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brianmate

The Calm before the Storm




Hi Everyone



There is a great programme on our TV each week called The Repair Shop where ordinary people bring in items that may not be worth much money but are treasured family items in need of restoration. The Repair Shop is a lovely country barn in the south of England filled with specialist craft workers who carry out some amazing work. The show is hosted by Jay Blades, a man who had a deprived, chaotic and violent childhood and who only learned to properly read and write when in his 20s. This week however Jay was invited to Scotland to a house owned by King Charles where he had constructed a workshop complex where young people were learning traditional skills such as stone masonry, carpentry, blacksmithing etc. The King then gave Jay a Victorian clock and a pottery bowl for restoration in The Repair Shop. The work carried out by a lady who specialised in ceramics was incredible and the clock was also wonderfully restored. What made this programme particularly special was I think that it may have given us a glimpse of what the monarchy may evolve into in the future. The King was totally relaxed and his sense of humour shone through, and the sight of Jay touching the King's arms and back a number of times made them an unlikely double act. I thought that nobody agreed with anyone else on anything but a quick check on social media showed an almost 100% positive reaction to the programme and the part played in it by our King. That of course is until the book by Prince Harry is published in the new year when everything can change again. The calm before the storm?



Two years ago last March - yes it really was that long ago - Boris came on our TV screens to tell us all to stay at home. For the next nine weeks, as we isolated ourselves with only our homes and, if we were lucky, our gardens for company, we had nine weeks of almost continuous dry weather to help us through. Now as autumn is upon us and winter approaches we have what will probably turn out to be one of the , Octobers on record, just as we are worrying about the prospect of turning on our heating. Now that Rishi is our third Prime Minister this year what he really needed was that good news. The result is that a survey of voters showed that while Liz was well below Kier Starmer in popularity, Rishi now has an equal rating with him. Hang in there Rishi as unfortunately this is probably the calm before the storm, as in about three weeks' time the country will be faced with an austerity budget that will hardly please anyone.



Most of us have a dark secret that we do not usually or willingly share with others. I would like to bet that you are, or have been at some point in your life a nose picker. Now I am not mentioning this Rubbish to embarrass you but to educate you. This is the story of the lemur, the small nocturnal primate found only in Madagascar which is famous for its strange, skinny long fingers which they use to fish grubs out of branches. According to scientific research, they also stick the whole length of their fingers up their noses with the tip of the finger ending up in their mouth. So why is this objectional habit interesting? Apparently, scientists found that at least twelve other primates had a nose picking habit. As we, of course, are also primates a study was carried out to discover why primates including humans might have evolved to pick their noses. Results showed that most humans pick their noses often but are reluctant to admit it. Now, this is where it gets really disturbing. One study has found that if you pick your nose and eat it might actually be healthy for your teeth as people who carried out this filthy habit had fewer cavities. My advice to anyone reading this Rubbish is do your nose picking in the privacy of your own Bathroom, try a little salt or tabasco to flavour it, and definitely do not put it on your toothbrush before cleaning your teeth. For my part, I will also make sure that the scientist involved is never nominated for a Nobel prize for nose picking.

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Just a Thought :


Never trust Lemurs. They're always full of tall tails.


If you are planning to open a clock/watch repair shop, I've got the perfect name for it..... Uncertain times.


I dream of a never ending summer.


Brian

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