This screenshot shows the first sight i got when i woke up this morning. Bruce Stout had been watching the event from the time it started and had left comments on VC which made me aware of what is going on. Etna changed its behavior the last days and displayed a 4th paroxysm today early in the morning after being active twice yesterday.
INGV analysed the paroxysms of the 20 in this articles in Italian and English. You can most likely expect a new report on todays events at http://www.ct.ingv.it/ a little later. Dr. Boris Behncke made some comments over at Eruptions where Erik had been writing a post on Etnas behavior too yesterday:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/etnas-explosive-last-three-days/#comment-806546971
Yesterday someone zoomed in one Radiostudio7 cam and so i could take nice screenshots…
This picture was created out of the best screenshots i got of the Radiostudio7 cam yesterday.
http://www.radiostudio7.it/webcam.asp?web=7&id=7
Claude Grandpey reported live on his blog yesterday.
Check the lower right side of this image. I have not seen that spot before!
I´d like to paste some of the comments into this post to start a discussion:
Bruce noticed that same lava break-out feature has reappeared:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e211/NoEnz/Bildschirmfoto2013-02-21um061250_zpsa0fbc1d1.png but Newby could be assured that no people are in danger because the ava flows down into an uninhabitet valley called Valle del Bove.
Bruce Stout says: February 21, 2013: Good morning, everyone, (yawn), oh look, Etna is at it again (no. 4) instant wake-up call.
Initial thoughts on Etna. A while ago I postulated that the periodicity in Etna’s paroxysms was caused by a steady magma feed into a piston like chamber with a narrow opening to the surface (this piston might be nothing more than the conduit itself). In this case the mechanism would be that magma enters the piston, starts to degass due to drop in pressure and slowly fills the piston until the pressure and volume was high enough to clear out the flimsy plug left by the last event. The built-up pressure in the piston coupled with rising levels of exsolution of gases leads to the fountaining as the piston empties itself. Rinse and repeat.
Now, if this is correct, why the sudden increase in the frequency of these paroxysms? Two possibilities come to mind: Faster rate of magma feed from below or a smaller piston.
Working in favor of the latter, is that the volumes of these paroxysms seem to be smaller than the previous series (though I am flying on the seat of my pants on this one, just guessing from the videos/webcams). It is most likely a combination of both faster feed and a smaller piston volume in the upper conduit. If higher feed, we might see a flank eruption at some stage which Boris once said often follows such series of paroxysms.
Just some random thoughts put here for discussion…
February 21, 2013 at 05:04
Well, bang goes that theory… this paroxysm is back to the old levels:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e211/NoEnz/Bildschirmfoto2013-02-21um055948_zps359e23dd.png
Webcams are offering some very atmospheric shots as the wind is blowing the cloud towards the cam, obscuring the vent:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e211/NoEnz/Bildschirmfoto2013-02-21um052759_zpsa67f8318.png
Spica: Ok the tremor is down again. The event seems to be over.
Bruce took a screenshot of the tremor being at 121 i saw it at 123 and when you check the graph now it shows that is was never as high as with the first paroxysm on the 19th. Can anyone explain this to me, this is not the first time i saw this behavior of the tremor graphs and i never understood it.
Boris mentioned on eruptions that it is not the first time Etna shows many paroxysm. In 2000 it started paroxysms in January and till late August the count ran up to 66 ! of those explosive events. I am bringing the webcam list over again so you have a chance to watch the show on your own.
Etna webcams:
- INGV Etna cams. From this link you can also find the Tremor and Seimology of Etna, cams and more on Stromboli and the Aelion islands.
- Collection of Etnacams by Etnatrekking.
- Etna Guide cam
- Etna Web cam
- Radiostudio 7 cams
- Live cams with Sound, Etnawalk, does not work in all browsers.
- Over 60! webcams of Sicily. Not all of them pointing at Etna
- The Hotel Corsano at Etna has a nice list of cam.
- Lave Cam
- Several Etna webcams, thermalcam and tremorgraph, all on one page, by volcanodiscovery.com
- Etnaweb cams
- http://www.volcano-webcams.com/
One more screenshot for all who missed the show!
taken from the Lave cam: http://www.lave-volcans.eu/webcams_etna.php?numero=2
Name those Volcanoes Riddle
4 volcanoes 4 points
No 1 – Does it serve as a warning beacon for ocean going ships? Its nickname includes the name of an ocean. SOLVED
No 2 – This volcanic island’s artifacts/treasures, specifically A & A, can be found in both the B M and the L. A & A are the names of ancient statues. SOLVED
No 3 – Here the salty craters hold a current ‘known’ subaerial world record. SOLVED
No 4 – During a warm, summer month in 2012 its summit displayed an historic ‘first’. Icelandic volcano. SOLVED
Spica
VolcanoCafé 
Good morning all. This post by me is for sure not the greatest work of journalism.
