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AAW Issue 3 - Winter 2005

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AAW Issue 3 can be viewed as a Adobe PDF file if you have Adobe Reader installed.

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The contents of this issue can also be read below.
index
AAW Newsletter - Issue 3

The true meaning of Christmas
Nature notes
Gardening Calendar
Coaching confidence
Non-alcoholic mulled fruit punch
Healthy Christmas Cake
Home-start

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The true meaning of Christmas

As we all get sucked into the frenzy of Christmas shopping, rushing from store to store in search of gifts for loved ones, crushed by our fellow shoppers and driven to our wits end by the relentless blast of 'I wish it could be Christmas every day', even our living rooms provide no sanctuary from it all, with adverts bombarding us every fifteen minutes from the television screen.

This is the nightmare of the modern commercial yuletide, the season of spending what you don't have and wondering, will it ever end? But what does it all mean? Why do we put ourselves through this every year? Surely it's not just because, it's great for the kids.

Christmas is of course a religious festival which has great meaning to millions of people around the world. But for those of no particular belief, can it have any relevance? Many of our Christmas customs have their origin in distant pagan times- the Christmas tree goes back to the custom of decorating revered trees, the Yule log was burnt to bring good luck to the house, and mistletoe was a sacred plant to the druids. Even carol singing has its origins in a kind of ancient trick-or-treat ritual. Then there is the celebration of the winter solstice, a time for looking backward as well as forward, reflecting on the past and hoping for a positive future. In the modern world, our connection with past beliefs seems largely irrelevant and yet we continue to celebrate the ancient feast.

So there must be a meaning behind all the frantic commercialism. Perhaps it is simply that in the dark days of midwinter, we all feel the need to share a little human warmth, by meeting up with friends and relations, exchanging gifts and eating and drinking together.

Happy Christmas!

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Nature notes

In these days of global warming, autumn often comes later than it used to, so that summer seems to just go on and on. Inevitably though, the seasons change and although it is sad to say goodbye to the summer there is a lot to enjoy in the natural world during the autumn and into the winter. As you go about the local area on your daily business, take the time to look at what is happening in the gardens, parks and churchyards. Here are a few things to look out for.

• Wildflowers are setting seed. Plants such as hogweed, seen along the roadsides, produce large seed heads. You may see goldfinches feasting on them.
• Starlings and blackbird numbers are increasing, as native birds are joined by migrants from the continent. Notice how the starlings are more speckled now, and have lost some of their purple-green sheen.
• Some creatures are starting to hibernate. Snails may congregate in large numbers under stones, whith thick mucous blocking the entrance to their shells. Hedgehogs look for a warm, cosy spot to spend the winter. Check your bonfire for hedgehogs before you light it!
• Mushrooms seem to spring up from nowhere. But they are actually the fruits of a much larger living thing, consisting of a mass of threads underground.
• Acorns are eaten in large numbers by grey squirrels and by the Jay, a colourful woodland bird sometimes seen in suburban gardens. Both these creatures store acorns in the ground, and not all of them are recovered and eaten. This is how oak forests can spread uphill!
• The colourful berries on the rowan and hawthorn provide winter food for the blackbird, as well as other birds of the thrush family- the redwings and fieldfares that visit from cold northern European countries.
• The fruit of the horse chestnut, the 'conker' beloved of schoolboys is now to be seen. Strangely the fruit of the sweet chestnut tree, which we roast at Christmas time, is not related. In the depths of mid-winter, it may be hard to imagine the sunlight and warmth ever returning. But remember that for birds, the winter solstice, a few days before Christmas day, is when the days start to lengthen and chemical changes in their bodies occur, triggering the desire to build a nest and look for a mate. For nature, this is when spring begins.

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Gardening Calendar

By Mike Pegg, (City & Guilds in Horticulture)
Your gardening correspondent

November

• Kaffir Lilies, the all purpose cotone, a winter vetch, conifers for cones.
• Bulbs should be ready to bring into the warmth by now.
• Planting roses is good this month, pruning trees and shrubs.

December

• Twisted hazel, winter viburnums, versatile ivy, hollies.
• Greenhouse – seeds of pot plants such as Gloxinias and Gesnera can be sown.

January

• Winter aconites, mahonias, winter Jasmine, winter Honeysuckle.
• Pot plants received as Christmas gifts will need after care. Time to sow your first greenhouse seeds.
• Outdoors this is a good time to take root cuttings from certain alpines and perennials.

February

• Oriental hellebores, giant snowdrop, garrya elliptica, spring snowflake.
• Snowdrops, although often sold as dry bulbs in autumn, fare just as well if planted now.
• Keep hyacinths and other forced bulbs safe, don't discard them they will keep until April.

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Coaching confidence

Sport is a great way to boost confidence and self-esteem while keeping fit at the same time. Michael is a keen basketball player and when offered the opportunity by his club to do a basketball coaching course he saw it as a great chance to learn new skills while doing something he enjoys.

Michael plays for the Brighton Cougars and has been playing basketball since secondary school. During the course he is working with 13 year olds to teach them to improve their playing skills and the qualification will help him to coach people up to county standard.

The course is quite intensive with sessions on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm. During the morning the assessor gives them information to guide them in what to do, and in the afternoon they work with the teenagers, putting into practice what they have learnt in the morning.

There are assessments through the course, a final practical assessment and a two hour written exam. There are nine people taking the course and they work with about 20 children. Michael says it can be hard working with 13 year olds, but if they are willing to listen it can be good.

So what skills do you need to do this course? Michael laughs and tells me "Lots of patience". He also thinks you need to have a good grasp of what you think each child can do and what you are aiming to teach them.

So what does Michael think he will get out of the course? He thinks it is a good way to boost confidence and he hopes it will lead to a job at the end of the course. He would recommend it to anyone who is interested in sport, even if you just want to gain some confidence.

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Non-alcoholic mulled fruit punch

You will need the following ingredients.

• 1 mug each of cranberry juice, orange juice and
  mixed berries (or 'forest fruits') juice or juice drink.
• 6 desert spoons of brown sugar.
• 1/4 teaspoon each of mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger
  and nutmeg.
• 6 cloves and 1 slice of lemon
  Mix the ingredients together, heat through and serve.

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Healthy Christmas Cake

175g unsweetened pitted dates, cut into small pieces
115g no need to soak dried prunes, cut into small pieces
200ml unsweetened orange juice
2 tbsp treacle
1/4 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp finely grated orange rind
225g self-raising wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
115g seedless raisins
115g sultanas
115g glacé cherries, washed and quartered
115g dried cranberries
3 large eggs, separated

To decorate:

1 tbsp apricot jam
175g sugarpaste

• Preheat the oven to 170c or 325f gas mark three. Grease and line a deep 20.5cm or 8 inch round cake tin. Chop the dates and prunes and place in a pan. Pour over the orange juice and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes until very soft. Remove the pan from the heat and beat the fruit mixture until pureed. Stir in the treacle and citrus rinds. Let cool.
• Sift the flour and mixed spice into a bowl, adding any husks that remain in the sieve. Mix in the dried fruits and make a well in the centre.
• When the date and prune mixture is cool, whisk in the egg yolks. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff. Spoon the fruit and egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix. Fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon. Transfer to the tin and bake for 1.5 hours. Leave to cool in the tin.
• Remove the cake from the tin and brush the top with jam. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out the sugarpaste thinly. Lay the sugarpaste over the top of the cake and trim the edges.

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Home-start

Lending a helping hand

We all know how difficult and exhausting it can be when you have young children, and this is even harder when a family has no support from other people. Home-start, however, is a voluntary organisation which provides this much-needed service for families with a child under five years old through the work of volunteers such as Sonia, who has been volunteering with them for a year now.

So why did Sonia decide to get involved? Well, due to ill health she was unable to do a paid job but for her it is important to keep busy, getting involved in things. She has her own son and has fostered children in the past and when she heard about this scheme she felt it was exactly what she needed when her son was young. She loves working with children and this role gives her a lot of personal satisfaction.

What is involved?

Sonia sees two families for a couple of hours a week, although she says
that most people start with just one family. The support needed varies between families, but it could be listening to their concerns or problems, playing with the children, taking them on outings or helping in the home. For example in one family Sonia mainly plays with the children and helps around the home, whereas the other family has needed emotional support, listening to problems, as well as help with things like preparing meals. Sonia finds the difference between the families she helps makes the work interesting and varied. Every month volunteers send in records of the contact they have had with the family and every three months the Home-start staff meet volunteers to review how things are going.

What about support for volunteers?

Sonia says there is always support from the Home-start staff, and there is excellent training before you start working with a family. The training lasts for 10 weeks and covers practical things like knowing what services are available for families as well as personal skills such as listening skills. Social events like quiz nights and wine tasting evenings are arranged for volunteers to get together, at Christmas there is a party for the staff, volunteers and families, and there are sometimes outings for staff, families and volunteers.

Could this be for you?

Well, Sonia thinks you need common sense, to be able to listen to people, to be non-judgemental, to have time to visit the family regularly, and have lots of patience with children. Sonia would certainly recommend it!

Home Start (home page)

Home Start - Worthing and Adur details