Bran Tub # 24 … Spoon-billed Sandpiper and its 1869 lithographer …

 

Being behind the curve as usual … I spotted this wonderful looking lithograph of the spoon-bill sandpiper – illustrated by John Gerrard Keulemans in 1869 – which led me to various things …

Illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans
(1869)

Oh dear … my interpretation of the title on this book in my little mind was Eleven Birds in House and Town … but as you can see it should be and is: Our Birds in House and Garden …

Keuleman's publication
volume one

Not sure now how I got to the Spoon-billed Sandpiper … but another name came into the frame … Laysan Island … one of the North-western (Leeward) Islands (originally the Sandwich Islands – so named by James Cook in 1778).

Laysan Island one of the tiny islands in
the long-tail of the volcanic chain

This is part of the Hawaiian Islands … a chain of volcanoes that stretch about 2,700 km (1,700 miles) in a north-westerly direction … these are constantly on the move as new islands are created over tens of thousands of years … about 7 cm (or 2.75 inches) per year …

This bird is critically endangered … the main threats to survival are habitat loss on its breeding grounds and loss of tidal flats … in and around that huge area the Pacific Ocean …

Spoon-billed Sandpiper's distribution -
around the Pacific Ocean

… it nests in June-July on coastal areas in the tundra, choosing locations with grass close to freshwater pools.

Head of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper 
c 1890 illusration

They feed on moss in the tundras, as well as smaller animal species like mosquitoes, flies, beetles, and spiders … at times they feed on marine vertebrates such as shrimp and worms.

Captain Cook's three voyages: red in 1768,
green in 1772; his final one - he was killed
in the Hawaiian islands in 1776

The gales and storms above the seas will send many a small animal off course …

Captain James Cook c 1775

On looking at Captain Cook and then his wife through these portraits … we can certainly see some of the cultural changes that have occurred in the last 300 years …

Elizabeth Cook - 56 years a widow (1830)

The storms of life are most definitely still occurring … I digress once again … I think it's time I disappeared back onto my curve again …

Spoon-billed Sandpiper ...

John Gerrard Keulemans - his three volume works ... 

James Cook and his history ... 

National Geographic and the chain of Hawaiian Islands hotspot ... 

Saving the Spoon-Billed Sandpiper site ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 23 … wrap-ups general and recent sporting international events …

 

Bran Tub Catch-Up nearing the end of the hot summer – before the 'monthly programme/ course life' starts up again – just like school!

Hot British Summer 2022 The Downs

Lots to get done … but I'm almost on top of things – she says hopefully … the admin elements, making sure dinners work and speakers turn up … all good for the soul …

Hot 

It was, til last week, still hot here – but in the south east we've had very little rain … and life is in a hiatus (to put it politically mildly!!) … a description I have just read: We live in ominous times and this is a sort of a sanctuary from the deluge of horrors in the news.

I've been enjoying all the international sporting events that have been on … the Commonwealth Games; the European Athletics and sports held in Munich – the first major sporting event to be there since the 1972 Olympics – that I had the privilege to briefly visit …

Regatta Rowing and Canoe venue, Munich

International cricket – a family favourite as a child and my mother used to play; International Rowing – my father's sport at Oxford …

The European Aquatics Championships held in Rome … where the challenge for divers – is that the pool is outside surrounded by Roman stone pines – a quite beautiful setting …

… while the cerulean blue of the sky, the watery blue of the pool, the darker shade of blue in the shadows … 

... for those 10 metre board and springboard divers it was interesting to see … how they manage – who knows: not me … obviously.

Then there's the high dive – 27 metres up (88.5 feet) … there's a very short clip in this link you'll get the feel of Rome and its setting, as too diving from that height.

Apart from social events and more tennis down here in Eastbourne … I've been to a couple of films worth noting:

'Men Who Sing' … a nostalgic, soft, yet humorous portrait of a male voice choir; the documentary film maker, Dylan Williams, who lives in Sweden, went back to Wales to check in on his 90 year old father – then told the story about his father and the choir … delightful.

Also an adaption of Delia Owens' murder mystery 'Where the Crawdads Sing” - fascinating, beautifully acted in the marshy landscape … I loved it – but oddly it was the rolling of the credits that have captured my memory bank and all the art, included as the storyline progressed …

The paintings were by Alice Ravenel Huger Smith (1876 - 1958), now part of The Johnson Collection in Spartanburg … as well as …

… Taylor Swift's beautiful theme song 'Carolina' for the film …

I highly recommend the film 'When the Crawdads Sing' … One last thing … Delia Owens, the author … wrote an autobiographical book with her then husband about their time in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana in the mid 1970s. Delia Owens is also a zoologist and conservationist.

This book was a major introduction for me in the early days of my time in Southern Africa, before I had a chance to visit Botswana and Namibia as the years passed.

One of Smith's works at
The Johnson Collection

I guess that's rounded up some of the things I've been 'busy' doing or idling to enjoy – before 'the terms' of the various groups I work with start up again - and now I need to get my work-motivated hat on!

Thanks for reading …

Men Who Sing - film trailer from Dartmouth Films ... 

Official trailer of 'Where the Crawdads Sing' ...

Taylor Swift's theme song 'Carolina' for the film ... 

The art used in the film ... this links to The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg - here we see Alice Ravenel Huger Smith's ethereal art of the marshes; while the beautiful ones of the natural inhabitants (birds, seafoods, insects) where she uses richer colours - I sadly! could not find ... thus please see the film!

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 22 … Slosh, Bubble up, Toad in the Hole …

 

Slosh - Sloshing around … but I never thought I'd find these connections …

He amused me as a 'slosher' ... 

I usually scan the main page of Wiki - people, subjects, art or things of interest that might superficially educate me, connect to something I'd been thinking about or interested me knowledge-wise …

… my life is like that the bubbling spring of eclecticism, I never quite know where I'm leading myself …

The first bullet point under Care of
Tables - Equipment: where it states
only Snooker, Billiards and Slosh
are allowed!

So yes – here's some more randomness … as I get on with other things here – before reverting to something approaching intelligent posting …

Slosh … popped up – oddly as a game (a cue sport) – but also known as Russian billiards, Indian pool and it beggars belief 'toad-in-the-hole' - a game lasting 30 minutes, or to a score of 100 points.

Russian definition 'slosh about' ...

Anything Russian I check in on – we're studying the Revolution from 100 years ago … I'm giving some talks on Russian Revolutionary Art from that period … so now into that mode too …

Not much, if anything is known about the origins of the game … except its obviously been adapted over the years … it seems to have been around since the early 1900s …

Tibetans playing carrom in Delhi

Carrom, a table top game - very popular in the Indian sub-continent, appears to be favourite link … I know nothing about these sorts of games – except know that I've seen them being played in market squares, or local cafés ...

There are other names too … but I'll leave you to look at those … with modified rules for each country or game …

But as I look I spot a link across to an English-Russian Dictionary … to find out what 'slosh' means when translated … as shown above ...

Toad in the hole ... 

Now Toad-in-the-Hole takes me back to childhood days … an easy, cheap and satisfying supper that we had at home … always good and tasty – sausages in a batter mix … what's not to like?!

Taking me back to the previous post of 'my' little Desert Rain Frog … here's the differences between a frog and a toad …

Interesting to note the differences

So forgive these wanderings – I'm never sure what's going to happen … but I'll be back to a degree of normality in the coming days …

Russian mustard and 
horseradish sauce

How you get a game played with a cue be called 'slosh' I'll never know … let alone a sausage supper dish named from an amphibian, with a dash of Russian ( In Russian, mustard is called “gorchitsa” from the verb “gorit'” meaning to burn) or in Indian ( The mustard plant is called rai or raya in India) added here for 'good measure' …

Frog hopping happily

We continue to learn … enjoy the week ahead …

Toad in defensive stance

 
and thanks for tolerating these snippets …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 21: Jiminy Cricket, another oddball post …

As I do, wherever I am, I seem to muse about blog posts … yesterday I was happily sitting outside having lunch up at a local hotel – with a croquet lawn to admire, the English Channel waves undulating a few hundred feet away …

Outlook from hotel

...an idyllic sunny day to spend a bit of time with a friend … soon after we first met we were having lunch … as we were enjoying ourselves … a mighty seagull powered its way from the roof and whipped my friend's piece of salmon off her plate! Yikes and yugh!

Seagulls scavenging ... I must say that looks
quite a good tasty pasty - better than some

We haven't been eating outside since … but the manager informed us - they had seagull scarers now – so we risked it …

… oh yes – we were safe! But no … a very pretty emerald golden spider was flitting around me … matching the thistles on my skirt … I managed to release him to the care of the earth …

He's quite pretty isn't he?

… looks like he might have been a Cucumber Spider – they seem quite common, but I've never noticed one before, though they appear at this time of year …

… but as I go to various group classes – history, memoir, life-science and music appreciation (today's class) and others … I ended up pondering humans … and how odd we all are … how our behaviours are all so varied … all good fillers for a blog post!

But I digress – I think! - and then remembered the Desert Rain Frog and my time in Namibia … that I'd intended to write about …

Desert Rain Frog

… he's a plump species with bulging eyes, short snout, short limbs, spade-like feet, and webbed toes … charming little fella, n'est pas?

Added to which he has an unusually high-pitched cry similar to that of a squeaky toy.

Another view of a Desert Rain Frog

Also he's unique as he develops directly from the egg into an adult – so no tadpole stage. He pads happily about on the sand, not requiring water in his habitat for survival.

Their habitat is a very small strip of land in the Cape Province of South Africa, and the coastal strand in southern Namibia … where the Skeleton Coast Desert can be found – an area stretching from Angola in the north, into the Cape Province further south …

The marked edge of southern Africa -
where this little frog si found

The Desert is magical … fog provides most moisture in an otherwise arid and dry region and it's amazing how much can survive in the coastal dunes – about 24 miles wide, and 310 miles in length …

… our little Desert Rain Frog is one of those incredible species … sadly its habitat is being lost to human 'needs' (mining and tourism) …

Namibian homelands 1978 - 
the Skeleton Coast is marked, as 
too the Desert

I'd like to think that we will realise what we have on this earth … and which we should be looking after for future generations …

My mother and I went there about 35 years ago … strange but true!

Thanks for visiting – another Bran Tub post … so many other subjects to get to: I'll get there …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 20: Wry Amusement … Act for Ukraine – renaming street addresses …

Street names – to be amused by, at least in my book – yes … this gently tickled me … soft ironic diplomacy …

Ironic diplomacy can be found ... 

I came across this online campaign … to amend addresses wherever there is a Russian embassy, consulate, or similar … trade mission …

I found the article here … and I'm afraid, in the appalling times of war the Ukrainians are going through, I found it lightly uplifting …

Surprisingly the first country to give the Russian embassy a new address was Albania … the Ukraine Embassy, that of Serbia, also of Kosovo, and so the Russian Embassy all now reside on 'Free Ukraine Street' … in its capital Tirana.

Free Ukraine Street in Tirana, Albania

Next came Norway … it changed an intersection address to Ukraine Square … and other countries/cities have followed …

It seems the NYT gave rise to an article on Danish MP, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen's drive for these name changes … and who was quoted as saying 'No Action is too Small' …

… a simple but significant act of symbolic support for the courageous Ukrainian people who defend the values of freedom and democracy from one of the strongest military powers in the world.

c/o Strange Maps

The campaign continues on … please see the link …

A rabbit hole I (logically! tba) went down – Mayakovsky Street has been renamed Boris Johnson Street (suits me ... if he's tucked away!) … renamed by the small town, population was about 6,000, to the east along the coast from Odessa ...

Mayakovsky Street

I will explain Vladimir Mayakovsky's connection … but this poster he created about 100 years ago … Agitprop – Communist propaganda – occurring in their Revolution 1917 – 1932.

Soviet Propaganda poster from
the Russian Revolution era
1917 - 1932

He was a Soviet poet, playwright, artist and actor … born in the Caucasus in Georgia, but after his father died they moved to Moscow.

Changing street names has occurred over the years … as you'll see in the article … but in today's age – these things can happen very quickly …

How frustrating to work for a Russian organisation and find you have to walk down, or across a Ukrainian street to get to work …

… I'm around, but have been involved doing rather a lot … I'll be back soon – so enjoy this bran tub alternative post with its links ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 19: Who debugs here?

 

I wandered into town yesterday – and always pass this school, Eastbourne College … with its cricket pitch, or rugby field impeccably maintained …

 

Eastbourne College with its influx of
Herring Gulls and 'pups' ....

… ‘cept it was covered with masses of hungry souls … I could only ponder if the school was debugging itself before term started?!

 

 

Herring Gull composite

I don’t know whether they got bored fishing, or pestering the tourists!! … but I’ve never seen the beautiful grounds invaded in this way …

 

Some close to me - as I leant over the wall

A quick post taking me through to WEP on Wednesday and another book one over the weekend … see you in a few days – stay safe everyone …

 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 18: Friends ask to share Olympic Gold Medal …

 

There’s been hope, success, horrors, sadness – yet many armchair pundits have noticed that competitors have been …

United by Emotion

Gracious in Defeat

Encouraged

… and Thankful for Life …

 

Charlotte Worthington - the woman
who dares to do backflips over a 
concrete floor ...
(it is beyond comprehension!)

This happy punter noticed that home-dinosaurism had crept in – her brain couldn’t cope with ‘flying’ upside down on a bicycle above a concrete floor – doing a 360 degree backflip, landing thumpety-thump – getting up and doing it again successfully: winning gold, just to avoid going back to work in a Mexican restaurant.  Strange life!

 

These new sports … well this near fossil appreciates them a little more now, as ‘these kids’ will take the new sports forward – opening doors for others.

 

The two guys celebrating friendship

The highlight of the Games for me …was the two high jumpers – who’ve competed together for years, suffered injuries and returned – yet on equal scores at the end … just said ‘can’t we share the gold medal?’ – wonderful … it’s the first time since 1912 that two athletes share a podium place.

 

An incredible Olympic high jump final ended with both Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the gold medal/s.

 

I know some of you will not have appreciated the Olympics … and I have friends who’ve disappeared with a few books for the duration …

 

c/o Steve Barley's squirrels

So just to suggest something you could try – your reward will be a few peanuts … but please lose weight first … the Squirrel Leapathon is open for viewing:

 

Squirrel Leapathon – c/o the Beeb (1.47 mins)

This one is last year's NHS themed Squirrel Obstacle Course ... 

I could reflect more … but time (my life towards fossildom) rushes on … so just enjoy the Squirrel Tokyo Leapathon … reward: not adulation, but a few peanuts …

 

A cartoon from the 1936 Olympics imagines the year 2000 when spectators will have been replaced by television and radio, their cheers coming from loudspeakers;   how prescient those cartoonists were … as the pandemic in 2021 has shown us.

Next comes the ParaOlympics (24th Aug to 5th Sept 2021) – they are incredible people – my admiration abounds for them … from them we can learn what it’s possible to achieve.

 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories