A silly joke:
Time flies like the wind
Fruit flies like bananas….
News blues…
(c) Covid-19 dashboard |
Microplastics have been found in rain, Arctic ice cores, inside the fish we eat, as well as in fruit and vegetables. New research suggests 136,000 tons of microplastics are ejected from the ocean each year, ending up in the air we breathe. They are in human placentas, our wastewater, and our drinking water. All plastic waste, regardless of size, is detrimental to the environment, but microplastics pose a special challenge given their minuscule size (some are 150 times smaller than a human hair) and ability to enter the food chain.Read, “Magnets, vacuums and tiny nets: the new fight against microplastics” >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
One of the pleasures of this time of year in KZN – late summer – is the blossoming coral shrub in the garden. The shrub variety sprawls so I trim back the thorny limbs and cut off the blossoms to display in my bedroom.More than 100 species of Erythrina trees and shrubs – aka coral– aka lucky bean tree, gewone koraalboom (Afrikaans) umsinsi (Zulu) – grow around the world.
As the photo shows, it produces stunning flowers. It also produces pea-like pods that twist into sculptural shapes to eject the black and red seeds.
I gather both pods and seeds and sprinkle them with scented oils to create aromatic mini sculptures.
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My mother, still weak, was nevertheless brighter yesterday during my visit. She follows what I’m saying – updates on the dogs and the (slow but steady) trickle of potential house buyers (no firm offers yet) – but still cannot clearly articulate her comments.