Garden Invasion

I couldn't face writing about the main stories in the news this week, politician-laden as they are, so I thought I'd write about a higher life-form.

This wee beastie.

Not the best of photos, but I didn't want to get too close, and there was a certain amount of camera shake.

I was doing some gardening a few days ago (yes, it does happen, if not as frequently as it should) and was pulling out a load of sticky weed, or as I grew up calling it, lady's bedstraw, and noticed a number of these creatures. They looked like a cross between a scorpion and a caterpillar, and being very brightly coloured, I assumed they were toxic.

They are not aliens, contrary to any initial suspicions, but in fact (I believe, after some extensive research on google) are the larvae of the harlequin ladybird, a large and aggressive immigrant version of our own beloved ladybird. The harlequin ladybird, the internet reliably informs me, is larger and more orange than red, with less distinct spots. A little further perusing of the weeds found a couple of these adult versions, doubtless responsible for the outbreak of something that will probably inspire Hollywood and my nightmares.

(Now the etymologists among you entomologists will of course point out that 'alien' is from 'alia' as in other, from another place, so technically they are aliens. They certainly looked it.)

Alien or just aggressive invader, I wasn't having any of it, so some more ruthless weeding took place, in addition to some preemptive pruning wherever the little 'darlings' had settled. I'm sure they will enjoy the warmth of the composting bin. I could only find a couple this morning when I went searching with the camera app switched on, and this one was trying to do a bunk even as I snapped it.

Admittedly, I wasn't wearing my glasses, so it's possible the garden is laden with them. What chance the birds will snap them up as additional delicacies.....

When going to hospital makes you worse

There used to be signs up in the local GPs' surgery asking patients with 'flu to stay at home, rather than infecting other patients in the waiting room (they may still be there, but I haven't been to the doctor recently so don't know).

It's evidently a problem as people sit around waiting, that all their infectious/contagious conditions can be passed on via the magazines and toys that are supposed to provide entertainment. (I always take a book.) But you would have thought that a hospital would be better able to separate out such people, so that going to hospital generally got you better, rather than worse.

I can't comment on the rate of infection via hospital waiting areas. However, it is worrying that hospital food - so often the target of criticism for its poor quality as it is - can be a fatal source of infection.

The outbreak of illness related to hospital food reported here is potentially very widespread as the company involved supplies 43 NHS trusts across England. It seems to me that economies achieved by production on a very large scale simply result in lower employment across the country and a higher potential risk of problems. And that's before the quality of the meals is considered.

According to the article, the lines known to be affected have been withdrawn and production stopped, for now. But a number of people have died, others are very ill, and I know that if I am in the unfortunate position of being in hospital any time in the near future, I shall be asking for food parcels to be brought by my visitors.

Why I Find British Politics So Depressing

So today Theresa May finally sets aside the poison chalice that is the leadership of the Tory Party.

Except the really poisonous part, which she hangs on to until the leadership election is conducted and successfully concluded. Being Prime Minister, while we dither over the terms of Brexit.

I don't understand why anyone in their right mind would actively want to be Prime Minister at any time, let alone now when the country is so completely divided. You might have thought that the arrival of Donald Trump would at least unite the country in our loathing of him, but no, Nigel and Boris looked positively delighted to see him.

And the leadership contest continues to rival the Brexit Catastrophe for laughability as the number of candidates is far greater than the number of Tory MEPs. They've had to change the rules to stop it become a total cascade of candidates.

While Theresa May has been leader of the Tory Party, the nation has been dominated by Brexit. Our MPs have been distracted from local issues - such as the completely unnecessary Oxford-Cambridge Expressway - by something that should never have been placed in the hands of the uninformed electorate in the first place. There has been no leadership.

As for the next leader, Boris appears to be the front-runner, a man described by Donald Trump as a friend and a 'great man', although he doesn't seem to be quite so popular within the ranks of his former colleagues in parliament. He probably has his own private health care, so if he is chosen, Trump will doubtless raise the subject again of US interference in the NHS as an integral part of any trade deal.

Our inability to look beyond party politics and some individuals' desire for power is breaking the country. The people who will suffer are those who are powerless to purchase a way out.

Serving a higher cause

There was a slight hiccup in the posting of blog entries as I have been part of the production team behind BCOS' most recent show, Evita. It's kept me busy (and sane!) but in a good way. Even though last year's show, Chess, was a huge success critically and hardly made a loss so that we thought Evita couldn't rival it, it did.

Much of this is down to the people involved - cast, crew, Front of House supporters and others. Whether it was spending spare minutes on Saturday from work to purchase additional supplies for the Front of House, or learning both a chorus part and a principal role in case the leading lady was ill, there is such dedication to the show over and above personal wants, that between us, we pulled off an astonishing piece of theatre that played to virtually full houses of very happy, extremely complimentary people.

Putting something else first, above personal wants, is something that a number of politicians could try. There are too many jokes doing the rounds about the number of Tory party leadership candidates for it to be funny. If only some of those in parliament could try to put the needs of the country first, instead of their party or their own greed for power (naming no names, Mr Johnson), we wouldn't be in the mess we're currently in.

