Duckin' and Divin'

He doesn't help himself with the ubiquitous baseball cap!









The story of William Hague and his 'special advisor' is one of the strangest political tales in recent times.  I don't find it strange that they shared hotel rooms - I have shared hotel rooms with female colleagues on business trips and male colleagues have done the same.  No, what I find strange is that someone who was Hague's driver suddenly becomes a 'special advisor' - what does this mean exactly?  However, strange as it may seem I agree with Anthony Seldon in the Guardian today that none of this is in the public interest.  It is another example of our seemingly national interest in the private lives of our politicians.  How can we restore interest and faith in politics for the average voter if we pay more attention to rumour and speculation than to what they stand for and how good they are as MP's?


To quote Seldon   'It's in the interest of journalists trying to sell newspapers, but not the public interest. When are we going to grow up as a country and judge people on their honesty and decency, and not on matters of public prurience?'  (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)



I'm sorry to bring up Tony Blair again but I just have to talk about this book of his.  I gather it is full of revelations about his political relationships but I also hear that there is an account of a passionate night with wife Cherie!  Eugh!  As BBC Political Correspondent Nick Robinson observed there is a lot in the book we want to know but also some things we don't!

French life .......

This a raclette-grill, we have just acquired one.  It one of the best things we have ever had.  Basically, you plug it in and you melt special raclette cheese in the little pans which slot underneath and cook things like bacon on the grill on top.  We have cooked prawns, mackerel fillets and even steak and all have turned out brilliantly.  It is very French! Does anyone know if they are available in the UK? If not they should be and every one should have one!




The hunting season has started here.  This means that it becomes very dangerous to go for a walk on a Sunday!  Everywhere there are men in orange baseball caps and the sound of gunfire.  They shoot anything that moves but what they are really looking for is wild boar.  Quite often these hefty animals will crash through hedgerows on to the road trying to escape the guns. Bad luck if one hits your car!

Pretty eh?














The other big thing which happens tomorrow is the 'rentrer' (literally to re-enter) - returning to school!  This may seem a small thing but, believe me, here it is the focus of attention.  This is probably because the summer holiday  is very long - my grandchildren finished around the middle of June!  All mums will be celebrating!

Knowledge is power?

Why is it that doctors - or more particularly specialists - can turn you into a jibbering idiot?  Here am I, a reasonably articulate politics post-grad with two degrees under my belt (not to blow my own trumpet) who at a neuro consult this morning found myself feeling like a child on my first day at school! Every time I promise myself it won't happen and every time it does.  Oh well better luck next time!



Sugar and Spice .........

This is my granddaughter Thalia Rose aged 4 - yesterday she informed me that when she grows up she and her mummy are going to get married!