Importance of soil

I hope that you are all well. I thought I’d give you a Sydney the squirrel update. He’s returned, I had some carnations in my kitchen, Sydney loves carnations. I came into the kitchen and there he was at the window, licking his lips. Fortunately the window was shut. I have removed the carnations.
It’s planting time for many flowers and vegetables, however the Country Trust have asked the citizens in the UK to plant a pair of cotton pants!! The Trust is seeking to to discover the health of the soil in the UK. They want to learn how we can protect our soil for the future.
Soil has many superpowers and without it life as we know it wouldn’t exist. Soil provides food for plants and growth. It helps purify water. It provides flood and drought protection. It helps regulate the climate. For soil to be considered healthy and alive it needs at least 3-6% organic matter content. Apparently 75% of European soil is dead. However this can be changes by feeding soil with organic matter fertiliser etc.
To find out the quality of the soil cotton pants need to be planted and then leave them there for eight weeks. When the pants are dug up the more disintegrated the pants are the healthier the soil. It means organisms have been eating the cotton. The country Trust will then assist people in finding out what their soil needs to improve. Children are being encouraged to get involved. Great fun.
Another garden related story is about Gary an eight foot fibre glass gorilla who was stolen from outside the garden centre. Gary was very popular with the customers . The owner of the centre Andrew Scott has displayed a very good sense of humour in a statement that he has released with regards to the theft. We don’t know who you are(the thieves), but we don’t have any money for a ransom we do have a lot of bananas. If you let our Gary go that’ll be the end of it. We will not look for you.
Bloggers have a good week over and out London.







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Technology that benefits people.


Hi bloggers hope you are well. It’s sunny today no excuse not to tidy up the plant pots. We’ve had so much rain that the plants have got a bit battered. The rain is welcome as there’s been a real lack this winter, and apparently the reservoirs are running dry.
Every Sunday there a charity appeal on BBC Radio. The charities are doing amazing work, but a charity called Renewable World caught my attention and I looked it up.
Renewable World was established in 2008. It has supported more than 109,000 people with renewable energy and technologies. They work in Kenya and Nepal, where 1 in 9 people lack electricity, 1 in 3 lack access to clean cooking and 1 in 10 lack access to clean water.
Renewable World specialise in developing effective ways of grid renewable energy solutions to remote communities. The charity works alongside the communities involving them in all the decisions. They provide the tools and skills and ownership to the communities to ensure lasting change.
An example from Kenya was enabling a woman called Diana to work with their village community to develop a tomato industry, that then provides an income. Another example is providing water to a remote village in Nepal. It was the women and girls who collected water requiring a two hour walk each way. The water made a huge difference to the girls, as they were then able to attend school. Fantastic work.
There was more technology good news from UK, a company called Deep Green has installed a small data centre (these data centres store our computer memories) in a community swimming pool centre. I’m not hot on information about technology or how things work. Simply put the computers inside a white box are surrounded by oil to capture the heat and this is used to heat the swimming pool. It saves money for the pool as there’s no heating cost. There’s a diagram in the photos which gives an explanation. It’s all good news.
Bloggers take care and wishing you a good week over and out London.
The orchid is called a baby in a cradle it’s beautiful isn’t it.




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People who perform acts of kindness


Hello I hope that you are all well. I read about the dramatic rise in the temperature goodness it’s hard for the body to cope with. Finally the very cold spell seems to have departed, who knows what next?
I read three lovely stories about kindhearted people, they all gave me hope for different reasons. A very heart warming story was about a father who was moved to tears by a Royal Mail driver who left a gift for his son. His son Alex who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, enjoys spending his free time standing on a bridge waving at traffic. One day Alex and his family went to the bridge and found a model of a Royal Mail truck tied to the bridge. It was accompanied by a letter. “ I see you and your lad regularly and thought he might like his own vehicle. Have a nice day. What a wonderfully kind act.
Another act of kindness was performed by Arif Gurjar in a village in India. Arif found an injured crane and he took the bird home to help it heal. He tried many remedies, there is not a vet in his locality. With his family’s help he nursed the bird back to health. The crane flew and Arif thought that was that. Not so the crane returned and has never left, when Arif rides his scooter the crane flies with him. Arif said he wouldn’t be without the crane and they are friends for life.
The third story benefits the environment, a woman from a village in Telford, Lin Pinfield has turned her front garden into a plastic recycling centre. She collects plastic that can’t be recycled and takes it to Terracycle. Terracycle brings the plastic into pellets and uses the pellets to make watering cans and benches. She gets points for the items, which she can donate to a charity of her choice. She uses the money for her daughter’s gymnastic club. Win win. Thank goodness for the generosity of people.
Bloggers have a good week over and out London.



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