Dont go on the sunbed son! & time for a fence!

Open mouthed! is the only way I could describe my reaction to this Sky News story teenagers shoot a man "for the fun of it" !!! A 14 and 15 year old as well as a 17 year old were "bored" driving around Duncan , Oklahoma.  They came across a budding baseball star out jogging and gunned him down.  - - -

Here's the victim Chris Lane from Melbourne who was on a baseball scholarship.  RIP

Not being one who, "has to have a tan"

I didn't realise that "sunbeds" were still very popular. This Sky News story relates that skin cancer deaths are 70% higher in men !

The problems at the tsunami hit nuclear plant at Fukushima in Japan don't seem to want to go away with the increased level of concern at water leaking form the redundant plant.  300 tons of radioactive water have leaked into the ocean!

There are some interesting pics in this Mail article on award winning i phone photographs  - - - worth a look

Closer to home - - -I spent yesterday helping out Jenny one of the Peak Organics girls clearing their site at the tops of our terrace house gardens.

I had the task of clearing the ground near to the wall in the pic so that cardboard and then a membrane can be laid to form a pathway.  Sally, on the right is arriving being the Tea lady, a welcome sight.

Here Jenny has laid the cardboard and membrane

It had been scheduled that Vanessa, the other organiser would be measuring up their plot to establish where they think our garden boundary is.  Although she attended later the measuring never got off the ground, obviously a hard day at work for her! 

Finally - - - The fence posts and rails for our garden enclosure programme are being delivered this morning so it will be full steam ahead once they are here. Progress can be tracked to some degree by studying our yard cam on the website!- - Back to the fun factory tomorrow for a series of shifts! 

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Now that's an electricity bill! & our squirrel has "tail" problems!

This video is rather interesting, its a time lapse about cloud formation and the aurora taken up in Scotland

Well worth watching.  This is a youtube video but Sky News have it as well

The swimmer Rebecca Adlington has here Gold Swimming Medals stolen - - -

she then tweets that they have been found! Not a lot of detail in the story but the nasty side of tweeting show up when some "followers" make fun of her loss to begin with!

After the "revelation" that Google services were "down" for a while Amazon USA is the next to report problems on the Internet.  The story does though go on to mention a number of big institutions having problems - - - explanations, if any are pretty shallow!

The best joke at "The Fringe" from Rob Auton

 is featured in this story, very funny so I wont spoil it follow the link.  The 10 funniest jokes are also included!

How big's your Electricity bill? - - - not like this one I bet!

  A family in Essex were presented with this bill which is pretty steep and eventually Npower cut off their supply after non payment.  Reading the full text though it appears bills were not paid for a "number of years" so its hardly surprising.

Finally - - - I noticed a squirrel on the streaming birdfeeder cam this morning and it looked to have lost some fur from its tail.  I wonder if its had a run in with Sainsbury our tabby cat?

It looks decidedly bare for an inch or 2?

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Beast of Trowbridge spotted - again & Napkin growing up

A couple out walking in Wiltshire took this pic of what they claim is the beast of trowbridge

The pic is rather grainy but the animal does have the look of something bigger than a domestic cat! There have been any number of sightings of a "big cat" going back  years, you would have thought by now it would have been tracked down and caught - - -

The economic bubble in India looks set to burst with this report of investors pulling their money out of the country The BBC report mentions that the slow down in growth has led to a run on the rupee against the US dollar.  The Prime Minister of India is trying to allay fears that a repeat of the 1991 financial crisis is not around the corner - - but who knows how true that is?

Quite an amazing story from the BBC is about a man who who fell overboard from a container ship while dumping rubbish in the sea travelling from Hong Kong to Taiwan

After being rescued he vowed to "make more of his life" and true to his word he is now a multi millionaire cider maker.  The question has to be asked though what was he doing throwing rubbish into the sea, there's enough in there already!

Another story from the BBC relates how the Red deer of Rum Island are breeding earlier due to climate change

The TV programme "Autumn Watch" featured the animals and also mentioned that the study of the animals has been going on since 1953.

Closer to home - - -I bought some "sausages", why do I always remember the dog on the TV a few years ago that could make a noise like it said "sausages" whenever I think of the word?  Anyway, on the packet there was a statement that they were "Made with 88% outdoor bred pork"  ?Begs the question, where was the other 12% bred then?

Our friend Lisa has started putting her pet sheep out to pasture and I encounter him by the gate to the field when I go logging.

I have to put his lead on and tie him to the fence to get the Land Rover through the gate or he might run into the farmyard and onto the road nearby.  He's quite tame and always walks up to me when I appear.  Due to his diet he's as lot bigger than his siblings in the field, a far cry from when he was abandoned by his mother!

Finally - - - The garden is doing very well in all this sunshine

and yesterday we harvested a few potatoes from the plastic bags we had grown them in.  It was surprising how dry the peat was even though they had been watered daily.  Sally has made a note to water the one remaining bag more often as a result.

So, a little logging today and then a days work on the Peak Organics project tomorrow will keep me busy.  There's talk of measuring their plot tomorrow which might spark a lively debate about where our garden boundary is supposed to be! - - -

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Why do we need HS2? & Sainsbury has mouse for breakfast!

This Mirror story claims that there is a Great white shark off Cornwall !

The story has this pic and one other showing damage done to smaller sharks being caught off the Cornwall coast!

Google down!  This Sky News story reports that Google are not explaining why their services were down for a total of 4 minutes.  A few pundits are giving their own opinions but no-one is sure - - - apart from Google!

Do we really need to get to Wigan and Leeds faster than we can now? The Mail  has a good article on the building of the HS2 rail link from London with maps showing the proposed routes ending at Leeds and Wigan.  The idea is to take traffic off our congested roads but its doubtful if it will at this point.  Mind you we had the same objections to the building of the M1 back in the 50's and 60's so I guess "nothing changes"

The US government has acknowledged the existence of its Area 51   Its long been associated with extra terrestrials, UFOs and  the Air force's development programmes.  I don't suppose for a minute they will be giving away any further information at the moment.

The logging was a success yesterday although as I'm clearing blackthorn and hawthorn bushes its quite hard going.  The branches of the bushes are so entangled with each other that they down fall over even when they have been chainsawed.

The idea here is to chain saw the small trunks which still stay upright then attach a rope to Boris's towing ball and drag them out onto the clear ground.

Once they are clear you don't get much firewood from them and most of the tree go's on the bonfire but the larger trees are exposed then.  My part in doing this is part of a land management project our friend the landowner has signed up to.

We were successful in beating the forecasted rain yesterday, just!, in getting the last of the post holes for our fence project sorted. We used a cutter/grinder to outline the holes in the concrete walkway at the bottom of the garden steps and will punch them through and excavate once we have the post on Wednesday.

Finally - - - Little Sainsbury our younger cat continues in his attempt to reduce the local rodent population!
He is a very successful hunter and regularly brings in his quarry to show it off.  The other day I noticed a movement on the floor and a shrew was scurrying around!  He still catches shrews but there is something on their skin that stops him eating them!

Here he is earlier this morning having a mouse for breakfast!    We get to clear up after him - - - Mmmmmm

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Didnt Mo Farah do well & More garden pics

Back to the Daily Express front page after a period of not commenting on its headlines.  This morning its "88f Heatwave blast back and it will stay hot in September - - - bring it on!

We watched in eager anticipation as Mo Farah had a go at the 5000 metres in the World Championships   The 2 commentators waxed lyrical about how the other runners were playing into his hands and in the end they were spot on! Amazing athlete!

 Imagine stealing a few coins from a parking meter cos its your job to empty them.  A Sky news story relates how a bloke in the US stole $210k in 30 years James Bagarozzo had $1000s of dollars in

quarters all over his house when he finally caught.  Sounds like a lousy check and balance system they have in Buffalo New York! - - - -

There's a great follow up to the 2 girls arrested arrested in Peru carrying the drugs by the Mail.  It go's into quite a detailed analysis of the drug "problem" and it suggests the Spanish police turn a blind eye?
Its a pity then they cant keep their noses out of this Gibraltar debacle that's developing nicely.

The EU "as usual" is powerless to enforce the "Free movement" EU rule although Spain has long been a follower of only the EU rules it wants to.  Why cant we be like that rather than touching the forelock all the time!

