Sun dog days

Jul15

Today has been a beautiful sunny summer’s day, with fluffy white clouds bumbling by all day. This evening we decided to enjoy the last of the sun’s heat in the garden with a bottle of Chenin blanc and some olives. The sky was clearer, bluer, with the occasional mares’ tails were high in the sky. The house martins and occasional swallows (and two swifts—a rare sighting round here) were zooming overhead.

And that’s when we saw a beautiful arc of a rainbow, high in the sky and directly over the sun, but curved back against it. I thought it was a sun dog, but a quick google has revealed that it was a circumzenithal arc, as it was inverted, rather than bending around the sun. I was so excited I snapped lots of photos and ran over to our neighbours’ cottage to tell them, but they were out. But looking at the sun from their cottage, the rainbow looked different—shorter and stubbier. It wasn’t until I got back to our garden that I realised that the shorter stubbier one was something different, on the same level as and to the right of the sun: a right side sun dog. We hadn’t noticed it initially from our garden because of all the foliage of the trees and shrubs.

Circumzenithal arc west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, 15 July 2014, 6.35 pm. The sun is just below the bottom edge of the photo.

So exciting! We love weird or unusual weather phenomena. The last I can remember seeing were our first (and so far only) mammatus clouds when we were in New Zealand.

We watched the arc and sun dog for about a half hour, from 6.30ish onwards, and then they gradually disappeared. There were lots of cirrus clouds (mares’ tails) around at the time, and it is the refraction of light through the ice crystals in these very high clouds (typically 5,000 m (16,000 feet) in temperate zones) that cause this atmospheric effect. A strange weather days first for us!

Cirrus clouds (mares’ tails) above our village, evening of 15 July 2014, at the same time the circumzenithal arc and sun dog were visible elsewhere in the sky.

I took a couple of short videos. The second shows the sun dog as well as the circumzenithal arc:

This post has reminded me that I must get round to joining the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Peacock wrangling

Jul15

There is a sweet BBC news item this morning about the peacocks at Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire who are looking for love—apparently there aren’t enough peahens to go around and so “the lovelorn birds have been displaying their tail feathers to park benches, bins and squirrels in an attempt to find a mate.”

Peacock in display. Photo by N A Nazeer.

Peacock displaying. Photo by N A Nazeer.

It reminded me of the time I was working for the National Trust at Avebury in the mid 90s, as Archaeologist/Warden. There were peacocks in the grounds of the Manor House there, including a spectacular white peacock, who was even more stunning when he was displaying. The peacocks and peahens lived wild, and roosted at night in the trees. One of the males had been attacked, we thought by a fox, and needed veterinary attention. So Chris Gingell (the Estate Manager) and I managed to get this beautiful bird, full tail feathers and all, into the back of one of the Trust’s Subaru pickups (it was an enclosed one) and drive it to the vets in Devizes. The entire staff crammed into the consultation room to watch, as it was the first (and I imagine still the only) time a peacock had been brought in—and he was looking particularly impressive as he was in full feather at the time. It turned out he hadn’t been too badly injured at all and he went on to make a full recovery.

Avebury Manor, now sadly peacockless. Photo by Chris Collard.

Avebury Manor, south elevation. Photo by Brian Robert Marshall.

A few years later, after I’d left the Trust’s employ at Avebury to become self-employed, I heard on the morning news on Radio 4 that the villagers were trying to get the Trust to get rid of the peacocks, as they were wandering into neighbouring gardens and wrecking the flowers and their loud calls were an annoyance to some people. It wasn’t really national newsworthy, apart from the fact that they interviewed the grand old man of broadcasting and peacock-disliker Ludovic Kennedy. He and his wife Moira Shearer lived in the village and I think he might have been calling in some favours from his media chums in an attempt to pressurise the Trust into binning the birds. The birds duly went, leaving Avebury a much quieter but less colourful place.

So that’s one of the more interesting things I could put on my cv: peacock wrangler.

Jewellery: Taking inspiration from nature

Jul10

Throughout the ages, people have adorned themselves. Jewellery might be a marker of status and/or wealth (think of a queen’s crown, or a mayor’s chain, or a rapper’s bling), but mostly it serves the simple purpose of beautification.

