Frohe, Fröhliche Weihnachten Zu Allen!

The sun has finally come out on this glorious Christmas morning. Santa, somehow, managed to find his way through the fog and yuck to deliver many goodies here in Tampadorf. And now the morning has burned away the mists and everything seems to be smiling.

What I am calling my Christmas Orchid, is in full bloom. Just one flower but what a show! I've been waiting for around 3 years for it to decide to bloom. It was well worth the wait . . .

This morning will find us at the park doing our 18 mile bike ride since we were unable to do it this weekend due to blechy weather. While we're gone the dough will be rising for the rolls we're taking over to our good friend's house for "Crimpus Dinner". I've been cultivating the sourdough for the last three days and it's quite yeasty and sharp at last . . . t'will be perfect so sop up the juices from the roast beast. For dessert, I'm making an apple Tatin which will be served hot right out of the pan at the table with a good dollop of cream and or ice-cream, followed by brandy, coffee and a great cigar! What's not to like?

To everyone reading this I send all the very best wishes for a wonderful and fulfilled holiday. Many blessings to you all!

Seasonal Joy from Nearly All Over . . .

Nothing says Christmas like Good News from Nigeria.

The following appeared in my email box this morning (in what surely must be the most interesting example of English apart from the package instructions for Taiwanese condoms) announcing I'm apparently a very rich man. Here is the exact spelling and wording of that missive:

*************************************************
UNITED NATIONS (WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME)
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT AND TRANSFERS.
870 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA 20-ANEW YORK NY 10017
WIRE TRANSFER/AUDIT UNIT
Our Ref: WB/NF/UN/XX027
EMAIL:ma.farnn23@yahoo.de



ATTN: BENEFICIARY,

IRREVOCABLE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT

We have actually been authorized by the presidency Federal Republic of Nigeria
and the governing board of central Bank of Nigeria , to investigate the
unnecessary delay of your payment, Recommended and approve your claims for payment if certified as genuine.
During the course of our investigation, we discovered with dismay that your
payment has been unnecessarily delayed by corrupt officials of the Bank who are
trying to divert your money into their private Accounts.also we discovered that
someone has presented an account were the money will be transfered to that you
have advised him to do so.We are advsing you to act on this findings and contact
the below authorites.

To forestall this, security for your funds was organized in the form of your
personal Identification Number (PIN) and your transfer access code (T.A.C.) this
will enable only you have direct control over this fund, we have also agreed
with the Presidency.
That we will handle this payment ourselves to avoid the hopeless situation
created by the Officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, We obtained an
irrevocable payment guarantee on your Payment from the presidency we are happy
to inform you that based on our recommendation/instructions; your entire
Inheritances fund has been credited in your Favor through our overseas paying bank.
You are therefore advice to contact Mr.Fedrick Adams audit unit, Federal
Executive Council Office in Nigeria on this (Email:fedrickadams@yahoo.de ) to
collect your original payment slip with your pin and transfer access code. As
soon as you submit these codes and your Payment slip to your bank they will
credit your account without delay.

NOTE: YOU ARE ADVICED TO FURNISH DR FREDRICK WITH YOUR
TELEPHONE NUMBER VERY IMPORTANT AND CORRECT BANKING DETAILS TO AVOID TRANSFER OF THIS FUND INTO A WRONG ACCOUNT.

We expect your urgent response to this email (ma..farnn23@yahoo.de) to enable
us monitor this payment effectively.

CONGRATULATIONS.
Maria Farnn
United Nations Office
New-York

It's All But Over!

In order to further the ongoing crusade to shame all of us into submission of accepting our personal role and guilt toward Global Warming, here then is a list compiled by another dweeb who collects useless trivia: in this case, on that very subject. It seems it is only a matter of time that 'thems in the know' will include nearly everything that we humans (read: Americans) do to contribute to the soon-to-come demise of LIFE AS WE KNOW IT on Earth. It is, after all, solely our fault.

