Blimey, only just seen this thread a few posts back - glad you're ok, barry.

Good gracious - me too. Sorry Barry ! hope there are no bruises!

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. He was pretty bad at hitting, as I'm completely unscathed!

Aw, Bazzzzzz....

Bag-Hug.

My random comment.....my nose is cold

Not sure whether my eyes are bright and my coat glossy.

Maybe-am-Sickening-for-Something-Bag x

Thanks Bag. No lasting damage done by the awful drunken idiot...

Can't help thinking sometimes, there's a reason lesser-known composers are lesser-known

Yes.

And have you ever noticed how their music is always announced in hushed tones on Radio 3.

SB

I hate having sunburn.

I think I might just explode.

*dives for cover*

Please not over my new carpets!

Ha. It was indeed Radio 3 that triggered that, but I'm not going to be catty and say which composer exactly. I shall be sure to listen for the hushed tones the next time.

(anxious) You're not Mr Creosote, are you?

atishoo.

I really want an alto flute.

Bless you!

Do collared doves or woodpigeons nest in old nests? I have two old nests in my wisteria and one was definitely occupied by a pigeon last year. One of the nests is right under my bathroom window and I'm hoping that someone takes it up again this year because I'll have a brilliant view of what's going on

No closer to one yet then, Flossie?

We had collared doves nesting on our balcony one year, building a very scrappy nest in a terracotta dish. The first brood were successfully reared and flew the nest. The parents started all over again in the same nest but all the second brood died and I wondered whether it was because the original nest was so filthy

It could be - I remember seeing on Springwatch where a batch of bluetit chicks suffered for being in a filthy nesting box. This nest looks nice and clean. Perhaps I could reach down and give it a quick going over with some nice citrus Cif

My mother had collared doves which built a nest on the sticky out pole horizontal part of her Sky dish (she doesn't get Sky, it was on the house when she moved in and she hasn't taken it down, in case she wants Sky in the future!) She watched and once the nestling had fledged, she poked the nest so it fell down - she didn't like the 'residue' on her patio, but couldn't do it before the babies had gone!
Mama (and/or papa) dove rebuilt in exactly the same place for the second brood (mother knocked that nest down after the babies had gone as well...and they came back the next spring!)

I am fed up with collared doves and wood pigoens. They roost in a pine tree (which is a 'preserved tree') hanging over my front block paved drive, and deposit their ordure all over it, making a heck of a mess. I have to try to clean it off (not easy) on a weekly basis.

'Let's stockpile petrol in garages and jerrycans'

Hubs has applied for a job today. 1st company he has actually felt he could work for since the last tyrants. Please everyone, cross your fingers as this would be such a relief to us!

more

So pleased to hear that your OH has found a job he would like. I really hope he is successful!

Is it a coincidence that HM Government has panicked twenty million motorists into filling their tanks just days before the end of the tax year?

Isn't there quite a lot of tax on road fuel?

Or am I being cynical as usual?


SB

Well if you are, I am too - I was discussing this idea with my husband last night!!

Same here

Let's put some (purely speculative) figures to this:

There are something like 20 million cars and vans on our roads. Many of these will have been driven around with less than half a tankfull of fuel in recent months owing to the high cost of filling up.

If twenty million motorists are persuaded to fill their tanks with (let's say) an additional 40 litres of fuel each, that adds up to 800,000,000 litres.

I don't know how much of that will be tax, but it is probably around 85 pence per litre, so George Osborne gains around GBP 680,000,000 overnight with no effort at all.

Added to which, HM Government collects about 50% of North Sea oil revenues in tax.

And all because the Energy Minister said "don't panic Mr Mainwaring".

Even Gordon Brown couldn't have thought that one up!

Edit: It has just occurred to me; many filling stations also sell hot pasties.

SB

An email that has just come round at work:


Um, so they've just lumped eight completely empty desks together and named it the 'touchdown area'!!

No doubt somebody will be adding that little achievement to their CV.

SB

I see some poor women has received 40% burns from decanting petrol in her kitchen!

I don't know what makes me despair the most - the stupidity and irresponsibility of the Government suggesting that people stockpile highly flammable liquids in their houses for no apparent reason or the stupidity and irresponisbility of anyone handling toxic flammable solvent in their kitchen while they have the oven on.

Surely the time has come to make anyone standing for Parliament pass some sort of basic IQ/ competence/ common sense test?!?

x 4

Thanks everyone on behalf of hubs....they have acknowledged his app so that is a start. It's going to be a long weekend of waiting!

not a fan of listening to hours of stuff by the same composer. Doesn't matter which composer it is.

Friday afternoon meeting
Which was cancelled at the last minute
But then rescheduled for next Friday afternoon
By someone who is not in the UK and thus doesn't have a Bank Holiday that day...so I declined it

is somebody making you do it?

Not really, I've stopped listening.

I normally listen to Radio 3 Through The Night at work, as I work in an open office and it blocks out the background noise. But this week they are doing some sort of Schubert-fest and so they're playing nothing but Schubert. I didn't realise how much I dislike listening to the same composer for hours until I had four hours of it. So i switched stations

I suspect that most current day MP's would fail any kind of intelligence test, irrespective of which side of the House they sit on. They may sit in the Commons, but common sense is something they all clearly lack.

However, what I dislike more than anything are the hidden agendas of the various parties. I watched QT last night as usual, and was struck that Sarah Tether (Lib Dem) clearly didn't have any sense of humour, which I would regard as essential in any such post.

Meanwhile, Douglas Alexander was accusing the Tories of being swayed by big donors, but refused to say that the Unite union (one of Labour's biggest donors) should call off the tanker drivers strike. Pot, kettle, anyone?

However, I must say I do enjoy listening to some of the old hands who have long stood down. I didn't have much time for Sir Anthony Wedgewood Ben's politics when he was in power, but he seems to talk more sense now than the rest of them put together. Ken Clarke is another old hand who seems to be able to look through the politics to see common sense.

Maybe I am just getting old?

SB

On more than one occasion I have thought that I might be interested in being an MP

My mum's not a fan of them either - mostly due to the noise....




We have a "touchdown" area by my team. It is an elevated large flat area with sort of high kitchen stool type seats. It has power and LAN ports for visitors.

I'd vote for you

So would I.

BAZ FOR PM!!!!

(Representing the party, obviously)

Me too!!

Ooo, Baz MP

Representing the Party Party perhaps?

X-in-the-Box-Bag x

Woo!