30th December 2018
My roving reporters Amanda and Ellen highly recommend a visit to Hanbury Hall, Droitwich, Worcestershire,
a redbrick William and Mary style house now owned by the National Trust. As well as restored formal gardens
and a tea room, you can enjoy living reconstructions of various periods through the history of the house.
Amanda and Ellen arrived at the gate but found the long carriage drive too far, so a minibus was promptly
sent to collect them. Two wheelchairs were offered for use at the door, a choice of an electric chair or a pushable one.
And when one of the friends went upstairs, the other lady was able to view the upper rooms on a tablet screen from
downstairs. The staff were friendly and proactive at offering assistance which is wonderful, as nobody likes to
think they are causing a delay or nuisance. The more visitors who enjoy the day, the more visitors will come along as a result.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hanbury-hall-and-gardens
This week’s horse book is The Story of the Pony Express by Glenn D. Bradley ASIN: B004TR0G68.
This fascinating look at the Pony Express lays out the history and reasons why this was a needed service and much
welcomed. The overland route from East to West coast of America carried news, bank affairs, money, letters and
newspapers among other matters. The other route was generally down through the Panama isthmus using a boat on
each side and overland trail. This was cut off by the Civil War, so the time was right for a rider mail route
through Utah and over mountains.
I liked the look at the horses - the best of blood horses, mustangs and others - which had speed and stamina.
The men were tough, loyal and brave. Many stories are included of their determination. Seventy-five miles was
a usual ride, with stations every ten or twelve miles to change horses.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3297545-the-story-of-the-pony-express
This week’s nature book is The Joy of Forest Bathing by Melanie Choukas-Bradley ISBN: 9781631065705.
The concept of forest bathing comes from Japan, and while I wasn’t aware of the name, I know that indeed
walking and sitting in woodland, the more mature the better, is a relaxing and revitalising experience.
Of course, I can’t just stroll. I spot broken hanging limbs, young trees waiting for a break in the
canopy, fungi hollowing a trunk, tiny moss nests for long tailed tits and more. Especially the trees,
being a tree surgeon. We are told yoga is best done outdoors and a forest glade would seem an ideal spot.
I suggest combining this book with one on foraging if only to give you an excuse to go to a forest.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38743121-the-joy-of-forest-bathing
During the past two weeks I offset ten pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village,
bottle fed a kitten and saved a green turtle hatchling at
http://www.Care2.com
16th December 2018
My media law class visited the Four Courts in Dublin. While the grand older Gandon designed buildings
were replete with steps, including inside all the courtrooms - up to the jury benches and judicial
benches, up to the witness box and public gallery - we did find a lift had been added to help visitors
reach the higher levels. To one side is the newer District Court building which has courtrooms on the
ground floor, access ramps and level floors. Once inside, there is no need to climb steps to sit in
a public or press gallery as in the older courtrooms. Every seat is on the same level and we found
space for wheelchairs to move around in this modern format.
The public are entitled to see the law being made and applied in almost all cases, and the press
are entitled to view the proceedings, with some restrictions in sensitive cases.
Four Courts
This week’s horse book is Celtic Summer by C.G. Hassack ISBN: 9781502463067.
Reminding us that Australia has it warm and sunny right now, the first story is set in Australia of
modern day. Two horse loving sisters take on the task of training a nervy Arabian mare, Celtic Summer,
which has been poorly treated. The station hasn’t seen rain for too long, and other horse trainers
are selling up, but a few nice strong lads are starting to hang around the sisters which is a great
incentive to keep going. New Adult would be a fitting description, with some strong language and
mature romance.
Cut to the past, with a possible reincarnation setup. Back in Roman - tribal Briton times, a horsewoman
charioteer catches the eye of a centurion. But the tribes don’t mix with Romans, in fact they are at
odds most of the time. This part fills the second half of the book and has stronger language, more
mature scenes and more violence. Great reconstruction.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24313831-celtic-summer
A New Republic of the Heart by Terry Patten ASIN: B01BJR9QTS
I enjoyed this book, but the contents won’t be for every keen nature lover. If you are more inclined
to debate philosophy than science, want to sway your fellow human with discourse rather than charts,
film footage and statistics, and enjoy expanding your vocabulary, this will be a great book for you.
I’m rather more of a practical person.
I have no doubt that the author is sincere in his wish to enact positive change in environments small
and large, personal, corporate and global. We are all in this lifeboat together. Lots of useful
information is provided, with definitions of black swan events and such; but a strong basis in knowledge
about climate science is assumed.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2333563095
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, fed a rescued
seal and protected the rainforest of Madagascar among other good works.
http://www.Care2.com
9th December 2018
This week I noted that Áras an Uachtaráin, the President’s house, is accessible. Over three hundred visitors,
including 166 children with physical or developmental disabilities and their carers, came to tea with the Higginses.
This was covered on the main evening news and other press. Looked like a great fun party. They turned on the
Christmas lights and enjoyed a horse and sleigh ride courtesy of WALK, the Walkinstown Association for People
with an Intellectual Disability. Father Christmas even came to meet everyone. What a great start to the Christmas season.
Áras an Uachtaráin is open to visitors with tours at other times of the year.
https://president.ie/en/diary/details/president-hosts-tree-lighting-ceremony
This week’s horse book is one you’ll need to find secondhand, well worth the search. Martin Rides the Moor
by Vian Smith ISBN: 9780552521352.
Martin lives on Dartmoor and he is given a hardy little Exmoor pony mare which he names Tuppence. This tells of
how the pair get to know each other and explore the moor, Tuppence being wise to marshy ground and testing
every step, eating Martin’s chocolate. They have various adventures and a house party is a big occasion, when
the nearest little girl rides over in slacks and changes into a party dress.
Martin has hearing loss, which is one reason he feels lonely until he gets Tuppence, but that is not what you
take away from the story.
Vian Smith lived in Dartmoor and wrote of its history. He trained racehorses, but this book shows that he never
lost his admiration for the hardy little native ponies.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22827124-martin-rides-the-moor
This week’s environment book is AwareKnits by Vickie Howell and Adrienne Armstrong ISBN: 9781600594694.
I wholeheartedly recommend this large size book of over thirty knitting, crocheting and felting projects. They
are simple looking enough for even a novice to get started and have immediate practical use. Some are for more
advanced skills but they have star ratings to indicate the recommended skill level.
Along with each pattern the authors tell us a little about the kind of fibre - bamboo, silk, hemp, even soy
can all be made into fibres and found at a knitting supply shop. As well as alpaca, organic wool, organic cotton.
