Oh, my goodness it’s been cold. The mercury has barely poked its head above freezing all week. Thankfully, our central heating is working well and the wood stove in the lounge has been employed in the evenings to provide the additional blast of heat which old age pensioners such as ourselves need. The only one not shivering is Daisy who seems to think the snow and frost is great! Bizarrely/worryingly, the temperature tomorrow is supposed to reach 13o C (55.4o F)!
We enjoyed a lovely (but very cold) outing on Sunday – we went with Nick, Lucy and Annabelle to the Christmas light trail at Blenheim Palace which was fantastic. Last year we went with Lucy and Annabelle – Nick had just gone through his surgery – so things were a bit less than ideal last time round and we were all a bit distracted by other things. This year Nick was able to come and it was wonderful – a great afternoon/evening out. They decorate part of the ground floor of the Palace with a winter-themed story each year. Last year it was the Nutcracker and this year it was the Snow Queen (a story with which I was not familiar). The decorations are superb and highly imaginative but outside is where the real splendour occurs, at least as far as I’m concerned. The Light Trail is about a mile long and winds through various parts of the gardens and grounds of the palace. There’s Christmas music blasting from various speakers all around and some of the displays are simply stunning. My photos certainly don’t do it justice so I had to rely on “borrowing” some from the website and stealing some from Lucy. Thanks! And, thanks for a great, great time!
As it happens, we’re also going to the light trail at Warwick Castle when Ben, Brex-Anna and Max are here. We’ll let you know how the two compare.
The other day I watched a Netflix documentary – The Battered Bastards of Baseball – which had been recommended by the son of some good friends. I knew nothing about the independent baseball team which called Portland, Oregon its home during the early 1970s. It seems Portland had a minor league affiliate in the Pacific Coast League for many years but it was a money-losing affair which eventually moved elsewhere. A fellow named Bing Russell, an actor perhaps best known for the role of Deputy Clem on Bonanza and the father of Kurt Russell, decided to start an independent team there. He broke all the rules and hired a group of misfits who ended up drawing the largest attendance amongst Lower A ball clubs and making a success of the franchise in Portland. Really interesting and very well done.
You Could Not Make It Up – what do politicians do when the evidence doesn’t match their narrative? They lie, of course. Once again, the official statistics watchdog has reprimanded the Conservatives for claiming that the UK had secured £800 billion in new trade deals since leaving the EU. Were it true it would doubtless be a good thing and would help compensate for all the trade lost from leaving the EU. However, most of the alleged £800 billion comes from what trade with the EU we haven’t lost and the rest from deals merely “rolled over” from trade agreements with other countries we had before Brexit. So, not new at all.
More specifically in this case, it is misleading to describe the £800bn figure as a measure of ‘new global trade’ resulting from the recent deals. That would imply that there had been no trade with these countries before the recent deals and that there would be none now without them.
Sir Robert Chote, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority
I suppose you have to applaud their consistency – they lied during the referendum campaign and continue to lie today.
And a follow up to a previous YCNMIU – You (possibly) read it here first – our good friends at Led By Donkeys have produced a video explaining how Michelle Mone recommended a firm which could supply PPE (with which she had no connection) to a handful of government ministers four days before the firm even existed. She has no connection to Medpro PPE and has certainly received no payment from Medpro PPE in spite of the £29 million of Medpro profits which somehow mysteriously found its way into a trust fund of which she and her grown up children are the beneficiaries. She is currently taking a “leave of absence” from the House of Lords in order to “clear her name.” At the same time, allegedly, she and her husband are dumping all sorts of assets (including her yacht) and squirreling the money offshore. I wonder why she’s doing that if she’s going to clear her name?
Finally, someone posted this photo on Facebook. It’s a photo of the Old Dun Cow (i.e., our house) on the Upper Green in Moreton Pinkney. Hasn’t changed a bit (except that we no longer have a picket fence around the front).
And finally, finally, in spite of a few months off, I’ve still got what it takes. Delicious!
And finally, finally, finally, someone posted this wonderful photo of two beautiful young girls looking lovely in their winter gear.
Next Sunday is, of course, Christmas Day. Who knows whether the Picayune will publish an edition or not? If you find yourself with nothing to do and nothing to read you can grab a copy of our Christmas Nonsense with all its associated photos here.
Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, be careful, wear a f**king facemask in crowded places and keep your distance. And keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg