Author Archives: borderslynn

Unknown's avatar

About borderslynn

Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers. In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917

Raining In My Heart

We have enjoyed some glorious hot days since the beginning of the month. The Met Office have warned that may have constituted our Summer for 2013. Certainly, as the jet stream gave us our coldest spring for 50 years, it … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bees and Wild Flowers

The last few days of May, 2013 included a Bank Holiday. Friday through to Monday was glorious; hot sun beating down. Monday turned to rain but quenched the dry ground. I had to remove a few ticks from my dogs, … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Glass Eels and the Gulf Stream

It is mid-May and snow has fallen to a depth of 2 ins down in the south west of England. Here it is -5 degrees centigrade. The swallows called one day when it was warm, earlier in the month, but … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Instrument of Death

Last weekend I was appalled to find someone had placed a bird trap between a sycamore tree and the burn which I walk the dogs by twice a day. This was 7 am. A young bird in the nest in … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reaping the whirlwind

I am currently surrounded by fells covered in sandy coloured dried grasses, beneath which new shoots of vegetation are growing slowly, held back by the persistent easterly cold Siberian wind which has blown over the UK for the past month. … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spring Equinox

In the last week of February our single snowdrop plant, bearing about 8 stems of flowers, appeared outside our room window. The nearest other snowdrops to be found are 5 miles from our cottage. They grow in abundance where the … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ice and its significance

In 1816, headlines in newspapers read: “The Year Without a Summer” (also known as the Poverty Year, “The Summer that Never Was”, “Year There Was No Summer” and “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death”. Climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Where have all the trees gone?

The Forestry Commission persuaded the then farmer, who owned the land around our cottage, to plant pine trees over every slope as far as we can see around us. There are Scots pine, Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce and Larch. … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Climate Change and Tree Deaths

I was reading an article in the ScienceDaily.com dated December 2012 entitled : “As Climate Warms, Bark Beetles March On High-Elevation Forests” As Scotland has mountain slopes upon which are many pine plantations, I was naturally interested. Here I quote … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Twin Sycamore

When William the Conqueror transformed the nation in 1066, a follow on from his success was for future French families to decide to settle in Scotland. One example is the Maitlands, ( known as the Earls and Duke of Lauderdale),who … Continue reading

Posted in anthropocene | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment