Saturday 20 May: Households should not have to pick up the bill for water companies’ failings

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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461 thoughts on “Saturday 20 May: Households should not have to pick up the bill for water companies’ failings”

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Another Rose by That Name

    This handsome doctor gets a visit from a VERY gay patient.

    “Ooh, Doc,” says the gay man, “I’ve got a terrible pain up in my rectum! Have a look and tell me what’s wrong, will you?”

    “I know what you’re up to,” says the doctor, “you’re just after a quick thrill!”

    “No! Really! It hurts!” whines the flamer.

    “Oh, all right”, says the doctor as he pulls on the rubber glove. After poking around up the gay man’s backside, he feels something!

    “Well, I’ll be… No wonder you’re in pain”, exclaims the doctor, “Of all things, you’ve got a ROSE stuck up there… No… wait a moment… there’s a whole BUNCH of roses!”

    “Oh” the gay guy says, “Read the card! Read the card!”

  4. That’s me, done. I may spend the rest of the day in bed – see you all Sunday Morn – maybe.

    1. It’s good to take it easy with a restful day from time to time, Sir Jasper. And don’t worry about having a lie-in on Sunday either.

  7. The free world faces a troubling new challenge. 20 May 2023.

    The world is far from united in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine; many countries still maintain a studied neutrality.

    Indeed, although Joe Biden has been solid in his military and financial support of Ukraine, his foreign policy has otherwise been characterised by retreat and confusion. Few will forget the damage to American credibility caused by the bungled retreat from Kabul. Mr Biden has also been accused of upsetting traditional allies.

    America and the West need a much more coherent and robust strategy for uniting the democracies of the world behind a common mission, particularly in light of the rise of China. Let us hope that we do not have to wait too long before we see one.

    I can remember when the Free World was actually free! It was weird. You could say what you liked! I can also remember when it was Democratic. You actually got what you voted for! Both of these qualities have vanished. We are now very little better off than China and almost certainly worse than Russia!

    As to supporting the West, by which we actually mean the US, the “World” has learned a great deal in the last twenty years and not a few of them have personal experience. They have seen where Iraq, Syria and Libya has led and want no part of it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/19/the-free-world-faces-a-troubling-new-challenge/

    1. I can remember pottering round towns and cities without a million spy cameras being trained on me.
      There is a reason why I could never re-read ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. It made me feel sick; and now I’m living in it.

      1. I downloaded it on my kindle years ago and have never been able to bring myself to read it again. It’s much too close to the truth.

      2. Yes Anne ,

        How on earth could we have guessed that words were a true prediction .

        There are a few amongst us who have cast the spell of what lays ahead .

        I wonder whether the Bible is to blame ?

      3. Ive never read it but I have seen so many references to it in recent years, that I feel almost, that I have read it.

  8. Households should not have to pick up the bill for water companies’ failings

    I couldn’t agree more, back in the day when water was nationalised, the dumping or raw sewage in the sea and rivers was the norm and nobody cared less, people went swimming in the sea on their two week breaks at Butlins ( if you were lucky ) and bathed in the richard the thirds without a second thought, because under nationalised water our good old sewage was harmless.
    It’s a shame the Conservatives didn’t realise this, now that water is privatised our sewage is tainted by profit people actually care about it and they are not having it, they swan off abroad on their holidays so they can swim in polluted water in the Med and elsewhere where the sewerage is publicly owned and therefore harmless and untainted by profit.
    Which just proves that you can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

    1. Might it be possible that if there are twice as many people today than there were fifty years ago, there might also be twice as much sewage? The material of 700,000 more productive bottoms in a year just in the UK must go somewhere.

          1. Morning Ped ,

            During the 1980’s a certain pork pie and sausage producer ‘s products tasted ghastly .

            I think they fed the pigs on curry products ..

    2. Early 70s I remember borrowing an open back truck, driving to the water treatment works. AKA Sewage Farm, loading it with (about 15 mm thick) flat dried Sewage and taking it to my sister and BiL’s new house and shovelling it over their rear fence. It was spread over the beds of the new garden and dug in. A few weeks later they had more tomato plants than they could poke the proverbial stick at.
      They still use human waste in China as fertiliser.

      3. Night soil was used as fertiliser during the war – gardens were flush (hehe) with tomato plants.

  9. Morning, all Y’all. Dull & overcast.
    Off soon to collect the cats from their luxury hotel. No doubt they will reward us for the significant financiaal outlay by crapping massively in the car so we have to endre a stench that is undoubtedly the reason I find flecks of rust on the poor VW.

  10. Middle East brings Syria’s Assad in from the cold. 20 May 2023.

    Arab leaders welcomed Bashar al-Assad back into the fold on Friday, as regional powers discussed a deal that could see millions of refugees sent back to Syria.

    Assad, a global pariah over a litany of human rights abuses during the brutal civil war, took part in an Arab League summit in Riyadh for the first time in a decade.

    In a clear sign that many Arab leaders wish to radically shift their position on the regime, the Syrian leader also met Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

    I’m glad that Assad is finding his feet again but sadly he must now be lost to the West. From being our greatest friend in the Middle East he is now almost certainly a mortal enemy.

    Judging by his appearance the war has taken a terrible personal toll on him and why would it not? He has had to do things to survive that would keep most normal people awake at night.

    His experiences closely resemble those of Putin. A massive propaganda campaign to blacken his reputation; accusations of War Crimes, followed by sanctions and then the arming of his enemies.

    The BBC coverage also brought back some of my own memories of my posting on the old Telegraph threads about Syria and the hordes of Government Trolls who used to descend if one pointed out the Lies. Almost identical to any present reasonable posting about Ukraine.

    The MSM then, as now, played a major part in all this. It’s coverage of the Freedom Fighters (Jihadists) was always sympathetic while Assad received short shrift. That no BBC reporter ever dared to enter their territory and that you could land in Damascus and walk around in relative safety was never mentioned.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/05/19/bashar-al-assad-arab-league-summit-welcomed-saudi-arabia/

    1. Assad reminds me too much of those that tackle organised criminals by imposing punitive rules on their law-abiding customers in order to spin an action programme, whilst the real villains find easy ways to get round the rules, and it’s business as usual.

      It’s the peaceful opposition and the pleb civilians who are getting hammered by Assad’s understandable reaction to the “Arab Spring”. Meanwhile the jihadis are free to go about their affairs with gay abandon, trashing what Assad might have missed.

      To be fair though, Assad did eventually clear out that Israeli-funded Islamic State outpost near the Sea of Galilee that was supplying the main operation in the Euphrates, and he did provide a sort of sanctuary for the Syrian Kurds when Trump doublecrossed them in that infamous phone call to Erdogan.

      I would like the Cradle of Civilisation to be in better hands, but then I say the same about the UK.

    2. Good morning, there certainly is a sense of familiarity to the situation in Ukraine. Much as Damascus did, Kiev has seen a multitude of celebrities and pop stars passing through over the past year or so. Including Boris in a suit, whereas when he visited Liverpool he a donned a stabvest/flak jacket!

      The false flag attacks and propaganda set-ups seem almost tired; bombed out vehicles strewn across streets, yet the windows in all the surrounding buildings are undamaged; a ‘crater’ beside a children’s playground, where none of the playground furniture has been damaged and there is vegetation covering the exposed sides of what is most likely a construction project by the local council; the lack of any wide angle shots of ‘incidents’.

      I suppose the last of those points could explained by Zelensky’s banning/imprisoning of any dissenters in the media, but that wouldn’t suit the narrative.

  11. 371467+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Pure deflection shite, look I can overtake that turd if I up my stroke rate,while around the jack horner of the bay the invasion is progressing at full tilt, boatloads of instant welfare dependant Brits landing.

    Dt,
    American and British voters are being failed by the same big immigration lie
    Our politicians claim to be seeking to bring the numbers down, while doing nothing to actually achieve that.

    Rhetorically seeking that is, in reality they increase the numbers
    manyfold but the written verbal oath,promise, pledge satisfies the ,majority of the supporting / voting herd.

    So swimming in shit is of little consequence when the peoples
    are fed a steady diet of shit via their polling booth selection, ALL
    considered worth it for the good of the, (get this) in name only party.

    1. I seem to recall that Teresa May, when Prime Minister, signed an international agreement to take in unlimited

      numbers of refugees and asylum seekers.

      Can anyone remember the details?

  15. Following on from last night, the 95-year-old demented lady in Australia, Clare Nowland, is not expected to survive being tazed twice by the police – once in the chest and again in the back. Apparently, after the police were called to the old people’s home, she rushed them, waving the knife – her and her zimmer frame. In the fall, she severely banged her head, is now in hospital with severe bleeding on the brain.
    No doubt the two pigs screamed at her to “drop the knife! Drop the knife!” in a cacophony of sound (as seen on TV news, when everyone screams something different), she didn’t understand, and so they shot her. If she held a commando knife, they could have taken it away from her, but no, our two heroes tazed a 95-year-old… TWICE! What utter bastards are there in the NSW police? I hope their arseholes rot.

    1. I read that the other day Obs, surely there is something terribly wrong and absent in their training programme.
      How could anyone do such a terrible thing to an old lady.

        1. I expect the average ozzie will be outraged by this.
          We have just had an email from Oz telling us that the future son in law had passed away. He was early 50s has had leukemia for two years, but just starting to get back to normal. And suddenly a massive spike in temperature taken to hospital and they couldn’t save him.
          It’s very worrying, our youngest grandson aged 3 1/2 has leukemia.

          2. The NHS has been wonderful.
            He’s such a lovely lively and very smart little fella. Even at his age he even has a touch of irony in his mannerism.
            His mum and dad are superb and expecting a little sister for him in July.

    5. Are you sure she was not propelling her Zimmer frame round Manhattan to escape the paps?

  16. ‘Morning All

    Laff Time

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e6039d6a6f07b94aceb7fe036223f79b49d8e8c9677ebeaed26411bd4372c988.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6fc429d74c92b69c1545fd2a14125abc7e4cfc1ee0d3aafc6cebded0900acb9d.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b7be3a14010006dd44eeed62dab820c08394ddaedec8637e807cc3f0c6b69046.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cd5451c0d5c44991a304a2c3fae242a639812248d61e4fce260b7712ebc2a621.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/949a24e0b6e9f0accec287f7dfa8ac1611b034598a97650dfef3ee03f789643a.jpg

    Finally one for Grizz

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/52e67a56e01ceb133d59f94d08adac028672316c2dd549ba03e149619d19dd48.jpg

    1. Over here, you can buy small yellow tins of yucky pate with a picture of a small blond child on the front. I hope that’s not supposed to be a description of the contents…

  17. American and British voters are being failed by the same big immigration lie. 20 May 2023.

    Our politicians claim to be seeking to bring the numbers down, while doing nothing to actually achieve that.

    Well, here is a brutal but necessary truth. Neither America – and certainly not Britain – can save the rest of the world by taking in even a modest percentage of the global population. In the UK alone we have nowhere near enough houses, nowhere near enough money and nowhere near enough social capacity to absorb millions of people like this. You can have open borders or a welfare state – but you cannot have both. The public knows this and, although there is no political way to express it yet, in time there will be. There is only so much time you can keep being lied to.

    In the meantime, the political classes continue to hold a debate on the issue that is not only detached from reality but also from what most voters want. The Labour Party have even started to suggest that migration in some areas might go up under them, at least in the short term. Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, has said she is “hugely proud” that at least 600,000 foreign students are coming to the UK every year. A target she was not expecting to hit until 2030. Good luck saying that on the campaign trail.

    Caught between the incompetent and the stone-deaf, who knows where an increasingly disenchanted public might wander?

    Well wherever they wander Douglas it will be too late to save this country and its people.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/19/american-and-british-voters-are-being-failed-by-the-same-bi/

    1. I still miss the old Colchester Corporation brown and cream buses.
      Even if the seats were bum numbing slatted wooden benches.

    1. And will hand them over to the gentleman sitting beside him.
      Luckily, American farmers are armed.

      1. Reminds me of nurse I worked with.
        Whenever the weather was lovely, her reaction was “a nice day for doing my nets’.

  23. Morning all 🙂😉
    Weather or not It’s trying to improve out side might be to be, or not to be.
    It seems that water companies are now playing the political game. Eff everything up, blame everyone else but themselves and make every one else pay for it.

  24. 371467+ up ticks,

    Dt,
    Insidious declinism about Britain risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy
    I became a Conservative because I’m optimistic about my country and there is no reason for us to lose faith
    jeremy hunt

    To help this be fully achieved then the voting majority MUST maintain their death wish voting pattern

    As for the hunt, faith was lost in his ilk by decent peoples many moons ago.

    1. Political classes don’t have a clue nor care for what actually happens to the ‘people on the street’. The everyday problems faced the hardships that raindown on the meek and mild. Who are just trying to live their lives without too much concern.
      As long as those bastards can sit in comfort, take home their expenses get their team to work for them write their speeches, talk crap all day, take the credit for anything that might have worked out and set the blame when it doesn’t. Which ever side of the house suits them, if they hang on in there they are made for the rest of their lives.
      Most achieve absolutely nothing to be mentioned. Meanwhile they look down in distain while they walk all over us.

      1. Hunt was one of the most out of touch people I came across at university. Only Cameron was worse.

        1. Hunt was the other candidate for the Conservative party leadership against Boris Johnson.
          Whatever BJ’s faults, he did not indulge in spiteful ad hominem attacks on his rival.
          Hunt however, was a different matter; he reminded me of a spiteful girl pulling plaits and jeering at those not in her groupule.

    2. What utter BS! Jeremy Hunt was optimistic about his country because he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth! The system works for him.

  25. Good morning all,

    Sunny day at McPhee Towers, wind Nor’ Nor’ East, 11℃ forecasting 18℃. Still feeling under the cosh of the ‘coof’ and lacking the usual energy. Should be going fishing today but I can’t even think about about pulling on waders and standing in a river up to the marriage tackle in pursuit of trout. That’s how bad it is.

    The last paragraph of the letter from Shapps:

    –Now that we have left the EU, we have taken control of our migration system. Instead of an open-borders policy which allows in high numbers of low-skilled migrants, our new points-based system allows us to decide who comes to the UK to work and study based on our own economic needs – and that is absolutely right.

    Grant Shapps MP (Con)
    Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
    London SW

    These people have absolutely no self-awareness or sense of shame, do they?

    2. During his stint as housing minister, Shapps must have been on the ball, the massive increase in new homes in his constituency and the St Albans area has been outstanding. And I heard he no longer lives in Hatfield but has moved to a mansion at Brookmans Park.
      Apparently his wife has been successful.

    3. Maybe Sebastian Fox wrote the letter for him. Or possibly Michael Green or Corinne Stockheath.

  26. Morning all.

    Quickly scanning the paper as I wait for my flight to “the Kingdom”. Not read all the supplements but of interest:

    – odious Lineker to get an “award” for his “compassion” towards illegal immigrants. Of course, it’s easy to virtue-signal knowing you and your family won’t be affected in any way at all by the mass arrival of undocumented immigrants (and also knowing your tax-avoidance scheme works so you are not even paying your “fair share” (sic) of tax)

    – the Christopher Howse article on Coptic Christians was super intersecting (i thought)

    – I normally don’t like Kate Morley but her case this week was very moving (I thought)

    Hopefully I will catch you all later when I am in my hotel. Have a good day!

    1. Can’t edit on my phone para where it says “intersecting” which of course has been auto-corrected from interesting. But you all knew that, I’m sure

      1. A Far Country – Philip Marsden.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e6d3b8f7c49615fb4e6ad8866aa339db0283ff2d32d5373be7664089efa845f2.jpg

        Philip Marsden-Smedley and his brother, Charles (aka Fossbury-Plonkett – the sobriquet I gave the family) used to sail with me when they were boys at Harrow. Philip then studied Coptic Churches and his university thesis was converted into his first book about the Afar people in Abyssinia. (Hence the pun in the books title).

        His publishers told him that he must drop the double-barrelled name as there were too many ex-public schoolboys writing travel books and so he has subsequently written under the name of Philip Marsden so I now call him Philip Fossbury!

  27. Why, when they have two main orifices, do the BBC and mainstream news reporters always talk out of their Rsoles? I blame the universities myself.

    1. I think it’s the incestuous relationship they have with the rest of the media.

  28. Why, when they have two main orifices, do the BBC and mainstream news reporters always talk out of their Rsoles? I blame the universities myself.

  29. I’d love to open my bedroom window on a day like this to let the fresh air dilute the stench of rotting old man.

    However, a queen wasp has decided that the eaves are good place to make a home, since insects are sensitive to smell and I drive off predators. Just now, my friendly neighbourhood hornet has put in an appearance again, hovering by the window in the hope of getting into my drawers.

  31. On-topic for the first time ever: who shall pay for upgrading the sewage systems? Logic suggest that it should be the users, which is to say, us. (I poo therefore I am.) But what about the greedy water companies? Nationalise them without compensation? Or just whine like spoilt children?

      1. She is doing all right, Alec – now! – but we have no idea how long for. It is an emotional rollercoaster. See my reply to Belle just above, for further information.

    2. That is a very pretty rose , do the have a delicious scent?

      How are things, PM re woofle ?

      Jack was given an injection which lasts a month for his aches and pains , he still seems happy and his senses are acute , but his medication is so costly.

