King Edward I began building the castle in March, 1283, after the capture of Dolwyddelan Castle in January 1283. King Edward 1 had already ended the rule of the Welsh Princes and had completed the conquest of Snowdonia before he began building Conwy Castle. An estimated £15,000 was spent on building the castle and its defences. That would be around £9,000,000 in today’s money. Conwy Castle was the most expensive castle that Edward I built between 1277 and 1304.

Like Caernarfon Castle, Conwy Castle has a linear arrangement of defences, due to the rock promontory they are built on. This was to protect and guard the entrance of the River Conwy and also designed to prevent undermining. The interior of the Castle is divided into two separate wards; the inner ward, housing the Royal apartments, and the outer ward, which contains the Great Hall amongst other buildings.

The building of Conwy Castle was organised by King Edward I, and supervised by the master mason; James of St. George and his associate James of Chester. The huge team of craftsmen, labourers and stone-cutters were guided and advised by both James of St. George and James of Chester, but also influencing the team were Master carpenters Laurence of Canterbury, Henry of Oxford and Mason John Francis. This team grew steadily, and by the summer of 1285 there were 1,500 workers dedicated to building Conwy Castle. The huge workforce meant that the Castle was substantially complete within four years.

The A55, dual carriageway, runs along the whole of the North Wales coast, and Conwy, making it quick and easy to visit Conwy and its Magnificent Castle. North Wales railway line also runs along the coast and right through Conwy.

The main entrance to Conwy Castle is through the Visitors Centre, where you can purchase Castle merchandise and learn lots more interesting facts about “The most magnificent of Edward I’s Welsh Castles”; Conwy Castle.

The town of Conwy is a beautiful destination, it has all the sea side attractions you would expect, from Welsh craft and quality clothes shops to fantastic fish and chips, all within the Castle walls. There are many more reasons to visit Conwy, there is Conwy Marina were the landing docks for D-day were built, way back in the second world war. There are regular farmers markets, in Conwy, where you can sample some of the best of Wales’s produce, and enjoy a little banter with the locals.

It’s not that I don’t like Christmas, I really love the festive Season, but…you know what’s coming don’t you? Too much too early…the over commercialisation of it…the financial pressure and the concept of Christmas; family reunion and good will, is lost in materialism.

Every onset of Winter, every year, the same thing happens to us all. As soon as Halloween is over, the pumpkins and scary masks are replaced with tinsel and baubles. There is no time in the retail world of advertisements and promotions to allow any deals on essential household goods. The great pound shops and bargain shops cease to sell birthday cards and paper, there are no promotions on washing powder or shampoo and no chance at all of picking up any reduced biscuits to help build up a healthy layer of fat to keep us warm when heating is now a luxury not a necessity! The Christmas goodies take over the shelves and ploughing through it all for six weeks or more wears the whole Christmas season out.

Most people will agree with me that the only way to avoid it is to isolate yourself, try to avoid any High Street or theme tuned shops, and immerse yourself in self wallowing denial.

But there comes a day when we have to venture out and do our best to make it happen. I am really irritated by people who get it all finished weeks or months before the big day. Every year I try to put some money aside, but then an unexpected ‘thing’ is lost or broken, and my Christmas pennies are spent faster than they are saved. So my irritation with people who can manage to be ready well in advance probably points to envious pangs of better money management and organisation. Maybe next year I will be more successful?;)

A brilliant blogger known as Stressy Mummy wrote a blog, that I read this morning, which prompted me to have a rant. She comments on a parent in the school playground telling her “… You just need the Christmas fairy to come and sprinkle some magic dust on you, and you’ll be away!”

I mean how patronising is that!? We all have different financial commitments and some of us have more children that others. When your money is tight, and you live on a budget, you need a lot more than ‘magic dust’ to make Santa arrive!

So I am not the only one who appears to be a humbug to others. Overhearing several Mum’s chatting about going out for the day shopping and organising it all the other day, I sourly laughed and said that I would be raiding the charity shop in the village. Gosh what a miserable Mum I am!

With three children of my own and an older step son, I do feel the pressure of granting them their wishes. They are all very good children and do deserve some, at least, of their wish list. I had a dream last night about an argument with the children’s father about presents, and after scanning Ebay late last night for a DS my son, who had snuck into my bed unnoticed, woke me uttering “Can I have a DS for Christmas Mum? Any colour, I don’t really mind.”

Had he just crawled into my brain in the night and planted a seed!? There was no link I could think of that connected us both to the same thinking, Christmas hadn’t been mentioned. Clever they are children, aren’t they?

My Christmas’s usually consist of  very last minute panic shopping, when my lovely partner magic’s some extra cash from somewhere..and we make it all happen with frantic enthusiasm, Seasonal snow as we embrace the moment, and allow the Festive Frollocking to Ferment! Ho Ho Ho!

It just takes us a little longer to get into the mood, and of course once I have all the shopping done, I too am festive and joyous, and up till 3 or 4am Christmas Eve wrapping, trying to beat the sounds of Santa’s Sleigh Bells!

How they muddle on eagerly providing for their babies in the worst conditions on the planet. Every one else goes somewhere warmer and yet they stick and stumble at greeat length to get to the most coldest bleak and life threatening place on the planet.

Imagine applying the same theory to your life! I do often, it really helps to keep me optimistic and grateful. Imagine!

My alarm goes off bleeping annoying electronic vibrations at me, and I doze, stretch and hit the alarm a few times. Slowly opening eyes I stretch out to feel the room temperature. “Cold” is what I nearly always say, and then after much mental deliberation and only after compiling a to do list longer than the day itself, do I roll out of bed and push myself into tops and jumpers. With hair that defies gravity, and mouth like a cuppa soup hug advert, I reach the ‘on’ button in mole like fashion and stand vacant, in front of the kettle hoping the steam will prize my eyes open.

Penguin’s morning:-
After the long trip back from the sea through the night, I have no notion of morning as there is no light at this time of year. Amongst the deafening squawks of other penguins, I identify my lovers individual call, shouting “I’m here my darling” I waddle closer unable to see anything for the snow and ice blast my eyes and face with such force my eyes nose and feathers have frozen.
“Oh I am so pleased to see you, its been a bad night” my lover welcomes me with flapping arms.
” Yes the fish were hard to come by too” I explain, hoping for some slither of sympathy.
” Mr Jones didn’t make it, and Junior Jones was taken by the Skuas” He explained.
Exhausted and freezing I drop my head with sorrow, Junior Jones was laid the same day as our precious baby. My partner gently rolls the egg onto my feet. We move quickly and I secure the egg with my feathers.
” Got to go now my sweetness, I am starving” He says wearily.
” OK Good Luck. You can help me name our chick when you return!” I say with optimism. He leaves me alone to huddle up in a turtle formation with our neighbours. I know some day soon our chick will hatch and I will regurgitate my last five fish dinners for him. That’s if my devoted partner has made sure he’s been warm enough all these months.

I don’t think I could huddle so closely to all of my neighbours and swim around in almost frozen water hunting for fish for breakfast. Even if I were a penguin with feathers and flippers, I think I would not grow to be old. I don’t think the lazy ones survive too well, and if they were always sad about being cold they would all be miserable all of the time. I am glad I am human and lucky enough to live in a warm county. Wales isn’t really Mediterranean but it is a million miles away from the ice caps.

I would like to take all the lady penguins for a spa day, with bubbly and pilchards on toast. Whilst the boys can have a day watching rugby or football on a huge widescreen with beer and roll-mops. Just one day a year to reward all the amazing penguins who work so very hard to provide for each other.

That’s not too much to ask is it?

We know that supplying fresh produce isn’t always enough. Looking at all the brightly coloured fruit, veg and salad can be a bit confusing. Here we will offer great recipes, and links to help inspire you to create beautiful tasty dishes from your shopping basket and larder.

Top ten food websites in the UK

1.BBC Food Website

There are thousands of recipes here. Blogs, Competitions, How to Cook, Healthy Cooking, Magazine and Apps pages. Worth a look for inspiration.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/

 

2.BBC Good Food Website

Another Great Website packed with recipes and Blogs, that will get your mouth watering.

Most of the recipes that you find here have comments and feedback. A professional site by the BBC!

BBC Worldwide is a commercial company that is owned by the BBC (and just the BBC).

No money from the licence fee was used to create this website.

The profits we make from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/

3.The Good Food Channel

The Good Food channel has some of the most mouth-watering programmes on TV. With delicious recipes and your favourite celebrity chefs from Rachel Allen to James Martin and Aldo Zilli, we’ve a world of food entertainment to feast on. www.goodfoodchannel.co.uk is home to over 14,000 recipes, how-to-cook videos, food quizzes and regular foodie competitions.

Some great ideas for making food fun for the kids, like these Potato Mice!

4.Jamie Oliver.com

Jamie Oliver is a phenomenon in the world of food. He is one of the world’s best-loved television personalities and one of Britain’s most famous exports. Jamie has had huge success with television series The Naked Chef (BBC), Jamie’s Kitchen, Jamie’s School Dinners, Jamie’s Great Italian Escape, Return to School Dinners, Jamie’s Chef, Jamie at Home , Jamie’s Ministry of Food , Jamie Does…. and more recently Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals and the Emmy Award-winning Jamie’s Food Revolution (ABC), as well as the one-off specials Jamie’s Fowl Dinners, Eat To Save Your Life, Jamie Saves Our Bacon and Jamie’s Fish Suppers (all for Channel 4).

Jamie has inspired people to spend more time enjoying being in the kitchen – and even start growing their own food! His programmes have now been broadcast in over 100 countries including the USA, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Japan and Iceland. Having been translated into over 30 languages, the accompanying cookbooks are bestsellers not only in the UK but across the world. His 2010 book, Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals, became Jamie’s first million-selling book in the UK as well as being the fastest-selling non-fiction book since records began.

The high street restaurant collection ‘Jamie’s Italian’ is hugely popular across the UK and the Fifteen restaurant group which he founded in 2002, provides training for young people in three locations around the world as well as producing food of the highest quality. Jamie’s newest restaurant, Barbecoa in London, is a partnership with American chef Adam Perry Lang. Jamie lives in London and Essex with his wife, Jools and his kids, Poppy, Daisy, Petal and Buddy.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/

5.Nigella Lawson – online cook along, to her favourite products and of course recipes, and a blog she is constantly updating with seasonal recipes.

http://www.nigella.com/

6.Eat the Seasons (eattheseasons.co.uk) is updated every week with a list of the foods currently in season, as straightforward as they come.

http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/

There are a number of good reasons to eat more local, seasonal food:

• to reduce the energy (and associated CO2 emissions) needed to grow and transport the food we eat
• to avoid paying a premium for food that is scarcer or has travelled a long way
• to support the local economy
• to reconnect with nature’s cycles and the passing of time                                                                                                                                                                        but, most importantly, because

• seasonal food is fresher and so tends to be tastier and more nutritious

7.Epicurious

Epicurious (epicurious.com) has a vast range of recipes, primers on baking bread and making pies, and an iPhone app to create shopping lists from recipes.

Welcome to Epicurious! We are happy to offer you the very best recipes, cooking features, and video how-tos on the Web.

If you have any questions about locating topics on Epicurious, we hope you’ll find the answers right here.

Navigating Epicurious

At the top of every page, you’ll see Recipes & Menus, Articles & Guides, and Community categories.

Recipes & Menus includes Quick & Easy ideas, Holiday recipes, Healthy menus, Seasonal and International Cooking, Desserts, and Drinks.

In the Articles & Guides category, you’ll find Entertaining tips, How to Cook, news on nutrition in Healthy Cooking, Holidays & Celebrations, the world’s top restaurants in Dining & Travel, Kitchen & Equipment, and interviews in Chefs & Experts.

Community encompasses My Epi; the epi chat room, where you can discuss food and recipes with other Epicurious members in real time; and Forums.

We’ve highlighted topics within the main Epicurious categories in an easy-to-use list at the left on the homepage, so you can quickly pinpoint the information you want.

Related Content suggests features and recipes that might interest you, based on the articles or recipes you choose. For example, if you access our Going Global Irish cuisine feature, the related content to the right might include a St. Patrick’s Day menu and a profile of a prominent Irish chef, plus some top-rated Irish recipes.

http://www.epicurious.com/

8. Tesco’s

We like to promote local shops and businesses, but there are lots of great ideas for cooking on Tesco’s website.

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the exciting new food website from Tesco set to change the way you feel about food.Each week, I’ll be bringing you delicious, easy-to-achieve recipes and regular updates on seasonal ingredients arriving in store as well as top tips and savvy buys. Above all, this website is about making cooking and eating great food as relaxed, easy and enjoyable as possible. We hope you enjoy it.

http://www.tescorealfood.com/

9.Supercook

Supercook(supercook.com) is a recipe site with a clever twist: you enter the ingredients you have at home and the search engine finds recipes from food sites to use what you’ve got.

http://www.supercook.com/

10.Taste Spotting

Taste Spotting (tastespotting.com) is food porn of the highest order: it offers photographs of glorious dishes, which you can click on to find a recipe for.

http://www.tastespotting.com/

Thank You For Reading!

Here is the link list for quick reference:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/
2. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/
3. www.goodfoodchannel.co.uk
4. http://www.jamieoliver.com/
5. http://www.nigella.com/
6. http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/
7. http://www.epicurious.com/
8. http://www.tescorealfood.com/
9. http://www.supercook.com/
10. http://www.tastespotting.com/

Please feel free to add a comment, or suggest your favourite food web site!

Group Exhibition June 2nd-16th, 2011 At 133-137 Westbourne Grove. Notting Hill, London, W11

Sensation Modern Fine Art International Artists

Group Exhibition June 2nd-16th, 2011

At 133-137 Westbourne Grove. Notting Hill, London, W11

Tel. 0207 821 8717 M:07528 333 884

e-mail: sophie@sensationmodern.com

The Patrons of Sensation Modern Exhibition are:

Louis-Philippe d’Austricourt, Prince of Arganville, New York

Charles-Henry d’Austricourt, Prince of Arganville

http://www.sensationmodern.com/

http://sensationmodern.blogspot.com

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A Saturday Night in Westbourne Grove

On arriving, the central placed building, peers over trees, standing proud amidst an array of beautiful shop windows and bustling cafe’s. The gallery is a lovely building that echoes the upper end market of Notting Hill.

Sophie Dare, has produced a wonderful exhibition, showcasing a sample of work from a diverse group of  Artists – Sensation Modern.

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When you walk through the main doors you are met by huge contemporary paintings by the well established Anthony John Grey, bold brass and metallic pieces, by Bob Allen involve the audience with the space of the room. Christina Phillips, a ceramic sculptor from North Wales, has a few of her beautifully detailed mosaic rich,colourful glazed masks hanging connecting the space with the large sculptures and paintings. The organic curves and lines, that the three dimensional pieces throughout the gallery create, build view-ports and stepping stone like links, between the overwhelming array of paintings.

The atmosphere in the three levels of the gallery vibranty, interconnects the contemporary, abstract and conceptual art with other classic, impressionist and hyperrealism styles, such as, Elena Orlova Afinogenova’s Perrot And Chinese Roses, upstairs, and Boris Anikins gold leaved Rault adjacent.

The artists were there, to show you around, warmly greet you, and open your mind to the concepts and intentions of the images, sculptures, and paintings. The friendliness and warmth from the curator Sophie Dare, and Sensation Moderns exceptionally talented Artists, made the gallery an exciting, real, and personal experience, in which to appreciate a well thought out, collection of art.

The smaller detailed ceramics, createdfocal points of detail, stirring the evocative emotions that unite the majority of the art pieces. Lovers of art are taken through a journey of styles, chattering, and laughing ricochet from canvas, glass, clay and resin alike.

