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The everyday blog of Richard Bartle.

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8:52am on Sunday, 21st June, 2026:

Dragon's Beard

Weird

A friend of my daughter's husband lives in China, and sent them a package of Chinese goodies. These included a box of Dragon's Beard Cake.

It's supposed to be the Chinese equivalent of candy floss, but it's nothing like it. It comes in solid blocks that are crumbly and taste of a mixture of peanuts and sesame; there's supposed to be some coconut in them, too, but (fortunately) I couldn't taste any of that in the ones I tried.

So far, I've eaten three of them. They suck the moisture right out of the mouth. I've had to drink something to get them to break down enough that I could swallow them.

Either:
    I'm eating them wrongly.
    Something happened to them during transit and they're not how they should be.
    They're meant to suck the moisture out of your mouth.

Hmm, I could use the ones I have remaining to write on walls.

8:47am on Saturday, 20th June, 2026:

Moths

Anecdote

The ermine moths infesting our apple trees have really done a number on them.

They've killed one tree already and some of the others are looking as if they need the last rites, too.

Fortunately, they only attack apple trees, and we have some pear trees in the mix. This means we won't need to change the name of our house ("Orchard House") if they complete their act of devastation.

9:42am on Friday, 19th June, 2026:

Ants

Weird

Someone left a rental bike on a tree outside the local shop.

I hadn't realised that ants ate rental bikes, but the eviudence is right there.

8:54am on Thursday, 18th June, 2026:

Neighbourhood Rivalry

Weird

Two adjacent houses in our village:

I expect the neighbours are on good terms when there isn't a World Cup going on.

8:17am on Wednesday, 17th June, 2026:

Brandished

Weird

From the front page of yesterday's East Anglian Daily Times:

Branded, brandished, they mean the same thing, right?

The front page....

9:44am on Tuesday, 16th June, 2026:

Contradictory Notice

Weird

Hey! Someone has placed something on this piano!

They've placed a notice on it. Notices are still a thing!

8:39am on Monday, 15th June, 2026:

Battle of the Boards

Anecdote

In the battle of the estate-agent boards, John Alexander beat Fenn Wright by a knockout.

8:39am on Sunday, 14th June, 2026:

Cake

Anecdote

It was our grandson's first birthday party yesterday, and the party was held at our place. This decision had nothing to do with the fact that the lift to my daughter's flat is out of order.

We bought a barbecue especially for the occasion. We'll probably use it again in 3 or 4 months' time, or however long it takes to clean the grille.

Not everyone wanted burgers, so I manfully stepped up and ate three of them, plus a hot dog, plus some fruit salad, plus a slice of this cake made by my daughter's husband's aunt:

I should maybe have cut a smaller slice than I did. It was twice the size of the ones that teashops charge £4.50 for.

As a consequence of this I was absolutely stuffed, and so ate nothing else for the rest of the day unless you count chocolate as food.

8:22am on Saturday, 13th June, 2026:

Mickey Duck and Donald Mouse

Miscellaneous

Here's Mickey Duck and Donald Mouse.

I've always wanted to do that, and finally got around to doing it.

8:59am on Friday, 12th June, 2026:

Rope in the Wall

Weird

The walls of Buickingham Palace have lengths of rope in them.

From what I can gather, they're called "weep wicks", and are used to draw moisture out from the wall to stop it from suffering damage. They also deter insects somehow.

Personally, I think they were there when the wall was constructed and the builders had to build around them.

8:32am on Thursday, 11th June, 2026:

Penned In

Weird

I saw this in Poznan last year.

I wouldn't have thought that four strips of blue tape would have kept him penned-in, but he was still there the next day.

8:22am on Wednesday, 10th June, 2026:

Armed

Weird

I don't know whom this is a statue of, but he'd be great at Basketball.

8:12am on Tuesday, 9th June, 2026:

Lion Stole

Weird

This lion on the Bishop of Hereford's stole looks as if he doesn't want to be there.

8:21am on Monday, 8th June, 2026:

Ambulance

Weird

I saw this old ambulance when we visited Bletchley Park last month:

I'm not in the habit of photographing old ambulances, but I did like the actual bell it has at the front to instruct people to get out of the way.

8:47am on Sunday, 7th June, 2026:

Dark Meaning

Weird

The name of this street in Villefranch-sur-Mer is Rue Obscure in French and Carriera Scura in Niçard. It translates into English as "Dark Street".

They shouldn't be allowed to put lights up in it, then.

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Copyright © 2026 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).