Poop-gate update

King of Edinburgh Castles?

Signs of spring in the road where the human grandparents live

You know I put a lot of effort into this blog, I really do. I show you photos of all the beautiful places I visit, I pose nicely and always try to look my most endearing. I think deeply about a wide range of topics and, with Gail's help, aim to write about them in well-formed, literate prose, working hard to make my posts both educational and entertaining.

I have to tell you, this week I am wondering if it is all worthwhile.

What prompts this disillusionment? I hear you ask.

The answer is simple.

Your reaction to Monday's post.

You see, it appears that my readers are not actually that interested in pictures of me and in what I have to say. No indeed, what it takes to attract a near record number of comments, I learn, is a couple of photos of dog poop decorated with an American flag.

Surely you can see how disheartening this is? What should I show you next? Sheep droppings? A 'country pancake'? Maybe the dog waste bins in the park?

Oh. Gail (not always the world's most sympathetic person) is saying, "Bertie, just pull yourself together. When faced with life's vicissitudes, the one thing you can choose is your attitude. Don't go round being all negative. It doesn't suit you one bit. You're sounding like Mango, for heavens sake. Let's see you bounce back."

So. Gather.

I want to thank my wonderful friends for all their brilliant comments on my blog. I love each and every one of them. And let's look on the bright side. How fun that you were so interested in our little local problem! Although the dog poop is still there is the alley, and the flags are looking bedraggled after heavy rain, there has at least been no escalation of the 'conflict', so it seems that an international incident has been averted. We suspect the fact that Stars and Stripes flags were used as poop markers is not an indicator of anti-American feeling, rather a random choice. We in this household would have been far more concerned had the poop been adorned with the St George's Cross.

I hope you like the two poo-free photos at the top of this post.

A most peculiar sight ...

NB Warning: best not read over breakfast.

We were taking a shortcut through a back alley in our neighbourhood.

First we saw this sign.

And then we saw several of these.

Weird, huh?

Dog poop - it's a gas!

Doggie pals, are you fed up of being thought a drain on our planet's resources?

Would you like to 'DO' something for the environment?

Then how about this for a fine idea from the Park Spark project?

You know how, when you go to the park, you take a human servant along and they will pick up any 'little messes' you leave behind and put them in a smelly old bin.

Well, what if, instead of a smelly old bin, your poo got fed into an 'anaerobic digester'? That's a fancy term for an underground container full of microbes which can transform your poop into methane gas and so produce renewable energy.

Here's how it's supposed to work:

The energy generated could be used to light the park at night. Or to fuel an ice-cream cart (just wishful thinking....)

I don't think that they have any of these systems up and running yet.

Spiffing wheeze though isn't it?

PS from Gail: Readers may not know that my day job is co-ordinating a project called MethaneNet, which aims to promote communication between methane researchers. It's amazing what you come across in the line of duty....Meanwhile, Bertie is being rested up this week after Sunday's exertions.