Windmills of my mind

One of the local landmarks is Ripple Mill.  No longer a working mill, nor even a museum, it's now a private residence, but when I heard a walk was planned to go up to the mill and beyond, I was keen to join in.  I've often seen it from a long way off, always a long way off and inaccessible.

This was the first sight of it this morning, right on the horizon.  Click on the picture to see a larger view if you don't believe me.

We walked right across all those fields and a main road to get there.

Beautifully kept and well shielded from curious passers by.  I thought I might be able to get a better picture from the other side but no.  The next thing I knew I was shoulder deep in rapeseed.

Either I used to be taller, or rapeseed has evolved into giant rapeseed.  This is a crop known as Canola in Canada, the name derived from from CAnadian LOw Acid, according to some, to protect Canadian sensitivities.  But also because it was developed in Canada from a fuel into a product fit for human consumption.  It had been used as a fuel in ancient times and still can be used for bio-diesel.  The "rape" in rapeseed comes from the Latin "rapum" meaning turnip.  I went on a walk and came back with trivia.

I don't like rapeseed in the fields.  It's an unnatural colour in this country but it seems to be everywhere.  This is the year of rapeseed.

We crossed the railway line, twice in fact, so I suspect we were walking in circles.

Lines of steel gave way to lines of new crops...

I suspect this is a very British thing, to have trees growing in the middle of your crops.  Is there a tumulus hidden under them?  I couldn't walk across all the newly sprouted cop to find out.

A village and its church.  We passed it by unfortunately. I believe there is a very good pub there but the leader didn't break stride.

Though I didn't realise it at the time, this was the gem of the walk.  It looked like an interesting old church with an interesting old graveyard and I would have like to have nosed around but it was, "Keep up at the back there", so I marked it down for a return visit.  Maybe not through the fields.

It turns out to be named the Blessed Mary of Walmer, built 1120.  It used to be the private chapel of the adjacent manor house, now in ruins. Although it is no longer Walmer Parish Church, it is still in regular use.  "Bring a torch and wrap up warm in winter..."

The bell is inscribed " joseph hatch made me 1635".  In the churchyard there are several yew trees, one of which is said to be 1300 years old.  Altogether, worth another visit.

After that it was downhill all the way home, literally, just pausing long enough to greet the sheep in the field next to Walmer Castle.

Little lambs eat ivy

Maresy dotes

And dozy dotes

A little lamsy divey

A kiddley divey doo

Wouldn't you?

       

Translated:

Mares eat oats

And does eat oats

And little lambs eat ivy

A kid'll eat ivy too

Wouldn't you?

... or, maybe, mint sauce....

Who said that?

On the beach today

The weather has been so bad recently that just being able to walk along the beach has given me hours of simple entertainment.  It was good to be able to get out in the fresh air and look at what the tide brought in.  Nothing exotic but it helped me while away an hour or so.  I present not so much a collage as a compilation of what I saw.

A ball of fishing net was would up so tight you could have used it as a football, I suppose.  There is a lot of plastic fishing net around on the beach, some pieces larger than others.

A hagstone, supposed to be lucky because it has a hole through it.  This one had several interconnecting holes so maybe extra lucky.  I didn't pick it up so I hope my luck remains.

I'm sure this was a hubcap once.  I kicked it about and it seemed like a hubcap.  It must have been in the water a long time.

Somebody's collection of shells was abandoned, not allowed to carry it home, I imagine.  I have my own collection or I would have rescued them.  They are , I think all of them, whelk shells.

Whelks produce the white papery mass known as sea wash balls, their egg casings, also known as fisherman's soap.  If you use the ball like soap, apparently it will produce a lather.  I didn't try. 

A ridge of sand along the line of the beach.  We don't normally see sand at this level but it must have been deposited by the rough seas.  Later the lower edge has been redistributed by the tides but quite an amount of it has been left high and dry.

It's hard work walking along the shingle but I kept going because I though a shot of the two kites by the fishing boat would look good.  By the time I was near enough to get a decent shot, the kites had disappeared.

You can see to the right how sharply the beach shelves.  Getting back up to the top requires determination and a zigzag course.  You could clamber straight up but not with a camera in your hands. 

Right at the top, a bluebell was waiting for me, a garden escape I think.  Wild bluebells generally have fewer bells on them.  Tomorrow is the designated walking day so with a bit of luck and sunshine, i will be able to make a comparison.  Even though it was up close to the road, the roots must have had to penetrate a fair way down.

That was by no means all I saw on the beach - there were corks, seaweeds, driftwood, gloves (not matching).  all sorts of things to keep an idle mind happy.

A cloud of grannies

Quoting Arthur C. Clarke, "If children are interested then education will happen",  Professor Sugata Mitra has repeatedly shown that this happens.  He is Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University, and has demonstrated that children will learn with minimal help using computers.

Have you seen "Slumdog Millionaire" or read the book?  That was inspired by Sugata Mitra's first experiment in this direction, when he installed Hole in the Wall computers in Delhi.  There, without any instruction, children learned to use computers.  You could call this minimally invasive education.

To take this a stage further, mediators can guide the children using the grandmother method.  What is the grandmother method?   Standing behind them and admiring  them all the time, little more than that.  So now they have 200 volunteers admiring students around the world (India, Africa, Columbia) using Skype, a webcam, and a microphone.

There are many places where for various reasons teachers don't want to go and they aren't all in developing countries.  They are often the places where teachers are needed most.  It could be that minimally invasive education could be part of the answer.

I would be very happy to volunteer to admire, and I will do, but the sad part is that lack of funds is holding them back. It is a Fixed Funding campaign and will only receive funds if at least $25,000 is raised by Mon Jun 11 just before midnight PT. So far only $510 though this has risen almost $100 since I started writing this post.  There is some hope.

Contribute here.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
~William Butler Yeats

Blackthorn - something for everyone

Blackthorn hedge

Blackthorn hedges are just about in full bloom now, with their distinctive white flowers appearing before the leaves come out.  Normally I'd expect to see them in full bloom in March so it seems a little late.

Blackthorn grows in dense bushes with vicious black thorns and is traditionally used for hedges to keep livestock in the fields.

Blackthorn buds

In Ireland the wood is made into shillelaghs, or walking sticks.  The wood also makes excellent firewood, and the thorns can be used as fishing bait or as awls by leather workers, they say, but best of all are the fruits: sloes.

Sloes are small black fruits, looking rather like tiny plums.  They taste pretty awful straight from the bush but they can be used to make sloe gin.  They are sweeter if harvested after the first frosts.  Sloe gin is simplicity itself to make though a little tedious.  In fact sloe gin requires patience in the making, and more patience while waiting for it to mature.

And this is what you do, roughly.

Half a bottle of gin, cheap stuff is fine.  What you do with the other half is up to you.
Enough sloes to fill the bottle about two thirds full, roughly 450g/1lb sloes
About 225g/8oz sugar.

Take the sloes and prick them all over with a needle, or more traditionally with one of the thorns from the bush.
Put the sloes into the gin which is easier to do if you've decanted it into a wide-necked container.
Add the sugar.

Put the top on the jar/bottle and give it a good shake.  Shake it every other day for a week or so, then every week for two months.  The longer you leave it, the better.

Eventually the gin will take on the flavour of the sloes and make a lovely liqueur.  It can also be added to gravies or sauces,  or add to fruits puddings such as plum or apple and blackberry crumble.

I haven't made sloe gin for years but seeing the blossom this spring has given me a push in that direction.  It looks as though there will be plenty of fruit around.

And finally, the sloes can be used as chicken food for Elsie the Inebriate Hen:

It was good in school today.
Miss Kay wrote "It is Autumn" on the board.
"Guess what I'm thinking of," she said.
"It begins with L; It's brown,
And in autumn, it falls down."

Then Sammy Smith jumped up and said
"Elsie, my pet hen!"
Miss Kay went red.
"See, she pecks the fallen sloes
When the frost has turned 'em rotten," Sammy said.
That makes her tipsy, Miss.
She goes round backwards,
And she sings a funny song.
Then she tumbles down.
I seen her, Miss!
My Uncle Bob, he laughed. He said
"Look at that beggar there!
Her eyes are crossed,
Her beak is crossed,
Her legs are crossed, an' all!
Look at that beggar fall!"
"So is it Elsie, Miss?"

But Miss had put her head inside her desk.
She stayed like that for ages,
Then she said "Go out and play."
It was great in school today!

This was written  by Sandra Horn, of Tattybogle fame,  who once had the dubious pleasure of teaching me psychology.  She had a great sense of humour, and needed it.

Blackthorn blossom

Sturdy houses, their doors and gates

I have a fascination for doorways and gates and as they are generally fairly sturdy and often lead into homes, I thought I could use some of the many photos I have taken over the years today.

This very sturdy gateway was once the entrance to the home of Maréchal Foch in 1913, from January until August.  Not long but long enough for a claim to fame.

This has seen better days, I think, and it's a shame about all the cables leading in and around the doorway.  It was once home to a lawyer, judging by the plaque by the door.

Still sturdy though definitely it has seen better days, this gate will soon lead to 12 new homes, apartments in the original building.  In fact, given that this picture was taken a couple of years ago, the homes are almost certainly already complete.

In some cases, the door looks sturdier than the home but in this case the building had been there a long time and is presumably propped up by its next door neighbours.

A two-in-one post for the Photo Hunts.