Thursday, March 08, 2007
Errata
I think the title of the last post should have been Infanta of Castile - the point being that the name got Chinese whispered into Elephant and Castle. The wife of John of Gaunt perhaps?
And I have it from an informant at TB that the mysterious ambulance was not an ambulance at all. Rather a mobile incident centre. It seems that the ambulance chaps decided that since the other emergency services had incident centres they ought to have one too. Apparently they are allowed to provide an incident commander for a gold incident once every blue moon to justify the thing. Gold incidents attracting all kinds of para military goings on - so earlier musings were not that far off the beam.
Spring seems to be on the way. Warm, balmy day.
Two odd sightings in the garden. First, the green woodpecker which quite often visits the neighbouring willow tree, spent a bit of time digging for grubs on our lawn. Maybe all the wet pushes them to the surface. Second, the first green finch for some time.
Made it to the allotment for the first time in a week or so. Ground very wet so was not able to do all that much - beyond clearing the last two discs round trees in the deer exclosure. This involved hoeing through two molehills - but the signs are that the mole has departed. No signs of any further activity since the first spurt of activity. And still no deer spoor inside - although plenty outside - so maybe we get a rest from animal intruders for a while.
The smaller, unproductive nut tree is very nearly in leaf. The peach tree is almost in blossom - although we will maybe be limited to just one blossom. But it is quite a young tree. A good proportion of the willow cuttings are now sprouting leaves so I think the final tally of strikes is going to be more than 66%. The cherry tree is just about alive after having had problems last year. If all else fails there is a bud swelling below the union and we will see what a St Julian stock type A looks like when it is allowed out. And last but not least the first broad beans are now up - though curiously not those in the first row planted.
Bird flu has brought the Sykes Picot agreement to mind again. The Englishman of the pair - Sykes I think - a minor aristo (baronet) who died in the flu epidemic after the first world war - was buried in a lead coffin which means that he is now a candidate for exhumation as part of the war against bird flu. I hope the flu warriors have good cause because I do not care for this sort of disturbance. I don't much like people dissecting people who got themselves frozen in glaciers a few thousand years ago, much less those from more recent times, and never mind about doing it on television. Maybe the Arabs are grimly amused.
But I do wonder what would have happened had we not made this now infamous agreement. I imagine that if the colonial powers had walked away from the wreck of the Ottoman empire, there would have been a terrible mess and much blood shed there for some time. Would it have been best in the long run to let the people on the ground sort themselves out? They might have managed it by now.
And I have it from an informant at TB that the mysterious ambulance was not an ambulance at all. Rather a mobile incident centre. It seems that the ambulance chaps decided that since the other emergency services had incident centres they ought to have one too. Apparently they are allowed to provide an incident commander for a gold incident once every blue moon to justify the thing. Gold incidents attracting all kinds of para military goings on - so earlier musings were not that far off the beam.
Spring seems to be on the way. Warm, balmy day.
Two odd sightings in the garden. First, the green woodpecker which quite often visits the neighbouring willow tree, spent a bit of time digging for grubs on our lawn. Maybe all the wet pushes them to the surface. Second, the first green finch for some time.
Made it to the allotment for the first time in a week or so. Ground very wet so was not able to do all that much - beyond clearing the last two discs round trees in the deer exclosure. This involved hoeing through two molehills - but the signs are that the mole has departed. No signs of any further activity since the first spurt of activity. And still no deer spoor inside - although plenty outside - so maybe we get a rest from animal intruders for a while.
The smaller, unproductive nut tree is very nearly in leaf. The peach tree is almost in blossom - although we will maybe be limited to just one blossom. But it is quite a young tree. A good proportion of the willow cuttings are now sprouting leaves so I think the final tally of strikes is going to be more than 66%. The cherry tree is just about alive after having had problems last year. If all else fails there is a bud swelling below the union and we will see what a St Julian stock type A looks like when it is allowed out. And last but not least the first broad beans are now up - though curiously not those in the first row planted.
Bird flu has brought the Sykes Picot agreement to mind again. The Englishman of the pair - Sykes I think - a minor aristo (baronet) who died in the flu epidemic after the first world war - was buried in a lead coffin which means that he is now a candidate for exhumation as part of the war against bird flu. I hope the flu warriors have good cause because I do not care for this sort of disturbance. I don't much like people dissecting people who got themselves frozen in glaciers a few thousand years ago, much less those from more recent times, and never mind about doing it on television. Maybe the Arabs are grimly amused.
But I do wonder what would have happened had we not made this now infamous agreement. I imagine that if the colonial powers had walked away from the wreck of the Ottoman empire, there would have been a terrible mess and much blood shed there for some time. Would it have been best in the long run to let the people on the ground sort themselves out? They might have managed it by now.
# posted by Jim @ 7:51 AM 
