Summertime

enjoy it while it lasts folks, embrace with both arms, I'm enjoying time in the garden, I even had a barbeque today,,,,
A light lunch, green salad with, lettuce, peppers, tomato's, cucumber, onions and a free crinkle cut air fried chips,


bootefull,

tomplum

Bet you did not invite star delta to attend and spoil the enjoyment!

I've invited him many times but, he declines yet. parks up taking pics of where i park my car and informs others, What does that say to you ??

It's not even spring yet

hey up , Daft mate wants an invite now,,, Well no . just because my grass is greener than yours Sod off,

Tom before I scrolled fully down I was reading your post and at 1st glance I thought you had a swimming poolIt was only when I saw all of the post that I realised it was a glass table

swimmin' pools, movie Stars, The Beverly Hills of Wigan,

Black Gold, Texas Tea

reet we're off now, the ' last of the Summer wine' cycling group are off to enjoy the sunshine, see you's laters

“”Posted by: tomplum (12270) View tomplum's page
I've invited him many times but, he declines yet. parks up taking pics of where i park my car and informs others, What does that say to you””


Is the above another example of you ignoring me Tom?

It’s 18 degrees here, quite windy, but the sun’s out. Had a bloke round to correctly prune some old olive trees so I’ve just been into town to collect my fire certificate for tomorrow’s Bommie.
I’ll be cooking some longanizas on it, on t’spade, too!

5 out of our 6 members did trail today, a 36 mile mostly offroad trail from Carr Mill in Merseyside through Warrington in Cheshire and brushing the outer boundaries of greater Manchester and Lancashire,( subject to conformation from Tonker) A great day for cycling if not a tad cold and in some places gusts of wind might cause problems for less proficient cyclists, En route we got challenged by a nasty Male swan who thought we were intruding its section of the Sankey Valley but, we became a lower priority to it as large unleashed dog let the swan know that, this section is he's, We left them to argue the toss, Lots of others were out enjoying the rain free day, Dog walkers . fishermen, ramblers, bird watchers and joggers, We stopped for lunch, or dinner as some call it in a nice bistro for a bacon butty and cuppa and took count of how many cooling towers are now left at Fiddlers Ferry, there are 4 left standing,

and that was our day out, An enviro-friendly cheap day out in the fresh air with a group of like minded people just having fun ,

Strange shape aren't they, those cooling towers. It's called hyperbolic paraboloid. I looked it up once when I'd nowt better to do.

Tom, the hedgehogs will soon be waking up after their hibernation, won't they?

Yes Mollie from previous years they appear on the 27th of March, Now this year is a leap year so, We will see, All the camera's are in position and primes for the event and front row tickets are available on request, they are limited so the early bird gets the worm,,

Hey tonks, that video of your Bommie didn't got down well, Did someone complain ?

Tom, I know this may sound a bit soft, but it's so good to hear/read from people who really do care about the creatures of this planet. After all, they were here long before we were.

I'm an animal lover myself - and sometimes prefer animals to humans because they're honest about their existence, if that makes sense.

I'm with you 100% on that Mollie, you know where you are with animals, They are part of the evolvement of the earth whereas humans, Are part of the destruction for our selfish needs,

I particularly don't like zoos , they will tell us they are there to educate us on animal life and help to protect them, In reality, They are making profit from imprisoning those animals who have done no wrong, They need to be back where God put them, free , A captured eagle is a crime in my book

I totally agree with both your posts. However, there are many animals that need to be protected and cared for because too many have become extinct, because of man's selfishness and greed and zoos are the only option available for this. I don't like it, but it is a means to an end. A happier end, I hope.

I sponsor a female Bengal tiger called Kimera with the World Wildlife Fund. It may only be £9 a month, but it's my little contribution in the hope that these beautiful animals aren't butchered to make rugs for snotty rich folk.

There are many others that will become extinct within the next 50 years if nothing is done about it. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.

I agree that we need to protect all animals and, We need to protect their forests/jungles and plains, They should be allowed to roam and hunt as nature intends them to and shoot on sight the poachers, Or better still, feed the poachers on pie and chips until they are 20 stone then, set them free unarmed in the tigers area, See how they like it,,,,

Yeh, if the poachers gain about 20 stone the tigers will have a wonderful family feast on them.

It was the same, and still is, with fox hunting, despite it having been banned. Not that I have much, but if I had acres of land and a hunt trespassed with their dogs, I'd (sadly) shoot the dogs and feed them to the huntsmen.

In truth though, I can't condone the taking the life of any creature of the earth. Although, in the case of some humans - yes.

Shooting animals for so-called sport is under the same category and should be banned, because there's nothing sporting about it.

Sorry. This is Mollie on her soap-box regarding animals as they are the innocents, not the human predators.

I’m in the same mind. Over here, I have about 3 acres of forest and about half acre of terraces and flat where I built the house.
I get pestered with so-called ‘hunters’. A few years ago, I fired a couple of them off and put notices round banning them from my land. Didn’t last long though. I had the rural police round, telling me off. They said, “to make enemies of the hunters is not in your best interests”.
The thing is, they shoot anything that moves. They’ve done the boars, rabbits, foxes, badgers, rabbits, even the owls have vanished! Small song-birds and swifts are targets. Pointless!
If they ate stuff, like rabbits, fair enough, but they just kill, regardless.
The rural police said the only way, legally, would be to fence all round my land.

My Lad lives in Canada and there they are shooting deer because they stray on the roads and do damage to cars, In my mind that is criminal, The deer is the native and the cars are the invader, 'Orrible

Tom:

100% right. Humans are the trespassers on this planet as the animals were here first.

Tonker:

I assume when you say "over here" you mean England. Never know where you are at any one time, or do you mean your land in Spain?

It's wrong for you to be told off for trying to protect your own land. If there are signs saying No Trespassing, and they trespass, then that's against the law, and I don't care what the Rural Police say. I'd do my best to get their bony backsides in court and prosecute them.

If they kill for food, and they're starving, perhaps it would be deemed acceptable, but not killing for the sake of it.

Did you know, humans are the only species that kill for fun? Animals don't. They only kill to survive. It angers me when people say (about humans) "they're just a bunch of animals." They're not, and it's insulting to say that about the animal kingdom. These people that kill in the name of sport, or love, or greed, or anger are a sub-species of humanity that haven't yet developed properly.

I've studied a quite a bit of criminal psychology and, if children take pleasure in killing animals with no remorse, have a tendency to get tired of animals and move on to humans as they get older. This has been the case with a vast majority of serial killers which are classed as criminally insane and have no respect for any kind of life. Children pulling off the wings of butterflies, kids nailing kittens to doors; kids microwaving live hamsters, and many other instances have been documented.

I know I've gone slightly off at a tangent, but I do feel very strongly about the welfare of animals, and I don't apologise for it.

Spring will spring at us on the 20th March then it is bye bye to Winter

Mollie, I mean in Spain. I’ve been ‘o’er here’ for three wick, but I’ll be back ‘o’er theer’ on the 18th!

Seriously, the hunters here have an ancient ‘right’. The only way you can stop someone entering your land, hunters or not, is by means of a fence.

Peter Tom's rule of the seasons,
Winter is, December,January and February
Spring is March April May
Summer is June July and August
Autumn is September,October and November and that falls in line with,
Mid Summers day. 24th June The longest day and from then on .the days get shorter,

Further proof is, buds on the hedges and trees are forming now,,

I saw a wild boar this afternoon at the back of my house. Unusual really, as they only normally come out at night, but I must’ve disturbed it walking through the forest and it bolted. Quite a big one too, I was about ten metres from it. I have an infra-red trail camera, so I’ll set it up under a carob tree and see if it comes back later for a feast!

Posted by: tonker (27793) View tonker's page

"Mollie, I mean in Spain. I’ve been ‘o’er here’ for three wick, but I’ll be back ‘o’er theer’ on the 18th!

Seriously, the hunters here have an ancient ‘right’. The only way you can stop someone entering your land, hunters or not, is by means of a fence."

Thanks. I sort of figured out that you mean Spain after I'd posted, but nice to have had confirmation.

Ancient right my buttocks but, if that's the law, then you have to abide by it. Perhaps putting a fence all around your land would be costly, but a small price to pay for the peace and enjoyment of your own property.

Edit for Tonker's last post:

I hope that wild boar does come back as I'd love to see it if your camera can catch it. I know a funny story about a wild boar in Germany which imprisoned a guy up a tree overnight, but it would take too long to tell.

There used to be quite a few here, Mollie, but this is the first one I’ve seen for over a year.
I went back up today, to see if I could see it, but no show.

