plan to combine 999 services & grey and rainy today

The Express today takes a dim view of the idea of combining the emergency 999 services - - - from stories about long waits and even "no shows" some people would be just glad to get an instant reaction when they ring 999 - - -

Here's an interesting story about the Amelia-Earhart-mystery .  She disappeared while trying to fly around the world way back in 1937.  An American teacher reckons to have found some bits of aluminium and part of a landing gear possibly from her aircraft on/near Mili atoll in the Marshall Islands - - -

Throw away your pills  - - - well at least the branded and widely advertised ones according to this story.  The article proposes that unbranded pills can do the same if not a better job of relief sometimes - - - proof positive though that whatever we see on the adverts we will believe to some extent - - - 

nice warm Temp stat this morning 

the weathercam however shows a grey cloudy sky and its raining quite well at the moment 

undeterred a soggy jackdaw is helping itself to the peanuts.  Yesterday while sitting in the garden early evening we saw 2 squirrels bounding around the trees.  One came over to our apple tree and sat there looking at us as if we were stopping it from having a go at the birdfeeders, quite amusing - - - 

Enjoy the day 

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Aid abroad/cancels home projects & Summer is a comin

The express leaves its health crusade and turns its attention to the alleged scandal of our money going abroad when vital "home" services are being cut - - -

the locals in the Kazakh capital city noticed cannabis plants growing in city flowerbeds - - - officials say they will be removed! - - -

hold your horses Summer is just around the corner  after some pretty spectacular rainfall yesterday this story tells us that temps are set to rocket by the end of next week - - - watch this space 

Closer to home LM is bringing in young rabbits like there's no tomorrow, the cottage had the look of "Watership Down" this morning although the fluffy bunnies were a trifle "hors de combat!"

Mr Squirrel takes the early sitting for breakfast, pity LM is not patrolling the garden! - - - 

 A touch on the chilly side for the Temp this morning 

the weathercam shows a fairly clear sky now after being 70% clouded over earlier.  Forecasters are hinting that sunny periods today will be followed by showers this evening 

Enjoy the day 

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Barrier Reef "in danger" & Laburnum in bloom

The Express headline should be read to the tune of "Tell me the old old story" this "deadly chicken bug"    story has done the rounds a number of times in the past try Googling it" While it is obviously a serious matter thorough cooking does kill the bug which is probably a piece of advice for many supermarket bought products.  I read the same story yesterday elsewhere and it was suggested not all the high street big boys had signed up to eradicating the Chicken bug problem - - - 

Interesting story  about Australia's Great Barrier Reef, overdevelopment pollution and climate change are blamed for a staggering 50% loss of the reef in just 30 years! - - - Unesco who formerly gave the reef World Heritage Status back in 1981 is now considering changing that to "In danger" - - - 

Closer to home even the weather is not what it should be for the time of year things around here look pretty good 

 Our Laburnum tree is in its full dress uniform right now.  The 2 posts help stop the Autumn/Winter winds blowing it over.  The garden is on a bed of clay and the routes tend to go outward rather than downwards.  We have lost the 2 previous tree to the winds 

 This mornings walk looked to be a bit of a "suck it and see" from the point of the weather.  As i gained a bit of altitude the rain was coming up the valley toward me (from the left) 

 looking West up the valley towards Bakewell i could see a downpour in the distance 

 some logging had taken place in this Haddon hall wood 

 high up now and the bluebells are still looking good here 

 up at our picnic spot now and I'm sheltering in the lee of a large pine tree as a small localised rain squall sweeps from left to right 

 descending now and the buttercups look great in this meadow 

 almost home now as the rain starts to be visible on the river surface  

 the Ransoms look ok on parts of the river path but here a lot are well past their best 

finishing the walk the sun is out again and the foliage is almost hiding the view across the river into the meadow

Enjoy the day 

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In/Out vote still way off & Logging for El Nino

The Express this morning gives space to the part of HM's speech yesterday about the in/out vote regarding our EU participation.  After all the column inches about it though the deadline for the vote remains at the end of 2017 - - -

The aftermath of the Texas flooding is illustrated in this CNN news video - - -

while in India the South West monsoon has yet to arrive as the road surface in this pic melts - - -

A touching story from the  West Country as they prepare to hold a funeral for "Desmond Duck".  The duck apparently lived on the local pond for 25 years until recently a fox had him for breakfast! - - -




Closer to home yesterday we managed a bit of logging to reduce the pile of branches to firewood

here Sally keeps Napkin and Bertie out of the way as i drive Boris through the gate 

we soon have a decent addition to the existing pile as well as bringing some cut wood back home.  We have decided to increase the height of the woodpile in Boris's carport after hearing about the "El Nino" effect which has been reported widely in the news media which might or might not be bringing a severe winter 

After the tortuous time my mate John and I had on the 5.5 hour walk of Scafell the other week i'm itching to do the walk again.

in the pic John stands next to the snowy trig point.  I'm planning to give it a go early June, unfortunately John will be on hols with his wife then.  I have studied the googlemap aerial view of Scafell and believe we didnt stray too far off the main route and can only surmise that the weather conditions took their toll on our time.  I'm hoping the weather will be kinder on the next visit!

The data transfer from the birdfeeders and weathercam is for the time being "fixed", the transfer has run for 2 days now without a miss so its a case of watch and wait until it throws another wobbler - - - 

 not a bad Temp. stat this morning with a bit of a breeze showing at the moment 

 the weathercam shows us a cloudy aspect and we have already had a little rain.  The forecasters are edgeing their bets by suggesting it might rain anytime between "sunny periods" 

 the Squirrel gives a close up while looking for his breakfast, no doubt he will re-visit once i put out the birdfood 

Enjoy the day 

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EU Tax plot! & a few garden pics

The story behind the headline  presents a nightmare set of tax rules that the EU mandarins might impose on the UK! - - - one of the banner headlines promises a "new simple high fibre diet" will beat diabetes - - - some things never change - - -

the misery persists  in the US as heavy rain cuases flash flooding and a "state of disaster" has been declared in 40 Texan counties - - - the southern state weather forecast doesn't give any indication of this weather pattern subsiding yet.

The heatwave in India on the other hand looks set to break in the next few days at the start of the monsoon season - - -





Closer to home the data transfer issue with the birdfeeder and weathercam pics seems to have been resolved by me switching off the wifi and relying solely on the cable connection.  Its been running for 24hrs now without a problem -- - fingers crossed.

I had thought we might have a leak in the pond liner after watching the level fall a little too quickly for it to be evaporation

i had noticed a leak on one of the of the 2 outlets from the filter box beneath the brown cover in the pic some time ago.  the earth below the filter box looked sodden and on investigation an o ring washer looked to be the culprit.  Search as i did i couldnt find one to fit so it was a case of some duct tape and an old tube LS - X  leak sealer which did the trick 

  with an hour needed for the sealant to cure we lunched at the Grouse (nice pic of the buttercups) and i then re-assembled the connection - - - so far all looks to be well - - - 

the rather dull weather of late has not deterred the pond plants from flourishing - - - 

looking up the garden from the pond the bluebells are probably at their best now 

 i spot LM waiting for a bird or a mouse to appear below the birdfeeders

and the view from top of the garden shows its 6 a.m. and the sun is already on the hillside opposite.  The Iris plant in the foreground was ejected from the pond years ago to what used to be the far reaches of our encroachment.  It has never bloomed, after all this time though  it looks like this year we might get some from it! 

 quite a chilly feeling to the 5c this morning after the double figure mornings of late 

the weathercam shows a fabulous sky this morning.  The weatherfolks are predicting it will cloud over quickly but are divided about when the rain will come,  Metcheck 12:00, Met O 15:00, BBC 19:00 - - - we shall see 

Enjoy the day 

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Deadly pollen alert! & better weather here today

The express is back to the "health thing" this morning, the problem is pollen from the "ragweed" plant which has come over from Europe.  I guess it must be part of some EU quota!
The pollen from this plant was detected on several consecutive days last year and "experts" believe it might flourish in Southern Britain due to the changing climate - - - as a bit of an "extra" health kick the front page also has "your ten step plan to prevent type 2 diabetes" - - -

after the floods in the Southern Plains area of the US a deadly tornado strikes around the Mexico/US border with reports of 13 dead and a story of a mother having her baby ripped from her arms during the storm - - -

The Heatwave in India reckons to have killed 500 so far - - - In the link the BBC weather forecaster intimates that the 48c temperatures are not uncommon as the continent builds up to the start of the South West Monsoon period.

as a consequence of this the normally sunny Maldives are experiencing rain.  This pic of the resort of Kurudu shows a huge rain cloud dropping its rain into the ocean some way off - - - it would be hugely disappointing to spend all that money going to the Maldives and have this type of weather! - - -

Closer to home the weather is a little brighter today

the current Temp is already in double figures and the windspeed is low 

 although the cloud has been rather grey early on it looks quite benign right now

 as part of our "Sky Terrace" project we bought a Cherry Tree and a Honeysuckle yesterday

here Sally "waters in" the honeysuckle while i stand back and admire my tree positioning 

as usual our resident squirrel is plundering the peanuts for its breakfast - - - 

The current problem with data transfer from our birdfeeder and weathercam camera's is still perplexing me.  I discovered yesterday that leaving the screen up on the old machine seemed to allow transfer OK.  This is with the machine being told that it should do nothing when the lid is closed?  

When the data cable breakage occurred i switched the machine to wifi and left it on when i repaired the cable.  I have switched it off and closed the screen now and it seems to be working.  I guess it could be a long process of elimination before i find the cause! - - -

Enjoy the day 

Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  Live webcam - - Birdfeeders