Danskcolin: Wednesday June 24th 2026 "Are YOU having plenty of veg with YOUR 'tea' tonight? Just checking!!!!!"

Yes, Friends, are YOU having sufficient of the 'green stuff' with YOUR tea tonight. This lady, whose picture is plastered all over the TV news tonight, shows you how it's done what done!

And suddenly vegetables are 'flavour of the month' quite literally, and the papers are full of them - check out today's Onion News, and give it a good shake, if you need convincing!

Weird, isn't it! And reading these headlines brings a teary grin to the faces of me and my wife Lois in leaf-affected Liphook, Hampshire, this morning, no doubt about that!!!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

And, perhaps more conscious than most Brits about the nutritional l value of vegetables you'd have found us out in our tiny back garden today at the unearthly hour of 8 am, erecting our bean poles for another season, now that Lois's little bean-plants, currently languishing in our kitchen, are just bursting to be 'planted out' - no question about that!

Here are the telling pictures, with Lois doing all the work, and me 'poncing about', pushing the odd pole into place, and generally trying to look busy, as per usual !!!!

Eight o'clock this morning, and Lois and I already out in our tiny back garden,

pushing a bunch of bean-poles into the dry soil, before it gets too hot out there!

And by around 8:30am, we're pretty much done for the day, which is nice!

[Is that all you two 'noggins' have done today, Colin? - Ed]

Well, pretty much, yes! But we've got the excuse of the weather, of course! And here are the "numbers", to prove it!

(left) UK's hottest June day on record in nearby Charlwood, Surrey - 35.7C (96.3F),

according to the BBC, and (right) the temperatures in Liphook, Hampshire today

Even at 6 o'clock tonight in our living-room, the temperature is still 86.5F (30C), and the forecast for the weather here in Liphook tomorrow looks dire!

What madness!!!!

(left) with a look of horror on my face, I showcase the temperature

in our living room at 6 o' clock tonight, and (right) the forecast for tomorrow - yikes!!!!!

Well, it's true that Lois and I haven't done much today, other than 'poncing about' in light clothing, but at least we've been able to give some comfort to my sister Gill in Ipswich, during one of our periodic whatsapp audio-calls with her this afternoon - or at least I hope we did!

Poor Gill has just returned from a mini-break in Lille, in north-east France with Lucy, one of Gill's 3 grown-up daughters! Lille was not as hot as most of France, Gill reports, being almost in Belgium - phew, narrow escape there! Only joking, if you're one of my Belgian readers!!!

Lille, in north-east France, often described

as "almost in Belgium" (!)

Lille is a lovely town, Gill says, and it was cooler there than it's been in Paris, she adds, but the downside is that the residents of Lille don't get a lot of tourists, and don't all speak English, so poor Gill had to resurrect her memories of O-Level French from the 1970's, and on more than one occasion, would you believe, which was a pity!

Phew, wotta scorcha! And my sister Gill took these pictures of her daughter

Lucy in Lille this week, during their short mini-break in the town

Gill also tells us about her upcoming trip to Norwich, where her most recent literary output is going to be thoroughly "workshopped".

Ouch, sounds painful!!!!

Gill's recent new monologue, "A Nice Cup of Tea" is going to be analysed by a group of enthusiasts at a literary gathering in the city, and Gill hopes to be able to pick up on their ideas and suggestions, and then maybe take a second look at the script for herself. The monologue was performed last November at London's Glitch Theatre, by the feminist Yellow Coat Theatre Company.

(above left) Gill showcasing the performance of her latest monologue

at London's Glitch Theatre, and (above right) Gill with Lucy's fiancee Rosanna,

and (below, right) Gill with members of the all-female Yellow Coat Theatre Company,

who staged the monologue in the theatre back in November 2025

Kudos, Gill!

Exciting times, eh, to put it mildly! So watch this space!

20:00 But phew! Wotta scorcha it's been! And no relief for poor Lois and me tonight, to find the TV listings dominated by the World Cup again! Will this nightmare never end!!!!!

What madness!!!

Luckily Lois and I can take refuge by doing some more binge-watching of the recent Canadian sitcom series "Schitt's Creek", which we didn't see at the time because it was apparently on something called Netflix, which we're too "tight" to subscribe to - well, you have to draw the line somewhere, don't you haha!!!

[Again? For heaven's sake, Colin! - Ed]

In the series, a wealthy family - a couple Johnny and Moira with two grown-up children David and Alexis - are forced to leave their billionaire mansion, after being cheated of all their money by some crooked business associate or other.

Luckily the father, Johnny, had bought a small rural town some years ago, 'as a joke' present for his son, David, so the family, now down on their luck, can at least seek low-cost refuge in the town that they own anyway (!), and they manage to book two poky rooms on a long-term rental, at the local sleazy, run-down motel, in run-down, backwoods town, Schitt's Creek.

the former billionaire family, the Roses, now down on their luck,

and forced to live in 2 cramped rooms at a motel in the backwoods

There's a key scene in the unfolding drama tonight, after pampered son David (played by Dan Levy) spends the night with his new "squeeze", the free-wheeling motel receptionist Stevie, played by Emily Hampshire.

After spending their first night together, the couple are seen out shopping for wine, in the town's seedy off-licence. When David appears to show interest in a white wine, new "squeeze" Stevie, looks alarmed, and the following exchange takes place.

David, to his credit, immediately sees where Stevie is going with this, and he takes the time to give her a run-down of his preferences, and his recent back-story with the drink.

Stevie, though obviously shocked at David's story, appears to be a little alarmed by the implications for her future relationship with him.

Oh dear, where is all going, I ask myself!

Luckily Lois is sitting here next to me on the sofa, watching all this with me, and she explains to me that this is actually a conversation, not about wines, but about so-called "sexual preferences".

Of course, I can see that that's obvious now, but why didn't I see that for myself!!!

And seemingly, David and Stevie's relationship seems to be still on track, which is heart-warming!