The Three (or more) Stooges.

As expected, Starmer will go. It's just a miracle that he's lasted so long.

There seems to be three main candidates who are eager to replace him.

Andy Burnham (known as The King of the North) is presently The Mayor of Greater Manchester. He is popular for being popular. Now all he needs is to find a parliamentary seat, which may prove more tricky than he thinks with Uncle Nigel's boy against him. Hmmmm.

The adorable Angela Rayner (above with Burnham) is a firebrand. Her background is best forgotten, as is her small £800,000 Brighton second-home flat. She seems to have got away with dodging £40,000 of the £70,000 Stamp Duty on its purchase; although I believe she has since paid-up. Many will remember that the fragrant Angela had to resign over the scandal. Politically she comes from the same mould as Comrade Corbyn.

And thirdly there's cheeky-chappie little Wes Streeting (above with Mandy). His grandfather, Bill, was a career criminal, and friend of the Kray Brothers, who spent a lot of time in prison. His grandmother, who aided and abetted her husband, was also imprisoned, and gave birth to Wes's mother (in handcuffs) whilst in Holloway; where she had shared a cell with Christine Keeler. 

So, take your pick. I doubt if any of them will undo the damage done by Starmer and Co, but as long as they don't make matters worse we shall have to tolerate one of them for a while.

Verdict: 

Burnham, probably the best of a poor bunch. 4½/10

Rayner, the 'party gal' with history. Late nights, beer, and Corbyn style lunacy. 2/10

Streeting, a twinkle-eyed wet rag. 0/10

p.s. Of course there COULD BE a 4th contestant. How about Wes and Starmer's chum Lord 'Mandy' Mandelson throwing his hat into the ring? 

 

Yawn.......

 

It's that time of year again. People in silly clothes, perform awful songs, in front of 'over the top' flashing lights and smokey backgrounds. Yes, it's The Eurovision Song Contest time.

Apart from the awful songs, the competition has become overly political in recent years. This year it has actually become RACIST as well.

Several countries have refused to take part on account of Israel participating. Can it be because 1.200 innocent Israelis were slaughtered by terrorists on October 7th ? Or maybe it's because in their retaliation, those who were attacked actually managed to give Hamas a bloody nose !

Strangely, I don't remember any country staying away because Germany (the worst WAR-CRIMINALS of the 20th C) were taking part. But perhaps they didn't see the HOLOCAUST's 6 Million deaths as racist genocide.

As far as the 'singing' is concerned, it was the usual round of shouting, dancing, and awful costumes. The worst of which must have been Albania, who's song was about his dead mother, and Greece that was simply mad. The UK, of course, came last; it's traditional.

I think we've all had enough. Time to call it a day !

N.B. Boy George (above) who (for unknown reasons) was representing San Marino, was eliminated at once. In that outfit, I'm not surprised.

Bring us sunshine

A couple of days ago it would have been Eric Morecambe's 100th birthday.

I can't give you any details about these children, other than they obviously love singing.

Just look at that little boy at the back on the right; he's having the time of his life!.

If this doesn't make you happy; I don't know what would.

 

Al fresco camping.

Camping has always been popular with certain people, and who could blame them. It's lovely to spend time out in the countryside, breathe fresh air, and be 'at one with nature'. What could be nicer in late Spring.

Occasionally some choose camping sites that are 'illegal', and they are 'encouraged' to move-on. So they've packed-up their things and moved to another site where they hope to be more welcome; making sure to have left the area around where they were camped as clean and tidy as it was before they arrived. The last thing they want is a reputation of being litter-bugs.

Above was where they were in the Rest Garden where I walk with Billy, it's a lovely, well tended, oasis of calm in inner city Brighton.

Some other people who were camped nearby (above) were also asked to move elsewhere. They had installed themselves in the Graveyard, in a secluded spot known for being a meeting place for those who enjoy an exotic cigarette or two. Again they left the area in as clean a state as they could manage.

Wherever both lots of campers have now gone, I wish them well, and hope that they will be able to remain there for as long as possible. I also hope that they treat their new locations with the same respect they have shown here.

What effing PIGS.

 

What was the last book you read?

When I was small, other than my own parents, these family members (below) were my role-models.

They were good honest people who always helped others. They lived an ordinary life, and their son, Rupert, was always having adventures with his friends; usually helping to solve problems.

Rupert was a Bear, and his friends were a Lion, an Elephant, a Badger, etc. Nothing seemed unusual about this group of friends as they went about doing good. And I always looked forward to reading about them in my annual Christmas present book.

The great difference between my childhood, and that of today, is that instead of the Rupert Bear Annual to read, children will have a mobile phone on which they'll watch porn, crazy antics, AI composed videos of anything you could imagine, and even nude photos of Angela from the Lower IVth Form (probably faked).    

These days, children rarely read books, and if given a Rupert Annual it would simply be put away and never opened. Even the great adventures of The Famous Five no longer see the light of day.

I doubt if children now see or read anything that represents 'GOOD' in society. All is bad or dangerous. 

I have never looked at TikTok or Snapchat, but I believe they are pages where junior noses are glued for most of the day. As far as I know, they are certainly not a good-example for young people.

If you ask a group of school children "What was the last book you read?", you will probably be met with a grunt, and confused disbelief.

We currently have over a Million young people on benefits in the UK, half of whom have NEVER had a job. Maybe they should read a book (if, indeed, they can read).

 

The Fox Trot ?

 

I entertained TWO Foxes for breakfast yesterday morning, and they, in turn, entertained me to a Fox Trot. 

They seemed to be quite young, and treated me to a short, but perfectly choreographed, dance. What lovely animals they are, I feel very privileged that they come to me for breakfast every morning.

Preserves

In a different life, one of my greatest pleasures was the growing and preserving of fruit and vegetables. I've always hankered after a 'Smallholding' life-style.

As Winter approached, every single cupboard was filled with bottles of jams and preserves, and the freezer filled with certain vegs. Onions, Squashes, and Apples, filled boxes. At Haddock's itself, there was always plenty of greenery right through to the following Spring. It really was 'The Good Life'.

These days we are not in France for long enough to grow what's needed to 'preserve' in the same way, but we do still manage to make plenty of Jams; Plum, Apricot, and Greengage.

One of the fruits which we have in profusion in late August are Figs, and this year I intend to return to bottling some for Winter. They are very simple to process, and are preserved in an Armagnac flavoured syrup (500 gms water to 300 gms sugar). We have three HUGE Fig trees, and we hate to see them go to waste.

The trimmed, slightly unripe fruits are pricked all over, and blanched for about 4 minutes, then plunged into ice-cold water before being bottled, covered in the syrup, and sterilised for an hour. It couldn't be simpler.

A few of these Figs with a big dollop of thick cream in the Winter months is pure heaven.

I am very pleased to see that my Greengage tree doesn't seem to have suffered from its radical pruning (thank you Kimbo), and it is now looking extremely healthy. Whether or not it is producing lots of fruit remains to be seen. If it is, I shall be making LOTS of Greengage Jam. Delicious.

My mind is filled with Summer things at the moment, and I'm really looking forward to it all. All you veg' gardeners out there will know how I feel.

I can hardly wait.