VEGETABLE FRITTERS

Key is to get oil hot for the final cook (I am told), My take today is as follows:-

Put a 250g potato through the grater attachment of a FP. Same with 250g onion. Gently fry, then finely slice a red or green or yellow or orange pepper, and a chilli. Add to frying pan for a couple of minutes. 50g flour and 50g gram flour. 1 1/2 tsp salt. 2 eggs.

UKRAINE

Some questions.

Is Putin likely to follow Ukraine with other former USSR countries. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia?

Would the public in the UK countenance sending troops to defend Ukraine?

Is Putin just being less subtle than the USA is in regard to Venezuela? Spheres of influence?

£896,681 SPAFFED

The cost to taxpayers of a study commissioned by Johnson into the the farcical idea of a bridge or tunnel to Northern Ireland. presumably the results were published on his staggeringly expensive wall paper?

Seriously why did it cost this much? Anyone with any knowledge of the Irish Sea knows about the trench with 1m tonnes of unexploded munitions – thus making the whole thing ridiculous to all but the deluded narcissist who thought of it in the first place. They even costed a tunnel at £209 billion and a bridge at £335bn. The investigation was led by the chair of Network Rail as he does not have enough to do.

MORE NEW HOUSES IN SANDFORD

Plans are being promoted for more new houses in Sandford. I am not a NIMBY and was vaguely supportive of new Strongvox estate. However there is a limit to growth. So the arguments are :-

Sandford is not ideally located for commuters – rather tortuous bus journeys to Bristol and W-s-M. No new job opportunities have developed in the village over the 20 years I have been here.

Whilst traffic is not a real problem at present, it soon will be if the Banwell By-pass goes ahead with eastern terminus at TowerHead. And the associated housing that will goo with it. It is not rocket science to suggest that each new property will create at least one commuter journey per day.

No new facilities have been created in Sandford other than a fenced off football pitch for the Primary School. I am aware that incompetence may have been behind the lack of a new village hall.

The village school I believe is at capacity and I would be interested to see how projections to include the new houses impact on the school. Churchill Academy will probably love it with their new facilities which is a positive.

A bit of geography! Sandford is a linear settlement at the foot of the northern slope of the Mendips. It has no focal point – the pub is at the western limit of the village, the church reasonably central/west, the shop and school central, and the ski slope to the east end. The swing park is tucked away to the south west. the council had an opportunity to create a cohesive village but have missed it. They should compulsory purchase land by the school to create a viable social hub which includes a new village hall – if needed? I am sure this will cause a few chokes! But is it financially viable? Would new facilities for the school be able to double up? Maybe a hall which is used by the school for gym, lunch and assemblies and the public the rest of the time?

The shop could also benefit from refurbishment?

THINGS – MIGHT BE A RAMBLE

Daily Mail reprints Saturdays front page and says Starmer has questions to answer. So the leader of the Government has admitted wrong doing on multiple occasions, has lied to Parliament – but the Daily Tory Mailshit leads with a story even the Sun could not make stick a year ago.

CRISIS – OCEANS

Many people in the world have never seen the life blood of our planet. Out of sight, out of mind may apply to them, but the importance of our oceans is a rather neglected aspect of our global environment. CO2 content of the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect grab the headlines. But p17 of the Guardian reports the sixth consecutive year of hottest temperatures for oceans. Should be Front page of all papers as the Partygate thing will be forgotten by summer.