by Matthew Cobb
In Poland, Hili has an itch:
Hili: Something has bitten me.A: But what?Hili: I don’t know but I hope my claws will find it.
Hili: Coś mnie ugryzło.
Ja: Ale co?
Hili: Nie wiem, mam nadzieję, że mój pazurek na to trafi.
Nearby, Leon is on the lookout for mushrooms. Malgorzata explains:
It’s an exceptionally “mushroomy” year in Poland and people are filling huge baskets with them. I got one basket full of beautiful mushrooms. Part are now pickled in jars the rest are deep frozen for soups, sources etc.
Leon: I don’t see any mushrooms.
From Twitter: A glorious autumn spectacle in the UK
WOW! A big group of pink footed geese from Iceland flew in to the reserve around an hour ago – the noise is incredible 📣 They're currently resting on the reserve after a long flight 😴 🥔 Nature is just the best ❤️ @WWTworldwide @infocusWWTMM #migration #wetlands #wildlife pic.twitter.com/GCMYYLhGqQ
— WWT Martin Mere (@WWTMartinMere) October 24, 2019
A Hallowe’en quiz
As it’s Halloween, which baguette is the most scary? Give your reasoning pls pic.twitter.com/vQfuVx3HCW
— Dave (@sheepfilms) October 24, 2019
The ever-reliable Paul Bronks, sent in by Simon Hayward:
"i swear i don't know where the bread is. PLEASE, I HAVE A FAMILY"
📹: Imgur user learn2post pic.twitter.com/OGz1SpcSDz
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) October 23, 2019
And a couple of sad tweets about the state of England’s chalk streams. England has 80% of the world’s chalk streams, but many of them are dying, because of over-subtraction of water. Nothing is being done about this by the relevant agencies, except to turn a blind eye. There is a one-man campaign led by Feargal Sharkey – one-time lead singer of Belfast punk band The Undertones – and here are a couple of his tweets, the first showing what has happened, the second being interviewed on the BBC. Remember that even if the water does eventually come back, the invertebrates and many of the fish will not. This is ecological vandalism – if it were being carried out in the Amazon there would be an outrage:
As you sleep tonight think to the future. #ChalkStreamsInCrisis pic.twitter.com/BWnEF4kwiH
— Feargal Sharkey (@Feargal_Sharkey) October 3, 2019
"We've destroyed the chalk rivers… all for the quest for drinking water"
Pop legend @Feargal_Sharkey walks and talks with @EvanHD about England's #ChalkStreamsInCrisis #bbcpm
Hear the full report here: https://t.co/S7c1QryPF6 pic.twitter.com/n76CcQ3wgt
— BBCPM (@BBCPM) October 24, 2019
Finally, to remind you that the world is still wondrous, a gorgeous ray, filmed in the Caribbean:
Incredible mobula ray and remora spotted off Trinidad and Tobago. Not sure source of video but looks like it was filmed from an oil and gas platform. https://t.co/gyiwARx6As
— Dr Diva Amon (@DivaAmon) October 24, 2019
The Snaky Baguette – the ‘gill slits’ down its side tip it over into scaryland
If browned a bit more, with slatherings of barlic gutter in the ‘gills’ I might change my mind.
And here’s the Undertones with John Peel’s fave tune:
https://youtu.be/PinCg7IGqHg
The Undertones are from Derry, Matthew. Dunno if “Teenage Kicks” is about the furious right hand, but the shirt fits.
Listen to those guitars. Most excellent.
Never heard of chalk streams…
For the record, I’m reading this :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_stream
runs through chalk hills, as a consequence, the water is very clear and alkaline. There’s watercress farmed on some.
And after clicking on your article, scroll to the bottom and click on another story about the streams under threat.
Important wildlife habitats with a distinctive invertebrate and fish community. There is an interesting report here about the threats they are under: http://www.theriverstrust.org/media/2019/06/Chalk-streams-dossier_June-2019_FINAL_FINAL-1.pdf
It is worth noting that in the UK we suffer a large wastage of water due to leaks from the pipework delivering water from the treatment plants to peoples homes and businesses. The water companies are working on this but there is still a long way to go.
Paul Bronks’s tweet will please PCCE. Both cats and ducks!
= twitter.com/ZoosVictoria/status/1186776154872528896 = ‘Tis pretty much how it is that:
I myself all season long happen to handle
shoveling out the Iowa wintertimes’ stuffz.
Blue
I sense a trick question. The baguettes are equally terrifying to the (largely self-diagnosed) gluten intolerant; yeast intolerant; wheat intolerant; no-special-dietary-requirement intolerant crowd.
We’re all getting a little intolerance, intolerant.