Chagos

The future of the Chagos Archipelago is up for grabs.

This UK territory, just south of the Maldives, contains seven atolls, and 60 islands. The US Naval Support Facility has a base on Diego Garcia, which is the only currently occupied island.

Mauritius is claiming sovereignty, and weak-willed Sir Keir 'freebie' Starmer has been talking of handing the territory over willy-nilly. For some bizarre reason he has also offered Mauritius an eyewatering sum of £99 Million per annum for a period of 99 years. A total sum of around £90 Billion. If it was really essential to rid ourselves of the islands, wouldn't it have been wiser to SELL them to someone; rather than paying them to take it away? It IS OURS for goodness sake!!!

It's a good thing that Starmer wasn't in charge when Argentina attacked the Falkland Islands. He would have laid down, rolled on his back, and surrendered. You can't just come along as a rookie PM and start giving away UK territory.

It used to be said that 'Britain Ruled the Seas', but not now. These days we'll actually pay people to take away our territory.

The Maldives have been developed into a staggeringly beautiful holiday destination. Why have we not done the same with a few of the Chagos islands? Forget this stupid deal, and spend the £90 Billion on developing some of the islands.

The government keeps harping on about a highly disputed 'Black Hole' of £20 Billion left by The Tories. Well, if they really believed their own propaganda they wouldn't be wanting to make an unprecedented gift of over £90 Billion to Mauritius. It doesn't make sense.

I expect Trump will be having words with Starmer. Keep your heads down!

p.s. I have an idea. Why not give the islands to me, and I'll only accept £50 Billion as compensation. That must be Starmer's bargain of the year !!!

 

Haircuts

I haven't visited a hairdresser for yonks. The last time I went, I'd made rather a hash of cutting my own hair, and when sitting down in front of the hairdresser's mirror, I must admit that I blamed it on Lady M. "Don't ever let her cut your hair again" he advised. "I won't" I replied.

These days I have very little hair, and I cut it very easily. Once every few months a five minute's clipping does the job.

The last time I went regularly to a hairdressers was when I was working in The City (stockbroking). I used to go to Harrods on Saturdays, where they had a very good barber's dep't, it was also very cheap. I think the aim was to keep 'husbands' away from their wives for as long as possible as they went about spending all the poor chap's money. There were often a few famous faces around as one waited. It was an hour well spent.

I recently came across this photo whilst going through some old albums. I had left the house to do something or other, and suddenly came across my father, sitting outside the coach-house, having his hair cut by the gardener.

I just had to take a photo. I have no idea if the gardener had ever cut anyone's hair before.

I cannot imagine myself asking one of our present gardeners to cut my hair. The picture still makes me smile. Father seemed to think it was perfectly normal! The gardener looks quite evil.

Pastures new!

I think I've now visited most of the UK's main supermarkets over the years; except the Co-op and Morrisons (not interested).

However, yesterday was my very first visit to Aldi, and I must say I was extremely surprised. It wasn't my main shopping trip of the week, but Lady M wanted some excellent wax-wrapped cheese that they'd sold at Christmas (we'd received some as a present), but, sadly, it was no longer available.

Anyway, I bought an average mid-week selection of groceries etc. Three bottles of red wine, bread, sardines, beansprouts, pak choi, celery, a red pepper, sweet chili sauce, fruit, tinned tomatoes, and some honey.

Cost; £23.86. I could hardly believe my eyes. Just over twenty quid for all that? Amazing.

 

I made sure that I bought nothing that could be a cheap and tacky version of a better known brand. A celery, is a celery, is a celery, etc. However I did buy an unknown brand of Worcestershire Sauce (Bramwells), but I've already tasted it, and it's OK.

I was very impressed with Aldi. I had been to one years ago in France, and it was awful. I have never been back. This English version, however, was very good, and I shall certainly return. It's not in the best part of town, but I'm prepared to suffer for a 49p celery, and a 49p red pepper.

Well done Aldi; I'm a convert.

Tiny Homes.

When Lady M was a student at Brighton Art College, she rented a house almost opposite where we now live.

It was in a 'twitten' of very beautiful tiny Victorian cottages, that all had the same basic attribute; they were designed to be inhabited by miniature humans.

It is almost unimaginable that some of the local small homes are livable-in by normal sized people. The rooms (usually 4) are miniscule, and are hardly big enough to hold furniture.

Our own bijou English home (above) also has just 4 rooms (plus bathroom), but it is slightly bigger than the one's opposite. At least we can get a couple of good sized sofas into the sitting room, and a nice big dining table in the dining room. The 'master' bedroom is a good size, but the spare is really quite small.

The house is perfect for a couple of elderly OAP's like us, but I would have liked a bigger garden. We have communal gardens that we never use, but they are looked-after by our gardeners.

I rather like the idea of small homes, and although we already own two I would rather like one more on a small Greek island, facing the sea. That would make my 'set' complete.

I wouldn't want one of the one's opposite; far too small.

 

Quandary.

 

I quite expect that most cities, towns, and even villages are much the same; there are certain people we encounter who fascinate us.

One such person I see almost daily. I occasionally see him miles away when I go shopping by car, but usually he's 'loitering' in the churchyard.

He's of average height, about 45 years old, and of the darker persuasion. I'm not an expert on the characteristics of Ethiopian natives, but taking a guess, I would say that he's from Ethiopia (or thereabouts).

Perhaps his most distinctive feature is a green plastic shopping Co-op bag that he takes everywhere.

His other feature is that he stands in one particular corner of the churchyard fiddling with his mobile, ALL DAY LONG.

Lady M and I have spent many hours wondering who he is and what he's up to. Is he playing some online game, is he a Russian spy, or maybe he's an oligarch moving shipping-loads of crude oil around the world.

Some people become permanent fixtures. There used to be a young man in the churchyard who would stand still for hours on end, staring up at the sky. I haven't seen him for a while; maybe he's been 'taken away'. Nor have I seen my 'Green Lady' for several weeks. She is the one who's covered from head to toe in green plastic rainwear, masks, etc. A very nice lady, who obviously has 'problems'.

So, back to my possible Ethiopian; who, I should add, is a very pleasant guy. We always exchange pleasantries, and I have recently discovered that his name is Al. 

Can you suggest what he might be up to? Answers on a postcard to me here please! 

Naughty, naughty!

Sir Keir 'freebie' Starmer (the UK's Socialist PM), is having problems with the lovely 'Tulip', his 'Anti-Corruption Minister'.

Allegedly, the fragrant Tulip 'freebie' Siddiq (above) accepted the gift of a very nice flat in London's Kings Cross in 2004, worth £700,000, in exchange for services rendered to a property developer called Abdul Motalif..... The Cheeky Minx. 

She tried to lie about it, but the truth has now surfaced. Apparently she'd 'forgotten' how she came to own the flat. Well you do, don't you!!!

This sort of thing is understandably not really encouraged in the UK, in fact for a government minister it's strictly verboten; it's beyond their 'Code of Conduct'.

It's all tied-up with her, and her family back in Bangladesh, having allegedly embezzled £3.9 Billion over some Nuclear Power Plant.

Even though she does seem to fit well into Starmer's new style of government, I think she may 'reluctantly' have to go; even though Starmer claims that he still has confidence in the lovely Tulip.

It's a good thing she wasn't a White Tory shadow Minister, or Starmer would have been DEMANDING her resignation.

Meanwhile, the fragrant Rachel Reeves (our Chancellor of the Exchequer) is off in China meeting her Communist chums, whilst planning to cut 'Disability Payments' back home. 

This really has to end, it's no longer a joke! They are simply doing too much damage to our country and economy.

I LOVE DEBI

 

I suppose my very first car, a white VW Beetle, 323 EBP, will always remain my first automotive love. We did so much together, even eventually moving out to France together in 1973. She had regular clutch problems, which needed changing every couple of years, but otherwise she was trouble-free. A real fun car that was probably my best possible introduction to motoring.

Then I had a 2CV, some Peugeots, and a Renault, before buying myself a ridiculously over-powered Rover SDI 3.5. The Rover was dangerous. It was a bit like driving a Spitfire without the wings. After that it was back to sensible Peugeots.

My present car, Debi (the Compact Royce Mark 2) is everything I want of a car. Every time I climb into the driving seat I feel comfortable and reassured. I know she will start instantly, and will take me to my destination and back again without any hiccups.

In fact I would like to take her out of the garage more often, just for the pleasure. She is more like a well-loved armchair than a car; she and I belong together.

Debi is an estate car, a station wagon, and with the back seats permanently folded down, she becomes a two-seater with space to carry all sorts of things. I recently put a large table in the back with plenty of space left over.

I have never tested her top speed, but she has plenty of oomph. She can hold her own against most others. She has good acceleration, and good brakes. Everything works well.

If I had one small complaint, it would be that changing gear is a tad 'wooden'. I might even spray some WD40 in the relevant 'hole' to see if it makes any difference. 

I'm really looking forward to our hitting the road again in about 2 hours time. Saturday is my big shopping day, and we enjoy our time together.