Russell and Carol - hayle and hearty

Been a run of lovely weather here, most unexpected.  A cold night Monday night - down to 2.5C, but much warmer since so no need for any heating yet, and, astonishingly, the allotment is keeping going. 

Went day before yesterday and picked another courgette - with more flowers coming! The beetroot continue to do well, along with the carrots and onions. Think the beans have really had it now - though the French beans are trying to flower.

Went to the beach with Astra yesterday and had a brilliant time.

There was an item in the paper about "All-hallown summer" which was very interesting

Have you heard of a blackthorn winter, or an All-hallown summer? The English language has a rich vocabulary, concerning weather. We excel with descriptive words.

I was struck by some of the numbers in the recent Guardian article on plans to lift radioactive contamination controls on UK sheep farms

Thought the Guardian called it right again

• Legal aid reform: poor law

  Editorial: change is never painless, but it needs tackling with a surgeon's scalpel, not the scythe that Ken Clarke has armed himself with

I particularly liked

Saw a piece earlier in the Guardian about Steve Keen, the Australian econonmist who seems to have been more right than most on the crisis and actually saw it coming.

Larry Elliot has a good piece in The Guardian today

More troubles for the IPCC

On a lighter note, there was some really interesting historical sleuthing behind the story of

So, the top man at Thomas Cook trousers £15m in 'hard earned and decent' (my sarcasm) bonuses over the last couple of years and now Thomas Cook is in dire trouble and planning to lay off thousands.  Well thank goodness for Free markets.  Nurses, teachers and other public servants must have their pensions cut, but goold old chief executives must have huge payouts even in times of trouble.  We're all in it together of course....

Was surprised to spot a reference to Hayle while watching Michael Portillo's latest railway jaunt - stopping at Didcot

I was struck today on seeing the seascape picture in the walk on the National Trust website - it's our painting ;)

Interesting article by David Mitchell

Which brings me to George Osborne. "Just as we should never balance the budget on the backs of the poor, so it is an economic delusion to think you can balance it only on the wallets of the rich," he said in his speech to the Conservative party conference last week. I think he's misunderstood the whole balancing metaphor. The challenge for a chancellor isn't to balance the budget on something but just to balance it – to make it balance.

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