Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Not a lot. I think I deserve an easy day. Too much stress of late and a slight chest cold.... Must look after myself!

[Stanley]

Cooking and reading.... I have found a new author who is challenging me!

[David Whipp]

Wrong topic - this was yesterday...



Spent four hours litterpicking between Barlick and Kelbrook. Collected eight bags of rubbish, some car trim and a hard hat.

The amount of rubbish is far less than it was a year or two ago, when as much would have been collected on the stretch to Salterforth only.

Although there was some industrial packaging, most of the stuff I picked up was takeaway debris, sweet wrappers, drinks cans & bottles and fag packets; could do with an effective 'take it home' initiative.

[Sue]

Well we came to France to garden and pick apples and it has hardly stopped raining. Mind you it's the first rain since early July. The sun is just coming out so may gat some roses pruned this afternoon. The apples are delicious eaten straight from the tree, we should get a few pounds

[Stanley]

That's an election pic..... Do the Tories pick litter?
Taking it easy, reading, taking Jack to see his favourite woman, Gillian Marsh the vet. It's his annual set of jabs today.

[Sue]

Rain again

[Tizer]

Do the Tories pick litter?

Only if they can sell it and get a tax break for doing so!

[Stanley]

Yesterday was comms..... Jack has got another seal of approval from Gillian Marsh.....

[Wendyf]

Feeling under the weather. I have a raised temperature and aches & pains, so I'm staying in bed for a bit . I can't remember when I last felt poorly, it's not like me at all.....I'll soon get over it!

[Stanley]

There's a lot of it about Wendy.... Look after yourself, lemon, honey, whisky and sleep! (And Covonia original....)
I shall be poring over my drawings and formulating a plan of campaign! At the moment I am attracted to 'big bits first'.

[Wendyf]

Still staying in bed. I tried getting up yesterday but soon started to feel really uncomfortable. I don't have any cold symptoms, just aches, pains and shivers. Boring!

[Tizer]

Wendy, don't try and be clever by getting up and exerting yourself too much - that can lead to trouble when you have an infection. Take it easy and give your body chance to fight the infection. Read a good book!

[Stanley]

Sounds like a good old-fashioned case of a flu-like cold Wendy. Tiz is right, stay in bed, keep warm and hydrated and let your immune system have a crack at the nasties..... I wish you a speedy recovery....
I shall be taking a slightly more rational attitude to my new project after yesterday's attack of panic when I realised the size of the rabbit!
Aberfan will be heavily on my mind over the next couple of days. The media seems to have woken up to the fact that tomorrow is the 50th anniversary. I have never forgotten the impact it had on me, as a father of young daughters, all those years ago. The reporting is concentrating on the flaws in how the NCB and the Establishment handled the aftermath and the tremendous injustice that was done to the town in general and the bereaved in particular. I would rather they concentrated on the way the courageous townsfolk dealt with what was a tragedy.
One thing I learned from the TV coverage that had escaped my attention was the fact that when Alf Robens finally left the NCB after surviving the enquiry and its conclusions he was put in charge of overseeing Health and Safety.... Pure irony......

[Tizer]

Robens...That chimes with Bruff's comment about the US in the Politics thread: "..at the time of Hurricane Katrina the head of FEMA, the main emergency response agency was a chap whose previous role had I think been Head of the Nevada Gambling and Gaming Board. ‘Browny’ as the idiot Bush referred to him. The surprise I guess was that with him at the helm, FEMA’s abject response came as a surprise."

[Tripps]

Speaking of suitability for role, got me having a quick look at the shadow cabinet. Apart from being very clever, is this lady in any way, qualified to be Shadow Secretary of State for Defence? Or in fact is that all that is required? I'm sure other examples could easily be found in all parties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nia_Griffith

[Stanley]

I agree. I have argued for many years that our system of giving incompetent politicians, who often have no understanding at all of their brief, the power to make far reaching policy decisions. Do I need to cite examples?
As usual I shall be immersed in comms, shopping and looking after me and Jack. Even more important at the moment for us to be fully fit and not adding to the family problems!

[Marilyn]

Doing a flit thru with the Hoover and working out tomorrow night's meal.
Son and his girlfriend are delivering our special guest for the week - his beloved Labrador called Abby. They collect her again on the weekend. They are heading off for a few nights "Glamping" ( which is Glamorous Camping) and quite the thing to do at the moment...apparently.
So we get pooch for the week. I expect she will lose a bit of weight while she is here because all she will get is her meals. Labradors can run to fat so easily and she is a superb example of an overweight dog. What you might call "a big lass"...

[Stanley]

[Marilyn]

I always think she looks like a Seal...
( no wonder they over feed her)

[Sue]

Today is a mix of all things, a visit to a car boot sale ( a typical Sunday occupation for the French) , a bit of gardening, cleaning and packing, plus making a couple of tarte tartine for the freezer from our apples. The rest of the apples that have not been distributed to neighbours and friends will go home with us for the family and ourselves. We have three apple trees that were full of apples. Unfortunately the sweet chestnuts and walnuts have done nothing this year. The birds had the cherries earlier in the year in our absence

[Marilyn]

I thought of you Sue and your car full of fruits and plants going backward/forward between France and England.
We had to cross an imaginary border between South Australia and Northern Territory. Northern Territory don't really care what Fruit and Veg you take IN, because they don't grow any ( it is too hot there). But coming back, only 3 days later and there are huge roadside signs ( and bins to put Fruit and Veg and Plants in) because South Australia is a fruit and veg growing area. Huge fines ($800 if they search your vehicle and discover any).
But my fridge contained 3 carrots and 3 tomatoes that I had originally bought in South Australia. We had only been "up there" three days, and I was searching for supermarket dockets to say we had bought them before we crossed the border ( which I was hoping they would accept if we were stopped).
We were not stopped...but I would have been peeved to pay that amount for 3 wrinkled carrots and 3 wrinkled tomatoes.
Very strict they are here. And I DO respect the laws.
We also travelled through traditional Aboriginal land where they had the right to confiscate Alcohol. I was quite happy not to drink anything on their land, but felt it wrong they could take whatever was in the fridge ( keeping in mind you were passing through and only there overnight!).
You have it very easy over there!
May I also add that I find it quite "two faced" that they offer an $85 "Champagne Dinner" at Uluru ( Ayers Rock...a major Aboriginal Spiritual Place). Can't quite comprehend. It's either alcohol free or it isn't !)

[Tizer]

Money conquers all, Maz! Perhaps they operate the same system as the CO2 carbon trading that the big companies use as a cunning wheeze to get around the carbon emission rules - by analogy it would be "If I pay you to go without alcohol for a day, then I can drink it for a day".

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at a big model railway exhibition at King's School in Taunton. We like going to model railway exhibitions because there's lots happening, plenty to see and the people attending are so enthusiastic. The ones running the exhibits love it when you start asking questions and giving them a chance to explain how they did this or that, and they beam with pleasure when you compliment them on their skills. It's a rewarding experience all round; and they usually have vast knowledge, and not only about railways - we get into more general conversations about, say, industry, industrial archaeology, mining etc. As well as the layouts there are modellers demonstrating how to build locos from brass kits, lay track, and make buildings and scenery. Also stalls selling models , books and various other things - Mrs Tiz always makes a beeline for an artist who paints railways and birds! We now have three prints of his puffin paintings on our walls. We come home worn out but happy after spending our time with lovely, friendly people. It's good, too, to see that these days there are women attending the events and kids enjoying the action as well.

[PanBiker]

Be picking Sally and our Ruby up from the train at Skipton.

Will do an Aldi run at the same time to stock up on cat litter and anything else that takes my fancy.

[Julie in Norfolk]

It has been a dog whispering weekend, very interesting couple of days there, I learned a lot. Last night was the Swing Commanders at the village hall, they are near you soon, http://www.swingcommanders.com/

They were absolutely brilliant.

[PanBiker]

They are a local band to us Julie.

We have booked them in Barlick on more than one occasion for BE Bosom Friends our local cancer support group. Seen them many times on our 1940's dancing circuit also, always a good turn. Seen Peter as lead singer in more than one band from way back as well.

Did he do his "Minnie the Moocher" for you?

BE Bosom Friends