Thoughts – Foxes Den

Inappropriate headwear and exceedingly hot sauce.

A lovely weekend with family, inappropriate headwear and exceedingly hot sauce, and beer. And talk of weddings.

It’s been a lovely weekend with family and friends staying with us. It’s been sun all the way on what is a bank holiday weekend in the UK, but as is tradition here, the closer it gets to bank holiday Monday, the rain is starting to arrive.

And it caught me out last night when I had to make it to the garage to get some beer, for my guests as stocks were getting low, my headwear was highly inappropriate for the weather. See this small video below:

A box is highly inappropriate in wet conditions. Leading to moments of total blindness.

A box is probably not the most appropriate headwear in wet weather, it gets soggy and when it falls over your eyes causes temporary blindness when you are trying to put the key in the lock. Yes I was a fool.

But that was not my only foolish activity this weekend. No, I had to surpass myself in the art of Tom foolery.

We visit a local farm shop, in itself a pleasant experience where I manage to get a lovely Fuchsia bush for my garden. Then we went into the farm shop.

Here there was a display asking you to sample a range of quite hot chilli sauces, ranging from mild to bloody ridiculous. All the family declined the offer, but silly me decides to go right in at the deep-end and sample the hottest one on display. There was a subtle clue in the product name. “ Crazy Bastard sauce” I just wish I’d read the tasting notes below the bottle that you can see in this picture below.

“Feels like getting a tattoo on your tongue”

5 flames plus. I should have known better. I spent the following hour thinking a hole was developing in the roof of my mouth trying to make its way to by brain, my lips and gums were numb, my speech was impeded and I was dribbling, to be honest I was a mess at the amusement of the rest of my family. Lesson learned. Would i recommend it? As a paint stripper and general rust removal solution it would be fantastic. As for making your food taste better, I’d give it a wide berth to be honest.

But nicer things were to come. Whilst all sitting around the table, one of the younger members of the family and her fiancé approached me with a small black box with my name upon it. This is for you “Dave”.

After stating that it’s not my birthday for another six months, I was told to stop yapping and just open it. They get married in a beautiful part of Portugal in 2027 and they have asked me to be the Officiant at their wedding. I jokingly replied that I’m not a priest or vicar, but immediately said yes. How lovely and thoughtful, and wonderful that they would consider me to be a part of their big day.

The role of the Officiant is to guide the couple through their vows. They will be getting married officially in the UK in a private ceremony before heading to Portugal, so my role is non legal as they will already be legally married, I will be there to supply some continuity to those family members attending who are resident in Portugal or who were not in attendance at the official wedding in the UK.

Wow, I am so proud and honoured to even be considered for such a role, it means so much to me and to be honest my wife is completely over the moon about it. I think she is worrying more about it than I am at the moment, but in a good, let’s get this done and do them proud kind of way.

So even with over a year to go, it’s time to think it over exactly what needs to be done, and to think even after they have witnessed me wearing inappropriate headwear and questioning my lack of judgment with hot chilli sauces, they still believe I’m the right person for the job.

And that means the world to me.

It’s been a very good weekend.

Stay safe, be happy.

Surely death is an extraordinary day?

Saw this today. Strange but it hit me somewhat. So here I am sharing this cheery nugget with you all.

Saw this today. Can’t disagree with it, even though it is very blunt and to the point. It certainly won’t be an ordinary day for me….or for anyone else come to think of it.

Maybe even live a lot. Party like it’s your last day.

Peace ✌️

It’s a Puzzle..

Ever had a jigsaw puzzle take five years to complete? I have.

For anyone who knows me, they will know only too well my fixation and fanboy devotion to the 90s music of R.E.M

I’ve been a fan from the early days, I’ve seen them live on many occasions, god I even have a tattoo of one of their album covers that I’m actually having touched up next week as it happens.

Around Christmas 2020 they released a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle in conjunction with the ALA (American library association) of an original poster that was released in 1990 to promote reading. This poster was quite collectible at the time and still sits in many fan’s collections around the globe. For those that did not possess the original poster, this jigsaw became the next best thing.

The original advert from the Very Good Puzzle company

The puzzle sold through the groups own website and was produced by the Very Good Puzzle Company. In the UK the puzzle retailed for about £25:00GBP. I think it was purchased for me as a Christmas present from a relative.

I started the jigsaw in January 2021.

The intention from this day forward was to take a picture daily, as I set myself a target to dedicate an hour at a time towards its completion.

Beyond day four, which in itself had spanned a couple of months, time being spent on the puzzle when other commitments would allow. The puzzle became ever more difficult and confusing, as there are a number of areas within this puzzle where the areas are dark, or of just one colour and it just became a pain in the ass. So this was 2021 now, and very soon after this last picture, the jigsaw, on its base board just got put on the top of a cupboard in the spare bedroom, and there it stayed until early 2026.

For those who occasionally delve into my ramblings, you will be aware that in January 2026, after protracted selling shenanigans, we eventually moved to our new home. At this point we had packed and shifted almost everything, and the jigsaw was reluctantly broken up and put back into its original box. I guess I’d admitted defeat at this stage.

Step forward my Sister in law – Liz.

Now Liz loves Jigsaws, it’s her hobby and she heard of the ongoing issues with the R.E.M jigsaw. She has absolutely no interest in the group as such, and would probably, in her own way be quite opinionated in her views of their music, that’s her right and I respect that. She asked if she could take on the challenge to build it, and who was I to say no. So in March of 2026 I handed the box over to her.

Good luck with that Liz!

Just a few days ago Liz and her husband Terry came to visit as we were all heading out for a day. And as they came in they had a large object in a black plastic cover.

“Sit down Dave and open this” I was told, you might like it. I did what I was told and to my immense surprise, not only had Liz completed the puzzle, but her husband Terry had also framed it for me. I now have the completed puzzle, and the way it is presented looks absolutely fantastic.

Liz had spent a lot of time on the puzzle, and also shared her frustrations on the dark areas that were problematic. But the thing with Liz is once she gets her teeth into something she will never give up. And for that I am forever grateful, for she has done a fantastic job, and this will be a welcome addition to my work room, as the wife won’t let me hang it anywhere else.

So after 5 years, the puzzle is complete. And I think it looks superb. I now have my own personal copy of that poster that was so popular back in 1990.

Thanks Liz. You are a star 🌟

A peaceful day to you all.

Making a work of art

From one garden to another. Building a garden is a long term work of art. Here I am at the start with a blank canvas waiting to be filled. Let’s make a start.

Gardens that are portrayed on television are created in an afternoon. Nice.

However in reality it takes an awful lot longer to produce a garden, and just as in any art form requires a lot of planning, thinking, constant changing of mind, and repositioning items so they fit just perfectly.

My previous garden in our old house took me about 8 years to get to a seasoned level, where all planting looked authentic and had been specifically chosen to season in a garden that was north facing. Believe me, winter months were like an episode of Game of thrones, winter came and stayed in our garden for immense periods, whilst our neighbours South facing gardens experienced a much improved and sunnier outlook. I had to plant accordingly and this is what took time. An awful lot of trial and error and sacrifice of a number of plant species.

Having now moved to a new build property you will understand the challenge that now faces me. In new builds you are presented with a stamp sized piece of turfed property surrounded by walls and fencing, and some people like to keep this look. Some go for the “Landscaping” option, basically just putting in place loads of paving stones and decking, to create a low maintenance garden. Each to their own I say, but this option is not for me. I want to recreate my previous garden. I have the time. I want to see wildlife in this garden, I now have an easterly facing garden, and good light from early morning until mid afternoon, it couldn’t be more different to that cold northern facing garden I had previously.

There are a lot of birds flying around, the majority of them being wagtails, interspersed with a few pigeons, blue tits, robins and a few other small to medium avian visitors. First thing I did here was to put up a bird house on the rear wall before I’ve planted anything. I purchased a house with a blank garden, maybe there is a bird family out there also looking for a new build!

The bird bath is in place, brought in from the previous garden, I’ve yet to place it in the best position, I’m just awaiting a few other items prior to this happening.

First thing I want to do is to get some miniature trees in place, and in this case I have five of them lined up to go across the rear fence, these will be the main structures of the garden and everything else will be planted to complement these trees.

The first three smaller trees are the first to go into place, I have two small Salix Kilmarnocks, one of these will be planted either side of a Ceanothus, otherwise known as a Californian lilac. This will create a nice contrasting centre piece, in about three years the Ceanothus will be about 5 or 6 feet tall blooming with beautiful lilac colours, probably peaking in size at about 8-10 feet tall. They can grow taller but it’s my plan to top it out at about 10 feet maximum. The Salix along side will both bloom like miniature weeping willows growing no higher than about 5 feet in height but they will also grow in width displaying lovely foliage as well as furry catkins, its perfect for the smaller garden.

The Ceanothus, with the Salix Kilmarnock on either side.

I have shopped around for the remaining two trees and I was prepared to pay a good price, for two good examples to complete this part of the garden. I discussed my plans with a chap called Jack at a garden centre in the Rutland area and as a result the following two trees were delivered, they are a nice size, too big to be transported in a car.

On the right of the fence is the tree that will be the tallest, this is a Amelanchier canadensis, also known as “Sugar plum”. I purchased this one as the name “Sugar plum” was the nickname given to my wife by her late Father, it seemed wholly appropriate and was just a nice touch. This tree should top out at about 14 feet, it has a lovely mixture of berries and beautiful snow flake type flowers, it will spread well and blend in lovely with the whites, greys, purples and greens beside it. It’s a beautiful tree.

To the left of the other trees we have an absolute beauty, it’s one of the finest ornamental cherries that you can buy. Even as it was being delivered and moved out of the delivery van, it had a small, appreciative army of bees and pollinators surrounding it, even as I was planting it they remained there, it was a pleasure to see and the tree is a tonic for the eyes, it’s gorgeous. This tree will not grow any higher than the 5 or 6 feet it is already at, however it will bloom outwards creating a cascading display of pink blooms in the spring before showing a display of dark green foliage prior to turning Orange later in the year. It will then lose its foliage before starting all over again the following spring.

These five small trees will supply colour, cover, and hopefully a place of trust for the local birds. The planting that will then take place below them will Hopefully attract bees, butterflies and other insect life that will also support the food chain.

The trees have supplied the undercoat to the artwork, everything will now be designed and worked around them. I have a couple of good Rhododendrons, one that came from the old house as well as a lovely Magnolia called “Susan” and a young Wisteria planted to climb the rear of the property. Add to that a couple of young Verbernum “Snowball” bushes, I think we have enough to be getting on with, it’s a work in progress.

I have a vision of how this will look in a few years from now and to be honest I’m quite excited about it. And yes, I’m keeping as much of the grass as possible. At the moment it is a beautiful green carpet of loveliness, something I’ve never had before and I intend to keep it.

I will update this post as things develop and get added, but I know this is going to be a lengthy drawn out process. Believe me, it will be worth the wait.

Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.

Soren Kierkegaard

Have a great day.

A bit of Black and white

Just a few black and white pictures, taken whilst testing various cameras I’ve been working on recently. Just snaps, don’t get too excited.

Just a few pictures taken recently on various cameras I’m testing out. Nothing special, just mooching around and taking snaps.

All around the Leicester / Melton Mowbray area.

Have a great day.

Sometimes, but very rarely, “AI” may just work in your favour.

I’m fixing this lens and came across this broken part. But what is it called? Does Chat GPT know the answer? It seems it does.

Please do not for one minute consider this an endorsement for AI, it’s not. I very rarely ever use it, and to be totally honest I keep as far away from it, as i possibly can. The only issue is, is that it gradually sneaks through the back door unannounced in pretty much any application or program that you now use. There is no escaping it really, even here on WP this week I received an invite to start using AI to write my posts and to control their content and SEO compatibility, whatever that is. Straight in the bin it went, no thanks, not interested.

I know my grammar and punctuation leaves a lot to be desired, and sometimes it is very poor, but hey! That’s me and I don’t want to suddenly appear to be a fully functioning and academic genius, as that’s just not me. I’m a Comprehensive educated drop out, that has managed ok thank you, and I don’t need some computer to portray me as something I’m not, or am likely never going to be.

Rant aside, let’s get back to the story that is based around the item in this picture.

I’m currently carrying out a repair on a Canon EF 28-200 lens from around the year 2000. Whilst dismantling this lens, the above part became the item of interest as this is a piece that controls the zoom of the lens, hence this lens never really worked due to it’s inability to focus or zoom, and the item above appears to be the guilty party.

It’s broken, that is clearly obvious to see, it’s made of an alloy, possibly aluminium, and is not repairable by soldering due to the immense high temperatures that would be required. I can’t achieve such temperatures as I don’t have the equipment available to do such work. I could try forming something from scratch, that is an option but I don’t really have the time or patience to be honest to spend such time on such a tiny piece of metal. The whole piece is no bigger than 2cms long at its longest point. It really is tiny but essential for the smooth operation of this lens.

This is where the AI help comes in.

Having looked at many repair manuals belonging to Canon, I have an immense list of code numbers but nothing at all explaining what this item is or if there are any still available. I’m kind of lost and at odds as to what I should do.

In desperation, I type something similar to this request into Chat GPT:

“Long angular aluminium piece, working the telephoto element of a Canon EF 28-200 lens”

And this came back as an option:

Bingo – Courtest of Barrell Y Store – Ali express

Wow. That looks familiar!

And it is in-fact the part I am looking for, on the Ali Express site, our friends in China have one left in stock – “Click” that’s purchased and is now on its way to me.

I am now also fully aware of what it actually is, apparently it is called a “Zoom guide pillar, zoom lever, electric brush lever for a Canon 28-200 zoom lens”

Well there you go, it appears AI is good at deciphering the ramblings of a frustrated and confused 60 something. And in this case it did very well. When this arrives I’m going to give it to one of the tool makers at work to get him to make a few copies, I’m even going to see if I can get a few printed out 3D wise to see how the plastic version holds out under the demands of the lens. I don’t foresee any real issues as long as the lens isn’t mistreated in any way.

Well. That’s my major frustration of the week, and my first real face to face involvement with AI.

It can only get better, or can it?

Have a super day. Stay real.

Still Haunting

Yep, the Ghost radio service I reported on in August 2025 is still operating in the East Midlands and beyond

Back in August of 2025 I wrote of a radio station I had stumbled across on the DAB network. Ghost radio service.

It’s probably the post that has had the most views on my site, strange! And has been mentioned in numerous chat rooms and sites across the t’internet,

Because no one really knows what the hell it is or who owns it.

Here’s a few definite facts.

It can only be heard in the East Midlands, especially around the city of Leicester.
It has been heard out in suburban areas on the far outskirts of the city.
It is someone making ghostly groans and moans.
It is only on DAB networks.
No one appears to admit ownership
There is very little information on line.
7 months after first being heard it is still active.

And it’s still active today. Here’s a video taken a couple of days back.

Spooky 👻

Digging around, checking the OFCOM site amongst many others, the only new information I can find is listed below:

Key Details About Ghost Service:

Content: The station broadcasts a continuous loop of a “ghost” moaning.
Origin: It is an avant-garde art project created by a multiplex owner to challenge conventional ideas about broadcast radio and demonstrate the efficiency of their MP2 encoder at low bit rates.
Platforms: Initially spotted on DAB (Leicester SSDAB on block 9B and Lubra SSDAB on block 8A), it has also been heard on FM (87.9 MHz) in areas like Billingham and Middlesbrough, sometimes switching to Christmas music.
Other Projects: The same entity operates another station on the same multiplexes called “Catalytic Converter,” which plays cat sounds.
Visibility: It has garnered attention from local listeners and YouTube creators such as Fox’s Den.

And it mentions me. How quaint!

Thanks for passing by, have a great day. Thank you 🙏

Return of the Osprey

Every year the Ospreys return to Rutland water in the East Midlands. Here’s a live link to their nest in Manton Bay. Enjoy!

We are quite spoiled up here in the East Midlands with some stunning scenery as well as a plentiful array of stunning wildlife.

One of the most interesting projects in place for the last 10 years or so is Rutland Waters work to encourage the breeding of the Osprey. The project is run by the Leicestershire and Rutland wildlife trust and a link to the work they do to look after these stunning birds can be found here: Rutland Ospreys.

The live view of the Osprey nest

This live feed above covers a nest site on the Manton Bay Area of Rutland water. its current residents, a female called “Maya” and her other half known as “33” (His leg tag number) arrived about a week or so ago and are busy, fishing, nest building and mating. (What a life eh?)

Here’s a little history about these two resident birds, courtesy of the Leicestershire and Rutland wildlife trust website:

The Osprey nest in Manton Bay has been in use since 2007, but has been occupied since 2010 by the same female bird, presumably from Scotland, which we have nicknamed ‘Maya’.

Maya arrived in the summer of 2009, and spent the summer bonding with a Rutland-fledged male Osprey, 32(05). The pair did not breed, but both returned in 2010. Unfortunately, in 2010 two male Ospreys went missing from Rutland, and 32(05) was one of them. However, she managed to pair up with a male Osprey, 5R(04) which was holding territory at the Manton Bay nest, and they successfully raised three chicks in 2010. At the time, Maya did not have a name and she was always referred to as the Manton Bay Female. Over the next few seasons, it was decided it would be easier to talk and write about her, and for people to relate to her if she had a name, and eventually we settled on Maya. Not only is it a lovely name, but it contains the first and last two letters in Manton Bay, and comes from the Greek Maia, who was the goddess of spring.

Over the three years (2010 to 2013) that Maya and 5R(04) bred together, they successfully raised 11 chicks. Of those 11 chicks, five of their young have since returned to Rutland!

In 2014, unfortunately, 5R(04) failed to return to Rutland after his migration. After weeks of anxious waiting, we came to realise, as did Maya that he was not going to come back. Ospreys face many challenges on migration, so sadly, we won’t ever know what happened. With plenty of unpaired males in the area, Maya paired up with male 28(10) and did actually lay three eggs. But the nest suffered persistent intrusions from 33(11), and as a result, 28(10) was chased off and 33(11) took over the nest, kicking the eggs out in the process. After a while 33(11) and Maya did form a bond, but it was too late in the season for them to breed.

As we see Maya every day on the live webcam, we have come to know her very well as an individual. All Ospreys have unique, distinguishing characteristics, and Maya can easily be identified by the distinct markings on her head and face, in particular the brown cross that is visible on the back of her head. She has now raised 31 chicks since she first bred in 2010 and has provided us with a fabulous insight into the lives of breeding Ospreys.

33(11) fledged from one of the offsite nests in 2011 and his parents are male 03(97) and an unringed female. 33(11) was the only chick to fledge from that nest that year, so he did not have to compete for food, consequently becoming a strong, healthy juvenile and adult.

33(11) returned to Rutland for the first time as a two-year-old on 11th May 2013. He was first spotted in Manton Bay, by Project Officer Paul Stammers and volunteer Mick Lewin, then later was seen back at his natal nest, Site B. In 2014, he returned on 13th April and immediately began pestering Maya and 28(10) in Manton Bay. He did not give up until he chased 28(10) away and claimed the nest.

In 2015, both Maya and 33(11) returned to Manton Bay and bred successfully, raising three chicks, two of which have returned. 33(11) appears to enjoy spending time on the nest, more so than other males and will quite often take over incubation duties. Since 2016, they have raised an additional 24 chicks, including a record breaking four chicks in 2019 and 2020!

Courtesy: Leicestershire and Rutland wildlife trust

So there it is. Pay a visit and watch a couple of the world’s most beautiful birds in one of the most beautiful and scenic wetland areas of the East Midlands.

Thanks for passing by. It’s always appreciated.

Sums up my current state of mind….perfectly 😂

Saw this online. Made me laugh out loud…

I saw this online today and it did make me giggle. And my wife is in full agreement with this statement.

Have a super day 👍

Blah de blah

I’ve been a bit slack with my posts recently. It’s been busy, here’s a brief update as to what’s been going on this month so far.

It’s late February and I’m conscious that I haven’t posted anything this month, and that does play slightly on my OCD, as I like to see each month ticked off on the archive page.

It’s a me thing really, it frustrates me that I haven’t been posting regularly recently, but there have been a few things that have kept me occupied elsewhere, probably too boring to write about, but in the interest of maintaining a monthly contribution to my archive, I’m going to tell you what’s been going on anyway.

Feel free to move on at this stage, if you have more important things to do such as washing your hair or counting the hair follicles on your other half’s head.

The overriding elephant in the room here has been the aftermath of the house move. We’ve only moved about 12 miles out into a more rural area, away from the noise and pollution of the city of Leicester, the difference in noise and pollution is instantly noticeable in that we can sleep uninterrupted by wailing sirens, boy racers and inconsiderate road users, my intake of asthma stopping medications has reduced considerably, and occasionally we have to speak up just to check that our ears are still working as the noise levels are almost zero. It’s lovely.

So for what has been the last three weeks now we have been unpacking immense quantities of cardboard boxes and realising we didn’t pack as well as we could. We’ve found a lot of stuff that we have been looking for, stashed away in boxes that they shouldn’t have been in, for example a box of biscuit crackers in with the bedding of bedroom number two, obviously just thrown in at the last moment to occupy a space. We’ve now found most of what we require and are now only left with a number of suitcases of clothing awaiting new storage.

We are fortunate to have a garage as extra storage and this has been where the mass of cardboard is stored. It’s taken to the local tip for recycling, and when I breathe a sigh of relief that I now have my garage space back and available, another batch of boxes arrives and I lose the storage space again. At the moment it seems like a never ending cycle, but I know we have broken the back of it all and the recycling visits are starting to dwindle and hopefully before long they will stop completely. Fingers crossed 🤞

It’s a new house so fortunately decorating is not something we have to worry about just yet, thank heavens.

My workspace, that the wife has kindly allocated me, is situated within the second bedroom and is more than sufficient for my needs. However as the priority is getting the rest of the house up to the required standards of the foreperson (My Wife) unfortunately my area has to take a step back for the moment, and I doubt it will be anytime real soon where I am in a place to resume my hobbies and interests. Although I am still purchasing items to repair, I now have in excess of 21 projects in draft that need attending to.

A snippet of some of the projects still in draft

In our old house we had quite a bit of furniture that we had to downsize on. A lot of these items went to charities, and earlier last week the last piece of furniture, a 3 seat sofa had to be transported to the south coast, Ramsgate, in Kent to my niece. The wife and I decided we would take this our self and use it as an excuse to get away for a few days to see the family.

We hired a suitable vehicle, loaded it up and then hit the road for the 4 hr drive down to Kent.

Sofa, in place in my nieces house, with the wife posing behind

The journey was a success and the sofa is in place being used at my nieces house in Ramsgate. Whilst here I couldn’t resist going along to the Hornby/Scalextric/ Airfix museum in Margate (The wonder works) to relive some of my childhood memories.

Another 4hr trip back to the East Midlands as we had some wardrobes being delivered from that large Swedish furniture company that needed construction (And yet more Cardboard 🤦‍♂️)

Then we had another six boxes of blinds arrive, the garage is now overflowing with cardboard once again.

It’s fair to say that we are almost there and settled now. Just a few bags to find homes for and then maybe I may be able to get my space finally finished and ready to use, and get all my gear out of storage a couple of miles away.

On top of this my shift pattern has changed at work meaning now that I am on continuous 12 hr shifts. It’s long days and nights, but I do get to spend more time at home now due to the way the new system works, believe it or not.

So that’s what I’ve been up to, pretty much for the last three weeks, and hopefully a somewhat normal return to service will occur as soon as the demands of the house and my wife, bless her, start to dwindle and normal day to day living returns to our household.

Stay safe, and may peace and comfort be with you all.

Thanks for passing by. It’s very much appreciated.

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