Dont go near the cows! & Malady at the Fun Factory

Some interesting facts in this article

Cows especially with calves around can be particularly protective.  Sally and I used to go through a field on our early morning walks and were confronted by some very feisty beasts when we got between the mothers and babies.
The story mentions no end of other "surprises" you might meet out in the countryside - - - nice pics in the story - - -

A cringe worthy tale here

Sophie-May Dixon, well she had to be hyphenated didn't she! has 2 girls "Princess bliss" and "Precious bell" - - - say no more? but wait just click the link to see what she puts the kids through on a daily basis - - - the names alone are going to ensure they are popular targets at school methinks - - -








Funny but not funny if you know what I mean

just watch the video - - -











The current Ebola scare

in West Africa makes chilling reading but the comment by our own Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond should be noted
" Precautionary measures have been put into place to protect Britons from Ebola but it is most unlikely it could spread within the UK" Mmmmm
"The UK border staff dont sound confident"

Closer to home
Finishing my series of shifts at the Fun Factory yesterday and looking forward to a week of "getting things done"  My day staff manager colleagues however have the dubious honour of standing in for the Night Shift Manager who is off sick for a reported 7 weeks.   I had to ask the question of "why?"  the guy only works 5 days a week so what do the "shift" do for the other 2 days and surely thats what team leaders are for - - no?  The answers are unprintable!

Driving home I was wondering what I might get up to last night as Sally is off on a mission to her old stamping ground of Norfolk with her big sis.
The answer was staring me in the face when i switched on the website, something was not well with the old pc running the webcams.
Even the old rule of switch it off and then switch it back on failed to solve the problem.  I then spent a few hours setting up the old Chinese netbook  to replace it.  This is the machine that died some months ago but it was only the RAM that needed replacing - - -

Rain is forecast for today so its logging time before it begins for me - - -

Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Explosives are "safer" before 5a.m. says power company? & Who killed cock robin - again!

The "powers that be" decided to blow up the cooling towers of the old Didcot power station .

The "health and Safety" boys though got into their heads that explosives are safer if you pop them before 0500.

Clearly the idea was to have aqs few of the local populace around at the time but hey! everyone wants to see a great big bang dont they?

Local residents were "angered at the decision and "Christine Reardon 44" even got a petition going and harvested "more than 3000 signatures"  - - - If they knew it was scheduled for 5 why didn't they just set their alarms?   - - - not a bad video in the link though - -

There must be something in Yemen

that draws those type of people who just wont take good advice.!
This story covers the plight of one "Mike Harvey" who was kidnapped in Feb this year.  At the time another Brit and a German had been kidnapped as well.
Very lucky not to have had their heads on sticks outside seom dusty village in the hills they should head the advice of the foreign office "The Foreign Office advises against travel to the country by British Nationals"  - - - The little country just along the southern coast Dhofar, part of Oman is a much nicer place! - - -

Closer to home

"Another one bites the dust" up at the logging site and joins the ever growing pile of future firewood.  The weathers looking good for a spell up there today as well

This frog enjoying the lillypads is oblivious of the drama below it.  We spotted a problem with one of our "old timers" in the pond.  It had an ulcer on its side and was obviously in a bit of distress as it was hiding behind one of the pond plants
The fish had the same complaint last year and for once one of the concoctions you can purchase seemed to work.  All seems to be going well so far - - -

I was preparing for work yesterday and Sainsbury the Tabby appeared with "another bird"

"once again"it turned out to be a Robin - - - as I took the picture i said "who killed Cock Robin" a refrence to the nursery rhyme.

 He then strode forward and issued a loud "Me" Ow!

At the Fun Factory - - - thankfully a day off for me and only 1 more day in my shift pattern left things are going "according to plan"  - - - Which plan? and the fact no-one seems to know the plot appears to be irrelevant just at the moment.

Our new Bakery boss, come September paid a visit to the shop the other day but unfortunately I was not in attendance.  "She seems OK" was the consensus of the bakery boys  - - -

2 "managers" went round the shop the other day with our electronic handsets using it to look at "gaps" on the shelves and analysing the results.  The idea was to find out how many of the gaps should not have been there.  In effect where we had inventory of the item back in the warehouse.  Frightening!! was the result which go's to show that "something is wrong" - - - I fear that a remedy might be just swept under the metaphorical carpet - - -

Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Don't panic! & another unexpected day off

In an effort to avoid panic!

"Tourism bosses" are trying to re-assure visitors Cornish resorts that the Barrel jellyfish invading the Cornish coast poses "no danger"

I guess the "Tourism bosses" wont be in the water and come up against one of these things that can be a metre in diameter

At the bottom of the story a "conservationist" warns they can sting even when they are washed up on the beach and dead.  - - - looks like a conflict of interests here! - -

Here's a great video

of an iceberg collapsing.  Its starts off with a huge arch and then finally breaks up into a number of bits.  The reaction of the woman on the boat and the comments of some viewers are amusing - - -




Closer to home 

The logging yesterday went well

The pile gets larger, I have covered up a portion so will be working along towards the brashing pile on the right of the pic

Before I finished for the day I felled a few more to tackle today

The reason for this is plain to see here.  The sheep then come along and eat off all the leaves making it easier to get at and then to throw the cut branches up on top of the brashing pile - - - good sheep! - - -

Little Sainsbury the Tabby is spending more and more time in the garden and loves to sunbath underneath Boris's car port roof as blogged before.  We think that a nasty little grey Tabby who used to terrorise him has "moved on"

Nice looking morning today although the weathermen are predicting rain later this p.m.

The garden is looking very good at present but with a few things having had their best time.  We are already planning for next year!

Here's another view of the garden, this time showing our neighbours not yet finished, new fence.  Friends in the terraces on either side are calling it "The Berlin Wall"  - - - it makes our northern pergola very private - - -

Felling to plan! - - - to the logging site without delay

Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

A powerful article & Trouble at t'mill - - again

Here's a very powerful article about Hiroshima and the dropping of the Atomic bomb on August 6th 1945

The pic is of Shinji Mikamo who is still alive, a miracle in its own right as he was very close to the epicentre of the bomb blast.
Its a long long time since 1945 but take the time out to read the story there are a few quotes in there that show us how maybe we should all be living our lives - - -







A damning bit of a story this one

which go's to prove that we have no idea what is behind those neat rows of trussed up chickens on our supermarket shelves.  Its looking like all the big supermarkets are having the finger pointed at them here.
Its a sad litany of accusations that indicate we could all be getting poisoned in the end.
One more product of "one stop" gigantic shops I guess - - -

Costa Concordia is finally towed away

from its crash site by the town of Giglio.  After nearly 2 years and one of the most expensive maritime salvage operations the ship will be scrapped at Genoa.
The Captain, Francesco Schettino is still on trial for the disaster and sticking to his story that everyone but him is at fault.  We all might know someone like that - - - pathetic but sad at the same time.
Taking a leaf out of the story at the top of the blog "We need to be able to understand people with different values" - - - - - -

A note of predictable optimism from the Express!

Lets hope this headline is correct though! I do like the Commonwealth Athletes selfie with H.M. the Queen in the background

The home countries have got off to a good start haven't they








Closer to home
I had a rather stilted conversation with my boss at the Fun Factory (Matlock Sainsbugs) the other day. It revolved around me having booked 2 days off next week Monday and Wednesday.  For whatever reason the "system" had been marked up to give me Friday and Saturday off.
So here I sit on one of the busiest shop days with tomorrow being the busiest feeling rather pleased with myself!

The "Fun Factory" though was "anything but" yesterday though.  As I wandered in I always flick a glance down one of the main pedestrian isles and "sure enough" the overnight delivery rollers for my isle were there in all their glory untouched.
This meant the night shift once again for whatever reason were not about to work our overnight delivery, it would be left to me to do.  On a positive note my "Team leader" lets call him Dave announced that he would be working with me for the day.  This in itself didn't fire me with too much confidence because i have had similar signals only to find he has been "drafted" elsewhere".  Anyway with few interruptions we rose to the "challenges and Opportunities of the day"

Anon colleague though looked a little flustered and on mentioning it to them a flood of tears ensued.  Comforting words calmed the situation a little but I fear their frustration, emanating from, and fall-out because of the dreaded "hours matching" will be with us for some time.  "Debacle" is a respectful word to describe its idea, prosecution and after effects.

Having said all that

Focus! focus! and Nil illegitemi carborundum, onwards and upwards.

