Boadicea's Chariot

Needless to say, when we bought our house last year we had the property inspected for all the usual things… no problems there. We also asked the over-paid ‘experts’ to check on the wooden retaining walls which ran down the length of the house and across the back. We asked the right questions: was it properly built? was it safe? was it legal? We were assured that it was. Right questions – wrong answers.

It all began when I called someone in to clear this area and plant some bushes along the fence.

“I’ll certainly do that for you”, said the landscaper. “But, you’re wasting your time, the retaining walls are failing”.

Even I could see what he was talking about! Even worse, the ‘lawn’ was completely uneven. Read more…

Just blame Janus!  As you all know, I have nothing but gardens on which to blog.  Holding most other activities in anathema, having declared ‘fatwas’ in all directions and holding most appurtenances of modern life to be ‘instruments of the devil’, there is sod all left!  Then there is the other side to that coin-  When you live in ‘God’s little acre’ why the bother with anywhere else?  We actually did emerge this week to go to the tulip festival in Skagit County (one down) with friends.  Wonderful tulips but the multicultural aspect proved too much for us, it was mobbed by more of them than us.  Vancouver had emptied across the border to view tulips en masse.  We retreated to lunch.  I didn’t bother to take any pictures.  So, just for a change you get more of what is in bloom right now in the garden.

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We’ve just returned to France after a few days in Italy, no thanks to French railways. Normally we accept that as soon as we set foot on an Italian train, the entire railway system collapses.  Not this time.   Arriving at our local French station to catch the 9.24 train to Ventimiglia we found a scene of chaos.  There was a local railways strike and some idiot had left a case in the middle of the concourse to boot.  Station staff were thinking of evacuating the station, so we rushed on to the platform before they could chuck us out.  Time passed and the 9.24 disappeared off the board.  Lots of would-be passengers simply went home, giving up any idea of travelling that day.  When we finally got to Nice about an hour later, we learned that the next train to Italy would be in four hours time.  That’s the EU in action! Do not hesitate to cause problems for other member states! Read more…

It’s sad that so few charioteers have so little to say these days; only a couple of regular bloggers and a handful of comments if they’re lucky. Remember that critical mass and the downward spiral always take effect sooner than you think.

It is not that difficult. Declare a no fly zone, stick the drones up, I’m afraid that the use of chemical weapons has to be dealt with and dealt with severely.

Oh! Hang on, let’s wait for a directive from the UN

I’ll stand your sixpence, Ferret.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10018982/Baroness-Thatchers-funeral-cost-us-6p-each.html

This one cost me a new keyboard

wot with the tea, coffee and curry that came down my snout.

OZ

I found mention of this new trend in Paris in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/umweltschutz-in-paris-tierische-rasenmaeher-erobern-paris-12157294.html

Sheep have been brought in to keep the grass short in public spaces in Paris, at the behest of the present socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoe.  The original article on this in Le Figaro, now behind the paywall, mentions 170 of the fleecy lawnmowers.   FAZ  mentions four sheep dealing with 2000 square metres of grass in the 19th arrondissement.  What I have not discovered so far is what protection is provided for the sheep.  Fences to keep them out of the traffic?  Shepherds to prevent them disappearing to the nearest halal butcher?  Face masks to protect them from traffic fumes?  Seems a very trendy “green” idea, but not very healthy for the animals themselves.

To the bloody ludicrous carry on in Boston and the attendant collective denial of the American people-see my acidulous comment on the Boston bombing.

So as an antidote we fled to Canada yesterday to see a spring garden.  Nothing like a garden to calm the nerves and reduce the apoplectic blood pressure!

This is Dart’s Hill, about 15 miles North of us, but always seems a bit warmer than home.

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