Happy Halloween!

I am not sure if this will work, so here goes,

I was out in Waking Street celebrating Halloween and noticed the sign above, it must have cost a fortune, it was huge as can be seen by the size of the people in the lower part of the video, naturally I was in Halloween mode,

 

all made up for the night, the lady above wanted to be photographed with me, strangely enough quite a few people did, I have no idea why, meanwhile in the Philippines Diana and her family were having a great time,

visiting a zoo amongst other places and shopping, lots of shopping! I will stop now as I am not sure how well this will appear, I am using my mobile telephone and it has taken an age just because I am not used to using it, but when we both return to the UK I will spend a few days playing catch up, I hope you all call back sometime in mid November.

I Am Not Sure If This Will Work

but I am trying this on my  mobile telephone,

we have arrived safely and are having a great time in Bangkok, I believe Diana has a thing called Facebook which she updates, so to see our progress please have a look there.

I Will Only Be Making One Short Post Today,

and it will be the last one for just over 4 weeks!

today we are flying to Bangkok to meet up with Diana's family who have flown in from the Philippines when we arrive tomorrow, we will spend a few days in Bangkok and then Diana and her family will fly back to the Philippines, I will pop down to Pattaya for 3 weeks and then go back to Bangkok and meet up with Diana when she returns from her family, we will then have a few days in Bangkok before flying back to the UK. 

for myself I watched The Black Death, a 2 hour special presented by Dan Snow, a little more about the documentary here, what a horror of a time to live, a absolutely fascinating look at UK and indeed European history, the Black Death or bubonic plague was one of mankind's worst pandemics, killing more than 25 million people or at least one third of Europe's population during the fourteenth century, after which Diana arrived home, so time for our evening meal,

first a read and a sherry, 

followed by a selection of Indian dishes, 

'Cheers!', 

after which we settled back for Men in Black: International, we had watched the film before a long time ago so it was nice to see it again, having said that I did most of the watching, Diana did all of the packing, we are so looking forward to this, Diana has not seen her family in 6 years or so after, so you can imagine how excited we are, when we arrive back I will update the blog, as my laptop went to computer heaven, or hell a few years ago, and I just can not get on with editing and posting the blog on my telephone, so please call back mid to the end of November, packing finished and we were off to bed.

I Started Getting Things Ready For Our Holiday,

starting tomorrow, 

Maggie kindly said she would water our Venus fly traps, so to save her watering lots of pots I put them all in one tray in the hall, I also left her plenty of RO water, 

as tap water kills fly traps, 

and here they are, 

a couple of close ups, 

with only one exception they have all grown remarkably well, next the fire alarm company called by and tested the building's fire alarm for its 6 monthly check, all was well, 

after that out of the park, 

and onto a number 54 bus to the shop, I had a empty water container that needed filling,

arriving home time for a read, 

Diana had left me a chicken biryani, 

which was delicious, 'Cheers!',

onto a number 354 bus to meet Steve, in a stroke of good luck I noticed a 227 bus about to join the main road, so I alighted at Big Catch, Beckenham's fish and chip restaurant, and caught the bus to Penge where I meet up with Steve in the Moon & Stars for a few pints, we chatted the night away until it was time to say farewell for a few weeks as we made a move to our homes, 

I was lucky again with the bus, a 227 arriving just minuets after we did at the bus stop, off of the bus in Beckenham and past the church, 

in the graveyard the cyclamen still looking nice, I just beat Diana home who was soon off to bed as she has a early start at her last day at work tomorrow before our holiday, for myself one from It Ain't Half Hot Mum, before I too was off to bed.

