Here we are again. Summer is almost over. It may not have been brilliant weather but it’s been a good year for visitors as opposed to tourists. Everyone seems to have had a fair crop of friends beating a path to sunny Deeside. Visiting friends tend to be just like buses. We wait for ages for the promise to come and see us to materialise, only to find that everyone wants to come at the same time
Of course, hosting friends demands our time, and sometimes it seems as if it would be easier if we ran a bed and breakfast – at least they would be away for the day leaving us to our regular routine - but isn’t it grand to take up where we left off the last time we said goodbye? To know that whatever the intervening years have brought none of us have changed a bit. It is also good for us to reaffirm how precious friendship is; how much more it means than just exchanging Christmas cards.
I came across an interesting observation on apathy the other day. It was by Tim Smit, the creator of the Eden Project in Cornwall – arguably the most successful environmental restoration project in the country – It is well worth a visit if you haven’t already done so.
What he said was “Apathy is often simply a by-product of powerlessness”
Could that be part of our problem in Lower Deeside? That we are all so disheartened by the dead hand of bureaucracy that we wonder why we should bother. We already think we know the outcome so we retreat from confrontation.
Tim Smit’s observation came back to me as Hanni Willan, the Chairman of the Drumoak School Board and I sat through the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee debate to determine the Stewart Milne Homes’ planning application for 69 houses in Drumoak.
Both of us felt totally powerless. We had already been given our 5 minutes to put our case and were frustrated by being unable to challenge any of the sometimes outrageous statements made by council officers defending that bureauctic dead hand.
You can read all about it later in this newsletter.
Meanwhile, the recent electrical storms with their spectacular sheet and forked lightning (which I was fortunate to have slept through) have played
havoc with the local telephone system. Many houses have no phones and quite a few have suffered computer damage or modem burn out. It makes one realise just how dependent we have become on our telephones, our faxes, and our e-mails. What with that and the Government’s mail shot on coping with emergencies one wonders if we have become so accustomed to the easy life of instant communications, instant convenience foods, that we have lost sight of the basics of survival in an increasingly risk averse society.
editor
Ranger Observations
Forkie-tails and lanky-legs
It’s not often you hear me complain about the wildlife thriving around my house but this year I have to confess to growing rather weary of the morning ritual of clearing the hundred or so earwigs, or forkie-tails, from around my bathroom window.
The high population of forkie-tails this year is all down to last year’s mild winter followed by the above normal rainfall this summer. The good news is that while they may do damage to flowers we should appreciate their help in controlling other garden pests and getting rid of the dead animals and plant material. I’m going to attempt to make them a more tempting home by constructing “trap boards”, which is simply two flat boards nailed together with grooves in between which hopefully will look like home-sweet-home. I’ll have to catch a couple first and put them in the grooves as earwigs gather together because they are attracted to pheromones produced by their buddies. Wish me luck.
I have to say though that they are fascinating creatures. Both male and female have pincers at the end of their body. The males are heavily curved while the females are much straighter. They are harmless to us but the female uses hers to protect her eggs (she can lay up to 80 eggs) and her young from predators such as beetles. It has to be said female forkie-tails are great mothers. As well as protecting her young she keeps the eggs clean by licking them to prevent fungal infection, which is a constant threat in the damp conditions they live in.
Unlike most insects if a female’s nest is disturbed she will make every effort to collect up the eggs again, clean them up and continue caring for them. The young stay with their mum in the nest for a week or two, while she feeds them and keeps them clean.
Earwigs can fly but rarely do. They use their pincers to fold their wings up 40 times underneath the smaller harder wing cases.
The name forkie-tail is self-explanatory but why on earth are they called earwigs? They don’t crawl into ears, but because of their nocturnal habits and their liking for dark, damp crevices, people in the past assumed that they did. One 18th century herbalism manuscript even has a remedy for earwigs in the ear: “take an old apple and cut it into two pieces and lay one piece to the ear and lie down upon that side and the earwig will come out to the apple”!
Another conspicuous insect at this time of the year is the daddy-long-legs or cranefly. Their ridiculously long legs are certainly not designed for walking. So just why are they so long?
Well here’s a few theories…take your pick!
Daddy-long-legs fly by night and with their long legs splayed out they can detect hazards and avoid damaging their fragile wings.
If they bump into a spiders web there’s a good chance only a bit of a leg will be caught on the sticky silk, so it should be able to break free before being grabbed by the spider.
