31 December 2010

Breathe The Air, Relax And Just Be

What have I learnt through my attempts to understand the matrix that we call life, if anything?  What have I learnt by seeking to comprehend ideas that are beyond the wit of man and certain beyond my ken like the origin of species, creation, time, ma...

30 December 2010

Axel’s Universe And Some Silly Thoughts About Time

Even though I never wear a watch, I am surrounded by time everywhere.  I have, also, always been fascinated by the idea of time – What exactly is time? What does time mean? Why does it go forwards as a natural progression and not backwards or sideway...

29 December 2010

Axel’s Universe, And Some Thoughts On The Universe, Creation, Apples And Bits Of String

Having re-thought the origin of species, I became ridiculously ambitious and decided to really go for it and started to tackle Life, The Universe and Everything...

28 December 2010

Towards An Updated Theory Of The Origin Of Species

In my previous blog, I posted a stream of consciousness on evolution that suggested that perhaps evolutionary theory as currently presented was too simplistic and not necessarily a complete mechanism for the origin of species.  Therefore, I owe it to...

27 December 2010

Axel’s Earth, Or Too Many Answers, But Not Enough Questions

Recently, I was at the Sage in Gateshead listening to brass band music, and I did what I often do when listening to live music, I shut my eyes to listen to the sounds and I was struck again by how the music sounds different when your eyes are closed...

22 August 2010

Life Really Does Begin At Forty

I am 42 now and I have finally worked out what the phrase "life begins at forty" means.  It came as a Pauline moment as I was driving home the other day.  It really means that you only ever plan your life until you get to about 40 years old*, so now...

31 July 2010

Of Ice Cream In Dumfries and Galloway

My blog posts about Dumfries and Galloway would not be complete without talking about Cream O'Galloway, an ice cream producer between Gatehouse of Fleet and Kirkcudbright.  We seem to spend much of our family holiday centred around their farm at Rain...

30 July 2010

Biodegradable Tea Bags

It was brought to our attention recently that some tea bags are not really biodegradable as they use polypropylene glues to seal the edges of the tea bags.  This is only the case for tea bags that are heat sealed in the tea bagging process.  The tea...

11 July 2010

Two Books For All Environmentalists

I have just finished the second of two books that are must-reads for those interested in our planet.  They are Nigel Lawson's "An appeal to reason - a cool look at global warming" and Bjørn Lomborg’s “Cool it – the skeptical environmentalist’s guide...

04 July 2010

Walk Around Nosterfield Nature Reserve In Yorkshire

03 July 2010

North Yorkshire Walk - Thornborough Henge

On Thursday 1 July 2010, I did one of Axel's Random Walks near Nosterfield and Thornborough in North Yorkshire.  I recently bought myself an Ordnance Survey Explorer Map of Ripon & Boroughbridge (#299) and in the top left corner you can just find...

01 July 2010

Inspired And Humbled By Jennyruth Workshops

Sometimes you visit some people, who really are so good and wonderful that it shames you a bit.  The people at Jennyruth Workshops are some of those unsung heroes that underpin every society in the world; they just get on with it, doing good work, da...

26 June 2010

Other Climate Change Indicators

Other than temperature, there are a few more indicators of climate change that are studied, which I will cover in overview here as promised in one of my earlier blogs.

25 June 2010

Sprouting Beans

We have just put Just Wholefoods Organic Sprouting Bean Mix onto Steenbergs web shop.  I remember my mum used to grow mung bean sprouts in a Kilner jar at home which was quite fun and tasted really fresh and crunchy in salads or used in a stir fry. ...

17 June 2010

How Do Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases And The Earth's Orbit All Link Together?

I've written a number of blogs now where I try to get to grips with some of the numbers underlying global warming.  So far, I agree that the historic figures do demonstrate global warming over the last 100+ years within a relatively wide band of poss...

11 June 2010

Ripon Water Walks - Walk Along Ripon Canal

Ripon is blessed with lots of fabulous waterways and green corridors through the city.  One of the most noticeable is Ripon Canal, which cuts a straight caesura into the centre of the city, with the canal sitting on your left as you come in along Bor...

09 June 2010

Recipe - French Tomato Tart

The other day my parents visited from Northumberland, and as it was a gorgeous sunny Thursday, I plucked up the courage to try one of David Lebovitz's recipes.  It's always a matter of bravery as I am in awe at other people's ability to make seemingl...

01 June 2010

Steenbergs Has Improved Our Range Of Household Cleaning Products

Did you know that one of my first jobs was in the Pets & Cleaning Department in Fenwick's in Newcastle?  And ever since, I have had a strange and haunting obsession for Household Cleaning products.  Well, I am not really that fascinated in them,...