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  Microplastics at its best. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/microplastics-soil ,#environment #nature #health #pollution #

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  Yesterday sister took me to a location with Roman buildings and not too far a beauty of a spring. Roman, tower, bridge and section of road paving. At Portagem, near Marvão, PT. Fascinating. There's a public swimming pool made IN the river Sever. The spring is on the other side of Marvão, filled four bottles and took them back. The place feels so good that I was seriously tempted to dive in the washing tank. Didn't. #portugal #marvao #water #spring #roman #photography #envir...

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  Been to the plot after two weeks. Weirdly weeds haven't grown much - which is good. the multi-bean stalks had fallen off due to weight, has pods growing, don't know yet what sort, probably black beans, which are delicious. 'multi bean'because i think there were more than one bean, fallen off my hand into the ground and went un-noticed. Picked half a kilo of various tomatoes, still a few ripening, spuds and onions also on the way. no grapes, plundered by birds but....

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  Been out on the bike and trailer to rescue two wooden chairs spotted yesterday, IKEA sort of. One in the living room for painting purposes, the other in the kitchen to serve as a dish cloth hanger, also of some sort. #recycle #chairs #environment

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  Went for a quick shopping foray, on the bike in driving rain, cold too. Bought 1 kilo of Turkish flour; 15 British eggs; 5 EU lemons; 1 pack of Egyptian flat bread; An am glad am not keen on dried fish, or else might have bought 'barracuda fillets'... African... This shop won't cease to surprise me. #food #flour #bread #fish #eggs

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  Bought a bag of barley straw, £3.50 at a pet shop nearby. Doesn't show the weight, about 3 or 4 kilos. Pulled out a bundle, wrapped it in a piece of old net, added half a brick and put it in. There are algae at the bottom, have no clue how much it should be, so am experimenting... Will report. #pond #photography #allotment #straw #barley

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  Been to the food bank. Not much left, it opens at 9am or so, still... managed to get a cabbage, 6 boiled eggs (still in date, just), Brussels sprouts (somewhat worse for wear) two cans of tomato sauce, two avocado, spuds, bag o'beans. There was a lot of bread but I took none cos I make my own. InchAllah and shucrain. (sp wrong I know) #foodbank #food

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  here's a little short story about aliens. picked it off the net. https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TheyMade.shtml #story #aliens #scifi #brilliant

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  Can't sleep. Not. Forty winks no longer for as long as.... a few years, since CV19.... not a proper stretch of deep sleep, just maybe 3 hours; go to bed at 11pm, get up about 1am, go for a piss yes - back in, exited REM about 4 or 5 am, bothered, back into Morpheus arms for a while till 6am or so. Aware of daylight through gaps in the window cover - three gaps - stretch, get up, go to the kitchen, check the clock, have a drink of lemon in water juice plus two or three cloves; in the emp...

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  Phew! did a dare and been at the plot, trying not to roast myself. Good grief. despite the water shortage and hosepipe ban, the plot looks very very green, outside, needs no watering. everything grows, mostly weeds but also vegetables for food, as by photo. left the track camera over a couple of days by the old pond, still has some water at the bottom, thought 'something' might show up and be caught on film but the bird is the only decent shot over 890 shots. All the remaining 8...

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  Been to the plot to do some watering, my own and a colleague's who is on holiday; On arrival met another plotter, has a marvellous Jack Russel by the name of Jack and it is quite lovely despite being a tiny dog which size is not my favourite, I would make a exception with this if I could keep a pet in the flat. Was taken aback by a flurry on wings and feather in the greenhouse! a dunnock (I think) got in and couldn't get out, so I coaxed it gently towards the door, made it unh...

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  Anyway... at the plot performed the usual irrigation indoors, it needs it, while outdoors all stuff grows madly. As in the carrot shot, is it a one carrots with four tips or a quadruple carrot? dunno, diner will tell. Tomatoes doing better than expected, they're delicious and tasteful, just like the supermarket ones - NOT! :o) A bean plant of unknown variety, could be Pinto or Black, only time will tell, also picked some white beans from another plant will use them for next year seaso...

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  Splendid!! Human rescues dolphin. https://www.reddit.com/r/WhatIsTheTea/s/WkCbaJo1R3 #ocean #environment #fishing #rescue #wildlife #dolphins

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  Good morning. I am having an issue - not major - goes like this: 1066 Normans invade Britain, wipe out the Anglo Saxon ruling class, try that on the Britons (future Welsh) and almost did the Scots in. Tapestry made in France to celebrate that, kept iin France for a thousand years, now loaned to UK which states 'it returns' when it has never been here in the first place. And what do the locals do? celebrate a massive defeat. #history #bayeux ##france #UK #invasion #defeat

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  Have one sunflower, late flowering, one seed came up with 8 - eight! - flower heads! and it is hardly 2 foot high! neighbour has one as well, also many heads and 10 foot tall... this just 20 metres apart.... Otherwise easy as it goes, grapes are slowly ripening but I noticed that blackbirds are at it and eating it before I get to it, so covered the plants with a green netting. One bean plant of unknown as yet variety is growing as if it were the last day of life on Earth, huge it is and begin...

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  G'morning... in the shot, top to bottom, Flat Holme, Steep Holme and Anchor Head, from the plane. Not exactly a holiday really, more like a family meeting of the annoying sort, but then again, older sister bought me a return ticket so... Tidy weather. Temps around the 32° to 36° mark except in the morning when it barely clocks 12°. Not long now for another roasting lol! #photography #Portugal #flight #break #holiday #travel #severn #estuary #river

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  Yesterday on the way back from a coffee in Spain, spotted three eagles, a family apparently. Later a large hawk of some sort. Further south a couple handfuls of swallows, a dozen housemartins, three handful of doves, uncountable tree sparrows plus an unknown feathered beauty. Today, 8am, haze fading quickly, giving way to another properly relentless pitiless HOT sunshine. No wind no cloud, actually saw two clouds yesterday, one of which was a horrible factory emissions. 34° yesterday dropping...

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  35° and rising. Very little tad of breeze not enough to cool anything. Shimmer of heat rises from roofs. Local forecast has it for 38°+ this weekend. Mid September. Swallows and Martins still around. Scores of stork nests of which 2 occupied, one each, the rest empty. Nearest city is 20 miles away and it has the major oil/facility and port. Pipes, tubes, transporting some sort gas which must be kept at -150° or else the gas will ignite, running above the ground mostly. Just imagine... a tsuna...

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  A couple of hours at the allotment, watered stuff, plucked some weeds, dug the drain channel and while at it, spotted a frog! Also a new strawberries crop seems to be growing... And the grape isn't ready, perhaps in October. Left the track camera over a couple of days, at the allotment, had some 300 shots, most of them pointless, vegetation agitated by wind, but got a few bird shots including this crow taking off. #photography #crows #allotment #pond #enviroment #grape #frog #strawberries

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  Am... am flabbergasted.... b TWICE in less than a year... two plotters.. asked me what are blackberries for!! good grief!! one, an immigrant, was amazed when I told him they're edible and delicious, he made a disgusted face.... the other a local with the plot right next to mine, also asked what are they for. I said they're edible and delicious and grown all around you; offered one fruit from a box I'd just filled in from the nearby bushes, she made a face and refused. Goodness gra...

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  Meanwhile at the pot... needs a good seeing to re weeds around it and within; it's the horsetails and creepy willow that does it for me. Will have to use the trimmer either early in the morning or late afternoon due to heat, last year used it such conditions and the motor seized. the giant courgette is a donation, from another plot, this one will be donated to a food bank or someone else as it does not fit in my fridge and I already have four normal ones. The cauliflower is mine, will be...

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  Phew! well self-deserved respiratory relaxation output... er... sun's must have done my brain in, feels like a boiled egg lol! But apart from silly jokes, am just now returned to base after a round ride of some 22/25 miles thusly: Royal Oak, Cardiff, through the Docks, up the flyover to the Merry Harrier, left then right and through Cosmeston lakes park, which is quite nice. Made it to Sully - took one hour - and was disappointed as there was no market, closed, I wonder if it has given up...

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  No hose ban here... yet... been to the plot. 9 till 1130, watered the lot, plucked weeds, trimmed the olive and the Hazel bush, pulled up broadbeans and planted spuds. Spuds found dumped, a dozen of them, in the general compost heap, with rootlets so, yeah, why not. Testing a tarpaulin for leaks in view of using a tub as a pond, rather, pond already there but it dries out, ideally placing the tub in it so as to keep water during dry months. Will report. #allotment #gardening #potatoes #weeds...

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  Been to the plot earlier, too hot to do anything other than water the crops and sit under the plum tree. Stuff is growing OK: broad beans already harvested and donated to the food bank, strawberries well gone down my gullet - had a week of top posh breakfast, strawbs in buffalo milk yogurt.... Onions arising, tomatoes flowering, pinto beans trying the escape the greenhouse through gaps in the roof, carrots also coming up nicely though last year's have flowered so let them be for insects....

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  Have a wheel barrow with one broken handle. The thought occurred that, once I've removed the holding bolts attaching the plastic container to the metal frame... I should be able to replace a bike trailer container. It's a smallish milk crate, will measure the distance and if it fits will do it. Mind you the barrow's bolts are truly rusted and spin around, without coming off. Will report. #photography #smartphone #cycling #trailer #wheelbarrow #RepairReuseRecycle

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  This is the end... https://youtu.be/-eltF_UwC4c?si=xtCGl8uiaytJV_dv aquifers running out over a vast area full of people. depleted aquifers, no rain... #environment #nature #water #aquifers #desert #people

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  Shots of La Spezia Castle, italy, taken a couple of years ago during a return trip. #LaSpezia #Italy #photography #landscape #travel

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  Am using 'Plantnet' app, good enough for me. Today spent half an hour in the field taking shots and feeding them to the app with the following results: Tall yarrow Small white clover Wild parsnip Red osier dogwood Bee orchid Meadow buttercup undetermined species Oriental iris common dandelion Owl head clover Broad leaved marsh orchid creeping cinquefoil creeping buttercup oak seedlings (bird drops - 3 of them) a few more to identify. Some are natives, a few are unde...

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  Am now wondering... can't remember if it was here I read that buttercup flowers are no good for pollinators, including bees... now... if that is the case, and there being several score buttercups at the plot, have seen ONE bee, two mosquitos and a fly, over a few weeks, am extrapolating that buttercups could be emanating some noxious chemical which keeps pollinators away, so... what if.. I chop off all the buttercups, leaving marigolds, dandelions and the pollinator friendly blue/purple...

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  Plotter asked me to do her plot, OK. One hour cutting very high and thick grasses of various sorts, including hogweed which I spotted before hitting it so ok. Large bin full of stuff, mostly charcoal which I will recover. Also a large spider, as in photo, no idea what sort but that white cross and the size made me fidgety so let it be. #allotment #spider #gardening #photography #smatphonephotography