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July's Jubilation


griff

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Good morning. Blowing a gale here. We had a long walk on the reserve yesterday and did various things so I am hoping Wispa will be ok with a stay at home day. Lots of gnats, fish jumping around all over the lakes, common terns grabbing fish, not many people though.

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Come to the other side Eve then you'll be closer. It's quite a trip from here to Berwick-on-Tweed. People in Dumfries and Galloway frequently cross the border for shopping as Carlisle is their nearest big city. There are some fabulous villages around the coast between Stranraer and Dumfries and the beaches are lovely. They have  the wonderful Wigtown Book Festival too, second only to Hay, and Wigtown is known as "book town". 

I can bring you Cumberland sausage from your favourite maker every time I pop to see you too! 

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Lol Yantan, you know how to tempt me. Where I live isn't too bad as it does depend on visitors for its economy but some of the scenes at the border yesterday were sickening and got me so angry. Sorry for the rant last night, blame it on lockdown madness and a couple of glasses of wine.

Sunshine and showers here. Managed to get the dogs out during a dry spell and got a bit of deadheading done while dodging some more showers.

 

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I suspect much of the problem is that people in lockdown have had their emotions fermenting and have had a lot of time to think, not always very logically.  Social media is a soapbox for all and whatever harebrained stuff you decide to write you can find people to support you.  A Scotsman posted the other day that the Celtic nations need to rise together and sent the Anglo-Saxons back to Germany where we came from because we are nothing more than a bunch of drunks.  Apart from many of us not being Anglo-Saxon anyway, I think the Celts can match us for drinking.

I am surviving the lunacy by keeping regular contact with a small network of sensible friends, not all holding identical opinions but respecting each others' views.

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Had to laugh at the comment by the Scotsman, Owl.  Scots are known for their heavy drinking, especially Glaswegians!  I imagine a good few "English" people have Italian somewhere in their ancestry, thanks to the Roman invasion of these islands, not to mention the Viking hordes. Philip lived up in Scotland for some time in his late teens early twenties and he said he was astonished at how much was put back and not just by the youngsters either.

Certainly blowing hard here but warm with it, so not too bad.  We managed to haul out about a mile of bindweed, lots of nettles and brambles and there's still loads to do.  I need money, so I can employ a gardener!

 

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The Anglo-Saxons were numerically a relatively small group of people who had a cultural effect which was huge in relation to their numbers. They didn't drive all the previous Romano-British residents out but integrated with many of them. Many of those who settled after the Roman invasion were from other Roman provinces, as was much of the army. Some of those guarding Hadrian's Wall were from North Africa. Add into the mix all the Scandinavians and Jutes and the Normans, and later on the Huguenots from France who had a huge community in the eastern bit of London,  and the mixture is very complex. 

I decided to do similar to Suzeanna, and was making good progress on clearing Russian vine and bindweed from the hedgehog zone, when everything was scuppered by a wasp. As it was so humid I was wearing gardening clogs, loose trousers and loose shirt. While pulling the vine loose I disturbed the little buzzer who whizzed up my trouser leg and stung me twice on inner thigh. Shook it out and it flew up the back of my shirt and got me twice more. I always have Piriton and Antistan cream so treated with that, but the rest of the day is pretty well written off as wasp stings rather knock me for 6.  Next time I work in that area it will be trousers tucked into wellies and shirt tucked into trousers.

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ooft Owl, nasty. Not surprised that was you done for the day. Hope you're ok. I've had a few bee stings before but not a wasp. Heard they're worse than beestings.

Suzeanna, Philip is right, most of the heavy drinking up here is done by the more mature members of the population, not the youngsters.

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I am ok thanks. Felt better and went back to do a bit more, and several wasps flew up. One got me through my jeans. I have identified them as red wasps Vespula Rufa who nest very close to or even in the ground. Definitely a nest under a pile of cut leylandii branches. Gate now locked until autumn as they die off in September

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I hope you'll have no lasting effects from the wasp stings Owl.

According to my DNA test the results show I have ethnicity of 25% from Scotland/Ireland, 73% England/Wales & north western Europe and 2% Germanic Europe. I have seen American's, with whom I share DNA, having more English ethnicity than me! 

Ruby's ethnicity is 48% from Scotland/Ireland, 43% England/Wales & north western Europe, 7% Norway and 2% Germanic Europe.

No one is pure anything.

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Windy with heavy showers then sunshine today. Cleo was not amused with heavy rain in our walk and hung close to me so we just came home again. Mind you we were both soaked despite the short walk.

I got my Skoda yesterday and have sat today reading about all th bells and whistles on it. What happened to simple? It is all high tec now. When the salesman took out on Thursday  after it had been through t he workshop a sensor came on. They had to order a part which fortunately came in  on Friday   but I didn't know if it would be ready until 6'40 on Friday night. I phoned Tesco at 9a.m. Saturday( I wanted to make sure I got through)  to change the insurance. The current one was an executry so it has to be cancelled and a new one taken out in my name. It was all very easy and they are  giving me JIm's 9 year NCB . So I was all set to go.

I should be going home on 17th , once everything is opened up in Scotland. 

It will be nice to be back with my own stuff but I will miss the company and Cleo will miss all the cuddles. I think my grandson will have withdrawal symptoms as he adores her and she enjoys his attention.

 

We get a lot of bees in the garden, which I don't mind but I do not like wasps.They are nasty

 

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