R's rue

Another day, another mass shooting in America. It's nothing new. Day after day the bullets fly. This time the finger of fate pointed at Dadeville, Alabama and a sixteenth birthday party. Tomorrow it could be... well anywhere it seems from "sea to shining sea". Maryland to Maine, Washington State to Wisconsin. It's truly, truly dreadful. And what are The Republicans doing about the slaughter? They are making it worse. They have been making it easier to lawfully carry guns and they have been turning logic upside down - suggesting that the mass killings underline the efficacy of gun ownership. They often cite the second amendment to justify their resistance to any laws that might curtail gun ownership, leading to sensible checks and balances. They conveniently forget that the second amendment was hatched in very different times and was never intended to pave the way to mass killings. A few minutes ago, the BBC reported this from Dadeville:- Ben Hayes, a senior p...

  I went to Chester this afternoon after exhausting the dogs on another long walk in Bishop’s Wood I got there around 6pm and treated myself to pad Thai noodles at the Chester Market before cinema at the Storyhouse with friend Faisal , a day before he leaves for South Africa . We went to see The Night Of The 12th an intelligent and unnerving version of a true crime case set in France where a country teenage girl Clara was burnt to death by an unknown attacker. The case is taken over by new police chief Yohan (Bastien Bouillion ) who is an odd, intense character who finds verbal support somewhat of a challenge . His second in command Marceau ( Bouli Lanners) is a burnt out, about to be divorced, cop in so need of counselling support from his boss so things are not looking good as many suspects are unearthed but no progress is made with arrests . The film is a fascinating journey looking at an in-depth , forensic but intimately unsuccessful investigation    and i...

 I was never one for houseplants. True, I have an aspidistra who is at least 40 years old and a flowering cactus almost that age , but these two are surviving more from luck than from design.  Since lockdown I have collected houseplants and the best bit of advice I have had looking after them came from the postman, who one day complemented me on my collection. When there’s a warmish rainstorm , bout all of your plants outside for a long shower It’s labour intensive , but it doesn’t half clean and nurture them So that’s what I have done this morning. Set the plants in the rain and then returned them one by one when they were wet and really green again. I know repetitive and somehow quite mindful. This respective, mindless behaviour is a useful mechanism to employ when stress is in your life. I’ve always used it at work when things got too much to handle. I’ve gone to the drugs room to clean the drugs trays or move the laundry around or clean the dressing trolleys. W...