sime42

Nah mate, it's fairly obvious to me; what's right wing and what's not. The content of the "news" being purveyed gives you a pretty strong clue. ""I’m happy to use my own judgement, it’s seen me ok over the years. Particularly the last 2-3"" - really? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ Each to their own like but I'd be seriously questioning my judgement if I thought I'd been "seen ok" by the corruption, profiteering, dishonesty and blatant lying that has occurred over the last 2-3 years. They're not looking after you mate, honestly. It's not even a Right Vs Left debate, a decent Conservative government would be a great improvement on what we've had recently. I was going to say that to be fair, Mr Sunak seems to have a modicum of sense and integrity unlike the previous two PMs at least, but after today's revelation, maybe not. We can but hope. Surely even you must have wondered why we've been run down to the worst performing economy in the G7 and probably even G20 in just a few short years. Before you go off on one and start your normal ranting and whining about Covid; every other country has been through the same, some with more stringent restrictions as well. We're not the only country to feel the impact of Putin's shenanigans either for that matter.

Trying to wean ourselves off it. It's soo tempting though with these chilly evenings still.

The fruit trees are mainly tiddlers but they're punching above their weight so far this year.

There's leggy and then there's leggy. Jeeze. Never heard of that before. Are you sure they're not grapes?!

Yep, I've noticed exactly the same things the last few years, most peat free compost seems crap. Loads of plastic, and other rubbish and lots of sizable twigs and wood chips. It must be a direct result of using more recycled material in place of the traditional peat. I'm loath to go back to using peat though so I guess we're stuck with it. I could use homemade compost as well I suppose but no way I can make enough of that. After the initial seedling stage I normally use a 50/50 mixture of topsoil and compost anyway. It gives a more "meaty" consistency, better water retention and it's cheaper! I'm sure all the soil micro-organisms are benefial too.

Eh? I take it you mean 3 inches? 3 foot before a true leaf would be funny.

How's everyone's veggies getting on then? Mine aren't doing great so far this season. We've loads of seedlings inside on window sills;- chillies, toms, cucumbers, courgettes, gourds, peas, sweetcorn None have done much since germinating and being potted on, they've barely grown over the last 2 or 3 weeks. It's odd. It must be either the weather or perhaps some dodgy cheapo compost that I've got. I think the former is more likely as the average temperatures are still quite low. Though I've also got a few hardier things outside in the greenhouse like cabbages and various salad things, they are coming on nicely as usual. Garlic is looking good on the plus side, and the cherries and plums are having a bumper year, never seen so much blossom. Hopefully a decent amount sets and doesn't get attacked. Still a little early for the apples but they're just starting to bud and it looks like they'll be following the example set by the Prunus.

This is useful if you can't tell the political bias of a "news" source :- City Journal - Media Bias/Fact Check MEDIABIASFACTCHECK.COM RIGHT BIAS These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story...

He should have just flopped his junk out on the table right there in the clinic. 🤔 Though thinking about it, I'm not sure that even precludes you from getting pregnant these days.

Phew. I thought we may have been straying into climate change denial territory. ,😉

Agree with all that, except for the "unknown" sentiment. The cause of all this is human activity, the specifics of which have been well documented in recent years. I think everyone will start noticing pretty soon, once this mass extinction properly begins to gather pace. Even the most nature indifferent, detached, TikTok gazing Gen-Xer.

These were my particular favourites;- "Once, one of his colleagues was bitten by a squirrel, whose massive incisors went through his thumbnail and out the other side. Silby couldn’t get the animal off, because it was locked on and wriggling, so he had to decapitate it, then wrap the thumb – and the squirrel’s head – in a bandage to take his colleague to A&E." - Ouch. "Doran wishes people would look at the issue of squirrels and trees in the round. Yes, they chew bark, but “they also plant trees [by hiding nuts and seeds that they fail to retrieve] and they’re better at it than red squirrels, because of the way they hoard. Red squirrels tend to put all their eggs in one basket, whereas grey squirrels distribute them more.” - That Natalia Doran sounds like a bit of a case, she runs a squirrel sanctuary - why on earth?

And the final indignity was that the order came from the French ship's Female officer. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

The secret lives of grey squirrels: ‘The telly was off the wall, plates were smashed, furniture was ripped’ | Animals | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM Britain’s 2.7 million greys are on the rampage, starting fires, flooding homes and destroying ancient trees. But is it really...

VID-20230407-WA0005.mp4

I'll kick us off and say Lime.

UK's flying insects have declined by 60% in 20 years WWW.NHM.AC.UK The UK's insect population has fallen sharply as the invertebrates are affected by rising temperatures and fragmented...

Indeed. There's a lot that they do don't well. Dare say they're right about this as well. Those of us that spend time out in the natural world probably appreciate the positive effects it has on us already. Costing the Earth - The Sound of Nature - BBC Sounds WWW.BBC.CO.UK Meet the Japanese scientists working to bring the soothing sounds of nature into the city.

Love the pillow.

Italian art experts astonished by David statue uproar in Florida WWW.BBC.CO.UK A Florida school head was forced out after the famous Michaelangelo statue was shown to art students.

Yeah, I had an inkling this was stateside, clocked the "dirt". Didn't know that about sycamore/plane though. Cheers. I think also,our Lime is their Basswood Tree. Any others?

Are you sure it's a sycamore? As the bark looks more like a London Plane to me. As for the mound of dirt, I'd leave it there. Can't see the whole tree of course, but I don't think it'll be causing it much harm. Judging by the trunk girth the mound is quite small compared to the crown and root spread. It's a great opportunity to grow some nice or interesting beneath tree dwelling plants. Like Primroses, Erythroniums, Cyclamens etc. They won't bother a tree of that size at all.