Tag: Thoughts

The humble Hedgehog

What are your favorite animals?

I thought maybe that I’d answered this question in the past. But a quick search though my history confirms that is not so. I have spoken about them many times in the past (as well as our dogs that are always my very favourite domesticated animal) so my favourite wild non domesticated animal would have to be the humble little hedgehog.

Hedgehog in our garden

I have to make people understand that we do not yet live in a countrified part of the East Midlands, it’s very much the opposite. We live on the Far Eastern edge of the city, ten minutes east and we are in a more rural setting, but then ten minutes in the other direction and we are in the centre of a decaying lawless city that has seen better days. And we have hedgehogs visit on a regular basis, they are urban city dwellers and that is unusual.

We’ve lived in this house for around seven years now and I was always aware from the start that there was something out there at night snuffling around. You could always hear their presence and installing cameras around the house confirmed it, we had hedgehog visitors. We also had them in our previous house down in Hertfordshire so they were very much a welcome visitor.

Another smaller visitor

My garden has been a constant challenge to get right, it is North facing, it is extremely cold in the winter months and has developed over the years into a wonderful little haven for these guys with lots of perennial cover and wildflowers for their delectation. Yes it’s fair to say that when the garden was designed they formed a big part of the consideration as to how it was laid out.

We have hedgehog highways that allow easy access throughout our garden into neighbouring gardens, we have ramps to allow them up the paving as well as small water features around the garden that allow access to water. We also leave cat biscuits out every night to give them extra feed, because as you may well know their natural food sources are dwindling due to decline of wilded environments, yes, another animal the good old human being is killing off probably unbeknownst due to ignorance.

Hedgehog highway signs around the garden. I know they can read but it shows the way to human visitors

It is estimated that in the UK there are less than two million of these animals in existence. They are high on the endangered species list here, considering back in the 1970’s there were estimated to be in excess of twenty million in existence, that’s a decline of almost eighteen million in fifty years. Horrendous.

This is why I try to help and educate people of this animal. It is wonderful when we have guests, that I know we can all sit in our conservatory and at pretty much the same time, they can sit and watch our prickly friends come to visit and eat. It’s lovely to see and they are always happy to see them. Some have even left here and gone and set up similar environments in their own gardens. That’s a win in my eyes.

I believe we have the same family circle visit our garden as they know they are welcome. At the beginning of the year we have them come in and feed in twos and this year we even had three at the feed station at the same time. As they all get older we have the usual territorial huffing and puffing and only one at a time, but they can all be identified due to their differing sizes and attitudes. It really is wonderful.

Three at the feed station

I love these little creatures, I love all wildlife but these guys are different as they need a helping hand. And that’s the very least I or you can do. It’s no sacrifice. Be a friend not an enemy. It’s your choice. Just choose well.

Henry the eighth

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?

The Tudor era fascinates me, I’d love to meet Henry the eighth, to hear him, to see him and just to find out if he is exactly as he is portrayed in pretty much every book or programme I have ever viewed about him.

His wives fascinate me, their stories and their upbringings.

His subjects such as Wolsey and Cromwell also fascinate me, the whole Tudor period is just like one big soap opera, really gripping stuff.

Though if Henry’s anger is as bad as they have portrayed then maybe I’d like to meet him from a distance. Maybe a bit more than an axe swing distance.

Have a super day.

Not all of them…in fact very few

Do you trust your instincts?

Apparently there are 11 basic instincts in humans. I don’t claim that, that honour goes to someone a lot more aware than I will ever be. But I doubt he even believes there are 11 as I can count at least 17, but hey he’s a Psychologist so what do I know.

List of Human Instincts.— Waiving, then, the question of the order of appearance, we find the generally recognised instincts in man to be as follows: Fear, anger, shyness, curiosity, affection, sexual love, jealousy and envy, rivalry, sociability, sympathy, modesty ( ?), play, imitation, constructiveness, secretiveness, and acquisitiveness.

James Rowland Angell – Psychologist

Do I trust my instincts? Not all of them that’s for sure, many are stereotypical and people have certain predefined expectations of how you should deal with your instincts, but we all know that’s not the case. From the list above I’ll choose a couple that I believe I have trust in, the rest of them are pretty dodgy in my case.

Curiosity, affection and constructiveness i have in large quantities and I probably trust them the most as I am comfortable with them.

That said I guess I must be comfortable with Jealousy and envy, why you ask? I just don’t do them and that is honestly the truth, ask my wife it annoys her somewhat the way I approach these two instincts. In my eyes I don’t envy or feel jealousy I never have, I’ve always told others to admire, not feel bad about someone or their good fortune, they’ve probably worked hard for it and you just don’t know how they have struggled along the way. No one has the perfect life, there is a very fine balance and we are all aware that awaiting every high is an equal low. Life is a valley of walls we have to climb.

Jealousy and envy hold us down and do not allow us to move forward. A change of attitude can change your life.

I apologise for going off at a tangent, you get my drift.

Have a wonderful peaceful day.

March – Springtime

What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

I put up with the cold and miserable weather as most people do, but for us in the Northern Hemisphere March bears the new shoots of life and a much needed promise of better times ahead. The flowers are awakening and getting ready to put on their best show, the birds are being more vocal and we are starting to put away the winter clothing and bringing the summer wardrobe back on display.

Butterfly

Yes we can still have some cold spells, but at least there is sunshine, hope for a better day, and a positive attitude to go forward.

I love springtime and therefore March is my favourite month, I’m even looking forward to it now more than I do any holiday season. As far as I’m concerned in March we have come out of the dark and into the light.

Have a great day everyone, stay safe. Peace to all.

National space centre

What is your favorite place to go in your city?

Here in Leicestershire we have a number of places that I particularly like to visit. I’ll put two of them here…cos I can 👌

When you think of the city of Leicester you don’t really associate it with space travel. But don’t be fooled! We have the country’s national space centre, and for adults and children it is a fantastic day out if you have an interest in space exploration. They have many activities there, a fantastic collection of rockets, moon rock, and exhibits that you can get involved with. Heck I’ve even met a couple of astronauts there the last being Don Thomas who was a scientist on board a number of space shuttle missions.

Astronaut Don Thomas – Taken at the National space centre in Leicester.

You can find out about our National space centre here: National space centre

Secondly you can’t go wrong with a visit to Leicester cathedral. You may have read that a few years ago archaeologists unearthed the remains of King Richard III in a carpark in Leicester. Well he is now interred in the cathedral alongside a visitors centre that gives the whole story regarding the last Plantagenet King of England. And it’s a beautiful quiet place of reflection.

King Richard III
Leicester cathedral

The city is pretty much like every city in the UK and has its good and bad points, urban decay is kind of getting more prominent as the investment declines. Here’s hoping the tide turns before it gets too bad.

Have a great day you people.

You’ve got 7 seconds….apparently

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

Well, if you are trying to impress, apparently you only have 7 seconds to do it according to those wise old owls at LinkedIn:

Within seven seconds of meeting someone, a person will conclude if you are confident or weak, interested or aloof, friend or foe – based solely off your body language. Obviously, that’s going to directly affect your ability to get leadership buy-in, close a sale or just make a friend.

LinkedIn

I’d like to first off have someone think I’m friendly, confident and approachable however I’m the first to admit I’m not always successful. The thing is the other person you meet is probably using those 7 seconds to do the same to you, and it’s stalemate from then on. I meet an awful lot of over confident people, sometimes it can be a cover to hide shortfalls in their abilities, sometimes they are just damned frightened of the situation and feel out of their depth.

I think I’m good at sensing these issues and I hope I’m good at getting them to have confidence in me to help them on their way. It’s a big old world out there and I’ve tripped up and embarrassed my self on more occasions than I care to remember. if I can save someone who is starting off on their life journey from making the same mistakes I have, then everyone is on a winner.

I think the first impressions I’d like to therefore give are that I am approachable and helpful.

Napoleon – a life, by Andrew Roberts

What book are you reading right now?

Nice and simple. I am currently reading this 900+ page book by the author Andrew Roberts. I have an absolute thirst for history, and as a child at school history lessons touched on people such as Napoleon but that was it, they never really delved deep into the characters of these individuals and you only ever heard about particular successes or failures. In this case Napoleon was only ever mentioned as someone that the Duke of Wellington defeated. However the real story is very different.

Napoleon was very much an old style Micro manager if you like, a very complex and fascinating individual who was an extremely talented military and social tactician. Winston Churchill looked upon him as one of the most influential tacticians and military leaders of modern history, he was an extremely talented individual. The book covers his entire life and not just the battles, and that is what is different. You get to read what encouraged and influenced him and how his humble upbringing shaped his life. A great book, for lovers of history.

Shopping

What are your favorite websites?

The one I spend the most time on is EBay. It’s where I get most of my stuff to repair. Secondly it’s probably Amazon and from then on there are a Number of smaller sites I take in.

I follow a number of blog sites of people who are kind enough to follow what I do. I check in to all of them regularly to see if anything has changed. I probably check in more when I haven’t seen anything for a while as I’m concerned that I’ve heard nothing, but I’m probably just overthinking it as they’re probably just living busy lives like most people do.

I only post regularly as I use it as a coping mechanism / Journal as stated in the past.

There is a good site where you can see all the cameras on the island of Iceland, all set up to show views of the volcano’s when they kick off, great for planning a trip to see something different.

Beyond that I look at the Leicester football club site occasionally, but to be honest they are not doing it for me this year so I tend to avoid it if possible.

Have a good day all, may it be a peaceful one for you.

1976

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

For some reason 1976 always features in my memories. It was the year of the heatwave, summer was just how you’d expect it and the six week school holiday was utter bliss.

Things were different back then when you went out and played in parks, woodland and farmers fields, making your own entertainment and just having such fun. Now they are all sprawling estates.

No distractions such as mobile phones etc, you went through seasons of football, marbles, cricket, conkers, making catapults, you name it and we did it.

We had national strikes and power cuts but as a youngster that was still a couple of years away from being a teenager, none of that really mattered.

I sure miss those days of innocence, fun and enjoyment with your mates. Truly superb times.

Then we grow up.

I do believe the younger generation of today have missed out on those hazy days gone by. But then again I guess it’s our generation that changed that.

I have always found it easier to be a child rather than an adult. My wife would whole heartedly agree.

Stay happy. Don’t grow up.

The formation of the Universe

What historical event fascinates you the most?

It’s one that’s going to annoy a number of people on both sides of the spectrum.

The formation of the Universe.

My upbringing was in the Church of England so I have a Christian upbringing. I spent the first 16 years of my life going to Sunday school and then on my 16th I was given the choice to carry on going or to stop. I chose to stop. We were told throughout that the Lord built the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And I believed this.

But in school the teachers were telling us about the Big Bang, the science around it was amazing, mesmerising, there was now another choice. It was confusing. Creation or Evolution?

Now I don’t class myself as a religious person, however I do find comfort within my beliefs. I don’t force my beliefs on anyone, it is a highly personal aspect of my life and that’s how it will stay.

However the evolutionary route fascinates me and when I was younger certainly created a conflict of interest. I would question theories privately as who could I talk to about it? It’s not the sort of question you discuss with friends as a youngster, they’d think you were crackers!

No, I’ve developed my own understanding and it’s a healthy mix of the both. Purely because I’m not fully able to just ditch my entire upbringing, and as I previously stated i do find comfort in my faith. But I am always fascinated by the science and discussion regarding evolution of everything on this planet and from within our solar system.

I’m sorry it’s a bit long winded and I could have easily just said “ The Universe” and the question would have been easily answered. But it’s a bit more complex in my eyes. Sometimes our recent history puts blinkers over our eyes and makes us ignorant to the facts or truth.

But who knows the truth? I guess we will never ever know.

That’s kind of exciting in my eyes.