WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

China, the US food banks are on a much bigger scale than in the UK and people have to drive long distances to them and collect a large amount on any one visit. There's no way they can collect from the banks without a car. And you know how big the distances are between US towns. Also the cars are often owned by people who are collecting the food on behalf of folk who are ill or can no longer drive. If you see US news that middle class Americans are visiting food banks don't think it's well off people - when Americans say `middle class' they usually mean what we call working class or even poor.

Collection from a US food bank...

[Stanley]

The fact that it started raining at 03:00 even though there is still a frost. I think an Atlantic low is going to solve the snow and ice problem for us. The word is that further up country this is falling as snow at first.

[Tizer]

If you get bothered when you see a bird dropping on your car just be thankful you don't live in Rome!
`The man startling millions of starlings with lasers' LINK to BBC video
`Winter in Rome means starling season, when between one and four million of the birds gather in the Italian capital on their migration from Europe to Africa. Their formations in the skies are beautiful – but their droppings create a hazard and the city authorities are trying new methods to move them on from certain locations.'

[Stanley]

We always said that they gave good luck!

[Tizer]

`Inflated ego: Trump baby blimp joins Museum of London collection' LINK
`The Donald Trump baby blimp, a 6-metre-high inflatable caricature that became a symbol of UK protest against the US president, has secured its place in history at a leading museum. The helium-filled balloon, paid for through crowdfunding, depicts the outgoing president as a snarling orange baby wearing a nappy, with its tiny hands clutching a smartphone. It first took to the skies above Parliament Square during protests over Trump’s first presidential visit to the UK in 2018.

`It was present again on his state visit in 2019, and has also been flown in France, Argentina, Ireland, Denmark and various locations in the US. Now, after a global tour, the Trump baby, designed by Matt Bonner, and constructed by Imagine Inflatables of Leicester, has been acquired by the Museum of London. It will be conserved and could be displayed as part of the museum’s protest collection, which includes artefacts from the Suffragette movement, climate-crisis rallies and peace activism. The creators of the effigy said they hoped it served as a reminder of the fight against the “politics of hate”.'

[Big Kev]

Britain's oldest horse drawn canal boat has had to shutdown and retire the horses. Apparently the owner was being harassed by 'snowflakes' accusing her of animal cruelty by making her horse pull the boat.

https://m.outdoorrevival.com/news/horse ... barge.html

[Stanley]

What grabbed me about that is protesters against horse cruelty frightening the horses by riding bicycles at them. A shame and the horses will miss the exercise. Pity we can't yoke the protesters up to the boat to show them how easy it is to pull.

[Big Kev]

Pity we can't yoke the protesters up to the boat to show them how easy it is to pull.

Indeed, I reckon they've never see pictures of 2 men 'legging' a boat through the Summit Tunnel at Foulridge.

[Wendyf]

What people fail to understand is that you can't force a horse to do anything it doesn't want to do. If we are lucky they cooperate with us because it suits them!

[Stanley]

What grabbed me about yesterday was the continuous rain, and it still hasn't stopped. Your paddocks must be soaked Wendy.

[Wendyf]

Water, water everywhere Stanley. It's too dark to be able to see what it's like this morning and I'm not looking forward to finding out!

[Stanley]

I was just making that comment to my daughters, pitch black even now and still raining. In fact the rain is perhaps heavier today or am I imagining that.
The amber warning is in place until noon tomorrow and includes snow......

[Wendyf]

I've just been outside and it's light enough to see that there are no overflowing field drains cascading down the hills so there must have been persistent but not heavy rain overnight. Soggy but not menacing as yet!
Earby beck has risen steadily then retreated but Carleton is on the point of being cut off from Skipton with Ramper starting to flood.

[Stanley]

Did I hear this morning that trains from Skipton to Lancaster have been cancelled and they said something about some of the bus replacements have also been cancelled.

[Big Kev]

Did I hear this morning that trains from Skipton to Lancaster have been cancelled and they said something about some of the bus replacements have also been cancelled.

Potentially, this was Longmoor Lane in Garstang at lunchtime today.

Garstang.JPG

from the BBC

[Stanley]

I know I often mention it but we should never cease to be grateful that in Barlick we are on the watershed and so we don't get other area's run off. If we keep our drains and culverts clear we should be OK.
The snow on the bin lids was a bit of a shock this morning.... I suppose it's winter and we just have to get on with it. We have another cruel month to come, February Fill Dyke!

[Big Kev]

A phone book posted through my letterbox, considerably smaller than I remember. Seems a pointless exercise really as any required numbers are readily available online, they could save themselves a lot of money by only sending them out on request.

It's gone in the recycling bin...

[Whyperion]

A phone book posted through my letterbox, considerably smaller than I remember. Seems a pointless exercise really as any required numbers are readily available online, they could save themselves a lot of money by only sending them out on request.

It's gone in the recycling bin...

BT service charter so folk dont have to dial expensive directory enquiries. though you do need a magnifying glass.

[Big Kev]

A phone book posted through my letterbox, considerably smaller than I remember. Seems a pointless exercise really as any required numbers are readily available online, they could save themselves a lot of money by only sending them out on request.

It's gone in the recycling bin...

BT service charter so folk dont have to dial expensive directory enquiries. though you do need a magnifying glass.

It did look difficult to read. Perhaps they need to look at delivering on request only

[Whyperion]

Not worth it, too ackward to read an address list - used to be done when it was subscriber only (and the Post Office owned the Telephone company (bar Hull) but the directory was bigger - was done by Postmen on an afternoon overtime shift normally.

[Marilyn]

Saw this in the paper this morning. I’m still thinking it over...
What happens if “Mum” has multiple kittens?
Would a kitten adapt to its new family better and bond with them better if “Mum” wasn’t there? I’m sure some of you understand cats better than I do...

[Cathy]

I like the idea, so many adult animals aren’t adopted. The hardest bit would be which kitten to pick... eenie meenie minie moh
And hoping any other kittens would be adopted too.

[Stanley]

Biggest problem in replying to this post is deciding which spelling to use, spey or spay, they seem to be interchangeable. Whatever, instead of worrying about kittens make spaying cats and dogs a free service.
The thing that's attracted my attention at the moment is the fact it's not raining and the stars are visible.

[Big Kev]

Teaching primary school children the use of terms like fronted adverbial. Whatever happened to just letting them use their imagination and write a story...

This just about sums it up (contains some swearing)
https://iknowineedtostoptalking.com/201 ... dverbials/

[Stanley]

I've written millions of words without knowing what a 'fronted adverbial' is and I refuse to try to find out. Whatever it is it is quite obviously superfluous.
The fact that the days are lengthening and there is only a week of January left. February is such a short month......
The fact that supplies of Co-op own brand brown sauce and salad cream made in Belgium seem to be getting in through the new customs regime!