The Times They Are a-Changin’ ....

Time is a great teacher ... a great healer ... it offers much ...  

Le Temps,

Charles van der Stappen

 – National Botanical Garden

of Belgium,  Meise: Time's 

mortal aspect is personified

in this bronze statue

We think the world stays the same – year in year out ... yet new countries are ‘born’ ... rather a lot recently .. the ex Russias, the split Yugoslavia, thirteen independents – think Namibia, the Marshall islands, Micronesia, then unification of the Germanies, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia separated. 

The tiny Caribbean island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten divided by French/Dutch rule – in September 2010 Sint Maarten became a constituent country of The Netherlands.

First Puffin nests found
on Surtsey 2004

New islands ‘pop’ up .. there’s a new volcanic island in the Red Sea that’s recently appeared .. will it last and ultimately have a name ... who knows.

A good example is Surtsey, south of Iceland, first appearing in 1963, two years later it was declared a nature reserve for the study of ecological succession; plants, insects, birds, seals, and other forms of life have since established themselves on the island.

Europe 2006 - Iceland top left

As children we have much to learn about the world order, but it is in later life that we start to understand the complexities of our planet and history .... I do understand now that no wonder I struggled collecting stamps as there were country changes then, or absorption by governments, or war ...  

... I sort of grasped that the British (and at that time the Americas’) calendar had changed and 11 days had been lost in the 1700s on the realignment of the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one in 1752.

Salvador Dali's exploding clock 1954

The Republic of Venice and the Roman Empire changed in 1582, while Russia only realigned in 1918 with the advent of the Revolution, but Greece hung out until 1924 (is that telling us something?)

We were vividly reminded of change by Samoa and the Tokelau (an archipelago north of Samoa), which decided they would miss out Friday December 30^th 2011 altogether and just switch sides!  So they now reside as one of the first places on earth – not the last ... having “decreed” that the dateline be moved to ‘run’ east of their islands!

Blowholes in
Samoan Islands
- volcanic activity

There’s a commercial advantage for these islanders .. at long last they are on the same clock wave length as Australia, New Zealand and Asia ...

... however 767 Samoans missed out on their birthday last year, and 43 wedding anniversaries would be cheaper too ... but employers had to pay for the extra (missed) day.

Seth Godin says there is an artificiality of time ... it was only once the railways came in and timetables (self explanatory really!) needed to be set up, did the co-ordination of clocks come into force.

We have to clock in and clock out, rush in ... rush out  .... in the slow lane of life, set times for all things .... but now the internet opens up those time frames: how much time do we wish to invest in technical abilities and all that the net offers: those amazing opportunities available 24/7.

Time is static isn’t it ... Greenwich Mean Time is GMT and from here   (as I just about sit)   on the 0 degrees Prime (Greenwich) Meridian... all hours minutes and seconds are counted down according to the invisible GMT laser line ... from which time is calculated according to the Earth’s rotation.

But yet ... Maria Popova at Brain Pickings has uncovered “Just a Second” a lovely and refreshing book for kids, doubling as a curious and enjoyable trivia compendium for grown-ups (my kind of book!).  Check out her post ... from the 5,085-foot water journey of a whales song, to the 50-beats of a hummingbird’s wings to the 300-foot plunge of the a peregrine falcon .... all happen in a single second.

A measure that the author, Steve Jenkins, points out is a human invention: “The second doesn’t relate to any cycle in nature – but it is the shortest interval of time most of us use in our daily lives.  The Babylonians came up with the idea of a second about 4,000 years ago, but they had no way to measure such a short interval of time”

One compelling statistic .. 4 babies are born, 2 people die ... every second.

Going back to clocks that measure time – that standard of GMT, which we in Britain don’t even subscribe to properly .. having adopted British Summer Time during those months utilising more of the daylight hours.

FOCS 1, a continuous cold caesium fountain

atomic clock in Switzerland, started operating

in 2004 at an uncertainty of

one second in 30 million years.

The Chinese with their soaring aspirations in space are establishing a rival to the US global positioning system – and have hit the same snag with time that has prompted the US and others to propose the global replacement of GMT with the International Atomic Time by 2017 ... that of "leap seconds”.  So it looks like time will be ‘ruled’ by satellites with atomic clocks in a few years.

Time may change, countries change, everything changes ... we last approximately 80 – 100 years, the Greenwich time has lasted 127 years so far .... countries come and go – people do not ...  we are in a period of unbounded opportunity – the internet allows us that luxury of looking a gift horse in the mouth ... and not shying away ... allowing our dreams to come true, our goals to achieve. 

Dylan’s last verse for The Times They Are a’Changin recorded in 1964 have been as prophetic as each of us wish to consider, at whatever tender age we happen to be:  

“The order is rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'”

Opportunity does reign if we can grasp it – while remembering others who do not have our optimism and creativity .... help ourselves and in the process help others.

I quote from Steve Jobs:  “Almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure.  These things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.  Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose”

Happy New Year and a very good 2012 to you all.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Auld Lang Syne ... here comes 2012: Welcome New Year ..

The song we will all sing (or hear the next day for those sleepyheads!) is the classic that was spread by the Scots, English, Welsh, Cornish and Irish as they emigrated around the world.

Happy New Year card
Geraniums ca 1880

Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) even plagiarised the old song – when he sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum, he remarked “The following song, an old song, of the olden times, has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man”.

Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them and whether we use the original melody as Burns intended ... or not it is the one that is widely used today.

The phrase “Auld Lang Syne” is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570 – 1638, Allan Ramsay (1686 – 1757) and James Watson (1711) as well as in older folk songs predating Burns .... and appears to be an ‘equivalent’ of “Once upon a time ....”

“Old long since”, or more idiomatically “long long ago”, “days gone by”, or “old times” – consequently “for auld lang syne”, as it appears in the first line of the chorus, is loosely translated as “for (the sake of) old times”.

Auld Lang Syne: English translation (minimalist version)

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
and surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a wearyfoot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Cover to Banjo Paterson's seminal

1905 collection of bush ballads,

entitled The Old Bush Songs

These old songs were the ballads that we now know and were often a narrative set to music (before writing became commonplace) from the later Medieval period (1300s and on) until the early 1800s ..

The term ‘ballad’ probably derives its name from the Medieval French dance songs or “ballares” (from which we also get ballet).  The storytelling concepts would have come in from Scandinavian and Germanic traditions as reflected in that great poem: “Beowulf”.

Literary ballads today we know reflect the work of Burns, Wordsworth, Coleridge to name a few ... and were encompassed by the Ballad Operas (eg The Beggar’s Opera 1728)... as well as stories from north America ... “The Ballad of Davy Crocket” ...  or the "Bush Ballads" that gained a foothold in the rural Australian outback.

A statue representing Janus Bifrons
in the Vatican Museums

So today we sing the words “we’ll take a cup of kindness yet” as Janus, the God of Gates, Doors and Beginnings, with his two faces ... looking forward and back ... awaits the pagan New Year.

Tomorrow: New Year’s Day is the one true global public holiday – celebrated by many with fireworks to spark 2012 into life ... and Auld Lang Syne to “ ‘remember our trusty friends’ as we’ll take aright good-will draught .... for auld lang syne”.

Happy New Year and a very successful and joy-filled 2012 ... busy year ahead.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Alice’s Story .... Jam Jars ... and my goddaughter’s remembrances ...

Do you remember going to the cinema and paying with a jam jar, a piece of lead pipe, tin cans, or rags .... Or?

In the 1930s, those Depression years, and during the War – children could gain entry to the Matinee cinema performance by paying with a jam jar!!

1930s children

Children came from all around, usually on bicycles if they were in the country, eager to join the queue – every effort was made to earn or have the 2p admission ... but, if not, a jam jar would do!

Extra farthings, half-pennies or pennies went towards sweets, oranges or buns ... Ice-creams only becoming available from the usherette in the middle of the 20^th Century when refrigeration became cheaper.

A farthing - 1/4 of a Penny

The Corporation trucks would collect the jam jars to go to the jam factory; the rags and rabbit skins would go to be cleaned and made into rough blankets; the tin cans and lead pipe were headed to the aircraft factories .... all legitimate for the War effort.

The glass collection continued on into the 1970s when beer and pop bottles were collected and returned for cash ... great for pocket money and/or recycling.

The Curzon Cinema Eastbourne:
opened its doors in 1913

Nutty neighbours? – well one man used to tell the local kids that he would go to the cinema and pay with a jam jar – they assumed he was off his rocker or nuts ... he was usually    - but just not with this particular remembrance!

One question – if the jam jars were at the cinema:  “Where did the children keep their minnows and sticklebacks?”

Large! minnow in jam jar!

This raised a point with my honorary goddaughter D – as mentioned in my last post ... she reminded me of the time when (her twin) Amy and Simon came down with their mother and Gogo (grandma) to stay.  They must have been 8 and 5 at the time .... when we went to see my uncle.

Derek’s big garden was wonderful for children – lots of shrubs to run around amongst, trees to hide behind, the raised house with its ‘stoop’ (African balcony) for us to sit on and have tea – keeping an ever watchful eye on darting youngsters.

Similar full bordered pond to
my uncle's

Then right in front my aunt had dug a huge pond – she was petite, probably less than 5 feet, which to clean (my uncle told me!) she took off her clothes and went in up to her neck to sort it out!  She had fisherman’s waders for the lighter jobs!

This pond was a relative monster having been based on a Dew Pond ... my aunt was a perfectionist ... and it had been very well constructed (a necessity coming from an engineering family).  She had planted it with rushes, water lilies, added goldfish and Koi ... it was a lovely sight from our balcony vantage point ...

Koi

There was a slightly wobbly path running around the back, with a tall, full border of perennial shrubs – azaleas, roses, et al (can’t remember in other words!).  Not really room for adults and kids ... but that’s the way it goes.

Public Pond - Yacht Racing

Derek had all the mod cons out – or ancient much loved relics of childhoods gone ... two model sail boats ... that would get marooned in the middle and our tall stick couldn’t reach them ... til the wind blew them free.

The kids delighted in these running around, rescuing the ships out of the rushes, darting to the back as they sailed further out of reach to the far shore .....

.... then a Cri de Coeur – Hilly, Hilly ... can we have a jam jar?  Why?  There’s fishes here and we want to catch them ... oh look there’s babies too .... oh, oh please can we have some jar jars ...

Fish in the Faroe Islands:

 Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) – 

Faroese stamp issued 7 February 1994

... so jam jars they had – poor fish extracted from their watery living quarters to be fair and square deposited on the hot paving slabs of that path ... where they slithered unhappily ... as the kids squealed and screamed with delight.

A good memory from D of happy days in Derek’s garden ... which ties in well with Jam Jars ... so the chap was right to question – but what about the sticklebacks and minnows .... ours didn’t last long as they quietly ‘fried alive’ .. my sloshing with water didn’t help much I don’t think!

Still these are good laughter memories – the jam jar trip to the cinema – was new to me ... as well as D’s remembrance of another time over at Derek’s .. that resonates very happily in her mind to this day .... so Jam Jars too have stories to tell.

Quick update on my mother ... I think presents trigger her interest!  Christmas Day went .. but Boxing Day she came too and I asked if she wanted to open some presents ... we did – and she raised her head up trying to look round me to see what I was doing as I was setting something up – quizzy as ever, not wanting to miss out! 

Garden Dew Pond with water lilies

She was really interested ... and then I read the cards and Christmas notes/letters I had up in her room ... but that was enough.  The main thing she was happy and interested ... and today I read some of my A – Z short blog posts ... we read A – D ... not bad.

My Dew Pond post ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Birthdays ....

An Aga

I’m sure we all know people at this time of year who have birthdays, but in the melee of festivities their actual birth-day is glossed over.  This is to remember all those who will and have been over the years missing out on a celebratory day – unless of course they’re really clever and have a half-day – in June or July on this side of the hemisphere.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I have a few great friends round this time – and one on Boxing Day – who just vanishes to warmer climes – she came from South Africa, but I knew her years before I went over there.  I simply cannot blame her for escaping!  I made hay while the sun shone for my own day in January when I lived in Johannesburg.

Fresh veggie = essentials

My uncle’s birthday was today ... and since my aunt had died he’d almost been forgotten about – friends would come down, but the rest of us many relatives were tied up with our Christmas rush.

I just decided one year to give him a surprise party .... and invited a few people that he knew, some relatives, cousins of ours, my family and a few locals ... keeping it very small and quite open ended.

Cold meat selection
(ours were in finger pieces)

Not a good time – but if everyone was told ... party time with a buffet lunch from 11.30 onwards, then I reckoned I get a few more takers ... and we did.

My honorary god-daughter D (she was born on the same day as my real god-daughter .. and they’ve remained friends – great isn’t it) aged 12 or so .. was very happy to spend a night at my house ... playing games, having a sleep-over, while I grafted and organised the food: a surprise is a surprise.

Herby bread

Derek knew D and I were going over to have lunch with him – so he was expecting us ... but the first thing on our arrival was .... “well dearest Derek – we have invited a few friends to come round for lunch”.  Help – he then wanted to rush around ... nope – D ordered him to sit down – gave him a cup of coffee ...

Devils on Horseback

... we did have to ask him to get up to turn the central heating back on ... but after that – it was fairly plain sailing.  Finger food, plenty of choice for elderly palettes, was unloaded, for simplicity and to save on washing up - paper plates, plastic cups and cutlery were laid out, Christmas baubles, decorations and tinsel were ‘decoratively’ strewn around ...

... the Aga was ready for the few things that needed heating or warming ... the platters were laid up and we were set to go ... all in about 45 minutes ... as the first guests came through the door – I’d asked some special friends of his to come early to soothe his rattled soul ... at the suddenness of party time!

Winter Garden

Langata was a typical Kenyan house ... large windows onto a stoop (balcony) overlooking the garden ... which my aunt had designed and laid out, as she’d done for the house!   Some lady!  The garden stretched out before us ... crispy and even in its wintry cover ... but beautiful in its form.

As each set of guests stepped through the door from about 11.45 onwards to about 2.30 ... my uncle’s eyes popped out ... people came and went – which was ideal ... never too many at once.

Cheese and Grapes

The Birth Day became an annual event ... and even last year after he had died and the house had been sold – the new owners invited the next door Garden Nursery people to drinks on the same day – so as it happened the tradition continued.  Melanie said to me .. it was so strange going round knowing Derek was no longer there.

My uncle was thrilled and said nobody had thrown a party for him ... he proclaimed he’d never had a birthday party .... perhaps true in that week before Christmas – so I was glad I could treat him to something special.

Gooey no bake chocolate cake
waiting to be cut into squares

He was amazed .... everyone helped clear up and sort things out ... the fridge was packed  with some delicious left-overs and he was happy in his excitement of the day ....

Happy Birthday to all who get the rough end of the stick by being born at this time of year – it’s not their fault though is it?!

Thank you for your support, friendship and wonderful comments during the year and now a very Merry Christmas to one and all ... and an exceptionally  happy 2012 in the year ahead ...

Blessings and Peace to all in the world – may we become a compassionate, caring and thoughtful race –

Please remember the Filippinos, who are very worried about their family and friends in the recent storms in Mindanao ... Perla (our carer my mother calls Cleopatra) being one of them ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

The Christmas A – Z has come early ...

Hi everyone – I’m over at Lee’s Blog reminiscing on the A – Z Challenge with a few extra mulled creative thoughts A to Zed threaded in .. I hope you’ll join us ...

Designed by Ada Z 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Once I caught a fish alive

Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,

Then I let it go again ...

Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen Gad’s alive

It’s Lee and Wifie’s Anniversarie

Fourteen years to the day: the thirteenth

Of that devilish twelfth month end of

Two Thousand and Eleven.....

Congratulations Lee and Happy Anniversary to you both ...

JD's book

Now for the ‘serious’ bit ...  J D Meier ( an amazingly well organised man and his blog!) .. has a new post up entitled “How to Market Your Book” – and it’s a resource that some of you may find useful to read and mull over during this Christmas period – and perhaps take advantage of his thoughts in 2012 ... so please click on over: Sources of Insight.

Happy Christmas!

That’s me done, dusted and icing sugared for this post ... head on over to Lee’s Blogging Challenge Blog ... it’s just so much fun being a part of this great group of supportive bloggers – wonderful friends from around the world ...

12 Days of Christmas

A to Zed, is as simple as ABC or One, Two, Three Buckle My Shoe – and apologies to all Nursery Rhyme lovers!

Last but not least ... Ada Z as she is usually known by (Ada Zdanowicz - of CollagePodge) designed the amazing A-to-Z badge - and this needs to be enlarged for you all to see the crossword detail - clever isn't she?!  Lee's post for Ada.

Have fun – enjoy all the posts on the A – Z reflections ... Cheers from me and Hello to Lee .... here’s to a wonderful year end and successful 2012.

Happy Anniversary – you two Birdies .....

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Tea Bags!

Christmas aroma – mince pies, plum pudding, brandy sauce, rich Christmas cake baking away ... what was that all pervading spicy smell that my little nose could smell all the time – Eureka – I found the culprits ... Tea Bags!

Yogi Products
via Amazon

Some German friends of my mother’s had sent us over a pack of Christmas Collection teabags ...  so the ‘warm holiday notes and exotic spices’ have been wafting around making me wonder where the scent came from.  I am not complaining .. they really do smell Christmassy.

Described as a perfect cup of Christmas .... it’s the ideal tea to share ... twelve different types:

Classic

Rooibos

Sweet Chilli

Schoko/Choco

Lakritz/Liquorice

Jamaika/Jamaica

Glucks Tee/Bright Mood

Lebensfreude/Heartwarming

Ingwer Hibiskus/Ginger Hibiscus

Inger Zitrone Tee/ Ginger Lemon

Abend Tee/Bedtime

Black Chai

Hotel Louis C Jacob Hotel, Hamburg

The Herb and Spice Infusions (ingredients) make for some interesting reading:

Cinnamon         Liquorice         Ginger                 Rooibusch      Cocoa shells 

Fennel       Basil           Cardamom         Roasted Chicory          Hibiscus

Black Tea            Peppermint                  Carob                    Lemon grass

Barley Malt            Black Pepper                Anise                   Spearmint

Chamomile               Cloves         Dried Lemon Juice               Orange Peel

Lemon Balm                 Hops          Citrus Extract (natural flavour [nf])

Nettle                  Lavender Flowers              Sage           Lemon Peel

Orange Extract (nf)              Cinnamon extract (nf)            Ginger Oil

Turmeric Root             Beetroot              Chilli Pepper          Nutmeg

Fenugreek                           Yarrow flower                     Cardoman Oil   

                            Vanilla Beans               Vanilla Extract

The Library at the Hotel

The soggy tea bag has come a long way since being first marketed in hand-sewn silk bags over 100 years ago; a New York merchant shipped his loose tea around the world in these bags, which were meant to be emptied, but convenience quickly became the norm – and tea bags, coffee bags etc were born.

The silk teabags resembled paper sacks, before the invention of the rectangular one in 1944.  Silk gave way to paper fibre. Now we have all sorts of shapes and sizes for our loose teas made with many varieties of tea infusions, herbs and spices.

The Bistro - part of the Hotel

The Yogi Tea range, from which my Christmas Spiced teas have come, is by a company formed in 1969 when Yogi Bhajan, a teacher of holistic living started sharing his knowledge of Ayurveda.

It’s interesting how that quintessential English drink “tea” now reaches all corners of the earth ... in various guises and where herbalists have created brews for the 21^st century .. that come back to Eastbourne, England, via Hamburg, Germany but with roots in China and India, transhipped to America ... using many Asian herbs and spices.

Similar Ice Creams

Interesting snippets – Tetley’s introduced the tea bag into England after rationing had ended (not during rationing) ... I expect we thought we were getting more tea for our ‘bucks’ ...

Ever thought about collecting tea bags?  Apparently there are sites for tea bag collectors – strange idea!

Teabag folding – is a form of Origami – whereby the fronts of the tea bag sachets are turned into rosettes .. and can be used to decorate gift cards ...

Hamburg on the Elbe -
pink splodge just above here!

Sunburn (not in this neck of the woods now – it’s rather cold) can be treated with recycled (used) tea-bags ...

Finally I have to thank the Hanseatic League (that economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe: the Baltic to the North Sea and, later on, inland during the 13^th – 17^th centuries) for allowing ships to penetrate right up the Elbe to the hub of Hamburg.

The Terrace on the banks of the Elbe

These trade links allowed my mother and I to stay at an old coach house on the Elbe, on the outskirts of Hamburg where these German friends live ...  the Louis C Jacob hotel is on the list of the best small hotels in the world .... it was a big treat!

A few years ago, when they were excavating to update and improve the hotel ... the digger nearly fell into a hole 100 feet x 80 feet .... that was a shock?!  The Hotel is on the old coach road along the river’s edge – which runs for 80 miles or so before reaching the North Sea ... that hole turned out to be the ice cellar from those early days.

Their expansion occurred over the road and they had to put in a pedestrian bridge from one side of the hotel to the other ... it’s a beautiful place – and when I’m wealthy!!??!! I’d love to go back.

Fine dining watching the kitchens at work
(where the boys had their ice creams)

The hotel does mini tours – when they take guests around and show them the hotel ... so we went one afternoon with the boys – Jan-Philipp and Tom Benedict – when they were given chefs hats to wear, then treated to ice-cream in the kitchen .... 


.... the Chef then appeared and decorated their plates with candles, smarties, chocolate dots, and goodies – they couldn’t wait to get stuck in – despite being overwhelmed with the situation.

The Ice Cellar

We took Swantje and Christian for a drink in the Cellar bar ... you can see how deep the hole is from this photo – I’m glad I wasn’t the digger man!  The cellar was the old ice-store room – where contraband and legitimate trade would have been stored.  The river is heavily tidal .. and unloading wouldn’t have been too difficult ...

... in the Middle Ages – the huge deep water dock area had not been thought of ... so the marshy bank on the other side of the Elbe would not have been suitable for the Excise Men.

Quite honestly who would have thought Tea Bags could produce a blog post at Christmas time – still I thank Jan-Philipp and Tom Benedict for having such a clever mother .. and for sending us these deliciously scented teas ...

I’d have never have thought that nettle, barley, beetroot and hops would be part of the ingredient list included in my tea bags  ...   Well now – I can go and have a ?well-deserved cup of tea!

Well done Jan-Philipp and Tom Benedict ....

Louis C Jacob Hotel, Hamburg

Photos from Expedia re Louis C Jacob Hotel

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories