RIP Penelope Keith You were a great actress and a classy lady Thank you for all the laughter

10th anniversary of the Brexit vote Big Red Bus of Brexit Truths tour marks the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum | Mark Cunliffe @centralbylines.co.uk @markcunliffe.bsky.social

I received an email suggesting an IBM online course it's 51 years since I wrote my first line of code 48 years since I became an IBM systems programmer 9 years since cancer/toxicity made me quit tech And I STILL remember the buzz of the console msg: DFHSI1517 Control is being given to CICS

This is what social networks really should be about. Let's find Teddy #Dublin

I thought 1/2 the herd was awol this morning Socrates was hiding My raised BP/pulse (panic attacks are SO my thing) meant I had to pause until I'd calmed down before trying to handle Otta since she picks up on my anxiety So, reboot human and we had a good handling session & she behaved beautifully 🙂

Yesterday's storm was another reminder of the power of our planet. I learned this lesson last year when I played chicken with the sea and almost lost I just wish the planet could better protect herself from our greed, stupidity and selfishness Honestly, 50% of we humans need to disappear 🌎

A young player from Guingamp football club drowned in a river somewhere in France. It seems a group of men got into difficulties and he was the last to be pulled from the water Please be careful when swimming in this heat

Yesterday was tough and I did wonder if I should sell up here, rehome the herd, buy a retirement flat in the UK and start to act my age It might be wiser I also even considered the pros and cons of being single (read vulnerable) as I approach my 70th birthday Yes, I have had 'an offer of marriage'

Mon dieu! Brittany was just hit by the worst storm I have ever experienced in my almost-70 years Torrential rain, strong winds with gusts over 100 kph, hailstones the size of marbles, thunder and lighting that was almost continuous for over an hour I went to check the herd...

Thick stone walls, double glazing and shutters are wonderful in a heatwave. I am also grateful that the herd has a field shelter and a cool stable to which to retreat when the temp exceeds 40 C I feel so sorry for the nearby horses who have neither, pretty sure their owner could build one easily

I'd planned a trip to the beach Early pony patrol, drive to Trestrignel, back in time to host aperos this evening When I got to the paddock 1/2 the herd was missing Socrates had gone walkabout

www.bbc.com/news/article... We are facing the collapse of the climate that has supported life on earth fof billions of years And still that puny little punk of a Russian president is waging war on his neighboiurs because he is little man with a small member. Please. someone, take him out!

50 years 50 effing years I have campaigned for the planet I wish, I really wish, that the countries who are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions would pay the priec now in terms of fires, floods, drought and that the likes of the grifting POTUS would be removed from the planet

The rec temps in France ARE NOT NORMAL This is climate crisis Damn the govts who ignored the scientists' warnings Damn the fossil fuel companies who made billions Damn those who have not yet reduced carbon usage Damn POTUS for his duplicity/stupidity/greed The planet will be better w/o us

strange, and alarming, how quickly we adapt we should be on the streets calling out the Big Tech, fossil fuel companies and all the govts who have ignored the coming climate crisis for decades we are like frogs in a pan of water, slowly heated to boiling point and obliviou to our fate

The more I know of people, the more I appreciate my herd

I look after the hens for Daisy and Parker I feed them, top up their water, clean out the shi in the hen house. Recently one of the old girls became weak. I carried her outside, carried her in at night She was happy enough, I made sure of that Then she died

Viking horse update I am now able to approach, touch, groom, hug, fuss Otta whenever I choose I still have to avoid her initial hissy fits when she snorts, throws her (dangerous) 500 kg body round the stable and acts terrified I wait, I talk softly, persist and she relaxes and trusts me

Final rant of the day Why are other 6 G7 leaders all cosying up to Trump? The 'man' is a convicted rapist, draft dodger, sexual predator, treasonist and total idiot He has not right to be in the WH He should be in jail

Q. Is the English Channel not joint UK/French territorial waters? And if so, what the feck are Russian warships doing there? Also, Russia is a mafia state run by a corrupt president who stole billions from the people The world should isolate Russia, and yes, that means you too China and India

in my defence, had I not been stoical in 2015 when Sophos (in HR's words) let me down and obliged me to keep working in a toxic env, I wouldn't have survived You know a workplace is toxic when a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis comes as a relief A respite from the toxicity of work A way out

Yesterday was challenging It began with a drive to the préfecture in St Brieuc to renew my carte de séjour during which Google Maps tried to force me to take back roads several times resulting in me being lost 7 times, but I made it in time

On dying... I was sitting on the beach at Trestrignel and reflecting on last summer and all the nice people I met who are no longer there and I had a thought it's like dying. One day you're on the beach The next you are gone And all that remains is a footprint soon to be washed away So beautiful

I just lost a crown, one of my premolars There was a time when this would have stressed me But having lost a breast, lymph nodes and a lot of muscle mass in my left side, I am quite unconcerned Though I do feel a little like the guy in The fly when bits dropped off him, what was his name? Jeff... ?

