The Colours of Autumn

These vivid colours are caused by a survival mechanism within the trees leaves...

Sciencemadesimple at Concordia University have a very clear explanation of the chemistry involved.

Just search for "leaves autumn sugar colour".

Transport Systems

Orchards for a Quiet Life

All the trees in gardens muffle traffic sounds as well as giving good food to eat.

Word Salad

 Having a bad code day...

Shall work it out tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day... 

Bridges

Noticeable in bridges today is the clear, clinical design.
  A singular lack of greenery is a defining feature...


 This may be about to change...

Wishy Washy

My washing machine has packed up.

Having considered getting a strong wash-board, as used in my childhood, I went one better.   Just posted to the Internet, asking for
help

Although I live in a climate where water falls freely in every season, conservation of this valuable resource is a priority.
Also, a speedy wash would be nice...

Home Turf

I have taken to walking round Dublin, snapping streetscapes as I go.   It was a habit formed in distant cities, but many of us forget to document what is right under our noses.

The Damer building on Saint Stephen's Green has been given a facelift and has some beautiful details that make fine photos.

How Sustainable is Design?

 I would bet my bottom dollar that many people have very little idea about what "sustainability" means.

This weasel word has joined "green", "carbon", "footprint" and "energy" as mantras to be wheeled out in every worthy blog.

I feel marginally "green" but travelling while using fossil fuels shows a sense of abandon that is not easily controlled or changed.

Must think further on this...

More than a year...

...has passed since I last posted here.

My carbon footprint has involved a visit to Australia.
Since we saved on not heating the house during a very cold Winter, things more or less balanced out, in my mind at last. Casuistry is always a salve to the conscience.

I have to admit to taking a robust view of the current efforts by some experts to reduce us all to gibbering wretches, racked with guilt every time a toaster is plugged in or clothes get electrically tumbled. I cannot make any sense whatsoever of the moral issues surrounding air travel. The ones who preach the loudest about melting icecaps are the ones who travel most often to Polar regions, only to howl back at us from some frozen and windy space that would probably survive longer without their presence. The "no ash" week that grounded the European airlines for a week has caused much soul searching and more importantly, a pragmatic sense of proportion.

Whatever the ethics of the matter, I visited the Grampians and took some very pleasing photos of dry pathways in the mountains. Really, we have to put our foot down somewhere and guilt trips do nothing to improve the march of humanity across the Globe.