Blather, Waffle and Poppycock!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

2

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

1

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

If you all wish to adjourn to the bar I'll stand a round of Creme d Menthe and Egg Nog cocktails to all 

[mmcv]

Huzzah!

[FierceKitty]

Mine is a big one! (photo available)

[fsn]

Indeed Huzzah! General.

As a general note (no pun intended) we do seem to have a preponderance of brass. I have a few suggestions to mitigate this imbalance.

1) Nobody can get promoted until there is a vacancy - for example should a gentleman resign on the grounds of incapacity, a bad run at the card table, a scandal involving the parlour maid or bulk buying 15mm.
2) Those starting as cadet now would need to post far more that the current paltry requirements
3) Those seeking promotion should be vetted by senior members, say Generals and above. This would be a good time for Leon to get his black and white balls out, so we can all have a go.
4) The Techno II option. Gentlemen would voluntarily restart from the beginning, with their number of posts being reset to 0. This selfish act would need to be recognised with an award of some kind, perhaps a virtual medal.*    





*Of course, I'd be the first to sign up for this option, except I've had the cards printed now, and ... er ... I wouldn't want to be thought of as medal chasing.

[fsn]

@MMCV:  Bad luck, Sir.


Stay warm!

[Last Hussar]

Indeed Huzzah! General.

As a general note (no pun intended) we do seem to have a preponderance of brass. I have a few suggestions to mitigate this imbalance.

1) Nobody can get promoted until there is a vacancy - for example should a gentleman resign on the grounds of incapacity, a bad run at the card table, a scandal involving the parlour maid or bulk buying 15mm.
2) Those starting as cadet now would need to post far more that the current paltry requirements
3) Those seeking promotion should be vetted by senior members, say Generals and above. This would be a good time for Leon to get his black and white balls out, so we can all have a go.
4) The Techno II option. Gentlemen would voluntarily restart from the beginning, with their number of posts being reset to 0. This selfish act would need to be recognised with an award of some kind, perhaps a virtual medal.*    





*Of course, I'd be the first to sign up for this option, except I've had the cards printed now, and ... er ... I wouldn't want to be thought of as medal chasing.

Alternatively, as this is a Gentlefolk's club, for Gentlefolk, we should just bust you back down to Lance Corporal.

[fsn]

I'll have you know that in Runcorn I'm considered quite the nob!

[T13A]

Hi

Alternatively, as this is a Gentlefolk's club, for Gentlefolk, we should just bust you back down to Lance Corporal.

I'm not sure the corporal's mess would be prepared to let him in.

Cheers Paul (ex L/cpl)

[steve_holmes_11]

Alternatively, as this is a Gentlefolk's club, for Gentlefolk, we should just bust you back down to Lance Corporal.

Discipline gone soft.

Back in my day, and outburst like that would be grounds for the Johnny Walker and the Webley.

[Westmarcher]

Now I only got 9 posts to promotion !

6

5

4

3

2

1

Steady on. Soon be a Field Marshall at this rate.   

[Macsen Wledig]

 

[Last Hussar]

Discipline gone soft.

Back in my day, and outburst like that would be grounds for the Johnny Walker and the Webley.

I'm not wasting whisky on FSN.  Not even Johnny Walker.

[Steve J]

I just spent a pleasurable hour this morning taking part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, which is the World's largest wildlife survey. I think I've been taking part for 15+ years, but sad to see a decline in some species that visit our garden even in this short space of time .

[Techno II]

Von & I have done the same, Steve.

What you say about the decline in some species is SO true..

Birds that have disappeared from our garden, over the 17 years we've been here.....

Green finches.....Haven't seen one of those for well over 10 years.....(OK, there was a very nasty 'bug' that virtually wiped those out.)
Siskins....Not seen a single one of those for roughly the same amount of time.
Goldcrests.....Same again.

We usually see a handful of Bullfinches and Goldfinches (at the right time of year)....This year none......Same for Wood pigeons

Buzzards.....WERE fairly plentiful......Only seen a few this year......Same for the Red Kites......Ditto Ravens.

We seem to have plenty of Chaffinches, Sparrows, Magpies, (Bloody) Feral pigeons, Crows....and a fair number of Blue/Great/Coal Tits.....A few Blackbirds, Robins, Nuthatches, Jays, and Greater spotted woodpeckers.

Haven't seen a single Thrush this year.....Though there are a decent number of Starlings at the mo'.

Cheers - Phil

[Steve J]

Greenfinches and Chaffinches we used to see almost daily when we first moved here, but when new owners on neighbouring properties got rid of loads of trees, shrubs etc, they pretty much disappeared, along with the effects of that horrible virus. We get loads of wood pigeons now, starling numbers are up but rarely pop into the garden, many more jackdaws than before, ditto magpies. We have had a blackcap again, which is nice and a goldcrest last week, which I haven't seen for a few years. Happy to be doing our bit for wildlife in the garden, but without other gardens doing the same, we feel like an isolated outpost of nature .

[Techno II]

I'd forgotten about jackdaws, Steve.

They seem to come down every week or so....not every single day.
More often when they've got young.....which might be in few weeks time.

Only ever SEEN one cuckoo.....Though you can hear them at the right time.....Also hear grasshopper warblers....but never seen one of those, either.

We used to get house martins, when we lived in Notts......never seen a single one here....the swallow population has declined since we've been here.

Until last year, we'd have up to four nests in the outbuildings......last year....just the single one.
Not seen a sparrow hawk for a while either.

Cheers - Phil

[Gwydion]

Lots of:
Sparrows, Blackbirds, Magpies, Rooks, Jackdaws Woodpigeons, Starlings (but no big murmurations round here these days). Swallows, Housemartins in summer, but not as many as normal last year. Not in the garden but roundabout; Buzzards (not as many as ten years ago), Barn Owls,  Herons. Cormorants down on the estuary.
For some weird  reason Blue Tits have disappeared round here. Maybe the cat population?
There are still Robins and the odd Song Thrush still comes in the garden.
We've never had many finches of any sort round here that I've noticed but I haven't seen any for a couple of years.
Still Linnets, Pied Wagtails, Ducks (mainly Mallards) the odd Kestrel.
We've had a massive increase in Herring Gulls recently - spend a lot of time fighting with the Buzzards.

[sunjester]

I had blue tits, sparrows, jackdaws (lots), magpies, starlings, wood pigeons, a couple of crows and a robin this morning. Usually there is a couple of collared doves who show up for breakfast, of course not today when I was actually counting them!