Today in pictures

[Margaret Pilkington]

I'm sure there are some of those berberis on the canal bank...the other week when I took the four children on a nature wander, they pointed some berries out that looked a lot like those......Spindles thought they were olives......he likes olives( a cosmopolitan child) I told him on no account to try and eat them as I didn't know what they were. I didn't fancy 4 hours in A&E while he had his stomach pumped.

I will look more carefully now and snap them if I can find them again,

[Margaret Pilkington]

You get a first class horticultural education on here.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Dave, I think your berberis is berberis darwinii...the berries and the leaves are poisonous

I think you're right but where did you get the idea that it was poisonous?

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Well unless you believe Wikipedia...it says the berries are edible and rich in Vitamin C...I think I'll stick to oranges for my vitamin C.

Sue will know.......till then I'm not trying them.

I've always understood barberries to be edible and I think Wikipedia is right. But don't put on me the onus of convincing you! Never tried one myself...
Barberry Jam Recipe from Britain

No wonder I never get anything else done with all these research queries...

BTW looked at your Flickr pics today - that sky is AMAZING -awesome even. Where was it??

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Believe me....I won't be taking any chances with them. I don't want 'em close to me.
I want something between me and them...and yes......I know my jacket was between us, but I didn't like it on me...the frog hopper...not the jacket.

I don't mind naked froghoppers- it's the cuckoo spit I don'r like...

[Margaret Pilkington]

I got that it was poisonous off some Site that google threw up...then I checked on Wiki and it gave different info...also another site was talking about using the berries for wine...said it would be good because the berries are acidic.

The pic was taken on the 18th of July(through the back bedroom window)...this information is on the top RH corner of the page with the picture on it....and if you wanted to know more you could check the Exif data......top LH corner where it says actions - there is a drop down box and it gives you a whole barrow load of options....Check Exif Data is one of them.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I got that it was poisonous off some Site that google threw up...then I checked on Wiki and it gave different info...also another site was talking about using the berries for wine...said it would be good because the berries are acidic.

Just shows you how misleading the internet can be... I typed in "Berberis darwinii poisonous" on Google and this came up as one in the list of answers:

Evergreen Shrubs by Size

davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2466/
*All parts of plant are poisonous if ingested. Medium (less than 10 feet). Darwin Barberry (Berberis darwinii) grows to 6 to 8 feet and needs 4 to 6 feet to spread.

When I went to the site I found that the sentence about being poisonous was the last sentence in the listing for the plant before the berberis.

However I do sometimes wonder if some people take the same attitude to berries that you take to insects - thinking that are all poisonous like you believe all buzzy things bite or sting... Possibly not a bad thing where children are concerned.

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

The pic was taken on the 18th of July(through the back bedroom window)...this information is on the top RH corner of the page with the picture on it....and if you wanted to know more you could check the Exif data......top LH corner where it says actions - there is a drop down box and it gives you a whole barrow load of options....Check Exif Data is one of them.

Yes looked at all the technical data - but I had to come to you for the location - you see some fine things from your bedroom window...

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I'm sure there are some of those berberis on the canal bank...the other week when I took the four children on a nature wander, they pointed some berries out that looked a lot like those......Spindles thought they were olives......he likes olives( a cosmopolitan child) I told him on no account to try and eat them as I didn't know what they were. I didn't fancy 4 hours in A&E while he had his stomach pumped.

I will look more carefully now and snap them if I can find them again,

Could have been deadly nightshade??

Deadly Nightshade Irrational Geographic

Or early sloes if they were on a tree. These would have bloom like the berberis berries whereas the belladonna ones are very shiny.

[davemac]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I got that it was poisonous off some Site that google threw up...then I checked on Wiki and it gave different info...also another site was talking about using the berries for wine...said it would be good because the berries are acidic.

The pic was taken on the 18th of July(through the back bedroom window)...this information is on the top RH corner of the page with the picture on it....and if you wanted to know more you could check the Exif data......top LH corner where it says actions - there is a drop down box and it gives you a whole barrow load of options....Check Exif Data is one of them.

just off topic slightly, you can check the exif data of you own photos in photoscape, its under the menu tab bottom right hand corner.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by davemac

just off topic slightly, you can check the exif data of you own photos in photoscape, its under the menu tab bottom right hand corner.

Yep I have discovered that too.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I know the berries weren't Deadly Nightshade........they are smaller, rounder and shiny, as you say....my dad used to take us on nature walks when we were children and he showed us belladonna and told us we should never eat it as it is poison.....he also told us that the Pendle witches used it in potions....he told us it was related to potatoes too(a mine of information - it is strange that I still remember al this stuff)

The berries that the children looked at, were olive shaped and about the same size....they had a bloom on them and were quite hard. I will take a little knife next time and cut one open and see what the inside looks like.

I wanted to let the children know that it was never a good idea to eat berries off trees if you don't know what they are........and told them they could get very sick if they ate something that was just for the birds....they wanted to know why the birds don't get sick. I told them...different digestion....and that the birds relied on berries for food through the winter months and that the bushes relid on the birds to transport their seed to other places(in their poo)...the all said eeeeewwwww....in unison.

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I know the berries weren't Deadly Nightshade........they are smaller, rounder and shiny, as you say....my dad used to take us on nature walks when we were children and he showed us belladonna and told us we should never eat it as it is poison.....he also told us that the Pendle witches used it in potions....he told us it was related to potatoes too(a mine of information - it is strange that I still remember al this stuff)

The berries that the children looked at, were olive shaped and about the same size....they had a bloom on them and were quite hard. I will take a little knife next time and cut one open and see what the inside looks like.

I wanted to let the children know that it was never a good idea to eat berries off trees if you don't know what they are........and told them they could get very sick if they ate something that was just for the birds....they wanted to know why the birds don't get sick. I told them...different digestion....and that the birds relied on berries for food through the winter months and that the bushes relid on the birds to transport their seed to other places(in their poo)...the all said eeeeewwwww....in unison.

Quite right Margaret - it's a shame that these days more and more children are losing out on this kind of education as their entertainment needs require video games or expensive visits to theme parks. Then accidents happen. I remember spending an afternoon in Accy Vic when I came off my spacehopper and broke my ankle! We had to wait for ages till I was seen because of an emergency, a group of childen had eaten laburnam seeds and were having to have their stomachs pumped!

[mobertol]

A selection of my favourite views in the Lake District.

1-6 Ullswater in different seasons.

7-9 shots of Buttermere

10 A view of Grasmere taken after a strenous climb up Helm Crag to see The Lion and the Lamb.

[susie123]

I'm postponing the rest of my trip around Lancaster today to visit warmer climes, prompted by two of Dianne's posts about her farm and village. In September 2009 we visited Italy in our motorhome, driving down through France, Germany and Switzerland then across the north of Italy and down the Adriatic coast from Ravenna to the Ancona area where we made our base for a few days.

One Sunday afternoon we visited the town of Macerata and they were having a harvest festival parade, with decorated carts and people dressed in rural costumes. We noticed a lot of Indians about but hadn't a clue what they were doing in a small town in Italy. Dianne explained in one of her posts that there is an Indian immigrant population in Italy and many of them are farm workers. I had no idea there was an Asian presence in Italy but the ones we saw in Macerata seemed thoroughly at home there.

The other point she made was about the workmen putting the new roof on her farm buildings appeared to have no regard for health and safety. I happened to pass a building site in Macerata and just for fun took a shot of the regulations notice posted on the fence. As it was Sunday I couldn't tell if any of the rules were being obeyed or flouted!

Anyway this is a record of that Today in pictures - we passed many more in similar small hilltop towns on that trip to Italy and I have hundreds of photos I could bore you with!

1 Our van parked outside the town walls - as it was in many places we visited
2 Decorated cart, one of many
3 They don't just make fast cars!
4 Indian men in the procession
5 Indian women in the procession
6 The band
7 Children on a decorated cart
8 Fine monument, think it's about Italian reunification (Risorgimento)
9 The beginning of the open air service, more Indians in the crowd
10 The building site notice

[mobertol]

Macerata is a in a lovely area great to explore in a camer van -off the beaten track for most Brits who stick to Tuscany/Umbria. Lovely little hilltop villages and the area is famous for it's leather goods. Was there for a holiday about 8 years ago. The food is good down there too -especially the Olive all'Ascolano which are large green olives stuffed with meat, breadcrumbed and deep fried -one to try -delicious!

The coast isn't as nice though as it's on the Adriatic, apart from a particular area know as the Riviera del Conero which is a Marine national park and very pretty.

Love the building site ntice -if it had been a weekday Sue, I'm sure you'd have seen them all abiding by the rules

[Margaret Pilkington]

Lovely sunny pictures on a grey day...well it is grey here......
I washed some bedding this morning.....I have been in and out taking it off the line and putting it back......I wish it would decide if it was going to rain or be fine, and have done with it