Welcome to “Thursday Thoughts”…today is January 12th 2023…Did you know that on this day, January 12, 1885, Dr Pepper sold its very first bottle in the USA?…that makes it the oldest soft drink brand in America.
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in a magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. – Jack London
Eyelashes are supposed to prevent things from getting into your eyes but when I do have something in my eye, it’s always an eyelash. Pretty ‘eye’ronic.
In the age of electrification, we take rechargeable batteries for granted. From phones and laptops to hi-tech cameras – these batteries have one thing in common. They’re all made of lithium.
Their most notable use nowadays is in electric vehicles…I’ve seen the adverts, listened to the converted,…Plus we need a future without fossil fuel dependence, which is crucial if we want to slow down climate change…however it seems to me that every change has a cost environmentally somewhere along the line it is either a human cost(mining) lithium extraction harms the soil and can cause air contamination. or an environmental cost massive water consumption being one…we have to go forward and find something that works to slow down climate change however the world’s population is growing albeit slowing down…
Many people point out that Li-on batteries can be recycled, which is certainly a plus as it means they can be used repeatedly rather than mining having to occur each time.
But this is not yet a universally established practice and there has been meagre progress in battery recycling in recent years.
Is there an alternative to using lithium in batteries…?
Salt, or sodium, is a close chemical cousin to lithium…could that be the answer?
Did you know?
When you buy a car in Japan you have to prove that you have somewhere to park it?
As it’s National Soup Month, I thought a soup recipe was just the thing…Down on the Farm, we have lots of kale…
Ingredients:
4 slices of bacon, diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 cups homemade chicken stock or use good stock cube.
2 cups firmly packed chopped kale leaves
A pinch of salt
A few grinds of black pepper
Let’s Cook!
In a soup pot cook the bacon until it is crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it aside on paper towels to drain.
Add potatoes, onions, and garlic to bacon drippings in the soup pot and cook for 5 minutes. Add stock, kale, salt, and pepper and simmer for an hour, or until potatoes are soft.
Transfer soup to a blender or food processor and puree in batches. Return to soup pot and thin with stock if necessary.
Serve topped with bacon or with some crispy kale…I let hubby have the bacon and I had kale.
Did you Know? A group of Frogs is called an army of Frogs and although Toads rarely gather in groups if they do or did it’s called a knot of Toads?
Thank you for joining me today for Thursday Thoughts I hope you are all having a great week as always I look forward to your comments…The good news in my house is that hubby and son have given up smoking fingers and everything is crossed that they succeed I’m hoping neither of them will want to be the first to give in x
I have agonised about this post…I have been banging the same drum for quite a while…It does seem however that the more research I do and the more I discover that you would think that I am enlightened, I have a clear path which I wish to follow and everything is rosy… I am doing the right thing…I AM SAVING THE WORLD…
It certainly doesn’t feel like that…at times…sigh
Milk or more to the point cows milk…I have never been a great milk drinker even as a child… we had free milk at school and I just didn’t like it…In the end, my mum wrote a note and I was excused from drinking it…I love rice pudding and porridge although I do dilute the milk a little …I just for some reason have never liked drinking just a glass of milk…Yeah, Yeah… a fussy kid I hear you…
All these kinds of nut milk being sold as a better alternative…But are they…I have learnt that when deciding on the carbon footprint of my milk I should also be considering…Oh yes, there is more…Other factors which include how the farming of the crop affects people and native habitats in developing countries, the carbon footprint and water use. And while each product has its trade-offs, some plant milks are more sustainable than others. Sigh…This all adds to which milk I should use when making a rice pudding…
Because coconut trees only grow in tropical climates, the pressure to meet global demand is causing exploitation of workers and the destruction of rainforests… right…
Almonds are bad for bees and guzzle a lot of water during the growing and production of a glass of Almond milk…Ok!
Rice milk…Again the amount of water required to grow rice is a factor…Mmmmm
I could go on...Yep, I really could…This article, however, does it for me and so much more eloquently…
The bottom line for me is to plant more trees…Trees produce water…I am noticing a big increase in the planting of trees both here and around the world…Personally, I love nothing better than walking in a forest or jungle…Trees have that calming effect, don’t they?
There have been quite a few incentives on better ways to travel and Stansted Airport is no exception it is also very close to where I lived before I settled in the Land of Smiles…
Landside Operations Director Anita Harrison said: “London Stansted has been setting the pace among UK airports for years when it comes to addressing our local environmental impacts and we are well within legal limits for air quality, but there will always be more both we and passengers can do.
Stansted already offers a number of cost-reduction schemes aimed at encouraging passengers to use public transport or car share when travelling to and from the airport.
An online portal which will allow drivers to pre-register their fully electric vehicles was recently launched.
The airport says the portal will be used to improve the experience of local residents registering for their discounted charge of 50p/£1 depending on their location.
The first 1,000 people to sign up will be eligible for a year’s free use of the facility.
This brings me nicely onto what I have been reading lately on social media and news reports…False News once again…It is bad enough trying to filter out what we can do without all this false news.
Child Labour goes on and on…to me it is an abhorrent practise, cruel inhuman so many words I could use to show my disgust and horror…young lives ruined…childhood cut short…Cobalt mining…but…
It is not just electric cars…So before all, you Climate Junkies start sprouting about electrics and the use of child labour…check your own gadgets… A lithium polymer battery is considered a type of lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion batteries are used in consumer products such as cell phones, electric vehicles, laptop computers, power tools and tablets…many made by Apple…just check Apple, Google and Tesla and lawsuits…sigh…
Now tell me that you don’t own or use any of these…
We all need to take a long hard look at what we do and use before we start preaching and demonstrating…
It is very admirable that young Greta is joining a Bristol schools Climate strike…To all you parents whose kids are participating maybe you should tell them this…and then ask them how they are going to change as all their expectations seem to focus on us changing…
You are the first generation who have required air-conditioning in every classroom.
You want a TV in every room and your classes are all computerised.
You spend all day and night on electronic devices.
DO you walk or ride bikes to school or arrive in caravans of private cars that choke local roads and worsen rush hour traffic.
You are the biggest consumers of manufactured goods ever and update perfectly good expensive luxury items to stay trendy…Child labour produces most of these…
Does your entertainment come from electric devices?
It doesn’t stop there… the people driving your protests are the same people who insist on artificially inflating the population growth through immigration, which increases the need for energy, manufacturing and transport.
The more people we have, the more forest and bushland we clear and more of the environment is destroyed.
Now be really radical...Kids…You know you want to…
Tell your teachers to switch off the air-con.
Walk or ride to school. Switch off your devices and read a book.
Make a sandwich instead of buying manufactured fast food.
Learn to research facts and think for yourself and not blindly accept the words and thoughts of others.
Can’t live without your electrical devices…Learn about clean energy…
I do think it is admirable that kids are showing they have a voice but do it correctly and don’t vilify the adults…Get crafty and make your mum one of these…
Thailand is one of the worst users of single-use plastic...I can, however, see the changes and this idea is so cool…
Monks a common sight here…either walking and collecting food and alms, blessing a new house or car, on the buses or planes where seats are designated just for the monks, the orange-robed monks are a familiar sight…and sound as the early morning air rings with their familiar chants…
One would think that Climate change was far from their thoughts well not so…for the monks here at this temple… Wat Chak Daeng is a Buddhist temple south of Bangkok, the monks here have found an ingenious way to both tackle plastic pollution and provide clothing for its monks – collecting plastic bottles from a nearby river and transforming them into the fabric for saffron-coloured robes for monks.
Thanks to Tori..who alerted me to this…I never knew…I knew about the temple made from recycled glass bottles but monks robes from plastic bottles…Thank you, Tori you are a star…
I like the use of circular recycling methods and love how around the world ideas and practises are spreading as it seems we cannot stop the manufacture of plastic we can find uses for the waste product.
Lots of food for thought today…Thoughts on how we can make a difference while in the main sustaining our current lifestyle with a few adaptions for the good of the planet.
Just imagine if we all thought of just one idea which appeals to us…Think of all those bottles we are saving from going to landfill or into the sea…..With so many ideas and enthusiasm around the world to make a difference, we will save the world.
Thank you if you are still here and reading to the end…I look forward to your comments xx
About Carol Taylor: Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.
I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.
Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.
Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!
Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx
Retired? No one told me! 