That’s a long way south! Have seen it in blue and green, but never magenta ..read more

ChrisMann: First time they asked me if I wanted anaesthesia and I declined - it wasn’t painful so all was well. I declined it for one in Germany. I regretted it, as he had trouble getting round a bend, which was pretty uncomfortable ..read more

Wow! Never seen the aurora borealis here before ..read more

I’ve had to contend with three Asiatic hornet nests over the last ten years or so, the last one being the the most difficult to locate, being high up near the top of a magnificent large Walnut tree. It only revealed itself when the leaves eventually fell. Being so high up, what to do? After a few brandies, the Maire agreed that since there was no way of getting access with a cherry picker, that he would use his shotgun to dislodge it, whereupon I pounced on it with an appropriate insecticide bombe. It was either that, or make some long stilts! The sad thing is that the wild bees nest that has ..read more

Early birds deserve early worms ..read more

Ancient_Mariner: We leave in the morning, but will be back in September. Won’t be long before you’ve changed your mind about not living (t)here ..read more

Painful Wordle 1,056 6/6 ..read more

John_Scully: 11 soldiers sustained stings and were evacuated for medical treatment in a hospital. Additionally, another IDF soldier was evacuated in moderate condition." And they were all awarded the purple heart for their bravery ..read more

Don’t annoy them, works for me. I am surprised if you can’t reach them that they do release their rather pleasing almond aroma. I catch mine, they are all in reach in a bottle and release them outside. They must know I mean them no harm as they never fart at me ..read more

My swimming pond is surrounded by trees, which is very nice as it gives shade in the summer and also cuts right down on evaporation but it does mean that in autumn it does collect a lot of leaves. I had two thick wooden beams as bridges across it to make skimming easier and also to dredge the detritus at the bottom. But that was hard work so I bought a pool cover. Unfortunately, being a pond and not a pool the shape of it is irregular and so there is no way to fit it tightly, thus at the end of the season the gaps between the ends and the 2 bridges also collected water which made them sink dow ..read more