Keeping Abreast of Things...

This is ridiculous.  It's not yet reached December, and I seem to be keeping abreast of my Christmas shopping.  What on earth's the matter with me?  Usually I don't have two pennies to rub together at this time in the month, but because I've been getting transport to and from work since September, and saving money because I've had to cancel half my horse-riding lessons, I thought I'd seize the initiative and start my shopping early.  A prudent move: my MOT's coming up at the end of the month, and since my car's fourteen years old, I don't think it'll be a cheap round.

I haven't been posting any pictures of the garden just recently because everything's a bit dull, and because I've been too knackered to think about it much.  I've planted a lovely selection of purple and white tulips for the spring, and the begonias are all tucked up warm and vine-weevil free for the winter.  I'm progressively bringing in half-hardy annuals for next year - fuschia, osteospermum, geranium - but the problem is that everything else still looks reasonably happy.  We've had a few nights where the temperature's dropped to minus 2, but the petunias and surfinias and verbena are surviving.

I had a plant catalogue sent through from Hayloft Plants yesterday.  The Purveyors of Fine Penstemmon can provide a range of perennials for plant-lovers - I was positively drooling as I leafed through their selection.  I have a weakness for fine plants, as well you know... 

One thing's a must.  A yellow hellebore.  It's lovely.  Me want.  Me want B-A-A-D!!!

Oh, for all the plant-lovers out there....  I have managed to half-kill my magnificent Begonia Escargot.  I found it looking very poorly yesterday morning - it was reminiscent of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors during its half-starved phases.  The compost was dry, so I'm hoping it'll perk up now it's had some water...  For the last couple of weeks, I've been too exhausted to look after my plants properly.  How I'll cope next year, when I have to combine building survey with baby plant management, remains to be seen...

Keeping Abreast of Things...

This is ridiculous.  It's not yet reached December, and I seem to be keeping abreast of my Christmas shopping.  What on earth's the matter with me?  Usually I don't have two pennies to rub together at this time in the month, but because I've been getting transport to and from work since September, and saving money because I've had to cancel half my horse-riding lessons, I thought I'd seize the initiative and start my shopping early.  A prudent move: my MOT's coming up at the end of the month, and since my car's fourteen years old, I don't think it'll be a cheap round.

I haven't been posting any pictures of the garden just recently because everything's a bit dull, and because I've been too knackered to think about it much.  I've planted a lovely selection of purple and white tulips for the spring, and the begonias are all tucked up warm and vine-weevil free for the winter.  I'm progressively bringing in half-hardy annuals for next year - fuschia, osteospermum, geranium - but the problem is that everything else still looks reasonably happy.  We've had a few nights where the temperature's dropped to minus 2, but the petunias and surfinias and verbena are surviving.

I had a plant catalogue sent through from Hayloft Plants yesterday.  The Purveyors of Fine Penstemmon can provide a range of perennials for plant-lovers - I was positively drooling as I leafed through their selection.  I have a weakness for fine plants, as well you know... 

One thing's a must.  A yellow hellebore.  It's lovely.  Me want.  Me want B-A-A-D!!!

Oh, for all the plant-lovers out there....  I have managed to half-kill my magnificent Begonia Escargot.  I found it looking very poorly yesterday morning - it was reminiscent of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors during its half-starved phases.  The compost was dry, so I'm hoping it'll perk up now it's had some water...  For the last couple of weeks, I've been too exhausted to look after my plants properly.  How I'll cope next year, when I have to combine building survey with baby plant management, remains to be seen...

Book Review Time...

And now it's time for one of my random book reviews...

The subject for dissection today is a non-fiction book, which may prove of interest to the Welsh contingent (yeah, I know I've accumulated a few of you.  I'd say 'hello, everybody' in Welsh, but I can't spell it, so just imagine I'm saying it, okay??)   It's 'The Tomb Builders In Wales 4000-3000BC' by Steve Burrows (National Museum of Wales, 2006).

This is a pretty book.  A very pretty book.  It's nicely presented, with a fetching gatefold card cover that features a handy distribution map at one end and a timeline at the other.  It's very arty.  Full of Atmospheric Moody shots of portal dolmens, reconstruction drawings, and Lots Of Pretty Things. 

Books like this make me wary.  Sometimes they represent a victory of style over substance.  But this is a fun little book, and it provides a good overview of the wide variety of Neolithic chambered tombs in Wales.  It's clearly intended for the consumption of an intelligent layman, in an easy-to-read style.  But it's just as useful to the serious student of archaeology.  It doesn't dumb down its subject.  It uses the established classfications used in Neolithic studies to describe various tomb types - passage graves, Cotswold-Severn, Clyde (better known as 'Clyde-Carlingford', portal dolmen, etcetera - giving an excellent overview of mortuary practices in Neolithic Wales.

I've stumbled across a few Welsh sites in my time, both as a heritage tourist, and as a scholar.  Some of the names were familiar, like Pentre Ifan, and Gwernvale.  I wish I'd had this book to hand on my visits, as it was lovely to be able to see how Wales fitted into the wider pattern of remains seen across the British Isles and Ireland.  Because the author discussed each tomb type in such detail, it was possible to see just how eclectic the people of Neolithic Wales were in terms of their burial practices.  Wales bears tombs which are reminiscent of those in south-west Scotland, Ireland and Orkney, representing a mingling of 'foreign' traditions as well as some monuments which are peculiarly Welsh in character.  They also widely practice cremation, which is interesting, because everyone knows that cremation only became popular in the Middle Bronze Age!  That's what I love about prehistory - the people of the past always seem to have done their best to confound those who came after!

This is a great little book.  I found only one flaw which made me gnash my teeth with frustration.  It made reference to deposits of 'domestic pottery' within some of the tomb structures, but failed to elaborate on the character of this pottery.  Are we talking about carinated bowls, for instance?   I presume this reveals a reluctance on the part of the author to attach cultural labels to pottery types, but since he's prepared to do this for the tombs themselves, why should he treat the pottery any differently? 

It's a minor point.  I'm proud to add this little number to my prehistory bookshelf, and the Rather Helpful Gazetteer at the rear makes the volume worthwhile in its own right.

Right.  Must pencil a return trip to Anglesey in for the not too distant future.  I can't go through life without seeing the rock art in the passage grave named 'Barclodiad y Gawres' ...  In the meantime, here's a picture of a Clyde-Carlingford tomb, just so you know what all the fuss is about:-

 

Book Review Time...

And now it's time for one of my random book reviews...

The subject for dissection today is a non-fiction book, which may prove of interest to the Welsh contingent (yeah, I know I've accumulated a few of you.  I'd say 'hello, everybody' in Welsh, but I can't spell it, so just imagine I'm saying it, okay??)   It's 'The Tomb Builders In Wales 4000-3000BC' by Steve Burrows (National Museum of Wales, 2006).

This is a pretty book.  A very pretty book.  It's nicely presented, with a fetching gatefold card cover that features a handy distribution map at one end and a timeline at the other.  It's very arty.  Full of Atmospheric Moody shots of portal dolmens, reconstruction drawings, and Lots Of Pretty Things. 

Books like this make me wary.  Sometimes they represent a victory of style over substance.  But this is a fun little book, and it provides a good overview of the wide variety of Neolithic chambered tombs in Wales.  It's clearly intended for the consumption of an intelligent layman, in an easy-to-read style.  But it's just as useful to the serious student of archaeology.  It doesn't dumb down its subject.  It uses the established classfications used in Neolithic studies to describe various tomb types - passage graves, Cotswold-Severn, Clyde (better known as 'Clyde-Carlingford', portal dolmen, etcetera - giving an excellent overview of mortuary practices in Neolithic Wales.

I've stumbled across a few Welsh sites in my time, both as a heritage tourist, and as a scholar.  Some of the names were familiar, like Pentre Ifan, and Gwernvale.  I wish I'd had this book to hand on my visits, as it was lovely to be able to see how Wales fitted into the wider pattern of remains seen across the British Isles and Ireland.  Because the author discussed each tomb type in such detail, it was possible to see just how eclectic the people of Neolithic Wales were in terms of their burial practices.  Wales bears tombs which are reminiscent of those in south-west Scotland, Ireland and Orkney, representing a mingling of 'foreign' traditions as well as some monuments which are peculiarly Welsh in character.  They also widely practice cremation, which is interesting, because everyone knows that cremation only became popular in the Middle Bronze Age!  That's what I love about prehistory - the people of the past always seem to have done their best to confound those who came after!

This is a great little book.  I found only one flaw which made me gnash my teeth with frustration.  It made reference to deposits of 'domestic pottery' within some of the tomb structures, but failed to elaborate on the character of this pottery.  Are we talking about carinated bowls, for instance?   I presume this reveals a reluctance on the part of the author to attach cultural labels to pottery types, but since he's prepared to do this for the tombs themselves, why should he treat the pottery any differently? 

It's a minor point.  I'm proud to add this little number to my prehistory bookshelf, and the Rather Helpful Gazetteer at the rear makes the volume worthwhile in its own right.

Right.  Must pencil a return trip to Anglesey in for the not too distant future.  I can't go through life without seeing the rock art in the passage grave named 'Barclodiad y Gawres' ...  In the meantime, here's a picture of a Clyde-Carlingford tomb, just so you know what all the fuss is about:-