Marty

Thanks. I knew it was from a Native American. Just couldn't remember who. (I first came across the quotation back around 1980 when I was a member of the Eco Party (a forerunner to the Green Party) in the UK. It was on all their literature at the time.)

Apparently it's nothing more than a small amount of play on the rear right hand side brake calliper. My garage man tells me it' nothing to worry about and not dangerous in the slightest.

And they'll probably need to bathe you afterwards as well. You mean you've never heard of Christmas in July?

Morning, duggie.

I think it's more a case of Mother Earth not deserving us. Homo sapiens is an arrogant species. We think that we can control nature. We think that we are above nature. We think that we are the dominant species. We forget that we are a part of nature. We forget that we are part of an evolutionary process. We think that the term survival of the fittest as applied to evolution does not apply to us. We stupidly think that we are the fittest. Evolution, Nature, Mother Earth may be about to prove to us just how wrong we are. Mother Earth will continue to exist. With or without us. Here's something I wrote a number of years ago: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We hold it in trust for our children." /END OF RANT/

Short answer: No Longer answer: I can't remember the last time I bought jam (or jelly). Home made is much more tasty (and I know what home made contains).

Good night, gang. Have to be up early in the morning. My car is making some strange noises. My garage man has told me he thinks it may be something to do with the rear bushings (whatever that means). He's promised to test drive it and then put it up on the lift to see if he can find out what the real problem is, providing I get there as soon as he opens in the morning, before he starts work on cars he's already got booked in for the day. Fingers crossed it's nothing too serious.

I agree with everything you say about forestry clearance, Gary. And those large tracts of natural forest should be acting as the planet's lungs. They remove carbon dioxide from the air, and replace it with oxygen. And they store vast quantities of carbon. It's not just decades. We've been mismanaging these resources for several centuries now. I'm not sure whether we will ever really learn our lesson, though. Or at least not until it is too late...

Thanks for clearing that up. I learn something new every day. (And thanks to the countless others who also cleared it up for me)

Catch you again, @Randy Wade! Great to hear from you. Sorry I wasn't about when you arrived earlier. Good to hear that Mark's making a slow recovery. I really hope everything goes well.

Well, the light didn't want to play ball this evening. The clouds rolled in shortly after I left home, so I didn't get the interplay between light and shadow that I was hoping for. I did spend a nice couple of hours out in the fresh air, anyway, so the evening wasn't a total waste. Seems like the sunny spell may be coming to an end for a few days at least. The forecast for the next week isn't promising quite as much sunshine as we've had this past week. But it seems as though the temperature's not going to drop back by much, at least, which is a good thing. But it looks like myself and TN may be playing game of cat and mouse as we try to chase the light for the next while.

Right, gang! It's just turned 6:00 pm here. About four hours of sunlight left, and it's a beautiful day out. Should be getting some real interplay of light and shadow soon. I think it's time to take TN out for a while. Maybe chat yous all later.

Do I have to? Someone once told me we are only allowed so many thoughts in our lives. Wouldn't want to use all mine up too soon.

But how much of it is true, and how much is fake news?

<Considers hiding in the woodshed> <Has second thoughts>

Thanks, Timothy. Saved me from having to look up the figures about the carbon footprints of artificial christmas trees. And I suspect that figure of ten years probably doesn't take into account the fact that many of those trees are made in distant parts of the world, and have to be transported long distances to where they are being sold. Another suspicion of mine is that many people do not realise that a proper rotation of crops like trees is actually carbon neutral...

Gentlemen? Don't know whether all of us deserve that title, clo... But thanks for the comment on the pic. Thought it was time I stopped being invisible. (It's actually from 2006, so a bit out of date. I have my hair in a pony tail these days)

Not even Bob can be wrong all the time, Albert!

19°C sounds absolutely perfect to me!

I think you might be right, @Dmrman... Looks like he may well be after something..

Hey, clo! Glad you had a good weekend!

Careful now, young Albert! Otherwise I may have to put a @ in front of Myr's name to make him aware of what you're saying about the GA staff. Then he might just come in here with the whips and chains and get all dominatrix-y with you.

So you now need to see if you can train your son's girlfriend to actually remember to tell Cookie to 'Stay'...?

You're a naughty boy, Albert! I doubt they break things on purpose.

If you're using a laptop or desktop, Albert, try hitting the F5 key. Thhat should refresh the page, and it should then work again.