I heard somewhere recently that blackbirds are at risk from Usutu virus so perhaps you are lucky to see one regularly.
Same with broad beans! A lovely smell and the furry lining of the pods, plus the prospect of eating these delicious legumes!
Well, apart from all the walking, the rest seems just up my street! Haven't had an ice cream in ages though you mentioning it makes me think that today might just be the day I buy one....
Well, it certainly looks like they have been "robin" some food from somewhere....(groan!)
I'm glad you like the thread!I like this idea for a thread
Hearing that my sister’s cat is pregnant!
That's awesome. Socialising dogs is definitely a challenge, have you any tips you'd share?We took our pupper on a group dog walk yesterday. This is the first time we've taken her on a group walk ourselves instead of the dog walker. There must've been about 20 dogs and she was great with all of them.
When we got her a year or so ago, she'd spent the first 2 years of her life on a croft on the north coast, barely ever seeing other people or other dogs. She was even scared of cars when she got here. She's come on leaps and bounds since!
So that was great to see, plus it was nice to meet some other dog owners in the area we just moved to
).
That sounds really good.A wonderfully-tasty home-made cheesecake covered in fruits of the forest for desert at our local restaurant in our village here in Tuscany. (Not good for my diet though!
Hmm....95% cheese and biscuit, 5% fruit? Not so sure!That sounds really good.
The fruit'll balance it out I'm sure
I think, assuming it's not an aggressive dog, and you've verified this by having it round a couple of friends' dogs, just finding a group of other dogs they can regularly walk with is half the work.That's awesome. Socialising dogs is definitely a challenge, have you any tips you'd share?
I know all too well the yappy bark of a terrierI think, assuming it's not an aggressive dog, and you've verified this by having it round a couple of friends' dogs, just finding a group of other dogs they can regularly walk with is half the work.
The group we were with on Sunday had all sorts of breeds so she got to meet bigger dogs as well as some tiny puppies. The advantage of the group for me is that I know the owners will be somewhat sensible, their dogs are unlikely to be too aggressive, etc, as the organiser would just ban anybody who couldn't control their dog until they got it under control.
She doesn't like being on a lead around other dogs, but she's quite nervous and think she feels a bit 'trapped' if she can't go and meet the other dog. We're starting a training class with her next week so hoping we can learn to, ahem, rein it in a bit.
It's a bit of a weird one when I think about it though. We bred dogs for specific skills, so shouldn't really be surprised when they demonstrate those traits in everyday life. Ours is mainly a terrier, so she would've been used for catching rats and guarding outbuildings with a yappy bark; so I feel a bit better about her behaviour when we adopted her as basically she barks at any sign of noise in the house, and training that out of her naturally won't be easy.
This is my first time owning a dog though, so probably not somebody to take advice from! Maybe after a month of weekly training classes I'll have some wisdom backed up by evidence or experience
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a day of doing nothing as it can be good for both mental and physical health so hopefully it has given you a chance to get better.
I fully agree....but unfortunately my wife doesn't!
And in turn your post on that veritable thread Mr. @Purple Train has really made me laugh! Thanks for that.
Having previously both boarded and alighted at Reading (though not necessarily always in that order) may I humbly add that people regularly try to board with suitcases the size of Saturn and I think this is completely unreasonable given the British loading gauge (although I appreciate it would be more acceptable in countries which have wider trains).I think the people who assume the OP was serious need to update their Sarcasm Detector to the latest 3000-series model, available for only £16.99 (inclusive of postage and packing) from reputable outlets such as Temu and Amazon.
I sympathise with the OP. I travel semi-regularly from Slough to points west and north, journeys which are most easily made with a change at Reading. It's an endless nightmare. When I get off the Elizabeth Line train and head to the GWR platforms, it's like being in an ant's nest. Throngs upon throngs of people, all fleeing to Plymouth or St Austell or Bristol or Newport or goodness knows where; pushing, shoving, jostling. It's literally impossible to tell where the join is between platform 8 and platform 9, ridiculous. And then you get on it, which is a nightmare in itself. The GWR trains are specifically programmed that the last seat is taken the moment you get on. It doesn't matter whether you're at the front of the queue or the back: you are always the first standee. Every time. Either the empty train has been swarmed by the people in front of you on the platform, or it's already full of anonymous Londoners who have nothing better to do than ride to Newton Abbot and back simply to take up a seat that could have been yours. This is a significant overreach by the state and proof of the appalling specifications of the Class 800/802 stock. And when there is a seat, it's almost always taken up by the Invisible Man and his lap is even more uncomfortable than the seats.
Don't even get me started with trying to get off the train on the way back. The IETs have only one door leaf per door. This is a disgrace. No successful item of rolling stock has ever had one door leaf per door (except for Mk. 1 coaches and derivatives thereupon, Mk. 2 coaches and derivatives thereupon, Mk. 3 coaches, Mk. 4 coaches, the Class 444, the Class 220, the Class 221, the Class 222, the Class 156, the Class 390, and the Eurostar units, but we can ignore them). Two door leaves is the recent fashion, but ideally all new stock must have three door leaves per door. This must be a national standard, or I, as the only person ever alighting at Reading, will continue to be flattened by the hordes of people trying to escape onto the train. Literally that one time I got knocked over by this lout with a bike, nine suitcases and a horse because we had to share a door. The rights of we Southerners to impatience must be respected by the state. Never used to happen before King Charles got in.
Where do all these people come from? They can't come through the entrance; nobody ever goes there. Gateline staff paid a fortune for nothing, broken Britain, going to the dogs. Anyway I tried to exit the station once. Put my ticket in, as you do. Stupid barrier then shouted at me, inconsiderate so-and-so. Wouldn't let me through. Kept refusing to believe I was real. No staff anywhere either, broken Britain, going to the dogs. Why they want Reading to be a city I'll never know, with this mass exodus there are probably only three people left by now. Horrendous confusing mess of a station, why nobody does anything about it I'll never know. One day someone will get stuck in an endless loop while making the station look busy and then the railway will look silly. And the platform numbering is discriminatory against people who can't count past 10. Whose idea was that? It means I can only get halfway across the footbridge before stopping dead and looking confused. In fact, I'm still there now.
Sadly, nothing will change; the railway is so anti-passenger and if they listened to me things would be far better.
*Bet you didn't notice that asterisk, did you?
(P.S. I love fun little threads like this: a nice antidote to the rather grey state of the world at the minute. Thanks for the rant OP
Nice data, thank youHaving previously both boarded and alighted at Reading (though not necessarily always in that order) may I humbly add that people regularly try to board with suitcases the size of Saturn and I think this is completely unreasonable given the British loading gauge (although I appreciate it would be more acceptable in countries which have wider trains).
And as someone who often has to change at Reading for trains to and from Britain's Ocean City (that's Plymouth for those of you not in Devon) I can only apologise for being part of the huge throngs changing there and I shall make amends. I am currently looking to change at somewhere quieter such as Pangbourne and although this may be tricky given the IETs don't stop there, I'm hoping I can persuade the driver with a chocolate orange (other sweet treats are available).
(And re. Londoners travelling to Newton Abbot - I'm sure they're part of an MI5 operation or something. Nobody lives in Newton Abbot. I went there once and there were three people there and they all told me they lived in Dalston anyway.)
-Peter
Glad to know somebody else shares my suffering re. Plymouth trains! If I ever see you at Pangbourne I'll make sure to replenish your stock of chocolate oranges, one of the most fantastic treats known to man!
