badgers, granny bashers, baths

The badger cull. Oh, the badger cull. I guess if you live in GB you might have heard that, despite licences being issued over the last few weeks in Gloucestershire and Somerset, it seems the Government is not yet wholly committed to going ahead. Turns out there are more badgers than they estimated, and the body-bounty will be too expensive. And – just in case you ever wonder if all those e-petitions that cram your inbox actually make a difference – yes, they do. 150,000 people signed the anti-badger-cull one, which means that at least and for the first time there will now be a debate on the matter in the House of Commons. Let's not give up!

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We didn't have TV when I was growing up, and I didn't have one either as an adult till moving in with TM, and we've watched it maybe half a dozen times in the four years I've been here. Somewhere along the line though as a family when I was young we all watched Monty Python, and it was just wonderful to spend half an hour the other day with my dad (and my sister, who's just moved reluctantly down from Scotland to be nearby – the nearby wasn't reluctant but the leaving Scotland was; and who then on arrival promptly broke her right, driving and writing, arm), who has vascular dementia, all chuckling (and sometimes roaring) with laughter at the DVD I'd found to play at his place: the Pet Shop sketch (remember the ex-parrot, 'shagged out after a long squawk'?), the Lumberjack Song and Hell's Grannies. (Now there are some role models! There are the motorbikes [yeah], and there is the anarchists' symbol graffitied alongside the slogan 'MAKE TEA NOT LOVE'...)

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Please indulge me for a little longer while I bang on (ha! Sad pun!) about my heart. Once I'm through the tests and the dilemma of What To Do re all the allopathic medicines I'm being strongly invited to take, and have stopped being driven by the kind of fear I spend my life counselling others not to be driven by, and have, of course, recovered by all the means I counsel others to try: good diet, herbs to strengthen and support and relax, acupuncture from my dear friend, rest, things to make the heart smile, scented candle-lit baths, yoga and meditation (naturellement), no stress etc – once I'm there I'll shut up, I promise. Oh and I meant to add to that list 'extra exercise'. Do you think that, in addition to dog-walking and dancing, a new commitment to that rare activity, vigorous cleaning of the bath, counts as 'brisk exercise'?