A number of kind readers as well as an Oxford contemporary, L, have either expressed surprise that I am such a keen gardener or have asked for a progress report. Well here goes. I start with the small field behind the barn which was six foot high in weeds when we arrived and contained a number of abandoned metal structures hidden by those weeds. As you can see in the first photo, it is now anew orchard of about 30 trees, mainly plums, apples, crab apples and pears but with the odd fig, a dog’s arse tree and a tayberry. At the end of the orchard is the top field where one day I hope to keep goats. I have planted five edible olive trees from Greece, three mulberry trees and a sweet chestnut around the edge. That is all WIP.

Sharestock is looming. The date is September 7. The lawn is getting into shape. A team of helpers led by my two eldest daughters are lined up as are the speakers. All we need now is you! For what, I increasingly think, will be my last ever show. 

There are two old plum trees here on the edge of the vegetable patch. And i have planted another six in the new orchard which are now fruiting. Some of the latter will not be ripe for another few weeks but some,and the bigger old tree were pregnant with the sort of purple plums you can see below.  it really snuck up on me. I only noticed this a day and a half before we all headed off to Greece.But Joshua and whirled into action picking allt he fruit we could reach either as we stood there or by knocking down witha hoe.

A Greek holiday looms and that should allow me the mental space to write a bit more about the death of my Great Uncle David Cochrane but also a much longer piece about Operation Mincemeat, the underpants, my family’s involvement and how that also links to agent Cicero. Trust me, it is gripping stuff. Ahead of that, enjoy a newly framed piece of family history from 1862.

This piece of history from  Zimbabwe was a gift frommy pal Jono who lived through the Robert Mugabe years. Finally it has been framed and now sits proudly on the wall of my recently refurbished office. Enjoy.

Today Joe Biden pulled out of the race.I look at this, his replacement as the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris and what a fascinating slew of polls last week tell us about the race. I also look at shifting sands in Ukraine. 

The liberal media is wetting itself with excitement that a female person of colour is going to be the Democratic nominee for President. Okay, so polls only last week showed that Kamala Harris would do even worse than Joe Biden against Donald Trump in battleground states and her national popularity ratings are lower than even the senile old sniffer of the hair of young girls. The Libs reckon that Kamala will beat Trump. I hope they bet the ranch on it. I quite like the idea of Jon Sopel having to live in a cardboard box. Anyhow if you think Kamala is the answer have a watch of this video from the great Mark Steyn covering a Kamala speech a year ago. Every US voter needs to watch it before November.

This is a new addition to the garden this year and has prospered. There are more where this came from. Last night I liced it and  fried it up in olive oil from the Greek hovel and served it with some prawns (not home grown) fried in olive oil with the last of the 2023 Welsh hovel garlic as the Mrs, Joshua and I sat down to watch the penultimate Harry Potter.  It was generally agreed to be a culinary trumph.

I start with Ukraine and what changes there are are not good for the West and President Zelensky. I look at what is changing in Europe and what happens next. Then to the US election, a legal win for Trump, Biden stumbles again and again but may survive as a lame candidate thanks to the shooting of Trump. It bought old Joe time. Then I look at JD Vance and what he brings to the ticket, locking down the Northern swing states. And Elon Musk’s money enters the game, what does that mean?

Yes it was Russian inteference that persuaded me to vote Reform earlier today. Of course it was. All those bots. Or maybe it was the idea that my wife and mixed race kids might be deported by Prime Minister Nigel Farage, a man routinely compared by the seething left to Hitler. Or maybe not.

For the fifth week on the trot my general waste bin has been collected but the recycling bins have not been. On call after call to the Council the Mrs. has been promised that they will be collected within days but that was a lie. It was always a lie.

I focus onMichigan, recent polls but also those in 2020 and 2016. That is awful for Joe Biden. But what if he is dumped? I look again at polls on how Donald Trump shapes up against other Democrats. But those pollls fail to take into account two big elephants one of whom is Kamala Harris and that makes things even worse for the Dems. As things stand the GOP will control all four branches of Govrrnment from 2025 as this is shaping up to be a self-inflicted bloodbath for the team in blue.

I tried making elderflower champagne in glass bottles leaving the lids resting but not screwed in. The recipe said it would work. It did not. So I have tried again using plastic bottles. They should not explode if I burp them now and again but,I accept, they don’t look elegant. However…

After a disastrous debate for Joe Biden I lookat two polls appearng before it all of which suggest he may well be axed within weeks as the Democrat presumptive nominee, then I look at the latest Farage Russia smear and the UK election likely outcomes and at what is happening in Ukraine and the delusional peace terms of the West and of the cokehead Zelensky.