9/11 on channel 4 last night (Sep 3, 2006)
If ever there was a documentary that rooted me to my chair this was the one. A truly monumental moment in history captured on film and presented with the most hauntingly breathtaking music.

A defined line was drawn at the instant the first plane struck, where the meaning of evil was transformed to a graphic image that was beamed around the world and touched the hearts of so many people. It transfixed, it terrifies and has changed the way we think about the future.
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Farewell Wilfred .... (Aug 19, 2006)
Words are failing me at the moment as yesterday I had to bid farewell to Wilfred, my little talking budgie. He was such a character and not that old either, but he had developed a tumour in his abdomen and there was nothing that either the Vet or I could do to cure him.

The poor little lad was soldiering bravely on, bless him, stretching his wings in greeting when I came into the room and feeding heartily, whereas in reality he was a far from a well boy and, like most birds, was following his instinct to appear strong and fit in order to avoid being taken by a predator. So really his time was running out long before I became aware he was ill.

At first he fell silent other than a greeting tweet, most unusual for him, such a talkative boy. I won't go into morbid detail with his symptoms other than to say in the last two days he came over to me and "roosted" on my arm or shoulder, snuggling down and closing his eyes to doze off after the initial display of vitality.

To put him to sleep was the kindest thing, he hardly struggled and is now at peace. It certainly rips you apart when this happens. Least of all the house is so quiet.

My dog knows something is amiss. Just makes you wonder how much our pets do know or understand.

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(5 replies, Latest reply: Aug 19, 2006)

Winter Olympics - the wince effect (Feb 12, 2006)
Yesterday I watched with a certain amount of the gritted teeth, combined with a sharp intake of breath, as ladies from various countries launched themselves down a precipitous slope, hit a ramp, were catapulted upwards and performed aerial gymnastics before landing upon what could only be described as a kneebone's worst nightmare of a run. These people must be totally mad!

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(4 replies, Latest reply: Feb 19, 2006)

Knees - are you sitting comfortably? (Nov 14, 2005)
It seems like ages since I sat down and wrote something on these pages ~ well over a month now goodness!

I went into hospital last month and had the works (a total joint replacement) done on my right knee. They had me up and out of bed the next day and home in 5 days, wobbling on two sticks and finding it impossible to get comfortable in any position! Today is the first day that I have been able to sit for a reasonable time without having to constantly move position or put my leg up Add to that the soperific effect of the painkillers and concentration drifts off out of the window, over the hills and far away .............

Anyway, it is good to be back I notice some of you have a heading strip on your journal entries. How does one go about creating that?
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(64 replies, Latest reply: Nov 19, 2005)

Knees ... teetering on the brink (Sep 11, 2005)
Having signed on the dotted line and been poked, prodded, sampled and tested I now feel like a turkey trussed and oven ready at 7am on Christmas Day .....

There is so much that needs to be done in the garden, those jobs that you fear you will not cope with once the surgeon has made that cut ..... then the mind runs wild with all sorts of horrific scenarios.

I am on the list for a total knee replacement and the nerves are jangling ever louder as each day ticks by.

One source of comfort ... or could it be added anxiety ... I have been selected to become a guinea pig ... to participate in the trials of a vaccine to combat the bug that causes MRSA. Side effects? .... well this is a step into the unknown. Do I or don't I?
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(23 replies, Latest reply: Sep 16, 2005)

First hose pipe ban (Jun 5, 2005)
As the clouds mass to the west I hear that the UK has its first hose pipe ban of the summer in the south east.

The cause? Not only too little rainfall but too much demand from increased population pressure and yet our government is quite happy to welcome more people from around the globe to these shores and build more houses covering more land with concrete and tarmac .........

I know it is highly controversial but in this day and age with an ever expanding human population is it not time to manage that expansion or face oblivion?


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(6 replies, Latest reply: Jun 14, 2005)

Blank fields (May 15, 2005)
Why is it that when you get a survey to fill in, noting the birds and wildlife in your garden, that very few of the regulars appear in the appointed time? So that the results are false although you are being honest. For example I did not see a bumble bee, yet on every other day bumble bees do bumble all around. Do they know I am looking out for them rather than casually noticing their presence? Are they shy, not wanting to be counted, or are they blessed with ESP?

This is not just a bumble bee phenomenon, drangonflies, ladybirds, frogs, grass snake, song thrush and green woodpecker.
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(33 replies, Latest reply: May 17, 2005)

Bright eyes (Apr 23, 2005)
Whilst doing battle with the weeds yesterday there was much excited cheeping and tweeting in the bushes.

Newly fledged robins ..... little brown balls of fluff with no tails and such bright eyes. Mum was not too far away keeping a wary eye and darting down to pick a wriggling morsel from the freshly turned soil. Good luck my friends, stay safe ........
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(67 replies, Latest reply: Apr 25, 2005)

The Collar Dove chick mystery (Apr 16, 2005)
There is a spindly apology for a conifer growing beside the boundary of my garden. A pair collar doves nested in the small green top knot of this tree, about 25 ft up amongst the ivy.

Yesterday I discovered three small pink corpses, dead newly hatched chicks, lying beside eachother on the path which is about 4 feet away from the base of this tree. They appeared to have been pecked or bitten by something but only to injure and maybe kill them. They had not been eaten.

What had wrought this destruction I wonder? A case for Grissom and the CSI team! Surely if they had been attacked by a crow or magpie the little bodies would have been carried off to feed their own chicks and I would have thought a cat would have eaten them too, judging by what I have seen.

They were laid out touching eachother, all face down ..... strange .......




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