Garbage disposal

I'm doing well today - the news is full of interesting articles! Here's another little gem! While I am all for recycling as much as possible (Keith and I recycle all our wine bottles very conscientiously!), why do these 'systems' have to be imposed on unsuspecting council tax payers without any consultation or flexibility simply because there are 'targets to be met'! We in education have had targets up to here!!
In South Gloucestershire, where I am this week, each household now has a black wheelie bin, a green wheelie bin and a green box. Tough luck for anyone who has a small garden! And tough also for anyone trying to push a pram or wheelchair up the road on collection days when they are all in the middle of the pavements! (Doesn't this interfere with minority rights???).
Sefton (near Liverpool)have vowed never to have anything to do with the dreaded wheelie bin so up there, bin bags are left out on the pavement for collection and as a target for all the cats and dogs in the neighbourhood - very pleasant on a hot summer's day! They do supply a green box - without a lid.
Liverpool have introduced wheelie bins but insist, almost on pain of death, that they are a revolting shade of violent purple - corporation colours, see!
Wrexham have black wheelie bins but, in our area at least, have no other arrangements for recycling unless householders are willing to cart recyclable items to the nearest 'bank'. Wrexham garbage disposal operatives also have selective blindness. Any bin not on the edge of the pavement is simply not seen and, consequently, not emptied.
Is it beyond the wit of the powers that be to devise a user-friendly, non-intrusive system which will keep (almost) everybody happy??

Specially Able Sheep

Being a lady of leisure this week, I've got more time to browse the news and, this morning, this is what I found to raise a smile. Have a glance here! I do understand that the problem is annoying for the residents of Marsden, but isn't it just a perfect example of how resourceful sheep are? (I did wonder about sheep-sense a few years ago when I saw a ewe shepherding her lamb across the Formby by-pass during rush hour, but there lies another story.)
Keith is always laughing at me for taking photos of sheep whenever we are out in the countryside of Wales (yes, all 4 of them!) but,  how many animals could you think of that would manage to overcome a problem of access in such an imaginative way? Not only that, but they obviously learn from each other. You can almost hear the conversation:
Eh up lads, (sorry - lasses) there's a cattle grid here. Now what are we going to do?
Leave it to Flossie there. She'll think of something.
By gum, so she has! How's that for an idea? She's only gone and rolled across it - just like them there commandos.
Come on, you lot. Get moving! Lie down and roll across t'grid. You'll be having a reight good nosh up in no time.
(With apologies to our Yorkshire friends - but, not a bad Yorkshire accent eh?)  :)

Anyone for gardening?

I'm down in Bristol for a few days and I've just had a fascinating phone conversation with Keith:
Keith: Do you want the good news or the bad?
Me: (heart sinking) Better have the bad first I suppose.
Keith: I've put it away.
Me: Put what away?
Keith: The lawnmower.
Me: Oh good, so you've done the lawn then?
Keith: No, I got it out and put it away.
Me: So you didn't do anything in between, then?
Keith: (in a tone of incredulity) No, I couldn't be 'bothered', but I did put it away.
The conversation continued in similar vein while I established beyond all shadow of doubt that he had indeed got out the lawnmower, looked at it and then put it back in the shed - sorry, 'summer house'! Remind yourself of the time he did mow the lawn.  
So when I get back on Friday, I shall
a) Have to send out a search party for Lucy when she ventures out into the garden.
b) Mow the lawn.
Good exercise, I suppose! 

 

Bad back part 2

Needless to say, Doctor Kathy has not provided an instant cure. That's the NHS for you - you can never get a doctor when you want one, not even when she's your daughter. :) (The fact that she is once again embarking on an 80 hour week notwithstanding, of course!)
I was thinking yesterday of the benefits of having a bad back - every cloud has a silver lining!
1. Can't do the hoovering.
2. Can't mow the lawn. (Does this mean Keith will step into the breach yet again???)
3. Good excuse to only take the dog for a short walk instead of the long one that she would love. (Feel a bit guilty about that one) :/

Anyway, the out of date Ibuprofin seem to have done the trick at last because today my back is almost back to normal. (Which mean I will now be in line for the hoovering, lawnmowing and long dog walks again. You can't win 'em all!)
Moral: Stick with the out of date painkillers. It's kill or cure!!

"Neither are we." 

"Too wet, too cold. Not going anywhere, mate!" 
Black headed gulls feeling miserable in the winter-like weather in the middle of July!

Aberaevon

Keith has a new toy - a camcorder. Given that I have to have eyes in the back of my head when he is in charge of the digital camera as he tends to take less than flattering, sneaky photos of me, I was a bit concerned about letting him loose with the camcorder. However, I needn't have worried when we took it out for the first time today. Apart from a brief 'interview' filmed in the car in which I explained that I was eating a cake and that because it was a Weightwatchers cake, it contained no calories (I wish!), there was very little chance for filming anything on our rapid tour round Aberaevon (near Aberystwyth) as it was pouring with rain almost the whole day. So, I suppose you could say every cloud has a silver lining!
On the plus side, we saw a stonechat, which I have never seen before. Also lots of black headed gulls. Keith said they weren't but they were. Trust me -I'm a teacher!