It’s been a pretty decent week. Some lovely sunny skies, fresh in the mornings but not altogether unpleasant as the sun warms things up. The blossom’s on the trees in the orchard, the tulips are showing nicely, the aubrietia round the patio is lovely, the forget-me-nots are springing up demanding that you don’t forget them and Penelope’s woodland garden is already looking splendid with lots more to come! Isn’t spring a magnificently exciting time of year?
Lovely bike ride on Friday – after the hours & hours on the exercise bike over winter and the handful of times I’ve been out on the road so far this year, I fancied tackling some of the more “interesting” hills in the area. So, I planned a circuit and had a quick glance at the inclines. Hmm, 18% seems a bit steep. I know! I’ll ride the circuit the other way round and then I get to come down the 18% hill – a nice, long freewheel with the wind at my back! So, without checking the inclines the other way, off I went – happy and carefree in the spring sunshine! (You know how this works out, I suspect).
It was lovely. Apart from the Alp-like ascents. To be fair, there weren’t any 18% hills to climb so in that sense the plan worked to a treat. And, the descent out of Preston Capes was teeth-jarringly exhilarating. But, soon thereafter there was a 16% hill, followed a bit further along by a 17% slog and then a bit later another 16% cliff face. WTF was I thinking?
I was called along for my second Covid jab on Wednesday so we trotted along to the health centre in Weedon Bec, about twenty minutes away. I was in, jabbed and out again inside of five minutes – very efficient and, as always, ever cheerful folks doing an incredibly good job. Penny has her second dose this coming Wednesday afternoon. So, in a couple of weeks we’ll be able to get back to our usual pub-going, all-night partying, crowd-hugging, midnight rave-organising selves after all this time. Marvellous.
I ran across an article in the Guardian on Saturday outlining the continuing conflict between Trump’s $27 million-a-mile border wall with Mexico and rustic, hand-crafted $5 ladders. Looks like the ladders are winning.
Unlike the wall, these ladders are functional.
Scott Nicol, Texas Monthly
The on-going amalgamation of lobbying scandals continues to bubble and simmer away getting murkier and murkier by the day. It now seems that texting the Prime Minister asking for a favour is the way in which Whitehall works these days. And that’s perfectly normal and all above board. Nothing to see here.
If folks are concerned about potential corruption (heaven forbid) and/or some sort of “chumocracy” the easy answer, it seems to me, is to publish the PM’s private phone number. That way everyone has access to the same lobbying channels. Problem solved, hey presto! While we’re at it, better publish the numbers for the Chancellor and the Health Secretary as well. Oh heck, let’s have the whole cabinet and the senior civil servants too.
Another sad reminder of the many occasions on which the government f**ked up in their handling of the pandemic.
No comment.
A disappointing sign of the times – this year’s British Town Crier Championships are to be held in silence due to Covid!
For the first time in its history, this year the British Town Crier Championships are to be held in perfect silence, with the country’s traditional news-bearers to be judged on the quality of their written cries alone.
The Guardian
Finally, found these on the web and had to order a couple.
Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, keep isolating as much as you can, wear a facemask when you go out and keep your distance. And keep safe.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg