further microscopical samples came unexpectedly during the later Tutorcloud meeting, when Ms Heeneman declared that she had some zoological slides from her biological days, including a variety of parasites. I look forward to sharing viewing of them with her.
Stayed up overlate tonight to watch the ballet “The Most Incredible Thing”, devised in collaboration with Pet Shop boys and Saddlers Wells. A delight of contemporary dance, interpreting a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale that had its origins in his disillusionment with the increasing militarisation of Germany during the Franco-Prussian War. The same tale was published in rebellion during WWII in Denmark.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Strikes partially close schools and jelly fish fully close nuclear power station
More work on documents, translation for UK partners, interspersed with generation of a version of Mr Straus' logo suitable for Word documents. A telephone call also established that the printing of four photographs for my Open Studios as still proceeding according to plan, with delivery next week.
A short diversion was the e-mail conversation with S Jinks of the Creative Network re site design. I have submitted an application to join for the trivial annual sum of £25.
The rest of the day's work was directed to putting on paper the structure for the workshop that I will be presenting, on effective networking, at tomorrows HBN. Tomorrow morning will then be devoted to aspects of delivery.
The strike day by some teaching unions and other public sector unions was significant but remarkable for three reasons. Firstly, It was not supported by the Labour party. Second, it was less disruptive than anticipated and finally, there was none of the violence from small groups reported, that had been a feature of the major demonstration earlier in the year.
From a biologist's viewpoint, the interesting news was the disruption of two Scottish nuclear reactors at Torness Power Station, by a jelly fish swarm that clogged up the water intakes temporarily. It took a bit of a search on the internet to reveal that these were “moon” jelly fish or Aurelia aurita and that significant numbers had been washing up on Scottish beaches off East Lothian (http://scottishnatureboy.blogspot.com/2011/06/nature-wins-again-plankton-1-nuclear.html).
According to the British Marine Life Study Society (http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Moonjell.htm), the are incapable of stinging humans. A native coastal species, they regularly form large swarms in late summer, with the society recording two particularly large swarms in Shoreham harbour in 1999 and Loch Nevis in 2002.
A short diversion was the e-mail conversation with S Jinks of the Creative Network re site design. I have submitted an application to join for the trivial annual sum of £25.
The rest of the day's work was directed to putting on paper the structure for the workshop that I will be presenting, on effective networking, at tomorrows HBN. Tomorrow morning will then be devoted to aspects of delivery.
The strike day by some teaching unions and other public sector unions was significant but remarkable for three reasons. Firstly, It was not supported by the Labour party. Second, it was less disruptive than anticipated and finally, there was none of the violence from small groups reported, that had been a feature of the major demonstration earlier in the year.
From a biologist's viewpoint, the interesting news was the disruption of two Scottish nuclear reactors at Torness Power Station, by a jelly fish swarm that clogged up the water intakes temporarily. It took a bit of a search on the internet to reveal that these were “moon” jelly fish or Aurelia aurita and that significant numbers had been washing up on Scottish beaches off East Lothian (http://scottishnatureboy.blogspot.com/2011/06/nature-wins-again-plankton-1-nuclear.html).
According to the British Marine Life Study Society (http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Moonjell.htm), the are incapable of stinging humans. A native coastal species, they regularly form large swarms in late summer, with the society recording two particularly large swarms in Shoreham harbour in 1999 and Loch Nevis in 2002.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Translation, E.coli and Hunts Speakers
Started the morning with a German – English translation for a Columbian company, which was completed and returned by midday. Edited, formatted and uploaded a second video, demonstration of painting roses by Mrs Evans before conducting more mundane letter writing and some internet research. Registered Mr McArthur's book Ka Sefofane with PubMed, having established its weight (650g), the last detail required before registration.
Radio news focussed on the E. coli contaminated cucumbers in Germany, which now are believed not to have originated in Spain. Cases in Northern Germany have risen to more than 2000 and the source is still unknown.
The evening was enlivened by attending the Huntingdonshire Speakers group of Toastmasters International. An event full of emotion as two members had recently suffered bereavement and each gave an eloquent and moving speech. My role this evening was to introduce and then evaluate Mrs Ekblom, who gave an inspirational presentation on “Killer Islands”. She was referring to the continents of plastic waste accumulating at mid oceanic gyres, where the detritus is mistaken for food by sea-birds and other oceanic denizens, thus causing lethal damage.
An unusual fact that I was unaware of – the storm drains of Bangladesh were found to be blocked by waste plastic bags, contributing to the devastation caused by floods and this has led to the use of plastic bags being banned in cities in the region and in India.
For the second time in recent time, drawn outside by the noise of a Helicopter circling over Milton for a couple of minutes before departing.
Radio news focussed on the E. coli contaminated cucumbers in Germany, which now are believed not to have originated in Spain. Cases in Northern Germany have risen to more than 2000 and the source is still unknown.
The evening was enlivened by attending the Huntingdonshire Speakers group of Toastmasters International. An event full of emotion as two members had recently suffered bereavement and each gave an eloquent and moving speech. My role this evening was to introduce and then evaluate Mrs Ekblom, who gave an inspirational presentation on “Killer Islands”. She was referring to the continents of plastic waste accumulating at mid oceanic gyres, where the detritus is mistaken for food by sea-birds and other oceanic denizens, thus causing lethal damage.
An unusual fact that I was unaware of – the storm drains of Bangladesh were found to be blocked by waste plastic bags, contributing to the devastation caused by floods and this has led to the use of plastic bags being banned in cities in the region and in India.
For the second time in recent time, drawn outside by the noise of a Helicopter circling over Milton for a couple of minutes before departing.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Microscopic life in marine tank and the German outbreak of EHEC E. coli
I spent the evening at the microscope, studying both the PMS box ready for despatch and a sample of the debris at the bottom of the marine tank.
The tank sample was buzzing with activity with a range of organisms from different groups represented.
News from Germany via family is, that people are very concerned about an E. coli outbreak, referred to as EHEC in German, from “enterohaemorrhagic E. coli”. It is a strain that has a high infectivity, with as few as 100 bacteria sufficing, and produces shiga like toxin which causes severe diarrhoea and can be fatal. It appears to be similar to the E.coli known as O157:H7, which has caused outbreaks in the UK, for example in 2009. The German strain is O104 according to the Hamburg Health Ministry.
The bacteria are spread via fecal contamination, usually of meat. However, the German outbreak has been attributed to contaminated organic cucumbers originating from Spain, Malaga and Almeira. Shiga and shigla like toxins are genes carried by prophages (viruses of bacteria that integrate into the host). They act like the toxin ricin by inhibiting protein synthesis.
As of 2am Tuesday 31st May, the most recent UK Food Standards Agency news item is from 27th May and states that there is currently no evidence that cucumbers have come into the UK from those companies that supplied infected cucumbers to German.
Relevant articles can be found here:
The tank sample was buzzing with activity with a range of organisms from different groups represented.
- Crustaceans – very small but several present in a drop of water
- Nematodes – at least one species
- ciliates – several species, the most abundant being an ovoid motile version that possibly contained photosynthetic material
- Amoebae – both monopod and multiple pseudopodia varieties seen
- Blue green algae – abundant
- Diatoms – both elongated rhomboids and chained versions
- Filamentous bacteria
News from Germany via family is, that people are very concerned about an E. coli outbreak, referred to as EHEC in German, from “enterohaemorrhagic E. coli”. It is a strain that has a high infectivity, with as few as 100 bacteria sufficing, and produces shiga like toxin which causes severe diarrhoea and can be fatal. It appears to be similar to the E.coli known as O157:H7, which has caused outbreaks in the UK, for example in 2009. The German strain is O104 according to the Hamburg Health Ministry.
The bacteria are spread via fecal contamination, usually of meat. However, the German outbreak has been attributed to contaminated organic cucumbers originating from Spain, Malaga and Almeira. Shiga and shigla like toxins are genes carried by prophages (viruses of bacteria that integrate into the host). They act like the toxin ricin by inhibiting protein synthesis.
As of 2am Tuesday 31st May, the most recent UK Food Standards Agency news item is from 27th May and states that there is currently no evidence that cucumbers have come into the UK from those companies that supplied infected cucumbers to German.
Relevant articles can be found here:
- http://www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/NationalPressReleases/2011PressReleases/110527GermanEcoliupdate/
- http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Food+Safety+Authority+Spanish+cucumbers+infected+with+EHEC+have+not+been+imported+into+Finland/1135266532095
- http://www.bild.de/news/inland/ehec/identifiziert-18094752.bild.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiga_toxin
Melford Hall, Dedham and the long walk to Flatford Mill
The Bank Holiday Monday weather forecast threatening rain, Mrs T. suggested an outing to Dedham today, Sunday, as we have never visited this area of the countryside before.
Eshewing taking the faster, but scenically less interesting route all of the way along the A14, we abandoned the dual carriageway at the market town of Bury St Edmunds and took the winding country road to Sudbury.
The time being close to luncheon, we followed my stomach's advice and diverted to Melford Hall, a National Trust house in the village of the same name and availed ourselves of the facilities there. This small mansion is still the family home of the Hyde Parkers and the stained glass windows at the front of the house suggested that it would be deserving of a closer look.
The two rooms that really instilled themselves into my memory were the library and the nursery.
The library, which though small by mansion standards, did have a congenial and hospitable air that invited spending the afternoon buried in a book. My eye was also caught by a delicately inlaid ebony and ivory writing table which I endeavoured to photograph with the small camera, the “anti-shake” setting giving a reasonable chance of succeeding in capturing at least one clear image in the low light.
Entering the nursery, I was immediately struck by the painting of the present Sir Richard Hyde Parker, 12th Baronet, as a child with his toy dog. It was not a masterpiece but did convey the intimate link to a family home, which I believe was the intention. One of the toys in a cabinet was Jemima Puddleduck, given as a gift by Beatrix Potter herself, a relative of the family and a frequent visitor with her entourage of pets.
The small garden contained a selection of peonies, many of which were distinct through their bicoloured form (magenta outer petals and lighter, yellow inner ones). The inner petals also distinguished themselves by their more narrow and curved nature. I photographed these with a painter's eye as they appeared to combine the Chinese painting styles of peony/rose for the outer petals and chrysanthemum for the inner.
We drove on to Dedham, arriving at tea-time, and took a respite in the Essex Rose Tea House where I enjoyed a summer pudding and Mrs T. had a lemon meringue with lemon meringue ice-cream that was rich, creamy and absolutely delicious.
We decided to take the walk across the fields to Flatford Mill and progressed through the genteel Brook Street of Dedham onto the National Trust trail promising to lead us to the mill. This was the more circuitous route, through pleasant, gently undulating countryside of pastures and fields, so it was not until around 6 o'clock that we arrived at the complex of buildings and water features around Flatford Mill.
With the sunlight frequently appearing between the scurrying white clouds on this windy day, the River Stour, the locks and ponds were all very picturesque. The mill itself is now a field study centre with limited access, however we were able to wander round to the actual millpond featured in Constable's iconic painting of the English landscape, The Haywain.
Time had changed the scene, especially as the mill building looked more recent, but Willy Lot's Cottage, as seen in the painting, did still exist. Apparently, the water in our present time is deeper than in Constable's but the question still arises as to what incompetence left the haywain stranded in the river Stour.
We returned to the car by the shorter route following the Stour, racing with three canoeists who were also travelling in the same direction upstream. As their route followed every bow of the river and our past cut across these in the fields, we kept up with them. Most amusing was the reaction of dogs belonging to other walkers, who were most perturbed by the sight of the half men, half floating logs passing by and invariably gave chase along the bank, barking wildly. The fields were also full of cattle who were in turn drifting in the same general direction, no doubt waiting for the evening call back to the farm.
