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The Last Sunday Musings For September

~ beetleypete ~ 53 Comments

It has felt like a long week, for no good reason. Perhaps because Monday was a Public Holiday for the Queen’s funeral, the days have been out of synch.

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Unusually, everything closed for the day on Monday. No shops opened, not even for reduced hours. So my usual supermarket shop had to be put off until Tuesday. That made Tuesday feel like Monday, and every day after that just felt in the wrong place. By Thursday, we were both convinced it was Friday, and I was wondering why the TV was showing programmes on the wrong day.

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For Ollie of course, nothing changed. As long as he got his routine in the right order, and his walks at the right time, he didn’t notice any changes. On Friday, I had to drive to the Vet to get his repeat prescription. I had added an extra, a steroid cream that helps heal a sore spot on his chest. It worked exceptionally well in July, but soon ran out. I wanted to have some more just in case, so asked for another tube. That increased the bill to a mammoth £91. I had to remind myself once again that he is always completely worth the expense.

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After the relentless 10-day TV coverage of all things Royal, the normal news returned and I finally found out what had been happening in places other than Balmoral, Windsor castle, Westminster Abbey, and in countries outside Britain. Naturally, Monday was written off, with 24-hour coverage of the funeral on all main TV channels. Once they got back to normal on Tuesday, all the schedules had to be ‘bumped up’ by one day.

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Out on the dog-walks, we caught up with some friends (and their dogs) we had missed for the week we were away in Lincolnshire. It was back to greeting familiar dogs for Ollie, and marking his territory with an intensity that had to be seen.

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Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a peaceful and happy Sunday.

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Back To Reality Musings

~ beetleypete ~ 57 Comments

We returned from our holiday on Monday afternoon, and had things to do yesterday. So I have not been online from the 4th, until this morning.
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We were lucky with the weather, despite some overnight rain and an occasional heavy shower during the day, we managed to avoid getting wet and stayed in pleasant sunshine. Like most people do on holiday, I had too much to eat, and a lot more wine than I would have at home. Ollie had a wonderful time meeting new dogs, (including two Sharpeis) but he came home exhausted by the extra exercise of long walks along the seafront. He has been sleeping all the time since Monday, save for his walks across Beetley Meadows.

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It felt strange for me to not be blogging of course, but I am back today, starting from scratch. This means that I have replied to comments on my posts while I was away, but have not managed to tackle the hundreds of posts of bloggers I follow. By the weekend, I should be back to my normal routine.

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Thanks to everyone who read my older posts while I was gone. It was encouraging to discover I had regular views every day, even when not posting anything.

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Quite a lot happened while we were on holiday, including the death of the Queen, and Ukraine retaking ground in the ongoing war against Russia. But I watched little or no TV, as I had a porch to sit on, and watched the world go by outside instead. I make no comment about the death of Elizabeth II, and the media circus that has accompanied her passing. Everyone who reads this blog will know I am not a royalist, and have no interest in anything to do with the British royal family.

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After an enjoyable time breathing sea air, and travelling around a different part of England, I am actually looking forward to re-establishing my routine with Ollie. Julie has today off work, so it will be spent quietly, with a necessary supermarket shop and some catching up on domestic things.

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I hope you have all had an enjoyable week while we have been away, and I will catch up with all of your blogs soon.

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The Last Sunday Musings For April

~ beetleypete ~ 61 Comments

Well it is May next week, and we finally got some sunnier and warmer weather by yesterday. Depite being one of the official driest months of April ever, it left us feeling cold enough to have to put the heating on by Thursday. Fingers crossed that May will be warmer, and stay dry too.

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May also marks three months since I applied to renew my driving licence, which in case anyone was wondering, has still not arrived.
(It’s not complusory for you to wonder, so don’t worry if you haven’t been)

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We finally got Ollie an appointment at the groomer, but not until the 12th of May. By then his claws will be rather too long, and he will be smelling like a musty old carpet.
At least his groomer recovered from her bout of Covid-19, which we were pleased to hear.

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Political news here continues to astound me. On Saturday, a Conservative MP was forced to resign after it was revealed he had been watching pornography on his phone during a parliamentary session in the House of Commons. His unbelievable confession was that he was trying to access a Tractor website, (he also has a farm, as if his MP salary is not enough) and inadvertantly typed in the URL for a popular porn site instead. But despite that ‘mistake’, he watched the porn anyway.

Twice. The second time during a meeting in a parliamentary office.

As well as the outrage that this buffoon thought so little of his role that he watched porn in parliament, I would like to know why he thought it would have been okay if he had been looking at new tractors instead. He is being paid over £84,000 ($106,000) a year to represent his voters, plus a huge expense account, subsidised food and alcohol, and energy bills paid.
It would be shameful, if the despicable man had any shame to start with.

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Gloomy news that Russia intends to have a general mobilisation of all reservists and conscripts, following the annual May ‘Victory Parade’ in Red Square. And Putin has cancer, so is going in for surgery. If it turns out he has nothing to live for, that could be very bad news for Europe.

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It is getting harder to stay chirpy, but I hope everyone has an enjoyable and peaceful Sunday.

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Sunday Musings As The Branches Fall

~ beetleypete ~ 45 Comments

This weekend has been dominated by the completion of the tree trimming. Two days of work on the largest Oak tree, the one in our back garden. After a late start and early finish yesterday, the contractors were back early this morning, and got busy as soon as they arrived. As I sit typing this, I can hear branches falling at the back, and the men talking as larger sections are lowered down on ropes. Hopefully, this cut should last us for six years. If I am still around in 2028, I won’t be using the same unreliable company, that’s for sure.

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The weather has been remarkably good of late. It was announced on the BBC that this has been one of the driest Aprils on record. I am certainly not complaining about that, even if keen gardeners locally are having to use hosepipes to water their gardens. Mud-free dog walking is a joy indeed!

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I managed to get Ollie booked in next week for his booster injections at the Vet. But so far, the groomer still has no appointments, so his much-needed bath will have to wait.

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Anyone else notice how Ukraine is starting to ‘slip’ down the news? It has come second to whether or not Boris Johnson should resign, and all the wheeling and dealing going on to try to decide who might succeed him. One day this week, Ukraine came third, after the Economics Management Finance conference, and Boris’s antics. There was a better report late one night, speculating that once Putin has a corridor across southern Ukraine, he will move against Moldova next. That country is not in NATO, but it will be interesting to see the world reaction if Russia tries to occupy it.

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Prices of petrol and diesel are still at an all-time high here, but at least the panic buying has stopped. To keep those panic buyers happy, there is something else to worry about stocking up on. Sunflower Oil is one of the largest exports from Ukraine, so because of the war there is going to be a European shortage of the stuff. I don’t use it, but no doubt all other oils, including the Olive Oil I do buy, will soon be sold out. After the first announcement on the news, the ‘big three’ supermarkets had to ration sales of it within hours. Nice to know that those panic buyers have got nothing better to do with their lives.

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I hope you all have a peaceful and enjoyable Sunday, wherever you are.

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In The Eyes Of A Child

~ beetleypete ~ 56 Comments

With our grandson staying here overnight, I naturally avoided the news on TV. However, he asked to watch a cartoon this morning, and while scrolling numerous channels to try to find what he wanted, I momentarily clicked on the channel BBC NEWS 24.

Of course, it was about the situation in Ukraine, and a live report from Kiev.

I flicked off more or less immediately, but he had already noticed it.

Turning to me, he said this.

“The world is going to be broken. I don’t want to live here when the world is broken, so I am going to live in Space with mummy and daddy. I like the idea of living in space, as I can float around”.

He is 7 years old.

Astra-Zeneca Vaccine And Blood Clots

~ beetleypete ~ 131 Comments

There has been a great deal of uproar on the news media over the deaths of some people after receiving the first dose of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. They developed a rare form of low-platelet blood clot in the brain, and that was almost certainly associated with them receiving the vaccine. Any death is tragic, and someone dying after taking a vaccine to try to prevent contracting Covid-19 is in itself a terrible irony. My sympathies go to any family affected by this.

However, compared to the millions of people who have been vaccinated, the death rate is remarkably low from those clots. It is around a one in a million chance that it might happen. To put that into perspective, you have more chance of drowning in your own bath, or being killed by an aircraft crashing on your house.

So no baths, and no sitting in your house?

Some EU countries have now banned the use of that brand of vaccine, and the UK government is not going to give it to younger people, who seem to be at higher risk of the clots.

But before you decide not to have it, please think about the statistics.

More chance of being killed crossing the road outside your house.
More chance of being killed by being struck by lightning.
Much more chance of being killed whilst driving your car anywhere.
More chance of being killed in a train crash.
More chance of being killed by an allergic reaction to an insect bite or sting.

I could go on, but you get the point.

There has been no evidence that the second dose has caused any blood clots. So if you have already had the first one, then please go ahead and have the second one when it is offered.

My Kind Of Weather

~ beetleypete ~ 35 Comments

In the UK, the BBC brings us regional news. Following the main news broadcast, there is a regional news programme for each area of Britain. In Norfolk, we have ‘Look East’. The weather report on that mentioned colder weather over the next few days, and that frost and ice was unlikely, with temperatures staying well above freezing.

Then she said, “We have had no significant rainfall in this region for well over a week now”.

That’s my kind of weather report! 🙂

Royal News Blackout

~ beetleypete ~ 28 Comments

*** UPDATE***

Please see Fraggle’s comment below. This clip is supposedly from 2018, according to the people who posted it, and not from yesterday

I am reblogging this from my other site, as I feel it is very important.

REDFLAGFLYING

Unless you have seen it featured on Twitter, you will be unaware of a loud protest by a fair-sized crowd outside Buckingham Palace in London today.

This is a protest against Prince Andrew’s involvement in the trafficking of underage girls for sex, part of the Epstein scandal in America. The Prince has also declined to appear in court in America, where he might face charges of sex with underage girls at the Epstein mansion.

Not that Andrew is in the palace. The Queen isn’t there either, and has decided ‘not to return for some time’. I doubt anyone is in there, except the poorly-paid staff, and royal lackeys who keep the whole thing going at the taxpayer’s expense.

That in itself is disturbing enough, the fact that Royal privilege means he is exempt from being extradited to America to give evidence. He cannot be arrested by US Federal agents in…

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A Very Short Moan Concerning Weather

~ beetleypete ~ 76 Comments

Just after 5 pm last night, it started to rain in Beetley. Not torrential, but enough to be heard on the windows and roof. Enough to wet the grass, and the paths around the house. Nothing unusual there, and as we had enjoyed three days with no rain at all, I wasn’t that depressed about it.

Just before dinner, I watched the local news on TV. At the end of that, a lady weather forecaster came on to give the weather news for this part of Britain.
“A cloudy night, with a minimum temperature of 2 C in rural areas. At least it will be dry, with no chance of any rain”.

As you might imagine, it enraged me to watch such a totally inaccurate forecast, when I could still see the rain hitting the windows, and hear it too.

Much later, I went to bed, and checked my Tablet before going to sleep. Before closing it, I looked at the BBC Weather App, whilst listening to the rain hitting the roof.

Beetley, Norfolk.

Cloudy

3C

0 chance of precipitation

Those people must be cracking up with laughter at what fools they think we are.