Only Yesterday I Made A Post About Asian Or Yellow-Legged Hornets As They Are Sometimes Known,

and today I received a article from the BBC about them, 

it is almost like someone is listening to what I say, (as yesterday I mentioned the insects to Steve), and then sending me news items that might be of interest!

back to the article and a few lines from it:

 Asian hornets were first reported in the UK in 2016, with 72 nests discovered in 2023,

This year has been the second worst on record for numbers, with the majority of sightings in the South East,

Kent's gardeners and walkers are being recruited to help track down invasive Asian hornets,

Although only 19 nests have been destroyed so far this year, the British Beekeeper’s Association’s (BBKA) Asian Hornet Teams, which support the NBU, said the problem has not gone away,

Sue Knights, Asian hornet coordinator for Kent Beekeepers’ Association, said: “Now is a crucial time for spotting Yellow-Legged Asian Hornet nests, as the falling leaves from the trees could reveal nests that were otherwise hidden, "It is vital that we know where these nests are located, so that we can keep an eye on the area for any queen hornets emerging from hibernation in the spring, "We really need everyone in the community to stay vigilant over the coming months."

Tony Warren, Asian Hornet Team coordinator for the Gravesend branch and founder of Asian Hornet Alert, said there had been a "significant reduction" in nests found and destroyed this year, "But the threat remains," he added, 

it is vitally important for the bees of the UK to stamp out this foreign invader, if you should see a Asian hornet or a nest of them please report it here, the full article from the BBC is here.

If You Like Dolphins, Or Are A Bit Squeamish,

it might be an idea to skip this post, 

a pod of killer whales was being monitored by García-Cegarra, who is a researcher at the University of Antofagasta, who has been tracking this particular pod, which is led by a matriarch named Dakota, and four more orcas, but as captured by drone footage the pod changed from its normal diet of sea lions, to dolphins, for no apparent reason, in Pacific waters near Antofagasta, a killer whale hurled a small dusky dolphin into the air before devouring it, moments later, four more orcas arrived to join the feast, “Such a thing has never been recorded in Chilean waters,” García-Cegarra says, since 2018, García-Cegarra’s team hasn’t monitored Dakota’s pod alone, they have collaborated with local tour operators and fishermen in a citizen science initiative, over the years, these partners have submitted photos and videos, “Orcas are the top predators of marine ecosystems. Changes in their diets may be an indicator of a shift in the distribution of their prey due to climate change,” said Carlos Olavarría, a marine biologist at Chile’s Centre for Advanced Studies on Arid Zones, who was not part of the study, at the moment climate change appears to be the culprit leading to this behaviour, from the article:

“It’s a fascinating discovery,” said Josh McInnes, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, who has studied orcas along California’s coastline and was not part of the new paper. “The more we know about their behaviour and what they’re eating is important because they are in a place where a lot of things are changing.” 

‘Rising ocean temperatures are reshaping species’ distribution and behaviour, driving key fish like anchovies and sardines to migrate toward cooler waters. This shift disrupts food chains that support top predators such as orcas, McInnes said. Additionally, warmer waters are fuelling more frequent harmful algal blooms, which deplete oxygen and create dead zones, endangering the survival of fish and other marine life’ the full article is here.

I Had A Quiet Day,

and had a couple of visitors, 

after a bit of an absence the crows have started calling round, after the usual start to my day Diana started getting ready for work, a late shift today, after she left I had the househusband job I really do not like, cleaning the glass shelves in the bathroom, I am always so afraid that I might drop one and break it, thankfully all went well, in the afternoon a double helping of Bangers & Cash, and a couple of quiz shows before my evening meal, after BattleBots I watched,

Attenborough and the Sea Dragon, I had watched this documentary before, a fascinating programme, Sir David investigates the discovery of a 200 million year old Ichthyosaur on the Jurassic Coast in southern England, and not just any old Ichthyosaur, this was a totally new specie, a great look into the world of fossil hunting in the Jurassic Coast,

 I decided to watch Munich: The Edge of War, I had also watched this before, but I fancied watching it again, the story of the film is in the title, the film is in fact based on the international bestseller by Robert Harris, chronicling the events leading up to the start of the Second World War, although the main characters, Hartmann and Legat are fictional, Harris confirms that they are partially inspired by the diplomat Adam von Trott zu Solz and the scholar AL Rowse, after which as it happens Diana arrived home from work, so feet up for a coffee and a chat before we were off to bed.