The STD numbers are rocketing we discovered yesterday. in 2022 there were 392,453 diagnoses of new STIs among England residents, an increase of 23.8% compared to 2021. Cue howls of anguish from all corners but – as Pride month kicks off there is one matter nobody in trhe media dared to mention.

I have read a couple of books about Harold Wilson and I remember my late Uncle Christopher Booker and my late father agreeing that there were some good reasons to regard the former Prime Minister dimly. The pound in your pocket is worth the same today as it was yesterday said Wilson having just devalued the pound so it was patently worth less. The White Heat of Technology was the sort of vapid nothingness that served as a blue print for Blair’s Cool Britannia.  But I was just two when Wilsonwas evicted from office the first time, by the even more useless Heath. The second time around I was eight. But i still have no real memories of what he did and I certainly never had cause to hate the man.

Yes, Schofield and the cover up at ITV is a real scandal and there is a double standard there in that had Schofield been shagging a 17 year old junior female employee he’d have been out three years ago. As he today takes to the airwaves to accuse his critics of being motivated by homophobia there is a humungous double standard. This is the Kevin Spacey defence “Look I am gay so ignore the huge power disparity between me and that teenage boy I shagged but if a male executive shags a female intern he is exploiting a power gap and must be crucified. I so support #Metoo.” I discussed the ITV cover-up of Phil and how everyone knew HERE. However…

An early childhood memory from Butterwell Farm ,was of hearing a series of loud explosions as one of the bottles of ginger beer my parents were making, exploding and setting off a chain reaction among the other bottles. In those days we only had glass bottles.  I have never tried my hand at this before but, with the elderflower champagne and cordial season and nettle beer season now almost upon me, I thought I’d also give it a go. I am now working on my ginger bug plant as you can see below.

Well i say lucky, I am pretty sure that i was wearing this shirt for the 2006 FA Cup Final in Cardiff, the less said about which the better. Anyhow, despite it being somewhat ragged it seems the Mrs has not thrown it out which would, I am sure you will agree, have been grounds for divorce. Thus, as you can see below, I can now wear it for tonight’s match where I shall be joined at the Raven in Farndon by another attendeed at the 2006 match, albeit a scouser. He promises not to mention events of 17 years ago and to become a Hammer for the evening.

You may remember that I brought five edible olive trees ( as opposed to olive oil, olive trees) back from Greece in my car last year. I planted them at the top of the top field which goes from the new orchard up to the graveyard. I had feared that a cold Welsh winter had killed them off. But….

The last time West Ham were in a cup final (2006), I was there. The less said about that match the better. The only bar we could find afterwards near the ground in Cardiff not packed with joyful Scousers, in which to drown our sorrows, was a gay bar. We had real sorrows to drown.

I made a stack of jams last year: strawberry, blackcurrant, gooseberry, damson and marrow & ginger. And now we are down to the last jar. The fruit trees and bushes are looking good for this year and the strawberry crop is going to be absolutely enormous. But we are now down to our last pot of jam, as you can see below.