My googling reveals that Tangle is Scottish for SEAWEED! But I might be wrong. Being a Sassenach...
Yew trees are interesting. Traditionally associated with church graveyards and generally poisonous to humans and livestock.
Church yards often have a thing called a Lychgate. Lych is the Anglo-Saxon word for Corpse...
This is where the dead are carried in. There are also Lych Roads in places like the Lake District.
Along which the sadly deceased were carried in mournful procession to their final resting place in ancient times. All very cheerful...
Anyway, back on topic. A copycat tree crime has happened in Ghana:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-67369043
A 300 year old tree believed to have had healing and spiritual qualities (Yeah, REALLY?).
I presume this is one of those Social Media stunts where the stupid perpetrators film themselves doing typically stupid things.
Yew trees are interesting. Traditionally associated with church graveyards and generally poisonous to humans and livestock.
Church yards often have a thing called a Lychgate. Lych is the Anglo-Saxon word for Corpse...
This is where the dead are carried in. There are also Lych Roads in places like the Lake District.
Along which the sadly deceased were carried in mournful procession to their final resting place in ancient times. All very cheerful...
Anyway, back on topic. A copycat tree crime has happened in Ghana:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-67369043
A 300 year old tree believed to have had healing and spiritual qualities (Yeah, REALLY?).
I presume this is one of those Social Media stunts where the stupid perpetrators film themselves doing typically stupid things.
Very probably not, but it shows people's connection with nature.
And it's a tragedy that anti-social media, as I call it, is destroying so much for humanity.
But that's another topic...
Hugo
I buy frozen wild caught Canadian salmon rather than cold stored Tasmanian (Australian) farmed salmon after seeing what they feed them.
Besides, the wild stuff tastes better, even frozen and shipped half way across the world.
Here's a look at Nature at its most wild. The environs of (artificial) Lake Haweswater in the Lake District England in February!
My pal used to live in a workers cottage on a sheep farm near Haweswater. Middle of nowhere. Barely a phone signal in those days... and only in certain spots.
You would get cut off for a week by snow regularly. Nearby Shap is the rainiest place in England. It even rains when it is sunny. Called Shap Rain!
This is the top end of Haweswater. A few conifers looking out of place. At the other end are Scot's Pine infested with cheeky Red Squirrels.
The ridge above conceals another lake:
It gets bleaker. Above that is a precipitous and potentially leg-breaking pathway onto the old Roman Road called High Street that connected Penrith fort to Ambleside fort.
It's like the surface of the Moon up there.
Sensibly, this road is recessed into the ground, because the wind up there is frightening and lot of it is on the edge of a precipice..
Lastly the Corpse Road connecting the submerged village of Mardale with Shap. Corpses were taken on horseback.
I am sure it's all a complete joy in Summer!
My pal used to live in a workers cottage on a sheep farm near Haweswater. Middle of nowhere. Barely a phone signal in those days... and only in certain spots.
You would get cut off for a week by snow regularly. Nearby Shap is the rainiest place in England. It even rains when it is sunny. Called Shap Rain!
This is the top end of Haweswater. A few conifers looking out of place. At the other end are Scot's Pine infested with cheeky Red Squirrels.
The ridge above conceals another lake:
It gets bleaker. Above that is a precipitous and potentially leg-breaking pathway onto the old Roman Road called High Street that connected Penrith fort to Ambleside fort.
It's like the surface of the Moon up there.
Sensibly, this road is recessed into the ground, because the wind up there is frightening and lot of it is on the edge of a precipice..
Lastly the Corpse Road connecting the submerged village of Mardale with Shap. Corpses were taken on horseback.
I am sure it's all a complete joy in Summer!
In my youth (Grade 10), i gpt a kick start spiritual growth that is still happening 50 some years later. Walking home after a dance (willie & the Walkers), aided by strong pshco-tropic drugs, saw the aura of a 3-year old tree, so i would not discount trees. Just take the recommendations today of forest baths as further evidence.
dave
Yes, much has been lost, but some are trying to recover them.
Mushrooms don’t do much for me, but there is undiscovered magic in them, latest is they seem to have some beneficial effects on migraine. They grow all over here.
And this one started a significant religion (This is what Jesus was eating in the 40 days in the desert). Watch out, 9 out of 10 that look simialr are deadly (too much of this one will too)
That you see this same mushrrom everywhere in kid’s books is interesting.
dave
I love woodland. We have the ancient Ashdown Forest at end-of-the line East Grinstead on the South Downs.
Which is also a centre for every crazy cult known to humankind for some bizarre reason... I won't name them.
The Beech trees grow into each other to form a stronger structure. Stag and Deer abound along with Eagles.
I understand that the roots and underground fungi form some sort of network.
Here's a 106 acre woodland of genetically identical quaking aspen in the US:
It's under threat from grazing deer.
https://bgr.com/science/the-largest-organism-in-the-world-is-being-eaten-alive/
And here's something about mushrooms you probably didn't know. Some of them glow in the dark!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire
Foxfire or Fauxfire. Probably often get mistaken for fairies!
Which is also a centre for every crazy cult known to humankind for some bizarre reason... I won't name them.
The Beech trees grow into each other to form a stronger structure. Stag and Deer abound along with Eagles.
I understand that the roots and underground fungi form some sort of network.
Here's a 106 acre woodland of genetically identical quaking aspen in the US:
It's under threat from grazing deer.
https://bgr.com/science/the-largest-organism-in-the-world-is-being-eaten-alive/
And here's something about mushrooms you probably didn't know. Some of them glow in the dark!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire
Foxfire or Fauxfire. Probably often get mistaken for fairies!
There is an alleged murder case here in Aus presently where the accused fed death cap mushrooms to her family by encasing Beef Wellington in them. Quite a bizarre case. Her ex-husband fell ill some time back and almost died from a similar mystery illness, but survived. This time a number
of the family were killed.
Apparently you only need a tiny amount of this mushroom in your system to kill you.
of the family were killed.
Apparently you only need a tiny amount of this mushroom in your system to kill you.
I read loads of murder mysteries and used to work in the Court. Guilty as Hell, IMO. Such women are known as "The Black Widow" here. Everyone around them seems to die!
I believe she did not partake of the "Beef Wellington" herself... and I enjoyed the current press moniker of "The Mushroom Murder Mystery".
This is the best thing since Doctor Crippen. He killed his wife with alkaloid poison, and then tried to blame it on her liking for apples, IIRC. Which contain traces of arsenic in the pips. He was hanged.
The cops are gathering evidence... including spores from her mushroom dryer and doubtless her computer searches on mushrooms.... she's goin' down for a long time.
One of my early Christmas present books was "The House at Pooh Corner" by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard:
I have played Poohsticks with a friend when we were in Ashdown Forest. Seemed the thing to do...
Another favourite celebrating the countryside is "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame and the same illustrator:
Ratty, Mole, Badger and the inimitable Toad! And the exciting battle with the wild weasels and stoats to reclaim Toad Hall... great stuff for kids like me, and I still have a copy, but possibly a bit dated now.
Young kids these days just want to play with their mobile phones and stay in their rooms with headphones on and do online gaming,
Truth to tell, my brother is more the outdoorsman. He knows all the animals and birds and fishes. The edge of town suits me better. Best of both worlds IMO.
I believe she did not partake of the "Beef Wellington" herself... and I enjoyed the current press moniker of "The Mushroom Murder Mystery".
This is the best thing since Doctor Crippen. He killed his wife with alkaloid poison, and then tried to blame it on her liking for apples, IIRC. Which contain traces of arsenic in the pips. He was hanged.
The cops are gathering evidence... including spores from her mushroom dryer and doubtless her computer searches on mushrooms.... she's goin' down for a long time.
One of my early Christmas present books was "The House at Pooh Corner" by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard:
I have played Poohsticks with a friend when we were in Ashdown Forest. Seemed the thing to do...
Another favourite celebrating the countryside is "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame and the same illustrator:
Ratty, Mole, Badger and the inimitable Toad! And the exciting battle with the wild weasels and stoats to reclaim Toad Hall... great stuff for kids like me, and I still have a copy, but possibly a bit dated now.
Young kids these days just want to play with their mobile phones and stay in their rooms with headphones on and do online gaming,
Truth to tell, my brother is more the outdoorsman. He knows all the animals and birds and fishes. The edge of town suits me better. Best of both worlds IMO.
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That landscape today is completely artificial - that would have been oak and other hardwoods in the valleys and conifer on the high ground. Same goes for the Yorkshire Dales.Here's a look at Nature at its most wild. The environs of (artificial) Lake Haweswater in the Lake District England in February!
My pal used to live in a workers cottage on a sheep farm near Haweswater. Middle of nowhere. Barely a phone signal in those days... and only in certain spots.
You would get cut off for a week by snow regularly. Nearby Shap is the rainiest place in England. It even rains when it is sunny. Called Shap Rain!
