As I stepped over the threshold into the warm night air, I was greeted with an urgent throaty call. It happened again. I turned to look from where the salutation came. Looking appealingly at me, from the field opposite, was a shorn sheep. I acknowledged the ruminant with a nod, it seemed happy with that.

This plain looking sheep was in the field with two drop dead gorgeous friends of the same ilk, all smartly dressed up in their party gear. Why on earth did this one want to attract me?  

What a shiny, lovely and luscious cabbage it was! We saw it lying on our grass, just beyond the six foot chain link fence that separates our garden from the path where the farmer passes with tractors and carts. S/he must have thrown it over the fence; it was undoubtedly, a high quality cabbage. The cabbage evoked memories of times long gone.

The chain link fence stops farm animals from wandering in to visit us. Before it was erected, the hens used to leave us their eggs in not quite secret places. A goat or two would curiously wander up to the pram in which the baby slept and snuffle at the blankets and the baby. I have memories of superwoman, who had never been near a goat in her life, taking firm hold of the rope or strap attached to the collar of the goat and take the animal for a walk in the opposite direction, chatting to it, while hubby, anxious to protect his offspring, was still jumping up and down, arms waving everywhere and shouting at the goat to frighten it off. This athleticism was worthy of Olympic status. For some unknown reason, the sheep nor their lambs ever paid us a visit.

There are still hens on the farm, Sheep and lambs. Occasionally there are young cattle for minding, sometimes also for fattening up before they move on. The farmer no longer keeps goats. And there is the chain link fence to keep the animals within the boundaries of the farm.

I peeled off five superb, large cabbage leaves and prepared them for our meal. The juiciness and the flavour all lived up to expectations. It is so big, the cabbage doesn't look as if it has been touched

I listened today, in amazement, to a caller on a radio phone-in programme, letting the world know how badly she's been driving for too many years; she thought she was a great driver till she got her motorbike, took some training to use it and realised she needed to be aware of other drivers, cyclists and traffic conditions.

Horror of horrors, the caller couldn't remember the regulations on driving speeds on particular roads. She didn't mention road conditions, distances and speeds. It doesn't say much for the instruction she received nor how the hell she passed her original driving test. Was she so drop dead gorgeous that the examiner was mesmerised...it makes you wonder.

On the basis of this personal experience in more mature life, (She didn't sound elderly, just a bit divorced from reality) she advised the Driving Standards Agency enquiry into improved driving training, that tests should be re-sat periodically, meaning frequently. Thank heavens the majority of drivers are not on that woman's planet where ever that is, nor living too near where she might be treating us to her wonderful driving skills.

Yes, the Highway Code has been added to as roads develop, usage alters and more symbols, signs and regulations appear. Surely, keeping ourselves informed is a feature of responsible driving. This aspect, I know, will vary between individual drivers. But not to know the different speeds on controlled roads, not to be aware of other road users, is beyond belief.

On the basis of what I heard, it seems to me,that more attention needs to be given to the standards and skills of driving instructors in the first instance, then how the skills are applied to teaching and practice.

Did you hear the erudite Eddie Mair on the PM prog tonight? There he was all set to emit Ed Balls over the airwaves and the wrong report was transmitted. "Okay", he said "this should be him, fingers crossed."

A policewoman called round to our house tonight. She was all kitted up with a bullet proof vest and chunky things on her belt it was best not to know about. No, it was not a kisso - or strip-o-gram call, this policewoman was for real.

Taking the short cut, hubby arrived at the boat club building, found himself in the line of fire and also saw that plastic bottle targets had been set up on some rocks.  He ducked into the boat house and called the police. Shortly after, the beach started to fill with walkers out with their pets and families out with the children who are still on their summer holidays from school.

After wondering what season were in yesterday, today has been pleasantly warm. I should have worn yesterday's clothes today and vice-versa.

Lunchtime I made a salad. Hubby had trouble forking up some of the green leaves. No wonder, they were part of the design on the salad bowl!  

I've been completing a complex form for the last two days, it feels like longer, a lot longer. By the end of it, too fed up to edit it as well, I began to think I knew what it might be like to write up a business case, an academic proposal or a load of bunkum.    

The re-cycled,(horrid off-white) print paper I bought, described as the weight of paper I like, is proving to be crap. There's too much waste. Several sheets slide through the printer at a time and it sticks in clumps in my printer, then I have to rescue the print run and save the printer. It's not even safe to print one page! If alternative manufacture can't come up to scratch I won't be wasting my hard earned pennies on it in future. I've got more unusable scrap paper than I now know what do with.  

Tonight, I am going to relax, maybe with a tipple, and read my much neglected book.

Can anyone tell me what this is please? I know from the suffix it's a .exe file, but what are Bonjour Services and what are/is mDNSR?

Bonjour/Services/mDNSR/ Responder.exe

Possible clues:

This flashes up once or twice during my time working at the computer, first after I have booted up also when I revive the computer from standby mode. At present, I have this .exe file blocked. My firewall tells me the status is 'listen'. The protocol seems to be TCP though I have seen a description of UDP, (whatever that is).

My mouse is still missing.

Two long distance calls later, the shop finds its stock list is wrong. Thirty-three mice in stock, since I ordered on the 21st July 2008, should have read and should read now, zero mice.

A very nice man told me the sad story but the good news is, I am being recompensed for my disappointments and a mouse has been located in Edinburgh and should be with me very soon.

Well, the summer weight bed covers that saw the light of day for the first time in two years, about three weeks ago, are likely to be short lived and stuffed back in a bag to make room for warmer covers. I have shivered the last few nights.

The argument has been between whether to don warmer night clothes (fleece night wear doesn't sit comfortably in my psyche in August)or use heavier bed covers. So far this week, the bed socks have been dusted off and the bed has been pre-warmed. For heavens sake, what next, it's not yet Autumn. Then again, we only get three seasons here, sometimes just two and a half.

I did say we were using heavy bed covers for two years, so maybe three weeks of a lighter experience is par for the course... is it?

THIS WEEK:

Listening to the author Antonia Fraser this week on the radio; she discussed her Catholic faith then talked of her six children. Had she wanted a large family, the presenter asked. "I never thought about it" came the reply and she added "it wasn't planned."

I chased up an order yesterday and was advised it was likely to arrive today (Saturday). It did. I opened the padded envelope, took out the lovely inviting shiny box that pictured my little mouse. When I opened it, apart from a sheet of instructions, the box was empty!

What a lovely,(if a bit cloudy) morning we had. This afternoon it poured down with rain, the heavens literally opened. The local Gala starts tonight with the crowning of the Gala queen and the endorsing of her attendants. It continues to be damp but may not be wet enough to dampen spirits.

Many years ago, not so very long after Barry George was convicted of the
T V presenter, Jill Dando's murder, I went to a talk, given as part of a science week. The speaker was a most eminent forensic scientist. I have never forgotten what he said. The speaker said he did not believe Barry George was guilty; why? Because the forensic science evidence presented at the trial, was in his view, suspect, because of its insufficiency. If George had committed the murder, there would be a lot more than one particle, which would not be so easy to hide and dispose of. He then outlined what he would have expected to see. It was clear this forensic scientist had never been asked to state his expert views at a public court hearing.

At the time of Barry George's conviction, all those years ago, I did not know what to make of the case and the accused. All I can say is, I am not surprised at today's verdict. It has taken a long time to quash his conviction.

The case is now thrown open and the question is, who did commit the murder of the TV presenter who co-hosted the Crime Watch programme?

Imagine...imagine receiving an email telling you that you've nearly reached your credit limit with Paypal, a facility that you may use once in a blue moon. A bit of investigation revealed that without attaching current account or savings account details to the payment system being used, you could not lift the low limit that exists.

The email was good, it even addressed me as Paypal says it does with its patrons. The section tabs were all there and further information on what the request meant. There was one thing missing and that was the trusted site logo which usually sits at the end of contact mail.

After a short fizz, I took stock of my position. There was nothing wrong with my payment method, no limitations other than those I agreed to.

What frustrated me even more, was the difficulty getting into the security section and into my personal profile on the Paypal site. I tried many times. After using different browser windows and different browsers, I got there eventually, and sent the email to the 'spoof' department for them to examine.

The reply this morning confirmed it was a phishing email and that Paypal were working to disable it. This sort of problem generates paranoia, and I am now wondering

A). If the email I got last night checking if it was me changing my password is genuine? And;

b).Is the confirmation email I got from the security department today, bug free?

Hubby got a different and more obvious phishing Paypal email last night, as well. There is likely to be an avalanche of them, so be careful!