MrsDoyle

In my experience the people in the back have their fingers in their ears and are going "lalalalalala".

Extra info you didn't ask for but might help: the doctor gave me a sheet to record my BP for a week. Two readings in the morning, a few minutes apart, two readings in the afternoon, a few minutes apart. Once I'd done that he added and divided the results to get the average. Too high, so now I'm on meds.

I was a bit blasé about it at first - pfft, I feel fine! But he explained that high BP can cause a stroke. You can recover just fine from a heart attack, but a stroke can be devastating, if you even survive it. You will feel absolutely fine until suddenly you're on the floor, unable to move one side of your body or speak coherently. Scared me into taking it seriously!

The bees. All our hives made it through winter and a fairly mild spring so far has given them a boost. Queens are laying like crazy, workers are working hard.

I've started wearing very thin gloves while inspecting the hives after realising that they make it less likely I'll be stung, because I can be gentler. A bonus is that I can feel the warmth of the bees, and that really does bring me joy.

For example Caoimhe, pronounced Keeva.

I've been reading up on the front-runners for Pope and some of them are super old school illiberal. Though the fellow from Ghana does apparently concede that the laws on homosexuality in some African countries are a bit harsh.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/who-next-pope-francis-potential-candidates-succeed

Meanwhile no-one mentioned Valentina Tereshkova, who orbited Earth 48 times on her own back in 1963. Sigh.

Also:

I used to use Lidl's own brand, 69p for a big tube. But they changed the recipe to a gel, and I don't feel it cleans as well as before. So now I'm on the lookout for an alternative too.

Revelation 9:20: "The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk."

The fundies must be wetting themselves with excitement, rapture any day now!

Cat also seems to have short legs, might make squatting difficult.

Good luck getting the bank to count it for you. My bank would only accept bulk coins like this if they were counted out into separate coin bags - which they would give you. Then they can check by weight.

Always always signal your intention. I heard a woman complaining that her new car had lane control, which forced her to indicate when changing lanes. "It's so annoying, I mean it's obvious I'm overtaking, I don't need to indicate!"

Also, as a frequent pedestrian I appreciate when drivers and cyclists indicate and judge heavily when they don't. So frustrating to be waiting to cross the road and someone turns without indicating.