Woof!

First thing this morning we had a visit from a basset hound. What deep voices they have!
This one told us we were his long-lost family and he loved us very much and could he have some cat biscuits please. Ailz rang round and found he belongs to the people who own the chickens and the alpacas. There must be a gap in the fence- or maybe he dug one; that's what bassets do, isn't it?

Sensible When You Think About It

I went to clean behind and under the cooker and found my mother had it chained to the wall.

In case it went on the rampage?

No, I get it really, if you had an "incident" and fell on top of it and pulled it over on top of yourself- unlikely but not impossible- it could be really unpleasant.

You've Got To Wonder

So who has benefited most from the Skripal affair?

1. May and Johnson because it has allowed them to play at being Winston Churchill.

2. The rulers of the EU because it has created an opportunity for them to gather Britain tenderly to their bosoms and go, "There, there, you see you need us really."

3. NATO- and the arms manufacturers who back it- because it gives them a reason to talk up the Russian threat and beef up our so-called defences.

And who has come off worst?

1, 2 and 3. Putin because it has united the West against him and loused up his plans for the World Cup.

So if Putin was responsible it was an extraordinarily stupid thing for him to do.