E-Grapevine 5

Lockdown Quiz 3 Q's      

Lockdown Quiz 4 Q's      

Wildflower

Blackbirds                         

Dalswinton Loch                                               

Hello All, 

Today, we're starting with some disturbing news.  Two young girls were cycling along the Kirkton road yesterday at about 1:45 pm when they were forced off the road by a car overtaking dangerously.  One of the girls had to visit DGRI A&E and has a badly cut knee and a fractured wrist.   If you saw anything or can help to identify the culprit, please phone the police on 101.  In addition, if you see any instances of such dangerous driving, please report it.  And TAKE CARE on the roads.  The amount of traffic is increasing now and not all drivers (or pedestrians/cyclists) are always as careful as they should be.  

On a lighter note, attached are rounds 3 and 4 of our quiz.

And now, I'm hoping that some of you have some good ideas for me.  I'm intending to plant a smallish shrubbery of perhaps 10 shrubs.  The site is well drained and mostly in the sun.  I don't want anything that grows more than a couple of metres tall or that needs too much careful attention but I would like interest through the year.  Do you have any favourites you would recommend that do well locally?

Just a few things today, including our flower of the week and a photo of a nest of blackbird fledgelings almost ready to fly and certainly very squashed in their current accommodation!

Peter Landale has reluctantly had to close the car parks at the loch to all but Dalswinton residents because of the sheer number of visitors.  I'm attaching a copy of his notice. 

Hopefully on Thursday, we will hear some good news about a loosening of some restrictions.  As always, take care, especially if you're on the roads.  If you would like a copy of Discover Kirkmahoe's book of walks, please let us know and we'll get one to you.

And finally, we would hate to think that anyone in Kirkmahoe was struggling to feed themselves and their families because of the problems caused by Covid. D&G Council has made hardship funds available.   The Community Council can help you to access help and any requests you make will be dealt with in absolute confidence.  Please contact any one of the Community Council or Support Group members who you feel comfortable talking to.

Keep enjoying the good weather, and take care on the roads, 

E-Grapevine part 4

Lockdown Quiz Questions 1         Lockdown Quiz 2 Questions

Greater Celandine

The good news is that the number of new cases of Covid 19 is falling, but it is still important that we continue to follow the Scottish Government's guidelines to prevent an increase in the coming days and weeks.

The document which can be found in the attachment gives a very straightforward plan from page 37 onward.  It also lets us see how things will open up again, so long as we keep the infection at bay.

Today the tubs on Kirkton Green were replanted by a team led by Carol Halliday.  With a bit of sun and kind weather, they will look beautiful in no time at all.

We also have the first two rounds of a new quiz, but this time, you'll have to wait for the answers until all 8 rounds have been sent.

And our final article is from Richard Mearns about the greater celandine.  It is a rare wild flower and we'd love to know if there are other sites in Kirkmahoe where it can be found.  Please get in touch is you see it.

Keep safe and keep in touch, 

The Grapevine Team

E-Grapevine part 3

Art from the children of Duncow School

Gardening Tips for June

Quiz 6        Quiz 6 Answers

Quiz 7        Quiz 7 Answers

Quiz 8          Quiz 8 Answers

Answers to Link Name Quiz

Wildflower

Please fill in this survey about your broadband speed. Sorry it is late must be done by end of today 5th June.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/57WCYWQ

KCC Virtual meeting & Minutes Feb 2020 & Sunday Service link

Minutes Feb 2020

Agenda May 2020

There will be a virtual meeting on 20th May at 7.30. We are trialling the technology tomorrow and will send joining details asap. Please find attached minutes of last meeting and agenda.

Irene

Dear All,

Below is the link for our Sunday Service.

As I mentioned previously, we would like you to access the service through our website as this raises our ranking in Google, and makes it more likely that anyone searching for us will find us.

https://www.closeburn-kirkmahoe-churches.org/

Click on the “Home” button near top and scroll down to services.

Anyone having any problem come back to me and I’ll send you a link that will take you directly to the service.

Stay safe,

Bob

E Grapevine part 2

Quiz 3                 Quiz 3 Answers

Quiz 4                 Quiz 4 Answers

Hello All, 

Welcome to this edition of eGrapevine.  We hope that you're all keeping well and managing to follow the guidelines for staying safe.  If you have any concerns or problems, don't forget that the Kirkmahoe Support Group is here to help, and that the Community Council is also still going, although with virtual meetings.

If there are any issues you'd like raised at our next meeting, on 20th May, please get in touch.

Today's offerings are the next round of our quiz, a couple of photos from Carol Halliday's very colourful garden and a very interesting article from Barbara Mearns about one of the butterflies we see in Kirkmahoe.  We hope you enjoy them all.  

We are getting ready to replant the tubs on Kirkton Green, probably at the end of the month.  Last year's display was wonderful and appreciated by us all.

Keep safe, and keep in touch, 

The Grapevine Team

Another Quiz    Answers

Carol's garden

Carol's garden

Orange tips

Want to become an eggspert?

Do you see Orange-tips? They are

common in and around Kirkton.

The male is the easiest British butterfly to

identify. He is tangerine and white, and on

the wing now. The female (who lacks the

orange tip) only lays her eggs on crucifers.

Locally, she most often uses Cuckooflower,

also known as Ladies’ Smock, which was

recently our plant of the week.

Orange Tip Butterfly

Spot the Egg

Now is the time to look for her eggs and it’s easy-peasy.

You don’t need to see her lay them. You just need to check out the plants.

In my garden, and the damper fields round about, Cuckooflower is common. In fact, some of the

fields are as pink as a bluebell wood is blue. The females tend to lay at the edge of a field, rather

than the middle, and choose plants in full sunshine. Look at the flower heads of the tallest, most

vigorous: she’s choosy. And with good reason, for her caterpillar will feed on the nutritious,

developing seeds.

Lady's Smock

With a little luck you will spot a cylindrical, ridged egg (see photo below), white when freshly laid,

but turning orange over the next few days. You will probably just find one per plant, as each female

leaves a scent mark, to deter others. If two caterpillars have to compete for seeds, the bigger one is

likely to become a cannibal.

Spot the Egg

If you have a good patch of Cuckooflower or Garlic Mustard near you, then with a little practice,

you’ll find lots of eggs. It’s a skill which invariably impresses people. At the moment you may be

walking alone, but next May you can show off. Companions will regard you as an entomological

expert!

This week’s flower is Conopodium Majus – Pig Nut

Other names include kippernut, cipernut, arnut, jarnut, hawknut, earth chestnut, groundnut,

and earthnut.

The name pignut, also hognut, comes from its popularity with pigs who dig for it. It is also

sometimes called Saint Anthony's nut, for Anthony the Great or Anthony of Padua, who

were both patron saints of swineherds. But we have no idea where the name kippernut

came from!!

Apparently the chestnut-like tuber was the subject of the nursery rhyme, Here we go

gathering nuts in May. This was probably a job for small children.

It is also possibly the nut mentioned in a folk song about the Nutting Girl, a fair maid in

Kent who is seduced by a ploughboy - the nuts she collected were in the summer so almost

certainly not hazel nuts or chestnuts or other native tree species.

Country people ate wild plants in the spring when fresh cultivated plants had run out

These nuts are small tubers a bit like mini Jerusalem artichokes - a lot of work to collect a

mouthful.

If you find this, again, please let us know where. It is reassuring to know that these native

wild plants are still thriving.

Hayward's Garden

Fallen tree Duncow.

COVID 19 Fire Safety check from Dfs & Gall Fire Service.

Dalswinton Gardens Virtual Tour

Dalswinton Gardens Virtual Tour