Divider

Divider

Saturday 25 February 2023

Bears shall wake soon


 The bear will soon awake from its hibernation. This is what happens over the winter months, as bears enter a long period of sleep so that their bodies can rest. During hibernation, bears don't need to eat or pass water. It helps them otherwise they would build up muscle atrophy. Their body keeps hydrated and they store a lot of fat, which also helps them during hibernation. Bears can hibernate each winter except the polar bear, which is adapted to live in cold snowy temperatures all year round. During hibernation, bears are not always in dreamland, they can be awake now and then, but they remain in their snug dens. Bears have taught humans a lot about diabetes. While it's a problem for humans, bears can find it healthy to be diabetic. This means they need a lot of sugar. What they eat can be up to 50kg. By becoming overweight and full of calories, this helps their bodies to experience a hibernation rest, so that they never get hungry or thirsty. By the time spring arrives and bears wake up, they've lost weight! 


The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is fairy tale about a girl that seems lost in the woods, and discovers a cottage that belongs to three bears, who happen to have gone out but she knocks on the door, goes inside when there isn't an answer. She finds food in three bowls. The first bowl of porridge is far too hot. The second is too cold. The smaller is just right and she consumed all of it. Then she finds three chairs of different sizes. The largest is too high, the middle is too hard, and the smallest is fine until it breaks and she falls. She goes upstairs and finds three beds. The largest and middle sized beds are both uncomfortable so she likes the comfort of the small bed and goes to sleep on it. When the three bears return home, they discover an intruder had eaten their porridge, sat in their chairs and asleep in their beds. Goldilocks is woken up, looked at the three bears, ran away and that was the end of this story.  


Goldilocks is a thief but she isn't what she appears to be. She was really a fox! That was how she used to be, in a much earlier version of the tale called "Scrapefoot". She later turned into a human but kept her sneaky traits, knowing full well that what she was doing was wrong and could get her into trouble or killed but went ahead anyway. The biggest father bear was scary. While the three bears are dangerous, they were robbed by a magical golden haired fox/girl. It must be worth mentioning here that bears are thieves just like Goldilocks in the story. Bears steal honey from bee hives and then they get attacked by swarms of bees!  

Storm Valkyrie   

Monday 6 February 2023

Kissing flowers

 As it's almost  Valentine's Day, I want to post about some amazing flowers that look like loving gifts for Valentine's Day. Some look as if they're going to kiss you! Let us see them:

Conophytum Pagaea


These bunches of lips are native to South Africa and Namibia. Clusters are grown in early summer and they can bloom flowers that emerge from between their "mouths". They can be grown in gardens but they need plenty of sunlight and warm temperatures. They thrive well in the tropics. They're vulnerable to the cold and creatures that feed on them but insecticidal soap can shoo away bugs, snails, slugs, caterpillars and even rodents. Despite them looking so adorable, try to avoid eating them. Don't kiss them because they will cause skin irritation!   

Psychotria elata


This is a bright flower found native in Central and South America, especially in the rainforests of Ecuador and Costa Rica. This plant looks like a glossy red pair of lips in a pouting pose, ready to blow a kiss. They attract wildlife such as hummingbirds and butterflies, drawn to the vibrant shapes of this plant. During the winter months, white fragrant flowers emerge between the lips. The bark and leaves of the plant has been used for medicines to treat skin ailments. People around the regions love collecting thee plants for Valentine's Day.    

Lamprocapnos 


These are also called "Bleeding hearts" flowers because of their distinctive shape. They look like small pink hearts that will hang from green stems during spring and summer. Soon they develop into full blooms. These plants come from China originally and have a place in traditional medicine and old Chinese poems. These plants have some toxicity so avoid eating them. 

I wish you a happy Valentine's Day. 

Storm Valkyrie