for Foxsake…!

I saw this little fellow nibbling at my nuts a couple of days ago - luckily he was pretty hungry as he kept coming back for more, which gave me time to get my camera out and take these pics.

He’s a Wood Mouse or Long Tailed Field Mouse and very cute he is too!

I tried to get a photo of him in mid air as he took the jump back to the trellis but he was just too quick…so the last pic with the nut in his mouth is the one just before he made the leap. I know it’s a bit blurry but this was a moment of excitement at the end of a very tedious day.

After this he scarpered off down the trellis and underneath the shed, probably to his nest with loads of little babies. Sadly, I think he’s a single parent because a couple of days earlier I found another one floating in my watering can…

I have finally persuaded my mate Bob to add a few posts to this blog to save it from extinction. I just don’t have the time or the inclination to add anything here at the moment - but judging from the ear-bashing I often get from Bob, he has plenty to say!

One thing about Bob - he’s a builder.

So, over to you Bob… you can find me up this path amongst the trees on a sunny evening if you need a hand.

After reading this ridiculous article by yet another smug arse reporter, I thought I’d tap out a quick word on this sad situation. 

I love cricket, but I really do despair at the way the game is run - by mediocre ex-players, old farts and fairies. The ludicrous public school attitude to the game is why we don’t succeed.

Kevin Pietersen has found this out the hard way - yet he is the personification of what the English cricket team lacks. His arrogance, selfish drive, self confidence, technical ability and artistry - together with his aggressive passion to win - is what makes him the greatest batsmen this country has seen. Now he’s slated in the press and media, and by some of his more jealous peers - for what? - for wanting to take the English game by the balls and shake out the useless and incompetent chaff.

No wonder the Ausies are happy - if everyone continues to knock him he’ll bugger off to play in India - and if he’s not in the team this summer they’ll win Ashes series for sure.

I’m with you KP, the rest are all nuts.

…thank goodness that’s over. Now I can get back to some sort of normality, whatever that is.

Here’s the plan - a kind of list of new year resolutions, in no particular order and certainly not including the usual “give up the fags, booze, and burgers”

Lighten up - forget that last year I lost my family, house and health, but be thankful that I got one of them back in almost as good a condition as it was a couple of years ago.

Don’t look back - well, not in anger anyway. Shit happens to most people so I could see it as entering the fold of the brotherhood.

Look forward -  This will be difficult for someone who has become as paranoid as me! There may have to be the occasional sideways glance….

Read some books - something I’ve neglected to do for a few years believing there was never enough time.

There we are, nothing much but it is a plan…

Well, today we have had the first bit of real snow for years. Here in Yorkshire we used to get loads of it - from about now, right through ’til the end of April. Not now of course - global ballaching has put paid to that.

Today has been good - it started off well, loads of snow, and because of that there were no cars screaming up the road into town at 6.00am. No, just peace and quiet - which in itself almost startled me because where I live now is probably the noisiest road in Richmond - but that’s another post! Outside there was that kind of soft, stillness-of-sound that you only get with a heavy snowfall or if you were daft enough to cover all of your walls with pillows.

After a blissful breakfast, I thought I’d go and play in the snow before I started work. I watched a few people trying to get cars moving, some very grumpy people - I must remember never to be THAT grumpy - complaining that the roads weren’t cleared and how they’re late for work and how it’s got to be someone’s fault… blah-di balh-di blah….

After padding through the snow in a very quiet market place - only a couple of shops open, no traffic and hardly any people - and after mucking about with the boys who were off school as the schools were closed because of the snow, chucking snowballs, making snowmen and sledging down the hill, after helping to remove wellies from freezing cold little feet…

After all that, I realised today that life is just a snowfall of snowballs, so I’m glad I took the time off to chuck a few around, tomorrow everything will have melted.

PS. Do you like the view from my loo!

I was out and about this weekend (along with probably half the population of Richmond and their dogs splatting their poo all over place) when I looked across the field and saw this magnificent sight…

It leaned over to me and whispered “I hope you’ve got your camera with you Andy, this won’t last forever”.

“Nothing ever does does” I sighed, as I got out my trusty little snapper and took this pic.

It’s been a year or so since the opening of the Station - a renovated old railway station transformed into a “living centre and hub for the local community”….  A lot of people put in a huge amount of time, effort and money to get this project up and running and I congratulate each and every one of them for doing so.

It appears though, all is not as peachy as some press releases would have us believe - what with the manager and support staff being made redundant, and now the appointment of a caretaker and a financial assistant imminent - it does make you wonder… well it ought to! There are a few posts about this matter on the local web site’s message board - and one or two jibes aimed at yours truly (so nothing new there then!).

