IS THAT A PINK RIBBON ROUND THE OLD OAK TREE?

Hello Lovely Blippers,

This is a joint message from both of us on this special day when we are celebrating 200 Blips for Silly Saturday.  Most of you who take part in the Silly Saturday challenges know that it was started by Admirer, who sadly died suddenly in June of this year - but we all remember her with much love and affection - which is why we have continued celebrating Silly Saturday.  Today Carol Dunham is hosting this special day.

Very early this morning, we went over to Mrs. HCB’s field because she had an idea for today’s Blip - and it involved some measuring.  Several months ago she wanted to find out how old the oak tree was but because it was surrounded by stinging nettles, she wasn’t able to get near the very large trunk.  However, she told Mr. HCB that the nettles were now dying back, so asked if he would go with her and help her measure the tree.  He was a bit reluctant but soon came round when he knew it was for a good cause!

Off we all went and you will see that the ribbon tied round the tree is pink - and not yellow as it says in the famous song!  We asked Mrs. HCB about that and she said that although it was no longer Pinktober, breast cancer doesn’t just go away, and so we kept our pink ribbons on our jumpers too - so if you want to click on the Breast Cancer website, then that would please Mrs. HCB.  One of us is also wearing a beautiful heart sent to Mrs. HCB this week by a Blip friend, who lives in The Netherlands.

It was a good job there was no-one else in the field, because it must have looked quite silly with Mrs. HCB holding the ribbon and Mr. HCB stretching it round the huge trunk of the tree.  No doubt people would have thought they were quite mad, but even more mad when she took us out of her bag and put us inside the ribbon next to the tree.  Mr. HCB was adamant that he didn’t want to be in this Blip, but you can see that Mrs. HCB sneaked him in while he was tying the ribbon - that’s very naughty, but he agreed that she could leave his hat in the shot.  

So now we get to the important part and you need to listen up if you aren’t that good at maths - to find out the age of a living oak tree we asked Mr. Google and then did the following:

To find the circumference :
We measured round the girth of the tree - that was 157 inches 
To find the diameter :
We divided the circumference by 3.1416 = 49.9745 
so approximately 50 inches
Growth Factor - Mr. Google told us that if this is unknown 
it’s best to use the number 4.

So the estimated age of this beautiful oak tree is:
The diameter - approximately 50 x 4 = 200 years

YAY - I think that Admirer would be quite happy on this 200th Blipday for the Silly Saturday challenge that the age of this oak tree is approximately 200 years - see extra. 

With love to you all,
JH Ted and Snowy xx

I think this quote is appropriate as we remember our dear Blip friend, Admirer:

“‘There is no death, daughter. 
     People die only when we forget them,' 
          my mother explained shortly before she left me. 
               'If you can remember me, 
                    I will be with you always.’” 
Isabel Allende :  Eva Luna