Cameras take slices of the moment with them, the hum of voices from the pools of people that attract into various corners, meander throughout the building as the night closes. Admirers debating, discussing and describing respond emotionally to paintings and sculpture alike.

Sensation art runs through as a theme, with explicit emotive series of masterful paintings by the intoxicating Julius Lewandowski, vibrant, energetic jaw gaping talents of Jessica Suarez, who are attending the exhibition daily. Also below the spiral staircase Aram Kupetsyan’s Violini,  hangs in homage to Picaso’s Violin and Grapes, amongst Victor Rapopov Endeavour, 2009 Oil On Canvas 120 x 80 cm

Cameras take slices of the moment with them, the hum of voices from the pools of people that attract into various corners, meander throughout the building as the night closes. Admirers debating, discussing and describing respond emotionally to paintings and sculpture alike.

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Kellly Moree - singer song writer

The morning was and cloudy when I opened the curtains. The first day that was not warm and sunny for days. Hanging up the washing as I anticipated rain, on the clothes maiden, Nanna and Grandad arrived.

“Yey, Nanna’s here!” shouted the children.

After a quick reccie and shift swap, I grabbed my jimmy choo bag, and drove into town waving goodbye to my little ones.
The sun shone – the clouds lifted and my spirits rose. After a hectic morning… to say the least, my day of freedom beamed down on me from the sky. Arriving into the multi-cultured town of upper Bangor, the parking Angel blessed us with a spot and a text that the beer was on the bar.
My partner and I were meeting a couple who are business friends and creatives.

New faces. To me at least. A delight to meet them both finally.
We talked for a bit about Kelly, a beautiful singer who’s voice is so strong, elegant but mesmerising and delicate. She and her partner Matt discussed the website and her portfolio of picture shoots. How she could not have found a decent photographer I don’t know.

I was here to chat to the lovely lady about her singing career. After listening to her music and feeling the words she sang resonate with my own experiences, I was slightly star struck by her beauty and presence.

The boys continued with their conversation, Kelly suggested we went into the beer garden, where the sunlight warmed our skin through dappled light.
What an opportunity. To interview an artist, who has such raw talent. The soft breeze cooled us.
The anticipation of meeting her was subdued by her natural ease.

This is what I wrote for her website..so far:

I am Chrissie. I write a blog: chrissiebee.com, and recently had the wonderful good fortune of meeting Kelly Moree. She is an undiscovered talented singer, who lives and works in North Wales. We met on a sunny summer afternoon in a cosy beer garden, where she told me some of what inspires her creativity and how she has pursued her dreams and is making them a reality.

Please take a little time to listen to some of her music and read a little about her, as Kelly shares with me an insight into the life of a talented singer/song writer.

Kelly Moree, is a professional singer who sings two or three nights a week, in various venues.  Check out her calendar for up and coming events.

Kelly is self taught, in singing and song writing, to include the keyboard. Her passion has been with her since a child. Her mother, also a singer, brought her up in a musical house. “The radio was always on”, Kelly recalls. “Music was always playing”.

When I asked her what she listens to I was not surprised when she said everything. ” My Ipod has so many various artists on it, its a real mixed bag.” Female vocalists and modern pop and rock bands, to include some 60′s oldie classics.

“Who is your inspiration?” I asked ” Bette Midler, she’s amazing, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion.”

Kelly has written and recorded music in the past, but it was over managed and produced, loosing a lot of its originality and essence. Kelly has now written and recorded her first true album ‘Shine’, which is all her own work. An album that you must hear. She sings with honesty and sincerity, her voice is a beautiful instrument, which she uses with precision and emotion, to convey the meanings of her lyrics.

Kelly is a true artist, who explores her creativity in a natural unique style. Her lyrics are often spontaneous.

The way in which Kelly described her creative thoughts and workings were of no surprise to me. She writes from her heart, from real life experiences and emotions. I smiled inside and out when she sang softly, a few words from one of her tracks, to jog my memory. There is a story behind each song she has written.

