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My cats are all litter tray users. Those who go into the garden (and not all of them do) will come back into the house to use the tray and then go out again. No dirt digging for them. Cats are very clean individuals. Then there are the dog owners who allow their hounds to enter my front garden and defecate where they please. Caught one about to do it a few weeks ago and informed the female dog owner that I would pick up the turd and she'd be wearing it as a hat if she permitted her hound to foul in my garden. It's not the animals. It's the owners.

Assume away .............. I guess it would help if I used facts.

Save it for the irresponsible owners! They deserve it.

It is a case of the do gooders and pacifists doing immeasurable damage to society with their half brained ideas. If the punishment isn't a deterrant then it needs to be increased until it is. Never mind the usual bleat about human rights, they are what normal law respecting people should expect to be honoured, not the low life criminal fraternity.

Looking back I suppose both Labour and Tory are to blame though I suspect Tony Blair started the rot when he stopped recruiting police in favour of PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) (popularly called plastic police), who wear a police uniform and patrol the streets and in reality had less power than a traffic warden. The police were further damaged by the austerity measures. Teresa May jumped on the bandwagon and reduced the numbers even more whilst at the same time Chief Constables were mandated to pursue hate crimes, diversity, motorists and virtually anyone who said a ru

It's as I said earlier Oz shoplifting has steadily increased and the rise in population, the apparent lack pf respect for the law plus no fear of punishment must be a large part of the blame for it. Some will claim it's desperation due to the cost-of-living crisis but I don't honestly believe it. The approved procedure for stopping a thief is so onerous and coupled with the rise in knife crime among the young most don't bother and simply accept it as a fact of life. One wrong step and the victim is as likely to faces charges as the thief.

Kev I’m like that most of the time, let alone when the clocks change. I spoke to the Sheelagh woman on your Midland leaving card at the allotment today and she can’t remember you but said that the print room used to be under the finance “umbrella” which makes sense as she worked in cashiers. Small world eh.

I am delighted to announce the first hedgehog sighting in my garden of 2024, well two actually. A small hog on the kitchen doorstep: one of last year's babies. A more mature hog further down the garden. Both had dined on cat biscuits plus a few mealworms and are looking very healthy. Lovely to see them again and here's to some hoglets later in the year.

Talking of catching the last bus for home took me right back to c.1962/63 and a bit of 64. When I were a conductor out of Bilborough. I used to love being on lates and sitting outside Bejam/Brentford nylons on what is now Maid Marion way. The 16/16A/32 at one stop and 30/62 at the other. When sitting at the stop unti departure time, you could always guarantee there would be a couple snogging at the wall instead boarding the bus. Some folks could never make up their mind which one would leave first so stood in between stops. Time to go and I would stamp out my fag and jump on the platform and

It’s so difficult to judge when the best time to sow and plant out tomatoes is. If you do them too early they bolt and it’s still too cold to plant out. If you do them later you’re then caught in the “will they ripen or not” scenario towards the end of the summer. I tend to do 2 sowings to account for either but am very lucky that I have a greenhouse and polytunnel at the allotment. All mine on my first sowing are now germinated within a week inside. Very interesting about the sweet peas Oz and the cooler months for both of us for starting them off. I won’t be putting mine outside in the g

Tomato season is coming to an end here in Adelaide, the tip here is not to plant outdoors before the soil temperature reaches 16 degrees and all threat of frost is past. It is really strange that the best time to plant sweet peas here is in March/April as we head into our cooler months. Here they recommend a minimum of 6 hours a day sunlight. Seems a bit strange that we are planting sweet peas at the same time as you when our seasons are opposite.