Put it all in the Mix

Tonight is an eclectic mix of musings: crows, sand, cardboard boxes, my garden fountain and 'best before' dates.

What a glorious day it's been here in East Yorkshire with wall to wall sunshine and clear skies, but just as if to act as a warning, the breeze later this afternoon has been quite chilly in the shade. I am reminded of the saying which I've blogged about before - 'Ne'er cast a clout till May is out.' In other words don't start to shed the clothes until June when the last of the frosts have gone.

The temperature today in Linton-on-Ouse, just a few miles away in North Yorkshire was 19 degrees Celsius today according to a Tweet by the local BBC weatherman Paul Hudson.

My friend Sharla from Chicago has stated on her Facebook that despite the Spring there, it is bitterly cold in the Windy City (allegedly named from the breeze on Lake Michigan.) On the BBC weather site, Chicago is just 4 degrees Celsius today. Brrrrrrrrrr.

When I came home today, my wife decided to wash her car which had become very dirty, but when examined closely, it wasn't road dirt or mud, it was a dusting of sand which was spoiling its looks. I have known sand cover cars, its been happening for years, but research shows that sand storms from the Sahara desert comes to the UK about twice a year and dumps sand all over the place.

I can recall the days as I guess we all can, because it's not too long ago, that when we went to the supermarket and bought our shopping, we could usually find loads of cardboard boxes they gave away for us to take our purchases home with. That stopped for some reason a few years ago, I'm not sure why - however I learned today that if you ask for a box, the larger supermarkets will give you one.

Box manufacturers however report an increase in box sales in the UK of between 500% and 600% to the public because people still want them for storage and transportation of goods. The cardboard box has been around for over 100 years, and it looks like it'll be around for a while to come. I guess because we take most if not all of our cardboard to the tip for recycling, it's cheaper to manufacture?

I have had to laugh tonight. There is a bungalow that we can see from our lounge window and in particular their roof - it's about thirty yards away. There is loads of thick moss on the roof and is a playground for two crows that we have had around for a couple of years. The slightly larger one has taken to bringing bread onto the roof, hopping down from the chimney or apex and hiding the bread by burying it under the moss.

Tonight, the other one spotted the hiding and came and discovered the piece of bread and started eating it. The larger one then pinched the bread back and buried it again. Hilarious, I'm hoping to capture it on video for you.

In the UK, 'Best before' dates on food which we are all used to is about telling us about quality, in other words, you can go beyond the 'best before' date, but the quality might deteriorate or not be as good. By contrast 'Use by' dates is for food that goes off quickly, like fresh food, meat, dairy, fish where it might be harmful if you ate it beyond that date. The reason I mention this is because reform of these warnings is on the cards because of the massive and often unnecessary waste of food that is being thrown away when it is in perfectly good condition.

The controversy comes when some, including the British Retail Consortium says it is not the case that the dates are responsible for the waste of food. In my house, any food past the relevant date is put in the bin. Perhaps we need to be better educated?

Finally, my fountain base is now full of soil instead of water because I can't stop it leaking. The top bit still works with the water, so we still have the luxury of listening to gargling water but instead of fish, we'll have lovely flowers to look at.

Enjoy the week,

Chat soon,

Ta-ra.