      2. When they are all in bloom the scent of rose pervading the garden is lovely.

        Woofle is doing all right, we have noticed she is becoming harder of hearing though and her lymphoma in her neck is getting larger. We had a trip to the vet a couple of weeks ago (yet another trip to the vet whereby I thought we wouldn’t be bringing her home again) – she was coughing during the night, went into the furthest corner of the bedroom, went for a drink and her legs wouldn’t support her, she looked morose and miserable – I supported her body to enable her to get a drink. Next morning, not interested in food, just sad. Trip to the vet – she rallied, the minx! – walked round his room with her best ‘nothing wrong with me attitude’ – she was given an injection – anti-nausea – just in case – and a three figure sum was given to us! She spent the rest of the day in her basket curled up, uninterested in food. We couldn’t get her to take her heart meds. She snored very loudly that night… The next morning she said, ‘hmmm, yes I do fancy a bit of breakfast, thank you!’ and wolfed it down. Her recovery had started, and despite her various health problems she was soon on the mend. It is an emotional roller coaster.

        Here is a photo of her jumping a log on her woodland walk a couple of days ago.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c7d25514edcb61bffb4278d64808352dc4bd213c76415b5ce1c2aa31ebad3fa.jpg

        Yes, Poppie’s meds are costly too, probably £150 per month and then the cost of the private prescription to buy them over the internet – £18 six monthly.

        2. Like you, I’m resigned to eye-watering vet’s bills. Oscar has cost me more than all my dogs combined!

      1. Yes, they are, individually quite a delicate scent, but when they are all in bloom it fills the garden in front of the house.

  34. Is this what is happening now?

    Labour came to power in March 1974, its leader Harold Wilson having accepted the royal invitation to form a minority government. Wilson called a second election for October 1974, which gave Labour a majority of three MPs. The Labour government implemented pay restraint to control global inflation, coupled with stagnation and unemployment at record post-war levels. Wilson resigned in 1976 in poor health, on turning 60, and James Callaghan became leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. By-elections and defections whittled away Labour’s majority,

  35. Just been outside. Gale blowing with a cold edge. Bright sun – nice if one can find a place out of the wind.

    I see “notifications” are not clearing themselves after viewing.

    1. 20degs later today in Cardiff…..meet you all there at three, my shout with the beers.

  36. SIR – I was encouraged by your report that Rachel de Thame, the Gardeners’ World presenter, has spoken out in defence of weeds (though I prefer to call them wildflowers).

    Her words felt like an official endorsement of what I’ve been trying to do in my garden for the past three years.

    Having given over my sizeable front lawn entirely to wildflowers, it is wonderful to see the bees, butterflies, insects and birds coming. I’ve even had a goldcrest swinging on the branches of a wall shrub outside my kitchen window, picking off the ants and small insects – no need for poisons.

    Too much tidiness is not good for wildlife.

    Andrea Bates
    Enstone, Oxfordshire

    I arrived back home after a hair appointment to find Moh in the front garden wielding a spray , and another one resting near the front door step.

    I know it is not just my garden , but I become very nervous when I leave him alone in the house . His boredom levels are raised , he doesn’t allow newspapers , nor read books.. He watches golf you tube’s and lawn care .

    All my married life I have pleaded with him to leave a few buttercups and daisies , and the first dandelions when spring breaks , for the bees etc

    If he had his way the garden would look like municipal gardens , and not a perennial in sight .

    Does anyone else on here have a conflict of interests?

    1. He would be really happy in our garden. I could keep him occupied for ages. Would you like to send him along?! Our cobble paths are weed/wildflower heaven.

    2. More reasons to stop the ongoing destruction of our countryside and green belt with new housing.

      1. Absolutely. I simply do not understand the mentality of these people. They know the cost of everything and the value of nothing at all. It is always all about the money, however it arrives in their bank accounts.

      2. Gove – as planning officer – could very easily have his mind changed.

        It involves a size 12 hobnailed boot moving at swift velocity into his rib cage on a repeated basis.

    3. We’ve lived in this house for 28 years and there are plenty of weeds/ wildflowers here. I do try to pick the dandelion clocks before they blow everywhere but we don’t use weedkiller. I never spray anything.
      I hate the municipal look with serried ranks of blue & red flowers in rows.
      We try to encourage the bees. A couple of years ago OH made use of some packing cases to make several bee hotels. As you know we have nest boxes all over the place.

  37. Cats collected from cat hotel. Only two massive turds deposited in the car, and an ocean of wee. Cat boxes have waterproof bases, so the unpleasantness is limited to emptying and cleaning the boxes before they go back into the roof.

        1. Cats on the rooftops, cats on the tiles
          Cats with syphilis, cats with piles
          Cats with their arseholes wreathed in smiles
          as they revel in the joys of fornication

          Can’t remember the name of the tune that’s sung to 😘

          1. A rhyme I recall learning in Scotland but I can’t remember all of it…

            The big cat pissed in the little cat’s eye
            And the little cat said, Cor Blimey….

            And there my memory fails me.

          3. I lived and grew up in London but Scotland was where it was fun, especially when I was a child. No stuffed shirts in the Scots family.

          5. And the black cat said it’s your own silly fault
            for standing so close behind me

            Or rhyming words to that effect

          8. Did ye ken John Peel wid his cwote sae grey?
            Did ye ken John Peel at the breck o’ day?
            Did ye ken John peel gayin’ far, far away –
            Wie his hoons and his horn in a mwornin’?
            Chorus:
            For the sound o’ the horn caw’d me fra my bed.
            As the crt o’ the hoons he often led,
            For Peels view holla wad waken the dead,
            Or a fox frae his lair in a mwornin.’

          9. When you wake up in the morning and you’re feeling simply grand
            And you’ve got a funny feeling in your seminary gland
            If you haven’t got a woman what’s the matter with your hand
            As you revel in the joys of masturbation.

  39. What a load of crap!
    These loonies clearly have been living amongst us and they were waiting for the trigger to start spouting their crazy notions.

    “There’s a reason why toilets are white.”

    Frankly that thought hadn’t occurred to me in 74 years but how about, white toilets clearly show the need for cleaning: not that one’s lavvy should be allowed to get that soiled but when digging a hole or just doing it where one’s standing at the time is the norm, then supreme white cleanliness wouldn’t have occurred to those people. Next up for vilification, toilet brushes, bleach, Flash, Domestos etc?

    https://twitter.com/DVATW/status/1659822362823479296

        1. I have exceptionally clean feet owing to the fact that we have a bidet in both the upstairs bathroom and in the downstairs lavatory.

    4. Morning all.

      I would have thought that bliks would feel really pleased when they sh1t on whitey’ lav!

        1. We used to have an avocado bathroom……. there used to be coloured toilet rolls too. Just the way fashions roll.

          1. Two houses in greater Manchester- one turquoise bathroom, one avocado.
            First house in CT- everything, kitchen and baths- harvest gold- as it was called. Richard’s more on the mark, it was mustard. Yuk.

          2. When we moved into this house, the bathroom suite was “harvest gold”. It was vile and you could never get it looking clean (hard water left grey streaks as it dried for one thing). One of the first things we did was replace it with white.

    6. Would that explain the streets of San Francisco?
      A section of the US population re-asserting its cultural values?

    8. Coming from someone who can’t even put her mask on the right way round. Perhaps she has rejected ‘being able to read’ as a product of white supremacy.

    9. Normal people call it civilisation. Same as building houses. Go live in a cave and squat using leave if you want. Whereever you are, you’re clearly too thick to deserve a loo.

    10. Loos used to have patterns on them – blue and white flowery designs were popular.

  40. Good morning.
    As I was parting with another thirty pounds odd in the garden centre this morning, I did begin to wonder if gardening is going to be my ruin. It’ll all be worth it when I harvest the beans and tomatoes, I tell myself.

    Here’s news of a speech made by Xi to central Asian nations yesterday. The whole world is merrily throwing off the US yoke, but they should look at how China treats its own citizens before they get too close. They won’t, of course. I think freedom is going to reduce for the next ninety years or so while China is in the driving seat. Our experience growing up, where we said what we wanted without a second thought, is not going to be the norm.
    https://twitter.com/MoritzRudolf/status/1659534147805757441

    1. Buy a propagator. Then buy seeds and raise your plants … The propagator will pay for itself in a season and last for years. My two are 30 years old!!

      1. But that’s more money being spent….!
        I expect I will though!
        What I have bought is mostly soil and tubs, plus various kinds of plant nourishment, tarpaulins, insect cover fleeces etc. I do try to get things cheaply when I can, for example, we have just made a pumpkin bed out of old pallets. Some of the bean sticks are ones I cut off the hazelnut tree. None of my plant containers were actually bought new as plant containers!

        I saw various rooting compounds at the garden centre, so next spring I will be armed with them and the heated propagators…I will get seedlings like the garden centre ones!

        2. Recently we have found bought from garden centres compost is not the quality it use to be. It seems to solidify in the pots and stop the plants from developing. Has any one else found this.

