03/10/2011 by admin.

Yesterday, Britain basked in the hottest October day EVER. At Gravesend in the South-East of England temperatures soared to 29.9 degrees C, eclipsing the previous record set in 1985.

The warm front led many thousands to head to the coast with Bournemouth and Brighton proving especially popular.  The hottest October day followed the hottest April in Britain on record.

Our weather is so topsy turvy. Time for story of inspiration, collaboration and the magic that happens when the world is turned upside down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoVKQ5G3t1g

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself? | No Comments »

04/05/2011 by admin.

making a sound as they fall on the ground, is a line from a delightful song from the much loved Disney animation Bambi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJZnIHwzvzM 

It’s what we normally expect from the Spring. Not this year. This year the UK has witnessed the warmest April on record, with temperatures between 3-5 degrees higher than average. It followed the driest March for over 50 years. In fact there’s been a distinct absence of rain across much of central Europe. The weather has confused many plants and animals into thinking summer has already arrived.

Whilst in America a record breaking tornado outbreak capped a month of extremes, including natural disasters and devastating wildfires. Six states recorded their wettest April’s on record and there were 875 tornadoes which was nearly four times the previous record of 267 for April.

As malachi reminds us, there’s no place like home…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ6VT7ciR1o

Posted in Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q30 Did you ever watch the rain on your window?, Q27 Do you like gardening?, Q22 Do you love our Earth?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst? | No Comments »

24/02/2011 by admin.

The Haymakers Survey uses art as a medium to help inspire love for Nature. Well. there’s an award winning museum and art gallery in Sandhurst, Gloucestershire which is the world’s first dedicated to art inspired by Nature.  Aside from the aesthetic and cultural appeal of what it has to offer we’re drawn to it today because of magical events in neighbouring Quedgeley.

The village of Quedgeley has close connections with the RAF. Its official name was No 7 Maintenance Unit, RAF Quedgeley with the motto, Omnibus Ubique Servimus which means, “We Serve All, Everywhere”.  Interesting…

The Haymakers Survey tells how if you put a frog in a jar of water and slowly heat it the frog will die as it fails to react in time to the threat that eventually brings its demise. It’s a parable often used to highlight the threat to humanity presented by global warming.  Is it just coincidence then that Donna Hunt discovered a tropical tree frog amongst strawberries purchased from her local Tesco store in Quedgeley? She found it at the bottom of her fridge and thought at first it was a mouldy strawberry. Is this rare event so close to the home of Nature in Art a clear message that humanity needs to ‘cool down’ the Earth by reducing its CO2 emmissions and moving away from our dependency on oil?

We’re not the story tellers - Mother Nature is. Is it weird or what?

http://nature-in-art.org.uk/

Maybe the frog arrived with a message from the creator…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY&feature=related

Posted in Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

15/12/2010 by admin.

An iconic lighthouse at lake Erie Cleveland Ohio has been covered with snow in ice. A combination of high winds, subzero temperatures and crashing waves have turned the navigation aid into an ice castle from the Snow Queen. Although of breathtaking beauty the frozen beacon is potentially dangerous as Coast Guard Units have issued warnings to sea mariners. 

Mother Nature loves her Winter Wonderlands. In our novel Ben Whittenbury issued his cry for action to preserve the environment - adopting a pose akin to a lighthouse - and Lucy herself later repeats the pose as a beacon of hope.  Malachi warns, “Snow, did someone say snow!” (page 100) Our 18th century hero Captain Richard Lewin is also lost at sea.  Whilst Lucy warns us about Erie (page to follow).  Its not looking good people…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0_GO7cj0jk

Posted in Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »

06/08/2010 by admin.

We have to get serious I’m afraid.

Amid a record heatwave Moscow is experiencing a blanket of thick smog caused by the worst wildfires in modern history. As the fires burn in peat bogs and forests dense plumes of smoke some 3,000km long can be seen from space. As temperatures remain above 100F the haze and smoke are causing serious health problems. People have resorted to wearing masks to protect themselves. The fires continue to burn across central Russia. The level of C02 in Moscow is more than three times higher than normal.  Red Square is at the heart of Moscow. 

Red is associated with alarm - is this Nature’s way of telling us to STOP!  Well, in our novel (pages 135-137) Julia describes at length her experience under the day of the long and lingering fog. It introduced her to a young Malachi - the messenger - for the very first time. Is this the prelude to climate chaos on an ever increasing scale? Remember too that the Samoyed is native to Russia.

It’s also worth linking this to the curious halo cloud seen over Moscow a few months ago. http://watch.thehaymakerssurvey.com/?s=moscow 

What’s also remarkable is that on page 137 Malachi warns us twice… “I spy with my little eye something beginning with M”  Check out the book or the online version if you doubt us.

Posted in Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q16 Have you ever had a psychic experience?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock? | No Comments »

07/02/2010 by admin.

We have another remarkable coincidence to report where life is imitating events in our novel.  On 7 February 1823, Charles Lamb’s journal records ‘a magnificant deep white snow’ to fall that helps demonstrate the true majesty of Yggdrasil (pages 374-378) and the diversity of life - represented by the difference between each and every snowflake, the 12 snow angels and the 3 hearts to appear in the snow at the points of an equilateral triangle.

On the same date, we look across the Atlantic and find the East coast of America has experienced ‘Smowmaggedon’ through the heaviest snowfall in some 100 years! Unsurprisingly the East coast was home to a couple of the Blakesware Set - Ralph Emerson and Henry Thoreau. Most poignant! We’d better take better care of our planet.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YitaEluvmaM

Posted in Q68 Does the Earth have a spirit?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q21 Have you ever hugged a tree?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »

14/11/2009 by admin.

In an exclusive poll for The Times only 41% of the population believe that human activity is responsible for climate change.  The survey makes for uncomfortable reading in the run up to COP 15.  Almost 33% are yet to be convinced by the science, 8% claim its just propoganda and 55 say the world isn’t warming.  One expect suggested that because of the potential consequences - green taxes, lifestyle changes, wind farms etc -people are taking refuge in denial. 

In response to the survey, Ed Miliband the Energy and Climate Change Secretary said, “The overwhelming body of scientific evidence shows us that climate change is man-made and is happening now. We know we still have a way to go in informing people about the threat and that is why we’re pushing our Act on CO2 campaign”.

The poll’s findings come as no surprise to us. We believe there’s a limit to what can be done through conventional means to demonstrate to people the genuine nature of the threat and the role played by humans. It’s why we have taken a very different path - one based on faith and the believe that we are being guided by a higher force - left signs of the need to act not just on carbon emissions but on our relationship with the Earth! This remains our steadyfast belief and is the purpose of the Watch.

We foresaw this and imagine this resistance will continue. It’s why our novel includes a sceptical voice - Bill Darvill - and includes commentary by Ben Whittenbury about human behaviour being ostrich like about the issues - we put our head in the sand!

Posted in Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q46 Do you value a good education? | No Comments »

03/09/2009 by admin.

Australia has experienced its warmest winter since records began.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology described August as an ‘extraordinary month’ with mean temperatures been exceeded by several degrees! The margin of increase is unprecedented and put down to a combination of climate change and the natural variability of the country’s weather.  All the same, its a clear reminder that the threat of damaging changes in global temperatures is real and current.

Posted in Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q22 Do you love our Earth? | No Comments »

14/08/2009 by admin.

Our more serious posts often focus on activity at the Earth’s poles.  Today is no exception where we reflect on the pace of melting on one of Antarctica’s largest glaziers. Research shows that its melting four times faster than it was 10 years ago.  The surface of the ice on Pine Island glazier is now dropping by 16metres a year.  Professor Shepherd of Leeds University says the melting at the centre of the glazier could add about 3cm to global sea levels but the trapped ice behind it would add between 20-30cm.  There are fears that its collapse could lead to the massive disintegration of the West Antarctica Ice sheet. 

There are similar concerns raised in the Arctic where the absence of sea ice in the Nares Strait between Greenland and Canada has surprised scientists, including Professor Box who says the impact of climate change on large glaziers is like taking a cork off a bottle.

We know there are mixed views across the globe on what’s happening to this planet’s environment, including the amount of ice at the poles, which is why we are on our mission - to reveal some deeper magic. Just up to you whether you believe our coincidences recorded on this Watch are purely that or whether they represent something more.  

Posted in Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

23/06/2009 by admin.

Early today a fire broke out in the historic Wellington Inn, Welwyn, Hertfordshire.  The blaze took hold on the top floor of the three-storey building.  Fortunately no one appears to have been injured, but we very much hope the building isn’t too badly damaged. The Wellington has its orgins as an inn dating back to the 13th century and was once visited by the famous writer and diarist Samuel Pepys. 

We feel rather unsettled by the fire. Our readers will recall the mysterious blaze on the Cutty Sark - at Greenwich the home of time - which we recorded in our Watch.  Now we have a fire at another venue linked to our story - afterall did not the Duke of Wellington chair the Blakesware Set?  It’s unsettling given the venue is so close to home.  Given global temperatures are predicted to rise unless carbon emissions are brought under control we wonder - is this a clear sign to us all that the mercury is set to soar? 

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q80a Do you keep a diary?, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q47 Do you know your history? | No Comments »