Kelly is a true artist, who explores her creativity in a natural unique style. Her lyrics are often spontaneous. She then sings the tune to herself and works out the chords on her keyboard, allowing the melody in her head to translate through the music, and her voice. I can tell, in the short time we spoke together, that she has been on a journey for many years, evolving her music. Kelly, whilst open to inspiration and ideas, is also very professional and has a clear vision of who she is, and the music she makes.

Kelly would love to, one day, write lyrics for the rising famous and influential artists. I am sure she will be granted many opportunities, as her career blossoms and her music is heard! It is rare to meet someone with natural talent for singing, song writing and music. I am sure Kelly will prosper in her career, as she has a beauty that is enchanting, a loving supportive family and oodles of organic talent.

I  feel privileged to have had the opportunity to listen to Kelly’s story and working method. Kelly has rubbed shoulders with a few of the greats in the music industry, and I know it’s only a matter of time before she is up there with them! Her authenticity is evident in her music and it was a pleasure to learn how she generates such original evocative and beautiful songs.

Check out her calender for her forthcoming gigs, and if you have a venue, book her! You are in for a treat of raw talent and entertainment.

http://kellymoree.com/

I know you have! We all do – its natural.

But I don’t mean in the bigger, how, why and where are we, stuff. I am sure we think of those things from time to time after a friendly chat with friends, or a few glasses of wine, or midst a spot of insomnia.

I am talking about the very personal perspective that only you have.

Depending on whether you are a positive or negative out-looker, depends on how you see your life, in general. I can be almost certain that we all have things in our lives we would like to change. For the most of us it is money..more please and family relations, too much or too little. Work… too difficult, too mundane and of course we would all like more time to do the things we really want to do.

I could list many wrongs in our lives that we would like to put straight. I could go on forever about all the injustice and corruption we all live with and around.  But I am thinking of the real deal. The stuff that we have control over.

So here comes my penny’s worth of self-help advice to dilute, ever so slightly, the overload of informative information that is out there.

We as individuals can do so much or so little, motivation, incentive and circumstance depending. For me though, there are only a few thing that I feel I can do to improve life, for myself, and possibly, hopefully others.

I try to live by my standards I set years ago, to include a pile of sayings.  Stuff like treat others how you want to be treated. Live life to its fullest. Smile in the face of adversity.

All of which is positive advise, but I am not sure how often I really do stick to my guns. It is important to me to take one day at a time.  No one general statement or saying can apply to any individual situation. It is true, that life is a complex mixture of so many influences and restraints.

Negative things can turn a positive action into a negative one. We can allow the difficult challenges to pull us down and ‘bad’ people to destroy our positive pathways. Or we can use all that ‘bad’ stuff to push us on, and fight for what we want and need.

So if I think too much about it all and recall memories, some more faded than others, I would be contemplating for days and years ahead. Complete silence, a retreat and an opportunity to look inward and then outward more enlightened would be gratefully received. But for most of us we would rather not sacrifice that time, as there is always so much other stuff to do.

Until I find that time to dedicate to pure contemplation, and meditation, I try to stick to just a few simple things.

Try to be nice. Ha ha, it is really very hard to do all the time! But if, for the most part you are, then loads of other things fall into place. No matter how sad or defeated you may feel, if you continue with trying to be a ‘goodie’ not a ‘badie’ then a whole world of positive will come of it.

I think it is the key to happiness. The more the years go by, and for all the ‘bad’ things I have done, I am confident that the majority of my intentions have been sincere, genuine and kind. Its like eating fresh fruit and veg. A healthy diet, a healthy body. It applies also with our minds. Good thoughts and kind actions means a strong mind and healthy attitude.

To feel happy with yourself is a gift you can give yourself to empower you to change your life for the better. I know being kind won’t stop famine or disasters, but you will feel stronger and be more able to support yourself and your loved ones in times of hardship.

Regret is tricky. I try not to regret anything, although I do wince when recalling some crazy decisions I have made in the past. But I was learning then, as I am now.

Love. Love everything, especially your enemies. It is good to be angry, but I try use that anger to fuel the love I have for others and then turn it from negative to positive. If a person intentionally hurts you, learn to love them. As they are probably a lot father away from loving themselves than you are.

Once you spend some time trying to be the best you can than your powers grow. We need to like ourselves, even the cellulite or physical imperfections, to feel worthy of good stuff. You know all this don’t you?

I am far from being a saint or purest. I am nobody special in that way. But I am happy within. So that is it.

I think my drive to be better is addictive. The possibilities are endless. When I fantasise over all the beautiful and expensive things I would like to have, I feel I am worthy of them! How modest! I believe it is all very basic NLP (neuro-linustic programming) .

We need to do more than have a positive attitude. To say “I can do it” needs to be backed up with a knowledge that we deserve it.

So once you feel happy with your conscience, which is easy if you let go of regret, then you are all ready to go and grab the bull by its horns, and make a difference in your life that will be AMAZING!

Change your job. Take a risk, and people will support you when they see your honest intentions. Keep trying. Don’t give up. If all your actions are made in relation to aid and assist your dreams then one day your dreams will come true!

Amazing! If any of you have ever had any experience of life drawing, you will know that is as equally important to notice the ‘space’ as well as the ‘matter’ itself. But in all my time observing the bits in-between I had no idea that the space really does out-way the stuff.

So all the solid things that we use and rely on including us, is mainly nothing at all. OK so the sugar cube of people would be very very heavy – I am assuming it is just all the nucleus’s bundled together without any of the other bits flying around, darting about.

Am I right in thinking it is the electrons that fluctuate all over the place that cause a magnetism which thereby create a solid structure (to include the other bits of particles and stuff)? But the exact whereabouts of electrons are so difficult to ascertain we can only predict the probability of where they may be.

Can an electron be in two places at the same time?

I think this may be the route to the problem of making oxygen (photosynthesis- older post). Many scientists have worked hard to explain this tiny fascinating world, and we have a good understanding thanks to many theories and experiments. In quantum mechanics, the behaviour of an electron in an atom is described by an orbital, which is a probability distribution rather than an orbit.

But to understand as I can see it, as to why they appear to be in two places at the same time comes down to a relatively simple explanation. I am only relaying what I have read and understand, obviously accepting certain things that I am not clever enough to dispute.

It is accepted that nature is dual. None of its components can only be considered as a particle or as a wave. To understand this, Niels Bohr introduced the Complementarity Principle in 1923: put simply, every component in nature has a particle, as well as a wavelike character, and it depends only on the observer which character he sees at any given time.

Einsteins theory that natural characteristics actually depend on the observer, that there must be a reality independent of the observer is now better understood. Quantum physics now accepts that there does not seem to be an independent reality, as continuous experiments confirm this with increasing conviction.

Thomas Youngs double-slit experiment demonstrates the inseparability of the wave and particle natures of light and other quantum particles. This goes some way to measuring where an electron has been, whether a particle or wave. As I understand it, it can be either one or the other but not both at the same time. The experiment demonstrates that electrons show particle-wave duality.

It gets quite complicated trying to understand all this here or not here stuff. But if all we can do is ascertain what exactly we are looking at from one observing view, how do we tell where it really is? If electrons for example appear to be one thing from one perspective, then another from another perspective then the possibilities of where the space and therefore electrons are, is is purely dependant on which way you look at it.

So until I can fully understand why electrons can be in two different places at the same time, I don’t think I have much chance of understanding how to catch them, pull them away from the nucleus and pile all the nucleus’s into one sugar cube sized box, then reality of us, to me, fitting into a sugar cube is practically impossible!

So hypothetically possible – practically impossible, and now the thought of separating nucleus’s from electrons seems more far fetched than getting us all to fit into a sugar cube.

Another interesting blog

I have always recycled my bottles at least since sharing houses and becoming aware of the ‘bins’. That was a trip to the supermarket carpark with anyone who was willing to fill their car up with beer sodden plastic bags of beer cans bottles and numerous vodka bottles. Pop  your plastic bags in the neighbouring recycling bin for bags and your concsiounce was clear, along with your flat mates.

It is even easier now. We have blue bins/tubs for bottles and glass, red ones for card and various other textiles and recently have been given a brown bin (with handy lock and smaller bin with lock) and biodegradable special plastic bags – with the council badge printed on it

Some of you might have the same set up. Our usual weekly black wheely bins are only emptied fortnightly as opposed to weekly and have a green wheelie bin for garden waste collections either side.

It would make more sence to me to give us compost bins, but you have to request one of those..might even have to pay, not too sure I will investigate.

But my brown bin wasnt emptied along with my usual recycling tubs so now I have oodles of council bags with food waste in. I have put them in my green bin for now as I only fill that when the grass is on super grow mode and I have decided to cut the neighbours grass.

But I am shocked how difficult people have taken this chore to be. I can see how little people put out in comparrison to me – they must be putting most of their rubbish in the black bins (or mine haha).

Even when you are forced to take small steps to help people in general are reluctant. Is it because they are told or forced into doing it? Or do old habits die hard?

I hope people do take these small steps. Even if it may not be the best solution, and not always that economical, it is better to try than to continue over filling our wasteland.

If the councils were to allocate a new waste land site to the areas that did the least recycling, I wonder if that would make people act? I know it is a tad embarressing, for all the neighbours to see, especially if you have had friends over and got through some tinnies. But hey – I am not ashamed to say at least I am trying!

Come on council get my new waste bin emptied, and keep up the hard work!

You bin men are heroes! Thank You for taking my rubbish away and keeping my car smelling sweet!

With it having been Rainforest week, the Rainforest is high in peoples consciousness if you are a TV or radio guy, you will know its been getting a fair bit of attention. Which is all very good news and also another worry we often put tucked away along with the many other scary things we have some responsibility for.

If you ignore the beauty and wonder and the amazing creatures of the forest disappearing rapidly, you really cannot ignore the fact that there will not be enough oxygen for us all if it were completely eradicated. The EastEnders Mitchell brother, Ross Kemp quoted 40 years untill the Amazon Rainforest is destroyed. Which is not a very long time is it?

My facts and figures are  some what confused, I cannot remember how many times I have been told about a football pitch a second destruction, or how many years it has left, but I really do not want for us to have to ‘manage’ without the trees.

But for as hopeful as I am, I can see that at some point this will become a huge issue. We might have to make our own oxygen rich air.

Will we all be constructing our own oxygen generators?

I love this simple way of making oxygen. But the side effects seem a little crazy, unless we can sell the hydrogen?

This article is fascinating. Making oxygen seems easy and possible when you read the “how to make an oxygen generator”. When you try to understand the complexities of the key steps of photosynthesis taken from an article from Discover by Mark Andrews, my hope for a ‘man made photosynthesis lab’ has some what diminished.

Peering deep into these proteins, Fleming and his colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley and at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the driving engine of a key step in photosynthesis, the process by which plants and some microorganisms convert water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight into oxygen and carbohydrates. More efficient by far in its ability to convert energy than any operation devised by man, this cascade helps drive almost all life on earth. Remarkably, photosynthesis appears to derive its ferocious efficiency not from the familiar physical laws that govern the visible world but from the seemingly exotic rules of quantum mechanics, the physics of the subatomic world. Somehow, in every green plant or photosynthetic bacterium, the two disparate realms of physics not only meet but mesh harmoniously. Welcome to the strange new world of quantum biology.

This is an excerpt from this article

So what is your plan for the future? I am seriously thinking of giving up gelatine and soya..and reducing my cosmetic & cream consumption. I would much rather try to preserve our natural oxygen providers..not to mention the algae and others, than to rely on a man made version!

I might get some test tubes and salt and a battery set up in the attic..you never know?

Read more with SoberCollege about the drugs impact and other issues.

Another great blog green and clean earth has lots of great tips too.