Sunday 20 July 2008

JWW4 "The Rose"





The first flower shows on 210708. How will 24 lonely seeds, now registered as JWW4, fair under the watchful and caring wing of the JWW4 organisation. This first showing takes us through the first two months of growth. Two down twenty two to go.
Baron Jean-Guillaume Neuilly

Rosa chinensis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rosa chinensis, known commonly as the China Rose is a member of the genus
Rosa native to central China in Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan.

It is a
shrub growing to 1-2 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, with 3-5 leaflets, each leaflet 2.5–6 cm long and 1–3 cm broad. In the wild species (sometimes listed as Rosa chinensis var. spontanea), the flowers have five pink to red petals. The fruit is a red hip 1-2 cm diameter.


Uses
The species is extensively cultivated in China as an
ornamental plant; numerous cultivars have been selected, with varying flower colour and usually an increased number of petals (semi-double or double flowers). The species is also important in the breeding of many modern garden roses, including the Hybrid Tea roses.

The flowers and fruits are used in
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of irregular and/or painful menstruation, as well as swollen thyroid.





Saturday 19 July 2008

JWW4 does the Skies

9am weather check:
Sunny with intermittent showers
15°C
Winds swirling from the NW
Speed of wind 28mph gusting to 48mph
Visibility mostly good
Conclusion – good to go

The trip to Wickenby aerodrome, home to world war squadrons 12 and 26, took the travellers along the busy A46 (Lincoln Water Festival weekend). The aerodrome was easy enough to find, the navigator was in charge again. The Old Control Tower came into view and as soon as the travellers had parked the vehicle, a four by four was not needed for this trip; warm hot mugs of Bovril and a round of toast were soon consumed. The travellers were encouraged to view the upstairs museum, a tribute to the world war crews that flew the famous Lancaster bombers. The memories came back to JWW4 as he viewed the flying suits and sophisticated communication apparatus.

Within minutes of their arrival the rains came down, time to contact the control tower and review when a suitable window could be found. The reply came back thirty minutes so time for one more mug of Bovril; the ground crew knew how to make someone feel at home.

Time to get the mechanic out for one final check of the Cessna 152, said to be the best training aircraft in the world, being easy to fly, stable and strong and with sufficient room in the back for a good sized package. The all clear was given so full throttle; final check with the control tower and the blue sky beyond was thier target.

The co-pilot looked one way, JWW4 looked the other, same conclusion though Market Rasen straight ahead. A bit of awe here, a little throttle there, keep the giro straight and level and all was well with JWW4.

A faultless landing, de-brief and back to the crew room but would anyone ever discover what happened during the three hours JWW4 was away. The mechanic kept silent as always.

Only the Baron knew and he was not telling.

Baron Jean-Guillaume Neuilly