Pine Marten

I hope you can see this small creature (below bottom left). It's a Pine Marten (Fouine). He was caught on our surveillance camera jumping up into the Greengage tree, then immediately jumping down again on the other side.

We don't see them too often, as they tend to stay in the woods. I did once find one in an abandoned barn, where I was sheltering from a sudden downpour. It was running around like a lunatic trying to catch a panicking Bat. Some hope.

They can be destructive beasts. If they get into your house, especially empty holiday houses, they can create havoc. People have found their homes 'trashed' after a Pine Marten visit.

The are bigger than a Red Squirrel, with a longer tail, and a white flash under their chins. A really beautiful animal.

I just hope he/she hasn't managed to find a way into the house. Down the chimney maybe?

 

For Sale (illegally)

I was checking my 'comments' recently, when I noticed two from an unknown source, with the single word 'Glock' as the only 'comment'.

I was interested enough (before deleting) to see who or what it was all about.

Both were from the same person/company, and both offered to sell me illegal arms illegally, including an AK47 for 1,339 Euros. 

As you can probably see, they come from a French supplier, and they went into great detail about how my identity would be secure and private. I could buy, and have 'privately' delivered, almost any hand gun, semi-automatic, or rifle, (plus ammo) in total security. In the UK, such things are BANNED. 

I have no idea what prompted these comments, or how they came across my page.

I'm not in the market for an AK47, or even a Glock 44 for 699 Euros.

I suppose I should have kept the pages, but at least I did take these photos.

No wonder there are so many gang-members wandering our streets, armed to the teeth. Guns seem to be available anywhere.

It reminded me that in the late 60's I had one of these 'Tommy Guns' (below) in my possession overnight. I had a friend who was a big (legal) collector of old weapons, and another who was a (legal) antique firearms dealer. They had done a deal together, and I was asked to deliver the purchased machine gun to the buyer. It came in a wooden box with 100 rounds of ammo in another box. I felt like a criminal with the gun in my flat, and was only too pleased to hand it over to its new owner the following morning.

No more guns for me. I have enough as it is.

 

Icon

I recently found this icon whilst walking with Billy. It was tucked into a flower bed, in the churchyard. It's about 5 by 8 inches.

I took it home and, as it was very dirty, I left it on a table in the garden for a week or so. The paint had started to crack and lift away from the wooden board on which it's painted. You can see one of the worst cracks bottom right. 

Lady M said she thought it belonged to the church, as there is a similar one inside. She checked later, and confirmed that they were indeed very similar.

I wrote to the Churchwarden, and sent a photo. He confirmed that it was from the church. Someone had half-inched it, then dumped it. He was 'mystified'.

I have no idea how long it had been outdoors in the flower bed, and I felt a bit sad that it was in such bad condition; so I decided to fix it as best I could.

I put a sheet of baking parchment over the top, and gently ironed it. It did flatten quite a lot, but still isn't perfect. Anyway I shall give it back to the church this morning. They have a service at 8 am, so I'll pop in a little bit earlier.

It's a hand-painted copy of an earlier icon; so probably not of great value. Even so, I'm sure they'll be happy to have it back.

As for me; it's my good deed of the day!

 

Dontcha love Russell Brand.

I've always admired the way that criminals suddenly say they have become 'Christians', just as the prison parole board looks into their release.

And here is the fragrant Russell Brand doing much the same (with difficulty), after the preliminary hearing for his six cases of rape and sexual assault.

He wanted to quote something from his new bible for Piers Morgan, but he couldn't find it. He could at least have marked the page. What a plonker.

Brand is a nasty piece of work, and deserves all that's coming to him; even with that big cross around his neck, and that shiny new bible in his hand.

 

Fission chips

When foreigners are asked about 'English Food' (if they like it) they often say that they like our Fish-n-Chips. They never seem to know much about anything else.

In fact, after the French Revolution, when most of the Aristocrats had their heads chopped off, France's most sought-after chefs left their great Chateaux and headed north to England, and, as a result, our National Cuisine slowly became very similar to that of France (but don't mention that to a Frenchman).

However, one thing that has remained pretty constant over the years is that very simple dish of deep-fried, battered, fish, and it's accompanying potato chips. As good a meal as you could find anywhere in the world.

I do like pukka Fish-n-Chips, but the last time I had any from a fish shop/restaurant must be about 15 years ago, when I had some on The Palace Pier here in Brighton.

I do stick to the tradition of eating Fish on Fridays, but it's usually either Fish Fingers (which I love), or Salmon Steaks (which I love even more). Both are usually served with Chips; or occasionally with plain steamed Cavolo Nero.

When we eat Salmon, we both usually say how much we prefer it to any other fish, or even to meat. Salmon is the Food of the Gods. (We don't usually have the Mayo décor)

We should all eat more fish, especially wild SALMON.

Looking forward

We used to arrive at our home with the grass about a metre high; it was a nightmare. It took days with a small mower to tackle it.

These days, we have found someone who is prepared to look after things for us, and we now arrive to nicely mowed lawn and paddock, even Haddock's is given a trim. The battery on 'Rory', our mower, isn't too reliable, but otherwise our man has no problems. Below is a photo he recently sent; all looks OK. 

I'm looking forward to being in the countryside again. As much as I love Brighton, I'm a country boy at heart, and I like nothing more than the peace and quiet of open fields and woodland.

My fingers are crossed that there will also be some mushrooms about, but it's never guaranteed. I shall be keeping an eye on the weather forecast over the next few weeks. Rain means mushrooms.

I have just one project for this year, and that is to put a handrail on the stairs. Two years ago, I came a cropper on the lower steps, which wasn't pleasant. Both of us now need something to hold onto.

Otherwise I shall be sowing some Bok Choi and a few Salads, and hopefully planting a few Peach trees. I also hope to make plenty of JAM. Our supplies ran out too early last year, and we probably need double the amount. We make Plum, Apricot, and Greengage jams. I shall NOT be making more Blackberry jam.... it wasn't good.

The BBQ will be dusted down, Oysters will be bought by the 'box-full', Snails will be eaten, Restaurants will be visited (They're getting better again), and favourite Charcuterie will be devoured in abundance.

We are also thinking of buying a big green 'Garden Bell-Tent' to accommodate excess Gen-Z'ers. Not too sure about it yet! 

 

And so, it continues.

The Prince of Darkness is rarely out of our News. The Mandy farce has been going on far too long; all we're waiting for now, is for J Corbyn Esq himself to criticise Starmer; everyone else has !

However, here is Corbyn's ex-girlfriend Dianne Abbott (below) putting her pennyworth into the Mandy affair.

Heaven forbid that anyone should think that I am a supporter of the fragrant Ms Abbott, but amazingly she has (at last) got something right. 

I think it's reasonable to say that Mandy has chased after the friendship of the rich and influential throughout his political life. His two sackings were caused by his dealings with dodgy millionaires, and his friendship with Epstein would never had existed had JE been 'poor'. 

Mandy was a member of the Young Communist League, and his dealings with both Russia and China are suspect, and have been widely criticised.

There's not much more to be said about Mandy's ridiculous appointment to Washington, but to have heard Abbott criticising Starmer's judgement is the very amusing 'Cherry on the Cake'.