Back To Basics, With Cabbage In Hand

Yesterday we finally got around to doing an experiment, using red cabbage to find the pH of various household liquids. Pouring boiling water over red cabbage and leaving it for 30 minutes or so produces a purple liquid (the indicator) that can be used to find out whether a liquid is acidic or basic. The indicator changes colour depending on the amount of hydrogen (the H in pH) in the liquid. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14, with 7 as neutral. Below 7 indicates an acid, above 7 indicates a base.
We decided to line up glasses with various liquids in them in what we thought would be  acids to bases, with plain water (neutral) in the middle.

IMG_3839

All substances were diluted in water. From left to right we had – vinegar, lemon juice, apple juice, sugar water, plain water, milk, dishwashing liquid, washing powder and bicarbonate of soda. We were unsure how the slight colour of some of the substances (especially the dishwashing liquid) might affect the results. In the end it didn’t make too much difference – the milk was the hardest to read, but the others were OK.

The red cabbage indicator made the water purple, as there was no reaction to change the colour, but we were unprepared for how quickly and dramatically the colours changed, and how beautiful the colours were! Generally acids range from reds to pinks, and bases from blues to greens/yellows.

IMG_3842

It was quite exciting! 😀
As you can see, we got some wrong. The sugar water needed to go to the bases side, and the dishwashing liquid to the acids. The washing powder was extremely basic, and we were a bit undecided on the vinegar and lemon juice, but eventually decided to swap them round – the lemon juice seemed a bit redder. Here’s the finished line up.

IMG_3844

It’s an easy experiment which doesn’t really take that long for the practical work. Part of science learning this year is improving the documentation of experiments, so there’ll still be some research to finish writing it up. It was a satisfying end to the week, though!
Here’s another view of the lovely colours, with the jug of indicator tucked into the top right corner…

IMG_3843

Published in: on March 23, 2019 at 9:13 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

A Smile Back In The Day

Having a mini wallow – it’s one of those mornings…
(I have written myself a list so I can jump back into the day quickly – there are things to DO!)

For some reason it seemed the perfect time to wander YouTube listening to 80’s music. Of course I needed sustenance…

IMG_3828

Yes, totally indulgent. I’ll probably feel it later, but I consider it’s worth it, just for today!

Sweet Bean and I enjoy a show called “Would I Lie To You”, which we find quite funny. I’d never played him the song (it’s not really related to the show) so thought I should rectify the oversight the other day. Everyone should have the chance to encounter the Eurythmics at least once in their life. Of course, once I start playing him one song, I can’t resist moving on to others that I’m reminded of, until I remember that there’s other stuff to do or I realise I’ve turned into a slightly manic reminiscent middle aged person and Sweet Bean is looking bemused while trying to sidle away quietly…

I was a teenager in the 80s. I sometimes can’t believe I dressed like that (the clothes! the hair!). It’s fun to look back, and it’s a quick burst of cheer.
(Possibly not The Smiths. They’re good if you want some company in misery.)

Time to head back in to real life.
I know you want to listen to a little bit of Annie Lennox first, though.
Because why not?

Published in: on March 19, 2019 at 11:42 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags:

Singing Green

In honour of St Patrick’s day, some songs – starting with a prayer attributed to St Patrick, and then some artists I enjoy…

Published in: on March 17, 2019 at 9:49 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , ,

Shining In The Dark

When terrible things happen, we bow our heads to mourn and pray, as is only right.
We can also remember that this world still has beauty, and the majority of its people want to love and show kindness.
Walk lightly.
Be kind.
Love.
Morning is coming.

God’s Grandeur
by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1877)

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

 

Published in: on March 16, 2019 at 5:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: ,

King Of The Mysteries

A week or so ago, a song I loved but hadn’t heard in a while was brought to my attention… When I first heard it I didn’t know what it was or who it was by, but it spoke to that wildness that is at the centre of spirit. We dream of great adventures and epic journeys, but life tends to blunt our corners and keep us chained to the average.
And we’re afraid…

Who will catch us when we fall?
Is the journey worth the possible pain, or loss?
This song gave me answers to hold to.

It’s based on a prayer attributed to St. Brendan, a 5th – 6th century Irish monk who was known as a seafarer, and sometimes known as “The Navigator”, “The Voyager” and “The Bold”.

The Prayer of St Brendan

Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

The story of Brendan’s voyage is an often fanciful tale of an eventful journey to the “Isle of the Blessed”, a tale that for me brings to mind C.S.Lewis’ “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. It has been suggested the blessed isle that he and his crew eventually found may have been off the coast of Canada, which seems like something that could not have been accomplished in a 6th century leather coracle. However, in 1977, a man named Tim Severin landed a traditionally built coracle on Peckford Island, Newfoundland, after having set sail from County Kerry the previous year.

Who knows what’s possible if you set sail into the mystery?

Published in: on March 13, 2019 at 5:36 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: ,

Hear Us Roar!

It was International Women’s Day yesterday, and I was reminded of this song…

I didn’t spend any time with other women yesterday, although I talked with Sweet Bean about women in history, and globally today.
Today I went to a breakfast for the Women’s Ministry at church, where we talked together, heard inspirational stories, and gained strength in worship.

IMG_3793

This afternoon I caught up with some great friends who I haven’t seen enough of recently. We talked, and laughed, and ate black forest scones…

IMG_3799

I am happy when I’m alone – I like my own company. But we are made for community, and women are generally quite good at that. Together we can bring healing, encouragement, and inspiration. And yes – we can roar!

IMG_3807

And we can do all that in the context of beauty 😀

Published in: on March 9, 2019 at 8:39 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: ,

Good Things Come In Variable Sized Packages

…not just small packages!

A recent windfall meant that we are now the proud owner of a brand new, pillow top, properly sprung mattress! Yay!!
This may not sound earth shattering, but when your sleep is punctured (or withheld) by deep hollows in the bed that cause the spine to sag, or rogue springs making ominous noises when rolling over, a new mattress is a cause for celebration.
Here it is!

IMG_3792

Our shopping foray also uncovered a bargain in a pawn shop – series 2 of Doctor Who (new version) for just under a fiver… I’ve been resisting getting these box sets because of cost – there’s a lot of them to catch up on, and I have seen them before. Seemed too good a deal to miss…

IMG_3791

Is this a sign that I need to lounge in bed and watch a bit of sci-fi goodness?
Seems like it to me! 😀

Published in: on March 7, 2019 at 12:25 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags:

Fragrant Ephemera

IMG_3751

Most mornings lately we’ve been going down to the pool for an early exercise session – a good way to start the day, but it’s been getting a little chilly…
There are two frangipani bushes by the pool, and there are often fallen flowers. They have brown edges and spots, and don’t last long, but they spread a sweet fragrance long after they’ve completely browned and shrivelled. Such a small thing, to give such joy… on days when everything else seems to be falling, a tiny flower in a miniature vase lifts the heart and raises the spirits…

Published in: on March 1, 2019 at 10:08 pm  Leave a Comment