This week we are remembering those who have fallen whilst in service to their country. Poppy Day has now become an institution that most people acknowledge. The symbol of the poppy is credited to two sources – John McCrae the Canadian Major / Doctor who wrote the following superb short poem when his close friend died at Ypres: 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

and Moina Belle Michael and Madame Anna Guérin who read the poem and encouraged people to wear poppies in remembrance of the conflict.

This poem brilliantly portrays a bygone time which I believe as a late 20^th century generation we will never truly comprehend, but the events of which changed our country forever.

Before the first world war the countryside was awash with the most brilliant birds and wildlife, and at the right time of year large numbers of wild flowers. Since the wars, the growth in population and the mechanisation needed to feed the country has sadly reduced the habitat available to the wildlife to slim pickings. The chemicals used to produce reliable, homogeneous vegetables and fruit have killed most of the wild flower meadows, > 95% have disappeared. The symbol of the poppy also represents the battle of the flowers to thrive amongst so much desolation and carnage and is also a true reflection on the loss of habitat.

We plan to create an area of wild flowers next year in the garden – not the weeds that I have featured previously. It is actually quite hard to grow wild flowers in the garden as it is too fertile and there are too many weeds, but we will give it a try. The sight of a beautiful collection of mixed colours blowing in the summer breeze is something to really look forward to next year.

Well would you believe it!

Six months ago, I remember talking to someone and commenting, “Imagine in six months’ time, going through BREXIT and having Donald Trump in the white house”. Well we don’t have to imagine any more, because the unthinkable has happened and Donald has achieved a minor miracle by taking on the establishment and winning.

The birds are still singing, the wildlife is still digging up the garden and the owls still hoot at night so nothing too dreadful has happened yet, but it will be interesting to see what actually comes to pass from his list of measures to be introduced. Building a wall to separate USA from Mexico is no mean undertaking.

I stayed up to watch the election unfold, which was actually really interesting, not least for the immediate confirmation that Donald will scrap the USA’s commitment to climate change controls and implement an immediate increase in the use of fossil fuels and CO2 pollutants. You can pay people to dig up coal and extract gas in a way that you can’t with nuclear power and wind farms.

It is remarkable how in the clamber to create jobs and feed everyone, the environmental impact is seen as secondary and something to consider tomorrow.

Similar to the change undertaken during and after the first world war in this country, the future consideration will somehow never quite happen and we will live with the consequence for future generations. We can’t really criticise as we have done this before ourselves but it is a sad situation when the actions of a few will have such repercussions on the rest of us.

Enough now from my soapbox, this blog is supposed to be a happy Friday story. I usually try to avoid politics and controversy in this blog but I felt that this anniversary couldn’t pass without inclusion, but apologies if I have offended anyone.

Old England imitates New England

One thing that I also saw in looking at America in the last few weeks was the beautiful New England colours. I have featured our Autumn colours on this blog in recent weeks but the huge expanse of trees in New England is something I can’t really compete with.

However, the leaf mountain I am creating in my front garden is pretty special at this time of year. With about a third of the leaves swept up we have now lost the top end of the pond to a leaf pile. But it is amazing how quickly it shrinks down, eventually becoming an excellent leaf compost.

The cats too love the leaves. For most of the year you can see them struggling across the gravel drive with nothing but bare paws. Their feet must be so tough to run around without shoes on.

But now they can walk across a sea of leaves, soft on their feet and fun to roll around in. It is so nice that they are even prepared to brave the cold to do it.

All is fair and equitable amongst our population

I mentioned previously that one of our cats had an exploratory operation and was fairly unceremoniously shaved from chin to genitalia. Well thankfully, he is now demonstrating how good he is at growing hair and he looks less like a pink possum. I only wish his ability to drool all over me when he is asleep had the same impact on my own hair growing abilities.

During his illness we bought him a bed. This week we thought it only fair that we should also buy the other cat a similar bed so he didn’t feel jealous or left out, (it is amazing how you over analyse your pets needs when you have no kids).

Anyway, we duly brought back the new bed and set it down next to the other one. Within minutes the cats had been in and smelt this new object. They had given it the full treatment and explored every nook and cranny. True to form they have both now rejected the old bed and are fighting over who gets to sleep in the new one. No amount of picking one of them up and putting them in the old bed has persuaded them that they can sleep in it. The ill cat has succeeded in seconding both beds and the other one is still looking jealous and unhappy.

What was the famous line, “all cats are equal and some are more equal than others!”. When you consider that the second cat has previously had some of his tail removed in an accident and is therefore known to my wife as the partial cat, he could get a bit of a complex, or am I over analysing again 😀 

The return of the winter visitors

At this time of year our garden becomes a sanctuary. Living in the country you can regularly hear the sound of guns going off while people hunt the wildlife. It is amazing how people love where they live but then immediately try and shoot the local inhabitants.

As we are not hunters, but are surrounded by them, some of the local pheasants realise that they are safe amongst us. This morning two such pheasants set up camp in the garden by the bird feeders.

The cats are actually pretty chilled about pheasants. They look, they explore but they don’t touch. There must be something more feisty about pheasants than moorhens as they are pretty similar in size but the cats are compelled to catch moorhens.

From now on these visitors will appear early every morning to feed and bask in the safety of the sanctuary.

Having said that, I still expect one morning to wake up to the sight of a large male in my bedroom, and I am not talking about coming out!

Picture Round

This week in recognition of the American election I have included some pictures of various places we have visited in America that were part of the location for a film. You can guess where they are individually and which film they were part of.

America is a fantastic place for wildlife and scenery which we highly recommend to anyone who has not been there.

Have a great weekend!

If you liked this post then please use the 'I like this page' button to give me feed-back.

Why not register your email address to get notified of updates and get the answers to any questions that have appeared in this blog. Visit the Register for Updates page for instructions.

Alternatively, please make a comment (no names or locations please), but be aware that everyone will see it. Please do not write anything abusive if you don’t like this, just vote with your feet.