Tuesday 12 November 2024

Grey Wolf

 


This week we are looking at the wolf, also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. This is the most common wolf in the world.

A Grey wolve is about twice the size of a coyote. They measure up to 6 feet(183cm) in length, including tail, and about 30 inches (80-85cm) in height at the shoulder. Female wolves weigh around 70 – 80 pounds (31-36kg), while males weigh around 95 – 100 pounds, (43-45kg)

The life spans of wild wolves vary dramatically. Although the average lifespan is between 6 and 8 years, many will die sooner, and some can reach 13. Wolves in captivity can live up to 17 years.

Wolves rarely act aggressively toward people, but there have been instances in Alaska and Canada where wolves have attacked people. The first case of wild healthy wolves killing a human in modern North America occurred in Saskatchewan in 2005; a second person was killed in 2010 in Alaska.

Wolves are carnivores—they prefer to eat large-hoofed mammals such as deer, elk, bison, and moose. They also hunt smaller mammals such as beavers, rodents, and hares. Adults can eat 20 pounds of meat in a single meal.

Pups are born in early spring and are cared for by the entire pack. They depend on their mother's milk for the first month, and then they are gradually weaned and fed regurgitated meat by other pack members. By 7 to 8 months of age, when almost fully grown, the pups begin traveling with the adults.

In a grey wolf pack, it is usually only the male and female alpha who are allowed to breed, the pair mate for life as a way to cement their position as pack leaders, producing a new litter each year and ensuring the stability of the rest of the pack.

Wolves' vocalizations can be separated into four categories: barking, whimpering, growling, and howling. Sounds created by the wolf may actually be a combination of sounds such as a bark-howl or growl-bark. Barking is used as a warning.

Next week we will look at the Red Wolf.

 


 

 

 

Monday 11 November 2024

Ethiopia

 

Hi all, how is everyone doing, I hope all is good with and those you care about, this week we are still in Africia and the country is Ethiopia a county that many will have heard of in different commercials for UNICEF.

Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley. With archaeological finds dating back more than 3 million years, it’s a place of ancient culture. Among its important sites are Lalibela with its rock-cut Christian churches from the 12th–13th centuries. Aksum is the ruins of an ancient city with obelisks, tombs, castles and Our Lady Mary of Zion church.

In 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie formally requested that the international community use the name Ethiopia instead of the exonym Abyssinia, and the issuing Bank of Abyssinia also became the Bank of Ethiopia.


The capital is Addis Ababa, which is in the highlands bordering the Great Rift Valley, is the country’s commercial and cultural hub.

Located in the capital is a National Museum which exhibits Ethiopian art, traditional crafts and prehistoric fossils, including replicas of the famous early hominid, "Lucy."


It has a population of around 126 million, this may be due to a very high fertility of 4.4 children per woman. The combination of a high birth rate and relatively low life expectancy means that Ethiopia is a young country. 41.5 percent of the population is below 15 years and only 3.3 percent is above 65.


The currency is the birr it is subdivided into 100 santims.


The national animal is the lion, and its national flower is the calla lily. The national bird is the Stresemann's bush crow, also known as the Abyssinian pie, bush crow.


The Flag of Ethiopia consists of a green, yellow, and red tricolour with the national emblem, a golden pentagram on a blue disc, superimposed at the centre.

The star represents the unity of all Ethiopian nationalities, its rays the bright prospects for their future. Blue is for peace, yellow for hope, justice, and equality. Red represents sacrifice for freedom and equality, while green is equated with labour, development, and fertility.


Religion in Ethiopia consists of a number of faiths. Among these mainly Abrahamic religions, the most numerous is Christianity totalling at 67.3%, followed by Islam at 31.3%. There is also a longstanding but small Ethiopian Jewish community.

Christianity in Ethiopia dates back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, when the King Ezana first adopted the faith in the 4th century AD. This makes Ethiopia one of the first regions in the world to officially adopt Christianity. Various Christian denominations are now followed in the country.


This is not a country you want to go visiting in face a search online will tell you to avoid non-essential travel to Ethiopia due to civil unrest, violence, armed conflict and crime. The security situation can deteriorate without warning. This advisory excludes Addis Ababa where you should exercise a high degree of caution.

The government of Ethiopia is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government and the commander-in-chief of the Ethiopian Armed Forces. The prime minister is the most powerful political figure in Ethiopian politics. The official residence of the prime minister is the Menelik Palace in Addis Ababa.

 

 

 

Sunday 10 November 2024

Week 45 of 2024

 


Had a good night, Tim came to bed at around 4am I remember him saying he had only been home an hour, that was a long day.

It is supposed to be 29 degrees today at the moment it is 16 degrees and my BGL was 4.8

Kathy and family arrived around midday, Tasha had asked Michael if he could come and put the new TV on the wall for her.

Sue sent me a message asking who the two girls on the calendar for November she thought they were her granddaughters and yes, they are but it was upsetting that she had to ask.

Steps:8,885

Had a good night once I settled down and slept till the alarm went off, a warm start to the day has both front and back doors opened. It is 23 degrees and my BGL is 5.0 at 6am

It is the type of morning that makes one want to stay in bed, but of course I am up showered, dressed and doing stuff. It isn’t warm nor is it cold but if shut the doors I will get hot but with them open I feel a chill.

I walked down and posted some letters off just before Sam arrived home, not long after returning home it started to rain and there was some thunder. It didn’t rain for much and only a little thunder.

Steps: 6,642

Had an early night last night was in bed by 8.30pm got up once to pee and straight back to sleep till the alarm went off. I woke feeling unwell

It is 19 degrees and my BL was 5.0

No school for Sam today due to a doctor’s appointment.

It has been a cool day, I have not felt good all day, I ache all over and just feel unwell.

It is 6.30pm and I am ready for bed but will try and stay awake till 8.30pm.

Steps: 8,486

 

 

 

Had an early night last night was in bed by 8.30pm slept straight through to the alarm went at 5am.

It is 19 degrees at 6am and my BGL is 4.8. I am feeling great this morning and so happy that I am able to do stuff this morning.

A nice day morning but a bloody hot arvo. I turned the air con on around 12.30.

I walked up to meet Sam, and the heat drained me and left me exhausted.

Steps:8,882

I overslept this morning didn’t hear the alarm, turned out I l left my phone in the lounge-room. I woke up when Tim was getting up. So, it was only 15 minutes after my get out of bed I, slept all night.

I am dressed in shorts and have both front and back sliding doors open, it is a nice 20 degrees and my BGL was 5.0.

The temp reached 32 degrees, when it was time to go meet Sam it started pissing down, I was pleased when Jess rang and said she would go meet Sam. She called in sick due to a really bad headache.

Steps: 8,257

Another good night don’t remember getting up at all, it’s wet outside but not raining at this time. It is 17 degrees and is supposed to get as high as 29 degrees. My BGL was 4.8

By 8.30 it was 22 degrees

The calendars came for next year they are A3 size so much bigger than this years but that is good this year is too small for my liking.

I got my Christmas cards out and over the next week or so will make a start on them.

I am having a restless night.

Steps:12,542

After six good nights, I had a rotten night, I got only between 1 and 1.5hrs of sleep, I didn’t even dose I was awake. I got up a couple of times, I used the powerfit which helped settled the movement part down. When I was in bed there wasn’t much tossing and turning, mostly I just laid there at 4.30am I needed to pee, so I got up and stayed up. I had a shower and shaved my legs, applied moisturiser to my legs, arms, chest and face. It is 19 degrees and my BGL was 4.7

I was not good when we went to the shops around 1pm I had a 1hr nap and felt better after that.

By 6pm though I started to feel not the best again.

Steps:6,367

 

 

 

Friday 8 November 2024

Insomnia

 


This week I thought we would take a look at something I am thankfully I don’t suffer from, although there have been times when I felt like I do suffer from it. The condition is insomnia.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep, even when you have the time and environment to sleep well. It can cause you to wake up too early or not feel refreshed when you wake up. Insomnia can affect your mood, energy levels, and daily activities. 

Insomnia can be caused by stress, physical ailments, mental health problems, or poor sleep habits. 

It can affect people of all ages, but teens may be especially susceptible.

In most cases it is related to poor sleeping habits, depression, anxiety, lack of exercise, chronic illness or certain medication.

Symptoms may include difficulty falling or staying asleep and not feeling well-rested.

Treatment for insomnia consists of improving sleep habits, behaviour therapy and identifying and treating underlying causes. Sleeping pills may also be used but should be monitored for side effects.

It seems that more women than men have insomnia in the United States, more than one in four women experience insomnia, compared with fewer than one in five men. 

Also, a study found that women of all ages reported worse sleep quality than men. 

Women are twice as likely to have insomnia than men. 



This may be due to hormonal changes that women have during menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause can cause or contribute to sleep difficulties. There are also physical symptoms that many women deal with during these times such as cramps or night sweats, that disrupt sleep. 

Caffeine can cause insomnia, especially if consumed in large amounts or close to bedtime, a study found that 400 mg of caffeine taken up to 6 hours before bed can significantly disrupt sleep, reducing it by more than an hour. 

Caffeine can disrupt your natural sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to get quality sleep. 

People with chronic insomnia may use caffeine to cope with daytime sleep deprivation, which can worsen insomnia at night. 

The exact effects of caffeine depend on the dose and an individual's sensitivity. 

To minimize the risk of insomnia, it's generally recommended to avoid caffeine in the hours before bed. People who regularly drink caffeine may be able to tolerate it better than those who don't. 

Next week I will post the list of things that so called experts suggest to help with insomnia.

 

 

 

Thursday 7 November 2024

Supermarkets history

 First you can find a new hodgepodge post over here:

http://jamfn.blogspot.com/2024/11/not-taking-hodgepodge-for-granted.html

Next you have this:


Have you ever thought about supermarkets, most of us shop in one but what was the first one in your country or state, do you know?

It isn’t something I had given any thought to till this morning sitting here thinking about blog posts, so I decided to do some research, and this is what I discovered.

Prior to 1938 there were many grocery chains, but none called themselves a supermarket. Many stores also offered self-service.

Possibly the first Australian business to experiment with self-service was the department store, Grace Brothers, which installed an “experimental” self-service food hall in their basement in 1921

Starting n 1923, here in Newie (Newcastle)a fella by the name of Farr started Farr’s Markets, he soon had stored throughout northern NSW, he opened a store in Bondi Junction.

It was in 1938 that Farr’s markets first advertised themselves as a “super market” and was the first ones to use the term.

Like today’s supermarkets, Farr’s had many different departments including fresh produce. They also pioneered the idea of ready-cooked meals – in 1931 their Goulburn store included a “provision department” supplying cooked food.

Like many developments in retailing, it began in America when, in 1916, Clarence Saunders opened his first Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee.


Now some may be thinking what about Coles and Woolworths, well on the 9 April 1914 a man named George Coles opened the Coles Variety Store on Smith Street in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood. Further expansion occurred and Coles' interest in food retailing was spurred in 1958 when it acquired 54 John Connell Dickins grocery stores.

On 5 December 1924 in Pitt Street of Sydney's Imperial Arcade, called "Woolworths Stupendous Bargain Basement".

 

I might do another post about modern day supermarkets

Wednesday 6 November 2024

Not Dad's Army but Newie's NES 1939


 Anyone know the British show Dad’s Army?

A really funny show but not what this post is about.


New South Wales real civil defence during the second World War was the National Emergency Services (NES).

In 1939, the National Emergency Services (NES) was established in New South Wales (NSW) to provide aid, education, and protection on the home front during World War II. The NES helped to: Install air raid sirens, Construct trench shelters, Build covered trenches, and Construct pillbox air raid shelters. 


Newcastle’s NES volunteers organised many kinds of exercises in order to be prepared if the enemy did attack. When the blackouts came into force it was the NES who had to make sure people took it seriously.

Many of the NES volunteers were women.


By the end of the war, 115,418 people had volunteered with the NES, with nearly half of them serving as wardens. 

The NES was disbanded six months after the war ended. 

 

Tuesday 5 November 2024

This week's wild dog the Dhole

 

This week we are looking at the dhole, it is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus Canis in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third lower molar, and the upper molars possess only a single cusp as opposed to between two and four.

It is a highly social animal, living in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females.


This highly elusive and skilled jumper is classified with wolves, coyotes, jackals, and foxes in the taxonomic family Canidae. Dholes are unusual dogs for a few reasons. They don't fit neatly into any of the dog subfamilies (wolf and fox, for instance).


They are very social animals that live in packs of 5–12 members, but packs can be as large as 25 members. They can also be cooperative with a few splitting off from the pack to hunt together. They are apex predators that are highly skilled hunters, they are agile, strong, and can leap up to seven feet vertically and are also excellent swimmers and have high endurance. 

It is believed that they are one of the most talkative canid species, using a variety of vocalizations to communicate, including whistles, clucks, screams, growls, yaps, and squeaks. 

Since their territory is often shared with larger predators like tigers and leopards, the pack must be alert at all times.

They are a medium-sized wild dogs about the size of a border collie. They have a rusty red coat; they are born with a brownish colour which turns more reddish when around three months old. They can also have dark, almost black bushy tails.

They are not generally dangerous to humans and are usually docile and skittish and will typically retreat when they see a person. However, dholes can attack livestock, and humans may retaliate by poisoning the carcasses. This can lead to the deaths of entire packs of dholes, as well as other carnivores and scavengers. 

 

 

 

 

 

Grey Wolf

  This week we are looking at the wolf, also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. This is t...