My intention was to react fast.
And provide information as soon as possible.
Etna might act up again soon, maybe even today. I’ll be at work. So please people, leave comments on videos you find or which cam is the best or…
Thank you Spica, nice summary
Bruce asked Boris on Eruptions about the tremor for me. I still cannot comment there. Thanks Bruce!!!
PS, Boris, I have another question, raised by Spica at volcanocafe… how come the tremor graph peaks (in this case at 123) but after the event is over, the peak has dropped to the mid-nineties? Is there some kind of averaging involved?
Boris answered:
Bruce, the graphic shows a sliding average of 5-minute-intervals. So if in the past 5 minutes, the tremor has stood at 123, and then it drops sharply to, say, 83 within the following 5 minutes, the updated graphic shows the mean of 123 and 83 (that would be 103). This is why one always has to take the latest value of the volcanic tremor amplitude with a grain of salt and reload the tremor page manually every now and then, to get it updated more frequently.
Both comments were pasted over from Erik Klemettis blog Eruptions from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/etnas-explosive-last-three-days/#comment-806546971
I do not know if Boris read VC too, i guess not. But let me say it here THANK YOU Boris
gern geschehen! 😉 It took me a long time to succumb to disqus.. I resisted it for a long long time but finally I thought, damn, if it is the only way to ask Boris and Erik questions, then I’ll just have to accept it, with much gnashing of teeth…
Ok, well i thought i had missed the boat yesterday, so i will point my webcam script thingy at it today and see if i can make a video…..that is bound to put a stop to the action
Voodoo script, you should patent it 😉
I dont think you can patent something thats been pubically releasesed
yuck…. “publicly” maybe?
But it is quite funny 😀
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pubical 😛
Hi Greg
In order to use your nice script could you explain some thiungs to me please (I’m no expert in Perl).
– Perl is installed on computer already – OK
– I should copy you script in a txt file with a .pl extension ?
– then launch the script using the command bar ?
thanks in advance
Hi dfm
yes you can save it as text in a .pl file for example photoGrab.pl
then execute at the command prompt (I assume that is the same as command bar) as follows:
perl photoGrab.pl
where:
is the name of a subfolder to store the jpegs
is the time in seconds to grab the next jpeg
BTW. I think there might have been an error in my original perl script: Here is what i am currently using for etna: this might not post to well due to added line feeds. In general for perl you can use ; or } to determine where the linefeed is
script: http://pastebin.com/JxDR6P0J
edit El Nathan: wordpress did not like the whole script with the links, so I edited the post, making sure not to lose anything 🙂 I hope it’s all good now.
bah humbag some of the brackets got stripped
The follow part of the post above should be:
”
then execute at the command prompt (I assume that is the same as command bar) as follows:
perl photoGrab.pl volcanoe refreshTime
where:
volcanoe is the name of a subfolder to store the jpegs
refreshTime is the time in seconds to grab the next jpeg
“
thanks a lot, I’ll try it.
21.02.2013 – 09:10:56 7.5 km Mag 0.5 Quality 58.38, 14.1 km SSW of Hekla
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/myrdalsjokull/#view=map
Well, that one is not Torfajökull?
Now it is 10.3 km at 99% quality
Great post about an ongoing event!
I saw the tremor rising and couldn’t grab more than two shots, due to the weather. And I had to sleep! Mamma will kill me if she keeps at this pace! Great to see those events! (I didn’t miss one of the three!). 🙂
Oh Renato, I am jealous of you, I missed every single episode as I was sleeping. 😦 and tonight I have to be out so I expect she will dare to go again while my back is turned! 😀
Hi Newby, at least Greg has his script pointed at Etna… You’ll be able to watch the timelapse of nowt occurring 😀
I have captured lots of rain and cloud so far, some out of service..but it might clear overnight…only if i turn off the script though
Yup, it’s a b~~~~r ain’t it 🙂
dfm:
Trying to post scripts is a nightmare, I will email it to Spica…and hopefully she is ok to share it with you.
You could take a screenshot of the script and post as tinypic.
I took a look at Nathan pastebin effort and updated it here:
http://pastebin.com/35VY0HHD
http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/hekla/borholu_thensla.html
Hekla Strain is being very erratic this afternoon…
It looks pretty normal to me – but is still rising even though HEL, STO and BUR are showing the usual rises and falls.
Etna appears to have a new fissure on the SE crater – but I can’t read Italian:
http://www.etnawalk.it/News/Read/160/apertura-di-una-nuova-fessura-eruttiva-e-fontane-di-lava-al-cratere-di-sudest
the picture is beautiful
Very beautiful shot. Nice to wake up to on a snowy NE Oregon Morning
Is that what we are currently seeing here?
http://www.lave-volcans.eu/webcams_etna.php?numero=2
This is the only cam (from my limited repertoire) showing the activity occuring right NOW…
btw not hugely schpectacular, sorry for shouting 🙂
There is some heat there according to the thermal cams: http://www.ct.ingv.it/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=202&lang=it
& she is getting brighter on the webcam: http://www.lave-volcans.eu/webcams_etna.php?numero=2
Pity there is cloud around.
Boris just commented on this at eruptions (see below).. most definitely a new development. This could spell the end of the fountaining unless these new fissures get sealed again.
Is this webcam live? http://www.etnaweb.net/nunziata/webcam.php
Yes – ish. you can refresh the screen. Anyone know what it is pointing at?
haven’t got a clue, but it’s pretty. I imagine its fog backlit by a glowing lava flow.
I was wondering where the lava was.
The fog has shifted a bit so you can see it clearly on the slope.
I occasionally look at the 7th Cam from above,
but you have to constantly reload
http://www.meteoweb.eu/sicilia/
GVP report on 19th February episode at Etna:
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/#etna
Armand has found a good video:
http://earthquake-report.com/2013/02/21/volcano-activity-of-february-21-2013-ilyamna-etna-now-erupting-during-daylight-video/
Spica, it looks as though you might be right about that flank eruption idea you had:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/etnas-explosive-last-three-days/#comment-807318063
Woohoo, now i feel important. Auch ein blindes Huhn findet manchmal ein Korn 😉
As translated by Word “Sometimes also a blind chicken finds a grain” 😕
Or much deserved success after all your hardwork watching Tolbachik and Etna webcams.
Doesn’t it mean “every now and again even a blind chick will find the schnapps”
(/jk)
Catania seems to be having some very bad weather at the moment: http://www.meteoweb.eu/2013/02/bomba-dacqua-su-catania-violento-nubifragio-sulla-citta-etnea-80mm-di-pioggia-auto-travolte/187092/
Also on here you can see a weather satellite photo: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Etna-News/166322386815635#!/photo.php?fbid=215799811897335&set=a.150151211795529.46296.150145295129454&type=1&theater
* link from MeteoLontinoi via Etna News FB page.
The lava running down the flanks is visible on the Lave cam
And it moved much farther down within the last 10 minutes!
In the meantime Tolbachik is still erupting. The plume appears to be the same height as the summit at the moment: http://www.emsd.ru/video/Tolbachik/img_1.jpg
Talking of plumes, you can see the plume from Etna in the thermal cams at the moment:
http://www.ct.ingv.it/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=202&lang=it
Was checking this too Karen
And took screenshots!
etna show
Danke, great video!!! Thanks for sharing.
Thank all of you for the best volcano blog.
Here etna paroxysm 20 – 2 – 2013
Off to bed now.
Memo to Etna: If you are planning on a 5th paroxysm, please wait until tomorrow night as I have missed the first four 🙂
* missed the first 4 real time. I have enjoyed reading the posts and watching everyone else’s videos 😀
Gute Nacht! (after all of two hours sleep I have got up to finish a job before the deadline tomorrow.. I’ll keep on eye on her. Boris said he expects a new one tonight again (lava is already streaming down the slopes in the webcam).
While operating machinery, equipment, drive or fly… there are always some things you just don’t do. (specific to the equipment)
This guy illustrates one of them in an aircraft.
NEVER trust the squat switch. NEVER put the gear handle in the UP position
and expect to be at flying speed when the gear comes up. Gets you sooner than
later. Happened to a Chief Pilot I worked for…
He was hotdogging just like the MiG Driver..
This was what he was flying. Note the fact that the gear hangs down a bit before going into the wells. Only had one fail on me once., and that was the Nose gear.
Problem was the engine coughed as the gear swung down…
totaled the plane..
I did something similar with my uncles ride-on lawn mower once. Perhaps not quite the same league, but he wasn’t happy with me as one of the wheels fell off.
Pah! You just had the wrong model 😉
http://www.maniacworld.com/flying-lawnmower.html
😆 love it. on my birthday list.
Mine too 🙂
Hi all, El Hierro looks interesting at the moment… See:
http://www.ign.es/ign/head/volcaSenalesAnterioresDia.do?nombreFichero=CHIE_2013-02-22&ver=s&estacion=CHIE&Anio=2013&Mes=02&Dia=22&tipo=1
and:
http://www.ign.es/ign/head/volcaSenalesAnterioresDia.do?nombreFichero=Corc_2013-02-22&ver=s&estacion=Corc&Anio=2013&Mes=02&Dia=22&tipo=1
and:
http://www.ign.es/ign/head/volcaSenalesAnterioresDia.do?nombreFichero=Ctab_2013-02-22&ver=s&estacion=Ctab&Anio=2013&Mes=02&Dia=22&tipo=1
The apparent eq on chie at 12 ish:
http://www.ign.es/ign/head/volcaSenalesDiasAnterioresHora.do?nombreFichero=CHIE_2013-02-22_12-13&estacion=CHIE&Anio=2013&Mes=02&Dia=22&tipo=2&hora=12-13
It doesn’t show in the lists at the moment… (I don’t think it will…IMHAO)
Things look “shaky” at El Hierro and i don’t fink it’s the weather…
P.S. probably not related, but this eq is closer to Teneguia than Tanganasoga:
http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/volcaDetalleTerremotos.do?evid=1192882&zona=2
Etna was clear for a while this morning, I am not sure if i was seeing smoke on the Nicolosi visiable webcam or was it cloud forming. So i changed my script to get the Montagnola visible view, and would’nt you know the cloud came in immediately 😦 It looks like it might be snowing there now.
Here is about the ebst i could get:
Here is a little something for you Hekla stalkers. If you look at the to picture, and notice the Hekla GPS point.
http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/gps/samsaeri/hekla_fr2008.html
Now look at GPS readings from the last week.
Notice how that station has moved considerably north?
Thanks, Yes, both North and West just in last few days. One could expect rise also, but that is not visible. Sorce of inflation is then Sout and east of HEKR (Heklurótum). The detrended format can cancel out steady rize, and only pick up if there is sudden one. (If its been rising for many years, thats not a trend and cancelled out?)
Put a frog in a pot of water and crank up the heat….
We do not have Frogs, the lakes are too cold.
Thanks Jamie! I’m away for the weekend so will miss any excitement that happens between tomorrow morning and Monday evening!
OT.. Brian May just walked passed me at the Internation Airport in Iceland. My co-worker got a picture of them together. Damn my shyness!!
no worry, the news are out, on radio, photo on Facebook too ..
First of tonight’s Riddles is posted ….. enjoy!
I need to learn how to solve these….
#3, Kawah Ijen, Indonesia?
Are these drumbeats showing at the bottom the El Hierro tremor chart?
http://www.01.ign.es/ign/head/volcaSenalesDiasAnterioresHora.do?nombreFichero=CHIE_2013-02-22_16-17&estacion=CHIE&Anio=2013&Mes=02&Dia=22&tipo=2&hora=16-17
Dunno – any idea what the weather was like in the Canaries today?
Dunno about the weather either. 😉
This site has it all: http://www.meteolaspuntas.es/
There is not much wind, but could the 4.4 m waves cause the drumbeats perhaps? Increased tremor shows on all stations in the Canaries.
Think number one may be Stromboli – The lighthouse of the Mediterranean.
Could also maybe be Erebus, which has a permanent lava lake that presumablt gets quite glowy when it’s dark…
Or just maybe Jan Mayen Island – the active volcano is called Beerenburg, I think.
Hi Nathan and Stephanie ….. I’ll ding as soon as I see a correct answer tonight as I wont be around for the weekend!
I will go for Kilauea for number two, as I know Hawaiian artefacts are in the both British Museum and the Louvre so I guess Hawaii for the island and go for Kilauea as the most active volcano, or second guess Muana Loa.
Hi Newby …… great answer but not right, it does not quite fit the clue …… but I realise there could be some ambiguity so I have added an extra couple of words to be more explicit! Sorry for misleading you …..
No worries. 😀
Try for number 3 then, Dallol in Ethiopia which holds the lowest known subaerial volcanic vents in the world,
DING! 1 point for Dallol – well done Newby!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallol_(volcano)
Oh and thanks for those riddles. While trying to do some research for No 4 I came across an article about Captain Scott’s highest camp site on Mount Erebus in the Antarctic. Love learning new things about those Antarctic explorations. Here is a link for anyone else with a similar interest.
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/heroic-age-campsite-location-discovered-near-summit-of-antarctic-volcano.
I think that is what makes all the riddles fun ….. the random information that we find on the way to the solutions!
Where is everyone tonight? I feel very lonely in this huge bar with just me nursing a glass of red wine and Kilgharrah hoping for another competition entrant. 😦
Snowing heavily on Etna web cam. Maybe dampen her enthusiasm a little. 😉
http://www.radiostudio7.it/webcam.asp?web=4&id=4
No 2: I’ll try Mt Vesuvius – the BM has artifacts from there & I assume that L does too 😉
No 1: is probably Stromboli – the “lighthouse of the Mediterranean” but I think someone has already mentioned it 🙂
Hi Karen, nice to have a playmate.
Hi Newby 😀
Hi
n°2 easter island ?
No 1 I will go for Mount Pico in the Azores. Two reasons, first it is an incredible volcanic peak that can be seen from far out in the Atlantic. Second there is a beacon named Pico Beacon. If nobody else is playing I may as well try for one more.
Oh Hi dfm. I thought everybody had gone out tonight except me. 🙂
Hi Newby
No idea for the spectrum of El Hierro. One quake today@ 19h something
Amabae island (vanuatu for n°1 ?)
Oh some lovely crater lakes on there!
Or even Tanna Yasur Volcano Tanna Island Vanuatu because when Captain Cook first sighted. Yasur in 1774, he likened it to Stromboli in the Mediterranean because of it’s constant glow at night, like a beacon.
Plus back on the beacon theme, A beacon on Pico island Azores.
Well I am off for an early night, goodnight all and play nicely. 😉
BBGN
No 4 – has me perplexed. Activity that I can find for summer months is:
White Island – rising crater lake levels& ash emission
Ioto – small emission of mud and steam, probable NE flank submarine eruption
Tongariro – eruption
Havre Seamount – pumice raft
Tokachi – small event in the Taisho Crater
San Cristobal – eruption.
😕
But from June 2012, you could take tours into Thrihnukagigur volcano, Iceland.
link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2137869/Iceland-volcano-tours-Intrepid-tourists-inside-crater-dormant-volcano.html
Hi Karen
I’m not around this weekend so let’s get them solved! I’ll add a couple of hints to the clues above …..
You’ll have to dig Newby out of bed; I am brain dead this evening 🙂
Grinning! Extra clues are up …….
Karen, I think Havre could be one of the solution to n°4
Nah: Thrihnukagigur volcano, Iceland, is better (you could take tours into it in the warmer summer months 😉 )
On the other hand it is not a summit ………..
Nope – this is an event that occured at its summit for the first time in recorded history ….. for just one month …..
An island appeared in the Grimsfall Crater lake
Still not quite at the summit – grinning
It was August 2012 ……
Someone proposed marriage on the top of Eyjafjallajökull volcano. http://www.jonfr.com/volcano/?p=2793
A new mountain was found off Iceland: http://www.jonfr.com/volcano/?p=2776
OMG Did they?
It appears so. Just hope they did not take a month over it 😉
link for Grimsfall Crater Lake: http://www.jonfr.com/volcano/?p=2610
Anyone got No 4 yet? What about Snæfellsjökull
Or should that be Snæfell In August 2012 the summit was ice free for the first time in recorded history
Haha, couldn’t sleep despite feeling exhausted.
DING!!!
Well done Newby – 1 point for lack of ice on the summit of Snaefellsjokull during August 2012 …… yea
I need to sleep – think summit, think warm temperature related event during August 2012 …..
Ah, now you made it so easy that it showed up first place when googling “august 2012 iceland summit” 🙂
No 4: Stratovolcano Snæfell´s summit under Snæfellsjökull was ice free for the first time in recorded history.
no. 4 could be – Unexplained Melting at the Askja Crater Lake in Iceland, April 2012., but that’s not a summer month. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/04/unexplained-melting-at-the-asjka-crater-lake-in-iceland/
Snæfellsjökull (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈstn̥aiːfɛlsˌjœːkʏtl̥], snow-fell glacier) is a 700,000 year old stratovolcano with a glacier covering its summit in western Iceland.[2] The name of the mountain is actually Snæfell, but it is normally called “Snæfellsjökull” to distinguish it from two other mountains with this name. It is situated on the most western part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over the bay of Faxaflói, at a distance of 120 km.
The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne, in which the protagonists find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the earth on Snæfellsjökull.
The mountain is included in the Snæfellsjökull National Park (Icelandic: Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull).[3]
In August 2012 the summit was ice free for the first time in recorded history.[4]
A tie! You get the Di and I the ng 😉
Uh uh Newby was first – grinning – how about Nos 1 and 2 cos I really need to sleep and wont be here for a week!!!
😳
No 1: Izalco Volcano – lighthouse of the pacific
The Izalco volcano is the youngest volcano in El Salvador. Izalco was born from a sulfur vent arising from the ground in the year 1770 and kept constant activity until 1967 when it literally suddenly stopped erupting. Prior to this mysterious ending, the lava coming out of the volcano and the constant flares could be spotted from the Pacific Ocean.
Kelda you’re great! DING 1 point for Izalco the Lighthouse of the Pacific!
Just No 2 and I can sleep – yea!
No 2 Milos: Statues of Apollo and Aphrodite.
B British museum and L Louvre.
Asklepios rather, in the British Museum 🙂
No. 2 – Milos in greece
Girls thanks!!!
1 point and a very loud DING for Chryphia and Milos ….. have a great week everyone I am off for a great time!! Tell you all about it when i get back xxxxx
Good luck with the puzzles 🙂 I am off to bed now :snooze:
Sweet dreams to Kilgharrah. 🙂
Answers, links and points for NTV
No 1 – IZALCO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izalco_(volcano) Kelda at 23.00 1 point
No 2 – MILOS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milos – Chryphia at 23.05 1 point
No 3 – DALLOL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallol_(volcano) – Newby at 20.23 1 point
No 4 – SNAEFELLSJOKJULL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sn%C3%A6fellsj%C3%B6kull Newby at 22.46 1 point
Well done every one! 😀
I am worried I am sure I posted a comment earlier……. about the answer to Volcano #1. But it’s not there! Either I am not hitting the post button or I am becoming invisible 😦
I was having trouble earlier. Lost the page a couple of times.
Congratulations ! No so easy ! BBGN
Ruminations as I am buying seed potatoes and putting them to sprout (chit) ready for planting in 3-4 weeks time. What has this to do with Volcanoes?
Well one of the places I could spend my potato growing retirement is the Volcanic Island of Tristan da Cunha. A remote island in the South Atlantic (Only accessible by a 7 day boat journey from Cape Town, South Africa). In 1961/1962 the volcano erupted and all the inhabitants were taken off and brought to Britain until they could return.
They grow potatoes as a staple food. The potatoes do well with a liberal feeding of penguin Poop!
http://jimleff.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/tristan-da-cunha.html
My thanks to Jim Leff for a very interesting post about this.
A nice recent documentary that may raise some eyebrows of Volcanoholics …..
Thank you for sharing! What a peculiar community far from the madding crowd. They surely are in need of a resident volcanoholic ;-).
OT……… The wonderful thing about life is that you never know what may come to your front door!
This morning I opened my door to find Five…..Yes 5 handsome , genuine, FIREMEN!
They were on a scheme to offer free fitting of smoke alarms and to carry out a safety check on homes especially of the less able and elderly…….
I explained I was a health and safety officer before I retired and my husband and I had everything under control. Working and tested alarms and all……
I did say to them it was a pity my husband was off sick because otherwise I would have invited them all in for tea and cake! ( …and turned off the alarms so they could check them!) 😀
It was rather like the handsome firemen that cut me out of my car back in 2001….I was in no fit state to make the most of this close encounter, but I did appreciate their gentleness and strength….SIGH! 😀 😀 😀
Right… time to dodge the snow flurries and plant a very special variety of apple tree that I found on line… a Howgate Wonder….I remember in my childhood the enormous fruit . One apple would make a delicious pie. It also came to my front door this morning. I have the planting space prepared and Meg the Moulting Puppy will help me dig. :D.
meg’s abundance of moulted hair has half filled a plastic shopping bag already. I save the hair and put it in those mesh bags you get oranges in. The small birds ca take it to line their nests in spring :D. Nothing wasted in this house! I even recycle the dog!
OH and just to add a warning note especially to other less abled and elderly folk…. ALWAYS check the credentials of anyone coming to your door unasked and making offers. Crooks pose as police, firemen and other occupations that may win you over to inviting them in I admit this morning I didn’t ask for their credentials. The very large shiny red fire engine parked in the road and their uniforms and ID tags were plain to see.
Hi all! New post from deep space is up https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/sheepy-dalek-on-a-saturday/
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