A quick catch-up from Hastings Battleaxe

This will be quick – honestly. Battleaxe is currently running around doing too many jobs before we leave for Turkey. For the first time in ages, today is a wet day, so am inside on computer. Should have been on a WI garden visit, but cancelled it. So, let’s stick close to home, like Rustico in Ore, and our garden.  Looking back over my posts, Battleaxe was very prone to ranting about politics. These rants were very popular with readers, but I seem to have lost the appetite for them. Why?

I like this photo above. Taken at Blackbrooks Garden centre a few days ago. It says something about the current position of Brexit. One understands more and more people who voted Leave in 2016 are now expressing regrets at what they did. Facing up, and facing forward. The Brexit tap is firmly in the off position. It has never been anything else. No benefits, no economic miracles. Boris Johnson has been discredited as a liar, but nobody in the main-stream media has quite yet had the nerve to plainly state that all the rest of his rubbish – including Brexit – were also lies. The population were lied to, and sadly too many people believed. So far, no main political party will say that Brexit was a bad business.

Mind you, was just saying to Philosopher at lunch that those Tories never say they are wrong, never express a word of regret. They are totally shameless. A report has just come out from the Privileges Committee,  denouncing the likes of Dorries and Rees-Mogg for ‘impugning the integrity of the committee’ by rubbishing its findings about Johnson.  It also mentioned Lord Cruddas, whose response was: ‘If they don’t want people noticing they are a kangaroo court, then they should hop less.’ Oh great. Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal has just ruled that the infamous Rwanda scheme is unlawful. Sunak has said that of course this is rubbish and the Government will appeal to the Supreme Court. And so on, and so on.

Thames Water is going bust. It has borrowed billions to pay dividends to its shareholders. Why? The other water companies are much the same. The Government has said they will consider taking Thames Water back into public ownership for a ‘limited period until another buyer can be found.’ To do the same thing again, presumably…

Meanwhile, there is not a single public service that is not falling apart from lack of funding.

So, you wonder why Battleaxe has given up politcal ranting? Apparently the chances of dying before one’s time are increasing dramatically because of the current state of the health service, (see this) but I don’t need to hasten that outcome by making myself ill with impotent anger at this country’s  seemingly hopeless predicament.

Reading the papers is deeply unhelpful. We read the Guardian, which is totally filled with gloom and doom – but their going on about how bad things are has no more impact than a Battleaxe blog. The right-wing press is full of lies and nauseating spurious optimism.

So, what of home? A couple of posts ago I wrote about the wreckage of our side garden, which was turned into a bomb-site following the removal of the rotten decking. Well, things have improved a bit. A gang of blokes came round and cleared all the rubble. It now looks like this – the orange plastic is to give us a mud-free path.

After we return from holiday they will return and build raised beds, flagged path etc. Should look OK. As ever at this time of year, Battleaxe spends much time in the garden wrestling with mountains of foliage that is growing unstoppably. Our brown Council garden waste bin is full again as soon as it is emptied.  I’d love to be one of those gardeners who can just stroll round with a big sunhat and a little pair of snips to dead-head the odd flower. I am always pulling out huge festoons of bindweed, wrangling enormous prickly roses back onto their supports etc.

Tonight we are going to Rustico in Ore with Tom and Jan. Now, here’s a great thing. Not only does it do excellent food, but genuine Italian goodies like Campari Spritz. Eat your crummy hearts out, Pizza Hut and Dominos, also in Ore Village. At our Rustico you can sit in as well as have take-away/deliveries. It is a bit cramped for crowds of people but goodness me, it is literally just round the corner from us… They have done up the old Nationwide Building Society premises really well.  Battleaxe totally recommends!

Picture off Rustico website

 

 

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