Don't use IE! & A bit of a walk

The US Government no less has has issued a warning for people not to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer

Security issues in IE versions 6 to 11 along with the end of cover for Windows XP are good enough reason for everyone to read this article if they use either!





I was only reading a couple of days ago that school kids take knives to school "because everyone else carries one" and wondered how true the data was in the article
The papers in UK today are covered with the story about a language teacher in a Leeds school being murdered by a 15 year old pupil!  - - - A sign of the times -  --

I had decided late Sunday to "go for a walk" on Monday but not having stocked up on the standard emergency rations decided against going up onto the Kinder area.
I opted instead to try a walk we have not done in a while.
Starting at a car park just above the village of Curbar its a simple route roughly travelling North along "White Edge" to its end then descending to a road past our favourite lunch venue then heading back South along Froggatt and Curbar Edge's back to the car park

The view from the Car park at 0745 is pretty impressive looking west across the Derwent Valley

 A short sharp hill gets you up onto White Edge and the terrain is typical heathland at this point.  The pic is looking South

The track is easy to follow and for the most part flat.  I have heard a Curlew and it suddenly fly's down into the tree cover at left from the track ahead.

Here's a new addition to the track-side some kind of memorial stone.  The inscription is on each face so you have to go around the stone to read it - - I decide to leave it for another time.

Almost at the most Northerly point now with the Lunch stop pub down below.  I hear a Cuckoo as I walk through a small forest just before the pub. We had commented that on our last Lunchtime visit we had not seen the swallows that nest in the pub area but as I walk past it along the road I can see a few wheeling around the sky.

Turning South on the road its only a few hundred metres until I regain the track along Froggatt Edge.  Once again the track is wide and relatively flat.

Onto Curbar edge and the sun is making brief appearances from behind the breaking clouds.  In the distance I can see down to Chatsworth House and a little further on the beginning of Darley Dale

Standing on an outcrop of rock on Curbar Edge I can see my van parked below and Baslow Edge on the other side of the road.

 Back at the car park with the sun out I can look up and see the outcrop I had been standing on for the previous pic.  I had forgotten what a pleasant walk this is! - - -

After lunch we potter in the garden enjoying the sunshine

The bluebells ar adding a little much needed colour now.

After chopping the hawthorn tree down last year to a 4ft stump we are avidly watching it pushing out shoots and considering how high we will let it grow - - -

Only one more day before another series of shifts at the Fun Factory! - - -

Enjoy the day
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If its not broken don't fix it & Pond surround job

I'm not a football follower but you couldn't miss the recent and much publicized exit of the former manager of Manchester United  for the teams lack of form

It must have been to the delight of the fans yesterday when the team beet Norwich 4-0 with Ryan Giggs in the managers seat.

I wondered if the appointment of Giggs as temporary manager might have been the "poison chalice" for him but his quote in the story, "the 40 year old promised a return to the traditional Manchester United style of play" go's to prove the age old adage, "if its not broken don't fix it!

I blogged recently about the PM saying the UK was a Christian Nation -

Now its the turn of the Ex Archbishop of Canterbury why was he not told about that appalling beard?.  He comes up with the idea that we are a "Post Christian Nation"

 The article though appears to be a a chance for the Telegraph to air its "Exclusive Poll" of 2000 people about the church, its roll and how others see it - - - interesting data though! - - -









Its heartening to realise that people in Hong Kong can be just as silly as we are in the UK!

A debate is raging over kids having to pee in the Hong Kong streets.  Not something that they do on a regular basis but "when the kids got to go the kids got to go!"
The local fine for this heinous crime is HK$2000 so not "to be sniffed at" - - - sorry!
The real meat behind the story though seems to be that Hong Kongers are pointing the finger at "mainland Chinese tourists"  One "mainlander" is so outraged at the finger pointing that he is trying to organise what amounts to a "mass Pee-in" - - -

Closer to home
Sainsbury tests out the laundry bag for size

We meanwhile ignore the rainy weather forecast and set to re-arranging the stones around the pond in an effort to stop any-more fish trying to jump out

We had previously sat the stones on a bed of concrete but this left them looking rather untidy so this time we determined to make a neater job

The idea then was to arrange the stones directly onto the liner and then fill in the area between the stone and the surrounding walls with concrete topped off with a thin layer of finely broken slate.
We had collected the slate years ago from the Lake District Slate mine at Honnister and it has lain around the garden since.

Sally surveys the stones and we both pronounce them much better than before

mixing concrete is a task I never enjoy but I press on! suitably supervised by Sally sitting in the sunshine!

some considerable time later here I am completing the task and just firming in the last bit of slate.  The weather is still holding although we note the clouds are building.  A few "wine's" later we pronounce the day a success and retreat to the house.

Enjoy the day
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Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Slim if you change your bacteria & The Heron is unjustly accused!

Quite an interesting story from the BBC about changing the bacteria in your gut will help you lose weight

the idea is backed up by some startling facts from a research project in China.  One participant is said to have lost 51kg in 6 months!  - - - worth a read - - -




We in the UK seem to follow the trends set by the Americans here's one I hope we dont follow!

The pic is of a bloke called Christopher Lewis who admittedly refilled his lunch drink without paying for it, the refilling thing is another Americanism that we have not yet picked up!. He was spotted by "A Federal Police Officer" who really went to town and the upshot was a $525 dollar fine and he also lost his job because he had a criminal record.  Apparently this type of thing is not uncommon in the USA where people are classed as, "guilty while doing nothing" .  The story quotes this type of Police behaviour is a "growing stain on our society" Common sense only came into play when the man "refused to plead guilty" and the local media got hold of the story! - - -

Our own Police are afraid of the dark, well down in Ashford in Kent at least.

A criminal was seen stealing articles from parked cars and the Police were called.  The Police arrived and a chase ensued but was then stopped because it was "too dark".
Ashford has a policy of switching off the street lights to conserve energy.  A police spokesperson said, "A figure was chased but due to the light switch off it was almost impossible for officers to search the area effectively" - - - Why don't they carry torches if they know the street lights might not be on?  - - - 




Closer to home
It has now become clear that we had "Unjustly accused the Heron" of stealing our biggest Koi in the pond!

Here is the unfortunate fish! Having refilled the pond we decided not to replace the surrounding stones because we wanted to raise the level a little.  We also did not switch on the UV lighting one of the filters because you don't need it until the water and sunlight start to produce the algae which clouds the water.
Deciding yesterday to switch it on I uncovered the switch box which is behind the filter only to be looking into the eyes of a large dead Koi!
The fish had jumped out of the pond and then wriggled its way behind the filter box only to expire a short while later! - - -
Today's job, even in the rain is to replace the stones! - - -
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

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To crock or not? & pond relining go's well - - - kind of!

To crock or not

the age old practice where gardeners place "crocks at the bottom of their plant pots is being questioned in this article.
Better drainage is sited as the reason but the "experts" seem to debunk the theory in the article
I favour doing it but think it might just be "that's what you do" when planting something in a pot.  With the very dry summer we had last year though I think its probably best to hope your pots can keep all the moisture they can!

I reckon this guy was doomed to fail!

OK clever enough to con people out of £5.6m pretending to be a "trader" on the currency markets but anyone who has parties and invites "reality TV stars" like the one in the pic has got to be headed for failure! - - -









Closer to home
Some time ago a large piece of slate had plunged into the pond and put a hole in the liner, we had been topping it up since but decided we needed to repair it.  Re lining was only slightly more expensive than a repair kit so we opted for that as a solution.

Twas the day of the pond relining yesterday so I was up at the crack of dawn

while setting up the hose pipe I snapped a pic across the mist shrouded valley and to be honest wondered if we had picked the right day for it.  Rain was forecast but not until 1500

Realising quite quickly that the small hose was not reducing the level fast enough i attached a 30mm pond pipe to the pump and set that going as well.  In the pic Sainsbury cant figure out where all the water is going!

with all but about 25cm of water drained we netted the fish and put them in a water filled dustbin and covered the top to stop them jumping out and in the hope that the dark would calm them down.  I put in one of the air bubble stones in an effort to keep plenty oxygen in the restricted water space.

here's the piece of slate that fell in which caused all the trouble both ends were very pointed so it was not surprising it punctured the liner.  We didnt spend any time looking for the hole/tear though!

The pond has 2 depths 60cm and 1m 40cm.  We had decided to reduce the deepest part from 1m 20cm to around 90cm so recovered, with permission of course, some of the clay we dug out of the pond in 2010 from the kitchen garden area just outside the garden.  You can just see the gap in the fence where i have removed the wood to get through.

With the clay tamped down it was covered with a layer of sand and then some pond underlay before the new liner was unfolded.

The liner is 6m x 5m and I'm scratching my head trying to figure out which is the short side, in the end we had to measure it.  Another decision to be made was do we have the black or the brown side in view?  In the end we opted for the black. Alan one of the neighbours had by this time offered to help and he reminds us a Heron has been seen fishing nearby in the river!

with the liner roughly in position the best way to get it fitting correctly is to fill the pond.

Having emptied the dustbin of most of the water we manhandled it onto the shallow part of the pond and i gently poured the fish back in.

The plants were replaced as the water reached the shallower ledge and i stood in the pond arranging the liner around the sides - - - the water is cold!  Luckily though the weather has been kind so far with no sign of any rain.

All the fish appear to be OK and they are very inquisitive as the water rises and allows them access to the shallow part and the plants again.

The fish look happy enough playing near the bubble machine column of bubble and the outlet from one of the filters.

We replace the bridge and net the shallow end and after lunch sit about in the garden because the weathermen have got it wrong and the afternoon is quite sunny.

"One more job" I say, we must net the deep end because without the stones around the pond, we are replacing them over the weekend, if the Heron visits he will be able to get closer to the water.  We decide however that this is not necessary - - - - How wrong we are!!!!!

This morning I went out to feed the fish and the large Koi in the picture above is no longer in the pond!
He must have been taken more or less where he is in the pic above - - - hey ho

Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

For England and St George! & pond repair prep

Its St Georges day today

but we wont be celebrating.  Its a curious English custom to largely ignore our patron saints day.  Nowadays though we are remindeed by the "politically correct police" that we might be offending someone if we do!  - - -



Its a little more OK! to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday

which is also today! apparently in 2016 it will be his 400th birthday and The British Council is organising an international programme of events - - -




An amusing but almost deadly video here

the amusing bit I think can be seen if you follow the link.  after the almost fatal accident the cars waiting at the level crossing just go on their way! - - -



Closer to home 
Its time to repair the punctured pond liner and we set to this afternoon marking the pond surround stones

here Sally numbers the stones in an effort to ensure they go back in the right positions.

all set for tomorrow!
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Christian country? & lazing around

It was an Australian MP of some description that recently said its country was a Christian one and was admired for it

In the UK however the PM is being hauled over the coals by some being accused of "alienating" sections of society.  Indeed the President of "The British Humanist Association" says quite openly that "Britain is not a Christian Country" methinks this story has the legs for a good run!  


The Queen celebrates her 88th biirthday

and quite fittingly there are salutes being fired the length and breadth of the country
In Scotland there were a number of venues where saltes were fired - - - for how much longer i wonder?



Dont poke at a leopard! should be the moral of this story

great short video of the leopard emerging out of a roof space only to chase one of the pok-ers and scratch his backside,. - - - thankfully the animal was not killed but captured and will be released into the forest - - - ever dwindling forest according to the story - - -



The Express

Trumpets yet another cancer success! I rather fancy the top left headline of "Bottle of wine a day is good for you"! - - -










Closer to home
Our plan of burning the brashings up at our logging site on Sunday was thwarted by early rain which made us cancel the trip
We took to the garden in the light rain to do a few jobs

Here Sainsbury tests out a drying seat by the pond

but then fish movement gets the better of him and he has to investigate it

finally he just lazes around!

We have decided to fit the new liner into the leaking pond this week weather permitting - - - watch this space.

Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam