Fall of the Berlin Wall

See http://www.bbc.co. ./news/world-europe-29974950 .

It seems amazing that it is now a quarter of a century since the Berlin Wall was removed.  I well remember it going up in 1961 when east-west tensions were high.  My dad died a few years before the wall came down and communism collapsed.  Had he lived,  he would have been amazed. The old certainties went in 1989.

In some ways the world is a now more dangerous and uncertain place. We have to help forge a kinder and fairer world in the 21st century. The future is ours to forge. It won't be easy,  but it never was. In many ways we are better able to forge that brave new world now than ever before. It is up to us.

A new cold war?

Mikhail Gorbachev has warned that the world is on the brink of a new cold war with Russia. He now looks much older - not at all the fairly youthful leader we all came to like (LHS). Somehow I feel he is correct as the current leader of Russia seems to have got the date wrong.  Someone needs to explain to him that the USSR went a long time ago.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29966852 .

That £1.7billion EC surcharge

I am unclear whether or not Chancellor George Osborne really got a reduction from the EC or not.  Mr Cameron's opposition parties are claiming it is all "smoke and mirrors" and the UK tax payer will have to pay the very same amount. To me, it does smack of political games.  Sad and pathetic.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29965113 .

Wicken Fen walk

Wicken Fen lode - bleak in November!

This afternoon, we went for a walk, at a rather bleak, Wicken Fen. As it was starting to rain, we decided to walk a little way along the (non-NT) path to the left of the lode. We did not enter the main part of Wicken Fen, e.g. along the board walk. Wicken is the bleakest of the National Trust properties near our home. It is ideal in this sort of cold and windy, November weather.  Wicken Fen is rich in wildlife, but many times one has to look hard to see things. Just around the corner to the LHS beyond the image is a large hornets nest. We heard some talk of seeing snow buntings. I have seen these on the north Norfolk coast. Years ago I saw a bittern coming in to land at dusk.  A bittern is a sort of heron.

Poisonous garden plant

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-29949275 .

The attractive flower called "Devil's Helmet" (aconitum) has been linked to the death of a gardener. Apparently, you have to be very unlucky unless you eat the roots but it is probably safer to avoid it. It is part of the buttercup family.

Gardening

Today, we continued to tidy up the garden before winter sets in. It now has an autumnal look with leaves falling and summer plants pulled up. The last sweet peas were taken up Nov 4th.  These, along with the cosmos, were a great success and we'll try these again next summer.

Yesterday we planted an evergreen holly.  This should look good all year around.

FTSE100 and Sepura shares

The FTSE100 seems to be regaining some of the ground it lost in recent weeks. It has still some way to go to make up all the losses but it has been better in recent days.

Sepura shares (SEPU) though seem to be slowly falling, with them valued at 134p the last time I looked. SEPU was up to 150p earlier in the year. It is over 6.5 years since I retired from Sepura - I find this amazing and I am totally out of touch nowadays.