Eshewing taking the faster, but scenically less interesting route all of the way along the A14, we abandoned the dual carriageway at the market town of Bury St Edmunds and took the winding country road to Sudbury.
The time being close to luncheon, we followed my stomach's advice and diverted to Melford Hall, a National Trust house in the village of the same name and availed ourselves of the facilities there. This small mansion is still the family home of the Hyde Parkers and the stained glass windows at the front of the house suggested that it would be deserving of a closer look.
The two rooms that really instilled themselves into my memory were the library and the nursery.
The library, which though small by mansion standards, did have a congenial and hospitable air that invited spending the afternoon buried in a book. My eye was also caught by a delicately inlaid ebony and ivory writing table which I endeavoured to photograph with the small camera, the “anti-shake” setting giving a reasonable chance of succeeding in capturing at least one clear image in the low light.
Entering the nursery, I was immediately struck by the painting of the present Sir Richard Hyde Parker, 12th Baronet, as a child with his toy dog. It was not a masterpiece but did convey the intimate link to a family home, which I believe was the intention. One of the toys in a cabinet was Jemima Puddleduck, given as a gift by Beatrix Potter herself, a relative of the family and a frequent visitor with her entourage of pets.
The small garden contained a selection of peonies, many of which were distinct through their bicoloured form (magenta outer petals and lighter, yellow inner ones). The inner petals also distinguished themselves by their more narrow and curved nature. I photographed these with a painter's eye as they appeared to combine the Chinese painting styles of peony/rose for the outer petals and chrysanthemum for the inner.
We drove on to Dedham, arriving at tea-time, and took a respite in the Essex Rose Tea House where I enjoyed a summer pudding and Mrs T. had a lemon meringue with lemon meringue ice-cream that was rich, creamy and absolutely delicious.
We decided to take the walk across the fields to Flatford Mill and progressed through the genteel Brook Street of Dedham onto the National Trust trail promising to lead us to the mill. This was the more circuitous route, through pleasant, gently undulating countryside of pastures and fields, so it was not until around 6 o'clock that we arrived at the complex of buildings and water features around Flatford Mill.
With the sunlight frequently appearing between the scurrying white clouds on this windy day, the River Stour, the locks and ponds were all very picturesque. The mill itself is now a field study centre with limited access, however we were able to wander round to the actual millpond featured in Constable's iconic painting of the English landscape, The Haywain.
Time had changed the scene, especially as the mill building looked more recent, but Willy Lot's Cottage, as seen in the painting, did still exist. Apparently, the water in our present time is deeper than in Constable's but the question still arises as to what incompetence left the haywain stranded in the river Stour.
We returned to the car by the shorter route following the Stour, racing with three canoeists who were also travelling in the same direction upstream. As their route followed every bow of the river and our past cut across these in the fields, we kept up with them. Most amusing was the reaction of dogs belonging to other walkers, who were most perturbed by the sight of the half men, half floating logs passing by and invariably gave chase along the bank, barking wildly. The fields were also full of cattle who were in turn drifting in the same general direction, no doubt waiting for the evening call back to the farm.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Minute tube worms, lack of rain and Anglesey Abbey
The water level in my small marine tank had reached a level several millimetres below the set marker, so an artificial rain of fresh water was called for. The water was added whilst vigorously stirring the tank, mimicking rain and tide, until the level was about 2mm above the set level marker.
Yesterday's stirring had led to an accumulation of sand towards the front of the tank, today's activity again lowered this by half a centimetre or more and exposed some fine, 1 to 2mm wide delicate tubes made of fine sand and silt. Observation this evening found two thread like tentacles emanating from the top of the tube and waving around. So far a precise identification of the occupant has eluded me.
Two mussels, one approximately 4 to 5 mm long , had affixed themselves firmly to the front pane of the tank with fine securing threads (byssus) that permitted them to withstand the turbulance of my artificial tide. As usual, I also removed the 5cm long shell with the two barnacles and gave them a scrub with an old toothbrush, to scour off any growth on their surface. The barnacles can be seen feeding several times during the day.
During the week, a small tall spired shelled snail, again only 4 to 5 mm long, can occasionally be seen on the tank sides. At night, with lateral torch illumination, you can see numerous sub-millimetre long copepods or similar crustaceans swimming towards the light and faint roundworms of a similar size.
With regards to rain, we have had considerably less rain this month than the average and Mrs T directed me to an excellent document from the Environment Agency, the monthly Water Situation Report. The one for April can be found here http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/WSR_April_2011.pdf. The agency brings together information on rainfall, soil moisture deficit, river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir stocks. The simple maps of England, showing the situation in the regions through colour coding, were most striking. Red for very low rainfall (less than 30% monthly average) covered almost 95% of the country for April. This appeared to be a trend of less than usual rainfall for the past quarter.
This afternoon, on Mrs T's suggestion, we made an enjoyable excursion to Anglesey Abbey in the glorious sunshine. Taking cameras, we spent a couple of hours of wandering around the gardens, photographing the flowers. My particular efforts were directed to recording the structure of flower and vegetation as examples to be used for painting practice.
Yesterday's stirring had led to an accumulation of sand towards the front of the tank, today's activity again lowered this by half a centimetre or more and exposed some fine, 1 to 2mm wide delicate tubes made of fine sand and silt. Observation this evening found two thread like tentacles emanating from the top of the tube and waving around. So far a precise identification of the occupant has eluded me.
Two mussels, one approximately 4 to 5 mm long , had affixed themselves firmly to the front pane of the tank with fine securing threads (byssus) that permitted them to withstand the turbulance of my artificial tide. As usual, I also removed the 5cm long shell with the two barnacles and gave them a scrub with an old toothbrush, to scour off any growth on their surface. The barnacles can be seen feeding several times during the day.
During the week, a small tall spired shelled snail, again only 4 to 5 mm long, can occasionally be seen on the tank sides. At night, with lateral torch illumination, you can see numerous sub-millimetre long copepods or similar crustaceans swimming towards the light and faint roundworms of a similar size.
With regards to rain, we have had considerably less rain this month than the average and Mrs T directed me to an excellent document from the Environment Agency, the monthly Water Situation Report. The one for April can be found here http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/WSR_April_2011.pdf. The agency brings together information on rainfall, soil moisture deficit, river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir stocks. The simple maps of England, showing the situation in the regions through colour coding, were most striking. Red for very low rainfall (less than 30% monthly average) covered almost 95% of the country for April. This appeared to be a trend of less than usual rainfall for the past quarter.
This afternoon, on Mrs T's suggestion, we made an enjoyable excursion to Anglesey Abbey in the glorious sunshine. Taking cameras, we spent a couple of hours of wandering around the gardens, photographing the flowers. My particular efforts were directed to recording the structure of flower and vegetation as examples to be used for painting practice.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
DLR restores Human faith. On e-books with author. Night photography
Excellent news from Mr Martin Straus, who recovered his lost bag from the Dockland's Light Railway Lost Property office, with all cash cards and valuables. In particular, Mr Straus stated that the staff at DLR could not have been more helpful. Congratulations to those staff at DLR who restored our faith in human nature!
The days international work was interrupted by a visit to Mrs Hales-Tooke, to assist again in the renewal of her internet connection via a mobile dongle. Our conversation drifted back to books, as Mrs Hales-Tooke was the first author I assisted with publishing, her book being “Journey into Solitude” under the pseudonym Ann Petre. Although in her eighties, Mrs Hales-Tooke has been most dedicated in marketing her two books, having sold over 500 to date.
I mentioned my first foray into ebook publishing and found a kindred spirit in seeing it's value for her existing titles. Mrs Hales-Tooke took time to read the childrens book that I had used as an educational tool in the matter, namely the tale of “Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg” and it was most gratifying to see her enjoyment and feedback that this was indeed a worthy first title for a very young audience. We resolved to return to the matter of ebooks at a future date.
Yesterday's pineapple crown had a satisfactorily dried base and was now placed in a large jar, such that the end was suspended, ut not touching, the water.
The afternoon tackled the question on assisting a blind or severely visually impaired visitor to London, this being a possibility next week. Whilst an internet search was initially fruitless, the call to the RNIB asking for advice was extremely useful, with a word document being sent to me with guidance on accompanying such an individual.
After the innumerable checks during the day, “Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg” became live on Amazon in the late afternoon, around 6:30pm!
This being the third Wedneday of the month, there was a Milton Photography Club meeting in the evening. Today we took part in an outing to Cambridge for some evening and night photography. A small but select group of four met up on Magdalene Bridge. We began with some time photographing river scenes, then migrated slowly through the Ships Passage, onto New Park Street, then through Portugal Place. Onwards to the Round Church before ending at the junction of Trinity Street and Green Street at 9:30pm.
My practice was in taking monochrome photographs with the occasional portrait of a passer-by – including an Australian gentleman with a bushy moustache.
The days international work was interrupted by a visit to Mrs Hales-Tooke, to assist again in the renewal of her internet connection via a mobile dongle. Our conversation drifted back to books, as Mrs Hales-Tooke was the first author I assisted with publishing, her book being “Journey into Solitude” under the pseudonym Ann Petre. Although in her eighties, Mrs Hales-Tooke has been most dedicated in marketing her two books, having sold over 500 to date.
I mentioned my first foray into ebook publishing and found a kindred spirit in seeing it's value for her existing titles. Mrs Hales-Tooke took time to read the childrens book that I had used as an educational tool in the matter, namely the tale of “Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg” and it was most gratifying to see her enjoyment and feedback that this was indeed a worthy first title for a very young audience. We resolved to return to the matter of ebooks at a future date.
Yesterday's pineapple crown had a satisfactorily dried base and was now placed in a large jar, such that the end was suspended, ut not touching, the water.
The afternoon tackled the question on assisting a blind or severely visually impaired visitor to London, this being a possibility next week. Whilst an internet search was initially fruitless, the call to the RNIB asking for advice was extremely useful, with a word document being sent to me with guidance on accompanying such an individual.
After the innumerable checks during the day, “Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg” became live on Amazon in the late afternoon, around 6:30pm!
This being the third Wedneday of the month, there was a Milton Photography Club meeting in the evening. Today we took part in an outing to Cambridge for some evening and night photography. A small but select group of four met up on Magdalene Bridge. We began with some time photographing river scenes, then migrated slowly through the Ships Passage, onto New Park Street, then through Portugal Place. Onwards to the Round Church before ending at the junction of Trinity Street and Green Street at 9:30pm.
My practice was in taking monochrome photographs with the occasional portrait of a passer-by – including an Australian gentleman with a bushy moustache.
Painting Wisteria, Culturing a Pineapple top and the Queen's visit to Ireland
The day began well with a call from Mr Straus who had arranged a new appointment for our German client whilst on his way to the Wine Fair. Adopting the new position of head magician, he then proceeded to pull a few more out of the hat during the course of the day. It was therefore a cruel stroke of fate that led to the disappearance of his valuables whilst travelling on the Light Docklands Railway in the evening. Whether theft or misplacement is yet to be established, if ever.
It being a Tuesday, the afternoon was occupied with my continued education in the art of Chinese Brush Painting. Today, the new subject was the Wisteria. The elements required to paint this utilise skills learnt in two of the four friends: The flower strokes were similar to those learnt for the Orchid; the racemic leaves were composed of short brush strokes, not dissimilar to those used for Bamboo leaves, just shorter.
