Houseplant

Germany is so wedded to it's history and the dream of an open door Eurotopia that it doesn't matter how many stabbings or murders with cars occur, mainstream Germany will not change. They will get centre left/centre right coalitions and the status quo will continue.

Cheers mate. It was idyllic, the marathon clean-up on getting home and going to work the next day less so! Wish we could have stayed even longer.

We just repeated the trip, but stayed three nights which gave us more time for water sports and hiking. Of course, I did some fishing, but it wasn't the focus. I just wanted to catch enough fish for dinner every night which was easily achieved. The snapper were small, but the kahawai were big and hungry! It's summer now, so quite warm. I'll let the photos communicate the rest.

G'day.

Very nice. I know they've been around a while, but sounds like they are getting more common. Another game animal for the UK and another reason to own a rifle 👍 They are hard to eradicate once established as New Zealand has proven by spending millions of dollars over many years. Difficult to stalk in woodland, but easy to shoot on feeders.

Yes, I believe so, but it wasn't NATO, just US and UK. If I was a US tax payer, I would resent it too. If the US takes action, it gets accused of being World Police. If it doesn't, then it gets called isolationist. Either way, there will be criticism and huge expense, but that is the cost of being a super power.

I'm not questioning the value of NATO historically, just presently. If Trump thinks America isn't getting a good deal on an agreement, he'll tear it up.

I don't think it is a big distinction. If they are there, they are there and may need to act, unless of course their only role is to document contraventions and war crimes as per useless UN peacekeeping missions.

What is going on? I have some sympathy for Trumps's America first policies. If America (and other countries) had minded there own business over the last few decades, I believe the world would be a better place, but where does this leave us now? Ukraine is not a NATO member, so not America's problem. Hints at a European army? Those that aren't keen say that it's not necessary because we have NATO. That may/may not be true. I'm not even sure that Trump's America would come to the defence of another NATO member should they come under attack. America is no longer a reliable ally. Putin must be loving how divided the west has become. Now I read that Keir Starmer is willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine. I could see this escalating. Opinions?

We just did a coastal walk close to home in Whangarei Heads, New Zealand. Our son decided that school and staying with grandma was better than coming with us, so we had a blissful childfree couple of days. The trail head is just a 15 minute drive away from our house. The trail starts off on a big open beach and sweeps in to a small forestry block before getting in to the bush proper. Although the distance isn't huge, the initial incline gets the heart pumping and the trail itself is quite difficult to negotiate due to rocks and tree roots. We stayed in a Department of Conservation (DOC) hut overnight which we had to ourselves. We did a little swimming and fishing. I caught some small trevally. Not big enough to keep, but it was just for fun anyway. We had a slow start the next day. After breakfast and a quick swim, we started the walk back.

Good question. This is really a fusion dish. Japanese would eat it raw with no dressing. The Thai nam jim source contains lime juice, so that will get to curing right away. We don't want to over do it, so the cure goes on a few minutes before eating.

I catch my own tuna and shoot my own lamb 😀

Yellowfin tuna sashimi with nam jim sauce for lunch. This has become our favourite fish dish over summer. Probably not one for Ditchman and the Pie & Mash Brigade 😀 So glad I joined this British Cooking Forum!

Regarding the shark behaviour, I have seen game fish, mainly marlin, but also tuna and mako sharks swim sedately behind right trolled lures for long periods of time. This guy was effectively one big plastic trolling lure!

As I've said many times before, Germany and Europe in general (including UK) have ****ed themselves. There is no way back that is palatable, but this disaster can be slowed down. Time to ditch all international commitments relating to asylum law and management of illegal migrants. Again, I write as an immigrant and the son of immigrants.