And where better to find inspiration than the beauty of nature? Flowers unsurprisingly provide a rich seam for jewellery makers.

When I was on my first archaeological excavation outside the UK, in north-eastern Greece, I was able to visit the archaeological museum at Thessaloniki. There I was wowed by the sumptuous golden wreaths or diadems made of gold oak leaves, or olive leaves—often with flowers and even golden bees attached. But the most striking of all for me was the wreath found in the Tomb of Philip II of Macedon (the father of Alexander the Great) at Vergina, dating from the late 4th century BC and composed of a mass of myrtle leaves and flowers.

Wreath of gold myrtle leaves and flowers, found in the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina, Greece.

The Mughals in India were well-known for their showy jewellery, often on a floral theme:

Turban ornament, India or Pakistan, early 18th century, set with rubies, emeralds, pale beryls and diamonds. Photo: V&A Museum.

Flower rings, in the form of baskets or giardinetti (‘little gardens’) were popular at around the same time in Europe (in the Georgian period in the UK):

‘Giardinetti’ ring of gold and silver with rubies, emeralds and diamonds, English, 1730-1760. Photo: V&A Museum.

‘Giardinetti’ ring of gold and silver with rubies and diamonds, English, 1730-1760. Photo: V&A Museum.

Flowers were very popular with Arts and Crafts jewellers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who saw themselves as part of a ‘back to basics’ and ‘back to nature’ movement:

Brooch by Edith Linnell, with silver, tourmaline, citrine and moonstone. Sold by Tadema Gallery.

Papyrus bloom brooch by Edith Linnell, in silver, tourmaline, citrine and moonstone. Sold by Tadema Gallery.

The absolute master of floral jewellery was perhaps René Lalique (1860-1945).

Rene Lalique corsage ornament in opal, enamel, glass and gold, with a willow catkins motif, c. 1904.

René Lalique corsage ornament in opal, enamel, glass and gold, with a willow catkins motif, c. 1904.

René Lalique plaque de cou with a thistle motif, in enamel and diamonds.

Unsurprisingly, in the light of the ubiquity of floral motifs in jewellery, I have some flower jewellery in my Etsy shop (not quite as grand as the examples above, but lovely nonetheless) …

I have pansies:

Pansy earrings in silver.

and fuchsias:

A fuschsia engraved on a glass, bakelite and white metal dress clip.

A fuschsia engraved on a glass, plastic and white metal dress clip. (NOW SOLD).

and thistles:

Thistle brooch by Charles Horner, silver with amethyst glass.

Thistle brooch by Charles Horner, silver and amethyst glass. (NOW SOLD).

Thistle brooch by Charles Horner, silver and citrine glass. (NOW SOLD).

and lotuses:

Lotus dress clip, in mother of pearl and white metal. (NOW SOLD).

and daisies:

Anton Michelsen daisy brooch, one of four pieces of Danish daisy jewellery for sale at Inglenookery. (NOW SOLD).

Baltic amber and sterling silver ring, by Niels Erik From of Denmark, adorned with a couple of daisy-like flowers. (NOW SOLD).

as well as other more generalised flowers:

Jasper and silver Arts and crafts ring. (NOW SOLD).

Brooch in the style of Bernard Instone, with rose quartz and silver.

Italian micromosaic brooch. (NOW SOLD).

and other pieces with foliage designs.

Oh bugger.

Jul9

After Mark Cavendish crashing out at the very end of Stage 1, today comes the equally sad news that Chris Froome has withdrawn from the Tour de France after crashing twice on today’s Stage 5. There goes Team Sky’s chance of winning the Tour for the third year in a row for the UK.

Poor old Froomey getting into the team car after crashing for the second time. He looks pretty banged up.

Oh well, the cycling will still be fantastic and the scenery wonderful. Allons-y!

Favourite websites: VolcanoCafé

Jul8

I have always had a fascination with nature’s dramatic events, such as tornadoes or tsunamis or landslides or earthquakes. At the top of my ‘ooooh’ list: volcanoes.

The lava lake at Mt Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo by Cai Tjeenk Willink.

When a new volcanic underwater vent off the coast of El Hierro in the Canary Islands started erupting back in October 2011, I tried to find out what I could about it on the web. One of the best sources was a new blog, VolcanoCafé, which I gather was set up to house volcano aficionados who had been deemed too chatty for a more serious-minded volcano website (though I might have got that wrong …).

The eruption at El Hierro. Photo by INVOLCAN.

The eruption at El Hierro, pictured three months in to the eruptive phase, on 5 January 2012. Photo by INVOLCAN.

Lakagigar, Iceland. Photo by Juhász Péter, 1 July 2004.

I have little scientific knowledge. I did geology ‘A’ level partly because of my fascination with volcanoes, but it involved mineralogy and crystallography and other areas of study that I really, really struggled with, only having done biology and geology at ‘O’ Level. I found VolcanoCafé perfect for me, as it is accessible to those with little or no scientific knowledge. It’s maintained by a group of highly informed and interested amateurs who understand what it is to not fully grasp things, and explain patiently in the comments section anything you might not understand.

Mt Cleveland in Alaska. Photo by Jeffrey N. Williams from abaord the International Space Station. This was an APOD!

Mt Cleveland in Alaska. Photo by Jeffrey N Williams from aboard the International Space Station.

What I love about VolcanoCafé is that it features articles written by its readers, about volcanoes that inspire them. You get the real sense of wonder and excitement, plus a really eclectic mix of subjects. Professional volcanologists read it too, and pop up in the comments section every now and then. The comments section is always really lively, and often provides early alerts and updates to new volcanic events around the world. Currently I’m learning about the new eruption which has enlarged Japanese volcanic island of Nishinoshima. Fantastic!

When the submarine eruption near the island of Nishinoshima first broke the surface of the water, the isalnd it created was nameed. It has since expanded considerably and joined to Nishinoshima.

When the submarine eruption near the island of Nishinoshima first broke the surface of the water, the island it created was named Niijima. It has since expanded considerably and joined to Nishinoshima. This photo was taken on 8 December 2013, by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.

So a heartfelt ‘thanks’ from me to Carl, the founder of VolcanoCafé, and the ‘dragons’, and all the contributors who make it such an interesting and vibrant read.

A scrummy pheasant recipe

Jul8

We were given a large frozen pheasant the other day (already dressed, so that’s one less messy job for me), and I spent a while riffling through my files to find a good recipe for it. I plumped for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Pot-roast pheasant with chorizo, butter beans and parsley. (For transatlantic readers, butter beans = lima beans). It’s a bit of an odd one to have for a mid-summer evening meal, especially as we have been having such hot weather lately, but it was delicious.

Yum.

Pot-roast pheasant with chorizo, butter beans and parsley by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 4. Prep time 20 mins, cooking time 2 hrs, plus another 15-20 mins to rest.

A knob of butter
3 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
2 onions, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
A few sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
2 oven-ready pheasants (I used one large one)
300 g cooking chorizo, skin removed and cut into 2 cm chunks
400 ml white wine
500 ml vegetable, chicken or light pheasant stock
400 g tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful flat-leafed parsley, chopped

Directions

Place a large flameproof casserole (one that will accommodate both birds) over a medium heat and heat the butter with 1 tablespoon of the oil until foaming. Add the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and slightly golden.

Cooking the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan. Season the pheasants all over with salt and pepper, add to the pan and brown on all sides over a high heat for 3–4 minutes.

Browning the pheasant.

Transfer to the casserole. Add the chorizo to the frying pan and fry for 3–4 minutes, until browned, then add to the casserole too.

Deglaze the frying pan by pouring in a little of the wine and stirring to scrape up any bits from the base of the pan. Add to the pheasants with the rest of the wine, the stock and the butter beans. The liquid doesn’t need to cover the birds but it should come at least halfway up.

Ready to go in the oven.

Bring to a simmer, cover and place in an oven preheated to 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1.

Cook for 2 hours, until the birds are tender.

Remove the pheasants from the casserole and leave to rest in a warm place for 15–20 minutes. If the chorizo has released a lot of fat, skim some off. Add the parsley and season to taste. Cut the birds into halves or quarters and divide between 4 warm plates. Spoon over the chorizo, beans and sauce, and serve with mash or lots of bread.

One note: I was working from the paper recipe I’d cut out of the Guardian; I see in the online recipe’s comments someone mentions he’s missed out the parsley, so I’ve added it above. The paper recipe also used dried, soaked butter beans rather than tinned ones, and has an optional pig’s trotter.

Merci beaucoup, TdF!

Jul7

To use the words of Big Chris: It’s been emotional. The Tour has finished its three-day sojourn in England—and what a fabulous three days it has been. Stage 3 ended with the first rain shower of the whole period and an exciting chase: Jan Barta and Jean-Marc Bideau were out on their own from the start, Barta right up to the last 8 km with Bideau, and Bideau on his own to the last 6 km, when the merciless peloton finally caught him. Then in a tightly-contested sprint up The Mall, Marcel Kittel won out, his second stage win in three days. Bravo!

Another view of the Tour passing through Finchingfield. Photo by PA.

The Tour passes through Finghingfield, Essex. Amazing crowds! Photo by PA.

The Tour passes through Finchingfield, Essex. Amazing crowds! Photo: Tour de France.

Another view of the Tour passing through Finchingfield. Photo: Tour de France.

During the race, ITV had a brief interview with Danny Boyle, who was in London to watch, and he made the point that the feeling of communities joining in the spirit of the Tour throughout its route is reminiscent of the way the country responded to the Olympic Torch Relay two years ago. He’s so right! The flame passed quite near to us, along the A30 and into Shaftesbury. I didn’t get to to witness it in person, but watched on the live coverage from the BBC vehicle right behind the torch bearer. There were flags and balloons and masses of bunting, and people were really getting into the spirit of it, just as they have over the last three days.

Then a little while after that interview, the Tour passed by the Olympic Park and the Olympic Stadium, which of course reminded me of the fantastic opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle. He mentioned during the interview that Stephen Frears had just made a film about the Tour, and a quick bit of google-fu tells me it’s an as-yet unnamed biopic of disgraced Tour drugs cheat Lance Armstrong.

Merci beaucoup, Tour de France, et revenir bientôt! Photo by PA.

So au revoir to Le Tour, and merci beaucoup. I can’t say enough what a thrill it has been and how proud it has made me to see the Tour de France over the last three days in England. The sun shone, the crowds were massive and the scenery beautiful, all providing a great backdrop to the biggest and best cycle race in the world—and the largest annual sporting event in the world. (I’m not sure how this is calculated—number of participants, duration, number of spectators, number of people who watch it on tv, or a combination of some or all of these?) Christian Prudhomme, the Tour Director, has called the last three days ‘the grandest Grand Départ ever’: what a compliment. I hope the Tour will be back on British shores before too long. We’ve loved having you!

Tour de France: Stage 3

Jul7

Yesterday’s Stage 2 from York to Sheffield was an exciting watch, through more gorgeous countryside: and the rain held off too, which was a wonderful bonus. I thought the route designers were rather mean putting the Jenkin Road climb right at the very end of the race, but of course the riders were up to it. Vincenzo Nibali put on a great sprint at the end to leave the others behind and take his first ever yellow jersey.

So after two glorious days in God’s Own County, the Tour moves south today to Cambridge, Essex and London.

The start of today’s Stage 3 in my old student stomping ground of Cambridge will provide scenic photo opportunities a-plenty, though the flat ground of the route won’t prove too taxing compared to yesterday’s hilly climbs. The Tour will pass through the picturesque town of Saffron Walden, named after the saffron industry that used to dominate there in the 16th and 17th centuries—fields were full of the pretty purple saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) produced the expensive spice (each crocus has three stigmas, which have to be collected by hand and dried to produce the spice).

Church Street, Saffron Walden. Photo by Stuart Logan.

Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), with the three long orange visible.

Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), with the three long orange stigmas visible. Photo by Kenpei.

On its way into London the Tour will pass the Olympic Park, scene of both the fantastic 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. Then it’s on into the City, ending on The Mall. The Mall is becoming quite a venue for important cycle races: the London 2012 men’s road race started and ended there.

And that will mark the end of the Tour’s three days in England: then it’s back across the Channel for tomorrow’s stage start at Le Touquet.

Daytime moths in our garden

Jul7

In the last couple of weeks we have had lots of beautiful scarlet tiger moths (Callimorpha dominula) in the garden.

Scarlet tiger moth on an Alchemilla mollis leaf in our garden, forewings only showing.

I was chatting on the phone the other day and looking out of the study window as I did so, on to the garden. The tiger moths were flying and I could look down on them, and they have the most brilliant flashes of red as they fly—quite striking. You can just see a hint of the red in the photo above, under the wing. Here it is in all its glory:

Scarlet tiger moth with the red underwings showing. Photo by Chris Manley for Butterfly Conservation.

Scarlet tiger moth with the red hindwings showing. Photo by Chris Manley for Butterfly Conservation.

They’ve been appearing each summer for about as long as we have been growing green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens), and various reference books tell me that the scarlet tiger moth caterpillars feed mostly on comfrey (Symphytum officinale), which is a member of the Boraginaceae (borage or forget-me-not plant family), like the green alkanet. So it is not too much of a stretch to wonder if the caterpillars are feeding on our green alkanet plants, though I haven’t seen any direct evidence of this apart from the fact that the moths are concentrated in the part of the garden where the alkanet is. We have masses of honeysuckle in the garden (Lonicera caprifolium, Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’ and Lonicera x italica) and the Butterfly Conservation page on the moths says the older caterpillars feed on that, so that might where they are dining.

One of the other really striking moths we see in our garden during the day is the large privet hawk moth (Sphinx ligustri). One time Chap found one on the lawn.

Privet hawk moth (Sphinx ligustri) in our garden. Big, isn’t it?

Privet hawk moth (Sphinx ligustri). That’s him at the top in the plate of illustrations.

Privet hawk moth (Sphinx ligustri).

We moved it out of harm’s way and when next we looked it had flown off. We see these about once a year: they’re not at all common round here, which is a shame as they are so beautiful.

The third moth we see during the day is the hummingbird hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum). We see a lot of these every year, usually in the later summer. They especially like feeding on our phlox flowers (Phlox paniculata ‘Mount Fuji’), and often are feeding right until dusk, darting from flower to flower in a flurry of wings—they make an audible ‘whirr’ as they fly. These little beauties fly so quickly that I haven’t yet managed to get a decent photo of one.

Hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum). Photo by IronChris.

Hummingbird hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), feeding on lavender (Lavandula sp.). Photo by IronChris.

UK Moths website.

Butterfly Conservation website.

Tour de France: Stage 2

Jul6

Such sad news this morning that Cav is out of the Tour after crashing 250 m from the end of yesterday’s stage—the very first of the Tour. I feel so, so sorry for him.

Poor Mark Cavendish slowly cycling to the finish after his crash.

Apart from that miserable end to the day’s racing, yesterday’s Leeds to Harrogate stage was fantastic. I watched the whole thing (much to Chap’s disgust, as it was a beautiful sunny day outside)—but hey, how often does the Tour come to the UK, and when it does, how often does the sun shine? Yorkshire looked stunning, and the aerial shots from the helicopter cameras showed the countryside to its best advantage. The sun shone, the grass was an unreal green, the drystone walls and stone buildings looked chocolate box perfect. Best tourism advertising Yorkshire could hope for! The crowds were amazing, too—estimates are between 1 and 2 MILLION people lining the course. I love the way the people have embraced the Tour with all the fun decorations to the houses and walls and lampposts and fields and sheep—pretty much anything that can be decorated.

Approaching the top of Buttertubs. Photo: Le Tour de France.

Approaching the top of Buttertubs, 5 July 2014. Photo: Le Tour de France.

The Peloton passes through the Yorkshire village of Muker. 5 July 2014. Photo by Owen Humphreys/Press Association.

I’d have loved it if Jens Voigt had won after his brave breakaway, especially as this is his last Tour, but he was reeled in and it all came down to the mad dash into Harrogate, where poor Cav came a cropper and Marcel Kittel won the charge for the line.

Today the Tour carries on its journey through Yorkshire. The stage passes through Haworth and Brontë country, and climbs the splendidly-named Blubberhouses (renamed the Côte de Blubberhouses for the day). My sister and her hubby will be somewhere along the route watching. They thought they would try to get to High Bradfield (Côte de Bradfield in Tour speak) near the end of the stage.

High Bradfield Church and village. Photo by Terry Robinson.

I hope the weather is good today and the rain holds off. Allez!