And if one of them gets hurt it will be the poor innocent motorists fault. My parents would have said serves you right, got a clip round the ear and was told that will teach not to do it again!
Morning all. Bright sunshine at present, but rain forecast for this afternoon. According to my man from the Météo this is the second day running when the daylight hours do not get shorter. Spring will soon be here! There is a very interesting article on the BBC website about how one owner of a football club kicked out racism from his club. We read of stadium bans, but they do not seem to have much of an effect, so maybe this man has found a way. As it says in the video, why should people have different behaviour inside a football stadium to outside it. For some reason the Beeb will not allow me to post the link to the video, but you can find it on the World news site titled, "How I kicked racism out of my club" Whatever you have planned for the day I hope it goes well, and maybe the Canaries will peck the Wolves into submission.
The chances of finding an English country pub in the middle of nowhere in Germany are next to zero Frenchie. There are only about 120,000 British people living here and they are very much concentrated on the cities - the highest numbers being in Hamburg, Berlin, Dortmund and Hannover - in Cologne there are a few hundred. In those places if they get homesick and want something similar to an English pub then they will congregate around Irish ones (the Irish becoming honorary compatriots at these times !) - there are quite a few Irish pubs in the cities here, also in Cologne. In the countryside we are very isolated and the German kneipe is not the same as an English pub - more a place for seasoned drinkers than a place where families can go. Most people here meet at each others houses, and would not arrange to 'meet at the local' as in England. When it comes to eating out - this is dominated by restaurants of mediterranean origin - Greek. Italian, Portuguese. Food in German 'locals' is either very basic, or very pricey. German pubs are mostly just drinking places. I do really miss English country pubs
Last week I switched off the text commentary of Wolves v Spurs and moved onto something more interesting ie. arguments for and against the re introduction of the wolf in Colorado - after reading about real wolves for a time I turned back, and, true enough, the other wolves had equalized ! So now I need lots of online articles about hornets and we will be ok
Hornets are often considered pests, particularly when they nest near humans, because they will defend a nest aggressively if they feel it is threatened. We certainly protect our Nest! In some areas, such as Germany, they are granted protection to preserve their role in the ecosystem. Didn't know that. Queens dominate hornet hives and are the only females to reproduce. Most other hornets are asexual female workers. Hope the wife doesn't see this. Males are few and they have only one real role—mating with the queen. Males typically die soon after their sexual task is complete. Better get going again. Once again I don't want Mme. to read that comment.
Life for males in most insect species is not to be envied Frenchie. We had a hornets nest last year and they are not as aggressive as wasps, but stings can be more complicated. Unlike wasps and bees they forage at night but are attracted to light, like moths - sometimes you hear a constant tapping on the window, and, upon investigation, get one in the house. Fortunately they are easy enough to remove without killing them. As you say they are a protected species in Germany, and destroying a hornets nest can get you a hefty fine here.
There have been a few English who have tried to create an English style pub in these parts, but they have not survived. Because we are scattered around, no conclave here, there is no ready market for such things. Two tried within a few miles of here, with Sky sports TV in the bars, but almost no one could be bothered to go out of an evening, certainly not the French locals. There was one Irish style pub in town that was popular for about five years, but it had very odd opening hours, and you were never sure if you turned up would it be open. That has now closed. I went to several country pubs in England on my recent trip, and they were becoming more like restaurants than pubs. The ones that I remember and really liked have been bought up by the large chains, and are no longer what attracted me. The one in my English village tried Chinese takeaways as a means to increase trade, but that failed as well due to the population only being small. I still know a few country pubs in England that are what I call traditional, but they are falling by the wayside. When I go to Dorset there are pubs that tend to sell only local brews and you are never sure how good they will be. One I have been to several times over the years has not changed a thing, not sure that it has even dusted, but the beer is great, and the food dreadful.
Morning all. A perfect blue sky overhead, but gusty winds. One of my favourite places Ajaccio on Corsica is currently underwater as the gale force winds have driven the sea up the river estuary and breached the flood defences. The town is very low lying and the airport which is just off the beach is unusable with the runways and terminal flooded. The town council has invoked a curfew on cars being on the roads after 9.00pm to try and prevent the security services having to divert to rescue stranded drivers. So flooding here and in England, bush fires in Australia and tornados in Surrey. Our weather is not being kind at present. Have a good day one and all.
Good morning, Dave; good morning, all. Beat ya, Dave! About to do Christmas food shopping with young Seb. 4 o'clock Tesco run with bacon sandwiches for the boys (not Mrs Andy and I, we’re veggies) when we get home. Don’t know why Mrs Andy and Matej deserve them, though - it’s Seb and I who are braving the shops...
Morning all.... Enjoyed a visit to Imax last night and Star Wars followed by a Bradford Curry in a restaurant I first went to 43 years ago as a student.... and never been to since I left Bradford. Glad to say it has moved with the times, great food and lots of Asian families havinf their Sunday dinners (always a good sign). Warm wishes to you all today....
Morning all. A bright, dry morning, but it doesn't feel over warm outside. An extra minute of daylight today. I must use it wisely! Our hamlet is very quiet now with many going away for Christmas. The Dutch couple are in Holland, my next door neighbour has gone to join friends, the elderly lady across the road is with her family and the English couple with their two children have gone to Ireland where they also have family. None of the part timers are here, so by my count we are down to a dozen left. Last year we had most of our English family come here, along with dogs, so it was anything but quiet. Enjoy your day whatever you must do.