View attachment 1234463
This is the top end of Haweswater. A few conifers looking out of place. At the other end are Scot's Pine infested with cheeky Red Squirrels.
The ridge above conceals another lake:
View attachment 1234467
It gets bleaker. Above that is a precipitous and potentially leg-breaking pathway onto the old Roman Road called High Street that connected Penrith fort to Ambleside fort.
It's like the surface of the Moon up there.
View attachment 1234468
Sensibly, this road is recessed into the ground, because the wind up there is frightening and lot of it is on the edge of a precipice..
Lastly the Corpse Road connecting the submerged village of Mardale with Shap. Corpses were taken on horseback.
View attachment 1234469
I am sure it's all a complete joy in Summer!
At last decades later, LSD and magic mushrooms are being used to treat mental health problems. In the 60s two Jewish shrinks in Canada were using LSD to great effect with psychotic patients. Psychos exist inside a bubble, LSD burst the bubble, confronting the pscho with reality. Timothy Leary was hated by all the American shrinks because he was endangering their gravy train. If only the illiterate Cortez had had the guts to take the psycho-active drink that Montezuma offered him the history of the Americas' could well have been different but as we know he bottled and the mass murder and destruction of the Aztec civilisation began. Yes the priests used to kill thousands very year - early population control? What isn't well known is that only two generations earlier the Aztec had been a hunter/gatherer people, unlike the Maya whose civilization had been around for hundreds of years and was already in total decline before the Spanish arrived.
AFAWK all civilizations used psycho-active substances. With one exception this was to learn or for psycho/cosmic 'travel'. The exception being the Norse Viking 'berserkers'. These berserkers would before a battle make up a drink consisting of beer/marijuana (yes it grows all over the world) and magic mushrooms. They would work themselves up into a psychotic state. They always assumed an animal persona. Again never taught in school was how the battle which was to destroy the Norse Viking power for ever came to have the name of 'the battle of Stamford Bridge'. There was only one way for the Saxon/Engli army to engage the Norse and that was by the small bridge that spanned the river Stam. Only two housecarl at a time could cross and standing in their way was one berserker. He slaughtered around 16 housecarl, effectively stopping Godwinson's army from crossing. before one enterprising Saxon had the idea to use a boat to get under this bridge and spear the berserker from underneath. Harold Godwinson's army crossed over and the rest is history. Harold Godwinson was a very unlucky man. The Christian sky pixie must have gone on holiday after that battle otherwise the whole history of northern Europe would have been entirely different - so it goes.
AFAWK all civilizations used psycho-active substances. With one exception this was to learn or for psycho/cosmic 'travel'. The exception being the Norse Viking 'berserkers'. These berserkers would before a battle make up a drink consisting of beer/marijuana (yes it grows all over the world) and magic mushrooms. They would work themselves up into a psychotic state. They always assumed an animal persona. Again never taught in school was how the battle which was to destroy the Norse Viking power for ever came to have the name of 'the battle of Stamford Bridge'. There was only one way for the Saxon/Engli army to engage the Norse and that was by the small bridge that spanned the river Stam. Only two housecarl at a time could cross and standing in their way was one berserker. He slaughtered around 16 housecarl, effectively stopping Godwinson's army from crossing. before one enterprising Saxon had the idea to use a boat to get under this bridge and spear the berserker from underneath. Harold Godwinson's army crossed over and the rest is history. Harold Godwinson was a very unlucky man. The Christian sky pixie must have gone on holiday after that battle otherwise the whole history of northern Europe would have been entirely different - so it goes.
The cathedral in Albi is the biggest brick built cathedral in the world. The Tarn is a good place to live. In a recent study it has clean air to breathe, there aren't that many in Europe as a whole. There are no nuclear plants nearby and as of now we don't get terrible weather events like NE France with flooding. Right now I have a really hard personal situation concerning my wife to deal with and only 5 minutes from my house I have the GR36 to Albi to walk. Very soothing brain massage. France is great in having these Grande Randonnees to walk, cycle or ride a horse. The trees right now are in autumn mode, wonderful soothing vistas.
We stayed overnight in Albi on our scenic route back to the Caen ferry. We wanted to see the Haut Languedoc mountains and towns on our way back from Beziers way.
Found a lovely hotel on the river with a swimming pool near a bridge.
We did enjoy a drink on the terrace too. Very black wines down that way IIRC.
Best Regards from Steve in Portsmouth, UK.
Found a lovely hotel on the river with a swimming pool near a bridge.
We did enjoy a drink on the terrace too. Very black wines down that way IIRC.
Best Regards from Steve in Portsmouth, UK.