Sunday October 03, 2004

Allo Allo !

UK TV Gold had a stack of these showing on Saturday but as we went out I did not manage to watch any of them. It is good slapstick fun and Gorden Kaye is brilliant as the cafe owner. I have heard it was a hit in France wether other parts of Europe found it funny is another matter. But it is a comedy and does not offend I think.

It is best to look here for more details of the show but for me the best bits are when the policeman ( who is an English agent ) pops into the cafe with his "Good Moanin". The way they deal with the language is mind boggling the fact that everyone speaks English, it is just the accents and the clarity of the language that indicates what their French language skills are....

The French resistance local rep is Michelle who overburdens us delightfully with the line "Leesen verrry carefully, I weel zay zis only once..." and the crazy plans that she comes up with never ceases to amaze one. The British airmen who end up being dressed up as cows, local peasants carrying onions to keep them hidden from view are a constant problem to Rene.

If it appears on a screen near you do watch it. Within minutes you will like it or loath it.

Feeding the birds !

Surprising as it may seem our feathered friends require to be fed all year round. Like humans they need to eat everyday. Our impact on the environment means the food they used to find around them is not always there. Climate change also pays its part. So if you do feed birds and do so only in the winter please do so all year round.

I have a small home made bird feeder. It is a flat bad of plywood with a surrounding edge to keep the seed on the feeder. It then has a little roof which keeps the seeds dry. It also has the effect of keeping the larger birds off it. I watched a jay once trying to get to the seed. But the messy finches etc always seem to splill seed on the ground so the larger birds can go for that. I hang the feeder on a pergola so its easy to sweep the mess of the husks up as if they get on the grass they make a real mess. It also means I don't have to walk on the grass in the winter - which you should avoid. I also put a 'fat ball' out there which is especially popular in the winter. The ponds I have in the garden also provide a good source of water and the stream is popular with birds who like to take bath now and then. Cats are a problem - there are far to many in our area.

I often have fruit like a pear or apple for breakfast. I toss out the core on the grass after cutting it up into slices. The blackbirds love these (they are groundfeeders) . They seem to especially like pears. Conference seems a favourite !

It is interesting to see when the birds come to the garden. Clearly at certain times of the year there is food elsewhere for them to eat. I think at harvest time this is so. But in the spring I think they need extra help as they have extra mouths to feed

See these folks website they are the experts !

Will Button get his first win before the season is over ?

I am a fan of this guy. He is a smooth Alain Prost style driver and is also fast. Maybe not so aggressive as Kimi or Fernando but he did a couple of neat overtaking moves in China two weeks ago.

I wonder if BAR have done a simulation of what would have happened if Button had been on a three stop strategy. The two stopper meant while heavy with fuel he did not have the raw speed. He has gone well in Japan and Brazil before so it looks promising.

I think he would admit he has made a few mistakes in his career what driver has not ? His time at Benneton/Renault was difficult but I think he learnt a lot from that and the second year he started to do ok in the car. He was outqualified by Trulli but he got more points as predicted. When he went to BAR everyone expected his to be levelled by JV but it did not happen. There is a funny 'story' of when there was a team briefing at BAR JV arrived late and found Button on his chair. He told Button to sling his hook ( move off it) and Button said no. JV persisted and when Button refused to move said " we will talk about this later". Button replied "about chair ? I don't think so"

What happens to him next year we will have to see. I think that whatever the CRB find BAR will see him go. I think it is a shame as I think they will be a force to reckon with next year, they have stability in their team which is getting stronger every year. Honda seem to be back on form too.

Rain in Japan or Brazil will play into Button's hand, he is quite handy in the wet or changable conditions. Remember Indy his maiden year when it started to dry (a bit). He changed to slicks and did amazing times. Others swapped and started falling off the track. Not long to wait...

The back garden part one...

It is going to take several blogs to go over the back garden.

First of all to get to it you have to walk over the stream I made. It is about a foot wide and runs along the length of the pergola if you see what I mean. There are three 'waterfalls' where the water cascades over a flat slab of stone into the next section of the stream. At the bottom of the stream is a small pond used as the reservoir where the pump is. A pipe from the pump runs underground along the stream edge up to the top when it pours into the top section. Gravel and stones cover the pond liner that keeps the water where it should be. The edge has stones varying from the size of a pea to a mans fist.

Onto the main rear garden, on the right is a border where I have had marigolds and bizzie lizzies. I also have some patio roses but they have not done very well. This narrow band then opens up into a larger border on the right hand side that goes all the way to the back of the garden. As this section opens out is our acer tree which has lovely red leaves at this time of the year. The acer is quite sensitive; it can loose some leaves in the spring it is caught out by a late frost, in the summer it is not tolerant of drought conditions which again causes early leaf loss.

The large border on the right has a English country garden feel to it. There are many perennials, poppies, aquilegias ( I grow many different types of these) agastache, achillea , hollyhocks, foxgloves and much more. I try and keep the border flowering all year but it is hard to do that. I have shrubs like mahonia in the border as well near the back. The main problem with the garden apart from the soil iso n two edges we have conifer hedges. These monsters soak up any available water and although we have had success in getting them cut back it is an ongoing battle.

What car to choose next ?

After three VW Passats I think it is time for a change. The latest I have is a great car and I love driving it. It is a 1.8 Turbo saloon with the Sport trim . Nicely lowered suspension and I have got to know it well. It has not been a lucky car I quote from an email I sent out to my work friends a year or so ago...

Not to put a bag of cement and a tin of roof sealant in the boot of your car and drive home...

As the driver swings through the Bagshot 'bus stop' chicane the tin is trapped against the side of the boot by the weight of the bag of cement. Rapid de-acceleration to take the right line through the Bracknell 'bit kurve' puts more pressure on its lid until through the 'Mirabeau' the lid finally gives in to the unwieldy pressure of the bag of cement, leaking its contents into the boot of the car.

The sad tale is not complete as the driver finishes the lap through the Ruscombe 'La Rascasse' power sliding through the curve to ensure the final contents of the sticky fluid are adequately distributed inside the boot of the car.

On arrival at the pits the expense of the accident are compounded by the sealant ruining one kitchen carpet tile, a pair of trousers and leaving a trail of black blobs on the driveway....

So I reckon the new Golf might be the one to go for. the GT TDI 2.0 looks good. 150BHP like the Passat has now. It will be cheaper to run and the taxman won't skin me alive like he does now. I will see.. ( Oct 03 2004, 06:00:00 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

A walking weekend

This weekend we went and stayed at a pub in Berkshire in a village called Stanford Dingley. Despite doom and gloom on the weather front it has been quite successful.

We started out doing a walk around Checkondon which is near Henley. The walk was three and a half miles. We got back as it started to rain. We had lunch in the pub there and headed out to Stanford Dingley.

We checked into the pub and then went to a National Trust property Called Basildon Park . As it turns out they have just finished filming a new version of Pride and Prejudice . This meant the house was closed while they put it back together. We had a quick walk in the ground before it rained again.

We had dinner in the pub and visited the other pub in the village for dessert ! I write reports for the Good Pub guide . Both pubs are in the guide. On Sunday morning we got up, had an English breakfast and did a walk around Beenham starting from the Six Bells pub. Again luck held and we got back before it started to rain. I prefered this walk as there was bit more to see. This area of Berkshire is very pretty and the andscape is a little more interesting to our part as the countryside has a few more hills and less houses ! We saw a newly built abbey at Douai which was started in 1928 but it had to wait until 1993 when the church was dedicated. I prefer the other buildings on the site to this 'modern' structure. The site had once a well respected Roman Catholic school. Further round the walk we saw some children playing football. I think the parents were more vocal in their support of the them and this support did not seem to make much difference to the playing ability either !

We returned home and I have just cleaned the car and our muddy boots before writing this blog...