Jacqui Murray's Book Blast for her new book - Endangered Species ...

Jacqui of WordDreams is writing these amazing books on the early species of us … and has asked that we contribute various articles on aspects of their life … mine is:

Jacqui - smiling happily

How did they store water?

Essentially they wouldn't have wanted to store it … as they'd have known where to find sources:

... they couldn't live without water;

... by understanding the landscape;

... noting the seasonal swings;

... watching game and birds go to drink;

... they'd have noted the seasonal fruits and herbs ready to eat

... also they'd have realised there were water storing plants which are moisture rich in their flesh or roots …

Nara Melon

For instance the !nara melon (Acanthosicyos horridus) has tap roots penetrating down to water near the water table (not obvious in the landscape).

These ancient inhabitants would have lived in and around an area where there'd have been sufficient resources to support the group, only spreading out when numbers of their group became too many, or they met others and thus Neanderthals spread …

Bushmen drinking from
the bi bulb

They'd have been constantly learning … adding to each generations' brain power as the semi-nomadic peoples lived and learnt.

They'd have lived in caves … where possibly a permanent water supply might have been found … or near a spring line …

Rivers were (and still are) both permanent - or ephemeral – would have been located and noted …

A Bushman drinking from an ostrich egg

They'd have realised that Ostrich eggs could be used for storing/carrying water … these huge very nutritious eggs … would have been invaluable to indigenous groups … they'd learn to create sip-wells ... feeding water into an ostrich egg ... 

Rocky outcrop

There were no straight lines (despite those modern day tyre tracks!) to be followed, or corners cut … they had to find their way each day, otherwise they would not have been able to survive long.

Beef tripe - prepared for filling

When they wanted to travel beyond their normal range … they'd have taken cleaned out intestines and stomachs of animals to hold enough water in case of need … but they'd not require much – those early peoples were very resilient.

Book two of the trilogy
due out in April

Jacqui's email details ... all her wonderful contributors can be found here ...

Word Dreams Book Blast for Endangered Species 

I just congratulate Jacqui - her books are fascinating ... and I so enjoy them - it's great so many of us are promoting her second book in the trilogy ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Biographic, Graphic and Curious books …

 

Inadvertently … I've found some genre of books … inspired from my introduction to Afrofuturism via Kugali (blog posts) in April and May 2019 … that I never thought to look at, or consider … but we get wiser as we get older – don't we - do we?!

Back cover

The first is Biographic Dickens … I borrowed from the library – and would love to read the rest … I've ordered Bowie, and one on Francoise Gilot – Picasso's muse and for a time wife – though I'm not sure it's from Ammonite Press – Biographic Lives in Graphic Form … anyway I shall see courtesy of the library …

This page shows their take on Victorian
Britain in Dickens' era

Other Biographic titles listed per their webpage – Prince; Van Gogh; the Beatles; Tesla; Sherlock; Shakespeare; Rembrandt; Picasso; Cezanne; Bowie; Austen; Audrey; Abba; Hemingway; Einstein; Dior; Beethoven; Hendrix; Dickens; Degas; Coco; Churchill; Monet; Marley; Marilyn; Leonardo; Klimt; Kahlo ...

Next the graphic novel author, Pénélope Bagieu (illustrator and comic designer), who profiles the lives of '30 Rebel Ladies Who Brazen Rocked the World' … all with indomitable spirits … such as (see below) Nzinga – Queen of the Ambundu kingdoms in present-day northern Angola …

... and Georgina Anzulata-Reid whose life story is told … who in the 1980s saved the Montauk Point Light for twenty years by planting reeds to shore up the bluff … at minimal cost …

... before the engineers took over its continuing restoration and protection in the 2020s … costing a mere $44 million! I mentioned her in my previous post.

I've added Temple Grandin's graphic – the Animal Whisperer - with many cows … her speciality …

... and Nzinga ... Queen of the Ambundu kingdoms ... 

The third book – 'The Art of Curiosity' – could have been written for me … but it gives a summary about 50 people who are visionaries, artists, scientists, poets, makers and dreamers - who are changing the way we see our world … that last phrase perhaps fits me in an old-fashioned way …

I'm going to revert to that book later … as there is one guy, about whom I want to highlight in another post …

Cheryl Lee McKenzie – mentioned another book 'Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime (A MusiComic Manifesto)' which is coming out later this year … by Ge Wang … who cannot be categorised … amazing man, by the sound of it.

Just occasionally I wish I lived in California … but I'm happy in my own little world of East Sussex! A quieter place perhaps ... though?! …

Then I remembered I'd bought 'The Complete Maus' by Art Spiegelman – which I will now read in this new genre that I'm beguiled by …

There are now two anthologies
here's the link

It looks like I'll not be reading reading books – but looking at comic, graphic and other types of books in future … though I suspect I'll revert to the written word …

Thoughts for the brain …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Fables for the end of 2024's A-Z …

Congratulations to all who entered, contributed and enjoyed – it's an interesting challenging journey – relief is in sight today …

My inspiration for this post came from
finding Jean Ignace Isidore Gerard
(1803 - 1847) - prolific illustrator
and caricaturist

Life's moral lessons expressed via animals … A to Z of rabbit holes n'est pas?!

Anthropomorphism to Zoomorphism

… not quite animal, vegetable or mineral … but informatory tales told from the earliest of days …

An example of Anthropomorphism
see Panchatantra for explanation

I'd better start … with A for Anthropomorphism … using the rabbit fooling the elephant king by showing him the reflection of the moon.

B is for The Bear and the Bees …

C and D are for The Dog and the Crocodile …

E is for The Eagle and the Owl …

F is for list of Fables …

G is for Gutenberg's files on Fables ...

H is for The Hares and the Frogs ...

I is for the Impertinent Insect …

The Impertinent Insect

J is for Jupiter's Lottery …

K is for the Kite and the Doves ...

L is for The Lion and the Gnat ...

M is for The Mouse and the Oyster ...

Nizami Ganjavi

N is for Nizami Ganjavi – considered to be the greatest 12thC romantic epic poet in Persian literature …

O is for The Olive Tree and the Reed …

P is for the Priest and the Wolf …

(A Hilary adaption)

Q is for the Queenly ruler of the plain – to be found with The Lion and other Beasts in Council …

R is for The Rivers and the Sea …

S is for The Snake and the Crab …

T is for The Tortoise and the Birds …

(Another Hilary adaption)

U is for underground where we find The Mice in Council …

V is for The Vultures and the Pigeons …

W is for The Weasel and Aphrodite …

The Vultures and the Pigeons

X is for X number of fables …

Y is The Young Man and the Swallow …

Z is for Zeus and the Tortoise …

Short story from the 
Jungle Book collection

That's my list of A – Z fables (with a couple of hilarious add-ins) – there be more real ones … all found in the links …

Congratulations to all A – Zers … and as far as I'm concerned let's hope M for May gives us some summer weather!

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Fish Bananas – Banoffee Pie…

The chef, Ian Dowding, who co-created the Banoffee Pie recipe, together with his proprietor at the Hungry Monk restaurant, Jevington, East Sussex … down the road … came out to talk to us about his life in general …

Ian Dowding's - a cook's note book

Now I don't want any comment on the image selected for his book … makes me laugh to think about it together with the title … but I do love artichokes … a summer treat.

Ian talked to us about how he came to being a chef, and how he learnt his trade and then the creation of the delicious infamous Banoffee Pie … oooh so good.

Banoffee Pie - made with a digestive base

He uses a pastry base – me … I'd always go for the digestive biscuit base … but here we go – the English digestive base, or the American Graham cracker base …

... I'm not sure I've ever tasted a Graham cracker … though to me it would be hard to beat the digestive, crushed and mixed with melted butter before being formed into a base.

Digestive Biscuits

Banoffee Pie is delicious … I could easily crave it – but banish the thought … and, though I'm sure it's around, I don't see it … so am not tempted.

What's not to like … digestive crust, boiled cans of condensed milk … I remember doing this for another dessert (coffee mousse) I used to make when I was a youngster …

... the boiling of the cans gives us the goooey toffee base, add sliced bananas, use thick cream (your choice) with a coffee flavouring to cover … and serve … with or without a dusting of coffee …

Camp Coffee
 - coffee syrup

Coffee flavouring when I was growing up – was made with Camp Coffee … for coffee milkshakes and desserts (never coffee per se) … oddly my brother mentioned they'd run out of Camp Coffee for a pudding (as we call them) for a supper party over the Easter weekend … he was noting after the dessert he'd had a very wakeful night overdosed on caffeine!

Ian Dowding's talk starting out in the culinary world – it was interesting to hear his take … and now I have his book, together with Le Repertoire de La Cuisine - which contains a very concise précis of over 6,000 recipes (c/o Escoffier) ... 

... this intrigued me – and no doubt I'll use it to bring some amusement to my posts in future … as I can find 'artichoke bottoms' in it … this is the reference source where I could not find the 'Groër sauce' per my last post …

I must comment on Fish Bananas – Ian has a recipe for them … a meaty fish, bananas, mango chutney … which does sound interesting …

Through the keyhole -
to all you eclipse chasers ... 

That concludes the Fish Bananas and Banoffee Pie post … all tastes to the mill of your delight! And a big thank you to all references in the previous post … Monty Python, JD Salinger's Nine Stories …

Enjoy the Eclipse tonight in that large continental mass over the pond! I do hope the weather plays fair … the experience is well worth it - even if it's only a partial eclipse like the one I experienced 25 years ago …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Hope in the soul …

 

I'm sure most of the world would prefer to have peace and quiet to live their lives … Emily Dickinson wrote this thoughtful poem …

White Feather

"Hope is the Thing with Feathers”

Hope is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I've heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea:

Yet – never - in extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

by Emily Dickinson c 1861

Blackbird - who sings so wonderfully
as we move from winter into spring

With Easter at the weekend … let's think for ourselves and look to happier times ahead …

Spring meadow heralding happier times, I hope

as Emily poetically writes …

Hope perches in the soul

Happy, peaceful and understanding times to you all, as we move into the second quarter of 2024 ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Indeterminate life ...

 

I came across this quote via the recent blog entry 'The Strange Science of Zombie Fungi' – courtesy of Maria Popova's 'The Marginalian':

'A mind not be chang'd by Place or Time' – John Milton from Paradise Lost (Book I, line 234 … if I've counted right!).

"The mind is its own place”

Mother's Day lunch - we'd have had roast
potatoes ... and now my mind is on lunch!

This has been my head space … while I've pottered around chattering away to myself! - happy in my own little way - as I pretend to gear my own self up to being sensible and progressing with things needing to be done. Also sorting a few things out that took forever … patience, at times, is not my virtue ...

No excuse – I've been lazy – which of course now means I'm dithering around trying to catch one of those tails to put some salt on it … perhaps I can actually come back into this world and put muddling through behind me … there's mental hope – but that headspace is another thing!

Blue Tit - enjoying Spring

Anyway after a gloomy International Women's Day and Mothering Sunday (our Mother's Day here in the UK – tied into the Church's calendar – dating back to the 8^th century) … we are still enjoying mists or rain – no doubt the plants are appreciative … certainly the blue tits are filling out, as they chunter around in the lime tree outside.

I remember back twenty five years ago … we had Mother's Day with my my mother, and my brother's MIL, over in Alfriston (where the floods have recently been) … when the Canadian family were over …

John Tenniel's 1890 illustration
for Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland

… there were lots of us … 15 or so … it was so warm we moved outside and had our Mothering Sunday roast lunch in the garden …

I did find some interesting women I wanted to mention and thus rabbit holes I fell into … but I think I'll leave them for another day …

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's portrait
of Swinburne (1862)

I did come across an article on Algernon Charles Swinburne's early work (1857 – 1871): 'The Female Archetypes' … which might make interesting reading for one or two of you …

It's drier and brighter today … thanks for your kind thoughts … and care – I'm just about up and running – by next week definitely …

From a friend's garden - the
hyacinths I gave her a few years ago

The Marginalian - The Strange Science of Zombie Fungi 

Paradise Lost - c/o Poets.org  

Disstheses on Swinburne's 'The Female Archetypes' c/o Louisiana State University  (NB a pdf)

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Five hundred years of blogging …

 

Sadly when Write Edit Publish came to its end … understandable in many ways – the administrators have done a wonderful job over the years and I was only around for about half the time – Denise, Renee, Nila, Laura, Olga, Jemi suggested that we write something at the end of each month … as WEP: Get Togethers … which I will do next week. So to continue my thoughts on the start of blogging … posted 1^st February.

Get Together team 

In the 1500s a Frenchman popularised the essay as a literary genre – otherwise known today as blogging in a short form …

Jorn Barger

But a question arose from Karen – where did the term 'blog' come from? I'd always heard it came from the web and a ship's logbook (hence blog) … which made 'common sense' to me …

So see the article on Jorn Barger – perhaps the first proper blogger as a blogger – he coined the term weblog ...

I found a book on Michel Montaigne (1533 - 1592) that will make interesting reading, who appears today to have popularised the essay as a literary genre.

Optical Fibres

I've been absent from the net for most of this week – the angst of not being on line was somewhat sad – I was lost - I thought I was only going to be off for a few minutes – the telecoms company informed me … well a few days later I'm back … so I was very unprepared …

I needed a weblog to record 'the doings' but I will not waste your time … I'm now on fibre broadband – which gives me comfort (I think!) ...

Hurricane seas

… but the Beaufort Scale  kicked in down here … yesterday it was bucketing and wind buffeting … I will not go down to the seas, it will be very lonely down there … Poem by John Cooper Clarke

Well it's now Friday … and things are still being sorted out – I seem to have done something silly re my desktop … life for the 'brainless' goes on … just had a long phone call from a friend who's not been that well … so now I'm rushed even more!!

The story of how the web
really got started ... 

At least I'll have got a post up – even more muddled than usual … I hope to sort things out and attempt to catch up in the coming week … life is flexing me a little!

I bought this book back at the turn of the century ... ie 2000AD ...

Happy weekend from a chilly, blustery, heavy showery day …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Postive Letters Inspirational Stories