Drizzle, elections and gold leaf

23 October 2012

So today we have a cloudy, damp, deary day with a fine drizzle that you can't see but can feel as it hits you.  It's the sort of rain that I dislike intensely because it's neither one thing or another.  I'm pleased I have nothing to go out for.  Jan however, has taken our son to Coventry to view a flat he has been offered.  Now she has to take him there again tomorrow so he can sign for it.  That puts he trip to see her sister Trish off for a day.  I hope he appreciates it!

One of our neighbours told me last week that our local pub The Anchor was due to open last weekend.  I had thought that it might not open again actually seeing as it seemed to take so long for anyone to take it on.  Well, I was wrong!  There is now a banner over part of the front boundary wall saying "Under New Management", on it.  I think there will be more than a few locals who will be pleased to see it open again.  Actually, it's quite a nice pub really and I hope the new manager is able to make a go of it there.

A few days ago I mentioned the fall out over the working group of the so-called Borough Plan run by the Council.  Today's News has a front page story of the Tory members of group resigning from the group due to skulduggery by the controlling Labour group.  The Labour group are blaming the Tory's over it claiming that the Tories are trying to misdirect the people of Dorktown from the polices of the current Tory lead government.  They are all the same really, no matter what party they represent.  All the arguments do is to put people off them all.  The overall result is low turnout at elections.  Then they sit and wring their hands asking why so few bothered to vote.  As per normal none of them see themselves to blame for it.  And talking of elections ...

Are you planning on voting on the upcoming police commissioner election?  Well, for the first time in such a long time I can't remember when it last happened, but I won't be voting in this one.  The idea that so much power and authority is centred in the hands of just one person in a local area seems to be very wrong.  The office may well become so corrupted that it will become it will become impossible to work.  I'm talking of financial corruption here, although that is always a possibility when dealing with public funds, but political corruption.  I can see the party line taking precedence over the local issues.  Surely we get enough of that crap now as it is.  The other reason I don't agree with it is that it is adding another layer of bureaucracy which will ultimately have to be paid for by the council tax payer or by general taxation.

I have at last sorted out a few shots from Sunday.  Here's one I got on my Nikon 5100 ... 

We saw the tree on our way to Cley so I made sure I had the Nikon ready for when we got to it. 

And now for a funny ...

Fred and Mary get married but can't afford a honeymoon, so they go back to mom and dads for the night.
In the morning, little Johnny gets up and has his breakfast. As he is going out of the door to go to school, he asks his mom if Fred and Mary are up yet. She replies, "No". Johnny asks, "Do you know what I think?" His mom replies, "Never mind what you think! Just go to school."
Johnny comes home for lunch and asks his mom, "Is Fred and Mary up yet?" She replies, "No." Johnny says, "Do you know what I think?" His mom replies, "Never mind what you think! Eat your lunch and go back to school."
After school, he comes home and asks, "Is Fred and Mary up yet?" His mom says, "No." Johnny asks, "Do you know what I think?" His mom replies, "OK! What do you think?"
He says, "Well, last night Fred came in for the Vaseline and I think I gave him my airplane glue."   

Birding, Cley and no new photos

22-October 2012

It's not time to sit and try to get some work done on Photo Finish.  However, I also have to finish proof reading Web of Hate.  Right now of course I am spending time on writing me blog.  Oh the pressures of life - just how will I manage ;-)))

We didn't go to Southend yesterday, we went to North Norfolk instead.  The change was due to the weather forecast saying that the south east would be getting heavy rain.  We left here at around 7.30 and finally arrived at around 10.30.  A quick drink in the cafe and we set off for a look around.  Our new scooters were well up to doing the job and we got around very easily.  There was little in the way of birds at Cley though.  Of course there are area of the site we can't do, like North Scrape Hide.  The access is by walking a good 400-500 metres along a pebble beach and that we just can't do.  There are three hides which we can get to along a board walk, which is OK and we did those.  But the last hide is accessible only down a fairly rough and muddy pathway, which I'm not sure that the scooters will manage with.  In essence then, we can only do those three hides. 

After there we headed for Titchwell and we had plenty of time to have a good look around - or so we thought!  The RSPB have opened up a couple of new walks and off we went to have a look at them.  The main one takes you past a lake that you couldn't access before the pathway was built.  It has certainly added to the interest value in the site.  The one down side is that they paths are not circular and once you get to the end you have to turn round and go back the way you came.  Again, not many birds that we could see.  On the way back we felt rain so instead of going on to the beach area we decided to head back to the car.  By the time we got there the rain was quite moderate.  No hanging about, we headed off home and got back here around 7.30 last night.  We still felt we had a good day though even if our bird count was only 45.  The only photos I took were on my Nikon compact and there's only 3 of those.

With no new photos from yesterday, here's one a little egret I got a couple of years ago ...

Funny time ...

Poor chap wakes up in hospital after an operation following a bad car smash. The surgeon fills him in on the bad news.
You were in such a bad state we have had to rebuild you and it has taken
several transplants to complete the job. There is however good news and bad
news.
Good news: We have been able to transplant a backside to replace yours which
was shattered
Bad news: The donor was gay
Good news: We were able to replace both your legs
Bad News: The only pair we could find were from a 6'2" lesbian
Good news: We were able to transplant a new pair of hands for you
Bad news: The only pair we could match for your size were black
So doctor, what you're saying is that I have a gays backside, lesbians legs
and black hands.
What the hell is the good news?
Well, you have maximum priority on the housing list in Harringay!!

Lost idea, follow up and the markets

20 October 2012

It's happened again; I thought of something for starting today's blog as I was lying in bed but now I've forgotten what it was.  Thing is, before I settle I have to put on the face mask of a CPAP machine.  I have sleep apnoea that requires me to use the mask 5 nights out of 7 as a minimum.  My usage rate is much closer to 7 out of 7 nights.  I can see and so on while using it but it's not all that comfortable to do so really so when I do think of something and I have settled, then it doesn't get noted.  And leads to me forgetting what it was.

Before I settled last night I finished reading Ian Rankin's Doors Open.  It is up to his normal excellent standard apart from one item - the ending.  That left me quite frustrated and a tad annoyed.  I won't tell you about it in case I spoil it for you.  But basically he's either left it open-ended ready for a fallow up, or he decided to have a mean day with the ending.  Later I shall send him an email over it ;-)))

While I was in town yesterday a couple stopped me and asked where the market was.  Opps ... there's no market in Dorktown on Friday's.  They were looking fairly disappointed when I told that.  I also told the extent of it when it is on and that cheered them up somewhat.  I hope they didn't travel far to see it!

Front page of today's Telegraph is the story of 2 men being lifted by police over three separate attempts of trying to abduct kids in Coventry.  I should image there won't many tears shed for the pair!  Today's anniversary, also in the Telegraph is the Sir Christopher Wren, the man behind St Pauls Cathedral and so many other building in London, was born on this day in 1632.  You can now sleep soundly in your beds tonight knowing that won't you.

And talking of St Paul's ... 

taken from the Founders, a very nice pub on the South Bank.

And just a thought, we are going out tomorrow so I doubt there will be a blog entry.  We're going to Southend to a birding site a couple of miles away.  Hopefuul there wil be some new bird photos and perhaps even some of Southend too.

 

A funny, a very funny funny ...

A man with a bad stomach complaint sees his family doctor and asks what he can do. The doctor replies that the illness is quite serious but can be cured with a small course of two suppositories inserted into the back passage.
The man agrees, although reluctantly. The doctor warns the man to expect some discomfort, and then asks him to bend over. The doctor then shoves the thing into his behind. The man experiences some minor discomfort but endures the pain.
Afterwards, the doctor hands the man a second dose and tells him to do the same thing in six hours, using rubber gloves and some KY-Jelly.
Later that evening, the man tries to insert the second suppository. Sure enough, he can't reach himself properly to obtain the required depth. He calls his wife over and explains what she has to do.
The wife nods and puts one hand on his shoulder to steady him. She uses her free hand to shove the medicine home. The man suddenly screams in horror.
"What's the matter?" asks his wife. "Did I hurt you?"
"No, but I just realized that the doctor had BOTH hands on my shoulders."   

Puppies, public enquiry and our scooters

19 October 2012

There's not a lot going on right now in our little world of Jaronland.  One of our neighbours has got herself a little white/tan jack rustle puppy; and what a cracker she is too.  Jan isn't too impressed with her name though, Aggie.  It is an odd name but so is Kile's dog, Mia.  I've always wanted to call a dog apple, or orange, or pear - you know, something different ;-)))

A public enquiry begins next Monday at Weddington Social Club into the plans to build up to 300 new houses on a plot of land known as Weddington Fields.  This fight has been ongoing for a couple of years now and the latest idea to save the land is to have it designated as a village green.  I hope it works cos otherwise yet more green field land will be lost to greedy developers who wish to get rid of all the green-belt land in the UK.  The area under consideration is also on a river flood plain which seems daft to me to even consider building there!  But there yer go folks, that's naked greed for more dosh and lack of thought of where it comes from being displayed for all to see.

My new scooter will get a good full speed run later this afternoon.  I have to go out into town and seeing as Jan won't be with me seeing as she is off doing something with Kile and his mum, I don't have to slow down to her speed.  That perhaps is the only problem we have with our new scooters mine is an 8mph job while Jan's is a 4mph job.  I'm not overly worried by it because my battery life will last a lot longer at 4mph.      

We are both rather pleased that we have so many goldfinches on our feeders, although the number has dropped somewhat now.  The most we counted was 16 I think, now it's usually around 7 or 8 at a time.  But today's photo is ... 

a goldfinch picnic at Welsh's Dam that we went to a few months ago. 

And today's funny ...

Hillary Clinton is giving the President her daily briefing. She concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed in an accident"
OH NO! The President exclaims. That's terrible!
His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the president sits, head in hands.  Finally, the President looks up and asks........ "How many is a Brazillion?"   

Tramadol, planning, and a view from a pub

18 October 2012

It's happened yet again!  Jan has picked up our monthly prescripts only to find that my Tramadol hasn't been issued.  I knew it needed to be re-prescribed and I saw a GP to get it done.  Thing is, he agreed to do so but didn't actually do it, I mean didn't make the right computer notes to sort it out.  Now I have to make yet another appointment to get them issued.  It's happening far too often and after being a patient there for over 40 years I am seriously considering trying to find a new practice. 

Planning issues are on the front page of the News today.  There is a working group looking into what is called the Dorktown Plan.  It is looking at the housing, leisure and business needs of the town for the next generation.  The problem that's coming up now is that the working group is meeting behind closed doors and there are councillors who are objecting to that.  They want full and public access to the groups meetings - which seems fine to me.  However, the council leader is refusing to allow this by saying that public access is not only allowed, but encouraged for all decision making committees and council meeting.  The problem as it now stands seems to me that neither side is willing to budge or even to try to see the point of the other side.  This one will run on for some time I think.

Not far outside of town is a conference centre.  The owner of the centre has developed a beach area around a large lake within the grounds.  But he didn't get planning permission to do so.  He has been told to remove it by North Warwickshire Council.  He appealed and an inspector has agreed with the council and he has to remove the beach.  There's no telling with planning issues is there?  The beach has proved popular to the locals; the owner didn't fill in the forms; now the owner is going to be out of pocket because some busy body has complained about it.  I get the impression that planning departments are more  than allow willing to see land and buildings go to waste rather than to allow the developments.  But on the other hand, if they allowed this one then it might set a precedent that travellers could use when they develop land they own.  It seems they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

For example, Dorktown council have given the green light to an organisation who want to build 200 homes and a marina with spaces for us to 150 narrow boats.  The village being developed is closed our favourite pub, The Greyhound.  The residents of the village of Hawkesbury have '... grave concerns'.  They fear that young children will not have any nearby schools and poorly people will not be able to find health care.  Traffic will be a major problem it is thought and I have to agree with that.  There's a very narrow bridge over the Coventry canal at one point where traffic is currently controlled by traffic lights.  I'm not so sure that the bridge is strong enough to take an increase in traffic.  There is also a level crossing which could well be a major congestion point. 

See what I mean here?  One set of planners agrees to a development even in the face of local opposition while another does the opposite even when face with local support for the development.  Of course, there is the issue of asking before building I suppose, but it all makes a nonsense of planning laws.  Maybe the new slimmed down planning laws being issued by the government will help - but I won't hold breath!

I've not been to the in-land beach but here is one small area of where the Hawkesbury development will impact ... 

It was taken from outside the Greyhound pub.       

And the Sage speaks ...

Two women were sitting in the doctor's waiting room comparing notes on their
various disorders.  "I want a baby more than anything in the world," said the first, "But I guess it is impossible."
"I used to feel just the same way," said the second. "But then everything changed. That's why I'm here. I'm going to have a baby in three months."
"You must tell me what you did."
"I went to a faith healer."
"But I've tried that. My husband and I went to one for nearly a year and it didn't help a bit."
The other woman smiled and whispered, "Try going alone, next time, dearie."