This one I took by the side of Pearsons flash a few weeks ago, Deer are all over the Wigan flashes but very hard to film,

I got lucky this day

Tonker:

I suppose wild animals can be a bit elusive, and camera shy, so if you rarely seem them and that was a one-off, then it may not come back. Shame that.

Tom:

When we lived in Germany we were on the edge of a pine forest. We were there in 1972 from September, and that year it snowed non-stop from November to end of January. One day my husband and I went for a walk around the forest and, in a clearing, we saw a deer. When it saw us it stood stock still, staring at us. I only had a scuzzy little Kodak Instamatic at the time, so no zoom. We slowly tried to approach that beautiful creature, then it bolted. So sad that they're afraid of humans, but who could blame them.

yes Mollie and snow is their enemy because, even a child can track them by following the hoof prints, So a hunter with a rifle and telescope lens can kill them from a 1000 yards,

True, but why would anyone want to kill a thing of beauty? That's what I don't understand. To me that's insane.

I'm in full agreement with you, Its nothing short of murder,

If you are living n the wilds of wilderness Canada or somewhere similar, and you are living off the land, a hunter who is a trained marksman can shoot a deer through the heart killing it instantly, that same hunter will also know how to butcher the animal, and how to store the Venison meat, the hunter will then leave the rest of the carcass for the other animals to feed on, (we are animals) so to kill an animal to survive is fine, it is nature, but to kill an animal for sport, well I think that is disgusting.

Tommy Two Stroke, I agree.
Mollie, I believe that hunting is still totally legal throughout Germany and deer (red deer, fallow deer, sika deer, roe deer) as well as wild boar can be shot at any time as long as it is within the legal times of the hunting season and provided certain conditions are met.
It is difficult for me to understand, and I cannot accept, how a person can take today's technology to kill an animal and call it sport.

The ' sports shooters' defend their activity by saying, the animal has a sporting chance because, The shotgun has only 2 cartridges and this gives the game bird a sporting chance to dodge the shots,
However , the deer hunter will use a high powered rifle from outside the deers range of smell and sight and using a telescopic sight is completely a one sided affair,
My idea of a sporting chance is for the hunter to walk naked through a field of cobras and/or Wild Bulls, That would be a sporting chance for the animals,

Tom

Are yoo a Veegan ?

No Tommy Tee, I like meat, chicken ,pork, Bacon and I put it out of my mind where it comes from,
Did I tell you I was a butchers lad straight from skool and I enjoyed that, One day the Butcher was running low on meat so he made a journey to Goose green, Stephens way where he bought his meat from, " Come with me Tom and I'll complete your education on Butchery, " Said Jim Sawbridge and I jumped in the van, It was slaughtering day and Jim walked me into the shed where they put the humane killer to the cows head and it falls dead instantly. That knocked me sick for a week or more and, I left fairly quick after that,,

ianp:

I know it's legal to hunt in Germany under strict rules. I just don't understand why anyone would want to. Going down the road to go home with the pine forest on our right, we couldn't help but clip a few pheasants that strayed onto the road. There were so many of them and, no matter how slowly we drove, we couldn't help but hit at least one. We always got out of the car to check on it though, but more often than not, it had scuttled off into the woods. I don't believe we ever killed one.

It was the same with rabbits, and that's where I learned to understand the phrase "like a rabbit in headlights" because they are totally mesmerised. It was sometimes like a scene from Watership Down so, he'd drive slowly, and I'd get out of the car to move them. It was sad to see so many of them dead and flattened on the road where they were just run over by uncaring people.

Tommy:

Again, I agree with you and, if a huntsman is going to eat his kill and act responsibly, then that isn't sport to my mind. It's the senseless killing for the sake of it that upsets me.

When I was in America some years ago I was taken on a trip and at that destination there was a diner/steak house. Inside, "adorning" the walls were animal heads of different species and it made me feel physically sick to the point where I walked out. I couldn't bear for them to look down on me with their sad faces. Maybe I'm too sensitive when it comes to animals, but I can't help the way I am.

Oh, and I'm not vegetarian either. However, those animals that we eat are killed humanely but, we evolved as carnivores and our bodies do need meat to sustain us in various ways. I hope one day, when we're long gone, that it will be frowned upon my our ascendants and consider us, their ancestors, to be disgusting for eating flesh.