A very eco-conscious notion is using up your stash, even the odds and ends in a scarf of many colours.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6416514-awareknit
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village and gave a woman a biometric
smartcard to open her own bank account. All at
http://www.Care2.com
2nd December 2018
This week I recommend a visit to the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar, Dublin. The gallery is
free and opens each day, with plenty of books and photos in various mediums to purchase or just
browse. Upstairs is the exhibition of the day; there is a lift, as you’d expect. Some of the passages
are narrow, reflecting the adaptation of an existing building. I thought a wide or motorised
wheelchair might have difficulty negotiating the passages. But the rooms are wide and uncluttered
with lots of space for a wheelchair or two.
The gallery also contains a darkroom and studio, which is accessible to wheelchairs. The friendly
staff are committed to supporting diversity. They also provide training, printing, advice on
portfolios and the facility to sell books in the shop.
Temple Bar can be reached by public transport such as the Luas and Dublin Bus.
http://www.galleryofphotography.ie/
This week’s horse book is Star Dancer by Morgan Llywelyn ISBN: 9780862783310.
This is a good read which contrasts a no-hope streetwise kid with a suburban girl who is learning
to ride dressage. Their paths cross when the lad sneaks in to the Royal Dublin Society showgrounds
to look at the horses.
Ger decides to pretend that he belongs, and starts to want to help out with the glossy, friendly
horses. Yes, horses have that effect on people. Suzanne, who owns Star Dancer, needs some help
too, because much as she loves her brave horse, she’s secretly afraid of jumping. Even though
they get to be friends, and Ger works on weekends in the stables, Ger has to go home at night,
and his real life keeps catching up with him.
Star Dancer
This week’s nature book is Mrs Moreau’s Warbler by Stephen Moss ISBN: 9781783350902.
I enjoyed this book although it wasn’t about what I expected. I thought it was going to detail various
expeditions, trips and bird-spotting habits of yesteryear, and to a degree it was. However, mostly
we look at etymology, the evolution of language in Britain (from Proto-Indo-European), the folk names
birds had in different regions and who got to name newly-discovered (meaning shot, when there were
no good binoculars and cameras) birds. From this we proceed to look at birds named after persons - I
have never seen the term eponymous used so many times. And how birds are constantly being re-classified,
rearranged into sub-species and even renamed.
The author tells us about a few of his own birding trips, including a one-day list contest of migrating
birds, and a trek to search for the bird of the title.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35997821-mrs-moreau-s-warbler
During the past fortnight I offset fourteen pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African
village, saved a green turtle hatchling, protected the rainforest of Madagascar and raised a farm
animal humanely.
http://www.Care2.com
18th November 2018
This week author Effrosyni Moschoudi is my roving reporter. She tells me about her home of Corfu:
“All Corfu is quite laid back and open-spaced... One would find plenty of
places where people can safely get around in wheelchairs or with their
guide dogs.
Moraitika is bigger than Messonghi and, as you can see in the photo that
I attach, there are wide pavements for wheelchairs to use safely.
If there’s anything you need, more photos or whatever, kindly let me
know. My guide is here if you wish to mention it:
http://effrosyniwrites.com/your-guide-to-moraitika-corfu/
You know, there are loads of Irish tourists in Moraitika. And they seem
to flock to ’Irini Apartments’ in particular! You’ll find it in my guide
- very lush surroundings, quiet, with a pool and a bar beside it. It’s
blissful and makes for a quiet and laid back holiday. Thank you so much for thinking to
recommend Corfu, I really appreciate it.”
This week’s environment tale is Have Sword, Will Travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams ISBN:9781742374024.
This is a very enjoyable book for young readers. I like particularly that every role is equal opportunity,
from hero to villain, from talking sword to occupations like miller.
Our two young heroes find an old enchanted sword in the dried-up riverbed. The sword talks, nicely in a gothic
script, which will help if you are reading aloud. As the sword Biter insists on dubbing his finder a knight -
to the miller’s son’s dismay, and the annoyance of his girl pal who really does want to be a knight - this starts
an adventure. Mainly, the young people decide to go and investigate the drying up of the river. Tales have come
from upstream of a blockage and a dragon. Water shortage is an incredibly topical subject so I have to commend
the authors for bringing environmental awareness and water scarcity into the tale.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35858290-have-sword-will-travel
This week’s horse book is Megan and Mischief by Kelly McKain ISBN: 9781847150066.
This is a nice short tale for any kids who love ponies and drawings. The girl of the story is Megan who seems
about 11 or 12 but she is just one of a little group of girls who have come to a pony camp stay for a week in
England. Megan has been a bit shy in class and has been given the slow pony at her riding school. But she is
determined that this week where nobody knows her, she will be brave and strong, and the lively pony Mischief
will do as she asks. Only, not all the girls are pally, and nobody told Mischief...
Megan and Mischief
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, gave a woman a biometric
smartcard so she can open her own bank account and more.
http://www.Care2.com
11th November 2018
This week I recommend a visit to the Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Kilmainham. Designed
by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, the gardens are laid out with steps down to sunken rose beds,
but there are still plenty of level paths to enjoy. The area is close to the River Liffey and tranquil,
a good picnic spot during summer and a nice stroll at this time of year. The gardens are dedicated to
the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died during the 1914 - 1918 war; their names are written on granite books.
The park is near Heuston Station and the Museum of Modern Art, which has accessible restrooms and a café.
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/dublin/warmemorialgardens/
This week’s horse book is The Diamond Horse by Stacy Gregg ISBN: 9780008124397.
This book is split between two times - Russia of Catherine the Great, and modern Russia. Each tale
carries a girl, a horse and a black diamond, the Orlov Diamond. In the main tale our heroine is Anna,
daughter of Count Orlov, sister of the young Ivan the Terrible. The problem is mainly isolation. They
are stuck out alone in the wild snowy wastes of Russia. There are servants, of course, but at this
period the servants are serfs and have to do as they are told.
Anna loves animals, in the absence of playmates, and adopts a runty puppy - her impatient father is starting
the breed of Borzoi dogs - and an Amur tiger cub, and a horse. This Drakon starts the breed of Orlov Trotters.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30532015-the-diamond-horse
This week instead of a nature book, for once we have a poem read by Emma Thompson on video. The little film
of a girl and an orang-utan was banned as a Christmas ad for supermarket Iceland, as it is considered too
political. We think it’s a great story and very informative.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iceland-christmas-advert-banned-tv-greenpeace-palm-oil-political-emma-thompson-a8626416.html
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, fed a rescued seal,
protected the Madagascar rainforest and rescued a green turtle hatchling.
http://www.Care2.com
4th November 2018
This week I can recommend a trip to the Louvre. This famous art museum in Paris used to be a palace and
the wide corridors with seats are friendly to visitors. As there is a lot of ground to cover, I recommend
those who have reduced mobility to collect a wheelchair from the desk for the duration. The gallery staff
provide a variety of guided tours. These include a tactile sculpture room and described artworks, for
vision impaired people. Also a signed or lip reading tour, in French, led by deaf guides. Groups of developmentally
disabled visitors are also welcome but smaller numbers in each group are preferred. Museums in France charge for
entry so look up opening times and prices.
The famous art and historical artefacts need no description here, but I’ll recommend the studenty café under the
glass pyramid as a great dining spot. This place is bright and cheerful when the street cafés are dark or
deserted. When I visited, we could choose food from a variety of stands around the centre of a large room in
which the tables and chairs served everyone; chairs were movable. This room also leads to the Metro. If required,
staff can assist visitors with disabilities to and from bus stops.
https://www.louvre.fr/en
This week’s horse book is Leaving The City by Hollie Anne Marsh ASIN: B07CSTC76H
First in the ‘Sweetbriars’ series for pony loving girls is the story of how Cate Sullivan, her parents and older
brother Alex, move out of Hampstead on the wealthy side of London to a farm in Devon. Leaving the city is not
entirely happy for twelve year old Cate, because her best friends are now several hours away and she’ll have to
join a new school. But the move will give the family the freedom to open an equestrian centre at Sweetbriars Farm.
Cate has a palomino mare called Odette, well placed in showing. Cate imagines she can continue showing but when she
joins the local Pony Club it turns out they don’t do that, and she has to learn dressage instead.
http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=67140
Green Capital by Christian de Perthuis ISBN: 9780231171403
More than one book I’ve read recently has carried this theme of nature providing services which should be factored
into the cost of goods or energy, but is discounted or thought of as free. Bees pollinating flowers to produce
crops is the obvious one; clean water for irrigation, grazing and manufacturing is another.
The authors examine the topic thoroughly and from economic points of view. I do admire their research while it’s
good to see this work from a European writing team. I like the present and future being addressed in such ways as
to point out that the developed northern hemisphere is largely planting trees and preserving biodiversity while
the less developed lands and southern hemisphere are doing the opposite. But the developed lands are dependent
on foods, supply chains and manufacturing in the developing countries. So a full air mile, carbon use and pollution
cost should be provided on clear labelling. This would reveal the natural capital used.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26262963-green-capital
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, helped save a leatherback
turtle hatchling and supported the Jane Goodall Institute. All through
http://www.Care2.com
28th October 2018
This week my roving reporter Allan recommends a trip to Collins Barracks in Dublin, otherwise titled the
Decorative Arts and History Museum. On my several trips here I’ve seen a giant Viking ship in the square;
a samurai warrior’s armour; ceramics; lacquered furniture; silverware; fashionable hats; fashionable clothes;
Irish Army history; many more items. Allan particularly likes that there are large lifts to every floor
and accessible restrooms, plus a café. He says that there is a lot of space to move around everywhere and
the barracks have been adapted to be very wheelchair friendly.
A separate exhibition highlights 1916 while at the back of the barracks across the car park is the home of
Erskine Childer’s ship Asgard, reviewed earlier in my blog. So much to see that you can’t pack it into one
day. The Museum does not open on a Monday.
https://www.museum.ie/Decorative-Arts-History
This week’s horse book is Dream Horse by Barbara Morgenroth ISBN: 9780981644073.
This engaging horse book set in America, features a young lady who is dying to have her first real horse.
When she is offered Charlie her life changes in a big way. He has a mind of his own, won’t be hurried, and
is a long way from the horse of her dreams. But maybe that’s better, because she has to learn to be a good rider.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13508591-dream-horse
This week’s environment book is Feasible Planet by Ken Kroes ASIN: B076FMFG3Y
I have enjoyed reading this handbook and discussion of how we can each make choices to lead more sustainable
lives. No one book will ever cover every aspect, but major issues are presented. We are encouraged to make
one change at least, because it builds up; we can then proceed to consider other changes.
I like the author’s metaphor of a WII -FM radio station (What’s in it for Me?) playing in our heads. This
is how he demonstrates a feeling of entitlement and self-interest.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36430861-feasible-planet---a-guide-to-more-sustainable-living
This fortnight I offset fourteen pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, gave a woman
a biometric smartcard to open her own bank account, supported Amnesty International and Opportunity
International among other good causes.
http://www.Care2.com
14th October 2018
This week I got a recommendation to visit the Panama Canal. My roving reporters Tracey and Patrick were initially
cautious about travelling to a Central American country but Panama, which is paid up front for every ship that
passes through the isthmus canal, turned out to be a modern and safe country in their experience. The Canal itself
is outside the city so transport is more of an issue than anything. The Miraflores Visitor Center has ramps and lifts,
wheelchairs available and accessible restrooms, as well as a restaurant, cafeteria and theatre. You can snack while
watching cargo vessels pass through the locks. The famous Canal is quite a coup for a world traveller.
https://visitcanaldepanama.com/en/accesibilidad-en-centros-de-visitantes/
This week’s horse book is Mary’s Song by Susan Count ASIN: B01M9B2WKN
In 1950s America, a girl afflicted by a virus that made her unable to walk (we are not told details, but it doesn’t
seem to be polio) sits on her father’s fine porch and wishes for a horse. Specifically, one of the Morgan foals next
door, Illusion, which was born with a club foot. If Illusion could be treated and saved - which is by no means certain
- maybe even a lonely girl like Mary could learn to walk as well.
The characterisation is finely done and we learn the strengths of determination, friendship and science.
This week’s nature book is The Ecocentrists by Keith Mako Woodhouse ISBN: 9780231547154.
The early chapters (after the introduction which discusses tree spiking) are about dam construction, canyons and
mountain access roads. Then a look at the local people and students constructing a people’s park in Berkeley, California,
and street riots when the city and college disputed who owned the land. By now, environmentalists were looking seriously
at overpopulation of the world and discussing it in academic as well as general terms.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is mentioned.
The next part looks at Greenpeace, started in 1970 as Don’t Make A Wave when a group of mostly Quakers bravely went out on
a boat to protest detonating atomic bombs under the Aleutian islands. Renamed as Greenpeace they went on to stage dramatic
protests, peaceful and publicity seeking in intent. A breakaway member with more active impulses founded Sea Shepherd.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36906218-the-ecocentrists
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, raised a farm animal humanely, helped
protect the Madagascan rainforest and protected a green turtle hatchling. All at no cost through
http://www.Care2.com
7th October 2018
This week my roving reporter Dragana has recommended a podcast from RadioLab - we
listened to a particularly interesting one on the topic of Falling. With a variety of
presenters and guests, fun sound effects and science explained, as well as personal
stories, the show is great for everyone and would be particularly useful for anyone
visually impaired.
Many of the shows look at America since the show is recorded in New York, but lots
of topics are general enough to amuse every listener.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab
This week’s horse book is To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield by Bronwen Evans ISBN: 9780473206789.
The gentry were more relaxed at their country estates than in town, which accounts for several
of the circumstances in this book. Among them, a young lady wearing a groom’s clothes to ride astride;
swimming in the lake; a lady visiting the neighbour’s house without a maid or other chaperone.
