Hot winds:

Hot winds battered trees on 2nd and 3rd January, and this Lipstick Acer that had been doctored previously, split again, leaving an ugly no longer viable tree. We will replaced it in autumn. Six and a half years old, the mass of green from our bedroom window will be missed, but at least there are some other things growing

---

We were lucky to avoid bush-fires, as they were close by at Hastings, where we go to the library. Fortunately no houses were lost, but tree, fences and animals were not so lucky.

Shall include a few photos of our tree from the bedroom window after it’s last mishap.

---

 

View minus full Acer. Alstoemeria lie cut after their spring flowering, but will return for an autumn show. Lily of the Valley are in the foreground having given of their best for spring. Grevilleas and Correas are dependable natives filling gaps. The Brugmansia, (Angel’s Trumpet tree), looks a bit worse for wear after the heat..

Loss? Blink:

This suggestion takes me back to remembering my elderly Mother when she lost her sense of taste as well as smell. It is probably nature’s way of reducing sensations in preparedness for departure to another realm. So this idea isn’t quite as fanciful as it might at first appear.

My first thought, if I had to loose one flavour initially was for the sweetness of sugar, as is so bad for one. All of those delicious sweet tastes: cakes, biscuits, pastries, chocolates, pavlovas with cream and passion-fruit, jams, and the endless list goes on. True, I don’t eat as much of these foods as I once did, but could I live without them completely? I think I’d choose not to.

Reading the list Ben Huberman produced, there’s a word I didn’t recognize, UMANI. Having looked it up, it has many meanings with words like ‘nucleotides’ and ‘L-glutamates’ and ‘glutamic acid’, as well as meaning delicious. Having not known that such a word existed, this is the one I have chosen to give up. It also includes shell- fish, which I’m allergic to, so this makes it a much easier choice. Many of the pre-packaged foods of today include Umani flavours.

I shall stick with fresh fruit and vegetables as my staples which leaves the delicious tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, salty and a little spicy within my repertoire.

Picky Tongues

You have to choose one flavor that your sense of taste will no longer be able to distinguish. Sweet, sour, bitter, salti, Umani, spicy (not taste per se, but we’re generous): which one do you choose to lose?  Ben Huberman

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/picky-tongues/

 

 

Book Review:

A Review: ‘And Then Like My Dreams’ (A Memoir)

Margaret Rose Stringer http://margaretrosestringer.com

This joyous and then poignant love story brings into focus two inseparable lives complimenting one another fully, following M-R’s disconsolate childhood.

Margaret Rose is a master story- teller. It is the final part that I found the most compelling. Her honesty: disclosing her intimate feelings, full of pathos and then devastation, one can’t help but be moved.

I put off reading this book because I knew it was going to be sad. In fact I borrowed it from the library, as I wasn’t sure I would like it. Having read it I shall order a couple of copies, as it is the sort of book one can give to someone else going through the drama of life. It is good to know that you’re not the only one who is suffering! The ending shows the strength that M-R gained, going on to study, work and write, finding her-self again. This gives hope; even though life will never be the same, it shows how strength can be achieved through adversity.

M-R is a prolific blogger and responder to other peoples’ blogs. Many of you will know her already. I recommend, ‘And Then Like My Dreams.’