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I just made a kilo of SJ. I am not sure if it will set? I boiled it for 30 inutes and did the crinkle test (which was not conclusive) but it had exceeded the temperature in the book of 104.5C! Yay – it set strawberries are at the end of the season but delicious – all agree!

i know this is a bit random! but I just read a bit about the source of surnames. Basically they started in Norman times. The English define themselves by what they do( e.g. Miller, Brewer, etc.), the French nobility by what they own Largely places in, like David Salisbury) whilst the Celts define themselves by their ancestors (Robert O’Brien, David ap Roberts, Hamish MacDonald). I guess this is similar to cuts of meat being French in name origin whilst the animals themsleves were named by those who looked after them i.e. the English.. I will have to look up the anthroponyms of immigrants.

Whilst on the fact trail it was not until 1730 tht English became the language of courts in this country. Henry IV was the first king after the conquest to speak English as a first language.

Since 1066 there have been no monarchs of English ancestry! Plantagenets (French), Tudor (Welsh), Stuart (Scottish), Orange (Dutch), Hanover and Sale-Coberg (German)!

English, words and spellings became standardised due to invention of printing press in 1476 – although it took centuries. Indeed there are still many regional variations such as plimsol/dap.

Sunak stated for several days that no decision had been made about HS2 – he lied. All these ne projects were not plucked out of thin air – they must have planned these for ages – indeed the video posted announcing this was filmed in Downing Street. Sunak has been in Manchester all week.

Basically the trap is laid for Labour. Do they reopen HS2 work, do they adopt all the plans that Sunak outlined? Sunak stated that he was planning for the future – but has put back Net Zero, abandoned High Speed Rail Travel.

The Advanced British Qualification. He stated that it was going to be knowledge rich. Does anyone know te knowledge that children will need to know, or should we be developing their ability to find knowlede and identify any bias involved?

The use of the law to stop smoking is fine by me, but shouldthey be putting more effort into education o prevent obesity and related problems?

It looks like the MetO expect it to go further north as wind gusts at a max of 33kph forecast for here. Each mb drop in ait pressure can cause a 1cm rise in sea level. The average pressure in the uk is 1113. I do not think this will affect Weston-super-Mare as the spring tide is at the end of the month – but it could be interesting if the wind picks up from the south west!

Basically a typical English summer this year, But we should not get complacent. There are many idiots (some in high places well beyond their intellectual limits) who are still denying climate change.

To be honest not a lot of changes – just updating names like Türkiye and Kyiv but I guess te border changes to Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh must mean something? I also giess that OUP must have thought it worthwhile to republish with a strip across the front saying India Edition? There was a diplomatic kerfuffle over the Edition with Crimea published with a statement that it had been annexed by Russia (or something like that) – will this happen again with China or Pakistan over the borders?

But this weeks prize for stupidity is still there to be claimed.

So far we have Sunak failing to sign “The US and the EU have backed an ambitious plan to build an economic corridor linking Europe with the Middle East and India via rail and sea, a project the US president, Joe Biden, described as a “really big deal”.”

MP’s told not to name those accused of spying for China. – the accused are out on bail so presumably they could not find this government doeing anything worth spying on.

DEFRA and the Env.Agency possibly being prosecuted for failing to enforce statutory water pollution controls.

Tory councils tettering on the edge of a 114 notice – RW Tories have been quiet on twitter after an attempt to slur Labour over Birmingham council 114.

Sunak commenting on the EU flag at the last night of the proms is problematic for a democracy. harvey Proctor is just a joke.

Sunak telling judges to ignore Covid fraud “as no one is interested”?

So nothing up to recent high standards of incompetence – but we have the rest of the week for some Govt.Minister to make a ridiculous statement.

Interesting that the US Congess has just passed a $500-1000 billion inflation reduction bill which will subsidise electric batteries and vehicles and green energy. Tories want to suck the last oil out of the North Sea before realising that climate change is here and it is too late.

favorite people of the week is a tie between Dale Vince, Stephen Fry amd Carol Vorderman. All doing a better job than most Labour or LibDem politicians.

They miss the irony! Harvey Proctor and Nils Gardner were amongst those decrying democracy at the final night of the Proms. They call for the BBC to conduct an inquiry as they did not like the number of EU flags being waved. No one was forced to wave one.

Despite ‘Rule, Britannia!’ being strongly associated with the Royal Navy, the song predates Britain’s domination of the seas, and historians suggest the music was actually created to oppose the Royals in power at the time of the premiere.

So the euphoria for Spanish women’s football has been extinguished by Luis Rubiales. I am not sure if this is a reflection of Spanish society or just the knobs who run international sport. For a fleeting moment I believed that the Spanish victory, although sad for England, would benefit the quest for equality – certainly in Western Europe. Quite how anyone can justify a solicited kiss on the lips is beyond me. The fact he has refused to resign is also indicative of the way the ruling class treat the rest of us. This country is no exception – cost of living crisis “I know we will double the pay off for MP’s who lose their seats (often due to gross incompetence)”.

Manchester United looks like it will be sold for about £6billion. Thus giving the Glazier family a really obscene profit despite running the club and its facilities to a sorry state.

Long car journey this bank holiday. try this quiz, can be done alternately!

1. Name the 11 London Underground Lines
2. List the 7 wonders of the ancient world
3. List Football League Team suffixes (20?)
4. Name the 14 countries in the Caribbean
5. Signs of the zodiac -12
6. Events in the decathlon
7. Plantagenet kings of England
8. Types of pasta
9. Then depending on your interests cheeses, trees, dog breeds, fruit, although as these are open ended they can get a bit tedious – good for kids though.
10. English counties that do not end in shire (15)
11. 5 bridges over Thames in City of London
12. List red white and blue flags

Answers provided on request!