Anglesey Abbey Daffodils

A few weeks ago it was seas of snowdrops. These are now past their best and it seems there are daffodils in flower all over the place. There are always great shows of these at nearby Anglesey Abbey. Another 2 weeks and they will all look superb.

Cambridge Bikes

Cambridge is famous as a university town filled with bikes! This shot, just across the road from Trinity College, is typical. There are a lot of bikes in Cambridge. In the summer months it is filled with foreign students on bikes, most who are lost and not used to being on the left of the road.

Dalham

This is a "chocolate box" village, not far from Newmarket, with lots of well tended thatched cottages and gardens. We went there for a walk yesterday. The daffodils are coming out but many of the snowdrops are now past their best.

Northern Ireland Elections

One thing is certain - I am no politician. Also, I have not been closely following what led to the breakdown of the power sharing alliance in Northern Ireland.

As an "outsider" looking in I think far more things unite its people than divide. It is a staggeringly beautiful place - better than Eire in my view - and I just hope that after the elections today, the parties can find a way to work together for the common good. Sectarianism is so yesterday. Break down the old barriers and work hard for all the people. If you fall back to sectarianism, you have only yourselves to blame.

Catholic? Protestant? Who cares? What matters is the best for Northern Ireland and all its people.

Spitsbergen

Every 2nd Tuesday, I go to the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge for a U3AC talk on the Arctic and Antarctic. Today, the talk was about Spitsbergen high up in the Arctic. Very interesting too.

We are very lucky in Cambridge having such good speakers/lecturers and a wide choice of subjects. Last term I studied the Anglo-Saxons!  This was very far removed from electronics. It was enjoyable nonetheless.

It is so good to learn with no exams, no notes (unless you want to) - in fact learning about things that interests you for pure pleasure.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitsbergen

Landwade walk

Each February we do a walk at Landwade, UK. It is rare to see anyone. There were plenty of snowdrops and aconites out, but very few daffodils yet. As you can see, there is an old church there, which is usually locked sadly. This is a lovely short walk.

Exchange rates

It is my view that the Euro will lose value this year so the UK Pound will buy more Euros. Of course, I could be entirely wrong! The reasons for thinking this are:

• Greek debt is still a big issue and there will be fewer nations able to bail them out.
• Several nations are disillusioned with the Euro project and are worried by totally free movement within the EU.
• Several nations are in favour of tariff-free borders to trade but are nervous of ever closer integration.
• I think the UK will show the world it can succeed outside of the EU.

No, several things point to an improved exchange rate. As for the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen I am less clear.