" Dr. John Brignell, a British engineering professor, runs a website called numberwatch. He has compiled what has to be the most complete collection of links to media stories ascribing the cause of everything under the sun to global warming. He has already posted more than six-hundred links." They are:

Agricultural land increase, Africa devastated, African aid threatened, Africa hit hardest, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, allergies increase, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic grass flourishes, anxiety, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic lakes disappear, asthma, Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric defiance, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, bananas destroyed, bananas grow, beetle infestation, bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird visitors drop, birds return early, blackbirds stop singing, blizzards, blue mussels return, bluetongue, boredom, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, British gardens change, brothels struggle, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, cancer deaths in England, cardiac arrest, caterpillar biomass shift, challenges and opportunities, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cloud stripping, cockroach migration, cod go south, cold climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), computer models, conferences, coral bleaching, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , cold spells, cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cremation to end, crime increase, crocodile sex, crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems, cyclones (Australia), damages equivalent to $200 billion, Darfur, Dartford Warbler plague, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, dermatitis, desert advance, desert life threatened, desert retreat, destruction of the environment, diarrhoea, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, drought, drowning people, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth dying, Earth even hotter, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth past point of no return, Earth slowing down, Earth spinning out of control, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down, Earth wobbling, earthquakes, El Niño intensification, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, evolution accelerating, expansion of university climate groups, extinctions (human, civilisation, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, bats, pandas, pikas, polar bears, pigmy possums, gorillas, koalas, walrus, whales, frogs, toads, turtles, orang-utan, elephants, tigers, plants, salmon, trout, wild flowers, woodlice, penguins, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches), experts muzzled, extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, famine, farmers go under, fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish catches rise, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, Florida economic decline, food poisoning, food prices rise, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frostbite, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, god melts, golf Masters wrecked, Gore omnipresence, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, hazardous waste sites breached, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, homeless 50 million, hornets, high court debates, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health improvement, human health risk, hurricanes, hurricane reduction, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, illness and death, inclement weather, infrastructure failure (Canada), Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, Inuit suing, industry threatened, infectious diseases, inflation in China, insurance premium rises, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, itchier poison ivy, jellyfish explosion, Kew Gardens taxed, kitten boom, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, landslides of ice at 140 mph, lawsuits increase, lawsuit successful, lawyers' income increased (surprise surprise!), lightning related insurance claims, little response in the atmosphere, lush growth in rain forests, Lyme disease, Malaria, malnutrition, mammoth dung melt, Maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, marine dead zone, Meaching (end of the world), megacryometeors, Melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, more bad air days, more research needed, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountains break up, mountains taller, mortality lower, mudslides, National security implications, new islands, next ice age, Nile delta damaged, no effect in India, Northwest Passage opened, nuclear plants bloom, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, oyster diseases, ozone loss, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, personal carbon rationing, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilised, plankton loss, plant viruses, plants march north, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar bears starve, polar tours scrapped, porpoise astray, profits collapse, psychosocial disturbances, puffin decline, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rainfall reduction, rape wave, refugees, reindeer larger, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, riches, rift on Capitol Hill, rioting and nuclear war, rivers dry up, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, rockfalls, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, salinity reduction, salinity increase, Salmonella, salmon stronger, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, sex change, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall heavy, snowfall reduction, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spiders invade Scotland, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier, spectacular orchids, stormwater drains stressed, street crime to increase, suicide, taxes, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tides rise, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, tree beetle attacks, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed, trees could return to Antarctic, trees in trouble, trees less colourful, trees more colourful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, tsunamis, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, UK Katrina, Vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus displaced, walrus pups orphaned, war, wars over water, wars threaten billions, water bills double, water supply unreliability, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, weeds, Western aid cancelled out, West Nile fever, whales move north, wheat yields crushed in Australia, white Christmas dream ends, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine - harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine - more English, wine -German boon, wine - no more French , winters in Britain colder, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, World bankruptcy, World in crisis, World in flames, Yellow fever.

By the way: the picture at the top of this post is from an article attributing a greater risk for an asteroid hit to global warming. Sigh . . .

I'm sure it's only a matter of time that Knitting, Spinning and Weaving will be prosecuted as crimes against the World's atmosphere . . .