Marty

I saw two bumble bees working on the lupin flowers outside my backdoor today. But usually by this time of the year I would be expecting to see more. Here's a Scientific American article from November 2018 that looks at the decline in insect numbers worldwide: as-insect-populations-decline-scientists-are-trying-to-understand-why Some of it is not very encouraging reading.

Hey, Page!

Ah! Makes sense now! I've just come back from editing some writing of mine and am almost tempted to be really mean and offer you one of the commas I took out of one of the sentences...

Love the way that Kelly's dad reacted. Of course he knew who was responsible. Why else would he suddenly visit the Shack? And I liked how he quoted Shakespeare to get his point across. Great story, Geron! I've not laughed so much in a long time.

Beautifully executed! Now just the 'So what happened next' bit to read.

Molasses... ... a trash bag full of something that weighs very little at all ... ... Sounds to me like someone could get tarred and feathered ... 😲 ... and perhaps after suddenly talking in a very high pitched voice. Now, I wonder what Boney's going say in morning? Odd how, especially when there was so much happening in this chapter, that paragraph was the one that really caught my attention.

I thought it sounded more like something from MacGyver.

I can envision so many ways that set up could be used... Chances are the one that @Geron Kees comes up with will be one that I didn't envision. And i had to laugh at the scene involving Deputy Dawg and his secret (but not so secret any more) fling. Great chapter (as usual )

I'm sat here wondering how lemon juice and potatoes can be used as a marinade...

Geron, you can really be a pain at times... I'm on the edge of my seat here, waiting to find out what the guys have planned.

You suggesting he should get into bed with Spielberg?

I remember those dumping grounds from when I was a kid. They really were great places to find "interesting" stuff... Can't wait to find out what idea Kelly is brewing up in his head! Another great chapter, @Geron Kees

Hi, Albert.

Nope. No sign of it here in Ireland. You could maybe try Singapore.

I believe "Warning: Bad to the bone" was written in big bold letters on the top of the patient notes hanging on the end of your bed....

Bad to the Bone, is what I heard....

Hi all. Sorry I've not been around much this past few days. Been dosed with a head cold, and just haven't been able to concentrate on things. Just about over it now, so I may be back to annoy yous all tomorrow. Off to bed now, though. @Headstall: good to hear your opp went okay-ish. @Randy Wade: great news about the faulty brain scan results! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I have circled (in red) in the image below, the link at the bottom of your notifications tab that Cia is talking about, @Talo Segura. I'm not sure whether you can open it in a new tab if you are viewing GA on a mobile phone or tablet, but it certainly works on a Windows laptop or desktop.

Sad news for all those cat lovers out there... https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-17/internet-meme-grumpy-cat-dies-aged-seven/

Thanks for the comment, @Talo Segura. I am actually trying for a different sort of theme to the usual one with this story. I'm not sure just how well it will work. One problem I can see is how I will ever actually bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. Johnny is not interested in anything more than a platonic relationship with Sean, or maybe perhaps a mentor/mentee sort of one. So that seems to rule out this being a romance. Sean's problems seem almost unsolvable, or at least ones that only he, himself, will be able to solve. So that seems to rule out Johnny becoming the wonderful superhero who saved Sean from himself by the end of it. This is a completely new piece of work from me. I'm adding each chapter as soon as I've finished writing and editing it. I'm worried the story may just run on and on and on, a bit like some TV soap opera, and I'll never find a way to bring it to a proper conclusion that will leave the readers happy. Still, it feels good to have the creative juices running again! And I'm glad that time standing still bit worked for you. I had struggled describing that scene, and still wasn't 100% sure I'd managed it all that well.

I'm still waiting for summer to actually arrive here in the West of Ireland. We're exactly two weeks shy of the summer solstice (or midsummer, as some people like to call it) and, apart from the days being a lot longer than they were a few months ago, you'd hardly know it was summer here at all. I've nothing definite planned yet, although a friend and myself are tentatively talking about doing a road trip through parts of Western Europe. I'm also thinking about booking a walking holiday somewhere in Europe as well, maybe part of the Camino. One nice thing about being retired is that I am not restricted as to when I can take holidays, so I don't have to worry about the extra cost of being forced to take holidays during the peak holiday season.

Do I detect a certain amount of fat shaming...? Tsk! Tsk! Naughty children!

Thanks, @Talo Segura I definitely count the sixties as a period. The early years of that decade are burned into my memory, with the likes of the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of JFK, the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, and Martin Luther's dream and the rise of the Civil Rights movements being just a few of my abiding memories. And the last years of the sixties heralded the arrival of flower power, hippies, Hare Krishna, recreational drugs of different kinds, Vietnam, student unrest, and the rise of the antiwar movement. What was it Danny, the drug dealer in Withnail and I, said about the impending end of the sixties? Something along the lines of "They're selling hippie wigs these days, man. Looks like the greatest decade in the history of mankind is over," (if I remember correctly). Oh, and regarding England winning something in 1966, it was more a robbery than a win. West Germany should have won that final. (And that's not sour grapes, or an anti-Brit slur from someone living in Ireland. I was born and reared in England. That Geoff Hurst goal never was a goal.)

Wow! 😲 Many thanks for saying that, @Talo Segura. I just hope I will live up to your expectations.