Sunday 29 September 2013

News - well at least it's not so depressing as the stuff on the television...



Where I Been

I have been decorating in Junior’s lounge.  He’s also put in a lot of hard work and it’s beginning to look good.  He’s such a perfectionist.  Every join between colours to be so straight it’s like painting the Sistine Chapel.

Partner-who-loves-tea and I also had the occasional break.  On Friday we went to Upton for a coffee and found a new café. 


We were very impressed.  We have started putting every café and restaurant we visit into a notebook with all our comments.  Mills in Upton is most decidedly one to revisit.


And perhaps next time Upton won’t be crawling with police officers looking for clues to a bank robbery! 


Police were investigating possible links between the recovery of a large amount of cash from a house in Huyton with the theft of money from the ATM machine in Upton in the early hours of the morning. Officers attended an address in Huyton at around 6am and arrested a man and woman on suspicion of burglary in connection with the incident.  Police were called to Barclays Bank on Ford Road, Upton, at around 1.35am to reports three men had forced entry to the premises and stolen cash from the machine.   


Police will be investigating if the Upton raid has similar characteristics to a spate of others across Merseyside in which gas "bombs" were used to open the machines.  All very exciting.

Even more exciting was the fact that we had two men out to see about the boiler.  Number one suggested replacing the whole central heating system - cost a couple of thousand probably.  No call out charge!  The second hit the pump with a spanner and got the system going again. - well worth the call-out charge.


Facebook


If you like marsupials (and who doesn’t?*), my favourite is the wombat. Not only are they vegan and terribly, terribly cute, but also they’re lazy and never make any more effort than the basic required to get the job done, or travel an inch farther than they need to get from A to B. . 


I have decided to be a far more regular visitor to Facebook.  And here is just one of the things I learned from my most recent visit thanks to my friend Jamie in Australia:- 


Wombats have developed an incredible physical adaptation: The reinforced rump. When a predator attacks a wombat, it runs to its burrow and uses its tough cartilage-filled bum to block their burrow (it can crush a dingo's head against the wall of the burrow).  One of Jamie's children has now invented a new game--Wombat Butt.


(* OK, Kate is the exception to liking marsupials.  She learned that when you hire a vehicle in Australia it isn’t insured against hitting a kangaroo.  She learned the hard ward way!)


The Umbrella
The umbrella is said to be one of the longest-lived human inventions and a great example of early design. Both the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians had parasols for sun blockage, and the Chinese developed a collapsible umbrella design as early as 21 A.D.   But who came up with the idea of the umbrella in the first place?

The answer seems to be a frog!





These amazing photos were captured by Indonesia-based photographer Penkdix Palme.  (Permission to use requested but no response received.)


The Garden

I haven’t had any time for gardening but it seems to be managing quite well without my interference.




10 comments:

  1. Hey your thumbs must be green as the flowers look so cheerful. Now I know much more about wombats, and oh, that cute frog with its leaf umbrella.

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  2. Your garden is beautiful! My hat is off to you, as i can't grow anything but crab grass.

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  3. Those wombats really do remind me of cuddly toys, most animals don't. Thanks for that bit of info about the wombat bum - they do say you learn something new etc.etc!! Your flowers are lovely, I am sure your hard work looking after them so far has simply encouraged them!

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  4. The frog is just superb. I should have suggested giving the pump a good clout.

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    1. Get a plumber in that can flush the system. It's a big posh machine they bring but should only cost sixty pounds an hour. In my experience it floods outside drains. It may also pick up the odd weak joint and possibly require your running about with a few old bath towels. I can recommend a superb plumber but you may have to ask your neighbours to make it worth his while travelling. Your mansion may take an hour or two to flush all the crap out then ask him to fit a good pump. Grunfos are well worth the money but check with the plumber. A central heating pump is not hard to fit. Just buck up and fit one!

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  5. Nothing beats experience...a good whack on a malfunctioning appliance always does the trick to get it going again....I love that no-nonsense boiler man. I'd keep his number for future malfunctions.
    Not sure if the frog photos are photoshopped, but I like your story.
    As for the wombat butt.....hmmmmm.

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  6. When I read the title of this post, I was very much hoping that those News involve Ivy's return...

    The flowers in your garden are so beautiful! And you are keeping as busy as always, I see.

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  7. To be fair Kate was a marsupial lover until the joey actually jumped into the side of the campervan and, technically, hit her. One would assume that that would make a difference but not in Australia where, as you say, if a kangaroo is involved it's just tough luck: usually expensive tough luck.

    The frog floating down the river does rather seem to be defying gravity and I would suspect that is a clever Photoshop pic.

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  8. There are many things I expect to see when I read your blog. A wombat's fuzzy arse isn't one of them. But I'm glad I saw it. It's darn cute.

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  9. You find the oddest (and cutest) facts and photos as usual :) Good luck with the boiler!

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