Our teacher Mrs Evans also demonstrated the rose for me, the petals being composed of strokes similar to those used for Peony. I had presciently taken my videocam with me and, with Mrs Evans's permission, filmed both the demonstrations with the intention of upoloading the films to YouTube in the near future.
This evening, I sought to start the culture of a pineapple plant from the fruit purchased yesterday as part of the weekly shop. Previous attempts had all failed, this time I sought more information on the web and found a new method at http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm.
The first step was to remove the crown from the fruit by taking a firm grip on it and the fruit and twisting off the crown. This left very little (practically none) fruit attached. The end was then carefully sliced until the small, millimetre crescents of hidden buds were visible close to the central hard core on the cut surface. The lower leaves were then removed carefully by tearing off, leaving circa 1cm of stripped stem. The thus treated crown was then left overnight for the cut and denuded 1cm to dry.
A late night check on the Kindle Desktop Publishing site showed that the status of my test publication, Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg, had changed from Reviewing to Publishing. Amazon do state that the publishing process takes around 24 hours however it is no less frustrating for that.
The key news of the day was the successful first day of the Queen's visit to Eire, the first by a British Monarch since independence. I felt a certain trepidation when the gun salute went off and again when the Officer approached Her Majesty with a drawn sword; there are still memories of the violent reactions in the late 20th Century and terrorist activity still occurs as an undercurrent from a small minority.
Uploading this article to the internet is currently not possible as for some reason, the internet connection of the server is failing to access the service.
It being a Tuesday, the afternoon was occupied with my continued education in the art of Chinese Brush Painting. Today, the new subject was the Wisteria. The elements required to paint this utilise skills learnt in two of the four friends: The flower strokes were similar to those learnt for the Orchid; the racemic leaves were composed of short brush strokes, not dissimilar to those used for Bamboo leaves, just shorter.
Our teacher Mrs Evans also demonstrated the rose for me, the petals being composed of strokes similar to those used for Peony. I had presciently taken my videocam with me and, with Mrs Evans's permission, filmed both the demonstrations with the intention of upoloading the films to YouTube in the near future.
This evening, I sought to start the culture of a pineapple plant from the fruit purchased yesterday as part of the weekly shop. Previous attempts had all failed, this time I sought more information on the web and found a new method at http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm.
The first step was to remove the crown from the fruit by taking a firm grip on it and the fruit and twisting off the crown. This left very little (practically none) fruit attached. The end was then carefully sliced until the small, millimetre crescents of hidden buds were visible close to the central hard core on the cut surface. The lower leaves were then removed carefully by tearing off, leaving circa 1cm of stripped stem. The thus treated crown was then left overnight for the cut and denuded 1cm to dry.
A late night check on the Kindle Desktop Publishing site showed that the status of my test publication, Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg, had changed from Reviewing to Publishing. Amazon do state that the publishing process takes around 24 hours however it is no less frustrating for that.
The key news of the day was the successful first day of the Queen's visit to Eire, the first by a British Monarch since independence. I felt a certain trepidation when the gun salute went off and again when the Officer approached Her Majesty with a drawn sword; there are still memories of the violent reactions in the late 20th Century and terrorist activity still occurs as an undercurrent from a small minority.
Uploading this article to the internet is currently not possible as for some reason, the internet connection of the server is failing to access the service.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Speedy mussels and dogs
Awake after only 3h sleep, After Mr Dodsworths telephone call at 9am, the rest of the morning was occupied with catching up with correspondence accumulated over the weekend.
During my lunchtime break, I cleaned the front and back sides of the small marine aquarium, as well as rigorously brushing the barnacles on the mussel shell, to remove the encroaching algae. My vigorous activity in the tank had also dislodged some of the small mussels affixed to some dead bryozoan stems. I did not think much of the matter until half an hour later, when I noticed two flecks slowly dragging themselves across the inner front side of the tank.
Two mussels were in a migratory mode, using their foot to pull themselves across the surface. Most amazing was that the shell appreared to he held to the glass tank side, that is, the shells were not dangling from the foot. How this was achieved I could not discern. Their velocity was easily one shell length per 5 to 10 seconds, which at 4mm equates to 24mm per minute or 1.4m per hour, a respectable velocity for an organism usually considered immobile.
One mussel has since decided to stay on the front wall of the tank, the other had migrated out of view.
The afternoon spent on research for a German company until Mr D. Hutchings called for the keys to the house next door.
With no keys deposited with us at this time, I invited Mr Hutchings in for an afternoon beverage. Because he is trained and interested in culinary matters, we revisited the attempt to crystallize flower petals in sugar, previously attempted with the large and thick petals of the Magnolia tree at the end of our close. This time I used Rose petals whilst catching up on Mr Hutching's news. They were almost solidified after an hour of coating with sugar crystals, far speedier than the previous attempts!
The evening was shattered by the loud rotary chop-chop-chop of a helicopter hovering directly over our house. I immediately ran back in to get video and sound recorders to capture sights and sound. After a good 10 minutes, the helicopter finally departed in a graceful curve. The Milton Chat online suggested that this had been part of a police action to capture a man with a knife, who had also been in the local One-Stop store.
With the gaggle of neighbours growing in discussion of the helicopter's flight, Mr Cooper arrived with their black friendly dog, Ollie. Suddenly, there was the sound of an angry growl and Badger, the otherwise sedate and elderly neighbour's small terrier breed, came rocketing down the drive aiming and attacking the much larger interloper. Fortunately, intervention was swift and Badger removed in disgrace.
My evening was spent in idle familiarisation with submitting and publishing the book designed and tested yesterday to Amazon. The book is currently in review for 24h with Amazon, a standard procedure.
During my lunchtime break, I cleaned the front and back sides of the small marine aquarium, as well as rigorously brushing the barnacles on the mussel shell, to remove the encroaching algae. My vigorous activity in the tank had also dislodged some of the small mussels affixed to some dead bryozoan stems. I did not think much of the matter until half an hour later, when I noticed two flecks slowly dragging themselves across the inner front side of the tank.
Two mussels were in a migratory mode, using their foot to pull themselves across the surface. Most amazing was that the shell appreared to he held to the glass tank side, that is, the shells were not dangling from the foot. How this was achieved I could not discern. Their velocity was easily one shell length per 5 to 10 seconds, which at 4mm equates to 24mm per minute or 1.4m per hour, a respectable velocity for an organism usually considered immobile.
One mussel has since decided to stay on the front wall of the tank, the other had migrated out of view.
The afternoon spent on research for a German company until Mr D. Hutchings called for the keys to the house next door.
With no keys deposited with us at this time, I invited Mr Hutchings in for an afternoon beverage. Because he is trained and interested in culinary matters, we revisited the attempt to crystallize flower petals in sugar, previously attempted with the large and thick petals of the Magnolia tree at the end of our close. This time I used Rose petals whilst catching up on Mr Hutching's news. They were almost solidified after an hour of coating with sugar crystals, far speedier than the previous attempts!
The evening was shattered by the loud rotary chop-chop-chop of a helicopter hovering directly over our house. I immediately ran back in to get video and sound recorders to capture sights and sound. After a good 10 minutes, the helicopter finally departed in a graceful curve. The Milton Chat online suggested that this had been part of a police action to capture a man with a knife, who had also been in the local One-Stop store.
With the gaggle of neighbours growing in discussion of the helicopter's flight, Mr Cooper arrived with their black friendly dog, Ollie. Suddenly, there was the sound of an angry growl and Badger, the otherwise sedate and elderly neighbour's small terrier breed, came rocketing down the drive aiming and attacking the much larger interloper. Fortunately, intervention was swift and Badger removed in disgrace.
My evening was spent in idle familiarisation with submitting and publishing the book designed and tested yesterday to Amazon. The book is currently in review for 24h with Amazon, a standard procedure.
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