As they say, ‘make hay while the sun shines’, so it has been all hands on deck, with the countryside abuzz with activity as farmers have taken advantage of the perfect hay making weather during the past week.
Having begun to be a little concerned that the thunderstorms would continue well into July, we have instead been blessed with perfect hay making weather.
The hot sun and wind has ensured the process is quick taking just two to three days, depending on how thick the crop is. The quicker the better so the leaf does not shatter through multiple mechanical handling, and maintains its full feed value.
Some fields suffered from the early spring heat wave, when instead of producing a nice thick swath, the grass bolted prematurely, producing spikey seed heads.
The throw away culture is now unacceptable as we become more aware of the damage being done to wildlife and the environment, including the air we breathe.
The time for single use plastic, cheap and cheerful clothes, often worn once then discarded, and the era of mass produced furniture like IKEA, designed to survive short term, before ending up at the municipal tip or on a bonfire, and replaced with the very latest ‘must have’, to keep up with the proverbial ‘Joneses’, is now drawing to a close.
For too long ‘brown furniture’, such as solid wood tables, chairs, cupboards, chests, granny’s bed stead, and horse hair sofas and arm chairs, have been neglected and abandoned, their value hitting rock bottom.
Now trends are starting to change with the current generation setting up home for the long term, wisely recognising that furniture is for life, not just for Christmas, and definitely not to impress the neighbours short term.
Last week Lionel Parsons’ letter asked, ‘Why do we keep building stores which will be redundant?’ He hit the nail firmly on the head. Why indeed build a mega IKEA store, and for that matter 600 homes, at New Monk Farm, Lancing, when IKEA furniture is rapidly becoming past its sell by date.
The young understand better than their parents the folly of buying cheap and cheerful with a very short shelf life, little lasting value, and environmentally unsustainable, when they can buy once and buy well, furniture which will last them a lifetime and they can in turn hand on to their children.
It is also questionable how sensible it is to build 600 houses on a flood plain. Will they be built on stilts? What about the sewage which is already a problem for some residents in the area, particularly at high tide? And what about the additional traffic? The roads are already congested in the area, and what about vehicle access onto the A27 including farm trucks, tractors and 30 ton grain and livestock transporters , when the traffic lights at the Coombes Road/A27 junction is converted into an eastbound only mini slip road? I am not entirely certain, having spoken to local residents, that this development has been thoroughly thought through, and the locals who work and live in the area have been properly consulted.
EU Commission President Jean-Claud Juncker last week was excited to announce the draft text for a free-trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which has taken TWENTY years of negotiations.
This may well be the largest trade deal ever, however it is a shining example of just how incompetent the EU really is. Unilaterally the UK or any other European country, could have agreed a trade deal decades ago.
Once Prime Minister Boris is in place, he who believes passionately in an independent Great Britain, and will cut the umbilical cord tying us to the EU, the world of opportunities and trade deals will become a reality.
Having begun to be a little concerned that the thunderstorms would continue well into July, we have instead been blessed with perfect hay making weather.
The hot sun and wind has ensured the process is quick taking just two to three days, depending on how thick the crop is. The quicker the better so the leaf does not shatter through multiple mechanical handling, and maintains its full feed value.
Some fields suffered from the early spring heat wave, when instead of producing a nice thick swath, the grass bolted prematurely, producing spikey seed heads.
The throw away culture is now unacceptable as we become more aware of the damage being done to wildlife and the environment, including the air we breathe.
The time for single use plastic, cheap and cheerful clothes, often worn once then discarded, and the era of mass produced furniture like IKEA, designed to survive short term, before ending up at the municipal tip or on a bonfire, and replaced with the very latest ‘must have’, to keep up with the proverbial ‘Joneses’, is now drawing to a close.
For too long ‘brown furniture’, such as solid wood tables, chairs, cupboards, chests, granny’s bed stead, and horse hair sofas and arm chairs, have been neglected and abandoned, their value hitting rock bottom.
Now trends are starting to change with the current generation setting up home for the long term, wisely recognising that furniture is for life, not just for Christmas, and definitely not to impress the neighbours short term.
Last week Lionel Parsons’ letter asked, ‘Why do we keep building stores which will be redundant?’ He hit the nail firmly on the head. Why indeed build a mega IKEA store, and for that matter 600 homes, at New Monk Farm, Lancing, when IKEA furniture is rapidly becoming past its sell by date.
The young understand better than their parents the folly of buying cheap and cheerful with a very short shelf life, little lasting value, and environmentally unsustainable, when they can buy once and buy well, furniture which will last them a lifetime and they can in turn hand on to their children.
It is also questionable how sensible it is to build 600 houses on a flood plain. Will they be built on stilts? What about the sewage which is already a problem for some residents in the area, particularly at high tide? And what about the additional traffic? The roads are already congested in the area, and what about vehicle access onto the A27 including farm trucks, tractors and 30 ton grain and livestock transporters , when the traffic lights at the Coombes Road/A27 junction is converted into an eastbound only mini slip road? I am not entirely certain, having spoken to local residents, that this development has been thoroughly thought through, and the locals who work and live in the area have been properly consulted.
EU Commission President Jean-Claud Juncker last week was excited to announce the draft text for a free-trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which has taken TWENTY years of negotiations.
This may well be the largest trade deal ever, however it is a shining example of just how incompetent the EU really is. Unilaterally the UK or any other European country, could have agreed a trade deal decades ago.
Once Prime Minister Boris is in place, he who believes passionately in an independent Great Britain, and will cut the umbilical cord tying us to the EU, the world of opportunities and trade deals will become a reality.
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