Jewels In The Sand.

The other day my son said I was passionate about things; which seemed odd, because I don't remember being passionate about very much. "With regards to what?" I asked. "Stuff", he responded waving his hand in the general direction of a bookcase, politely avoiding the word obsessive. Clearly I have a fondness for books.... and quite a lot else. Who needs to buy art when can own a paper cup: their colourful exteriors and empty interiors a metaphor for the human condition. Whoops, I mistakenly thought I was exhibiting at The Tate Gallery. I find the design of paper cups…

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So Long New Zealand and Thanks For All the Sheep. Part 2.

Any European botanist arriving in New Zealand for the first time might just as well be landing on a different planet - so extraordinarily is the plant life on these South Pacific islands. It took four or five years to see any positive results when trying to establish our native New Zealand garden. The one thing that grew easily was flax, and this was encouraging, because I'd seen nectar feeding birds visiting flax flowers elsewhere - so, it wasn't difficult to join up the dots... soon I was dividing and planting out as many locally grown flax as I could…

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The Not So Strange Case of the Disappearing Trees.

Many successful conservation efforts are best dealt with locally - it's easier when things happen closer to home. Commendable though it is to try and save rhinos on the other side of the planet, practical conservation works best when it's just around the corner. I have concerns over a woodland habitat that forms a major part of Fleetwood Park, in Surrey B.C. , an exceptional wildlife environment, and like many others in urban areas, really needs locals to remain vigilant. I recently wrote about tree felling in the park, because it was impossible to miss the large number of trees…

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Is Every Rotten Tree in the Forest Really Out to Get You?

The modern world has noticeably changed. We all have rights now; should a tree fall upon us somebody else will almost certainly be  responsible, and if an appropriate scapegoat can't be found we can at least expect to sue our local authority. There is very little left in the developed world for which we are responsible - becoming fat, having too many children, getting run over when jogging across a busy intersection whilst listening to a stereo system plugged into our ears; even spilling hot coffee over ourselves in a public place clearly has nothing to do with us. Read the…

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