mintybloggydiarythingy 2.0

Week from Monday 22nd May 2023 - One of the (few remaining?) enjoyable things about Twitter is to follow annually the adventures of the various PEREGRINE FALCON communities scattered throughout the country (and beyond! Holland, Italy, even the US of A). Many a church tower or hospital roof is now home to a pair of raptors, and most have installed camera feeds, usually sponsored by local businesses. It is fun to compare how the various birds are faring in different parts of the country - which ones mate first, which ones lay eggs first, which ones hatch and how many, then seeing which of the little fluffy characters make it to 'fledging'. The whole process happens in a remarkably short time, from about early March through to June, but there is a lot of variety. At this time of typing, some have only JUST hatched their first couple of chicks, while the more advanced offspring are already flapping like billio and getting ready for their first attempts at actual flying. This y...

Week from Monday 15th May 2023 - Going into the 'rest day', there's been a major shake-up to the GIRO D'ITALIA standings. Remco Evanepoel was victorious once again in the second TIME TRIAL, but he didn't do QUITE as well as he and others expected. "There's something wrong" sayeth the pundits... It turns out his apparent fatigue during the postmatch interviews wasn't JUST because of the accumulated nine days of racing, but because he's got THE COVID. The race authorities have leapt into action and reintroduced all the rigorous safety measures that should never have been left to chance in the first place. I can't help thinking that the ONLY reason they've taken action now is because it was the race leader who was involved and not some lesser nobody! But that kind of complacency is what happens when governments tell businesses "IT'S ALL OVER". His withdrawal from the race means that it will probably get BORING for the next ...

Week from Monday 8th May 2023 - Once I'd located whichever funny little teevee channel is carrying the 'highlights' this year, there was a disappointing* start to the GIRO D'ITALIA - but it's early days yet! Saturday's TIME TRIAL was a strong indication that the race will once again be dominated by the likes of Evanepoel and Roglic. Trek's MADS PEDERSEN had the fastest time early in the day, but he was never realistically going to compete with the TT 'specialists' in the end! (*For once it's only 'DISAPPOINTING' in the sense that, while at least the TREK team have been PRESENT throughout, their plans have so far been thwarted. Much better than the kind of 'disappointment' one got from previous years' race coverage - "Are They Even In The Race?"/"Not Picked Up By The Telly Cameras Or Spoken Of Cos They're Not Jumbo-Vizma Or Ineos".) Then Sunday's first major SPRINT stage ended in total calamity....

Week from Monday 1st May 2023 - The FOXES at the railway yard have got a new family! The male ('Junior') was lazing in the long grass as usual. But then the vixen came out for a walk... and she had two cubs following her. Eventually, she came through the hole in the fence and seemed to indicate to the wee ones that they should probably stay behind it (I would imagine they're not quite ready to jump the distance down to the pallets beneath!). Much OOHing and AHHing from anyone on the platform who noticed them... I had a double-dose of YOMPAGE this week... As well as the usual Wednesday footslogs to and from certain railway stations, on Thursday I was 'invited' to attend a SCREENING at the Community Hospital in darkest Sarisbury. "Your appointment should last no more than ten minutes", sayeth the letter. But that doesn't account for me having to leave the house at nine o'clock for an appointment at a quarter past eleven, to allow for the walk acros...

What's on the Jukebox? - A playlist of top stuff that's currently setting the toes a-tappin', the fingers a-snappin' and the ears a-wormin' and generally shakin' my grooved thang to thrillin' effect. (Click on the wee lozenges to link to related YouTube clips, if you're curious.) Hanggai "He Who Travels Far" ◊ McCoy Tyner "Revelations" ◊ The Albion Band "Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival" ◊ Sir Adrian Boult "Vaughan Williams: The Complete Recordings" ◊ Tcha Limburger "Budapest Gypsy Orchestra" ◊