Z...

...is for Zoic...

...of rocks containing fossils with traces of plant life or animals, as is this the case with these.  We found these locally at a limestone scar not far from where we live, corals and belemites (the small not very clear rock) and they now live on one of our dining room windowsills.  Fossils alway amaze me whenever I find them, however small they are, a connection to a life from millions of years ago.

Joining in for the last week of the Alphabet Photography Project.

Y...

...is for Yew...

...Latin name Taxus derived from the Greek toxon, meaning bow.  This is a highly poisonous tree and this connection formed the derivative 'Toxin' which has been given to poisons in general.  The Yew is dioecious, the male and female flowers are on separate trees, the pollen is spread by the wind.  Wind pollination is generally a hit and miss affair so any tree that is wind pollinated produces masses of it.  The fruit, which is only to be found on female trees is small and green (you can just see two in the middle of this picture), the beautiful red parts are a cup grown to cover the fruit, which becomes a black seed inside.  The seeds are distributed by the birds who devour them, particularly thrushes and blackbirds, the seed is not digested and the birds drop them as they fly.

They live to a ripe old age, some are thought to be thousands of years old.  They achieve this great age as branches and shoots root into the ground and eventually grow to form new trunks, which then join the main trunk.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project

X...

...is for Xylem...

...the tubes in a tree which transport water from the roots to the leaves.  The water travels by two methods, transpirational pull through negative pressure that pulls the water from the roots and soil or by root pressure, water traveling by osmosis (a difference in pressure) into the root from the soil  creating a positive pressure that forces liquid up the xylem.  As the water evaporates from the leaves more is drawn up through the tree to replace it.  These tubes only live for one year, new xylem are grown each year from the cambium, a layer of tissue between the inner bark (phloem) and the xylem.  As the tree grows the inner rings of xylem become the heartwood, the outer rings the sapwood.  

The dead xylem is visible as the rings of a tree when it is cut down.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project

W...

...is for Waterfall...

...I could sit and watch them for hours, the wonder of nature.  This one is Aira Force, a 65ft drop on Aira Beck, which is surrounded by the most beautiful woodland.  If you are ever in the area do pay it a visit, especially if it has been raining recently (it makes the waterfall more spectacular).  The name comes from Old  Norse, eyrr is a gravel bank, á a river, at the point this river meets Ullswater (a lake) there is a gravel bank.  The Force part of the name is from fors, waterfall.  The waterfall on the gravel bank river.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project

V...

...is for Violin...

...my violin, bought for me by my very generous parents when I was a teenager.  It is an old instrument made in the late 1800s in France at a well known studio which made many instruments some of which now sell for telephone number amounts, I have no idea how much mine is worth and I have no desire to sell.  I started to learn to play at the age of five and had lessons until I finished school.  Since then I have played erratically but always had it with me wherever I lived.  I have recently had it repaired and now that my children are older I am going to join a local orchestra, my first rehearsal will be after half term..........I am both excited and nervous!

Joining in with Alphabet Photography Project

U...

...is for Under...

..a two day old elephant protected by its mother.  We were so lucky to visit Whipsnade Zoo at exactly the right time to see him.  It was wonderful to watch the herd, comprised of his aunties, uncles, brothers and sisters protecting him in the paddock.  I have always had mixed views about Zoos.  When you see animals pacing backwards and forwards in their restricting and dull pens.  I only saw one animal do this in one pen at this Zoo and I saw very little evidence that it goes on in other pens, they are all huge and full of trees and other greenery.  We have watched many wildlife documentaries with our children and learnt loads.  This was the first time that they actually saw for real many of the animals that they have learnt so much about, it also may be the only place they see many of these animals.  Are you a fan of Zoos or do you wish we didn't have them round the world?

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project

T...

...is for Tulip...

...a picture I took earlier this year when the tulips were in flower in my garden.  A sign of spring, an easily recognised and much loved flower.  They originate from Persia where they naturally grow, mountainous areas with a temperate climate.   In the language of flowers they represent elegance, grace, perfect love and a declaration of love depending on what you read.  When my youngest saw these in flower this year she declared that 'they were so beautiful it was breaking her heart right out'.  If you want to grow these wonderful flowers in your own space, now is the time to be sowing the bulbs ready for next Spring.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project.

S...

...is for Swing...

...a tree swing, the best kind in my children's book, it is one of these inscribed with the words Up and Away.  This is one of many in the grounds of a local castle that we love to visit, used by adults and children alike............

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project

P...

...is for Performance...

...specifically Blackbeard's Tea Party, one of my eldest's favourite bands.  He was very excited that they played two slots at the music festival we were at this last weekend.  It is one of the highlights of my year, I love music, especially live music, so to spend the weekend immersed in music is my idea of heaven.  What would be your perfect weekend?

Joining in with Alphabet Photography Project

O...

...is for Orchard...

...a rare sight these days.  At one time many villages and farms would have had an orchard to provide the community or a family with a source of fruit and sometimes nuts.  This orchard is mainly apple with a few pear trees.  The trees would be grown as standards* with grassland underneath which was grazed by livestock or cut for hay.  Most of the orchards that are still around today predate the second world war when small scale mixed farming was the dominant form of farming.  Sadly they are now very much in decline as a result of funding to make land more productive, which often meant they were destroyed or because they are often positioned near to villages and towns and are vulnerable to development, they are classed as agricultural land so have limited legal protection.  I was lucky enough to work right next to an old orchard as my office was in a converted farm building.  We still go and pick the apples every year.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project.

***************

*a tree that is large about 20 feet tall and 20 feet wide and therefore widely spaced in an orchard setting, with a crown high enough to allow animals to graze beneath without them reaching the branches.

N....

...is for notebooks...

...it seems I have quite a collection.....

....one for shopping lists, another for keeping track of things I need to do for the Scouts, one for bloggy things, one for keeping track of learning,  a book for homemade cleaning recipes, another a list of birds we have spotted on days out and the last a list of books and resources for our home education journey.....

...I wouldn't be without them what about you?

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project 

M....

...is for Meadowsweet...

...a perennial herb that grows all over the place.  It spreads by its roots, sending up a long reddish stem and can be up to 120cm tall.  The flowers are a spray of cream and have a heady perfume, garlands of it were traditionally worn at Lammas.  The dark green leaves have a similar smell and were used as a strewing herb to give rooms a pleasant aroma in the days when such things were needed.  The leaves and/or flowers can be used to flavour wine, beer, vinegars, stewed fruit and jams. Medicinally it is helpful for stomach upsets and many other digestive problems, and is a good anti-inflammatory for arthritis and rheumatic conditions.  In the 1890s anti-inflammatory chemicals were extracted from this plant for the world's first patent drug, an 'aspirin' it was less irritating to the stomach lining than modern aspirin.  Natural dyes can be obtained from this plant, black, reds and yellows depending on the mordant used.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project

L...

...is for Lonicera...

...more commonly known as Honeysuckle, two huge plants blooming and filling my garden with its heady scent.  I have no idea what variety they are as they were in the garden when we bought our house.  They were looking a little sorry for themselves as they were being continually nibbled by rabbits, we have fenced them out and now they are both huge.  One sneaked into my photo shared for the letter H, rambling wildly over an arbour.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project.  

K...

...is for knitting

which I like to do when relaxing or chatting with friends.  I can pick it up knit a few stitches and put it down, depending on the pattern of course.  Like so many things it has its own language, I remember looking at the patterns my granny knitted when I was a child and could not make head nor tail of them, gibberish they were, now they make perfect sense.  This pattern is for a Langdale written by the very talented Lily Kate France who was just fourteen at the time.  I am so nearly finished, a few rows on the last sleeve, weaving all the ends in my least favourite job and a gentle blocking.  I told you knitting had its own language!  Blocking means shaping it after you have finished knitting to tease out imperfections and get it to the shape and size you need, it locks the stitches in place.  Whilst it is blocking (it takes a while) I will be casting on my next project using the stripy looking yarn one of these for my youngest as a Christmas present.  Yes I know it is only July but if I don't start soon I won't have everything made in time.........

Meanwhile head on over to see what others are sharing for the Alphabet Photography Project

J...

...is for Jam...

...strawberry, picked by me and the children at a local pick your own.  We have tried to grow them in the garden but they just don't ripen so we grow other plants instead.  We picked six pounds of strawberries and ate most of them!  We made just over two pounds of fruit into three pounds of jam, my daughter helped me, stirring the pan from time to time.  I hope she remembers it, in time, just as I remember doing the same with my mother, and she with hers the wonderful alchemy of jam.  Now I am off to make some scones, they are perfect with strawberry jam and cream don't you think?  In the meantime head over to PODcast to see what others are sharing for  the Alphabet Photography Project.

I...

...is for imagination...

Does it look familiar?  Or just a load of rocks, water and boats?  If you have read any Arthur Ransome you will have come across this in one of his books.  I wanted to be the children in those books when I read them as a child, having adventures and camping over night on islands.  This is Wild Cat Island from the book Swallows and Amazons if you have the book look at chapter four, the picture caption is feeling their way in.  Whilst I had lots of amazing adventures as a child I had to wait until adulthood to have my own on the island, canoeing out to it for an explore.  You are not able to camp on it but we found a great beach on the lake to have our own camp out.  In real life this is Peel Island on Coniston Water a beautiful lake in the Lake District.

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project.

H...

....is for Hammock...

...hanging in our garden.  We bought this hammock when travelling round Ecuador but we had no where to hang it for years.  When we bought our house the first big job we did was landscape the garden, it was a patch of grass when we moved in.  We my husband built an arbour with attachments for the hammock.  There is an unruly honeysuckle growing over the top, you can see a picture of it here along with others of the garden, and a small thyme lawn underneath.  I loved lying in it with the children when they were babies, nowdays they tend to use it whilst I am pottering in the garden.  

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project.

G...

...is for Grass

Either love it or hate it, it is the most widespread plant type in the world.  We don't have any in our garden as we didn't want to have to mow it and wanted the space to grow veggies, but it creeps in from the gardens either side.  I rather like the look of grass when it is flower although of course if I let it get to this stage in my garden it leads to more weeding for me, such is a gardeners dilemma.  I am also not a fan of neatly manicured lawns (I wrote of this once before), they are a barren monoculture which don't help the wildlife so if you have grass full of daisies and moss be proud of it!

Once again joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project.

F...

...is for Fairy

We have spent the past week camping, some time on our own and some time with lots of other families celebrating midsummer.  My youngest took part in a scene from Midsummer Nights Dream which they performed in a glade in the woods.  She loves fairies and anything to do with them, so dressing up as one is her favourite.  She didn't want to give the dress back......

Joining in belatedly with the Alphabet Photography Project.

E...

...is for Energy

A device capable of dividing a community if there are plans afoot to install them.  But should we be accepting of them, are they the future of energy production small scale and local?  Or perhaps we should be using less energy?

They were surprisingly quiet, especially as I have heard so much about the terrible noise they make.  We were close to them, right below, and no they weren't silent but not intrusive either, not like a busy road or an airport.

Are they a sign of progress, a sign that we must fight to resist.  In the past did folks feel the same about pylons?  Or Windmills?  Maybe one day in the future they will be everywhere and we will have got used to them.  What do you think?

Joining in with the Alphabet Photography Project