Comments and views, gardening and recipes, football and lots more
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.
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.
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).
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.
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
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’
/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 first Ford car produced?Lemon bars are the first for today.
Then I am not sure what – inspiration will come to me.
So tomorrow the lockdown is eased significantly. Even in places like Corby, Wakefield, Barnsley,Mansfield and Clackmananshire where cases are 3x national average and over 100 per 100000.
In the south-west the figures are much better with numbers below 15 per 100000. I would like to hear of a much more effective test and trace system. With numbers of 30 in the whole of North Somerset surely this would be possible, practical and with payments to ensure isolation, affordable.
The holiday season will bring challenges to the south-west. Litter being one of them. Social distancing will also be important to continue.
I was asked if I was 95% protected? Firstly that % is still not 100%. Secondly, it misses the point. The evidence seems to point that lockdown is the most effective aspect, aided massively by vaccines. Herd immunity (if it exists in this context), is unlikely to occur until a vaccine prevents rather than protects.
So is there a dilemma in me going to see my children and grandchildren? I basically should be ‘safe’ personally. I am unlikely to spread the virus as I am careful, and the infection rate here is low. So the odds are good all round. However there is a but. But the virus is still out there (and statistics show it still to be widespread); perhaps 50% of people are not getting tested if they have symptoms, and 50% may not have symptoms.
So am I likely to get or transmit the virus – No. If everyone in my position stopped being ultra cautious would the virus spread – Yes.
Then there are the variants which will continue to develop, but faster if there are more people with it. Then there is long-covid which I do not comprehend, but seems to affect a large number of people.
So basically I hope people will go out and visit pub gardens, etc. but must socially distance. the governments lateral test scheme seems to be more white smoke and unicorns.