Young swan

Young swan, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Keeping up with the winter theme, here is a scene from my cycle rode last Sunday, when I disturbed a young swan from his very comfortable position. I had to be a bit careful as I was very cose and swans can be a bit aggressive and this one had been hissing at me, anyway, I wanted a photo of him in motion.

Today, I had the joy of seeing a small flock of redwings by the side of the footpath from the station to the office, which path is still covered in hard packed snow. There si an area to teh right which ahs been cleared of snow and which has attracted the birds. I had seen chaffinches there on Monday and , today, I saw the redwings, which are winter visitors to Holland (as well as England). A delightful sight.

A busy day at work, spemnding most of the time on one conference call after the other, a we go around our offices trying to get a feeling about whether we will make our numbers this month. Bad weather is good for us and we are hoping for a quick thaw which leads to burst pipes and lots of insurabce claims. As usual, it is the UK which is doing the best out of the current bad weather, with colder temperatures and poor maintenance leading to many burst pipes and more work for our people. Unfortunately, the UK isn't part of 'my' region at work...

But who would want to live in the UK? There, people are advised NOT to tidy the snow in front of their houses. Why? because if they do, the lawyers might get them with a claim if someone has an accident. Here, in Holland, the Prime Minister called on people to actually tidy the snow in fromnt of their houses to make it sfaer for everyone. Much more sensible.

Mind you, he is under fire at the moment for having gotten Holland involved in the illegal US/UK war against Iraq. A real independent report was published yesterday which WAS very critcial of the Prime Minister including his lack of leadership. The Cabinet (his fourth) might fall as a result. Far more healthy than what is going on the other side of the North Sea...