Category: Uncategorized

Still dry with what has fallen evaporating quickly – there is a chance of a decent amount tomorrow – my water butts are empty – but as it is isolated showers they could miss us completely. Otherwise the garden is good. Purple chillies are looking good! and tomatoes forming, raspberries if I can get them before the blackbird does, I have a dunnock nesting in the peuple elderflower/rose bush. Herbs ok but I think the lemon verbena has not made it!

I there I hope you are well – too hot! I have the fan out!

I have just ordered some more roses as they seem to like it in the front garden. I think the chicory may be coming back! and I am waiting to see if the evening primrose reappears, lemon verbena seems to have died but I retain hope! Something had a roll around in the middle of my raspberries last night, not sure what, the blackbird seems to see it as a McD’s – but fair play to it. Purple Loostrife has now been planted out. Tomatoes and chillies seem to be doing ok. Raspberries are being raided by a blackbird – fair play to him! Neighboirs seems to be cutting their grass less often! I hope it continues!

I am still cooking – I am still striving for a personable ciabatta ! or baguette! Doing bean sprouts at the moment!

Maz is signed on for teacher training, Martin still doing electrics and Tams has a new enterprise. https://tyldatents.co.uk

We are glad to see the back of him. Dorries is incoherent with anger at not getting a peerage. Farage is negotiating for BlowJo to join his Party and says 15 or so other MP’s could join them. Can the priveleges committee name the MP’s who went on TV and Radio and repeated the lies that they had been fed by Johnson and the Cabinet Office.

Sunak should do a Guadiola (if you do not like my tactics – leave!). If 15 MP’s leave it will not dent the tory majority and they are hardly likely to side with Labour on anything! Would any of them win an election for Respect? Unlikely as the conservative vote would be split. The Daily Fail does not know what to do – attacking Starmer for opposing the oppressive Public Order Bill stating that he is siding with eco-terrorists (If only he would!).

The 3 bye-elections are interesting. Johnsons seat in Uxbridge should go Labour, Dorries Mid-Bedfordshire seat should remain tory but LibDems have an outside chance, Selby and Ainsty should remain Tory with Labour in with a chance. All 3 could claim a victory of sorts with a variety of results. Tories will be happy to retain one, Labour will claim success with one and the LibDems the same! Overall Labour will need to look at their share of the vote in what are Tory strongholds – have the Lib-Dems made inroads in the blue areas? Can Sinak gain any solace?

Time for Sunak to put his long trousers on and become a leader. He was talking about AI with Biden last week, time to be talking Actual Intelligence!

Meanwhile Canada is still burning and the sparks seem to have reached Scotland with wild fires developing. Climate change – where? But Sturgeon in trouble “no smoke without fire”. Has she become a victim of the “In power for too long brigade which has Thatcher and Blair and key members”?

Senior tories calling for Johnson to be banned from standing in the future, JR-M calling for him to be allowed to stand asap, and the Sun leads on Marcus Rashford splitting up with his girl friend! This could run for ages! But if full report is published on Monday we will have a clearer picture. The Mirror calls for a general election.

It is still looking a bit scruffy! Thehage sage has had a die back but some californian poppies have reappeared. I am waiting to see if the evening primrose, lemon verbena and chickory reappear – I seem to remember them being late last year. Fennel is growing again and thyme is in flowers with the rosemary. Apricot tree seems to be doing ok and raspberries looking healthy, as are the stinging nettles! Forget-me-nots have appeared from no where and a healthy crop of dandelions. Yellow bush rose is flowering with the hot lips but the red rose is still just buds. In the back garden the wisteria and honeysuckle are the usual delight. June berry is growing tall, and budhlia growing, also some thistles. hanging baskets beginning to flower.

Regarding wildlife – very little! 2 butterflies (small tortishell) and a few bees but nothing of note since the sparrow hawk was seen above with what looked like a blackbird!

The Conservative Partuy blame game steps up a notch with Raab’s resignation. Firstly the Civil Service is not robust enough – does that mean someone should just have punched him? Mire concerning is tue move to blame the Civil Service for everything that hgoes wrong. Brexit is such a huge failure due to activist and extremist civil servants. they fail to state that Thatcher did not have this problem. Maybe that was because, although her policies were ugly, they were not illegal or just plain idiotic. Today at 3pm we have another example – even ardent tories I know are not sure why it is happening. Spending £10 mollion to prevent voter fraud, that does not exist, would a non-controversial policy as it is used in most of Europe, until the detail is examined. Young people cannot use their Oyster card or I believe their NUS card, but old people can even use their bus pass!

Brexit snarl ups are due to their incompetence not “leftie” civil servants. The Rwanda Policy and subsequent Immogration Bills are just plain illegal. Laws being passed to give ministers the free reign to impose by-laws are just plain undemocratic.

The ERG has failed democratically with key muppets gone -Johnson, Truss, Kwarteng, Raab and others sidelined like JR-M. So the Sunday Express has started on the culture wars against the Civil Service. It is not enough for them to have experienced members of the CS resign due to the political machinations of ministers – they now want to plant political appointees in key roles to ensure that however stupid or illegal a proposal is, it will get a green light from those who at present are tasked with pointing out the ineptiture of ministers. One only has to look at Coffey torealise that she has no qualifications to have been Minister for Health or the Environment. Perhaps she could get a role as a road sweeper.

Braverman tells us that only some refugees are ‘supposedly’ good people – I fail how not to see this as incredical words. She relies on the Police for her information, of whom 1539 have been accused of domestic violence (and probably at least double this due to fear). Fiona Bruce defends Stanley Johnson for breaking his wifes nose – just the once. I guess it did not go to the police, the rich can pay people off.

Meanwhile we have energy costs spiralling, mortgage and rent costs rising, food prices rising, sewage polluting our streams renering them unsafe to swim in, agriculture in dire straits, transport networks in an unplanned mess (unless in London), voting rights restricted.

I am admitting my ignorance here. Inflation hit levels above 10% because?

The reason I have heard are : people saved money during Covid by not travelling and going out (mmm. how this causes inflation is interesting, unless they all go out and spend, spend, spend). Secondly the Ukraine war – certainly the cost of fuel rose rapidly but has now fallen below prewar levels. Thirdly wage inflation – even private sector workers are getting less than inflation rises (and way less than public sector workers). Fourth – supply chain problems largely related to China and chips, but also container traffic being disrupted. None of these seem to explain inflation at 10+% and food inflation at nearly 20%.

But it is ok for energy companies and banks and the rest to make £billions – pay massive bonus’s and dividends. I do not get it? Surely this is inflationary? It puts money in the pockets of the rich. So either inflationary if they spend it, or wasted to the economy if they move it off shore?

Can someone show me evidence of rich investing in business? Companies go public to raise funds, and I get that risk they take. Companies also raise money to cover losses. But general trading on the stock market is pure gambling.

So Sunak stop hitting the poor with rent/mortgage increases and tax the rich – actually I would prefer some price caps which would be fairer.

When I was about 4/5 I remember having a Ladybird yellow sweatshirt. Then a couple of year later I had a Scotland Football shirt. (I have no Scottish relatives and have never been there!). In my teens I had a yellow t-shirt with flared arms. Later I had some light blue suede boots. Then my wife had some incredible jeans. I like my Patagonia coat and a Nepalese coat.