S-Westerly

Managed to extract a couple of stills but the quality is not great. Road was very unexciting M4 but weather made it a bit more interesting. I can claim individualism on the basis nobody else was daft enough to be out on a bike.

When I get home I'll see what the ghost has recorded and then there maybe something to show for my frozen extremities.

Charming folks aren't they?

My wife has us signed up for Vodafone. They are okay and at least give us a rebate when the actual connection speed doesn't match the reality. So far we've had a rebate every month. Supposed to be getting a new router in January which is supposed to improve things. They were rubbish on mobile phone though. Didn't cut the price at the end of the contract period once the phone was paid. Hence I'm now back with an O2 phone with 5G. Assuming the local swampies don't burn down any more phone masts when we get I'll think about using just mobiles.

Wimp.

According to my Italian bike (and doubtless unreliable) the air temp was between 0 and 1 C. My hand were toasty. My toes weren't.

So you havin' a go at my bike eh? 10,000 miles in all weathers and still purring along. Not rusted away yet either.

Exactly there were none. But from Tewkesbury to Worcester was heavy snow. When I get home I'll try and put up some pics.

Well taking him to the vet counts as provoking! Don't use a muzzle for that?

Never been bitten by a dog ever. Most only bite if provoked.

Looking forward to NYE; as our Christmas was effectively cancelled by the naughty boy we are having it on NYE instead. We'd all been isolating anyway so we're going for it.

They are bad, at least until you get east of Brum.

Well today I tested my Ixon heated gloves in anger for the first time. I'll do a proper review when I get south again on Wednesday. For now I'm pleased and they are definitely waterproof.

Rode up to Scotch Corner. The bloody snowstorm round Tewkesbury was not expected!. Made for a challenging ride and shed loads of rugged individualism unlike these poncy buggers swanning around in desert wastelands.

Too many people get a dog as a fashion accessory which usually ends in tears. If your missus doesn't like them forget it, doubt the marital strife involved in house training a dog would be worthwhile. And huskies are high maintenance dogs which need loads of exercise. Our lab used to get 2 x 2 mile walks every single day, rain or shine. Think about it very carefully.

Would the lack of distinct breeds be such a loss though? For the dogs at least. My favourites are stroppy terriers for which Patterdales are perfect as they are not really a breed but more a broad type. Mainly small, black, deviously clever wee dogs.

I've always had good experiences with motolegends and go along with their stance on Bell helmets. I've tried on a few of their models over the years and simply found them diabolically uncomfortable. They do look nice but....

I'll give you the harm that breeders influenced by kennel club have done to dogs. We had a "field bred" labrador that looked completely different to a show bred lump. Other breeds the same. I'll debate the spaniel issue as a friend of mine has spaniel gundogs and the worst bits for getting damaged in undergrowth is the ears. The whole excessively furry thing gets constantly caught up with brambles etc. My real gripe is docking the tails of smooth coated dogs such as terriers. There is zero justification for it.

My tiers are shot to hell. When it's suitable my wife and I will be visiting my son and his family to meet our newest grandson. We'd been isolating etc to prepare for Christmas which was knocked into touch due to boy's arrival. So we'll be having a late Christmas. I'm also going north to see my dad as his support bubble on the 29th. HMG can kiss my ass.

My wife is from Northumberland and considers anyone from south of the Tees as a southerner and of dubious morals and as for Scots well i never. No surprise the rievers lasted so long.

As a northerner my pet peeve is folks having a barth instead of a bath and cutting the grarse instead of the grass.

My youngest has literally just arrived so a while to wait there. His big sister is possibly moving towards gampa but the only words she's really keen on are choc and bye-bye if you annoy her.

That's one of the more barbaric practices inflicted on cats. Like docking dogs tails, something I hate to see.

Well I'm a grandpa not a grandad or granddad (looks Welsh to me). I used to be a gampa until they got all grown up at 6 yrs old.

My daughter was not a girlie-girl but was gifted a Barbie doll by a relative. I found dismembered pieces of said doll all over the garden including the head impaled on a sloe bush thorn. I was quite concerned for a day or two.