If a leg is grabbed by a predator it can break-off – just like a lizard’s tail. However a daddy-long-legs can’t grow a new leg, but I suppose losing 1 leg out of 6 is preferable to being eaten.
Some craneflies do very fast “press-ups” using their long legs. This may cause confusion in predators. Or maybe they just like to workout.
The long legs help the females while she’s laying eggs in the ground. She can raise her body almost vertically and push her pointed abdomen into the ground so the eggs can be laid well under the soil.
A note to gardeners – don’t be too fastidious in the garden at this time of year. Leave some seeds for the birds (goldfinches love thistle seeds), long grass for the toads, and even some dead woody stalks for the earwigs!
Fiona Milne
Senior Ranger/Naturalist
National Trust for Scotland
Note
Observant readers may have spotted Fiona’s change of name. She is now Mrs Milne, having got married in July. True to form, hers was a wedding with a difference. The wedding ceremony was an open air affair held in Drum Castle Woods, followed by a reception in more “convivial” surroundings at the Tree Tops Hotel.. We wish the happy couple every best wish for the future
Editor
News from Drum Castle Gardens
Being asked to go onto a panel of gardening experts for a Gardeners Question Time, always fills me with dread, horror even. After trying to put off the organisers with excuses ranging from "the children" to "I know nothing about house plants except how to kill them", I then try the tactic of suggesting some of my contemporaries, who I know to be less camera shy, knowing full well, that one of them has dumped me in it this time round. So it didn't work, the organiser was desperate and I never just say No.
My poor brain cell, already on constant overload, has to find answers to questions like "could the panel suggest some plants to grow in a new, unheated, north-facing conservatory in Ballater; or " could the panel suggest some varieties of peaches to grow in a walled garden in Ballogie". My brain visibly shrivels and I resist the temptation to reply that they'd be better off just moving to Madeira.
I silently pray that the question-master will not pick on me to answer. I shrivel slowly under the table, eyes down, engrossed in the withered specimen of the 'something', that we will be expected to identify later in the afternoon. I rely heavily on my fellow panelists and their gift of the gab, for which I have never developed an ability.
I seem to spend the whole of this very long afternoon , asking myself why I got co-ericed into this exercise and vowing to stick up several large reminders next to the telephone, saying, "never again"; "say no"; "don't do it"; "it's professional suicide".
My carefully 'planted' friend then chirps in with more panelist friendly questions, related to the local soil or climate or coincidentally to roses, and suddenly, and with much relief, I find the confidence to answer these as a 'gardening expert' My esteem is revitalised and unlike the flagging plant specimen on the table, (still to be identified), I suddenly find myself a source of knowledge, no longer withering under the stare of 100 pairs of eyes. Phew! Three cheers for friends! I'll make it to the cup of tea at the end.
Why do I put myself through all this trauma?
Well it is all in the name of publicity. When you hear of visitors who, for the first time, have discovered the garden at Drum, who thought that the castle was just a ruin, who think that the garden ends at the drive next to the castle, you begin to realise just how big a battle we have, at Drum, to get the place well known.
We have a beautiful, interesting, friendly castle with loads of historically important features and a wonderful rose garden amid peaceful grounds. Many visitors say it is a highlight of their holiday, finding Drum. And yet, there are Drumoakians who have never been here, even more Banchorians who whistle past the signpost every day on their way to work, remaining only slightly curious as to what is up the hill. Perhaps I should keep it a secret?
But this year the rose garden has been described by visitors, as intoxicating-- enchanting-- the best-- peaceful-- rejeuvenating-- and you've missed it!!!!
Whilst the roses have now shed their petals and the scent is of heavy dew on grass and damp foliage, rather than the heady perfumes of July, there is still the ensuing atmosphere of calm and tranquillity, (though I do still have a lot of hedge cutting to do!) Visitors go away feeling good and promising themselves a return visit. Even in the autumn, there is a wonderful array of hips to seek out, late autumn herbaceous perennials in orange, red and yellow hues, clematis galore, and annuals only just coming to their best. Lots to see- make sure that YOU don't miss out on this hidden secret garden.!
If you need a focus for offspring or partners, come and enjoy the autumn at Harvest Fest. With scarecrow building for families, a harvest mouse treasure hunt, autumn art and craft activities and a unique bulb sale for plant-aholics.