      2. All of my new courgette seeds had rotted away when I checked last week. I’ve planted some more in the propagator.
        Some how I have got to try and dig out some compost from the bottom of one of my bins to top up one of my plant stands made from pallets. Because it had nothing growing in it, ‘someone’ has been nicking the soil for potting. I was thinking of planting some little spuds in there.

        1. Another recommendation. Always start seed in a mix of 1 part perlite, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part peat or peat substitute. Add a very small amount of plant food and off you go. Your plants are in a a near as dammit, sterile environment unless you want to go as far as I do which involves plastic bags, paper towels and voodoo, before moving your germinated seed to pots. Otherwise, the above seed mix, plop in your seeds and they should germinate and not rot. I have never had seeds rot on me because I always used the above mix. But I also sterilized each pot, once the mix was in, with boiling water. Wait awhile before putting seeds in, if you do that, you don’t want to cook them. It is also an excellent mix for cuttings.

    2. But the tomato that costs five pounds to grow at home will taste much better than the everyday unripe tomato from Asda.

      1. You get lots more tomatoes on one plant if you look after them well. Much nicer flavours too.

    3. Can I encourage you to buy from JL Hudson in California. He carries 100,s of varieties of heirloom and old varieties of all sorts of vegetables and many terrific old tomato varieties. Most of them Iv’e tried, amazing to eat, nothing like it in the stores, nurseries or seed from British suppliers. In English money the seed is sort of expensive, about £2.50 a pkt. But it is a one time only purchase because you can save the seed in one or two tomatoes of heirloom varieties and grow more plants the next year for the rest of your life, so it’s a one time only purchase. If you want tomatoes that truly are as delicious as any fruit, the real tomatoes of yesteryear, he is the person to buy from. There is no problem having them sent to the UK either. Old Amish varieties brought over from Europe a century or two ago. Old Russian varieties that are truly terrific. Here’s a link to his seed catalogue.
      https://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/index.html

      Also Bill is right, buy a propagator. It’s really worth it for better propagation.I have two of the Jumbo propagators from this company plus propagation mats. But you don’t have to go ape, just buy a decent one. However, I would recommend a thermostatically controlled propagator that you can adjust temperature on.
      https://www.twowests.co.uk/collections/propagators

  41. The Kitchen Cabinet – BBC Radio 4 food programme. Today: Caribbean cooking from Brixton and spicy recipes with Black propaganda and anti-British rhetoric thrown in. How blessed are we to have such multi-cultural enlightenment 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. On now – don’t miss it!

  42. Kitchen Cabinet – BBC Radio 4 food programme. Today: Caribbean cooking from Brixton and spicy recipes with Black propaganda and anti-British rhetoric thrown in. How blessed are we to have such multi-cultural enlightenment 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. On now – don’t miss it!

    2. I think they might mean the import of or sale of said diamonds. I mean, how do you ban something that already exists. I wonder if there are any in the ToL.

    3. Who do they think they are fooling with this nonsense?
      Meanwhile, on the international space program, cooperation with the Russians carries on regardless, and at the highest level, it’s all just a game to manage de-dollarisation without the plebs turning on the owners of the Federal Reserve/Bank of England/Chinese central bank/Russian central bank etc.

    1. The precursor to the No Bell peace prize ? WTF are these people talking about ?

        1. Indeed, and best of luck too them. I’ve never felt any animosity towards The Blades.

    3. I stopped supporting and watching the England cricket team when they started their kneeling nonsense. Have they stopped that yet, does anybody know?

    2. My word those people are like petulant children. Did the childish french government ever pay the fine imposed for their own ban on British beef after the BSE outbreak had been cleared.

    3. I’m having French, Swiss and Italian cheese tonight, with charcuterie, as part of an antipasti-style meal.

        1. No alcohol at all. I’m back on the keto diet with no carbs, no sugar, no alcohol. My ‘crisp white’ will be sky juice.

          2. I took my eye off of the ball. I started enjoying carbs (bread, rice, ice-cream) and my weight started to rise again, though not to what it had been. It seems that a period on keto to ‘kick start’ the diet works well for a few weeks.

            Tomorrow I shall celebrate my ‘official’ birthday — postponed from a dark, dank, cold February — with some friends at a restaurant that produces an excellent Swedish buffet with hundreds of different delicious items to choose from over as many courses as you wish. I shall carefully select fish, eggs, cheeses, and lots of pork to my meal and forgo the dessert.

          3. I found I was getting a bit porky (never weigh myself so no idea what my weight is) so I cut back on carbs, but not completely eliminated them. It works when you just have to shift a bit of belly fat. Clothes now feel more comfortable. I just eat less of the carbs.

          4. Grizzly, seriously, how long is it before you get results from a keto diet? i have to do something but I’m at a loss about what. Until I got sick I didn’t have to diet at all, I was right on the correct weight for my age, hight etc. But now I have advanced from medium sized trousers, to large, and now extra large. To say I hate it is an understatement. But I cannot exercise and I have to take hormones for cancer. So i feel like Jabba the Hut’s obese brother.

          5. The first time I embarked upon it, in early 2020, I lost exactly 2 stones in the first 16 weeks. Of course it all depends upon the individual and his/her health and abilities to exercise. I do most of my exercise working around the garden, house and workshop but this is augmented by using my indoor exercise bike.

            I shall keep you posted on my progress: i.e. how long I remain on keto, how much exercise I take, and how much weight I lose. Hope you can find some means of diet and/or gentle exercise to start to lose some weight, no matter how slowly. Best wishes.👍🏻

          6. Thanks Grizzly, I’m very interested in knowing your progress on the diet and on any suggestions you might have.

          9. When we were diagnosed with diabetes, the diabetes doctor said to cut out/reduce sugar. So, read the labels of the food, and choose the low carb version (so, cornflakes over Special K); reduce potatoes, bread, rice & pasta intake, replace with proteins and fats. Make sure you still eat food that’s interesting, or you’ll soon give up. We found that sourdough bread is OK – tastes good, has actual consistency, and much lower carbs than Chorley Wood bread. Sourdough crispbread is better than ordinary, too.
            Worked a treat – diabetes under control, slow but sure weight loss.

          10. Message for diabetics and copycats; proceed carefully with any weight-loss diet in order to avoid acidoketosis. Me neither, but it can be life threatening.

          11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketoacidosis

            It seems that ketoacidosis (to give it its correct name) is generally caused by having one or many of a number of conditions, or by eating things that are generally not good for you. Apparently it mainly affects diabetics.

            I am not diabetic and I eat natural and nourishing proteins, vegetables and fat.

          13. No Jansson’s Temptation for me, Paul. It’s mainly spuds. Smoked eel (yuk) is not my cup of tea!

            What on earth is ‘Kreps’?

          16. Ah! Kräftor. Love ’em. We have kräftor parties in August,. A massive dish of them (along with other goodies). You pull out the flesh from the cracked body, then suck out all the ‘butter’ from the head. Delicious.

    4. If we had done that to the EU straight away, when they did it to us, instead of waiting years, I strongly suspect the nonsense would have been stopped almost in its tracks.
      Instead we have waited far too long to reciprocate.

  47. John Cleese urged to scrap Life of Brian joke about man having a baby
    Monty Python star warned by actors in readthrough for stage show that Eric Idle skit could be seen as offensive
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/19/john-cleese-life-of-brian-stage-show-joke-man-having-baby/

    There were objections by some Christians when “The Life of Brian” was first released (Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark were in a TV debate with John Cleese and Michael Palin about the film). The objectors lost. I suspect today’s Trans activists will have more success in censoring the show.

  48. Did discurse disappear for half an hour? I couldn’t get it on at all. And “notifications” are up the creek.

  50. My word I’ve just spent an hour and a half trying to open Nottlers on both my PC and phone, I thought we had been closed down !

    1. Me too – I was concerned that GCHQ was working on a Saturday. Glad it wasn’t just me, though.

      1. 24/7.

        Things may have changed, but nearly 40 years ago I remember chatting to an off duty chemical warfare responder. Like a flock of geese, his team were never all asleep at the same time.

      2. 24/7.

        Things may have changed, but nearly 40 years ago I remember chatting to an off duty chemical warfare responder. Like a flock of geese, his team were never all asleep at the same time.

      1. I ran scans and everything else i could. More than a coincidence I fear.
        I sent Bob a message asking him if he’s having problems as well, he’s probably too busy forming his defences. 😊🤗🏰

    3. It could be an off/on automatic control by your internet service provider; Nottlers occasionally cross into territory involving ethnic minority prejudice and other forms of abuse that may be superficially funny or not.

  51. Hello from a Saxon Queen with longbow and blooded axe. Is there a disqus problem today ?

    1. 371467+ up ticks,

      Afternoon LD
      The need for authenticating any work done so far can be satisfied via one anthony charlie lynton, to be found loitering within the park toilet, busy with the devils work.

    2. It’s nothing new- Phillip, Duke of Wharton and Francis Dashwood both had Hell Fire Clubs in the 18th century. Some of their activities, if believed, were nasty at least.

    3. From the article:- “Pages are torn out of a Bible to symbolise overturning their Christian baptism.”

      Now let’s see them doing the same to the Koran.

  53. 371467+ up ticks,

    breitbart,

    The notion of supporting “normative” families as a building block of civilisation is “so offensive… so wrong,” said former UK Health Minister Matt Hancock.

    This political serpent is a top ranker within the framework of his
    ruling political mafia.

    What does that make his party / supporter / voters ?

    1. Gosh, if I were one of his constituents I would be working hard to bin the t*Rd.

    2. Of course they are the building blocks. Civilisation, nay, life itself wouldn’t exist without them. It’s only in the last 30-40 years that cultural and scientific ‘progress’ has enabled procreation of the next generation by Jim and Fred or Jane and Julie.

      1. But Jim and Fred don’t have babies. They buy what Jane and Julie produce. Surrogacy is just an acceptable label for the buying and selling of human life that wokies are only against if it happened 200 years ago and had a different label. It’s still a financial transaction that treats people as commodities.

        2. Delete ‘acceptable’, insert ‘marketing’.
          To be fair, for many couples surrogacy or IVF is a miraculous solution.

    3. Every single study proves that the nuclear family is the bedrock of society. Hancock needs a kicking so severe he never gets up.

  54. Maman’s suggestion sounds like a winner…

    Greatest Reset: Europe Could Achieve Net Zero by Demolishing its Historic Buildings and Starting Again, Says Italian Central Bank

    A top central banker has warned of the damage the rush to ‘Net-Zero’ risks doing to Europe’s economy, and illustrates the point by noting erasing Europe’s built heritage would be necessary to meet extreme green demands.

    Among comments by Paolo Angelini, deputy governor at the Bank of Italy about European Net Zero targets which, in his opinion, risk doing more harm than good, the central banker articulated what level of change would actually be needed from Europeans to meet those demands.

    While saying pushing Europe to net zero risks destabilising the continent’s economy and undermining Europe’s ability to lead on green issues globally, the top economist made his point by revealing he’d asked his team at the Bank of Italy what would be necessary just to make the single institution that he leads compliant.

    Angelini revealed the shocking response, remarking in an interview with Politico: “They told me: ‘If you allow us to tear down all our historical buildings and build energy efficient ones, then we can do it’.”
    *
    *
    https://twitter.com/BreitbartLondon/status/1611701687990816768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1611701687990816768%7Ctwgr%5E4d71a44ed0278069cc619e2806d910459e5e254f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Feurope%2F2023%2F05%2F19%2Fgreatest-reset-europe-could-achieve-net-zero-by-demolishing-its-historic-buildings-and-starting-again-says-italian-central-bank%2F
    *
    *
    https://twitter.com/BreitbartLondon/status/1219256085309198336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1219256085309198336%7Ctwgr%5E4d71a44ed0278069cc619e2806d910459e5e254f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Feurope%2F2023%2F05%2F19%2Fgreatest-reset-europe-could-achieve-net-zero-by-demolishing-its-historic-buildings-and-starting-again-says-italian-central-bank%2F
    *
    *
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/05/19/greatest-reset-europe-could-achieve-net-zero-by-demolishing-its-historic-buildings-and-starting-again-says-italian-central-bank/

    1. Are you sure they have spelt banker correctly ?
      I might have to go for a lie down…………..

    2. As I have mentioned a while ago, at Notre Dame Cathedral it was a possibility that the roof timbers may have been treated with a French-made timber preservative. Which may or may not have been combustible, flammable, I must choose my words carefully.

      1. I imagine, knowing the French that some gormless worker threw a cigarette away and started the fire.

        They can’t seem to follow basic rules, especially where smoking is concerned.

  55. Lots of news of unofficial Chinese police stations appearing all over the world.

    Canada can claim first prize here, it has just been discovered that at least one of those unofficial locations is being funded by the Canadian government. Not directly but through a charity organisation.

        1. No. they have a very single-minded and authoritarian government. The Chinese people are intelligent and industrious and do as they’re told. The government did back down recently though, over the excessive covid measures that had people welded into their flats. Nothing seems to have happened since they relaxed those.

          1. They’re certainly industrious – when I lived in Liverpool you never saw a chinaman on the dole, there again the casino was full of them

      1. Gets the message over, though. Seems to be no other route for communication.

      2. The criminal damage is encouraging teenagers to take puberty blockers that are irreversible.

  57. London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he is suffering from PTSD after death threats have forced him to have 24-hour presidential-level security

    The Labour politician concluded he had the disorder after having ‘talking therapy’ with a doctor, discussing a difficult last few years and the ‘cumulative’ effect it had on his mental health.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12105561/London-Mayor-Sadiq-Khan-says-suffering-PTSD-death-threats.html#readerCommentsCommand-message-field

    BTL

    I wonder if Mr Khan’s embracing of homosexual and transgender culture and allowing homosexual, lesbian and trans people platforms to parade their sexual preferences have provoked menacing threats from his co-religionists?

      1. No, he’s far too self opinionated and self-centered to understand that.

    3. But he installed “presidential level security” as soon as he assumed his position.

      What’s changed?

    5. Maybe if he wasn’t such an odious, abusive, disingenuous, insulting, lying, cretinous, deceitful, greedy, tax grubbing little onanist he wouldn’t need the protection.

      I hope he’s paying for it personally, as well. I refuse to pay for the scum to have anything.

  58. Italy’s Meloni Left ‘Visibly’ Irate After Trudeau Pushed LGBT Agenda at G7

    Efforts by Trudeau to push his LGBT agenda at the G7 reportedly left Italian PM Giorgia Meloni looking “visibly” irate.

    Sparks are reportedly flying at the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, with a comment on LGBT issues by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being described as leaving his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, looking visibly annoyed.

    Since assuming power last year, Meloni has been steadily pushing Italy to the right on various social issues, including LGBT ideology, something that has seen her party rise to commanding heights in popularity polling.

    Such popularity does not appear to have impressed substitute drama teacher-turned-leader of Canada, Justin Trudeau, who reportedly lashed out at Meloni’s successful dismantling of progressive ideology in the country.

    “Obviously, Canada is concerned about some of the (positions) that Italy is taking in terms of LGBT rights,” Trudeau is reported as publicly saying at the meeting, adding that he looked forward to talking with Meloni about the issue.

    It did not appear that the Italian PM felt the same way, with those present at the meeting describing her as looking “visibly annoyed”, according to POLITICO.

    https://twitter.com/tempoweb/status/1659483131043364864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1659483131043364864%7Ctwgr%5Ead467d9cfe39e4ad35d032c52ca7f37b1c3c4881%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Feurope%2F2023%2F05%2F20%2Fitalys-meloni-left-visibly-irate-after-trudeau-pushes-lgbt-agenda-at-g7%2F
    *
    *
    https://twitter.com/BreitbartLondon/status/1656720831714848768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1656720831714848768%7Ctwgr%5Ead467d9cfe39e4ad35d032c52ca7f37b1c3c4881%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Feurope%2F2023%2F05%2F20%2Fitalys-meloni-left-visibly-irate-after-trudeau-pushes-lgbt-agenda-at-g7%2F

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/05/20/italys-meloni-left-visibly-irate-after-trudeau-pushes-lgbt-agenda-at-g7/

    2. We need someone like her here. Who arranged them for the group photo and put her in between the two tallest men?

    3. Why is government so frenziedly desperate to interfere in what are private issues? Homosexuals deserve absolutely no rights simply for where they stick their junk. It doesn’t change anything bout them. same for trans. A man in a dress remains, legally a man There’s nothing that changes that except psychoses.

  61. The cancellation of classical music. Spiked 20 May 2023.

    Every humanities subject is being hollowed out with similar charges. Under the logic of the current moment, any tradition that comes out of Europe is racist because its contributors will have been overwhelmingly white. It matters not that the demographics of Europe until the past 50 years made that racial composition inevitable. Balinese gamelan music, the Chinese opera, Indian classical music and the Nigerian talking drum have been as racially monolithic, without falling afoul of the diversity monitors. Only Western civilisation is under attack for its traditional racial homogeneity.

    It is obvious that traditional Western Culture will decline in direct proportion to the increase in the non-indigenous members of the population. They have no history of it. They come from a completely different background. There is no Renaissance or Enlightenment in Islam. They simply never happened. Classical music is just one aspect of this. The Theatre and Cinema with their concessions to Diversity are conspiring at their own demise. Worse is of course that incomers are actively opposed to the artistic achievements of Western Civilisation. They seek its end. As the Barbarisation of the west proceeds under the impulse of Mass Migration they will succeed. Five hundred years of unparalleled genius will vanish as if it had never been!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/05/20/the-cancellation-of-classical-music/

    1. Classical music seems to be alive and well here since we have been able to go to things in the last year or so. We have been to opera, choral concerts and other live music in the last few months, as we did before.

      1. Afternoon Ndovu. The process will be gradual until a tipping point is reached.

        1. Erm, I was an elementary school librarian. There were many days when booze would have helped but, sadly, not allowed;-)
          Now in Hartford CT every year there was a Hooker Day parade. Before y’all jump to the wrong conclusions, Thomas Hooker was one of the founders of the city and state.
          Always made me chuckle.

  64. Notification boxes are still whiffy . Also comments today will appear here on the site ( and others ) but not on my account . I just checked the account of Rastus ( excuse the intrusion R ) and he’s the same ( others I assume too ) yesterday’s comments appearing on sites and today’s appearing on sites but not on account details. It’s the weekend, I’ll assume disqus will deal with it on Monday.

    1. Every time I refresh, I get notification of the same last 8 comments from yesterday. Nowt from today. Ho, hum.

    2. Yes, I tried to remember what I said in a post this morning but I could find no trace of any of my posts today. For some time this morning I could nut get into the Nottlers forum at all.

  65. Last night I watched a Audrey Hepburn film ( im a huge fan ) she was a little older in the film, but with vestiges of an earlier ethereal beauty which clung to her like wisps of mist in the early morning Vale just as the sun breaks through.

  66. Top Gear staff are signed off with PTSD after witnessing Freddie Flintoff’s horror car crash:

    PTSD? One broken rib and some facial cuts. No one died! What a bunch of sissies. I never watched it but I thought the programme was about a bunch of risk taking He-Men. It turns out the are just a bunch of wet-kneed BBC pansies. All mouth and no balls!

      1. Umm, no, these are the new top Gear team who work for the BBC. The old Top Gear team – Hammond, Clarkson and May – are with Amazon.

        1. Yes, and I seem to recall that Hammond had a really bad crash some years ago, but managed to return to the show after much time in hospital and rehab.

    2. I can understand it, to be honest. I ame off my bike not many years ago and never got on again. Eventually sold it to a chap who got a bargain on a new Triumph.

      1. I briefly had a new Honda CB100N, which I rode with L plates on my car licence, when my employer placed a moratorium on company cars. I sold the bike when I was finally issued with a second-hand Vauxhall Nova. I enjoyed the experience, and – aged 50 – I took a motorcycle test. The fact that the school was based around Dunsfold (think “old Top Gear”) was just a bonus.

        So I bought a Honda Hornet 600 on eBay. What fun! Weekend trips to the South coast; any excuse to ride the A272 (a great motorcycling road) – life was good. I was working in Southampton, on the Ocean Cruise Terminal site, and whatever time I left work, I couldn’t drive home in the company Mondeo in time for choir practice.

        So, every Thursday, I took the bike to work. Evening traffic queues became irrelevant. The choir got used to the Director of Music turning up in bike leathers, and all was well.

        Fast forward a year or two, and I’d taken redundancy. I placed a speculative eBay bid on a LR Discovery with issues. Sadly, I won it. So I borrowed Dianne’s carport in Woking, and proceeded to swap engines.

        One wet, miserable night, on the way home, I slowed down, to turn right. Next minute, I was rolling across the tarmac. The bike was spinning around it’s footrest.

        Safely in bike leathers, I was fine. The bike was somewhat bent. Much of which. I was able to repair, before I sold the bloody thing.

  67. Well that’s been a busy morning!
    Had a tree root to get out so got the tirfor and OPH set up to pull it. Only put 5 pins into the OPH set and less than 5 minutes winching with the tirfor uprooted it.
    Then I had to get all the tackle put away again! Bloody knackering as it’s fairly heavy kit!

    Pictures with explanations:-
    Tifor and OPH Set; The Tirfor is a device for applying a pull onto a steel wire rope (SWR). The model I have has a 3 ton rating.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cbd77dd51b4eaf2abecce98c24958410be1f3c85cc84060b46e8157aac4f7150.jpg

    The OPH set is a heavy forged steel plate with 8 holes and 8 3′ long steel pins. The initials stand for Ordnance Pattern Holdfast and is also known as an Earth Anchor.
    With all 8 pins driven into decent ground, it will take over a 1 ton pull. For greater loads, OPH sets can be connected in line. As I did not need the full 1 ton pull, I only used 5 pins and my shorter 6m cable.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db7b464b2d39577d5b43146e6903761ec9d5e47bc3ccf5b731d91e91977b95c2.jpg

    The root was pulled by a nylon strop shackled to the end of the tirfor cable. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fc489b07bc1ad0e129eb4fb0a01c73af83a0edeb97abf70a8109237451f3876a.jpg

    And, once I’d done the back breaking task of setting the gear out, it popped out with very little effort!
    Not a large root, but it would have been a bugger to get out any other way,
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f0abd469f86f250aad6f34248d5352ed07fa21fea64402401b8b653bf7129c8.jpg

    I’ve also started getting the van kitted out for a trip away for a few days and am considering a run to Wales as there is a company that does wool insulation I want to visit!

    3. We do learn stuff here on Nttl!! Thanks for the pics, all the better for explaining what you are up to!

      1. I more than slightly over-egged the pudding regards the kit, the tirfor is a full one man lift in its self, and the OPH set it a one man lift for the pins and bar EACH, but I’ve a few heavier stumps I may need to shift in future so really wanted to prove the method.

    4. Hi Bob.I had a tirfor of sorts. Machine Mart called it a ratchet puller. Whatever. It was a handy tool. I bought it when I needed to move an engine-less LR Discovery a short distance. Subsequently, it has pulled bushes out (though, in fairness the Discovery was also quite good at this), dragged two full-size photocopier/printers up the stairs (and lowered them down again), lifted said machines onto their bases as an improvised crane, and pulled a crashed, overturned Fiesta back onto its wheels (I used to live adjacent to an horrendous junction). Along with most of my garage tools, it’s gone to a former neighbour’s son, who has spent the last few years rebuilding a Series 2 Land Rover from the ground up…

  68. Middle East brings Syria’s Assad in from the cold. 20 May 2023

    Arab leaders welcomed Bashar al-Assad back into the fold on Friday, as regional powers discussed a deal that could see millions of refugees sent back to Syria.

    Assad, a global pariah over a litany of human rights abuses during the brutal civil war, took part in an Arab League summit in Riyadh for the first time in a decade.

    TOP COMMENTS BELOW THE LINE.

    alicia lopez.
    It’s so satisfying to see this long distance runner hero emerge from the staged “civil war” engineered and brokered by the USA & UK to topple him….paying for, arming & transporting hundreds of thousands of jihadi head choppers from all over the world….using them to murder Syrian civilians….all for regime change. Of course, the thinking world has Putin to thank…else ISIS’s black flag would be flying over Damascus as we speak.

    Roger Anthony.
    Absolutely, this guy is a hero and saved Syria from Isis. Putin is not the demon that our media makes put to be, he single handedly fought the jihadis (supported by US, UK) in Syria and Libya.

    Adam Kennedy.
    Well said.

    I was quite pleased to read these comments. I do have occasional doubts when I go against the Government Narrative so to read supporting posts is always reassuring. .

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/05/19/bashar-al-assad-arab-league-summit-welcomed-saudi-arabia/

    1. It takes courage to rejoin the Arab League and visit with the same persons who wished to depose you a decade ago. It is about putting your country before personal animosity. It demonstrates how skilful Assad is in geopolitical matters, in stark contrast to the current motley crew of the G7 ship of fools.

      Thus a group of WEF puppets in Hiroshima achieve nothing but the issuance of hot air at the G7 summit and continuation of sanctions against Russia which ultimately strengthen Russia and further weaken the collective west. Nobody but a fool would continue to support Zelensky who has failed and is scared even to go back to Kiev.

      Oil will still be traded but in currencies other than the US dollar and at higher costs. It is thought our leaders are on a suicide mission with their destructive Net Zero nonsense and unawareness of the enormity in the shift of geopolitical influence from the west to the east.

      We need regime change in the US, UK and EU.

      1. Be careful what you wish for, at the current rate of regime change the EU and UK are heading towards a Caliphate and the US towards a Demo crate.

  69. Middle East brings Syria’s Assad in from the cold. 20 May 2023

    Arab leaders welcomed Bashar al-Assad back into the fold on Friday, as regional powers discussed a deal that could see millions of refugees sent back to Syria.

    Assad, a global pariah over a litany of human rights abuses during the brutal civil war, took part in an Arab League summit in Riyadh for the first time in a decade.

    TOP COMMENTS BELOW THE LINE.

    alicia lopez.
    It’s so satisfying to see this long distance runner hero emerge from the staged “civil war” engineered and brokered by the USA & UK to topple him….paying for, arming & transporting hundreds of thousands of jihadi head choppers from all over the world….using them to murder Syrian civilians….all for regime change. Of course, the thinking world has Putin to thank…else ISIS’s black flag would be flying over Damascus as we speak.

    Roger Anthony.
    Absolutely, this guy is a hero and saved Syria from Isis. Putin is not the demon that our media makes put to be, he single handedly fought the jihadis (supported by US, UK) in Syria and Libya.

    Adam Kennedy.
    Well said.

    I was quite pleased to read these comments. I do have occasional doubts when I go against the Government Narrative so to read supporting posts is always reassuring. .

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/05/19/bashar-al-assad-arab-league-summit-welcomed-saudi-arabia/

  70. We managed to avoid the traffic queues visiting Weymouth this morning .

    The sun was out, breezy and Weymouth was packed with day trippers, locals and holiday makers .

    The great attraction was the wonderful full size Spanish galleon moored up in the harbour, accepting visitors to tour the ship . It was a wonderful sight . https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/23530901.el-galeon-spanish-tall-ship-arrives-weymouth-harbour/

    The local harbour ferry men grumbled a bit because their trade was being disrupted , as I mentioned it was a breezy early afternoon

    I just took a few photos , Moh guarded the car from the advancing traffic warden ..

    The galleon was darkly fearsome .. and quite something , not a warship but a 17th century trader .

    You may enjoy this poem .

    ‘Cargoes’

    Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
    Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
    With a cargo of ivory,
    And apes and peacocks,
    Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

    Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
    Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
    With a cargo of diamonds,
    Emeralds, amethysts,
    Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

    Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
    Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
    With a cargo of Tyne coal,
    Road-rails, pig-lead,
    Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

    John Masefield

      1. We popped into Sainsbury , Weymouth, Wibbling ,which has a wonderful view of the sea , then decided to drive down to the harbour .
        It was a lovely surprise.

        1. One for you Maggie, following on from your post this morning about the garden and weedkiller etc.
          Here’s a look round our garden. No weedkiller, no straight lines.
          Plenty of self-sown ‘weeds’ and things which come up each year. We
          planted the silver birch in 2000, it was a free one from Alpen.

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/888c2670fcb9ddc34adefac2400482e76cd8b89531e34f53886ecfb4c72d6078.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb5c97cff1e8c80ddb765f2c2e43b6d914922fa8985c110231c5252da0ffd793.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e68f98d87d9520b171357c78e2216f52a20113e99026c2fbb8a540b078d22d46.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1378be7228b2b368a4a087a6a6ed1ab55020db7beeb4e1aff1530e09d72a255a.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c6b6fbbae1a557245e52dd39029844b43e6ab71fd246dc02f5820c6d0921299.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/254e5370a995ca73447a84ae67b42c9662536b4a6a797575bf2bff33e0308329.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/71efb004e3b1b51ee2231f6d899a6ea14d6a3a181240154986247be258f0d344.j

          2. Beautiful, J… similar to my little corners . I have some lovely flowering shrubs , orange blossom, Rhodies, azaleas , ceanothus , etc . I love this time of the year.

            Your magnolia and flags are lovely.

            I have had a wisteria for 12 years and it still hasn’t flowered .. ditto peonies..

            Everything else is doing very well .. steering clear of Dahlias, but Moh has just bought some begonias , not my favourite , but moh said his father had pots of them .. Bees are NOT attracted to them .

          3. The Magnolia – Susan – was a wedding present 26 years ago in July. The iris are in the pond. There were other iris but they seem to have disappeared. Though I have some dwarf ones called Blackfoot – will have to look for them. The Wisteria was planted by our predecessors but it was just a tiny stick then so about 29 years old. Last year we had to sacrifice a lot of the old wood as it had all come down with the pergola in the February storms. When we’d got a minimal version of the pergola back up, I tied in some young stems and they are doing ok. The Choysia is in flower now. One very old peony hadn’t flowered for years but reappeared last year when we’d had a few inches taken off the bushes so it had a bit more light. It’s got a couple of fat buds on now. It’s a lovely dark red. Here it is last year.
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f5ce819c7acf4475bda4122c2610a38216a5aebaaee4ce284631ac4949ad1294.jpg

          4. I have lost my choisya over the winter. I don’t seem to have much luck with them. I have a Susan, but that doesn’t have flowers on it this year. What am I doing wrong?

          5. I don’t know – our choisya is flowering well but some of the leaves are yellowing – i think it caught the frost a bit in the winter. Susan was quite late coming into flower but they have been nicely spread out so there has been colour there for well over a month now.

          6. Wisterias – Belle
            Belle, here is the reply I posted further up to Bill and Ndovu about making Wisterias flower:

            About 25 years ago I grew two different Wisterias in large pots against the south-facing back wall of our house. They love a sunny spot. Total disappointment for at least five years. They did not flower, just made lots of winding shoots.

            A local expert said: “Here’s what to do:
            In September, prune back the ends of those long shoots to 5 or 6 buds. Be ruthless. Then in February trim them back again to 2 or 3 buds. You’ll get marvellous flowers before the leaves”. It worked beautifully for me and also for my son’s flower-free Wisteria.

            Here it is again, this time from an Internet search:
            To make a Wisteria flower, it is essential to prune regularly twice a year; a winter prune in February and summer prune in July/August. Unless Wisteria is pruned hard, it will put energy into vigorous leaf growth at the expense of flowers, and so the Wisteria will not flower or produce fewer flowers.

            Too late for this year, but get ready in September and February and you’ll be glad you did.

    2. That was set to music by I can’t remember who and we sang it at primary school.

      1. I have looked and I can’t find a composer but Peter Dawson made a recording of it- not that great in my opinion.

    3. Thanks, Maggie. I remember the poem from school days. I lived in Masefield Walk, Thetford, for ten years. Just off Shelley Way (you get the picture).

      If I ever knew who wrote the poem, it was long-forgotten. I’ve learned something today.

    1. Can’t be a Spanish galleon, they are still in the EU – not allowed to use English measures and can’t promote its own independence. Must be an UE Litreon.

      1. Alfred Lord Tennyson

        The Revenge : A Ballad of the Fleet

        At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,
        And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away:
        “Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!”
        Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: “‘Fore God I am no coward;
        But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear,
        And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick.
        We are six ships of the line; can we fight with fifty-three?”

        The poem is wonderful and very long , and what a story.. it caught my imagination

        Here is the link to the rest of it https://hellopoetry.com/words/galleons/

    3. “Sink me the ship, Master Gunner,
      Sink her and split her in twain”

      (I know that this was referring to his OWN ship – but the sentiment is as good!)

  72. People forget how fast dogs can move. I walk with a chap who owns a long haired Alsation. I forget how old he is, but he’s younger than Mongo. (less than 4).

    Bruce and I were throwing balls for this great thing and he accelerates like a rocket. Once a ball went one way, but for some reason we didn’t understand, dog went the other – at absolute top whack, belting the 50 feet in about 3 seconds, clearing a 4ft bar fence as if it wasn’t there to start barking like a nutcase, foaming, frothing and growling at a bloke kneeling beside Bruce’s crying little girl (turn’s out she’d dropped her dolly and couldn’t get off the swing to reach it). The Warqueen and Bruce’s wife are sat there but the dog saw a threat and reacted.

    It was quite something to see.

    Less impressive was Mongo, who lumbered straight through the fencing and Ozzie was too busy idolising her Highness.

    1. My last Golden Henry ran like the wind. He could be at the bottom of the yard but if he heard a beer can or bottle being opened- he was beside you. And our yard was 2 acres.

      1. Kadi may only have little legs, but he can do nought to sixty if he hears the biscuit tin being taken off the shelf in the kitchen!

        1. As I have said, with Goldens, dropped food never makes it to the floor.

    2. A dog can turn very quickly if it smells danger or threats .

      Please post a photo of Mongo and newcomer , I still cannot imagine the size of him .

      1. I keep trying – for some reason I can’t attach images. I can link to them though, so will try that. Just finding somewhere to put it…

        I’m 6’2 and a bit. His back is level with my waist. His head can bash me in the tummy.

  74. Diet- Day One:
    I have removed all the bad food from the house.
    It was delicious!

      1. A liquid one! Seriously, I have a magnet on my fridge that says. “Save water- drink booze.”

          1. I was worried for a moment, in case you were going t-total, leaving me to the Pinot, Jack prefers the red stuff!

          5. Hi Big Sis. There are better wines than YT. I picked up a bottle of M&S Shiraz at Guildford Station (it’s my nearest convenience store) last night. Cost about a tenner. Was it nicer than YT? Yes. Was it 50% nicer? Nope.

            I occasionally weaken when my Virgin Wines ‘personal adviser’ phones. So 12 bottles of “big and fruity reds” appear on the doorstep. And they’re all drinkable. But around 50% dearer than Kanga.

            I keep an eye on “25% off 6 bottles” deals. They tend to coincide with Bank Holidays. This is a handy site…

          6. I know there are many more decent wines but we stick with what we like and what we can afford. There is a rather affordable Cotes from Sainsbury’s which my husband likes so we have a couple of bottles of that.

          7. Moi? Tee total? Not a chance and it’s all that slightly helps right now.

          8. Nice sunny evening. Opened a cold Riesling, first in years, and it’s very good. Just right for the weather.

      2. I used to have another magnet that said, “I’m on a drinking diet; I’m hungry but I don’t care.”

  75. Par Four today.

    Wordle 700 4/6
    🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. And me.

      Wordle 700 4/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Me too.
      Wordle 700 4/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. ‘rate’ birdie.

        Should that be ‘rare’ birdie, Geoff – or, are you using Glaswegian dialect?

  76. Not to be outdone – here are some snaps of our “plantation”….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ad3ca3a3c92352549e2b78edf6d9fc9365017665ef3ea784c8f585de6d1c4486.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f133dd4f9f4f195307f334e637098e5d9255cfd3df7a2f0a71b852013fd671c3.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2edb70d581c59498be16785c4bea01df24cd9fb9600a33ce0454827950bb4ab4.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cd59ebda9915d34ac1f99706334cff191d9793b65b663ea8650c8824675d0b5c.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f4092a523b5ea0f5e7de2476c744764a5339bd1b3361280658c7809a3f1d46f7.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/46eba5d78d7e78bcf52d4a609044c364ec79123dfe5891940b0d1aecd3886bdc.jpg

    The one with the Head Gardener shows her with her dahlia catalogue – planning on the planting sequence….

      1. Just feels like it!! It is 1½ acres but ½ ac is a beech wood. It is 120 yards to the top. A trip I make probably 10 times a day (each way) = 1½ miles!!

      2. The MR is standing beneath the white Wisteria* – which looks as though it will produce gorgeous flowers in a few days. It normally has very few. Will keep you posted!

        *We have four – all different with different flowering times.

        2. Wisterias – Bill and Ndovu
          About 25 years ago I grew two different Wisterias in large pots against the south-facing back wall of our house. They love a sunny spot. Total disappointment for at least five years. They did not flower, just made lots of winding shoots.

          A local expert said: “Here’s what to do:
          In September, prune back the ends of those long shoots to 5 or 6 buds. Be ruthless. Then in February trim them back again to 2 or 3 buds. You’ll get marvellous flowers before the leaves”. It worked beautifully for me and also for my son’s flower-free Wisteria.

          Here it is again, this time from an Internet search:
          To make a Wisteria flower, it is essential to prune regularly twice a year; a winter prune in February and summer prune in July/August. Unless Wisteria is pruned hard, it will put energy into vigorous leaf growth at the expense of flowers, and so the Wisteria will not flower or produce fewer flowers.

          Too late for this year, but get ready in September and February and you’ll be glad you did.

          1. Ours got an extra prune last year when we had to sacrifice quite a lot of it, to rescue what was left of the pergola. Tying in the young stems seems to have worked. I usually just prune out the long whippy stems after it’s finished flowering, I haven’t tried a February prune as well. I would think Wysteria is a bit vigorous for pots though.

    3. What’s the name of that bush where the new leaves are bright red? There’s one in our neighbour’s garden, and they make a lovely hedge.

  78. Just about to take the scones out of the oven for the clotted cream tea ( with wild strawberry jam ) – cream first, of course – in the garden! Shall be going to bed early as a 5 am start to catch a coach for a WFWT / RSPB trip – rather early – too early really.

  79. That’s me for today. Sunny all day long BUT with a cold edge to the ceaseless strong breeze. Deffo NOT shorts and T-shirt weather.

    Hope for better tomorrow. Have a jolly evening.

    A demain DV….

    1. No – I got fed up with the strong wind. Took some photos and came in. I did get some things done.

  82. Here’s one for you: How smart all this AI cobblers is.
    I thought I’d sign up to ChatGPT, to ask it “will Russia or Ukraine win?”
    Due to a mistake, after having given my email etc, received a mail to authenticate, I got the year wrong in the birthday box. June 2023… oops.
    It comes back and says I have to be over 18 to sign up, so signup rejected.
    Puh.
    Try again: I cannot create a new logon ID, and the rejected one exists, so that fails.
    I cannot logon to the existing ID, as the account has been rejected – but not rejected enough to allow it to be created properly.
    What fcuking use is AI if the tiniest error fools it completely? Bah! Such a vaunted system cannot cope with a tiny error, so it must be thicker than pigshut.

  84. Did you know?
    Line dancing was invented by women waiting in line for the ladies’ loo.

        1. Would any man choose to queue up for ages to go into the Ladies’ instead of immediate entry to the Gents’?

          Oh, hang on…

      2. You know, if he used the gents as, well, the bloke he is there would be no queue.

      1. A friend and I hijacked the gents loo in the Hartford Civic Center once. Half time in a basketball game so everyone heads to the loo. Long queue outside the ladies but only a couple of blokes in and out of the gents.
        We grabbed a bloke and asked him to stand guard while some of the girls used the gents. He did, although he looked rather scared, and it worked! We all got back for the 2nd half.

        1. Good for you.
          I was standing in relieving myself in a London area gents, when a rush of air and a commotion took place next to me this chap whipped out his enormous appendage and breathed out the words, wow I just made it. I couldn’t help my self and added. Could you make me one like that 😆

        2. I often use the gents’ if there’s a queue for the ladies’. I can never get over how badly they smell – Lord knows what they do in there.

  85. 372467+ up ticls,

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    1h
    This interview is over an hour long but, if you listen for the first five minutes you’ll be hooked until the end.

    This Belgian professor gives a brilliant analysis of Mass Formation, the mass psychosis that has brought the western world & beyond to where we are today.

    Give it a listen & send it on.

    https://gettr.com/post/p2hkflj0f70

  86. Gooners blew their title hopes, but with a bit of luck the remaining fixtures will send Everton down.
    After all, Goodison’s where our season ended.

    1. I used to drink Gales HSB ( Horndean Special Brew) when we lived in Old Portsmouth. What a great drink it was.

      .

      1. High Speed Bitter was all right, when I worked as a farm labourer in Hampsire, late ’70s.

      2. Oh my goodness, that’s one I’d forgotten about. I drank Gales HSB in a pub somewhere in the Derbys/Notts/South Yorks area, back in the 1980s (it was a guest beer), and I remember it being utterly delicious.

      1. A few winners. Donald McCain and Brian Hughes had a good day. I’m off wine for the moment due to the need for strong painkillers.

  89. Vote now!
    Who do you give less of a shit about?
    1. Phil and Holly.
    2. Meghan and Harry.
    3. Rishi and Vlod. (Just get a room.)

    No prizes are available.

          1. I did work it out. No offense taken at all. Trying to keep the humour going to boost my mood. Husband has been very poorly today.
            Ain’t life grand?
            How are you doing now? Much better, I hope.

          4. So sorry to see that, I was hoping the tide had turned, and things were beginning to look up for you both.

    1. Considering the majority demographic is white, oh well, go woke, go broke.

      I just wish those people losing all this money were ruined personally to teach them a lesson that being racist scum doesn’t pay.

    1. We passed a bunch of them down by the shore. They had a severely disabled fellow with them – a result of inbreeding.

      The Left have ruined this country. They hate everything – let alone the referendum, I doubt they’ve got over losing world war 2.

      1. Never mind WW II- the French still haven’t forgiven us for Agincourt, Crecy, Poitier etc

    2. “It used to be fun, Dad and old Mum, paddling at Southend.

      But now it ain’t done…”

    1. The 2 ‘atom bombs’ dropped on Japan, were well deserved and necessary, and at the same time showed that their use was a dreadful thing. Why is Zelenski appearing at a G7 meeting? Is Ukraine a G7 country?

  94. Well that’s me done for today.
    Quite a struggle digging out half a compost bin.
    But I think the resulting veg will be worth it.
    Out to lunch with good old down to earth buddies tmz.
    And I won’t be driving home.
    Away day next weekend near Kings Lynn, lunch with my sister and hubby, their daughter, son in law and his parents from Tilberg. And I won’t be driving home from that one either.
    So it’s good night from me.

  95. After the strenuous morning, a quiet afternoon and I’m off for a bath & bed.
    G’night all.

  97. I am off to bed also. Whoever said older people need less sleep was totally wrong. I could sleep for England these days and nights- given a chance.
    Sleep well and see you tomorrow, all being well.

  98. Good night, chums. I still have a lot of jobs on my “To D” list, but I shall leave them until tomorrow and head on up the stairs to Bedford.

    1. In bed @ 19:00, read until 21:00 and took a sleeping tablet. Nada, nix, no joy. now 01:44 and resigned to another sleepless night. I have booze being delivered tomorrow so must be awake for it.

Comments are closed.