Dear Readers, I might have mentioned Postbox Toppers before – they are happening all over the country, wherever knitters and crocheters decide to adorn their local postbox with something commemorative, either of an event, or a season, or a person. You might have noticed that David Attenborough (the closest the UK has to a living secular saint in my opinion) was 100 years old recently, and so this topper, from Walthamstow in East London,  features the man himself plus 26 animals, the name of each one beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. What a treat!

There are lots of other postbox toppers commemorating  Sir David all over the UK, but this one will take some beating, I think. The makers are collecting donation on  behalf of Walthamstow Toy Library, so if you have any lose change jangling, you know what to do….

https://www.walthamstowtoylibrary.org/

I know, I know. We Brits are always complaining about something. But it is a trifle on the warm side when you have a final assignment to write, are getting over a throat infection and in addition have developed back ache. Harrumph. But it is lovely to see the sun, albeit from a distance through the window, and it does put me in mind of a few summer-related songs, so here are my favourites…

How about Ann Miller singing ‘It’s Too Darn Hot’ in a tasselled coral-coloured leotard? Ah, those were the days…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS_YAKZH3lw.

And this is Ella Fitzgerald’s version. My goodness, her phrasing….what a star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhs3Qklz5a0

And this is one of those great party songs from the 1980s…the Merry Men with ‘Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbc_LxfhSoY&list=RDrbc_LxfhSoY&start_radio=1

And the Lovin’ Spoonful with ‘Summer in the City’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YgevxRGXIU

And my absolute all time favourite. Just right for leaning back in a hammock with a gin and tonic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T88fbHOmvRk

Stay cool, folks!

Oak Tree in Cherry Tree Wood

Dear Readers, there is an on-going arms race between plants and the creatures that eat them, that can involve everything from camouflage to chemical weaponry. However, scientists in at the University of Würzberg in Germany have discovered that oak trees that are badly infested with caterpillars in one year will delay opening their leaves by three days during the following year.

Caterpillar eggs are usually laid so that their hatching coincides with the newest, greenest leaves appearing – these are the most nutritious, and the easiest for those little jaws to munch. The scientists did an aerial survey of oak forests in 2019, during which time there was a dramatic infestation of gypsy moths, which caused extensive damage to many of the trees. It was found that the trees who had suffered the most drastically were the ones who delayed producing their leaves by three days in the following year, meaning that any caterpillars that hatched on them starved. This reduced leaf damage by some 55 percent.

While scientists agree that there’s a correlation between leaf opening time and caterpillar predation, it still hasn’t been proved that one causes the other – it could be that the delay is the result of the tree being weakened, rather than a precaution against future leaf loss. But  it’s certainly intriguing, and I look forward to future studies revealing more.

You can read the New Scientist article here.

The journal article is here.

Well, Readers, I’ve lived in London for most of my 66-and-a-bit years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen Tower Bridge raised! I was sitting with my friend Robin (having a cocktail since you ask 🙂 ) when I noticed that the ‘superyacht’ that I’d seen moored beside HMS Belfast was making its way through the bridge. Very exciting!

The Star Pride had a tug at the front, and a tug at the back, and is apparently a ‘312 guest all-suite luxury motor yacht’, with a crew of 150. I was a bit puzzled when I looked at the pictures of the ship online, until I realised that she’s being towed backwards. I assume she did a three-point turn further up the Thames, where it’s a bit wider.

Now, I know that lots of people (including my Mum and Dad) loved going on cruises, and I’ve been on holidays that involved being on a smallish boat, but the threat of being stuck onboard during a Hantavirus/Covid/Norovirus outbreak does give me pause. Plus, supposing you were stuck with people you weren’t sympatico with? I’m not the world’s greatest one for small talk at the best of times. But it is a great way of visiting lots of different places if you’ve got the dosh, and, as this ship was en route to Norway, I imagine it could save you quite a bit of money in terms of food costs/transport costs.

Anyhow, you can read all about the Star Pride here, should the urge take you….

Dear Readers, on Tuesday my friend Robin and I took a walk around Chelsea to see some of the floral displays. Today I have a throat infection, fever and headache and am feeling pretty sorry for myself, but I am l9ving the flowers. See what you think, and let me know if you have a favourite! Part of me thinks it’s sad that the plants didn’t get to fulfill their full life cycle, but maybe I’m just being a curmudgeon.

Plane trees on East Finchley High Road

Dear Readers,  you might be thinking that I haven’t mentioned the Open University for a while. You might also have noticed that my blog posts have been a bit shorter just lately. Well, on 2nd June I submit my final report for my Biology/Environmental Science degree, and so I am rather snowed under at the moment, trying to wrestle my ideas to the ground.

Most of the final assignment is a report, and I chose to look at East Finchley street trees. I’m comparing their ‘ecobenefits’ (how much carbon they sequester, how much flooding they prevent, how much air pollution they absorb) with the amount of biodiversity that each species of tree supports, and believe me, it’s not easy. ‘Ecobenefits’ are easily quantified – there’s a tool called ‘i-Tree’ that calculates these things – and councils love them, because they put a value on each tree, and if there’s one thing people love, it’s being able to count something. Biodiversity is not: just because a tree species could host a particular fungus or insect doesn’t mean that it can do that in a city, and data is sadly lacking. Fortunately, there is just about enough to put something together, and I’ll post my results once the deadline for the report has passed.

I also have to do an essay on a sustainable food production method, so I’m choosing the ‘Incredible Edibles’ project that started in Todmorden and has spawned numerous other projects around the UK. It involved using public space such as flower beds to grow fruit and vegetables that anyone could harvest, or get involved in  growing. The nay-sayers suggested that it would be one lot of people doing the growing, and another lot stealing the produce, but this turned out not to be a big problem. Who knew? People are basically honest, and when enough people are involved in a project they will monitor it themselves.

At any rate, suffice to say that the next few weekends will see me working away, until on 2nd June I raise my head and rush blinking into freedom. I’ve been doing this for six years, so it will be something of  a shock, but I have plenty to do! Not least ridiculous quantities of theatre to see, and rather a large pile of books to read. Keep your fingers crossed, readers!

Brown sugar and coriander cake with honey-cream cheese topping and apricots…

Dear Readers, I have been working my way through a baking book (‘Sift – The Elements of Great Baking’ by Nicola Lamb) and this week I reached this cake. Well, it doesn’t look quite as professional as the one in the photo but boy does it taste good. The secret and mysterious ingredient is coriander seed (ground, of course) – it gives a strange citrussy, slightly sour note that really blends well with everything else. And that set me wondering if anyone had ever done a poem about coriander, and here we are. I love the way that this poem conjures up a whole person through scent and sound, without ever describing her appearance.

Auntie
Nadine Aisha Jassat

My Aunt’s hands are soft and brown
and they smell like cumin and coriander.
She is a gardener in the kitchen.

Auntie, I remember your skin
the way some people remember the bus route.
I know I need to trace it to go home.

The world of work, bus bells and sirens
are harsh alarm clocks.
I would rather wake gently,
in 5 am light,
to your softly whispered duas
welcoming the morning.

Fledgling house sparrow

Dear Readers, overnight the Great Tit nestlings have fledged – I saw them briefly in the lilac this morning, but haven’t seen them or their parents since. I shall keep my eyes peeled, and send you a photo when I spot them. I’m actually relieved – a few nights ago I chased off a cat that had climbed up the hydrangea and was looking speculatively into the nest box. I’m not sure if s/he could get a paw in, but no one likes to see nestlings in peril. Then last night there was lots of fox noise, and I had to march down in my dressing gown to make sure that they weren’t trying to get into the nest (which they weren’t). The stress!

The absence of the Great Tits has  been more than compensated for by the appearance of lots of fledgling House Sparrows, who sit around looking hopeful as their devoted parents try to find them enough to eat.

The young starlings are still about, and there are several young squirrels as well…

But maybe the best news is that Abbie the foster cat came out for her food this morning – she not only miaowed in a demanding fashion but she also head-butted me for a stroke, so maybe I was overly pessimistic about how long it would take her to come round yesterday. Isn’t she a pretty girl?

Dear Readers, our latest foster cat is about as different from the chatty, outgoing Jolene as it’s possible to get. Abbie is fourteen years old, and from the few glimpses I’ve had so far, she’s a very pretty long-haired cat, whose whole life has been turned upside down in the past few months.

Abbie was adopted from the RSPCA when she was four, and lived for her whole life with a lady who lived alone. Abbie was an indoor cat, something she chose quite early on, having been terrified by the neighbourhood feline tough guys. She would run and hide as soon as any visitors came, but was devoted to her owner, sitting beside her on the sofa, curling up at the foot of the bed and generally being an undemanding little shadow.

Then her owner died, and since then Abbie’s life has been very different. A kind neighbour looked after her for a while, and then she’s been looked after by the RSPCA. Now she’s with us, and we’re hoping that she’ll settle and come out of her shell a little bit so that she can go to her forever home.

Whoever adopts her will, I think, need to be someone with the patience to let Abbie get to know them at her own pace. She won’t work in a busy household, or somewhere with other pets. I suspect she hasn’t had much to do with men, but it will all depend on the personality of the owner. It will be no good trying to rush things with this cat – at fourteen she’s set in her ways, and while I’m sure she will start to show her personality and become a bit more confident, she’s unlikely to ever be a lap cat.

Poor Abbie. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there’s an experienced cat owner out there willing to give her the time and space she’ll need. Give me a shout in the comments if you, or anyone you know, might fit the bill!

Painted Lady

Dear Readers, here at Bug Woman’s Adventures in London I’m always up for something that involves audience participation, so I was delighted to hear that Butterfly Conservation are inviting people to vote for their favourite British butterfly. Well, that’s a bit like choosing your favourite child, in my opinion.I love the early ones, the Brimstones and the Orange Tips…

Orange Tip

I love the ones that crop up on my Buddleia, the Peacocks and the Red Admirals…

Peacock

Red Admiral

I love the Speckled Wood, fluttering in a woodland glade…

Speckled Wood

And I love the Holly Blues and Gatekeepers that turn up in the garden…

Gatekeeper (female)

Holly Blue on Green Alkanet

But I think on balance I would vote for the Painted Lady. It isn’t as showy as its close relatives, the Peacock and the Red Admiral, but it does fly over the Atlas Mountains and the English Channel in order to breed in the UK, and to end up feeding on my Buddleia in the late summer, so it deserves a round of applause in my opinion.

I am a little disappointed that there are no moths, because the Hummingbird Hawk Moth or the Jersey Tiger are both favourites of mine. Maybe next year!

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Jersey Tiger

So, do go and vote. I will be very interested to see which butterfly wins!

https://britainsfavouritebutterfly.co.uk/

And if you aren’t sure, you can take the ‘Which Butterfly Are You?’ quiz here. Apparently my closest match is the Scotch Argus.