Phill Cook

An orange hot air balloon in the shape of a rocket, with a picture of Wallace and Gromit staring out of a window on the side

A front on view of a jolly dragon shaped hot air balloon nestled amongst some trees. The dragon is smiling straight at the camera.

A side on view of a dragon shaped (dinosaur?) hot air balloon. The dragon is green with a thick tail. In the background there's a slightly cloudy sky. Underneath are trees. In the foreground an electric wire runs across the scene.

W&G is good but surelu dino wins the day?

We're at 55 (+/÷5 - my son's counting) and it's not past here yet!

So far I've learnt there's not one but *at leaat 3* Thatchers balloons.

So far we're about 20 balloons in ... (and waiting for the minion one).

First few coming past now!

I'm glad Labour is buckling to Farage's dog whistle demands to report the immigration status of those accused of sexual assault.

Because if one of my family got attacked I would, of course, feel much better about it if I knew the attacker's paperwork was in order. Barely even a crime in that case.

That's it. After years of ducking, I'm rolling up my sleeves and coding.

They say the data are too hard to analyse.

I've never used Python but my PhD was ab initio modelling in C, so how hard can it be? I have a bucket load of hubris and will definitely show them who's boss by the end of the week.

When you're young you're full of ambition.

Then, suddenly, you turn 50 and find yourself spending an hour sat on the bottom stair, sawing up a large corrugated cardboard box into sheets that will fit into the recycling bag using a bread knife, reflecting on the choices you made from there to here.

Thanks!

If you're in the EU (and I think retained law in UK) all pet food has to be fit for human consumption afaik - can some1 verify? - to derisk curious babies and children eating it.

So, tuck into anything that takes your fancy.

Well done the Lionnesses. Nailbiting but brilliant. Those saves!

One grumble with the commentary at the end. Achievement as it is, no this is *not* the 1st time an England team has lifted a trophy on foreign soil.

The England Under 21s (male) won the Euro U21s just under a month ago.

We got lucky as we were having building work in the garden anyway, so craning in a big tank made sense.

Yes, every one is all in for SUDS these days so I hope it's only a small leap to make that more about capture than just slow release.

You at any north Devon shows this year?

We installed a 10,000 litre underground rainwater harvesting tank a couple of years back - best thing for the garden we ever did!

The same path as in the main post but from the other end. A mown path through dry long grass. Various trees are in the distance with houses on the horizon. The skiy is sunny and blue.

In case anyone is thinking "I wonder what that path looks like from the other end?"

Don't worry, I've got your back.

A path mown through long grass. The grass has turned yellow as it has dried. Dense trees are in the background with some early morning blue sky poking through.

I do love a path mown through long grass.

I just do.

Anyone else with a dog whose plan for the day is to cook themselves to death by lying on the lawm in full aun and 32 degree heat?

I've extolled the virtues of the shady terrazo hall floor next to her water bowl but she could not have been less intersted.

Door is open in case she changes her mind.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like a ban.

But a car ad that celebrates "the roar of the V8 engine" is an ad 4 petrol. So ban it too.

Ok, but keep ramping down: Squash comes in plastic bottles. Ban adverts for Ribena?

Finding the boundary is gonna be far harder than for cigs (single use, one purpose).

I'm in but I can see it getting bogged down in boundaries. Cigs are (literally) a dead end. Fossil fuels aren't - loads depends on them. Ads 4 an ICE car are implicitly advertising petrol, a boiler gas.

So, should we also ban ads 4 all dependent things - prob everything - or where's the boundary?

I agree. I've been on flights that have had to be held where bags that blatantly won't fit overhead need to get taken off and put in the hold and (not in the UK or EU) flights where oversized baggage was dumped on back rows of empty seats.

Yes, I agree, that sucks.

UK airport staff get bonuses for spotting easyJet oversize bags, email shows Swissport staff at seven airports in UK and Channel Islands eligible for £1.20-a-bag payment through incentive scheme

I don't understand the issue. Easyjet's policies are clear. If you want a bag up to size X, it's £X, Y is £Y, Z is £Z.

If you pay for size X and try to sneak in with size Y, why shouldn't they be incentivised to spot that and deal with it per the Ts&Cs?

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Thousands demand council scraps homes plan for old athletics track The running track is at risk of getting built on, but a debate next week will explore whether it should be saved

Ok, not the most pressing of international issues right now but if you're from round my way and believe sports facilities are a useful thing, it's never too late to write to a councillor or MP.

www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol...

*Pedant alert* The Tripods.was written by John Christopher.

John Wydham wrote The Triffids, Trouble With Lichen, Kraken Wakes, etc.

As a pedant, I accept all typos and sundry errors in this comment.

I should explain the Brocchinia Reducta (middle of the tray) as they generally don't like sitting in water.

It was a heatwave, I was away. The rest of my family are not reliable waterers. Needs must.

It's now been returned to overhead watering and is fine.

A tray or carnivorous plants - sundews, sarracenia (pitchers) and a vebus fly trap - on wooden staging in a greenhouse. It's a sunny day through the glass.

No flies in our greenhouse.

If you can't fine one of those, I recommend Nuneaton Railway Station. It's been freezing every time I've been there.

Unsubscribe.

I'm running away to the other end of the internet before I suffer any more E,L&P trauma resurfacing.

You ever read the Timewaster Letters?

There's a thing in one of them about a demo to a water company that would be just your thing.

Sempervivum (house leek) by the looks of it.

All this is just evidence we've not spoken.

I love Uranus. It rotates on its side. It led to the discovery of Neptune. It has rings.

And you can do those jokes.

I don't think you should restrict their musical serial offenders status to just their lyrics.