88 is a good age I will be very grateful if I manage to reach it I am unlikely to live 30 years after cancer though 🙃

Those UK people who voted to leave the EU were conned by the millionaires seeking to evade paying tax on offshore accounts and the idiots in Putin's pocket And that bloody referendum was only meant to be 'advisory' not legally binding David Cameron should be held to account

and, at the risk of sounding dumb, I am glad I am not a billionaire who requires loads of money in order to be happy Sitting at the beach watching the tide come in, dancing with waves and swimming underwater were enough to make my day wonderful

Friend came round to see about fixing my dining table Lord knows I have tried hard enough to get replacement parts I think plying him with Finnish licorice vodka may not have been a wise move 😊 The table may end up looking like bunk beds!

It seems the chapel was undergoing restoration Yet another incident caused by such work (see Windsor Castle and Notre Dame catherdral) Perhaps in future fire engines should be on site as a precautionary measure?

Oh, this is dreadful I wondered at the many fire engines speeding past from Lannion as I left Tregastel The beautiful St Anne's chapel is burning www.ouest-france.fr/faits-divers...

June 12th. 9 years ago I left the UK to return to France fully expecting not to survive more than 2-3 years And here I am, alive and kicking, albeit not quite so high 😜 I celebrated at Trestrignel dancing with waves, diving under water and laughing each time I was knocked off my feet by the surf

Super U (Tregastel) if I decline the receipt at the till to cut back on wastage, please do not send me an email version of said-receipt because exciting electrons also uses energy

Depressed by the state of a world seemingly owned by and run for the benefit of billionaires, I am going to the beach

And one of the reasons why I fled to France

As the 2026 Football World Cup commences I can't help thinking football is being held hostage to one man's narcissistic madness Will no-one rid us of this dangerous president?

This is so beautiful www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31t...

OMG 🥰😍🤩

It’s coming!!!! And it’s BEAUTIFUL 😍😍😍 lnk.to/LegendaPB

Trump's behaviour is not normal, intelligent or sane So why is the EU not imposing sanctions on the USA And demanding regime change? After all, the USA has the largest stockpiles of WMDs And is now controlled by a corrupt and crazy, convicted felon

Miss Daisy has had digestive probs since Christmas I went with her to consult with the GP and then to see a dietician (as The Interpreter - great film btw), to no avail Then I wondered, is stress causing it? I am an expert on stress and the damage it can cause to the body (see epigenetics/cancer)

I watched a film about the French Revolution Seems to me the plight of the French peasants in 1700s is being repeated globally as the world's wealth is hoarded by a few billionaires and the Big Tech corporations with questionable ethics

On cue, email asking if I'd like to join friends for lunch in the village restaurant. 25 euros may not be much but I live mostly off a UK state pension which is not generous I'd rather spend 25 euros on a sack of feed for senior horses that will last Otta for a week than on one lunch for myself

Boris Johnson: "We didn't have a plan for what to do next because we didn't think it was our job to have a plan." And we are all paying the price for that folly.

Corruption off the scale.

I admit to being a bit of a loner And to being disinclined to join the seemingly constant round of BBQs and aperitif sessions tbh such evening cost me 15 euros for wine, chocs etc, not a lot, but 2X a week that = a sack of horse feed And hanging out with the herd is much healthier Comments?

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I love my little herd even when a certain Shetland pony escapes from the paddock and has to be chased And I am grateful to be a member of the herd even when Otta is having a panicky day So please do not think me ungrateful but I am in love with another Icelandic horse If only I had 10,000 euros ♥️

It's confirmed: Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Kier Starmer will meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss military support for Ukraine, economic pressure on Russia and ways to revitalise the peace process. The meeting will be in London.

Things I appreciate about this house (to explain, while working for Sophos total taxes on my French home were equal to my first year's take-home pay which was hugely stressful and no, it 2008, I could not sell it) So 1. Large windowsills for garden plants which make me smile, esp lilac lupins