Back home - - We finished preparing all the post holes on our path for the enclosure project and once I have had a go at logging today the intention is to complete the prep down the steps and along the flat area on the pic below, if we can beat the approaching forecasted rain!

Yet again the garden was showing off its colours yesterday in the afternoon sunshine, here's a pic of the sunflowers just starting to bloom, with the sweet peas and a mallow helping the show!

Finally - - - talking of rain i snapped this pic at 0600 this morning - - - talk about red sky in the morning shepherds warning! lovely sky though

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Where's your bin? & Enclosure project begins

"Bin blight", Now there's a new phrase.  Its meant to describe the ever growing number of bins that we are having to cope with in order for our councils and the government to be able to tick the relevant re-cycling boxes!

I know we need to recycle but it is a fact a lot of properties just have no where to store them.  The BBC story indicates the government wants new properties to have a bin storage area so they are out of site.  That's fine until in 10 years time there's been a rethink and the replacement bins don't fit the space?

This Sky News story makes me wonder if it will ever be introduced. roadside fines for tailgaters .  The text couples the recent story about fining middle lane hoggers as well.  £100 fine and 3 points at the roadside, fraught with problems I fear!  I hark back to the millions of drivers picked up by the speed cameras on the M42 being given their money back because the "font" on the speed warning signs was incorrect!!! what!!!  The procedure for roadside fines will have to be watertight!!!!!

Another vehicle related story and yet another new phrase "flash for cash" . You are waiting to turn right on a busy road and a vehicle coming towards you flashes his lights, you turn and he hits you,- - - your fault!  That's the essence of this story, don't get caught.  The would be criminals are targeting new vehicles so I think I might not be on their list! lol

The bloke who parachuted into the Olympic stadium at the 2012 Olympics as "James Bond" has been killed flying his wing suit according to this Sky News story.

I can imagine it must be quite a thrill to fly the special suits but there is no room for error!  The story relates that there have been 13 wing suit related deaths this year - - -

Finally - - - On the home front I binned the logging yesterday because it rained early on and decided to start the "Garden Enclosure Project".  On the back of erecting the screen/fence at the bottom end of our garden

we decided to go the whole hog and erect a screen/fence all the way up the garden on our Northern boundary (up the path on the left of the photograph.  We spent the morning and some of the afternoon digging out the post holes on the path some of which were quite rocky

This pic shows a few of the holes with bags of earth in or stone covers.  The post are being delivered next Wednesday so it will be feverish "postcreting" after that!

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Alcatraz swimmer! & I'm a tweeter!

I didn't manage to see any shooting stars from the meteor shower, I reckon the Eastern side of the valley was shielding the view.  I'll make an effort when we are on our next Maldives holiday there are always a few visible there! lol!

You have to take your hat off to this bloke and his kids for swimming form Alcatraz former prison island to San Francisco in this BBC story

Freezing cold water he's had a double lung transplant and for 2 youngsters to complete this is pretty remarkable.  The story is quite detailed and lengthy but worth a look - - -

The 2 girls arrested in Peru story, here from the Mail gets curiouser by the day there's talk now of "Phil Collins's" nephew being involved.  Recruited by force in Ibiza to fly to Peru to smuggle drugs?  Mmmmmm

They look a sorry sight in the pic but what a story! - - - one to follow

A fishy story here form Sky news about a bloke catching a huge Tiger Shark on a Texas beach

The pic shows him sitting down exhausted by the battle with the shark and in the end a number of others helped him reel it in. - - - the shark? they tagged it and let it go.  It maybe a long time before it "Takes the bait again!"

Finally - - - Twitter - - - Not something I had previousy subscribed to,  my old mate Tim Baines (@gunner472) sparked a little interest in it a couple of years ago but I didn't follow it up.  
The Peak Organics project I am involved with now use it as a diary of what's going on so I had a look at it.

It didn't take long to realise Twitter have a widget that you can embed in your website!  (if you have one)
I had played around with various ways of having a bit of text on our weather website to report on the weather through the day as it happens.  Yes I know! geeky! but there we are.
If you click on this link you can see the result in the top left hand corner of the home page.

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam