Brumaire - French Republican Calendar …

 

We've just been looking at the French Revolution – guided by an excellent ex-history teacher – and I offered to give a talk about 'Napoleon and his Contested Legacy' … only clever because I'm plagiarising it from an article I came across!

Coup d'etat - painting (after the event)
by Bouchet (1840)

The French Revolution is a complicated period in history … and we've had some very good talks – I'm always learning.

My eclectic brain came to the fore again regarding a post – not for our history group – but for anyone who is kind enough to visit the blog.

I'd never heard of 'Brumaire' – believe it or not !… it was the second month in the French Republican Calendar – “which lasted for the longest time of all: twelve years (1793 – 1805)”.

The Coup of 18 Brumaire brought General Napoleon Bonaparte to power, and in the view of most historians ended the French Revolution.

Month of Brumaire

What fascinated me were the details found in the French Republican Calendar – such as …

• each month lasted 30 days, divided into three 10-day weeks …
• 
  
• Every day of the year had the name of an agricultural plant – except! …
• 
  
• The fifth days were named after a domestic animal,
• and the tenth days were named for an agricultural tool
• 
  
• The Calendar began in September at the Autumnal Equinox

Foggy Misty day ...

Brumaire – from the French for 'fog' or 'mist' – the 2^nd month (22 Oct/24 Oct to 20 Nov/22 Nov) – when apparently France is known to be full of misty foggy days!

It is an interesting calendar – useless to us, who all use the Gregorian one - but I was drawn in when I saw each of the 30 days – don't ask about the extra days … see the link.

• Today is November 17th ...and we would be Watercress 'Cresson'; 
• then a couple of others: Beet Root 'Betterave' is for 4^th November;
• November 27^th features SweetPea 'Macjonc'

Just fun to look at and think about …

Republican Calendar - to be
found in Lausanne's Museum

The foggy month of Brumaire will live on in history as the time Napoleon came to power as the First Consul of France, when it is thought the French Revolution ended (1789 – November 1799).

Here endeth my lesson about the French Revolution – with the interesting (I think) French Republican Calendar …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Pesky Beach Flies, essentially Eastbourne updates …

Well a few things to update you on … we had a Python, a Hippopotamus – not real in the 21^st century, bookshop and hotel fires, shingle history, and those pesky flies …

Looking down four road levels to the reef and sea

The python – yes: one was released into the foliage near where I quite often drop down to reach the lower promenade … 

Sub-Saharan Ball Python

... snakes I admire, but have never been my favourite …

Waiting at an ice-cream or cafe stop over ...
Hippo with dog watering bowl

Quickly moving on to a much larger animal – the hippo – around 600,000 years ago exotic animals roamed our rivers and valleys, when we and Europe were one landmass … this hippo though prefers walkers with dogs …

In the midst of the repairs

Fires – Camilla’s bookshop was getting new facades, floor and ceilings, book shelves, signage when I went past at the end of May – and met Camilla … asking after the state of the shop and Archie, the shop’s parrot, he is safe … while it happened to be his birthday – all of 25 years on May 28^th … so I think she was pleased someone asked after him. 

They lost lots of books … as the water damage went down into the basement … and now there’s the smoke damage to look into – still at least it will re-open when the time is right …

Spring bedding from the carpet gardens has been removed,
making way for the summer plantings.
Scaffolding in and around the Claremont, while
the Burlington Hotel is the building run you can see

The Claremont Hotel is being propped up, and has ongoing work being done to its utilities … but the Burlington Hotel, next to it, has lost its main customer base – a coach tour operator which has gone bust.  


How these two hotels and at least one other in Eastbourne can cope – we will wait and see … times are a challenge.

'Rainbowing' in action

Those shingle workers are at it again … I gather this spraying technique is known as ‘rainbowing’ … 

Looking west towards Beachy Head -
during early lock-down

... the shingle is unloaded about a mile from Beachy Head, as Holywell is found at a Site of Special Scientific Interest … dumper trucks take it along the beach on that last mile.

Working area ... during lock-down - when no tempting
ice-cream parlours would be open.

The system is that the dredger, Sospan Dau, with its full load arrives at high tide … discharges its load ...



... leaves for the Owers bank to the east of the Isle of Wight … to suck up another load of shingle sediment … and repeat the process.

The Owers - to the east of the Isle of Wight,
off the West Sussex coast - shingle banks

Sospan Dau is a Welsh name … originating from a famous folk song, Sosban Fach and Llanelli’s tin plating industry … Sospan being the Welsh for Saucepan and Dau being Welsh for Two … a successor dredger to Sosban Fach (little saucepan).  Please see Wiki!

Weenbrug - a Dutch name from a map of
1583 ... with the shingle banks marked

The Owers Bank has some history too … before the 1500s an early trading port, Rumbrug, could be found … as shown in this Dutch map … 



... but still appears on The Owers shingle banks map of today to the east of the Isle of Wight …

Low tide, the reefs, a groyne, the strandline
on a hot May early evening day

… and now we’ve been lingering far too long on the sticky Eastbourne shore in this time of Covid 19 and our hot sticky May month …

… those pesky beach flies will be doing their good deeds … and no doubt irritatingly dropping in on our sweaty, sun-stoked bodies … the fat squidgy larvae will work their wonders … eating through the flotsam and jetsam curled up onto the shingle after high tide …

Seaweed fly

… reminding us of the ancient ecosystem, that since time began, has been recycling all before it … plump larvae, beetles, flies, insect and spider predators … ready to feed the birds and their chicks.

Dorset's coast (further west) with its
impressive strandline

The strandline is an ancient phenomenon having a unique biodiversity and ecology … which we are only just beginning to understand … let it do its work – we just need to take the dreaded plastic and other particular nasties away with us.

That’s all folks … until I find one more thing I’d like to write up re Eastbourne … but the Sospan Dau ended up linking a Welsh thread to Eastbourne’s seafront …

A bank of vegetation just above the first promenade

The sunny weather has disappeared … down here we have a little much needed rain … take care each and everyone of you …

Extra note on pesky flies: - they're not an irrelevant nuisance on the beach.  The play a key role in cleaning up the debris, without them beachcombers would be knee deep in smelly slime.  There are many species - each one specialising ... rotting seaweed, or bodies of animals ... and all other, except that dreaded plastic ...

Wiki - Sospan Dau ... info on the dreder ... 

Wiki - Sospan Fach ... info on the folk song ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

We are the World Blogfest # 25: The Lemon Tree Trust ...

‘Growing Home’ … a way of giving life to a war-torn world … war gardeners brighten up the lives of those who have to live in imprisoned spaces …

 

c/o The Lemon Tree Trust site

… planting seeds to give colour, to let there be food, to have shelter in the dust of northern Iraq, or as the Royal Horticultural Society found in an internment camp a hundred years ago …

… the wheels of time go around, sadly nothing much changes, yet humans will always have hope and work towards improving themselves … wherever they are – even in ‘prison camps’.

"We had so many flowers in Syria.  This garden
makes me happy" ...

The Lemon Tree Trust, a not-for-profit organisation, active since 2014, supporting greening initiatives in forced migration camps … helps marginalised communities …

A haven for the children, who live or were born, in the camp

Urban agriculture, however limited, starts a process to create new and unrealised potential for those with nothing … 

One of the kits available for a household in
a refugee camp

... it gives them joy – a flower for its scent or delightful beauty, extra food – vegetables and fruits, dignity for the gardeners, hope for their families and others, and a sanctuary – a quiet personal space …

Ten gardens …

       Ten plus ‘war gardeners’ …

                Seeds were sown …

                        Greening started and was nourished …

                                Stories flowed, ideas spread …

                                        Insects and birds came …

        

A wondrous patch of land gave these hardworking gardeners some solace, where roots could be put down – even in their time of displacement … for many years ahead.

The video about the Liberation Garden is
on the Lemon Tree site

Domiz is a camp for Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan … which gives us an insight into the Trust’s work there … it is quite extraordinary and so wonderful to see …

A panorama of Ruhleben camp taken in 1917 by
Nico Jungmann, one of the detainees - who was
an Anglo-Dutch painter

…  man can be amazing, so generous, so adaptable, so accepting (in that there’s no choice) … the Trust gives them opportunities to personalise their lives within the patches of land available.

Please look at the videos on the Lemon Tree Trust’s site to see the wonderful little havens of love they have created for their families and community …

Archival photo inside Ruhleben's Horticultural
Society's Nursery

This Lemon Tree Trust link is to the Royal Horticultural Society’s video and information on the Ruhleben Internment Camp … where requests from the camp to the RHS mirror those being made today fromDomiz and other refugee camps …

This is the link to Wikipedia’s page on Refugee Camps – a long informative overview – with detail of the camps around the world.

We are the World  -  In Darkness, Be Light

The Lemon Tree Trust site includes a number of videos on the refugee gardeners, the gardens, about Domiz camp and more ... "Growing Home" video (10 minutes - well worth the watch)...

Please check out some of the videos and the gardens in Domiz - with some of the facts of life there ... it's informative and (sadly) interesting ... but heart-warming ... 

Lemon Tree - used by Tom Massey in
the RHS Chelsea's 2018 garden

Wiki page on Ruhleben Internment Camp - interesting to read the history on this camp in WW1 ... 

Tom Massey, the landscape and garden designer for The Lemon Tree Trust garden at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Chelse 2018 ... the details are here ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Whale Trip out into the Salish Sea …

I took the opportunity of a clear, calm day to jump a trip to see some sea life out in the San Juan Islands and Straits to the east of Vancouver Island …

 

Leaving Cowichan Bay going south-east

… and while out thinking how difficult it must have been for those early navigators plying the seas to find a route through the intricate network of coastal waterways …

Showing Victoria, capital of Vancouver Island -
and then the border line interspersing the islands up
to 49th parallel south of Vancouver

… yet I also remembered that for centuries the indigenous peoples knew their lands, the flora and fauna all essential to their slower full way of life …

Looking east to the snow-covered Mount Baker

Just looking at that daunting land, full of mountain ridges interspersed with volcanic valleys, or the many ‘dead ended’ inlets … 

Java rock chain with Sealions, seals and plenty of birds

... then the multitude of islands and islets – some just called ‘chains’ (reefs) … ie rocky formations just at or below sea level – boggled my mind.

Enhanced iphone photo

We did see in the distance – but c’est la vie: it was lovely to be out and to have the opportunity – a Biggs Killer Whale pod, a harbour porpoise being eaten I believe … as it was being tossed around … Steller Sea Lions, seals numerous, lots of birds, including common murres …

Spieden Island

… on Spieden Island fallow deer from Europe, Moufflon sheep from Corsica, Sika deer from Asia (Japan) remain after it was set up for sport hunting … now it is unoccupied, but the animals thrive and remain … until (I guess) inbreeding occurs.

All on board - rarin' to go ... 

As an after-thought – you may know James Jannard who owns Spieden … he started and owned Red Digital Camera – forty of which were used to film The Hobbit.

We cruised down at 55 kmph (28 – 30 knots) … I sat hunkered down letting my eyes drift across the gentle calm waters … over to the USA mainland, or westwards towards our British Columbian coast …  

I had lots of layers on ... 

It was a lovely excursion run by Ocean Ecoventures, who are passionate and dedicated, responsible for ethical whale watching and wildlife viewing. 

Spieden Island is marked

They are a small owner operated tour company, members of the Whale Watch Association while supporting local researchers and conservation efforts. 

It was delightful … and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon out with them … so friendly – I did feel a bit like a teletubby – the only downside to the whole trip – but I was warm!

Ocean Ecoventures website and blog ... with some amazing photos

Here’s the Hobbit link to James Jannard and Red Digital …

Marine Mammal Research website 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

The Obedient Plant … found in Butchart Gardens ...

A second visit to Butchart Gardens highlighted ‘the Obedient Plant’ … having come across Miss Willmott’s Ghost at the Abkhazi Gardens in Victoria … the Obedient Plant became an obvious candidate for a post.

Obedient – the flowers stay in situ once bent back … as here ... 

For those Latin minded gardeners - it is Physostegia

Unobedient … if that’s a word?!  As the poor plant should be without man-handling!

So here are some views, some notes, some comments for a Thanksgiving post … Canadians celebrate on Monday … the history I will do in a follow up …

An early 1900s view of the limestone quarry (cement works) prior to its conversion into the Gardens we see today …

The Sunken Garden as I saw it … sadly it was a gloomy day ...

I’d gone back because I wanted to take the boat trip they offer from the tiny Tod Inlet – which is the secluded water leading up into the Gardens.

Tod inlet – small and sheltered … though the boats only run during early Spring to early Autumn (Fall I guess to you!) …

The trip gives a little history of the origins of the Gardens and goes around Brentwood Bay … I’d come over on the ferry – as a way of connecting the Cowichan Valley across to the Saanich Peninsula where Victoria’s airport is.

This captured pic gives an idea … I live just to the north of Mill Bay …

One of three ... 

I love the specimen trays they have out in the information centre – which is where I’d found Miss Willmott’s ghost.  

 

Specimen trays and …

Pears, Walnuts, Beechnuts and a Dogwood berry

Autumnal displays …

Here another find is the green Echinacea flower … interestingly the Greek ekhinos means hedgehog: live and learn!

There were hundreds of people there … and trying to find a few quiet moments is almost impossible – but good that the Gardens are thriving, I guess!

Seedbeds that earlier in the summer were grass … they are utilising their space effectively …

The various photos are briefly described …

My tomato and goat cheese tart was positively delicious – I went back for another before I left … couldn’t resist!  Apologies for the bite out!!

From a very wet Black Friday … the sun is due to reappear tomorrow … I hope you all have lovely weekends and for Canadians enjoy your Thanksgiving day …

This is an iphone photo… I think it is the Eunonymus Europaeus …

This iphone photo doesn't do it justice - the colours are
lovely ... while the Blue Poppy itself is gorgeous

You can buy one of these delightful shopping bags … advertising their special Tibetan Blue Poppy … another story – another day!

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories