Edwards insisted that lessons had been learned and that in 2023 National Highways had carried out a full soil survey and a three-month tree analysis.

This revealed they had planted the wrong species in the wrong place, and provided valuable lessons about the most appropriate season in the year to plant a tree, he said.

As someone who has been involved in planting schemes, I can say that this is absolutely bog-standard basic stuff. There is no excuse for this at all. No-one employed as any kind of ecologist should have got this wrong. People should be sued for this at the very minimum.

A few things off the top of my head:

• I made a particularly tasty shakshuka over the weekend.
• I saw a stoat leading her kits nose to tail, so that they looked like a single, bounding, furry snake as they crossed the track a few days back. I have only seen stoats doing that twice before in my life.
• in Forge of Empires, which I have recently started playing, my defending PvP army successfully defeated a challenger: the first time that has happened, and it left me feeling ridiculously happy.
• Albert Finney and Sean Connery' interaction in the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express
• My partner's pleasure at completing a 1940s style knitted top. It has turned out extremely well.

Since the age of 30? Only when on demos/direct actions - or when patrolling the nature reserves where I have worked. In those cases, since I have had NVDA and de-escalation training etc, I have pretty much relied on that: so remain passive, smile, speak, find common ground, use the drama triangle and all the rest.

To be honest, even before the age of 30 (as an adult), as far as I can remember my only real confrontations as such have been in the same or similar situations.

Obviously, I have ended up being dragged off and arrested a few times at the direct actions, and have been hit a couple of times and also deliberately run down by an offroad motorbike on a reserve. On that occasion, I didn't get much opportunity to 'confront' the guy, really though, beyond diverting his attention from my volunteers.

It is about dealing with damaged or diseased trees mostly, or just reducing the tops to make them safe and so on.

I spent my time climbing trees then hanging from them on ropes while playing with chainsaws. Very enjoyable and satisfying work, but extremely physical.

Sounds like you should adopt an Official Birthday in a couple of weeks and get a re-do then.

Anyway, I hope it gets better and happy unofficial birthday such as it is.

I have had a lie in and did a bit of gardening. I'll get out for a walk somewhere or another after lunch and maybe settle in for some reading this evening.

• M (1931)
• Duck Soup (1933)
• Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
• The Third Man (1949)
• Twelve Angry Men (1955)
• The Wages of Fear (1955)

Going into town on Sat: a few errands and meeting some friends for a pub lunch. Maybe going to see Poor Things at a local cinema with my SO in the evening.

On Sunday yet another attempt to get some paintings up on the wall. It has been months and we still haven't for one reason or another. I'm going settle in for some reading otherwise.

We used to have a coal fire when I was growing up, so routinely in the winters.

Movie - Titanic. It has simply never appealed.

TV - any popular reality show. They are just not my thing.

The closest to me AFAIK is Sealand, but I'd rather not, tbh. I do actually have a passport from Waveland, declared as part of a Greenpeace campaign some years back and based on Rockall, but also not too appealing as a long-term residence.

At one site that I lived and worked on for several years, we discussed declaring unilateral independence on several occasions. It was a shingle spit nature reserve and seemed a promising location, but we never did. Well, not so far.

Overall, the Free Borough of Llanrwst looks a good bet. I have been there and definitely enjoy the area.

This is an idea that has been around for very long time. Plato used the Ring of Gyges to talk about it - which went on to inspire Wells' The Invisible Man - and influenced Tolkien among others.

Que sorpresa!