This event is followed a month later, with Autumn bounty, a mecca for plant hunters with acres to fill. Again, there are art activities for children, culminating in a conker competition on Sunday and of course, loads of leaves to shuffle in. So, get on those wellies, dig out the hat, and brolly and celebrate autumn with style! The plants are loving it. Join them!
Harvest Fest: 11/12 September
Autumn Bounty 9/10 October.
Diana Robertson
Head Gardener
Whether the Weather
The Country Loon has been busy with his observations again, this time he considers the bramble. Looking at the bramble bushes as I walk the dog, the first of the berries are ready, and it looks as if we might be in for a bumper crop this year.
In the last newsletter he noted that the flower buds of the oak and the ash opened on same day. If Oak blossoms before Ash a very wet summer is promised. If Ash blossom before Oak the ladies will be in their summer frocks. In retrospect it seems a spot on forecast.
Observations of a Country Loon
I have found the bramble plant the most intriguing of all the plants I have kept a “gweed ee on” over the years. It can vary in so many ways and there are over two thousand varieties which can make them look different from area to area.
There seems to have been a north east saying about the weather which I “hisina yet gawin in wi”, but the following lines I have put together to show what I presume the north east version must have been similar to
“Faan the brummle buss is black wi berries,
An ey cumin intae floor,
It will be weel intae neist springtime
Tul the wintry days be ower”
Small birds depend very much on thorned plants for protection during the winter months, and I find the weather saying very dependable. It seems that when mature berries fall to the ground over a longer period, it attracts more different insects to feed on them. The insects then over-winter in the soil in one way or another, and when they appear in early spring either in larvae or insect form, they extend the period of food supply for the birds. It is such a comforting feeling to look into a bramble bush and see many different small birds enjoying themselves.
“Aye Naitur ey provides”
It is now past the end of St Swithin’s famous forty days, which ended on the 24th August with St Bartholomew’s Day, and its comforting to know
“Aa the watteer St Swithen threw
Gets dried up bi the cloak o St Bartholomew”
I like to look to the new moon or full moon after St Bartholomew to bring a weather change. The full moon is on the 30th August, perhaps
“An Indian Simmer micht jist bi roon the neuk”
The Country Loon
Medical Notes
The summer has seen our usual interesting selection of fine examples of the interaction between humans and the animal world. We have had our usual run of bee/wasp stings, spider bites, dog bites and horsefly bites, with the more unusual jelly fish sting and bat bite also making an appearance earlier this year. It all makes for a rather interesting working life at the surgery, and thanks to the internet we are often able to investigate in a little bit more detail the potential effect of such bites and stings while our patient is at the surgery. This will allow us to decide whether specialist help may be required. It is also another good example of our increasingly useful interaction with computers, a theme which continues to progress.
On the subject of technology, I am interested to read in a current edition of the BMJ, that the world’s first “robo-doc” has been developed. Standing at 1.68 metres tall, the robotic device known affectionately as Rudy, provides a way of allowing physicians to check and interact with their hospital patients after surgery without the need for the doctor to be there in person. It is now the subject of a large clinical trial to see whether this kind of intervention would be effective. It is equipped with a camera, TV screen, microphone and obviously an extensive and sophisticated computer. In effect this is a version on telemedicine, a development which is already in use in the rural locations in this part of Scotland, to relay medical information and queries between outlying areas (e.g. community hospitals) and specialists in Aberdeen.
We are once again at the time of year when the flu vaccination programme is about to begin, and surgeries should be reminding patients who require this vaccination in due course. It is worth also keeping an eye out for information in the local media. There has been a change in the childhood immunisations recently, extensively covered in the press and media, concerning the combination of polio into a vaccination injection which will have five components. This is seen as an advance in the vaccination schedules for children, and should certainly make the process somewhat less traumatic.
With best wishes
Dr D C M Harris
Peterculter Medical Practice
Changes at the Post Office
Rural post offices up and down the country are closing. In many cases they are no longer financially viable since the Government changed the method of paying pensions and benefits. Income from the remaining services is no longer sufficient. The alternatives are stark either diversify into other retail activities in addition to the postal services, or close.
Our postmistress, Margaret Tindall, has manned the Drumoak Post Office since 1st April 1962 – some forty two and a half years. She has persuaded the powers that be to maintain a half day service and will continue to operate the Drumoak Post Office on a part time basis as long as her health permits. Thereafter there may be no Drumoak Post Office.