Gone fishin! & the casualties of a war

Gone fishin! says the Bing Crosby song of old! but here's a tale of fish fishin! - - -

Theres a great video in this story from the BBC showing an African Tiger fish  catching a swallow flying low over the water.  The pics form a place in South Africa, the  Schroda Dam. Interesting story




When I used to have a "real job" commuting was all part of the daily grind and at one time for 3 months I used to drive daily from Darley Dale to a factory at Ashington just north of Newcastle.  a round trip of 346 miles.  This story again from the BBC recounts the tales of half a dozen commuters.  The one describing a commute from France to Maidstone is good but this bloke
spends a 5 or 6 hour round trip doing 50 miles! from Port Hadlock to Seattle in the USA.  Mind boggling! - - -










Here's a fun festival if I ever saw one!
The 2014 International Kite Festival  even has its own facebook page


great pics! - - -

Soldiers are inevitably "the casualties of war" and here is one of the most touching articles I have read.  It concerns the fate of up to 4 million Russian soldiers who died on the Eastern from in the WWII. 

I'm not sure how I found the article but I sat spellbound reading the text and looking at the pics. 

A truly dedicated band of Russians spend their time literally digging up the dead who have lain on the battle field since being killed. The rebuilding of the country took precedence after the war and around 1963 the traces of war were officially condoned to be destroyed. 

Never the less this band of people now spend much of their time, some, all of their time trying to dig up and identify the forgotten soldiers and informing their relatives. 

Like the tale of this man 

Khasan Batyrshin.  He was killed in 1943 and all his families attempts to trace him were met with official "soldier missing in action" His mother even at 105 years old always said "he will come back. He promised me. He will move mountains.  

The recovery team eventually found his body with his ID tag last year and they informed his family. The first thing they did was go to his mothers grave to tell her, she had died the year before! - - - 

This old guy 

Tells the story of having one old rifle between 2 soldiers and says "They were killing us like flies, we simply weren't equipped to fight back" - - - 

Periodically funerals are held with each body in it own casket although the graves are in effect mass burials 

The team say it will take years, generations even to complete the job but they will carry on until all the bodies are recovered and buried along with relatives being informed if at all possible 

Worth taking the time to read the article! - - - 

Enjoy the day

Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam