New Zealand is to move to ban smoking by progressively raising the age it is allowed, and by reducing the nicotine level in tobacco. Good luck with that, it is now 14 months without any tobacco for me.
GARDEN
Mid-April and still a touch of frost at night. Plants in the greenhouse have slowed down despite me lighting a candle every night! Put in some more tomatoes and some sweet peppers today. So I think that is a dozen tomatoes and 3 peppers. Just another cucumber and some hot chillies to go. Then plant some more herb seeds and hopefully put some of the herbs and flowers out in the garden.
A dozen or so bulbs are now flowering in the front, diffs, tulips and a couple of others.
GEOGRAPHY
Large sections of the Jurassic Coast have collapsed, the largest being 4000 tonnes. It is thought to due to the ground drying out after a wet period.
A new white paint has been found to be able to reduce the ambient temperatures of buildings as it greatly increases the albedo effect. Using the paint on buildings would not only reduce the greenhouse effect, but also reduce use of air conditioning.
French wine production this year may be affected badly by the recent cold weather with frosts affecting the vines.
All cars sold in the USA by 2035 could be electric. Biden has promised 500000 more charging points in the next decade. With less maintenance and cheaper travel costs the savings for consumers could reach £2 trillion by 2050.
AND I THOUGHT IWAS SLOW!
Senior government officials have stated that 2-10% of positive tests might be accurate (Cock up number 1 as this was likely), it is being rolled out for free for everyone (cock up number 2 – well actually it might be more of a fraudulent process?), then Johnson says he will consider relaxing the self quarantine imperative (Cock up number 3 – don’t consider it – just do it).
MORALITY
SCHOOL TIME FOR THE BOZO’S
Yes that is correct – the government need to learn the lessons of the past lockdowns – just turning up to the debate was not enough. A new variant in Wandsworth and Lambeth with 45-75 cases. Yet the government has not announced a local scheme for lockdown/testing.tracing.isolation – fines for those breaching the rules (e.g. going to a pub/restaurant outside the lockdown area. Such rigid enforcement should contain outbreaks and minimise the economic impact.
However the ministers seem to be too busy filling their boots to bring any bad news to the attention of the public.
RECIPES – VEGGIE and pineapple rum cake
I like a bit of meat occasionally, but am increasingly having veggie ones.
Lentil green salad. Cook green lentils until malleable, not mushy. Add lemon juice, chopped red onion, olive oil, watercress, basaltic vinegar and some chopped little tomatoes.
Gougeres. and cheese straws
SLEAZE RULES
Basically the whole Tory party is now tainted by sleaze. The latest being Cameroon whose lobbying may not have been illegal but was certainly immoral. The same goes for the MP’s claiming large amounts for flats in London whilst letting out properties elsewhere. Contracts without tender, and to mates. Manny Shinwell was correct when reprimanded in Parliament for calling the Tories liars – his response was ‘not all Tory MP’s are liars’
QUIZ
- The penis of a blue whale is how long
/ The gestation period for a giraffe is how kong?The Beatles and Elvis were number one in the UK Charts for how many weeks?How high is Brown Willy?When was the first firstFord car produced?- What is the difference in miles between the road and crow flies difference between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare?
- How many bricks were used to build Battersea Power Station?
- How high is Nelson’s Column?
- Which animal has the largest penis proportional to body length?
- For how many years has England been ruled by a King William?
- What does the word unguent mean?
- How many years were dinosaurs on earth?
- World record for eating 40 chicken McNuggets is?
- How many many monarchies are there in Europe?
- How many native British Trees are there?
- The oldest European Monarchy is?
- If you had a florin, a farthing, a half crown, a guinea and two shillings and sixpence – how much would you have in todays money?
APRON ON
Lemon bars are the first for today.
Then I am not sure what – inspiration will come to me.