Ashes to ashes

This is what happens when ash buds burst; they blow raspberries, which very quickly become small male flowers. I'm watching them while I still can; I'm very allergic to ash pollen, the sap, and even dust from ash keys. The wheatear is still here, and seems to have adopted the pile of stones in the cut as a base for making insectivorous forays. It is slightly less puffed out today, hopping less and flying more, to show off its eponymous white...ahem...rump. We also have a building/ parliament/ clamour/ storytelling of more than 50 rooks, mixed in with a few jackdaws.

Real Food

The new Real Food Store in Exeter opened for business at 8am! It provides shoppers with the opportunity to buy fresh, seasonal produce which is grown, reared or prepared in the surrounding countryside; and to eat it in the café. So therefore it provides local suppliers with an outlet in Exeter. And most importantly - the underlying aim - it educates people about the benefits of fresh, seasonal and local food, for their health, the local economy and the environment. It is a social enterprise, set up with capital invested by members of the community who have bought shares, like me when I was living in Exeter. It's about community ownership: it's my store!

Back at Mucknell, in the morning I watched a pair of lapwings in their courtship and territorial dance, tightly choreographed looping, sweeping and diving together, or briefly parting to left and right to fly in symmetry. After they landed and melted into the field, my imagination continued in its looping and sweeping, and I can bring it back now. But more stolidly, in the evening I watched a wheatear plop around a pile of stones. It was decidedly rotund, with no neck when at rest, but suddenly extended for action. The black stripe on its head put me in mind of a very out-of-shape Zorro.

Keeping up

I have been lulled into a false sense of security over the winter. What with there being so few birds around, I could get to know most of them. So, if there were a flock of small birds, they were probably linnets, and if of larger birds, they were probably fieldfares. But now spring is here, there are migrants passing over, and new arrivals from north and south, and I'm not going to be able to keep up with all the new birds. There are lots of new calls in the hedges, and Anthony has seen snipe, golden plover, green-something-I-forget-probably-finch, chiff chaff, house martin and swallow. The last two I'd know, but I wouldn't recognise the others if I saw or heard them. Back to school.

Malvern Priory has a prayer candlestand, with a design inspired by the astrolabe. According to the tourist leaflet, the astrolabe was introduced to Britain in the 11th century by Walcher, the second Prior of Malvern. It was in wide use in the Islamic world, and Walcher had translated information about its use from Arabic while living in Lorraine. Walcher's tombstone "records his abilities as 'an able astrologer and mathematician'... [He] was also noted for his great piety... Thus he brought together, in Malvern Priory in the 12th century, scientific skills and spirituality; an enquiring mind and faith... Our candlestand symbolises this coming together of:

• science - the astrolabe, a precursoe of modern scientific technology, and
• faith - candles, which represent, and gather up before God, our prayers and hopes, the often unspoken and deep longings of our hearts, the faith that God loves and cares about us."

Word association

The blackthorn down by the stream is now just about out, but what has struck me now is how far behind Mucknell is compared with the surrounding area. The roundabout at Junction 7 on the M5 is ablaze with blackthorn blossom, and there is cherry blossom in gardens along the Pershore road. We are no more exposed than J7, but perhaps a little higher, or maybe the exhaust fumes provide the warmth and nutrients (!) to encourage early growth.

There are patches of white dead nettles by the orchard, and one heartsease has bloomed among the new tree planting along the east side of the cut. Small tortoiseshells were out frolicking in the sunshine by the stream, and a couple of lapwings displaying and peewitting over the swales, boldly letting us approach quite near.

The House at Poo Corner has been replaced by a small brick building, so the three little pigs are safe from the blustering of the big bad wolf. And it's Virginia Woolf's birthday.

Census 2011

"In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered." (Luke 2:1-3; NRSV).

In these days, the Office for National Statistics awarded the £150m Census contract to Lockheed Martin, the US arms manufacturer (think Trident, F-16s, and cluster bombs) and consultant (contract interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, and surveillance). A coalition of protestors had set up a website at www.countmeout.me.uk, urging people to boycott the Census (up to £1,000 fine and a criminal record), but interestingly at the time of writing the website could not be displayed.

Counting, data and population statistics can be very political.

The last census in the Palestinian territories was taken in December 2007, and found that the population had risen by 30% in the previous decade to 3.74 million: "In a region where demographics are used to justify contentious claims to land, especially in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the results sparked unusual agreement between Israelis and Palestinians who attacked the headcount as inaccurate." Israel's population grew by 5% over the same period to about 7 million, almost twice as big as the Palestinian population. But in the West Bank, there are two million Palestinians and 250,000 Israelis, and the representative of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank said the Palestinian figure was "grossly exaggerated" and "politically motivated". Conversely, the number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem was lower than expected, according to some Palestinians, and too high, according to some Israelis.

Earth Hour

At 8.30pm local time, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour, organised by WWF. In the past, this has been more of a symbolic gesture to highlight the issues of climate change and the environment generally. This year, WWF are asking people to commit to actions that go Beyond the Hour. What will I do? What will you do? What will we do?

Well we won't be observing Earth Hour, as I forgot all about it, and while we have said Compline by candlelight in the past, it's now too late to suggest switching all lights off for the whole hour.

But here's an example of a small action: sign Christian Aid's letter to environment secretary Caroline Spelman. According to Christian Aid, she is "weighing up whether UK companies should be required to report their carbon emissions". The Climate Change Act requires the Government to introduce mandatory reporting by 6 April 2012, or explain to Parliament why this has not happened, so there is only just over one year to go. This sort of transparency is the first step in reducing the 1/8 of global carbon emissions for which UK-listed companies are responsible (compare the Toxic Release Inventory in the US).

PS. The clocks go forward tonight.

Annunciation and Dedication

Archbishop Rowan presided and preached at the eucharist for The Annunciation, and as part of the service dedicated the Oratory to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Benedict, and blessed the Entrance and Refectory as places of welcome and hospitality.

The weather was perfect, the daffodils were shining in the Oratory, and the skylarks sang throughout. Here are some words from Archbishop Rowan's homily:

"This new home for a community has been designed and constructed with deep attention to the kind of world we’re in; the kind of world where it won’t do to ignore considerations about ecological balance, sustainability and the health of the whole environment. And surely that’s part of the same listening: listening for the creative Word in things, in the stuff of the world; listening our way into the depths of what is around us, so that the Word comes alive in what we do with the things that are around us, the stuff we live with and live on.
...
"So, ausculta, listen, as The Rule [of Benedict] says. But also speak, be who you are, be who you say you are in this place. Let this place be what it is, and let all of that together be God’s Word to this wider environment."

Update: The full text of the homily is now available on the Mucknell website.

Photo credit: Rev Andrew Spurr.