This is a fun story of a desperate wager over a house and a horse.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13448827-to-dare-the-duke-of-dangerfield
This week’s nature book is The Touch of Durrell: A Passion for Animals by Jeremy Mallinson ISBN: 9781846243707.
The author was a young lad during WW2 and in the spirit of the times, headed out to be a soldier in then
(peaceful) Rhodesia after finishing with public school. Many of the people he describes in his memoir were well off;
but in those times few other people could travel. The difficulty was to stop them shooting everything. So the
author’s first admiration for Africa and wildlife made him well suited for a career as zoo keeper and animal collector.
Gerald Durrell by this time had set up his own private collection with his first wife Jacquie, in Jersey, and
Jeremy got the chance to join as temporary keeper, first of all with birds, then moving to mammals, and apes. Jeremy
wanted to make his own expedition and some of the nicest tales are of his trips to Africa and South America.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6927932-the-touch-of-durrell
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, helped save a green
turtle hatchling, protected the rainforest of Madagascar and many more good works.
http://www.Care2.com
30th September 2018
This week I commend Blarney Castle in Co Cork. During April this year an American tourist couple were
here exploring their heritage. They were nearly at the top of famous Blarney Castle when the husband
David Motte, 59, from North Carolina, collapsed with a severe heart attack. Thanks to swift first aid
and CPR from tower staff and the emergency paramedics, an Automated External Defibrillator used by a
Blarney Community First Responder, and a helicopter from the Coast Guard, he was taken to hospital alive
after being revived. Yesterday night I saw this gentleman on the Ray Darcy Show on RTE, back in Ireland,
thanking all his helpers.
We would think the top of a castle is the worst place to have a heart attack; it turned out to be the best,
he said. Well done to all concerned. Here is the original story from the Irish Examiner.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/us-tourist-rescued-after-blarney-castle-heart-attack-thanks-people-who-saved-his-life-469770.html
And here is an excellent addendum: HeartSafety Solutions
which sells AEDs donates one to everyone who
has survived a heart attack with the help of an AED. David Motte donated his to the Blarney Community
First Responders.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cardiac-arrest-survivor-gifts-defibrillator-to-blarney-group-469861.html
This week’s horse book is Captured & Seduced by Shelley Munro ASIN: B00KQ2DC1Q.
Horses but not as you know them. Yes, we’re off to the far reaches of space as a feline shifter spacefarer
and his crew kidnap a horse trainer from Earth. Actually she’s a jockey, fighting to stay sober since her
husband died. But the main thing is, she can train hell-horses. You what? Hell-horses. They are like big
black hyenas and scavenge and fight to the death. Not your average day in the paddock. Adult romance and
some strong language.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22602755-captured-seduced
This week’s nature book is Murder Flies the Coop by Jessica Ellicott ISBN: 9781496710529.
Two ladies in 1920s Kent, one American divorcee, one English lady who worked in the women’s Land Army during
the Great War. They investigate the disappearance of a pigeon club treasurer with birds and funds.
I liked learning about pigeon racing, class conscious at the time because working men could not afford clubs
and trains for longer races. I also really like how the ladies investigate a colliery and even go down the pit.
The tale is full of characters and setting, brimful of local colour.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37884742-murder-flies-the-coop
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, fed a rescued seal
and supported the Jane Goodall Institute among other good works. Care2.com
http://www.Care2.com
23rd September 2018
This week the Dublin Gazette carried a story about the new specialist facility for frame football at a club in
Hermitage Park, Lucan, Co Dublin. Both amputee footballers and those who need to use a walking frame, or who
believe they can compete more equally with a frame, will be using this pitch. Well done to Esker Celtic Football
Club, the Football Association of Ireland with their Football For All campaign, and Dublin County Council.
Frames are able to run easily on the special surface and 4 a side or 5 a side games will be the norm. The local
players tested out various surfaces to find the best one, which means they had direct input into their facility.
Teams from around the country are expected to come and make use of the pitch, encouraging inter-club friendships.
The Dublin Gazette.
http://www.fai.ie/domestic/football-for-all/frame-football
This week’s horse book is Trophy Horse by Amanda Wills ASIN: B079538GSG.
Cassius is a black Percheron and in this English book he and young Kristy recently rode in a prizewinning team
quadrille. However the new fame draws a former owner of the handsome horse to want him back. She abandoned Cassius
because he had an eye infection - which left him blind in one eye. But money talks and poor Kristy is devastated.
She has to drop out of the team and starts plotting to get Cassius back.
The first book had much more emphasis on the difficulties of riding a partially sighted horse. By contrast this one
has more normal pony book dilemmas.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38106669-trophy-horse
This week’s nature book is Cock Crow: Poems About Life In The Countryside chosen by Michal Morpurgo ISBN: 9781405212885.
These nice short poems about life in the countryside will suit kids with an ear for interesting sounds and an eye
for the quirky line drawings.
Seamus Heaney and WB Yeats, Thomas Hardy and RL Stevenson, Shakespeare, Molly Holden, plenty of Anons. Some you will know
and some you won’t but none are very long and some are a few lines.
I think the poems are best read aloud. While a few are easy enough I think modern kids will be asking questions. What is a
blacksmith, a whipper-in, a throstle, stubble-fire?
Cock Crow
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a tree in an African village, and gave a woman a
biometric smartcard to open her own bank account. All at
http://www.Care2.com
16th September 2018
This week my roving reporter Allan recommends Killester College, Dublin, which held an Open Day
recently. An Open Day is a good way for the public to check out a college and see if the facilities,
as well as the subjects provided would suit them.
This college has steps and a ramp up to the front door with a sliding automatic door at the top of the
ramp. Inside the rooms and canteen are all on one level. The well equipped accessible restrooms are in
two places. Parking is provided and the college is close to public transport. Killester College says
that it regularly reviews both physical and digital access with the aim of making the college as accessible
as possible to the community.
http://killestercollege.ie/
This week’s horse book is Last Chance Mustang by Mitchell Bornstein ISBN: 9781250059413.
I’m giving this book five stars on the understanding that it’s not for children. Mitch met an adopted mustang,
recently gelded at the age of twelve, called Samson. His owner Amy who ran an animal sanctuary had been the violent -
because much abused - horse’s last hope. The book tells of how Mitch, who had managed to reclaim other stressed and
difficult horses, decided he had to work with the mustang and save him. Every step took a long time and Mitch
gradually worked out the sources of stress - a helicopter noise reminded Samson of the distressing roundup
while his ears had been damaged in twitches, a halter had been left on too long and eaten into his skin, his
former owner carried nightmares for the horse.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23014697-last-chance-mustang
This week’s environment book is Saving Africa by N. Timoleon Amessa ISBN: 9781785899461.
Very interesting to read about modern problems in African nations from the point of view of an African gentleman
and world traveller. This is a careful and reasoned analysis by a man who doesn’t claim to be an economist or
sociologist, but an observer. The author compares with Asian and South American nations, exporting goods and oil,
but with more people fleeing every year to go to developed nations. Life in a village is hard work, and provides
little reward.
A valid point is made by saying that nobody takes care of the natural environment, with open space exploited and
degraded, instead of cared for and valued as providing the services that humans need to live. Whereas in Europe,
every stretch of land, private, public or wild, is studied and tended.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34449177-saving-africa
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a tree in an African village, helped seals, primates, rainforests
and supported the oceans. All at
http://www.Care2.com
9th September 2018
This week I’m looking at a new drone app developed to help find and rescue people missing in rough terrain.
A search dog can cover more ground than a human and a drone can overfly the terrain and send images back much
more quickly and easily. The Drone SAR was shown to be three times quicker than a five-person team on exercise
in Donegal. While this won’t show up a fallen climber down in a crevasse or lying under brush, it can eliminate
areas from the need to be physically searched and cover a grid pattern with real time feedback to a central control.
Well done and this will make the task of rescuing the injured much easier and safer, as well as having further potential.
https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/developer-team-set-to-save-lives-with-new-costeffective-drone-rescue-app-37163836.html
This week’s horse book is The Sporting Horse by Nicola Jane Swinney ASIN: B07DP4ZH6K.
Gorgeous and informative, this book is a must for horse lovers. When I got an e-ARC I browsed all the photos straight
away, one more beautiful than the next. Look at that Warmblood doing dressage, the palomino barrel racer, the Andalusian
in the sea. And all the pictures of teams of horses in driving sports. The book is full of motion, strength and colour.
The horses are supple, moving, glossy.
I found lots of great information too, most of which is not the standard horsey info in other books. I saw Nick Skelton’s
record breaking high jump on Lastic described here, on TV. We learn about the history of Trakhener horses and how a one-eyed
horse beat the Hickstead Derby.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40552546-the-sporting-horse
This week’s environment book is From This Moment On by Debra Clopton ISBN: 9781941491218.
This is a sweet romance story set on a beach resort island in Florida. The owner of a family-run hotel has asked a famous
mural artist to come and paint murals for her, hoping to attract tourists. The man is somewhat stressed after a plane accident
but accepts. The lady is recovering from her own stressful divorce. I particularly like that one of the family works in a sea
turtle rescue centre and we get to learn about why turtles may need help and what problems they face.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31121514-from-this-moment-on
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, gave a woman a biometric smartcard
to help her open a bank account, supported Amnesty International’s work against violence and more.
http://www.Care2.com
2nd September 2018
This week my roving reporter Jami has recommended the Romance Writers of America annual meetup and awards.
She tells us on her blog:
“During several of the big workshops, a live-caption transcriptionist typed every word of the presenter to
display on a screen to one side of the podium. Although I’m a hearing person, I appreciated this service for
deaf or hard-of-hearing attendees.
“My auditory processing is sometimes slow, and when I struggled (or just zoned out for a bit as I thought about
how to apply some tidbit of advice *grin*), I was able to refer to the screen and catch up on the last
sentence or two of information.”
I’m pleased that the RWA put extra thought into making conference attendees welcome and helping them all participate
fully. Here is Jami’s blog where she describes the whole event.
https://jamigold.com/2018/07/highlights-from-rwa18-including-that-speech/
This week’s horse book is The Blue Unicorn’s Journey to Osm by Sybrina Durant ISBN: 9781942740094.
Every author has her own take on unicorns, and these are brightly coloured horselike beings but with cloven hoofs
(that means they are not horses, although they could have evolved from a common ancestor) and with a single horn,
made of a metal. The book has a format of two pages of text followed by a two-page illustration of the scene,
so any age can enjoy the story.
This is actually an ‘ugly duckling’ fable and I must admit to being disappointed when the blue unicorn with no metal
horn turned into something shinier and stronger, instead of making best use of his innate talents and wit.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34638926-the-blue-unicorn-s-journey-to-osm-illustrated-chapter-book
This week’s nature book is Elefant by Martin Suter ISBN: 9780008264314.
This short novel at first seems freakish, then draws the reader in to its premise. A down and out man in Zurich
huddles in a riverbank cave out of the rain, and sees a tiny pink elephant moving in the darkness. The elefant
is also glowing.
We slip back a couple of years to see the machinations of a genetic manipulation laboratory, which draws on circus
Indian elephant breeding stock to create an altered embryo. (You will learn more than you wanted to know about
such intimate procedures.) Elephant babies take time to grow, and during these months, the young elephant
trainer from Burma becomes convinced that his charge may be going to deliver a sacred elephant baby. He
wishes to free her when she arrives, from experimentation and unscrupulous ownership, but the foreign
investors from Asia will not be easily fooled.
http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=66719
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, bottle fed a kitten and
fed a rescued primate, among other good works at
http://www.Care2.com
26th August 2018
This week I commend the Ilac Centre in Dublin city centre. The shopping centre has entrances
on Henry Street and Parnell Street, and is wheelchair friendly with a lift up to the large
library on the first floor. Walking through recently I noticed that the location information
posters display clearly where the Automated Electronic Defibrillators are kept. Great idea and
this information can be easily noted for future use as well as found in a hurry.
Other initiatives here include harvesting rainwater for the public restrooms and replacing lighting
with LEDs to save energy, plus placing a beehive on the roof.
This week’s horse book is Boy and the Very Lonely Pony by Junia Wonders ISBN: 9781499189612.
This is a brightly illustrated daydream story for early readers. A young boy sees a grey pony
from his window, but the pony has no company all day. When the moon rises the boy sneaks out to
talk to the pony and see what they could do together.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22157807-boy-and-the-very-lonely-pony
This week’s environment book is a cli-fi thriller Carbon Run by J.G. Follansbee ASIN: B075HMN6RL.
This dystopian thriller begins in Oregon but the action shifts to the Arctic Ocean - not as we know it.
When the world warmed a new source of fuel was needed, safer than burning oil, and due to a major problem
explained in the book, this went wrong. The Arctic is now ice-free and a science station is tethered at
the North Pole, floating, a destination for luxury cruise ships.
We follow a young lady called Anne Penn who just wants to help preserve the last breeding home of the
Klamath magpie. But a domestic fire starts and spreads to the woods, and Anne and her dad Bill are blamed
for the environmental crime.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36152598-carbon-run
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a tree in an African village, raised a farm animal
humanely and protected the rainforest of Madagascar, as well as other good deeds.
http://www.Care2.com
19th August 2018
This week my roving reporter Fergal recommends Aviva Stadium at Lansdowne Rd where he attended a concert
recently. He was impressed by all the lifts to every level and the accessible restrooms. According to the
stadium site, they have spaces for 230 wheelchair users and an equal number of carers, distributed around
the stadium. Lifts to every level may be used by anyone with reduced mobility, and stewards are available
to help. Guide dogs will be admitted and the top and bottom of steps have tactile flooring warnings.
Restaurant have low level counters and there are 51 accessible restrooms around the stadium.
Whether you are attending a concert, match or another function, you can arrive by public transport or arrange
in advance to park in dedicated spaces.
https://www.avivastadium.ie/
This week’s horse book is Reunited with the Bull Rider by Jill Kemerer ISBN: 9781335509543.
This is a family friendly romance, set in Wyoming. A young lady who makes and sells quilts, offers to mentor
a child, and is presented with a small girl whose mom has died - from a troubled background - who doesn’t
trust adults, not even her uncle who is fostering her. However, the uncle was our heroine’s childhood sweetheart,
until he hightailed it out of town to be a rodeo star.
So this is a challenging situation in more ways than one. We see that the gentleman has retired at thirty,
this being old for his sport, and hopes to raise and train horses. His gift of a pony to his young ward is a
great move and works out really well.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36743916-reunited-with-the-bull-rider
This week’s nature book is High Seas by Madelon Smid ASIN: B00YBDHSIY.
This is the third book I have read by this author. All are full of adventure in the great outdoors. This
book takes us kayaking for island hopping, and we’re in the chilly open waters between Canada and Washington
State, north of Forks as I found when I Googled the location. A map would have been helpful for those of us
who have never been to Canada.
Our heroine is quite an individual, from a country south of the US border and up here to try to find her
kidnapped sibling. As the abductor was a people trafficker this is not easy. She’s giving kayaking lessons
and collecting marine biology samples to earn a living.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27968092-high-seas
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, raised a farm animal
humanely, protected seals and supported big cats among other good works.
http://www.Care2.com
12th August 2018
This week I recommend playing wheelchair rugby. The Gaelic Warriors Wheelchair Rugby Club in Clontarf,
established in 1997, has benefited from National Lottery funding to buy and repair some of their specially
built sports wheelchairs. The men and women who play regain fitness, enthusiasm and fun. Ireland is sending
a national squad, also benefiting from Lottery funding, to the World championship qualifiers in Switzerland.
This sounds like tremendous fun.
http://www.irishwheelchairrugby.com/
This week’s horse book is Resisting the Rancher by Kadie Scott ASIN: B07D3GR4WM.
Rusty Walker has worked hard to please her ranching father all her twenty-five years. Seems that’s not far
enough for a controlling man, even after his death he wants to dictate his daughter’s life. Williams Hill
has driven up from Texas to provide rodeo stock for a town in the Colorado Rockies. Another outfit is
providing most of the stock but he has brought up some powerful bulls. He notices his sister-in-law’s
Quarter Horse, a red bay called Mischief Maker, being ridden by a new trainer for barrel riding, performing
superbly. He goes to talk to the rider, Rusty Walker, but she’s not interested in talking to appreciative
cowboys. Her dad runs the local rodeo stock ranch, and he doesn’t like her chatting with competitors.
Rusty’s dad confides in her that he only has a few months to live, and she has to marry someone he approves
of or lose the ranch. He’s always resented just having a female heir.
http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=66579
This week’s nature book is The Free Trader of Warren Deep ISBN: 9781530179299.
This tale is suitable for YA readers but adults who enjoy SF will be fine with it too. A lad who is a free
trader, with his pal the telepathic hill cat, decides to cross the wide desert and see if there are better
goods to trade on the far side, maybe ancient technology.
The story is a little slow to start as we get introduced to the situation. As the story progresses, a few
more members are added to the little party, and battles occur, and our lad starts using more intelligence
on problem solving and easier travel. I like the two horses and all the talking (for which read mutant)
creatures. I very much enjoyed the spread of environments.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29460418-the-free-trader-of-warren-deep
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, gave a woman a biometric smartcard so she can open a bank account and helped campaign for clean oceans, among other good works. Care2.com.
http://www.Care2.com
5th August 2018
This week I’m delighted with the news that transport may be made more accessible all across Ireland.
Transport Minister Shane Ross TD has nominated five well-qualified individuals to sit on the boards
of the major transport firms, the bus and train operators. Each of the five has a disability which
means they know all about requiring public transport to be accessible. Seniors and those with disabilities
are far more likely to be dependent on public transport for much of their travel.
And once you can travel easily, you can visit the great locations I keep featuring in my blog.
This week’s horse book is Sawdust In His Shoes by Eloise Jarvis McGraw ISBN: 9780874868265.
This classic for young adults has been reissued in paperback and e-book forms. The circus comes to Oregon
but when it moves on, a fifteen year old lad is left without a home. Joe Lang had thought he had everything
- a family, friends, and a career as a spangles, or bareback horse rider. But the death of his father changes his world.
Sawdust in his shoes refers to Joe’s circus upbringing. How can he adapt to life in an industrial school?
Joe’s toughness marks him out, and friendless, he decides to escape. When he does, an Oregon farm family
takes him in. He keeps his secrets. But the farm is in need of help. And they have a Morgan mare named Satin.
If Joe can just keep up his practicing, he might make it back to circus life after all.
http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=66515
This week’s environment book is Walking With Cattle by Terry Williams ISBN: 9781780274881.
Terry, presumably Teresa, found an excellent exhibit on cattle drovers in the west of Scotland, so she asked
permission to tour around collecting memories and adding research. This is her story of walking literally in
the footsteps of cattle drovers on the long north-south roads of the Uist islands. Families would rear a calf
or two each year, selling them at eighteen months or two years old, the first time these cattle had been off
the croft. They were glad of the money and the drovers, with dogs, walked the cattle to marts or fairs.
After a beast was sold it would be painted and clipped with marks of the buyer, usually an agent, then driven
in large droves of many hundreds to the boat off the island.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35070161-walking-with-cattle
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, protected the rainforest
of Madagascar, fed a rescued primate and helped to create a bigger whale sanctuary with Oceana.
http://www.Care2.com
29th July 2018
This week my roving reporter Marie recommends visiting the Croke Park Stadium in Dublin. This famous
sports venue also hosts concerts, conferences and exhibitions. Marie tells me that ramps and lifts are
available and restrooms are extra large size for those in wheelchairs. She adds that the grounds have a
designated gate for wheelchair access.
According to the website, sports days or concerts have designated wheelchair seating areas. These should
be requested when buying tickets. Other patrons who need easy access can also be seated in a suitable spot
if they request. The accessible areas have full access to bars, restrooms and snack bars. Some stewards
have received full training in assisting anyone who needs extra help. So whether you are attending a job
fair or cheering on your county, the day should be enjoyable.
https://crokepark.ie/stadium
This week’s horse book is Friends of the Wigwam by John William Huelskamp ISBN: 9780692348826.
Due to meticulous research, demonstrated by letters, written accounts and photos, we meet six young people
in a town called Freeport on the Pecatonica River, Illinois before the Civil War and follow their lives.
Through their histories we see electioneering, a move to secession, the fate of a warhorse and how ordinary
settlers lived, loved and fought.
I particularly liked a tomboy character, Allie, who is determined that she won’t be stopped from going to war.
We also see the role of the sharpshooter TJ and his new-made Sharps rifle. The politicians and generals who
ride through the towns and battlefields are deftly portrayed but the author would probably be happy that
his ordinary people, based on genuine persons, are those who best engaged my sympathies. And the fine black
horse, Black Hawk, of course.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29662274-friends-of-the-wigwam
This week’s nature book is Rua The Red Grouse by Patrick Devaney ISBN: 9780951270912.
The red grouse, a native bird, is almost extinct and one man decides to reintroduce a few tame birds in the
hope that the native bird Rua can help them adapt enough to survive. We see that many predators are about,
from foxes to hooded crows, and that people are more dangerous because they are able to kill more than one
bird or chick at a time. Not only that, but people are working at draining - so killing - the boglands with
its array of highly adapted life. I love the illustrations by noted wildlife author / artist Don Conroy,
who wrote Sky Wings.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rua-Red-Grouse-Patrick-Devaney/dp/1872455115/
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, gave a woman a biometric smartcard so she can open her own
bank account, fed a rescued primate and helped protect the rainforest.
http://www.Care2.com
22nd July 2018
This week I am crediting RTE News for televising the first performance of the Irish National Anthem, in Irish
Sign Language. I had always supposed there must be a version, it was just a matter of translating the words
after all; but apparently this was actually a first. This dovetails with the work of a committee to study
protocols around the use of the Anthem. Well done for making the National Anthem more accessible.
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2018/0717/979342-historic-performance-of-irish-sign-language-anthem/
This week’s horse book is The Icecutter’s Daughter by Tracie Peterson ISBN: 9780764206191.
This enjoyable romance in historical Minnesota shows a trade worth good money at the time, cutting and selling
lake ice. Pairs of stout horses haul sledges and carts of blocks of ice, cut nine or ten inches deep, off the
lake surface. The blocks are packed in sawdust and sold to cities. We really have to admire the enterprise
and hard work of the workers. One of them is a girl called Merrill, who loves the horses. She looks after her
father and brothers, cooking up a storm and doing a day’s work on the ice as well. I’m not sure how she fits it all in.
When a carpenter comes to town for work with his uncle, making furniture, tensions arise and Merrill has to change her ways.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15726455-the-icecutter-s-daughter
This week’s nature book is The Miraculous Fever-Tree by Fiammetta Rocco ISBN: 9780002572033.
This covers the history and uses of the Chinchona tree of the Peruvian Andes, which was observed by a Jesuit
to be used by native peoples when they were shivering. He suggested it could be useful in helping people in
Europe who had agues and fevers, which caused shivering. The resulting bark medicine became a cure for malaria
and a spur to science.
We don’t hear much now about malaria in Europe. Yet much of Italy, even parts of Rome near the Tiber, were plagued
by malarial mosquitoes making the place unfit for habitation during the warm months. The Jesuit bark or Peruvian
bark from a variety of subspecies worked so well that a giant industry sprang up to exploit it, which overrode
the original teaching of the Jesuits that for every tree felled five should be planted. So many tonnes of
quinine were shipped worldwide that the trees were becoming scarce. Enter the plant hunters of Kew and the
Chelsea Physic Gardens, who made sure to obtain seeds.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35122693-the-miraculous-fever-tree
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, helped to protect the
rainforest of Madagascar and worked for the Jane Goodall Institute, among other good works.
http://www.Care2.com
15th July 2018
This week we visited Skerries Mills in Fingal County, North Dublin. We previously visited and took
the guided tour, but on this occasion we just enjoyed the outdoor café, shops and surrounds. The two
restored windmills and watermill make a fascinating trip, with various items of farm machinery and
historical photos of Skerries for background.
The café is partly downstairs, out the back of the building with a water bowl for Guide Dogs, but
the main meal service and gift / craft shop are upstairs. Never fear, the operators have installed
a stair lift. The stable yard is restored as a series of small craft shops and art studios. We
also enjoyed the mill pond with herons, ducks and blue dragonflies all enjoying the sunshine.
An extra exhibit demonstrates how willows are being grown on a small scale as biofuel.
https://www.skerriesmills.ie/#tours
This week’s horse book is The Reluctant Assassin by Fiona Buckley ISBN: 9781780291031.
When her young son is abducted, Mistress Blanchard has no choice but to agree to carry out an
assassination attempt. The times being what they are, she first has to inform Queen Elizabeth
Tudor and her spymaster Walsingham. The politics of the day mean that life is uncertain and
loyalties even less so, while a death could perhaps be convenient for the queen.
I enjoy how this series pays attention to horses, our heroine owning a stud farm for trotting
horses, and the abilities of each individual mount are relevant in planning travels.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40089183-the-reluctant-assassin
This week’s environment book is Eager by Ben Goldfarb ISBN: 9781603587396.
This look at beavers mainly in North America, but also with a chapter on Scotland and Devon, explains
the wider picture of how hydrology and geomorpology are affected by the eagerly working beaver. Where
dams are, ponds form, and sediment is deposited, floods are contained and ground water is absorbed.
Life flourishes.
The book goes into the paradisical, if messy, waterways that faced early trappers and settlers. North
America ran fat with beaver, bear and moose; rivers ran silver with fish and were filled with fowl.
Rivers were often not navigable due to snags and drowned trees, giant wood and beaver dams. But salmon
and trout found their ways happily up and down, showing us how salmon developed the skill of leaping.
Today where beavers collide with people, towns or cattle, advocates have to work harder, coming up
with beaver baffling pipe guards and culvert clearers. Cattle wreck stream banks and eat trees and forbs
that hold soil together, so banks had to be fenced off before beavers could return.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39345591-eager
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, saved a turtle
hatchling and sponsored a child’s education in a developing nation. Care2.com
http://www.Care2.com
8th July 2018
This week I am recommending London River Ferries and River Buses. These boats are entirely
wheelchair accessible and provide an excellent way to get around London or just to sightsee.
The buses are a dedicated commuter service while the ferries may be more for tourists. You
can pay by Oyster card, phone app or separately and there are some discounts. Boarding is by
ramps with just a couple of stops which are not step free.
The boats have covers and an open deck, and each can accommodate a few wheelchairs, more if
they can fold up. To take a mobility scooter aboard, passengers should be with the Thames Clippers
Mobility Scooter Recognition Scheme. The ferries have a small café aboard and accessible toilets.
Guide Dogs are welcome, and other dogs provided they are kept on a lead.
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/river/about-river-bus
This week’s horse book is The Devil’s Highway by Hannah March ISBN: 9780451210715.
This is a Georgian mystery which makes excellent use of horses for various forms of transport
around the gentle countryside. A highwayman is robbing coaches and carts, and now he turns to
murder. But a tutor to young gentlemen looks into the matter as an agent for his current employer,
the magistrate. He finds that some of the passengers were not who they claimed or have gone missing
from the coach.
Oddly for a man named Fairfax (faxi meaning horse in Norse) our protagonist is not a confident
rider, but he gets better during the book by spending a lot of time on a gentle mare. Contrastingly,
he sees a Methodist preacher’s sermon broken up by violence and learns that not all marriages are happy ones.
The Devil’s Highway
This week’s environment book is Dust of Kansas by Ginger Booth ASIN: B01ATWC0RE.
This is a dystopian short story following a group of friends, some in the US Army, some just
out, as migrant camps from drought-stricken Kansas clog up their home towns and spill over rivers
to neighbouring states. Bartering with Army food for furniture brings home how dear food is, and
how little possessions will be of value to people on the move. We also see ‘race riots’ which turn
out to be food riots by poor people, being put down heavily.
Something called the Calm Act has been enacted and while many of the terms are secret, it looks
like the government, major media corporations and Army are aware that climate change is bringing
an end to democracy and civil liberties.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31868944-dust-of-kansas
This week I offset seven pounds of carbon, planted a fruit tree in an African village, fed a
rescued seal, raised a farm animal humanely and helped Amnesty International support the rights of women.
http://www.Care2.com
This fascinating look at the Pony Express lays out the history and reasons why this was a needed service and much
welcomed. The overland route from East to West coast of America carried news, bank affairs, money, letters and
newspapers among other matters. The other route was generally down through the Panama isthmus using a boat on
each side and overland trail. This was cut off by the Civil War, so the time was right for a rider mail route
through Utah and over mountains.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3297545-the-story-of-the-pony-express
Áras an Uachtaráin is open to visitors with tours at other times of the year.
This week’s environment book is AwareKnits by Vickie Howell and Adrienne Armstrong ISBN: 9781600594694.
This week’s nature book is Mrs Moreau’s Warbler by Stephen Moss ISBN: 9781783350902.
This week author Effrosyni Moschoudi is my roving reporter. She tells me about her home of Corfu:
This week’s environment tale is Have Sword, Will Travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams ISBN:9781742374024.
This week’s horse book is Megan and Mischief by Kelly McKain ISBN: 9781847150066.
https://www.louvre.fr/en
More than one book I’ve read recently has carried this theme of nature providing services which should be factored
into the cost of goods or energy, but is discounted or thought of as free. Bees pollinating flowers to produce
crops is the obvious one; clean water for irrigation, grazing and manufacturing is another.
28th October 2018
A separate exhibition highlights 1916 while at the back of the barracks across the car park is the home of
Erskine Childer’s ship Asgard, reviewed earlier in my blog. So much to see that you can’t pack it into one
day. The Museum does not open on a Monday.
This week’s environment book is Feasible Planet by Ken Kroes ASIN: B076FMFG3Y
In 1950s America, a girl afflicted by a virus that made her unable to walk (we are not told details, but it doesn’t
seem to be polio) sits on her father’s fine porch and wishes for a horse. Specifically, one of the Morgan foals next
door, Illusion, which was born with a club foot. If Illusion could be treated and saved - which is by no means certain
- maybe even a lonely girl like Mary could learn to walk as well.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is mentioned.
The author was a young lad during WW2 and in the spirit of the times, headed out to be a soldier in then
(peaceful) Rhodesia after finishing with public school. Many of the people he describes in his memoir were well off;
but in those times few other people could travel. The difficulty was to stop them shooting everything. So the
author’s first admiration for Africa and wildlife made him well suited for a career as zoo keeper and animal collector.
30th September 2018
This week’s nature book is Cock Crow: Poems About Life In The Countryside chosen by Michal Morpurgo ISBN: 9781405212885.
This week’s horse book is The Sporting Horse by Nicola Jane Swinney ASIN: B07DP4ZH6K.
2nd September 2018
https://jamigold.com/2018/07/highlights-from-rwa18-including-that-speech/
This week’s nature book is Elefant by Martin Suter ISBN: 9780008264314.
This week I commend the Ilac Centre in Dublin city centre. The shopping centre has entrances
on Henry Street and Parnell Street, and is wheelchair friendly with a lift up to the large
library on the first floor. Walking through recently I noticed that the location information
posters display clearly where the Automated Electronic Defibrillators are kept. Great idea and
this information can be easily noted for future use as well as found in a hurry.
This week’s horse book is Boy and the Very Lonely Pony by Junia Wonders ISBN: 9781499189612.
This week’s environment book is a cli-fi thriller Carbon Run by J.G. Follansbee ASIN: B075HMN6RL.
https://www.avivastadium.ie/
This week’s nature book is High Seas by Madelon Smid ASIN: B00YBDHSIY.
This week’s horse book is Resisting the Rancher by Kadie Scott ASIN: B07D3GR4WM.
Rusty Walker has worked hard to please her ranching father all her twenty-five years. Seems that’s not far
enough for a controlling man, even after his death he wants to dictate his daughter’s life. Williams Hill
has driven up from Texas to provide rodeo stock for a town in the Colorado Rockies. Another outfit is
providing most of the stock but he has brought up some powerful bulls. He notices his sister-in-law’s
Quarter Horse, a red bay called Mischief Maker, being ridden by a new trainer for barrel riding, performing
superbly. He goes to talk to the rider, Rusty Walker, but she’s not interested in talking to appreciative
cowboys. Her dad runs the local rodeo stock ranch, and he doesn’t like her chatting with competitors.
This week’s horse book is Sawdust In His Shoes by Eloise Jarvis McGraw ISBN: 9780874868265.
This week’s environment book is Walking With Cattle by Terry Williams ISBN: 9781780274881.
This week’s horse book is The Icecutter’s Daughter by Tracie Peterson ISBN: 9780764206191.
This week’s nature book is The Miraculous Fever-Tree by Fiammetta Rocco ISBN: 9780002572033.
This week we visited Skerries Mills in Fingal County, North Dublin. We previously visited and took
the guided tour, but on this occasion we just enjoyed the outdoor café, shops and surrounds. The two
restored windmills and watermill make a fascinating trip, with various items of farm machinery and
historical photos of Skerries for background.
https://www.skerriesmills.ie/#tours
This look at beavers mainly in North America, but also with a chapter on Scotland and Devon, explains
the wider picture of how hydrology and geomorpology are affected by the eagerly working beaver. Where
dams are, ponds form, and sediment is deposited, floods are contained and ground water is absorbed.
Life flourishes.
This week’s environment book is Dust of Kansas by Ginger Booth ASIN: B01ATWC0RE.