UK General Election - May 7th 2015

Well, this time I really have no-idea who to vote for! Historically, this was a safe Conservative seat but the standing MP (Sir James Paice) is not up for re-election. Tactical voting is probably essential. As stated previously  there are things in the policies of all parties I like. There are also bad things about most parties. I think I shall be using my "first pass the post" vote to vote for the least bad party.  There is no single party I want to vote into power. At the moment it is either Labour (but I cannot stand Ed or some of his shadow cabinet) or Conservative (David Cameron is a good leader, but I dislike many of his policies). Last time I voted Lib Dem, but fear wasting my vote this time around. I voted Green in the European  elections, but here it was not "first pass the post".

Upcoming Cambridge Concert

This is advanced warning of an upcoming CCS concert April 25th 2015 at the West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge. This is a great venue with good seating, great acoustics, warmth and local parking. This should be a great concert.

Sand martins in Devon

Spring has (almost) sprung! There have now been several sightings of 20+ sand martins in South Devon. These are among the first of the migrants to return. They are the smallest hirundine.  Sand martins have dark brown upper parts and they winter in Africa.  In recent years sand martin numbers have plummeted and they are now on the RSPB's "amber" list.  There are estimated to be 54,000-174,000 nests in the UK. This sounds a lot, but numbers are dropping because of droughts on their migration routes in some years.

By the month end we should have house martins and swallows back in Devon who will have flown 6000 miles to be here in the UK again. When the swallows return here in East Anglia you know all is still well with the world:. they have been making this journey for many thousands , if not millions, of years. Most return to the very same nests they used last summer, if they can. I find the return of the martins, swallows and swifts a real joy. It makes me glad to be alive.

Tikrit

Saddham's old stronghold is currently being fought over in Iraq and may fall to Iraqi government forces soon we are told.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31883430 .

Afghanistan war

Brave men and women fought in Afghanistan, but overall with hundreds of UK service men and women dead and thousands injured or scarred psychologically was it worth it? The British have fought in Afghanistan since the first half of the 19th century. We again left with a job half done. Wars are no way to win hearts and minds.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31866944 .

365 Project

Both my wife and I are doing  the "365 Project". The idea is simple: just take a photo every day of the year. It makes a very good record of what we have been doing. Some choose to put up arty photos but we choose mainly "ordinary" photos i.e. the stuff of everyday life - things that may mean something to us but may not mean a lot to others.

Today we went to Wimpole Hall so I chose this tame robin as my picture for today.

See http://365project.org/ .

Wimpole Hall

As it was bright, mild and sunny (14 deg C) we decided to go for a walk at Wimpole Hall, the National Trust place west of Cambridge. We also stopped there for a simple lunch.

See  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wimpole-estate/ .