Given all the press coverage

Posted on July 4, 2026 by james

of a certain wedding in New York this weekend, I thought I should offer my own “shorthand” for referring to the happy couple:

Traylor

You heard it here first.

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BP readings with new meds

Posted on July 3, 2026 by james

Well, not entirely. The first reading was this morning before I took the Lacidipine.

Then early afternoon, not long after taking 5mg Ramipril.

And this evening.

I don’t want to get my hopes up too far, but that is much more promising. Ok, so the figure is still high, but I don’t feel awful at a BP that has been unpleasant on Lacidipine alone, and my heart rate is somewhere I’m much happier with it.

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Just for completeness

Posted on July 3, 2026 by james

My BP measurements for yesterday. Probably not that relevant now my meds are being changed.

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All change!

Posted on July 3, 2026 by james

I ended up having a bit of a medication review today when it hadn’t initially been intended. After explaining all the problems I’ve been having whilst on Amlodipine and Lacidipine, it has now been decided (I think) that I should transition to Ramipril, taking 5mg with the Lacidipine for this week and then after a review next Friday taking another 5mg in the evening.

I’m not completely convinced it’s going to change things though, as I took a dose of Ramipril around lunchtime today (as instructed) and four or five hours later I was again feeling slightly unsteady on my feet which wasn’t the case at that time of day when I was only taking the Lacidipine. We shall see in a few week’s time, I guess.

On a really positive note, they’ve now told me that I can see the same GP each time, which at least means I should avoid the situation that happened a couple of months back when I was talking to a GP for the first time on the phone and he admitted that he didn’t understand the notes he was reading.

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The jokes pretty much make themselves up

Posted on July 2, 2026 by james

Lamb kebabs containing little (or no) actual lamb.

You’ve got to be kidding!

It’s been a few decades since I last ate a kebab from a kebab shop, but I think everyone was always aware that the meat was hardly of the highest quality. That it should turn out to contain very little lamb, or even none at all, is on one level quite amusing though. Particularly as there seems to be some sort of horror about the idea of eating goat. I don’t have a problem with that at all. The photo in the article of the ground up “meat paste” isn’t desperately appealing though.

The most bizarre part of the article for me however is the quote from the business’s representative in court saying that the company had “taken its eye off the ball”. I’m sure you don’t accidentally go ordering “waste” pork, goat and mutton instead of lamb by accident. I’m sure surprised they took their eye off the ball though. They probably threw it in with all the other ingredients.

So, on my list of food that has been found to be fake, say, since 2000, we have:

  • Beef that was actually horsemeat
  • Extra virgin olive oil that wasn’t
  • Honey that hasn’t been anywhere near a beehive
  • Italian tomato paste that was actually Chinese
  • Mineral water that didn’t meet the standards set for quality
  • Chicken that had been condemned as unfit for human consumption
  • Wasabi that is actually horseradish
  • Lamb kebabs that aren’t lamb

I’m sure there will be others that I’ve forgotten. And I’ll step away from the crab sticks, but the videos are on YouTube if you want to watch them.

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Oh damn! I forgot again

Posted on July 2, 2026 by james

The evening one this time. I could claim it’s down to the excitement of the England/Congo World Cup match, but I didn’t watch it and from the reports it sounds like there wasn’t much excitement to be had anyhow.

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I bet he’s too old for this shit

Posted on July 1, 2026 by james

Danny Glover

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They say never meet your heroes…

Posted on July 1, 2026 by james

But perhaps that should include finding more out about them, too.

I’ve been using the guidance of Charles Dowding for some years now as regards no dig vegetable growing and I’ve found that it works pretty well. I don’t agree necessarily with everything he says, but in the main it makes reasonable sense. Particularly as it ties in with information I’ve been given by farmers local to my home.

However, I’ve just come across a podcast he took part in for “Here Come the Meat Bastards”.

In this podcast he starts talking about chemtrails which have been so completely debunked as an idea that I can’t believe anyone is still willing to go on record as thinking it real. He then goes on to offer up the idea that (deliberate) weather control is happening and that climate change is not real. We’re really into tinfoil hat territory there.

This is such a shame as it detracts from what I believe is a valid message about the way we garden. Why should I believe what he says about growing vegetables for example, when he promotes ideas that have been completely discredited?

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Another distrail

Posted on July 1, 2026 by james

I’ve not seen one of these for quite some time. The last one I have a photo of was in January 2012!

Quite sweet to have a contrail running right alongside it.

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No dig diary, 1st July 2026

Posted on July 1, 2026 by james

Didn’t do a huge amount today, but first off I planted out all my spare squashes in the polycrub. Hopefully they’ll be happy enough there. Still need to get some weeding done in the polycrub, but that can wait a day or two.

Next up was weeding in “The Melon House”, which is actually a greenhouse where I attempt to grow not only melons, but also aubergines and chiles. There wasn’t an awful lot that needed doing and once it was tidy I planted out all the melon seedlings that germinated — only five, sadly.

There’s actually a fair bit of space left here, so I might plant something else as well. I have plenty of spare tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Finally I did a little tidying up in the polytunnel, mostly removing leaves from the tomatoes below trusses that had set fruit, so it doesn’t look a whole lot different from yesterday.

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