Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

About the last time as I took part in the "Tour De France".

" Fred1new [Send an email to Fred1new] [View Fred1new's profile] - 16 Aug 2018 13:16 - 81118 of 81127
RF.

If you are wandering through France have a drive on the Millau Viaduct. (Béziers and Montpellier.)

Slowed me down and made me concentrate when I drove over it."

At least you have given me a laugh today Fred1 - LOL

Do you really think it would have made one iota of a difference what speed you drove over the bridge or how much you concentrated - If the integrity was in your mind and you had no choice but to cross it, you should have put your foot down, as you would have spent less time on the bridge. Typical left wing thinking, going slow as though you were going to reduce your risks. If your time was up, that would have just been your bad luck, and as for concentrating, if your worried you might go over the top of the bridge because your driving is so poor at the required speed set for the bridge, maybe you should hand the keys to someone fit to drive.

Lol

I did.

Great ways to to raise your kids:

https://www.theatlantic.com/video/series/home-school/

Don't know why President Trump paid those women, according to former President Bill Clinton he hasn't had sexual relations with any of them.

Tiger Woods v Phil Mickelson: Duo to face off in $9m Vegas duel in November


Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have 19 major championship titles between them

Golf greats Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all $9m (£7m) exhibition match in Las Vegas.

The Americans will face off in the 18-hole event at Shadow Creek Golf Course on 23 or 24 November 2018.

The contest, which coincides with Thanksgiving weekend in the US, will be screened on pay-per-view.

Woods confirmed "The Match" on social media, saying: "It's on".

Mickelson, who has attracted almost 100,000 followers in less than 24 hours on Twitter, replied to Woods, saying: "I bet you think this is the easiest $9M you will ever make."

At present the US Open delivers the largest winning pay cheque of the four major championships at about $2.16m (£1.68m), though the winner of the FedExCup - awarded for an accumulation of points on the US PGA Tour - can expect to earn a bonus of $10m (£7.8m).

The possibility of a duel between the former Ryder Cup team-mates has been mooted repeatedly down the years.

Woods, a 14-time major winner, has won over £88m prize money on the PGA Tour in comparison to Mickelson's £68m.

"It's an opportunity for us to bring golf to the masses in prime time during a period where we don't have much going on in the world of golf," Mickelson told ESPN.

"It's a way to show a side you don't normally see by having us mic'd up to hear some of the interaction between us."

Despite the good-natured approach, there is no chance of the duo sharing the purse, with Mickelson saying that the event had to be winner-takes-all.

"If you [don't] do that, it undermines it," Mickelson said. "The whole point is the winner-take-all thing. That's the exciting part about it."

And they say golf is a good walk spoilt. I suppose it will be for the loser.

Awwww, go on, iturama. Just admit that you enjoy playing with your small, knobbly balls.

:o)

I used to but have now given it up Hilary. Prefer to walk my German Shepherds now. The conversation is better, if one sided. On the other hand, if you want to play a mixed pairs, I can assure you that my balls are graphene free. Dimpled, rather than knobbly, but you can't have everything.

Brexit HQ? Rees-Mogg moves into HUGE mansion as he edges closer to Downing Street

STAUNCH Brexiteer and Tory dissident Jacob Rees-Mogg is one step closer to Downing Street after he moved into a £5million five-story mansion next to Parliament.
By SAM STEVENSON, Daily Express
PUBLISHED: 06:54, Fri, Aug 24, 2018 | UPDATED: 08:48, Fri, Aug 24, 2018

The huge townhouse, which is the former abode of Leave-backing Lord Ashcroft, is 390 yards away from Parliament - closer than number 10 Downing Street - and will be home to Mr Rees-Mogg, his wife Helena and their six children.

Mr Rees-Mogg will use the residence to plot his latest Commons revolt as he sets out his own vision for a bright future outside of the European Union.

A faction of Brexiteer rebels, spearheaded by the eccentric MP, is working to create an “alternative view” to the Government’s Chequers plan, which was rubbished both by Westminster and the EU.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who is considered to be on the right of the Tory party, heads the pro-Brexit European Research Group, which has the backing of about 60 backbench MPs.

The 'Brexiteer brigade' is devising a scheme to oust Theresa May and commandeer control of Brexit by laying out a positive Brexit blueprint. And Mr Rees-Mogg will use his new Westminster home as a political power base as he spearheads the battle for a clean break with Brussels.

The lavish five-storey 18th Century building in Cowley Street is just 390 yards from the Commons - even closer than Downing Street. It is where Winston Churchill went to plot against Neville Chamberlain in 1940; and in the 1970s, former Labour Prime Minister Sir Harold Wilson claimed that his townhouse at 5 Lord North Street had been bugged by MI5.

The huge townhouse is the former abode of Leave-backing Lord Ashcroft


Jacob Rees Mogg and family. Mr Rees-Mogg, his wife Helena and their six children will move into the property. Rumours abound that Mr Rees-Mogg fancies himself in 'Number 10'.

Removal men were seen at the mansion, carrying in an array of furniture and fittings - including patriotic items such as an umbrella stand sporting a Union Flag. Beds, a dishwasher, and a cardboard box marked “hanging garment carrier” were also moved into the new home. Other opulent items included a vintage-looking pram, some ornate chairs and an assortment of shrubs.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who is tipped as a hot favourite to be the next Prime Minister, is rumoured to have a net worth of at least £100million. Bookies regularly place the hardline Brexiteer as within the top three most likely to replace Mrs May.

Downplaying leadership speculation, Mr Rees-Mogg said: "I bought it because I have six children. "My Mayfair house has three bedrooms for nine people so reception rooms now have children in them."

From his new home, the MP for North East Somerset will have an even shorter walk to work than the Prime Minister herself. His moving to the new property, just a stone’s throw away from Westminster, will no doubt fuel rumours about his leadership ambitions.

The Somerset MP paid £5.625million for the property earlier this year, partly funded by a mortgage from the Queen's bank, Coutts & Co.

This might well be, exactly what you've been looking for......

How To Make All Those Really Complicated Modern TV Connections When You've Got or Want to Install : A Modern TV, BluRay Player or Recorder, Sky Digibox, Sound Bar, DVD Player or Recorder, AV Receiver or Recorder, Twin Aerials, Sky HD, both Sky and FreeView Aerials together, Home Theatre, etc.

It has now been confirmed, that Holly Willoughby is going to partner with Declan Donnelly and co-host the I'm A Celebrity series later this year.

Exec.

Are you sure?

I thought they were standing for leader and deputy leader of the Con party.

High pollution levels ‘causing huge reduction in intelligence’

Air pollution causes a “huge” reduction in intelligence, according to new research, indicating that the damage to society of toxic air is far deeper than the well-known impacts on physical health.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/27/air-pollution-causes-huge-reduction-in-intelligence-study-reveals

Just ordered up some 'Easigrass'.

Installation Method as per: How to Install Easigrass

Our lawn is not exactly 'doing a bomb' but these people are. In fact, despite using a lawn care service, fertilizing, weed killing, hollow tine aeration, scarification, opposite direction mowing, etc., our lawn looks absolutely crap. So we are both fed up with trying so hard and have decided, "To hell with it!".

Anyone else on here used them and got any comments?

Try having a clover lawn.

At least you will have a chance of better luck.

But there again Moss lawns are easier to grow.

;-)

Bloody French, eh? "God save the Queen!" "Le jour de gloire est arrivee" etc., etc.

From the FT at https://www.ft.com/content/7a22c094-ab64-11e8-94bd-cba20d67390c
by Naomi Rovnick in London and Harriet Agnew in Paris AN HOUR AGO

What caused the ‘scallop war’ in the English Channel?
French and British scallop fishermen clash over rights to harvest prized molluscs

The two countries' scallop fishermen are bound by different rules

In the early hours of Tuesday, fighting broke out between French and British fishermen about 12 nautical miles off the French coast, as seamen allegedly hurled rocks, smoke bombs and other projectiles at their adversaries. The British boats were reportedly outnumbered seven-to-one by French vessels.

Why did the fighting start?

The violence followed a long-simmering row over the rights of fishermen from both countries to harvest scallops, with the French fishermen protesting against what they see as British overfishing of the prized Normandy scallops known as “coquille Saint-Jacques”.

The large molluscs are considered such a delicacy in France that local media outlets often report the first day they will be on sale. The scallops are sold with a red label that verifies them as being “the real Saint Jacques” from the waters off the coast of Normandy, Scotland or Ireland.

What are the rules surrounding scallop harvesting?

French and British fisherman are bound by different rules when it comes to harvesting in the English Channel.

French fisherman are only permitted to harvest the molluscs between October 1 and May 15, beyond a 12-nautical-mile exclusion zone off the coast, in accordance with environmental rules designed to maximise breeding.

British fishermen do not operate under the same restrictions, but generally agree not to raid the scallop stocks when the French are restricted from doing so.

Dimitri Rogoff, president of the regional Normandy fishing committee, told French media that the French boats had “gone out to meet the British to stop them working”.

“Rocks were thrown, but no one was injured,” he added. He did not respond to an emailed request for further comment.

Has this happened before?

In 2012, British fishing boats also found themselves surrounded by French fishermen, who complained that their counterparts were attempting to fish the molluscs too close to the French shore. The British fishermen claimed to have been insulted and pelted with rocks, and later requested protection from the Royal Navy. The French media dubbed the incident “la guerre de la coquille Saint-Jacques”.

In the four years that followed, representatives for the French and British scallop dredgers struck informal agreements over British access to the coquille Saint-Jacques outside of the October-May period.

“Until 2017, the French granted some fishing activity for our smallest vessels. In exchange, we promised that our bigger boats did not go in,” said Jim Portus, chief executive of the South Western Fish Producer Organisation, a British trade body.

But too many of the smaller British vessels, which comply with the previously agreed criteria for year-round access to the scallops, were now entering the fishing zone, said the Regional Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farms of Normandy in a statement.

“The resource is plundered by the British even before the French open fishing,” the committee added.

The French fishermen want their British counterparts to agree to a common period for fishing for scallops, creation of a defined fishing area, and for gear used by both nations’ boats to be harmonised.

What happens next?

Mr Portus said British fishermen who enter the disputed waters needed government protection to continue going about their business.

“I want boats back in that area in the next 24 hours,” he said. “They are entitled to be there and they shouldn’t be harassed or in danger. So we need protection resources in the channel.”

Dale Rodmell, assistant chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermens’ Organisations, a British trade body, urged for calm negotiations by fishermen on both sides.

“The British and French sides now really need to talk, as these matters are always best resolved by everyone getting together around a table,” Mr Rodmell said.

A European Commission spokesperson said: “We saw the reports involving French and British fishermen off the coast of Normandy. The scallop fishery is regulated at the national level and over the past years common management measures have been agreed between France, the UK and Ireland.

“So it is in the interest, first and foremost, of the fishermen that this agreement is in place and we invite the national authorities to resolve any dispute in an amicable way, as has been done in the past.”

The key paragraphs to me are:

French fisherman are only permitted to harvest the molluscs between October 1 and May 15, beyond a 12-nautical-mile exclusion zone off the coast, in accordance with environmental rules designed to maximise breeding.

British fishermen do not operate under the same restrictions, but generally agree not to raid the scallop stocks when the French are restricted from doing so.