Logging lazing, and some forward planning today methinks

Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Independence and then money for Scotland & bits and bobs

A great story carried by Sky News

The "Scottish Sports Minister", Shona Robinson says she expects "British Taxpayers" to continue fund a Scottish Olympic team of athletes even if Scotland vote "Yes" in the Independence referendum - - - I think that would go down well with the "English Taxpayers" - - -


 It had to happen - - - after we fund our own work shirking large families

The Express is informing us we will be paying £55k in benefits to a newly arrived Migrant family - - - -










No doubt the big supermarkets have already read the rules in this story

Its really a case of "Tell me the old old story" about how to compete with the larger flashy stores and I imagine the big boys are planning how to combat the success! - - Tesco have already "arranged the exit" of their current chief exec, Sainsbury's ceo "left" a couple of weeks ago - - - watch those spaces - - -


The sad end for the cruise ship Costa Concordia is almost here as it prepares to be towed away from the island of Giglio.

I think the locals will collectively heave a huge sigh of relief - - -

 High blood pressure?  the express issued another gem yesterday that we should put yoghurt on the shopping list to do so!  -- -










Closer to home
It was another hot day for logging but Boris helped out

In an effort to only have one pile of wood he's hooked up to the felled trees which are then towed across to the wood pile

Having the log burner going everyday in winter we store a bit of extra wood under Boris's car port.  Years ago I noticed that Tom our old cat used to like sitting under the canopy on the wall.  I put a small piece of carpet up there for him and Sainsbury has taken over that spot. - - -

Back to the Fun Factory (Sainsbugs Matlock) tomorrow I have 2 days holiday booked in this series of shifts but there seems to be some confusion between my list and the duty list? - - -
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Lego for free & hot stuff

It was 1997 when a container ship was hit by a huge wave of the coast of Cornwall and a few containers were washed into the sea.

One container had 4.8m pieces of Lego in it and ever since the accident pieces have been washing up on Cornish beaches.
Its obviously a bit of an eyesore but some locals seem to make it a competition to find the more rare pieces.
One local Tracey Williams has even started a facebook page called LegoLostat Sea  - - -



Another story with a nautical bent is the one claiming that Seals are feeding around offshore wind farms

Tagged seals have been recorded repeatedly foraging for food on North Sea wind farms.
The article suggests that their prey congregate around the "Artificial Reefs" which start to grow around the bases of these structures.  One worrying point is that the seals may "hoover up" all the prey species which concentrate there rather than having to hunt for them - - -

Closer to home 
The weather is once again in the news with stories of more days of "scorching" temperatures to come.
My weather station recorded 30.1c yesterday but I think it was affected by the positioning of the sensor and the fact my cooling fan has given up the ghost.  I have ordered another and its "in the post" - - - from Hong Kong! - - -
We have had a couple of old friends visiting and on Sunday showed them our favourite walk the Magpie Mine

Here they are on our way back to Sheldon with the mine in the background

We managed to find an outside table for lunch at The Grouse
Yesterday we met up with them at Chatsworth for "afternoon tea" and they had had a very busy itinerary visiting Buxton, Castleton & The Blue John Mine during the day! - - -

I added to the pile up at the logging site but it was very hot, todays effort will be starting earlier! - - -
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Sign up? & who's pinched our sunshine?

This has to be the saddest looking polar bear in the world

Its in a zoo in Argentina where it has a dirty inadequate pool to swim in.  The earlier death of another polar bear at the same zoo some time ago is the driving force behind the initiative to move the bear to a zoo in Canada

There's a link on the article or follow the one below to sign the petition
Follow this link to sign up!



Our weather yesterday- - - well what else

had some of the flights into and out of Heathrow delayed during a 2 hour period of intense rain storms.
Elsewhere there were flood warnings and reports of lightening damaging buildings.
The current forecast is for the rain to clear and we might even see a little sunshine later

This looks like yet another campaign to stop illegal downloads  of music etc

The "government" is at the heart of it so we "taxpayers" will have no doubt helped provide the £3.5m helping to jolly it along.  Its interesting to note though that some Internet Providers are on board and the story suggests that if you try illegal download sites some kinbd of notice will flash up on your screen. - - - sounds a bit draconian -- - I wonder who really is behind it?  -- -

Closer to home
Yesterday we also spent much of the day looking through the windows wondering when the rain would stop.

With all yesterdays rain (14mm) the pond had a bit of a water change though, the green hosepipe in the shot brings down the water run off from the shed at the top of the garden.  The overflow then is routed down to the normal drains by another pipe

The pic from the top of the garden this morning looks a little damp and misty but the weatherman has promised that we might see some of the sunshine we have got used to later in the day - - - fingers crossed -- -
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

The Queen's the one in blue & Bees a buzzing

You cannot read any news media without seeing graphic pics of the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine.  We can only hope that eventually the people responsible will face justice.

After HM the Queen's visit to Matlock this one caught my eye

HM was visiting Reading Railway Station which she opened 25 years ago and is now re-opening it after its £9m facelift.  Funny story about the bloke in the 2nd row 2nd from the left - - -





Which side do we walk on

The Article  stems from a "nanny state" piece of advice pushed out by HM Government Rules for Pedestrians  as the article says, "who knew and who cares!"
It does however take me back to when i visited Koln in Germany back in the 70's
The place was packed but the Germans obeyed the "rules of the road" and people walked "on the Right" to avoid bumping into each other.  The article suggests "we" don't do that preferring to do a "little gavotte" when encountering another person head on - - -

A cringingly unfunny tale this one

 The child in the picture looks to be a Genius or that's where her parents are pushing her.  The things she has to do however to achieve this status make you wonder if its all worth it.
A BBC C4 programme has a group of these kids to study.
 One 11 year old of the group, Eleanor,  proclaims that if she doesn't study hard enough to do well in her A-Levels she wont go to a Good University so she wont get a good job so she wont earn enough money so she will "Starve to death"  - - - don't think I'll be watching that programme then - - -



Closer to home
The logging in the sunshine went well the other day

I have decided to leave the wood where it is at the moment so this pile will be added to before its covered for the winter.
We were sat in the garden the other day and Sally remarked, "Why can I hear what sounds like a swarm of Bees"  Looking up we could see a couple of hundred above and slightly behind us in the air.  Preparing to make a quick exit from the garden the bees thinned out a bit and we could see they were concentrating their numbers around a tree in the kitchen garden of Peak Organics

 I walked up the pathway which runs along the Kitchen Garden and managed to snap this pic of the swarm on a tree. Looking the following morning they had moved on - - -

Yesterday was meant to be "the hottest day of the year" but it fizzled out round here as a muggy overcast day.  Thunderstorms were forecast for the night and i could see the lightening in the sky around midnight over to the South West.
I crept downstairs and set up the I.P. camera to pick up any more that might show up.

 I'm using the free Webcam XP 5 software with a Foscam camera set to pick up any movement.  The round spot at right is a street light.

This mornings pic of the same view is decidedly soggy - - - bit of a "make and mend day" methinks - -
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Scorcher on the way & Orang-utans on isle 27

Lots of advice in the media today about our "Heatwave" 

"Public Health England" no less have issued a "level 2 health alert" after temperatures are predicted to reach 32c tomorrow.  The "Quango" has issued helpful tips on how to keep cool , - - - "drink lots of cool drinks"  - - - nice money if you can get it !!!!! - - - Apperently we will have to pay for this fine weather by torrential rain hail and strong winds on Saturday - - -



Closer to home
Yesterday was my last shift in my pattern so its a week off now, to enjoy the heatwave!
It was settling down to be a "quiet" one when i spotted a woman picking up loaves and turning them over to read all the bumpf on the bottom.
I wandered over and said "are you looking for any particular loaf madame?"  She shot me a quizzical glance and said, "I just cant buy any of your bread" before i could ask why she ventured on, "Its the

Orang-utans!"  Suppressing my urge to tell her they were to be found on isle 27! she further stated, "they're chopping down all the rain forest"  "Who the Orang-utans?" i replied wondering how much sherry she might have consumed for lunch.  She prodded the information on the bottom of the bread wrapper and said "all your bread has Palm Oil in it".
Catching her drift that the Orang-utans rain forest habitat was being chopped down maybe to be replaced with Palm trees which did seem a tad unlikely, i forged on determined to sell her a loaf and get rid of her.
Joining in with her enthusiasm i looked at a number of loaves and sure enough listed in the ingredients was the palm oil.  "Just a moment madame i'll check our "Free From" range" Result! the free from bread does not contain palm oil she grabs one and heads for the check outs.  "I never knew Orangutans lived in Palm Trees?"  i trumpeted at her retreating form, hoping she might catch my attempt at ignorant sarcasm, alas she didnt hear me - - -

A couple of pics sent to me on e mails today

How not to start a chain saw!

Dinner is served !  

I finally had a go at thinning out the grape vine which we had "let go" in an attempt to produce more grapes - - - it didnt

All but a couple of very small bunches are very close to the main trunk as can be seen in the "after" pic if you click it to enlarge it

Today does look like it might be a hot one

An early morning pic shows a clear/ish sky with the mist easing its way down the valley
Enjoy the day
Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam