Growing season '26

Spring is in the air.

I shall be growing vegs again at Haddock's this year.

I'm hoping that Kimbo will have planted a few Tomato plats before we arrive in early June, then I shall revive a small overgrown 'raised bed', where I will sow Pak Choi (Bok Choi) and some mixed Lettuce.

I'm also hoping to plant more Peach trees.

Both the Pak Choi and the Salads are quick growing, and we should have a decent crop after about 6 weeks; if not earlier. The Pak Choi can be eaten very small, and the mixed Salad leaves are of the 'cut and grow again' variety; essential in Summer.  

I shall of course put-in a few Tomato plants back here in Brighton, as I did last year. It was such a pleasure to find a good crop of ripe Tomatoes when we returned last September. 

We (Kimbo) have heavily pruned the old Greengage tree this year. It had become very overloaded with high-up dead branches, and there was lots of new grown lower down. I'm hoping it will still have plenty of fruit this year; my last year's Greengage Jam was wonderful. The tree is the last of the fruit trees that were in situ when I bought the derelict little cottage about 45 years ago (I was living just 200 metres away at the time).

 

Winter Olympics

 

I tend not to watch much sport on TV, other than The 6 Nations Rugby tournament.

Frankly, the Winter Olympics leaves me cold. I enjoyed a snippet of the Short Track Speed Skating, the Tobogganing, and some of the Snowboard jumping and swirling, but all the other snowy stuff really isn't my bag. Thank goodness it's over!

However, this year's Winter Olympics has been dominated by one 'sport':.... CURLING (a combination of Darts and Bowls, on Ice).

Over the past couple of weeks, every time I've consulted the TV schedule, it's been Curling, Curling, Curling, and yet more bloody Curling.

Well I don't know how you feel about it, but for me Curling is amongst the most uninteresting of sports since the 'Irish Paint Drying' competition of 1988.

Who on earth at the BBC thought that the British public would watch hour after hour, day after day, of Curling? No doubt the sport has a small audience in Auchtermuchty, but elsewhere I imagine that fans are extremely thin on the ground. 

Launch big lump of stone, brush at ice frantically, and hope that it end-up in the target. That's it.

I shall NOT be writing a letter to the Curling Department at the BBC Sports Centre, as this will only make matters worse. What I will say is that I would have much preferred to have watched a few children using tin trays as toboggans, or even some international snowball fighting; but NOT Curling. 

Curling should be restricted to Ladies' Hair Salons. 

Camping

We've been used to seeing migrant camps in France for decades. They pitch their tents anywhere where there's a bit of grass. Roundabouts on the Paris Peripherique have always been a popular choice.

However, when we returned from France last September, we were quite surprised to see several tents pitched in 'The Rest Garden' where we walk with Billy every day. They are still there. There are five in the park itself and another two nearby. These are NOT migrants, just 'campers'.

Camping in 'The Rest Garden', as you might imagine, is strictly forbidden, but no-one seems to care. 

Personally I have no gripe with them, as long as they don't leave litter everywhere. Other dog-walkers are not so happy, and complain about the combined smell of urine, faeces, and marijuana that emanates from that corner of the park.

One of the campers has a dog that Billy is friendly with; I think Billy sympathises with the conditions in which the poor thing is forced to live.

Every day I'm surprised to see them still there. One would have thought that they would have been 'moved-on' by now. At present there are just seven tents in all, and I wonder how many it would take to make someone do something about them.

I have often thought that the council should buy a few acres of woodland, somewhere out of town, and let these people live there; and even build their own eco-shacks. As long as they didn't leave litter everywhere, they would do no harm.

For the moment the council's attitude is difficult to understand. However, I have just seen some eviction notices attached to each tent. Will they take any notice? It remains to be seen!

Take a Seat.

I am used to finding Ironing Boards, Office Chairs, and bits of Furniture, placed by our bins, but this was the first time I'd come across a bog!

Normally a plumber would take such things away having replaced them, so I must presume that this was left by an 'amateur plumber'. A DIY person. Although it's not a job I would recommend that one undertakes lightly.

On a related subject, we have now all received a small plastic container, with a couple of rolls of rubbish bags, for our new collection of Green Waste, that will become either Compost, or Pigswill. The new veg' bin is on the right in above photo. The small plastic container and bags are shown below.

I cannot imagine how much all this is costing.  The big bins (not yet in use) are now on every street corner, and every household has received a dinky little indoor bin. The amount of PLASTIC involved is horrendous.

I haven't looked, but what's the betting that both the large and small bins were 'Made in China'.

So, it's all go in Rubbish-Land. One used Bog 'going-begging', and the prospect of ridding ourselves of Cabbage leaves and Orange peel comes ever closer.

Life doesn't get much more exciting than this.

My little Companion

I have only ONE THING that has been with me since the day I was born; and that is ALPHONSE.

I can't claim that he has been 'cuddly', or even a particularly pleasant childhood sleeping companion, but he has always been there. He has been that 'thing' in the corner of the room, that became a very important part of my life. He may not be a beautiful Steiff Teddy Bear, but he's MINE.

These days he lives in my dressing room (the spare bedroom), and I say 'Good Morning' to him every day. I don't greet him like I do Billy, but I do recognise his presence.

Now that I'm 'old and grey, and full of sleep', I worry more about Alphonse's future than any other of my possessions. Who will look after hm, who will recall his history, who will remember to whom he once belonged?

One can make provisions for such eventualities, but one can never ensure that ones wishes will be adhered to.

Of course it really shouldn't matter what happens to inanimate objects when one is no longer here, but in Alphonse's case I cannot help but be concerned. To me he is a family member, and I care about him.

I hope that he will stay within the family for many years to come, and be treasured.

 

Our schools.

 

The Ministry of Dismal Education has just published some disturbing figures, and they don't make for easy reading.

It seems that 11,000 pupils in 'Reception Class' (4 to 5 year olds) have been suspended from school over the past year.

4,500 resulting from attacks on teachers, 2,500 because of attacks on fellow pupils, and the rest from disruption of class, making general threats, possessing a weapon, racism, etc. One has to feel sorry for all those children who behave themselves, and are being deprived of a stable education.

It doesn't paint a pretty picture does it!

Much of the blame for this bad, or even dangerous, behaviour must be placed at the altar of Mobile Phones. Children no longer learn ordinary 'social graces' at their mother's knee; they play violent games on their phones instead. Why they are even given phones at such a tender age is a mystery!

No figures are offered for expulsions from private schools. but no doubt they do exist. Confusing the words there, their, and they're, is a common reason for expulsion, as is calling a scone a 'scowne', or even holding a knife like a pencil. All worthy of instant expulsion. The government is (not-surprisingly) trying to do-away with such schools. (N.B. In case you were born without any sense of humour, this para was intended to be 'amusing').

Amongst other complaints from 'Reception Class' teachers, are of children coming to school 'STILL IN NAPPIES'. Unbelievable.

Illegal entry

I hear that the UK's Daily Express newspaper is holding a petition to enforce an Obama-style deportation programme, to rid the country of its illegal immigrants. It already has a huge amount of signatures. In fact it needs 10,000 signatures in order to force a Government Response, and 100,000 signatures to force a debate in parliament. I have a feeling that they might succeed.

As one might expect, it is difficult to put an exact figure on the amount of illegals there are in the UK, but it is certainly over 1 Million. 

We probably do need a serious Obama-style crack-down on such people; as POTUS, he managed to rid the USA of 5.3 Million illegals/criminals. I'm sure that if we applied the same techniques as Obama, we could probably get close to half a Million; it just needs government determination and will-power. The US, Canada, and Australia turn them away at the point of entry; in the UK we send Water Taxis to bring them in.

This invasion HAS to stop. It has become overwhelming.

Grasp the Nettle Someone!