Month: August 2020

For quite some time now there have been reports about farmers feeling underpaid by the supermarkets for the products they supply. As most of us shop at these retailers there is no one else to sell the farm produce to. Small quantities can be sold at farmer’s markets and restaurants but mainly farmers rely on the large supermarkets. One Lincolnshire farmer had had enough and decided to make Tesco pay. He wrote to them saying that he had contaminated the baby food in some of their stores and would only reveal which ones when Tesco had paid him £1.4 million in bitcoin – these farmers are very sophisticated  aren’t they?. He has been charged with contaminating goods and blackmail but denies the charge saying he was forced into it by travellers. He said they came to his farm and demanded one million pounds.

We’ve all heard about the different items people have used as face coverings when they don’t have or don’t want to wear a mask. John McAfee the tech billionaire (anti virus software) chose to use a lacy thong when he was travelling in preference to a mask. He was arrested in Norway for refusing to swap it for a medically approved one. He said his was better, I believe there might have been a tussle and he was arrested. His wife said that it isn’t the first time and that he would get the right lawyer and get out. She then flew off in their private jet. Lock ‘im up I say.

And while we are talking about masks, an Israeli jeweller is designing the most expensive mask in the world. Not on a whim as it is a request from a client. It will be worth 1.5 million dollars and must be finished and delivered by the end of the year. It will be made of white gold and have thousands of white and black diamonds. The client is a Chinese businessman living in the US. I find this quite obscene and can’t help hoping he also gets arrested at some airport and his mask confiscated. Some people definitely have more money than sense.

We’ve had a hot few days with the arrival of the promised mini heatwave. But, fear not Ben & Jerry’s have introduced Gingerbread Cookie Dough Chunks and Cinnamon Bun Dough Chunks in half pound bags for everyone to enjoy as a snack during the hot summer. There were already several flavours available in their snacking bags but I have to say that I haven’t come across them in the UK so maybe we have to go across the pond for this little treat. Perhaps I should go into production, Alice and I could be partners as she made the very best chocolate chip brownies at the weekend. They would be ace taken out of the freezer and nibbled while watching a movie. Good night ice cream lovers everywhere. 😴💤😴

BoJo has been encouraging the nation to stay in the UK for their annual summer holiday. If you remember his sister didn’t agree with his memories of happy childhood, bucket and spade holidays saying she just remembers it being very wet and she was constantly cold. Well the PM is putting his money where his mouth is and has gone to Scotland with his partner Carrie, their three month old son Wilfred and their dog Dilyn. The announcement is that he will be away from his desk for six days and they will be camping for two of them. Really? I find it hard to imagine this lot sleeping under canvas and using communal loos and showers. Will they take nanny to help with baby Wilfred? I hope they packed their wellies and raincoats as thunderstorms and heavy rain is forecast this week. I tried camping once with Sandy and it’s not an experience I would want to repeat.

Meanwhile across the pond, the Trump has been denying rumours that a member of his staff has been in discussions with regard to his face being added to those of earlier presidents on Mount Rushmore. The POTUS said it was fake news but he did think it would be a good idea that should be seriously considered. Seriously? His reasoning he continued is that he has accomplished so many things during his time in office. Probably more than any other presidency. I don’t think any officials at Mount Rushmore have it on their agenda. The Native American Cheyenne Sioux River tribe want the whole monument removed stating that it’s been built on sacred ground.

If anyone happens to be in Yorkshire in the area of Doncaster and the Trans Pennine Trail, please keep your eyes peeled for an escaped emu. She’s quite easy to spot as she’s six feet tall and a browny colour and answers to the name of Ethel. She ran away from home (maybe because they named her Ethel, I mean to say?) a few years ago and settled down on land at Spotbrough. The owner of the land said people should stop frightening her as she knows where she lives and will come home if left alone. She’s had stones thrown at her by some daft boys and when people try to approach her she runs off at 30 mph. The RSPCA and the local police have been told of several sightings.

As if it’s not bad enough putting up with the coronavirus restrictions, some areas of Wales have been hit by storms causing flooding . Aberystwyth is under water in parts and the met office is warning about flash flooding Across the UK. Not good news for those of us who have decided to stay here for their holidays especially those that are camping. I’m beginning to get very worried about baby Wilfred. stay safe everyone. Good night. 😴💤😴

So, Alexa is playing radio 2 and the music is making me feel nostalgic. Sandy would have loved it, it’s like listening to the American Song Book from way back when. Wish I could sing in tune, there is some lovely music.

I joined my family on the beach today, I trudged along to Middle Chine carrying my old scruffy beach chair and my nice, new, bright pink beach bag. I certainly have my priorities in the right order. By the time I arrived in all that heat my face matched the bag and I was ready for a swim. It was busy but ok up that end and so lovely to swim in the sea, I absolutely loved it. My guys had cycled down but when it was time to go home my grandson Jack was dispatched to pick me up in the car at the bottom of Durley Chine. He’s another ray of sunshine.

It has been reported that Europe is stunned by the United States failure to contain the spread of coronavirus as they get close to five million confirmed cases and 160 thousand deaths. Health officials believe the number of cases is closer to fifty million given testing limitations (in spite of the Trump’s boasting on this subject) and the many asymptomatic cases. Don’t they care asked one puzzled Italian. Meanwhile the POTUS was responding to questions in a press conference at his golf club in Florida. The Trump had reported on four executive orders he had supposedly signed for coronavirus relief. A reporter was puzzled and questioned his claim, He replied that they had passed the Veteran’s Choice and The Veteran’s Accountability adding that they had been trying to get that passed for decades and decades and decades. No president’s ever been able to do it and we did it, he boasted. The reporter asked ‘why do you keep saying that when it was passed in 2014 (during Obama’s Presidency)?. It’s a false claim sir’. The POTUS stormed out, no doubt in a very presidential way, to the pop song YMCA.

We all ended the day at Sam and Paul’s for a BBQ. Lovely warm evening in the garden and delicious food as always. The three teenagers who joined us were grouped at one end of the table and suddenly caught our attention. It seems that Elizabeth had been on Tinder and ended up arranging to meet a young man who just happened to be known to the family. Still her cousin decided to sit in the assigned venue to make sure she was ok. Social distancing queue to get in and cousin Jack finds himself standing next to the date. Everything went ok and she’s been on four dates but decided ‘she wasn’t feeling it’. The date was keen and texting and wanting another meet up so we all had a say about the best way to say ‘no thanks’. Elizabeth said he was nice but… Her mum felt sad for the young man, her dad wanted to take control and the rest of us talked a load of tosh. I believe she told him no, nicely. Hope he sleeps well tonight. Good night.  😴💤😴

Some people never give up. 49 years ago a policeman pulled a car over to check the driver’s ID. The two men got into some sort of altercation and the policeman was shot in the stomach. He survived the attack and the shooter was eventually convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and locked up in a Colorado prison.  He managed to escape three years later and although a warrant was issued for his arrest he was never found and it expired in 2019. During all this time the policeman continued to search for his attacker. His investigation was ongoing and he made phone calls and questioned people in their homes. He recently got a phone call telling hime that the caller knew where his attacker was. He was found by the police living not far from Santa Fe, New Mexico and taken back to prison in Colorado. The policeman who was shot is hoping to be able to meet him but he’s not sure if the prisoner will want to. Seems to me the policeman has lost an awful lot of his life thinking about and looking for this criminal. Hope it was worth it.

The blame game is still being played. The old blame the young for not maintaining distancing and the young blame the old for panicking and stopping them from having fun. The UK generally blames the PM and BoJo blames anyone he can think of. The heatwave which has arrived at last is making people forget all about pandemics and contagion and were out in droves today and difficult to avoid when I was in Bournemouth centre. Still it didn’t seem to make matters worse last time it happened and hopefully it won’t this time either. One thing we can be sure about is that they’ll all be back tomorrow.

In Germany people like to practice naturism or in other words to strip off their togs and enjoy feeling as nature intended. In Berlin there were plenty of nudists at a popular bathing spot. One man was enjoying a swim when a family of wild boars wandered into the area. They found a pizza in the bather’s rucksack and then rummaged around to see what else was available. One of the boars found a yellow plastic bag and ran off with it but the owner realised it contained his laptop. He immediately gave chase completely starkers much to the amusement of those around him. The onlookers loved the entertainment and clapped when he returned with his bag and laptop in hand. Hope they gave him something to eat as he’d lost his lunch although from the photos he didn’t look as if one missed meal would do him much harm. Don’t let the heat keep you awake, nighty night. 😴💤😴

 

In 1988 in China a baby boy aged two and a half was kidnapped. In fact many babies were being kidnapped at that time as parents were only allowed to have one child as the authorities wanted to control their rapidly growing population. To ensure they had a boy and not a girl some parents would buy a baby from a trafficker. Baby Mao Yin had been stolen and sold and his mother spent thirty two years looking for him. She learnt of other stolen babies and joined an organisation of people in a similar situation and they all helped each other. In 2009 the Chinese government set up a DNA database and many of the crimes began to be solved. It was found that most people buying babies had been childless or had had a girl. In the country parents were allowed a second child if the first was a girl. In May this year she received a phone call to say that her DNA had been matched with an adopted boy. It took 32 years but finally this mother was reunited with her son.

In Oxfordshire a man was made redundant from his job  a year after his wife had to stop working having been diagnosed with MS. During this past ‘annus horribilis’ he also lost his brother to coronavirus and his sister in law to a heart attack. But now their luck has turned and they won one million pounds on the lotto. Good luck to them and I hope they enjoy spending it.

I’ve managed to have a good week with lunch in friend Margaret’s garden with two other ladies on Wednesday, yesterday Rosemary came in from Dorchester to spend the day in Bournemouth and today I went into town with my granddaughter Alice. Of course several shops have closed and several cafes have opened.  We checked out the BH2 complex and found most eating places were open but not many people over there. We bought Alice two lovely silver bracelets for an early birthday present then had lunch in the Cosy Club. Things still feel a little strange out and about and I hate it when people refer to ‘the new normal’ for me it’s ‘the new abnormal’. A really lovely day with Alice though.

The old king Juan Carlos of Spain has turned up in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates showing that reports that he was in Dominican Republic or Portugal were a load of tosh. He is staying at the very posh luxury Emirates Palace Hotel after fleeing Spain in a private jet accompanied by four bodyguards. He’ll be able to visit the very beautiful Grand Mosque and the Louvre art gallery which are situated in the same city. My son in law drove us there when I was visiting the family in Dubai, absolutely loved them both. It’s a sad old man who runs away leaving behind his wife, children and grandchildren.  Good night.   😴💤😴

 

So, the Evening Standard has published a list of the 50 best hotels in the UK. I couldn’t help but scroll through to see if Bournemouth or Poole was in there. Sadly, none in Dorset let alone Bournemouth. I certainly didn’t hope to find one when I looked through the list as, in spite of having some prime locations our hotels are pretty rubbish. Same can be said for dining out, restaurants here are either middle of the road or just not very good. Although there is Shell Bay Seafood Restaurant and the Guildhall Tavern in Poole old town which a few years ago became very French in style. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’ve missed something. However in another listing Bournemouth seafront and Shell Bay are included in the ten whitest beaches in the UK. Well us locals knew that didn’t we?

In Derbyshire a drug addict realised that the house he was in was about to be stormed by police so he jumped out of a first floor window. After landing on a garden shed and from there to a back alley he fled through various neighbours’ back gardens. But sadly for him it’s a modern world we live in, even in Matlock, Derbyshire and the police drone tracked his escape until the police were able to apprehend him. The Derbyshire drone unit said ‘you can try to run and you can try to hide but not from our #EyeInTheSky.

Here’s one for the girls, just to let you know that the French bob is the hair style we should all be getting. Thanks to four months of lockdown when our hair has been left to grow it should be quite easy to achieve. Just pop along to your local salon and have it cut all one length. The sides should be down to your chin and other than that it can be curly, straight or wavy. I can’t wait to get mine done.

BoJo’s dad has been having a go at him as I mentioned in an earlier post stating that his son is in cloud cuckoo land. Now it’s sister Rachel’s turn as she question’s his memory of staycation holidays (am I the only person in the UK who hates this stupid new expression?). Rachel said her memories are of rain in Ireland and Mull and childhood summers in West Somerset where it’s one of the wettest places in the country. Poor old BoJo can’t seem to get it right. She has been having a working holiday in Scotland and has not enjoyed it as she was bogged down by the cold and rain and had to pack much more than when she jetted off to warmer places. She finished off by saying that if anyone suggests another ‘staycation’ next year they can take a hike – somewhere nice and warm hopefully. Sleep tight, don’t let the bug bite. 😴💤😴

 

The headlines of course are all about Beirut and the tremendous explosion that happened there yesterday. Many commentators are comparing it to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima which sadly was 75 years ago tomorrow, 6th August. This explosion however was not a deliberate act but apparently due to incompetence and bad management.  Several port officials have been placed under house arrest but the port manager said they had applied to the judiciary to have the chemical removed from the port as it was deemed dangerous. At least 135 people have died and 4000 injured as well as buildings being destroyed. A country that was already troubled finds itself short of medical facilities to deal with this disaster. The people however say the government will try to shift the blame and have suggested that any country wishing to help financially do not do so via the government which cannot be trusted.

Good ideas are always welcome and this is what happened when a woman, Ruth Graves Wakefield, decided to chop up a bar of chocolate and add it to her biscuits, or cookies as she would have called them. No one know why she thought of it after all most people would have expected the chocolate to melt in the oven and not be a great success. Still, success it was and she sold the recipe to Nestle two years later in 1939. The company managed to develop and mass produce little solidified chocolate drops that became known as chocolate chips. Now a Tesla engineer and the owner of Dandelion Chocolate (great name) in San Francisco have reinvented the choc chip. They’ve spent three years working out the perfect shape for this little gem so that it can be flavoured and give the perfect taste sensation in your mouth. I wonder how many of will notice?

A leading cancer specialist has said that when helping his patients he’s found that giving them hope is always more useful that letting them worry. He now says that our ministers are filling the nation with fear with claims that have no true basis. Claims of a second wave (which is always on its way within a couple of weeks), claims that the crowds on beaches and other places will cause another spike, so far the most that it has caused is panic in a large number of people. That’s what I’d like to see, give us the facts, stop making confusing claims and try to be positive.

William and Kate visited a care home where they had called out bingo numbers via zoom during the pandemic. An 87 year old resident told them that they had been rubbish at the job as they didn’t know the bingo lingo. Reminds me of my mum when she was in hospital and said in a very loud voice ‘look at the size of the backside on that one’, nodding in the direction of a nurse doing her rounds. Oh well, something to look forward to I guess. Goodnight campers. 😴💤😴

People are getting bored everywhere and trying to think up something new to spice up their lives. Some of us have gone for walks in the forest (not me – but I might), some have taken up canoeing and others are staying at home making sourdough bread or cupcakes. In Florida however a man decided to buy himself a Porsche 911 Turbo, well that would cheer anybody up in lockdown. Into the dealership he went and handed over a cheque for $139,203 and drove his motor away, another happy customer. The following day he went to a jewellery shop and chose three Rolex watches (I imagine he drove there in his new motor) and handed over a cheque for $61,521. The owner of the shop wouldn’t complete the purchase until he checked out that the cheque was ok. It wasn’t. Our happy customer had printed both cheques on his home computer and was arrested and is now in the local jail.

I’ve just learnt that the oldest restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is in Madrid and it opened in 1725. They serve all the typical Spanish dishes such as roast lamb and suckling pig, and before the pandemic would have up to six hundred customers each day. For the first time ever they’ve had to close due to the coronavirus lockdown but have reopened since 1st July. They are currently only serving sixty diners a day but the owner says he hopes to navigate the crisis and stay open. I hope he does and maybe next time I’m in Madrid I’ll get to eat there.

A miner in Tanzania dug up a gemstone in June which turned out to have a value of £2.6 million. He was very happy with his find and declared a millionaire by his government. I don’t know how he found the time to be out there digging as it’s reported he has thirty children. Still, he said that he would hold a party and spend money on improving the locality for his neighbours. He plans to build a shopping mall, a school and a health centre. Now he has managed to dig up a second huge tanzanite gemstone worth another £1.5 million. The stone apparently is rare and bright blue coming in different shades and is used in jewellery instead of sapphire.

It’s been announced that the BBC have started to send letters to the over 75s explaining how they will need to pay the license fee. The ten pages does not however let pensioners know when they will receive a letter telling them when they should pay. The BBC say they have 800 extra staff to deal with enquiries and have received more than 300,000 calls since March. And that is before the ten page letter has dropped through the letter boxes. I have to wonder how much all this extra work is costing them. They are also working with hundreds of money advice and community organisations to help older people. Can it possibly be worth it. Just cut some salaries and leave the pensioners in peace. Good night one and all.  😴💤😴

 

It’s a strange thing how leaders around the world manage to let people down, are there any good ones (or maybe just one) anywhere? In 1975 Juan Carlos became King of Spain following the dictator Franco’s death. He had been brought to Spain when still a child by the fascist government and Franco and trained to continue the regime when he came to power. However, he introduced reforms almost immediately to bring about a new democracy. Many Spaniards felt hopeful and the king was widely respected. But in time he became known for being a womaniser, excessive spender, drinker and ultimately is being investigated for fraud. He is accused of receiving one hundred million dollars from the Saudi King which he had deposited in a Swiss bank in his name. He is now leaving the country to live in exile although he hasn’t said where. Neither has it been said if his wife has left with him. He already abdicated the throne to his son a few years ago. Very disappointing for the people of Spain.

And our very own leader BoJo has been accused by his father of living in cloud cuckoo land, no surprises there for the rest of the country.  Dad senior Johnson was referring to a Brexit deal regarding farming. He says his son will have to agree to strict level playing field rules if he wishes to leave with any sort of free trade deal. BoJo wants the UK to have free reign to make a deal with other governments such as the US which would mean a lowering of food standards and animal rights. So now it’s official from his dad, Boris is living in cloud cuckoo land.

An ecologist at Kobe University in Japan has been watching a frog’s eating habits and more precisely what happens when it lunches on a certain beetle. Apparently it swallows the beetle whole and alive and doesn’t bother chewing its food like we were all taught. The beetle then paddles through the frog’s intestine as far as it can go and escapes through its anus. The professor said that 93% of the beetles it fed to the frog escaped alive. The beetles took from six minutes to four hours to make their escape. Well I never! and wouldn’t you think the profe. might have found something better to do with his time?

Up in Liverpool a woman had laid some astroturf to tidy up her garden without giving herself too much work. She had been gifted the garden makeover by her mother in law who sadly has since passed away. Anyway, the job was done just before the country went into lockdown. Yesterday she woke up to be asked by her son what she had done with the grass. When she looked she found that it had been stolen. ‘It couldn’t have blown away’ she reported ‘it was stuck to the ground and there were heavy plant pots on top’. It’s a strange world we live in. Good night everyone. 😴💤😴

Sometimes I read things that are just completely unbelievable and today I came across one of those. In a town in Nottinghamshire a sixty year old woman, Meghan Metcalfe worked at Birds Bakery where she had been employed for 44 years. All her working life as this shows she started there at age sixteen. She has just been dismissed for ‘gross misconduct’, what could she possibly have done? The company that owned the bakery had decided to only accept card payments due to the coronavirus. Many of the customers were older people who didn’t use cards, only cash. Meghan decided to help them out and put the payments on her own debit card. The customers were then asked to pop the coins in Meghan’s purse. No touching of coins, no danger one would think. The bosses didn’t agree and she lost her job. I think I see a case of unfair dismissal after so many years of standing on her feet serving the locals. Come on you solicitors up there, let’s see some action.

Greater Manchester is among the places that have been put back on lockdown which, if I understand the ever increasingly confusing guidelines, means that they are only allowed to socialise with members of their own household. There has been a dramatic increase in cases there so let’s hope everyone stays safe. I really can’t bear to think about a second lockdown and although I am meeting people and having lunches out etc. I do not like not having a choice about what I am doing and where I am going.

Two of the four Nolan sisters have been diagnosed with cancer and are currently undergoing treatment. Anne has breast cancer and Linda liver cancer. This must be a very sad and worrying time for the family and I’d like to wish them luck and a speedy recovery.

Two homes in New York that had belonged to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been put up for sale and are hoped to make 84 million pounds. One in Manhattan is currently the highest priced property for sale in the city. It is listed as the largest available family home. The proceeds of the sale will go to Epstein’s estate which has agreed to set up a compensation fund for his victims. I wonder how much will be left after the lawyers and estate agents have had their portion. Not a lot methinks.

We might not be encouraged to travel much at the moment but a cat from Nottingham went for a thirty mile ride in a tv repair van and stayed away for over two weeks. A neighbour of the cat’s owners suddenly found cctv footage showing the cat jumping into the repairman’s van and they were able to trace it. Well that’s further than I’ve travelled for a while and certainly the cat was away from home for longer than most of us. Let’s go to bed sleepy head. 😴💤😴