I wish I hadn’t said ,
You’ve Made Your Bed!
You have to lie in it,
Sadly, the Electric Blanket,
The wiring was amiss,
And last night was our final goodnight kiss.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Warren van der Sandt and the Pulse for the Headline.
Are we bold enough to rewrite the rules of the modern farm? This seems a very provocative line in the article. What does it propose? Actually nothing that new.
Turns out the wind farm and solar panels are very nearby to me geographically. Actually I find the windmills an eyesore but that’ s personal opinion.
I hadn’t realised that the area covered by Solar Panels had actually been deliberately left organic and that wildflowers and natural vegetation attractive to pollinators had been encouraged.
However, over the years this has become overgrown, hence the introduction of sheep during the winter to clear away the weeds with their natural digestion and also fertilise the ground for the plants to thrive in the spring.
The owners of the solar panels were however worried that the panels would be damaged by the sheep. This has proved not to be a problem , the panels were strengthened and raised slightly off the ground giving the sheep shelter when they wanted it ;and also increasing the panels resilience to strong winds and bad weather. Result.
Nothing ground breaking here, hardly rewriting the rules of the modern farm, and the article also fails to outline how much energy all this effort is producing, would it power a village or a town. This is still unclear , however, I am very happy for the sheep and wish the project success.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
The Things that make me nervous are many,
Let’s face it Vesuvius did it for Pliny,
I mean how fragile is Peace?
All it takes is a pop at Trump’s niece,
Family is family after all,
So OK, her dress looked awful at the ball,
After all that effort and making plans,
She insisted on wearing those old Vans,
I’m going a bit off track,
To my title I must get back,
What really makes me nervous and even howl,
Is the prospect of losing my favourite trowel,
For a gardener’s tools are precious to them,
And to go astray amongst the weeds,
Certainly ranks with horrible deeds,
I don’t need to worry about thiefs or vagabonds,
Just stinging nettles and metre wide fronds,
And so with honesty I must say,
It happens regularly and ruins my day.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to BBC Online News for the Headline.
Was the driver being cheeky? They have probably ended up with a large fine and a driving ban as they were travelling at almost double the speed limit and even passed a patrol Police Car.
The car involved was a Mitsubushi Evo, which apparently is a very popular model on used car sites like PistonHeads UK and Auto Trader UK. They are known for their speed and rally car performance. Less well known for Fast Food Delivery.
There is no lesson here, just a lot of expense and disruption and thankfully avoidance of a fatal accident. Was it worth it? Even for a fancy Chinese Five Spice?
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
When days are demanding and I have to unwind,
I very often reach for an orange to unrind,
The process of peeling,
Somehow gets rid of that feeling,
Of dissatisfaction from the daily grind,
A simple pleasure,
At the end a treasure,
A globe of juiciness,
A Goddess of Fruitiness,
Sweetness and Firmness all combined,
In the moist package enclosed in that rind,
I’ve got my Vitamin C ,
No need for supplements or herbal tea,
A boost to face another day,
That juicy orange is my little sunshine ray.
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Meghan Owen and BBC Online News for the Headline.
I know people personally who have been given “no fault eviction” notices even though they were good tenants.
It all went wrong with the 1988 Housing Act which was enacted by the Conservative Government led by Margaret Thatcher. It was suppose to invigorate the “rental housing market”, but really was a disguise for the Buy to Let Boom in mortgages resulting in many people buying up multiple properties to rent at a profit, while not having a clue how to manage them.
Those very same people will face financial difficulities now,because they are being asked with the new act to provide tennants with “rights” that they themselves would expect if they lived in rented property.
Also ,historically, these new rental owning paper millionaires , who relied on a healthy balance sheet of an increase in capital value of their properties will be hit by actually having to ensure the properties are fit for purpose, that they cannot evict a tenant just because they don’t like them and that they will be responsible landlords.
Yes some are going to leave the market because that was never in their remit , to actually do the job properly. However, those that do rent out in a professional manner will survive and hopefully we will not have a Law Change back to the bad old days when all rights lay with the Landlord and the renter was very exposed to abuse.
Will this reduce available supply, I’m not so sure. There are so many new builds going up that maybe we will create a new layer of owners and not renters. Whether this is good and maybe our view on owning property and land is skewed remains to be seen.
Nevertheless the 1988 Act was misguided and encouraged disreputable landlords and irresponsible mortgage lending. Roll on May the first when the Renters Rights Act 2026 becomes Law.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏
Filed under Short Stories
The Pakistani boy who was born in January 1983 and at four years old was sold by his family into child bonded labour. He escaped at the aged of ten, suffering from malnutrition and severe growth deficiency due to the conditions he was forced to work in and the lack of nutrition in his diet.
He successfully campaigned for abolishing bonded labour in Pakistan (1992) and was assassinated at 12 years old by a “carpet mafia” (1995) who were employed to pursue those who had escaped from bonded labour.
Bonded child labour is legally banned in Pakistan under The Bonded Labour System (Abolition Act 1992 ). However, the enforcement of the act is weak and millions of children still work in bonded work particularly in brick kilns and agricultural work.
Still what that little boy achieved in his short life is amazing and it is up to us to look at better ways to live and work together so a child is not regarded as a chattel to be sold or used and that we all look towards living rewarding and fulfilling and safe lives for everyone.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
I use it and I try not to let it use me.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Samantha Granville and BBC News for the Headline
A French Peacekeeper on duty in Lebanon was killed by small arms fire while on patrol removing explosive devices from roads connecting isolated villages from each other.
The organisation called Unifil ( United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) has been in place since 1978 and was brought into being following the UN Security Council ‘s resolution after Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon, with a mandate to confirm Israeli withdrawal , restore peace and assist the Lebanese government in regaining authority in the south.
It seems that their presence has not stopped Israel’s actions and that Hezbollah continues to act as a terrorist organisation even though it denies any involvement in this particular incident.
Another life lost and for what , because vested interests won’t talk to each other and want to encourage unrest and instability. Who put the ordnance on the roads to begin with and why don’t they want villages to communicate with each other? The Lebanese Security forces need to help Unifil by solving these issues and identifying the culprits and let the people live Peaceful lives. My condolences to the family of the Peacekeeper who lost his life.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Planks, I think it is because I like the look and feel of wood, though it might be also from some 50’s black and white film where someone calls another person a “plank”, meaning they’ve done something silly. Either way it’s a nice word, unless you are a tree and then it’s an evil word.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
thenotsomightyom 