The last three times we have tried to travel to France my wife has been diagnosed with cancer just beforehand, on one occasion receiving the GP’s text as we emerged from the tunnel, and the holiday aborted. That’s it. No more trips to France. As a French friend of mine once said, they can whistle from it.
I'm sorry to hear that @BenCotto. In the old expression, "There are plenty of places in this country. Why would you want to go abroad ?". My Nan, God bless her. Possibly used when we went to Jersey, but this could be my memory playing tricks.
My curmudgeonly rant this morning is that l have just seen a seagull take a baby blackbird from the back garden. I know, it's nature, but seeing the mother blackbird going round the garden trying to find it has upset me very much. There were 2 babies so l'm hoping the other one is okay.
@Obelixx using train and/or ferry is practical if you live in the South East of England but far less so if you live further afield. It would take us best part of a day to get to the Channel. I don't drive abroad any more. For the few years I have left where foreign travel will be a possibility, I just want to get where I'm going, and back in the shortest time possible.
My curmudgeon is from yesterday. Typical , we have drought conditions I had been eekinig out the last of the water in one of the waterbuts, for the plants that really need rainwater, when the flow stops. I lifted the lid to be greeted by a foul smell, what should have been the last 20-30 litres of water was a revolting black slime. I swear something in there winked at me as bubbles of gas rose to the surface 🤪. So I have had to drain and empty the sludge, & clean the tank. I now have no rainwater left, so it's tap or die for the plants for a while. When the rain finally comes I know the moss will be flushed down off the roof and block the diverter. 😠
Really pee'd off with the water authority/regulatory people coming up with excuses for the total lack of investment in the infrastructure. Apparently we run at 20% (1 in 5 litres) leakage. We haven't had an new reservoirs built since...what 1980's? The pipelines they spoke about to move water around the countries are still not built....but there are plans allegedly.
With that background, there was a woman on this morning then effectively partly blaming usage - apparently our per person usage is too high and it's that we need to address. And the leaks are being addressed - they are going down - so what were they - 25%...30%...40% and how long has it taken then to get down to 20%?. I also wonder how much the excess per person usage has increased simply because for the past 2 years people have been encouraged to work from home - so they've been using household water rather than work water. Each loo flush is what 6-10 litres?
The fact that the population has grown by 10million since the 80s (and that was predictable) and that global warming has been spoken about since the 70s is presumably irrelevant.
The trouble is , governments don't look any further than the next general elections, and private companies only seem to look forward to next year's profit sheet/ dividend pay out. to be fair, when plans are announced to construct a new reservoir, locals get up in arms about disruption, lorries, dust etc etc. Nimby ism
My curmudgeon is from yesterday. Typical , we have drought conditions I had been eekinig out the last of the water in one of the waterbuts, for the plants that really need rainwater, when the flow stops. I lifted the lid to be greeted by a foul smell, what should have been the last 20-30 litres of water was a revolting black slime. I swear something in there winked at me as bubbles of gas rose to the surface 🤪. So I have had to drain and empty the sludge, & clean the tank. I now have no rainwater left, so it's tap or die for the plants for a while. When the rain finally comes I know the moss will be flushed down off the roof and block the diverter. 😠
Fill your water butt or a smaller container from the tap and leave the lid off for a few days and the chlorine or whatever else is used in treatment will evaporate off which should be a bit kinder to those plants that don't like tap water.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
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So you're not coming over for Xmas this year then?
My curmudgeonly rant this morning is that l have just seen a seagull take a baby blackbird from the back garden. I know, it's nature, but seeing the mother blackbird going round the garden trying to find it has upset me very much. There were 2 babies so l'm hoping the other one is okay.
So I have had to drain and empty the sludge, & clean the tank. I now have no rainwater left, so it's tap or die for the plants for a while. When the rain finally comes I know the moss will be flushed down off the roof and block the diverter. 😠
to be fair, when plans are announced to construct a new reservoir, locals get up in arms about disruption, lorries, dust etc etc. Nimby ism
Fill your water butt or a smaller container from the tap and leave the lid off for a few days and the chlorine or whatever else is used in treatment will evaporate off which should be a bit kinder to those plants that don't like tap water.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw'