The Canary Dave

Should be fine.. All crossrail might ask for is an email address..
I had tickets for day four.. But Mme pulled rank and we are off to stay with the kids in France..
Luckily I managed to sell them on last week to another Watford supporter...

 

Morning all. Warm and dry again, and the amount of rain that fell here on Sunday was disappointing to say the least.
On my morning read around the sports pages I stumbled on this article. https://www.theguardian.com/technol...e-calls-to-reconsider-facial-recognition-tech Do you feel that this is a step too far or not bothered by it?

 

Suspected wolf attack in our area. A friend of ours keeps Shropshire Sheep about 3 km away and 3 of them have been killed, and another put down because of its injuries. The DNA check will take up to 8 weeks to determine that it was a wolf attack (as opposed to a stray dog), but lone wolves have been seen in the area over the last month. Lower Saxony has 17 established packs and wolves which have broken away from the pack - either in search of a mate, or because they were omega animals escaping pack aggression, can travel up to 70km per day. Lone wolves are more dangerous to farm animals than pack members would be because, alone, they are not so capable of hunting their natural prey - wild boar, and deer, and can turn to alternative nourishment. Losing animals in this way leads to compensation - so the owner has a slight interest in framing the wolf, rather than other causes. It should be the case that farmers get government subsidies for the erection of electric fences, or other forms of defence - because shooting wolves is out of the question here (at least for the moment). We have to learn how to live together with a minimum of damage - maybe we should look to Italy where the wolf never died out, and which has a similar population density to Germany. At any rate there are lots of heated debates here.

 

Plenty of heated debate in France also where wolves have reappeared in areas down south. They seem to have started coming up from Italy around 1990 and the numbers are increasing, but not that quickly. With many parts of rural France depopulation has happened because of the increase in large agricultural machines, and the wooded areas have increased as less productive fields have been given over to new trees. The declining number of hunters along with a ban on shooting the wolves has also seen the numbers increase. They are reported to be spreading to departments on the eastern border in the hilly areas and the mountains of the Alps. Unconfirmed reports suggest that three animals have been spotted in the Paris area. In total it is believed there are over 500 wolves in France and a small number have been officially culled. The envirionmentalists claim that they are restoring the natural balance to the countryside, but the farmers are not too happy, although I did see one farmer on TV claim that if he lost three sheep in a year he could live with it as it helped to keep the fox population down.

 

It would not take long eh... for nature to reclaim...

 

dont think it will be acceptable... so many fans pass their tickets around when they cant go etc etc

 

OK you lovely people, I'm off to bed!

Night all

Night H

 

Good morning all from a warm and dry Weston-super-Mare!

Have a good day

 

‘Morning, Dave; ‘morning, everyone.

Matej, Seb and Mrs Andy off to see planes at Heathrow today. I have the joys of our loft to continue to sort out.

 

All this talk of Foxes and Wolves begs the question ‘Why this obsession with Midlands’ fanbase abroad?’ Numbers of Vespa crabro is of greater significance, surely?

 

Morning all. Blue sky and a top temperature of 30°C expected. Had rather a rude awakening when a knocking on the door was to get me to move my car. The council had a huge skip lorry outside collecting all the large items that people no longer want. I am told that it happens once a year, but it is the first time I have ever seen it. Spoke to my neighbour who didn't know they were coming either which is a shame as we both have things we do not want and are too large to get in a car. There is always next year I suppose. Enjoy your day whatever it has in store for you.

 

Happens in our commune too.. They do post advisory notices etc.. I have never been there the day they come though..
Glad to hear about the warm weather...
We depart tomorrow morning

 

Our neighbours have a nest of these - as a real hornet they are quite friendly to me. France has a lot of the Asian variety.

 

OK you lovely people, I'm off to bed!

Night all

Night H

 

Have a safe journey. The A20 was very busy today with dozens of Brits making their way south. Popped into a restaurant for a spot of lunch, and when I ordered my steak I was asked how I wanted it. This was fed into a computer and I was given a pager that vibrated and lit up when it had been cooked. I could then go and collect it and help myself to all the vegetables that I wanted. Quite a clever idea as it means you can have a starter while the person doing the cooking gets on with it. A decent basic three course meal with wine and coffee for €25 for two persons. The Dijon mustard though was ultra-hot and should have a health warning on it.

 

mmm.... Looking forward to it.... mind you I have to remember the very strict luncheon hours en France..... I have been caught out on several occasions and gone hungry...

 

I remember seeing them years ago in France. Big buggers they were - like something from a ‘50s B-movie, if you’ll excuse the pun.

 

Good morning all from a warm and dry Weston-super-Mare!

Have a good day

 

Morning all. Bright and sunny and very dry. I constantly see water bowsers being pulled by tractors to the fields so that the animals have drinking water. We have a pear tree that once the fruit start to ripen attracts the hornets. They completely ruin the pears if you don't get them off the tree quickly enough, by boring their way inside and leaving behind just the hollowed out skin. They can be very dangerous to some, and you are advised to head off straight away to A & E if you get stung. I just stay away from them, but have had a close call several times picking up a fallen pear when one of them is still inside. As yet very few have been around, but over the coming weeks they will no doubt arrive in force. Enjoy your day and keep clear of nasties.

 

Good morning.. Travelling south on the motorway.. Have pity.. Mme has chosen three lengthy American audio stories for driving too... Already squirming as I drive!