First Saturday in May, Featuring A Book , Additives and A Bank Holiday

 What a glorious week of sunny weather we have had here in Suffolk with record temperatures for the time of year in some places. The trees are all wonderful different  greens and  I watch the limes and poplars  over the road on the edge of the graveyard changing every day. 

In the garden the ornamental Beech is bright lime green compared to the dark green and blue of the Ceanothus beside it  

 

The last of my April library books was a lovely book that was mentioned on a blog - probably by Debby at 'Life's Funny Like That' in the US, it's something I would never have read without a recommendation, but I'm glad I did.

Elif Shafak - There are Rivers in the Sky. A magical story that brings together different times in history all linked by water. In ancient Ninevah hidden in the sand are fragments of a long lost poem. In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born on the mud banks of the Thames. In Turkey in 2014 Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the Tigris and her grandmother travel through war torn lands to reach the sacred valley of their people. In London in 2018,  Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames after the break up of her marriage. 

Very clever story and so well written.

 

After the post about foods and which countries we import from I was fiddling about on t'internet and came across details of this additive butylated hydroxytoluene which apparently is banned in some countries. It's added to some breakfast cereals by Kelloggs - but not in this country.

Then up popped an article about the '10 foods Americans love eating that are banned in other countries' .HERE .

Here's something I'd never heard of...........

Mountain Dew: This citrus-flavoured soft drink is popular across the U.S., but it contains brominated vegetable oil (BVO), an emulsifier that has been banned in Japan and the European Union. BVO is also used in flame retardants, and its presence in food has been linked to health issues like memory loss and nerve damage.

Goodness! Reading too much about additives is frightening! 

We've only just had Easter and now another Bank Holiday weekend for 'May Day' . Not sure what I'm doing but  the council are giving away bags of compost today so I may head up the road early to collect some - limited to two bags per car. 

There's the second open afternoon of a Bluebell wood at a private house and park a few miles away tomorrow. I tried to go last Sunday but found a massive queue of cars  half a mile from the entrance so did a turn around and came home again - what a crowd there would have been in the woods. Not sure I shall bother, I've got Bluebells here after all although mine aren't the native ones and there isn't a wood full of them!

On Monday there are several May Day events - but they'll all be busy and family/couple orientated  which puts me off, so maybe it will just be the extra boot-sale and home to watch the final frames of the World Snooker Championship which I've been following and enjoying for the last two weeks.

Have a good weekend, the forecast is for much cooler than last week which will please some people although I've loved it.

Back Next Week

Sue

First Library Book Photo of May

I had fingers crossed that there would be no hitch with the arrival of the Mobile Library this week as there were 14 waiting for me and I'd read all of last months books.

A very mixed bag this time - or actually two bags to balance me up on my walk back down the road!

There are three here that I've read before, including the two by Katherine Stewart. After re-reading her Croft in The Hills last month I thought I might as well re-read the other two. 'Where Stands a Winged Sentry' by Margaret Kennedy is a wartime book about factory workers and I was reminded of it somewhere and could remember nothing about it so I've borrowed it again.

There are three other Non-Fiction and I hope 'Way of The Hermit' is a good read. One classified as Teen Reading 'Under a Fire Red Sky' which is set in war-time. Five crime fiction which I'm sure will all be good and a couple of ordinary fiction including a very old one by Norah Lofts - who lived in Bury St Edmunds when I worked in the library there in the 70's. She never came into the library herself but had a researcher who spent hours in the Reference library doing all the work - hope she was well paid! I'm not sure why I ordered it but details must have popped up somewhere. I also know nothing about 'Bookshop of Secrets'.

 Last month, at the beginning of April  I collected these 10 books and read them all except that new Elly Griffiths and so many were really good and could be recommended.

I'll give that one by Elif Shafak a mention on tomorrows post and all that I've read have info on the 'Books Read 2025' page.

Back Soon

Sue

May Country Days and Country Ways

  In April Spring is in the air

But in May Spring is on the ground

From 'The Illustrated Country Year' by Celia Lewis

For ancient Celtic people May 1st was Beltane (Bel's Fire). The first day of summer and bonfires were lit to help the sun regain it's strength. A day of feasting and in many places there are still traditional events on this day, involving dancing round maypoles, May Queens, Garland dancers and Morris men and hobby horses.

The May-pole is up,

Now give us a cup,

I'll drink to the garlands around it,

But first unto those,

Whose hands did compose

The glory of flowers that crowned it.

'The May-pole' by Robert Herrick, 1648

Most old sayings prefer a wet and cold month, we need some of the wet bit - especially for the farmers' fields as April was a record breaking month for sunshine and warmth (love it for myself but not good for crops).

May damp and cool fills the barns and wine vats

Water in May is bread all the year

A cold May is kindly,

And fills the barn nicely.

A wet May

Makes a big load of hay.

In the middle of May comes the tail of the winter

And a warning for shepherds

Shear your sheep in May,

And shear them all away.

Watch out for late frosts around the third week of May. These are attributed to Saint Dunstan (or St. Franklin in some versions). Apparently he made a pact with the devil in order to obtain good sales of his beer. In return for his soul the devil promised to attack the blossoms of the  apple trees in the orchards so that the cider makers would have less cider to sell.

The Full Moon this month is on the 12th and was called The Milk Moon or Mother's Moon.

Apologies for anyone with a really good memory because much of this post has been on May 1st posts in previous years back to 2017!

Back Soon

Sue