by Fern Shaw | Jun 2, 2014 | Charity, Water
As you know, I tend to blather on a little about water. Especially drinking water. Clean, fresh drinking water in Africa, where millions of people don’t have access to the life giving stuff as we do. It all seems a bit negative, but that isn’t really the case.
I came across these two articles recently.
The first, from The Daily Mail, said:
‘Huge reserves of underground water in some of the driest parts of Africa could provide a buffer against the effects of climate change for years to come, scientists said.
Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London have for the first time mapped the aquifers, or groundwater, across the continent and the amount they hold.
‘The largest groundwater volumes are found in the large sedimentary aquifers in the North African countries Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan,’ the scientists said in their paper.’
The other, from The Telegraph, said:
‘Scientists using technology developed to search for oil have discovered a vast underground water reservoir in one of Kenya’s driest regions that if properly managed could supply the country’s needs for close to 70 years.
Researchers from a French-American firm, Radar Technologies International, worked with the Kenyan government and UNESCO to layer satellite, radar and geological maps on top of each other, and then used seismic techniques developed to find oil to identify the reservoir.
It lies in Kenya’s extreme northwest, close to its borders with South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. The area is sparsely populated and prone to conflict over existing scarce resources.’
See, now, this is actually marvellous news, but with this, a word of caution:
“But knowing there’s water there, and then getting it to the surface, are two different things …” Brian McSorley, a water expert at Oxfam in Nairobi, said.
And therein lies the rub. Deep down underground there is potable water – even in the Sahara Desert – but reaching it can be problematic.
That’s why sustainable, practical and cost effective solutions are important. One such solution that has been in operation for a number of years now, addressing this exact problem, can be found through The Africa Trust. A charity started by AquAid and Ian Thorpe. One of the many solutions that The Africa Trust provides is the building of Elephant Pumps throughout disadvantaged communities throughout Africa.
No, they don’t use real elephants. The Elephant Pump is a well based on an ancient Chinese design. The pump has been adapted to make it stronger, more durable and made and maintained using materials that are locally available in remote rural sub-Saharan African communities.
by Fern Shaw | May 19, 2014 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
Continuing my love affair with all things tree and in keeping with ‘best of British’, have a gander at 5 trees native to Britain. By native, we mean trees that are at home in Britain and have grown in the country for thousands of years. I’ve included two images of the beautiful birch trees that I mentioned in Trees and Water Part I.
All of these can be planted in your garden (should you have the space) and are fantastic to have as they encourage native insect and bird life.
Alder, Alnus glutinosa
- A quick-growing, nitrogen-fixing, insect-harbouring, bird-loving son of a gun
Planting an alder is a great way to invite birds and insects to live in your garden. These trees grow fast and love damp soil. In the winter, male catkins and female cones dangle from the branches. Its timber was used as a lure for woodworm, which would
prefer to eat away at a block of alder wood placed in a wooden cupboard than the cupboard itself.
Ash, Fraxinus excelsior
- A grand tree shrouded in mystery and folklore
For the Vikings, their ‘world tree’ was an ash: Yggdrasil united heaven, hell and earth. Many pagans saw the ash as a healing tree, and used it in ceremonies and treatments. The wood is very springy and can withstand sudden shocks, so is great for snooker cues and hockey sticks.
English oak, Quercus robur
- Famous for having strong timber, being a home for insects, and for living to a ripe old age
Oaks grow all over Britain. They’re the best at attracting insects (who’ll help to pollinate other plants in your garden)
and can live for over 500 years. Talk about heritage!
Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna
- Its white flowers are a welcome sign of spring after a long winter
The hawthorn is also known as the May tree, and you’ve probably seen loads of its beautiful white flowers blooming in the month of May. Used in spring ceremonies, this tree also has more practical uses and its berries are thought to benefit the heart
and to lower blood pressure.
Hazel, Corylus avellana
- Nut bearing, food for humans and animals alike
If you grow a hazel, you can look forward to harvesting the tasty nuts and perhaps sharing them with garden friends such as squirrels and dormice. The catkins that grow on hazels also look pretty cool – they’re known as lamb’s tails.
So, there you have it. Five gorgeous trees for your garden, most bearing Nature’s bounty for the two legged, four legged (and even six and eight legged) alike.
You’ll need to forgive me if I don’t wax lyrical much more. Mrs Fitzsimmons took exception to my ‘plant a tree / bring a bonsai’ station at the water cooler and in protest, I’ve lashed myself to said water cooler as a last ditch stand. I see things going pear-shaped right smartly!
‘Plant a Tree! Plant a Tree!’
*Excerpts from 10 British trees to grow in your garden.
by Fern Shaw | May 19, 2014 | Water
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved trees. Even more fascinating to me is bark. I’m not referring to the sound a doglet makes; I’m referring to the ‘skin’ of a tree. Bark, to me = beautiful.
Specifically, I loved birch trees. We had a large, undeveloped piece of land as part of our property and some sort of water spring that oozed up in one particular area. Around this spring, there was a thicket of birch trees. Having a vivid imagination, I used to explore this thicket and imagine that I was in some secret, magical, silvered faerie forest.