When the bookies' front runners are endorsed by Donald Trump, you know we're in trouble.

Bicester Good Neighbour Scheme, or The Perils of a Coffee-Morning Fundraiser

Bicester Good Neighbour Scheme is a charitable group that matches volunteers with elderly people who feel they would benefit from some home-visiting. You can find out more about them here.

A good friend of ours is one of their volunteers, and we know how much both he and his 'neighbour' get out of the arrangement, so it is a charity we are happy to support. Especially when there is a cake and coffee morning just up the road from us.

We missed the beginning of the event, but it was still crowded when we got there, despite the house concerned being quite large and several rooms given over to the event itself. I tried to get a photo of some of the cake and coffee without including people (I didn't want to have to worry about people's permission for posting photos of them), and this is about the best I could manage.

(I'm not noted for my photographic abilities.)

The biggest problem I faced was not acquiring a cup of black coffee, ably made using a machine identical to my own by the host, but in avoiding the cakes. I have decided this week that the few kilos that crept on over Christmas and since are no longer wanted. As the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed, there were cakes for sale, but there were also cakes and biscuits for consuming with the coffee and tea.

However, I really don't want those extra kilos any more, so I managed to resist.

Resist eating, that is. I seem to have come home with a cake....

Fortunately for me, it's not gluten-free. Though the fudge around the outside it. I may be recruiting some help.

I console myself with the thought that it's all for a good cause. And a local one, too.

What Not To Tweet

I'm not a regular Radio 5 Live listener (surprise surprise!) but I have occasionally heard Danny Baker's show on a Saturday morning, simply because my OH's car radio is usually tuned to Radio 5 Live.

It was generally random, entertaining and often quite funny. Topics were never obvious but nonetheless interesting, in a bizarre way. Most of which was down to the presenters and their on-air relationship.

So it was particularly sad to hear this week that Danny Baker had been sacked for an inappropriate tweet following the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan's child.

In his most recent apology, he acknowledges that he's not a fan of privilege. He selected the first picture he found that reflected that, without thinking further about the possible connotations.

To be honest, the connotations wouldn't have occurred to me either. I don't think of Meghan as being 'black' (or whatever the PC term is these days). She's American, a former actress and married to Prince Harry. I don't really think about her beyond those points. I've had to check online just to discover she's the Duchess of Sussex. So I can't blame Danny Baker for not thinking of it, though as someone in the public eye with goodness knows how many people following him on Twitter, perhaps he should have been a little more circumspect before hitting 'post'.

I find it rather more disturbing that the image was one of the first he found when looking for privileged baby, or whatever search terms he used. I find it odd that the Daily Mail should be one of the first papers to see it as racist. I am disappointed that so many people think it's okay to demand he be fired when they more than likely haven't heard his radio show and aren't aware of his style of humour. I am also a bit disappointed that he tried to gloss over his mistake so casually, to be honest, but perhaps that was down to embarrassment.

Either way, a lesson to all of us, but particularly those in public employ, to think before we tweet. There are some strange people out there who will make sure we live to regret our mistakes.

When a choice isn't much of a choice at all

Never mind world events, the major headline today is about the local council election results.

I don't know about other councils, but the turnout in our district was less than 33%. I don't know if that's because people think local elections aren't relevant, or that there's no point because we're usually a safe Tory seat, or maybe the voters are just fed up with politicians and everything they stand for. The headline, however, that Labour and the Tories have been hit badly by a Brexit backlash, would suggest that for some of us, at least, there was a point, whether at a local or a national level.

Where we live, we only had a choice between two candidates, one from the Labour party and one from the Conservatives. We're big believers in doing our civic duty (how can we complain about the incumbents otherwise?!) and tried to inform ourselves before going to the polling station. 

We had received a flyer from the Labour candidate (though I couldn't find it yesterday) but nothing from his rival. I don't mind cutting back on the use of paper that mostly goes straight into the recycling bin, and from a party point of view it must save on costs, so I don't have a problem with that per se. However, when we tried to find out about the candidates online, there was a statement from the Labour candidate but nothing from the Conservative candidate. Even via the council's own website, there was nothing to be found.

If that wasn't enough to decide us, the Labour candidate is opposed to Oxford-Cambridge Expressway. That's not the rail-link, but another road. Which did not go to public consultation. In an era when we are supposed to be trying to reduce carbon emissions and make more use of public transport, someone in the current government thought it would be a good idea to build another road - and they can't even keep the ones we have in a reasonable condition - to run loosely parallel to the railway line they are rediscovering.

I have no idea whether the Conservative candidate is opposed to the Expressway or not. My guess is not, since he doesn't appear to know where this end of his potential district is.

To quote a popular musical, "Jefferson has beliefs, Burr has none." But it's a pretty sorry state of affairs. I will be interested to find out how many people in our district spoilt their ballots.