Haddock's evolution

When I first bought Haddock's, it was covered in Brambles and hadn't been cultivated for decades. I was told that it been the original veg' garden for our cottage.

I decided to have the area 'rotovated', then, after clearing away all the bits of Bramble roots etc, I split the whole plot into three sections (below). Rotovating was probably the wrong thing to do, all the Brambles became 'minced', and every tiny piece of minced root wanted to re-grow. 

The ground eventually became workable, but required a lot of cleaning & clearing. I soon also discovered that my crops were being eaten by wildlife, so the area had to be fenced.

I changed the layout, planted fruit trees, and built a Chicken run at the top end. I also fenced all around. It became animal proof, and the Hens provided eggs. It was a huge improvement.

Then much later I decided to establish a four section rotation system, which was much easier to work, and provided even more crops than before. I even kept a yearly record of what had been grown where.

Suddenly I had too much of everything, so I began to preserve the excess. My cupboards filled rapidly. I loved both the process of growing, and the process of preserving.

I also planted Vines around the exterior fencing; adding yet another crop. I had embraced 'efficiency'.

Then about 8 years ago, crops suddenly started to die. This coincided with my neighbour using his adjoining land as a 'land-fill-site'; inviting all his friends to bring their detritus to help build-up the level to about a metre above that of Haddock's; held back by an old stone wall.

Things got worse. I could see strange liquids seeping towards Haddock's, and an Oak Tree on his land suddenly died. I was worried.

A year later I admitted defeat, and quit. Something was seriously wrong, and my crops were all dying.

His dogs also killed my four remaining Chickens. I was seriously depressed. Haddock's had been my raison d'etre, and it had been destroyed.

Now, about 8 years later, I simply mow there just to keep it looking tidy, and this year I intend to plant some Peach and Cherry trees. We shall see what happens!

I miss those good times, but these days, as I am 'incapacitated', I wouldn't be able to cultivate the land anyway.

 

Red Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband, our wonderful Energy Secretary, has allegedly 'signed-up' to some make-believe world, where we are slapped around the face, and told what we can, and can't, do! We're being told how to travel, how to warm ourselves in Winter, and even how to eat properly. He has signed-up to some 'legally binding' targets, that must be met by 2040. It's like being at some Politburo run Junior School.

This is the man himself (below) caught eating a suspiciously non-Kosher Bacon sandwich. I enjoy Bacon sandwiches myself, but at least for atheists they are not prohibited. 

Miliband intends to make us all replace our perfectly good Gas boilers with very expensive 'Heat Pumps'. We have plenty of Oil/Gas in the North Sea, but he refuses to extract it. Instead, we buy our gas from the more sensible Norway; and we will be buying Oil from Russia again very soon.

He also wants us all to drive those wretched Electric Cars. No thank you.

He is insisting that we all eat 25% less meat (including, I presume, Bacon sandwiches). I'm certainly NOT going to be told by someone like Miliband what I can or cannot eat. If I wish to throw a few Steaks or Chops on the BBQ; I will.

And he also wants us to consume 25% less dairy products; Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese, Cream, etc. Is he kidding? Why do they hate our Farmers so much!

'Nanny State' politics may be fine in the Labour Party Junior Common Room, but we live in the real world, and not in some student-friendly Vegan Café.

The only respite we have against all these nonsensical Socialist policies, is that Labour will soon be booted-out, and all their silly policies reversed. 

Let's Make England Work again, Manufacture again, Invest again, Drill again, and even Eat again.

I'm thinking of having MEWMIDE hats made as I write.

 

Celebration; French style.

Some may remember that there was a Football game in Budapest recently between the English team Arsenal, and the French team Paris St-Germain. PSG won, and in traditional fashion their fans set light to cars and rioted.

They don't only do this to celebrate Football games, they also set light to cars to welcome the New Year. On the 1st Jan people actually listen to The News, to hear that year's tally. I think they like it to be greater than that of the previous year.

It's a strange way to celebrate, but in France we're used to it. Different cultures have different traditions; I think this one seems to be practiced mostly by N Africans. If you search for PSG players, you will understand what I mean.

During the 'celebrations', one person died, and about 460 were arrested. 71 Towns and Cities were affected.

Meanwhile, a few Arsenal fans were arrested in London, after their usual drunken behaviour to mourn their defeat. 

A good time was had by all.

p.s. Why is it that Rugby Union, Rowing, and Cricket fans don't do such stupid things. I suppose it's simply that they're better behaved.

 

When Popularity becomes a Pain.

The Cotswolds is one of England's most beautiful, and desirable, areas to live. People often compare its architecture to that of Périgord, in France.

The area has recently been made even more popular by droves of 'Celebs' quitting Sadiq Khan's Socialist, Hamas-loving, London, for a safer, less crime-ridden, and friendlier, place to live.

However, as nice a place as it is, with its beautiful old stone-built homes, it does come with ONE HUGE disadvantage;.... droves of bloody, camera-toting tourists. It's become a 'theme park'.

Many decades ago, when my people had a cottage on the North Welsh border, we would always stop en route to buy Pork Pies, etc, at a particularly good butcher's shop in the village of Broadway.

Broadway was, and probably still is, the most iconic Cotswold village. Yes, I suppose we were also 'tourists' of a sort, but we didn't go around peering into people's windows, or eating sandwiches whilst sitting on the pavement. We stopped, did our shopping, and continued on our way. They would hardly have noticed us come and go, other than a small amount of money we contributed to their economy.

These days, coachloads of foreign tourists are ushered around in large groups, treating the area as if it is some sort of huge plastic Disneyland theme park.

If I owned, and lived in, one of the cottages above, I would be absolutely bloody furious.

Squirming...

 

Poor old Nicola, her hubby, Peter Burrell, has been arrested! 

I first mentioned the dubious goings-on in the Sturgeon household back on 21st February 2023, in my piece entitled 'Thank goodness'.

The fragrant Ms Sturgeon was on Laura Kuenssburg's Sunday morning BBC show yesterday, in which she stated that she had absolutely no idea that her hubby had been stealing Hundreds of £Thousands from the SNP's funds. Well, she wouldn't would she!

His biggest purchase was this huge Camper Van (seen from space), which cost over £120.000. It was parked at his parent's home (above), where Nicola claims not to have noticed it. On visiting her in-laws, she says she never saw it. Well, it is only the size of a London Bus.

Amongst other things he bought for himself were a Pencil Sharpener for £110, a set of Salt and Pepper grinders for £2,600, a Model Helicopter for £550, a Beatles souvenir Fountain Pen for £1,500, and another Skywalker Pen for £4,200, and a Telescope for £1,200. It's a very long list.

Ms Sturgeon claims not to have known anything about where all this spending money came from, even though he had a history of being 'light-fingered'. I believe he allowed about £1,500 to accidently fall into his pockets whilst working for Alex Salmond in the 1990's.

The two questions that all sensible people are now asking are 1, How on earth did he think he'd get away with it?, and 2, How did Sturgeon not notice that £400,000 worth of goodies suddenly appeared at their marital home?

What I do know, is that if Lady M came home with a £120,000 Camper Van, I'd feel inclined to ask where she got the money. Wouldn't you?

Some wag has suggested that he bought the Camper Van to stash all his 'swag'. They could be right.

Ms Sturgeon has now moved down from Scotland to London. Sensible wee gal. Scottish Independence no longer appeals!

A Tricky Question....

 

Now, this might sound like a really silly question, but it's one of the great debates in British politics.

Which of these TWO PROPOSALS would you prefer; or even sounds the more sensible?

1. The UK buys oil from Russia, so that Putin has plenty of money to spend on killing people in Ukraine.

2. We drill our own oil in the North Sea (of which we have lots), giving work to thousands of UK workers.

Honestly, this really IS a serious question, and it explains perfectly the difference between the UK's Communist Socialist Party, and the UK's Tory Party. One would prefer to financially support a nasty genocidal regime, whilst the other prefers to support their own country's economy.

I really don't know what more I can say! The whole country is STUNNED!

Which way would you go; pro-Putin, or pro-your own country? Tricky eh........

Jet Harris

Some people may remember Jet Harris.

I've just found this video of Cliff and The Shadows, showing my old friend Jet on bass.

Jet is the small blonde. He was booted out of The Shadows in 1962, after having become unpredictable and uncooperative; I think through drink and drugs. He later teamed-up with the band's drummer Tony Meehan.

He was a nice enough person, but one always felt that there was something going on inside his head that you didn't want to know about. We were good friends, then one day he suddenly disappeared.

Cliff Richard, Hank Marvin, and Bruce Welsh are still around, but Jet died in 2011. The band's drummer Tony Meehan died back in 2005.

Their music seems very 'mild' these days, but back in the 60's it was the coolest sound on earth (well, almost).