I suppose it was there that I first saw the very real connection between water = life in that it was only in this particular spot that the birches grew.
Imagination aside though, trees sustain us in myriad of practical ways. Essentially, no trees, no life. It rather behoves us, then, to ensure that these masters of nature are protected and nurtured for all future.
If you think about it, trees have, for millennia, sustained us. Clothed us, housed us, and provided fuel, oxygen and food – pretty amazing!
The symbiosis between trees and water is also quite incredible. Although medium to larger trees can drink a lot of water (sometimes upwards of 400 litres per tree, per day), the reward that the trees give back is tenfold of the water it needs to flourish. Trees trap more of the sun’s energy than any other group of organisms on earth – they are in essence big batteries – the largest on earth. Only 0.1% of the sun’s energy is trapped by organisms – trees account for 50% of all energy trapped by organism.
I’ve been holding impromptu meetings at the water cooler at the office (translation: me ambushing people innocently coming to replenish their water), trying to see if I can drum up some support for bringing in Bonsai Trees for everyone (trees produce far more oxygen than we give them credit for). Of course, larger trees would produce far more oxygen, but that idea was vetoed right sharply. I’ve also been told in no uncertain terms by busybody Mrs Fitzsimmons, that should any plant life be bought into the office, I’m not allowed to use the water from the water cooler to water the trees.
Such a killjoy.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 28, 2014 | Health and Hydration
One would think that there was an end in sight for slightly unusual traditions in the U.K. I mean, it’s not as if I haven’t mentioned them on more than one occasion – see my blogs about Water most Fowl and Eleventy More Water Trivia amongst others.
It would seem, though, that this is so not the case. There are oodles of quirk packed into the island(s)!
In honour of April, here’s the skinny about how April Fools’ Day originated.
Change of Calendars
One belief is that the reason All Fools’ (or April Fools’) Day now falls in April is related to the 1582 implementation of the Gregorian calendar reform in France, which shifted the marking of the arrival of the new year from a week-long gift-giving celebration spanning March 25 to April 1 to a single-day observance on January 1.
In the Julian calendar, the old calendar, New Year was celebrated from March 25th to April 1st. The first day of the Gregorian calendar is January 1st.
“When some people, whether out of stubbornness or lack of information, persisted in celebrating the New Year at the end of March, others started to mock … with gag gifts and other teasing gestures”.
Britain didn’t accept the new calendar until 1752. (Because we’re a little pig-headed like that).
April fooling became popular in England and Scotland during the 1700s.
The best known public prank is the 1957 news show broadcast by Panorama. It was a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. This was apparently because of an unusually mild winter and the “virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil,” with video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The show said: “For those who love this dish, there’s nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti.”
Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC simply said: “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
Now you must know that this was a good April Fools’ prank because I wasn’t even dreamed of in 1957, but I remember hearing about the spaghetti trees story as an adult many, many moons later.
I personally have zero sense of humour about being pranked and have so become a tad wary about any interaction on the morning. I am still rather amazed though, about a particular wicked prankster friend and another horribly, horribly gullible mutual friend. I won’t detail the prank suffice to say that it involved news of a pregnancy and the ‘fact’ that the baby was not the husband’s. I’m still gobsmacked that said gullible friend didn’t catch on.
Anyhow, that’s my input about April Fools for you. I’m heading off to our water cooler to replenish my water glass & to eavesdrop – see if I can pick up on any other corkers that have worked. Slainté!
by Fern Shaw | Apr 25, 2014 | Water, water cooler
The image is of John Collier’s painting of Queen Guinevere’s Maying
May Day, not to be confused with the emergency ‘mayday’, on May 1 is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday. It is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. May Day coincides with International Workers’ Day, and in many countries that celebrate the latter, it may be referred to as “May Day”.
The emergency call: ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,’ is believed to have originated in 1923 with Frederick Stanley Mockford (1897–1962). A senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London, Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the word “Mayday” from the French “m’aider” (“venez m’aider” meaning “come help me”). Now you know!
Back to the topic at hand though;
Traditional British May Day rites and celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole. Much of this tradition derives from the pagan Anglo-Saxon customs held during “Þrimilci-mōnaþ” (the Old English name for the month of May meaning Month of Three Milkings) along with many Celtic traditions.
May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. May Day is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility (of the soil, livestock, and people) and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Since the reform of the Catholic calendar, May 1 is the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, the patron saint of workers. Seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons.
The May Day bank holiday, on the first Monday in May, was traditionally the only one to affect the state school calendar, although new arrangements in some areas to even out the length of school terms mean that Good Friday (a common law holiday) and Easter Monday (a bank holiday), which vary from year to year, may also fall during term time. The Spring Bank Holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978.
Now, what has this to do with water coolers one may ask? Hm, well, May 1st is in spring; spring means renewal; May blossoms; blossoms require water as without water there would be no blossoms blossoming; crops growing and without hydrated humans to grow those crops … you get the general idea.
So, should you need water to keep you hale and hearty in order to produce food and rig up maypoles, think of us, AquAid, for all your hydration requirements!
