Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the day “February 28, 2016”

Walking Rescue Greyhounds in Hersham. Great exercise and Great thing to do


On sunday mornings a great way to get some exercise and be helpful is to take a trip down to Turners Lane in Hersham where Hersham Hounds/Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare have their greyhound kennels. The kennels are home to maybe 100 greyhounds at any one time.

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Humphrey. A gorgeous greyhound who loves everyone

 

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Home for the Greyhounds

Many walkers walk anything from a single pair of greyhounds to as many as eight. A thoroughly recommended way to get anything from 4-8,000 steps in Fitbit terms.

 

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Turners Lane Hersham

 

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Muddy Fields

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The walk by itself is pleasant down the lanes. The field nearby show evidence still of the excess amount of rain of the last month and some of the fields are pure mud. One feels sympathy for the horses stabled there. The area is also home to many parakeets that take southeast England as their home, with their noisy chattering quite obvious, and flying around in small flocks of maybe 4-10 birds.

 

In the past the life of a greyhound at the end of its racing life, 4-5 years was not terribly optimistic but rescue groups such as WGW/Hersham Hounds work hard to ensure socialisation of the hounds and training for re-homing. Many dogs are rehomed though some are scarred and have idiosyncrasies that make it more complex.
If you do decide to come down and walk the greyhounds do remember to bring personal and address identification as this is needed to “sign-on”.

Paintings of Bergen in Norway


More paintings by the British artist Vincent Van B. Bergen sits on the Norwegian coast and I struggled to be captivated by it, in contrast to cities like Stavanger that have something special. Here are a few paintings designed to try and bring Bergen to life and light.

Few interesting turrets floating around. 000000450000005000000065

Green Cauliflowers.Where have you been all my life?


Today is the first day of my life that I have seen Green Cauliflowers for sale. An article in the Daily Mail from 2008 describes green , purple and orange cauliflowers as not genetic engineering but derived from selective breeding. Although the colours seem unusual it is not the first time that plant breeders have changed the appearance of vegetables.
Until the 17th century most carrots eaten in Europe were white, yellow or purple. The orange pigment was added by Dutch plant breeders looking for a way to celebrate Holland’s royal family.The last few years has seen the introduction of purple carrots to supermarkets in Britain, along with yellow tomatoes and purple potatoes.
In America, where colour cauliflowers have been available for several years, they have been a big hit with foodies. The orange cauliflower has higher than normal levels of beta carotene, a form of vitamin A that encourages healthy skin.The purple colour comes from anthocyanin, which may help prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting.
Tests of the orange cauliflowers in America found that they contained 25 times the concentrations of beta carotene in normal cauliflowers.

So what do we know about green cauliflowers? There are two types of Broccoflowers. The first type seen here has all the attributes of the white cauliflower but with green curds. The second type is more a visual cross of cauliflower and broccoli.  They are hybrids of cauliflower and broccoli, both members of the species Brassica oleracea, making them fully cross compatible. The cross is easily made by hand pollination or natural pollinators. Green cauliflower can also be found under the name broccoflower or cauliflower broccoli. Green cauliflower is higher in protein, at 2.95%, than either white cauliflower, 1.92%, or broccoli, 2.82%

The photograph below seems in fact almost to show both types of green cauliflower.

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Green Cauliflower

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