I really wasn’t going to post about this on here because I didn’t want to sound like I was knocking something that is of great benefit to the town… but I am a little pissed off. I’m a little pissed off with the reaction on the message board to one or two comments and questions, and not just to the ones I posed.

It’s the same old story - as soon as you challenge or question something or someone it’s seen as condemnation or criticism. You then wonder why you bother even to open your mouth as you watch the inevitable flow of dummies being spat out all over the place, leaving the grey, unenterprising and unimaginative brotherhood to continue to trudge on into the past. I agree that it’s not good to criticise incessantly but it has to be right to question occasionally.

The Station is a great opportunity, I hope the Trust can be trusted with it.

As a nod to the current Richmond Walking Festival, I thought I’d buy some new boots this week - not that I’m going to walk anywhere in them because I don’t want to get them dirty - but because my last pair had my socks leaking out all over the place.

If you’re into walking around the countryside the Walking Festival is a great way to get out into the fresh Yorkshire air with guided walks that take you around the town and up the dales. Linked with the Book festival this is a well organised fortnight of activities and is a pretty good way to get visitors into the town - something that is very important for the local economy.

The festival is on until the 5th October, though I assure you, you are allowed to walk around the place at all other times… you could even save a pound or two!

Just to follow up on my previous post about the skanky fish and chips on offer from one of the chippies in this old town.

It can be done to perfection… Just pop along to Redcar and try the chips from Drews Fish and Chips on the sea front. I wish I had my camera so I could’ve posted a comparison - you would have been able to taste the difference simply by looking at them!

Without doubt, the best I’ve ever had… and I’ve had a few!

Since the chippy in the Market Place burnt down, the unfortunate people of Richmond have had to endure some utterly nasty, greasy and uncooked chips - from the other chip shop that isn’t in the market place. The chips in this photo from the other place, were nearly eaten by me today, I tried very hard to eat them all but after just a few mouths full of the soggy mass, the cold and slimy sickness came over me and I had to stop… and if I’m honest, these weren’t as bad as they have been.

The strange thing about all of this is the fact that the burnt down chippy and the existing greasy chippy are run by the same people. It’s as if they get some kind of mental blockage around the cooking of chips when they walk up the hill to the other place.

It’s not that difficult to know when chips are cooked, so I cannot understand why they can’t get it right - maybe it’s because they don’t want to get the fat too hot in case they burn the place down… But no, I suspect it’s simply because they, like some others in this town, just can’t be bothered to do a decent job - and I, like some others in the town cannot be bothered to complain about it.

If you walk through Friary Gardens this week you will see the lovely Daffodils and Crocuses in full flower under the trees, making a beautiful woodland scene slap bang in the middle of Richmond.

You will also see a number of carelessly discarded empty cans of McEwans export chucked away by some dysfunctional youth(s) oblivious to anything in the world but their own desire to get pissed or high in the name of having a good time.

The Friary Gardens have long been a Jewel in Richmond for both the local population and visitors, with the well-kept flowerbeds a joy in the spring and summer months, and for me at least, a haven of peace in the darker months.

The District Council have finally come round to the idea that the gardens are good for the town (though they did try to get out of looking after them a few years back), so it’s about time the police got to grips with the drunken yobs that all too often frequent these beautiful gardens.

I suppose I could look on the bright side… at least there isn’t the minefield of dog crap along the footpaths anymore, no - the lazy dog owners have all moved to Castle Walk!

It’s been ten years since the Antony Gormley sculpture raised it’s head majestically over the north of England.

I was one of those doubters who complained and whined about Gateshead Council spending £800,000 on a “piece of art” when there was so much poverty and degradation in certain areas of Gateshead and Newcastle. What do I know… thank God no-one listened to me and many others of same mind all those years ago, we might have missed out on something special.

I love that Angel of the North, I loved it the second I saw it.

Happy birthday Angel of the North.

Well fancy that! For the second year running the Christmas tree in the Market place has been removed the day after I posted about the fact it was still there in February.

I’d like to think there’s some connection here, with the powers that be, monitoring my every word, attending to my every whim…

It’s the 5th of February and our caged Christmas tree stands sadly in the market place like a forlorn and forgotten prisoner.

I look out of my window and see another sad reminder of Richmond’s inability to function efficiently when it comes to what really ought to be a simple task. It’s bad enough that what should be a proud, joyful and glittering symbol of Christmas is caged like a criminal as soon as it is erected, like someone ready to be mocked and derided after being dragged through the town in shackles, shamed and humiliated as they stand in their final resting place.

I’m pretty sure that the Richmond Christmas tree is erected by volunteers and ultimately taken down by volunteers (if this is so, then this in itself could be the problem), I know the ridiculous fence around the tree is there because of a pathetic “health and safety” reason, and I’m sure everyone concerned gets on with the job with the best intentions…

But sooner or later, someone has to be brave enough to ask the simple question - If it can’t be done properly, should it be done at all? If the last few years of Christmas tree fiasco are anything to go by… then no, it shouldn’t.

Anyway when the Obelisk is lit up, it makes the perfect Christmas tree!!

There’s been a huge amount of crap hovering around a bloke I know over the last few months.

He’s had to put up with a number of unpleasant situations which I know haven’t been helped by a dodgy ticker that seemed to be getting worse by the week.

There are the idiots who wanted to shaft him a few months ago and it appears that they still do. There are also the idiots who listen to the idiots, absorbing the malignant chatter and feeding off it as if it were their only source of nourishment. To make things worse these dark and shifty characters who walk in the shadows of the town have been able to contaminate his appetite for one of his more satisfying and successful ventures. To make matters even worse the perpetrator of these dark and dishonest deeds had presented himself as an ally in the aforesaid venture…. unfortunately we all come across people like that from time to time. “You should’ve known better” I told him.

When I saw him just before Christmas he told me that he had been kicked out of his house by his wife who was sick of his bad temper and moods (brought on by the frustration of having a debilitating heart condition for well over a year no doubt), he was very unhappy, I wasn’t suprised, he’d put up with a load of crap and was still buried neck high in it. “Well” I told him “It could be worse, you could be in Iraq, Afghanistan, or even the Sudan.” I’m not sure that helped but I knew he would understand.

A few days ago when I saw him he looked decidedly chipper. I thought he must be back with his missus or something. “Nope” he said “I got this ticker sorted” he went on “It hurt like hell and damnation, like fire and ice… but I think the doctors fixed it!”

I was pleased, he deserved a break. I asked about the idiot wind blowing around his skull…

“You know Andy” he said “It’s been a real journey, this last year - especially the last couple of months - but I’m glad I made it. There isn’t an idiot anywhere who can bring me down at the moment, I am truly in the pink!”

No artificial flavours, no artificial colours, no hydrogenated vegetable oil - just a good honest chocolate wholemeal biscuit.

A cup of coffee, accompanied by one or two of these - and in my case, a fag to follow (sorry Doc, just the one!) - has got to be the best way to spend a break from whatever it is that you need a break from.

My son, who is nearly ten, has also taken a liking to the humble chocolate digestive and, like me, enjoys them even more when chilled straight from the fridge - though not necessarily with a ciggy afterwards!

Of course, he doesn’t call them chocolate digestives - too much of a mouthful - he calls them “daddy biscuits” I wonder why that is!

When we’re born our bodies are to be turned over to the state…. we’ll be bar-coded at birth and pitched to the highest bidder.

George Orwell? no, Gordon Brown - the Dark Primate from Hell - who wants to donate all our organs for us - unless we tick the box on the opt-out clause.

So, we are all now destined to be nationalised, loose our civil liberties, get taxed to death then raped in the morgue by a thieving, dysfunctional and degenerate government that’s done nothing but plunder the country’s population.

I’ve held off posting on this blog because I’ve been “too negative recently” - well that’s true, but when I heard about this latest blood-fest from the Gordo government it just made me mad mad mad….

Despite the world being thrown into turmoil over the Christmas holiday period (season of goodwill, my arse!), my new year’s resolution is…

Stop being a grumpy old git!

On condition that…

People stop pissing me off, people stop lying to me and each other, people stop blowing each other up, governments stop allowing children to die of starvation, people stop spending millions on fireworks when the above said are dying of starvation, when governments tell the truth and nothing but the truth, when brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers aren’t ripped open by the blood lust politician who sends them to war…

Happy New Year!

Why oh why do we have to put up with postal delays, just because it’s Christmas? I have been waiting for some quite important mail for the last few days now - posted with first class stamps - which would normally only take 1 day to arrive.

The excuse? It’s delayed in the Christmas post. Well it’s not bloody good enough! It’s not like the Post Office haven’t known about Christmas coming…. they’ve had ample time to hire extra people to handle the extra post, and any business worth it’s salt wouldn’t use pathetic, flimsy excuses for not being able to come up with the goods.

It’s astonishing the amount of mediocre service we have to put up with now - not just from the pathetic postie who doesn’t want to have to work too hard in case he tires himself out - we get it from every corner of the commercial and public service sectors and I’m bloody sick of it!

There, that’s better!

Happy Christmas to everyone who actually works for a living… everyone else can go jump. XX

This is what the sky looked like from my office window this evening at about 4.30… just thought I’d share it with anyone who’s interested. Who needs Christmas lights with this kind of thing going on!… just as well really ‘cos they ain’t working tonight!