Sad News - Oldest sheep dies in cliff fall

Tuesday, 28 February 2012 08:43'Oldest sheep' dies in cliff fallBBC News - Highlands & Islands

A ewe thought to have been a contender for the title of world's oldest sheep has died after falling off a cliff.

An ear tag on the blackface ewe, nicknamed Methuselina, showed that it was 25 years and 11 months old.

In 2009, her owner John Maciver, of North Tolsta, Lewis, put her longevity down to her still having most of her teeth, allowing her to graze easily.

That same year the recognised holder of the world's oldest sheep title died at the age of 23.

Called Lucky, she died in a heatwave in Australia.

Mr Maciver said Methuselina had also met an unfortunate end.

He said: "The sad news is Methuselina is no more.

"She passed away and I wouldn't say peacefully. I found her at the bottom of a rock.

"She had gone over a cliff and met her demise that way at the grand old age of 25 years and 11 months."

Lucky raised by Delrae Westgarth set the Guinness record in 2007 and was a celebrity in her home town of Lake Bolac, near Melbourne.

The Polwarth-Dorchester cross was hand-reared from birth after being abandoned by her mother. She went on to have 35 offspring of her own.

Guinness World Records said that since Lucky's death it had been actively looking for a contender for world's oldest living sheep.

It was understood that Mr Maciver had not applied for the recognition for his ewe.

According to Guinness World Records, the oldest age recorded for a sheep so far was 28 years and 51 weeks.

The crossbred sheep was kept at Taliesin, near Aberystwyth in Wales.

The sheep gave birth to a healthy lamb in 1988 at the age of 28, after lambing successfully more than 40 times. She died in January 1989.

A spokeswoman said: "The latest oldest sheep living was Lucky, who died on November 2009.

"Since the death of Lucky, Guinness World Records has been actively looking for a contender to the title of 'oldest sheep living' any owner who wishes to make a claim can do it online at www.guinnessworldrecords.com."

Olympic Logo gets the Chop

The design for London Olympics 2012 logo cost £400000. Some unkind people have said it isn’t very good. Other have said their five year old child could have done better.

Perhaps it’s not too late to change it.  There've been plenty of alternative designs suggested.

'Holden the Front Page!'

The front page story in the Sun on Sunday concerned Amanda Holden. The front page of the Sun today (Mon) is about Amanda Holden. It's good to know that News Corporation still is prepared to cover the stories that really matter

Girl Guides-Membership Up

According to BBC News there's one girl who's joining the Girl Guides every 5 minutes. If anyone knows who she is would they please tell her to stop. It's putting an enormous strain on the administration.

I Can't Believe it's Not Jam

You've got to feel some sympathy for  Preserve maker Michelle McKenna whose in a pickle after the EU saidher apple spread doesn’t qualify as jam or conserve

Strict EU rules on food labelling have left a preserve maker in a quandary over what to call its British Bramley apples products.

Because the fruit does not yield as much sugar as strawberries or raspberries, Michelle McKenna’s Clippy’s range cannot be ‘jam’. However, her jars also do not qualify as fruit spread, conserve or reduced sugar jam. 

Michelle McKenna, who runs the business with fiance Paul Gorman, began selling her products – labelled ‘Jam’ – to outlets such as Harvey Nichols and Ocado in 2010.

But trading standards said last year that sugar levels were too low so she changed it to ‘Conserve’. Jams must have a minimum sugar content of 60g per 100g.

Clippy’s contains 52g to 53g – too much to fall into the reduced sugar jam category, while fruit spreads must be 100 per cent fruit.

''We've already had to re-label everything once at the behest of the EU and now we are being told that we are still wrong. What are we supposed to call our jams?'

Her Apple Pie Conserve; Apple, Rhubarb & Ginger Conserve; Apple & Blueberry Conserve and Apple & Strawberry Conserve contain more fruit than any High Street brand - but this is seen as a difficulty by exacting authorities.

'Our labels now say conserve, but that's not right, because they are supposed to say what sort of conserve it is. And we can't call it a jam.

I Cant Believe it's Not Jam

You have to feel sympathy for  Preserve maker Michelle McKenna is in a pickle after the EU tells her apple spread doesn’t qualify as either jam or conserve.

Strict EU rules on food labelling have left a preserve maker in a quandary over what to call its British Bramley apples products.

Because the fruit does not yield as much sugar as strawberries or raspberries, Michelle McKenna’s Clippy’s range cannot be ‘jam’.

However, her jars also do not qualify as fruit spread, conserve or reduced sugar jam.

Michelle McKenna, who runs the business with fiance Paul Gorman, began selling her products – labelled ‘Jam’ – to outlets such as Harvey Nichols and Ocado in 2010.

But trading standards said last year that sugar levels were too low so she changed it to ‘Conserve’. Jams must have a minimum sugar content of 60g per 100g, they said.

‘Clippy’s’ contains 52g to 53g – too much to fall into the reduced sugar jam category, while fruit spreads must be 100 per cent fruit.

Miss McKenna, 38, called for a little common sense, saying: ‘We don’t know what to call it and we’re in a real quandary.’

Shock! Horror! Scots MP gets drunk!

At   a time when our belief in politicians to have any sort of effective management over events is at such a low ebb, it’s reassuring to find that we can rely on our politicians in some areas. It’s good to know we can trust a Scots MP to get drunk and get into a fight.  

Eric Joyce, the Labour MP for Falkirk, has been arrested by the Metropolitan police on suspicion of assault. 


Police have confirmed that a man in his 50s was arrested around 11pm on Wednesday night after officers were called to a disturbance in the Strangers' Bar, a bar in the Houses of Parliament which is frequented by MPs and their guests.

Dramatic event still not happening on BBC Radio 5Live News!

The  5Live news at 11am this morning breathlessly announced that, regarding the appointment of a new English manager, ‘Harry Redknapp says he has still not heard any word from the FA’  

When BBC begins to report on events that haven’t happened you can see what a tremendous range of opportunities this opens up for BBC newsrooms. For news editors who are bored with merely reporting plain ordinary facts, this must be an exciting time when new vistas of possibility are opening up. 

St.Valentine's Day

The first mention of St. Valentine’s Day was in 1382 when Chaucer wrote:

‘For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make’.

["For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."]

Since then (the day in which lovers express their love for each other by sending flowers, confectionary, and greetings cards) the 14^th of February has become more commercial. Fellow ‘grumpies’ might despair when supermarket shelves suddenly present walls of pink greetings cards or see the price of cut flowers double over the days leading up to the 14^th.  In fact, Grumpies might lament for the loving sons and daughters who feel duty-bound to send ‘Mothers’ Day’ cards. They may despair at the approach of Hallowe’en that results in loads of crap stacked even higher on Tesco’s shelves.  

Perhaps these grumps should hesitate and think again. Surely we need to stimulate growth in British industry. The retail industry might lead the recovery if we added a few more days to celebrate.

For example, maybe we could commercialize St Andrew’s Day.  We could send tartan cards to each other or maybe we could buy and then nail a plastic haggis to our front door. How about plastic thistles in the window?

Surely it’s possible, with a little imagination, to dream up more ways for corporative industry to squeeze a bit more out of hard up consumers?

Love for Sale -Fluffy heart-shaped cushions piled high

Ken's Grumpy Blog: Ugly Car Challenge - Big Prizes to be Won!

Ken's Grumpy Blog: Ugly Car Challenge - Big Prizes to be Won!: Here are two of the ugliest cars on the road. Can you suggest any more unsightly vehicles? The Nissan Cube The Fiat ...

Ugly Car Challenge - Big Prizes to be Won!

 Here are two of the ugliest cars on the road. Can you suggest any more unsightly vehicles?    

1. The Nissan Cube
2. The Fiat Multipla