Some scenes from an afternoon bike ride through forest and orchard, and a pit stop at my favourite local café, where good news was on offer.
A list of good news from around the world was displayed on the board on the pavement outside the café, including:
- Mexico has banned glyphosate (a broad-spectrum herbicide, used in weed killers) and GM corn.
- Kazakhstan has abolished the death penalty.
- Electric fishing is banned in Europe.
- Herrings communicate through passing gas (good news? Or just funny?)
- A European law has just been passed against the obsolescence of smart phones and washing machines, which should now have a repairability rating.
- In the state of Virginia, in the US, capital punishment has been abolished. It is the first southern state in the US to do so.
- Species previously thought extinct are reappearing, including a species of turtle, wild dog and frog.
It’s a lefty, liberal, environmentally friendly kind of neighbourhood, and I love it for that. I haven’t fact-checked the items on the good news list, but it certainly added an extra touch of sweetness to my latte and crepe with lemon and sugar.
The Nostalgic Gardener 
I love this post! I feel like I got to have some vicarious travel, verdant landscape, an excellent coffee and some good news for a pleasant change! Thank you!!
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You’re welcome Lisa 🙂
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Good news is always welcome, as is a café with lemon crepes!
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You definitely have a lovely area in which to ride a bike! What a clever idea the cafe had, and a sure-fire way to brighten the day by providing focus on the good!
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It really does one good to focus on the good!
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Good new plus crepes along with a beautiful bike ride, what else do you need for a lovely day? I was particularly delighted to hear about the herrings.
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I know, that’s so funny, I need to look that story up!
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I want to come and live with you – can you adopt me please 😉 Lovely photos from your bike ride. I wish I had a cafe like that near me!
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Consider yourself adopted 😀 There are some lovely things about living here, this café being one of them, though I do miss things from ‘home’ too – fish and chips by the seaside…
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Oh well we can do an exchange – I live in Liverpool so not too far from the beach! Plenty of fish and chips here 😎
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Excellent, best of both worlds 😉
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From one lefty, liberal, environmentally friendly individual to another, that is a lot of good news. Re: the Virgina story…recently genetic evidence from a knife that was available at the time of trial but ignored by the prosecution revealed that a man (African American) was executed wrongfully as his DNA was not on the knife but that of another person. With all that is going on here in the past year or two, that was not surprising although very disheartening.
Every once in a while a previously thought to be extinct animal comes back from the dead like that turtle. It is such a big world out there and some things just stay under the radar for a long time.
Thanks for sharing all that “bonnes nouvelles” and the lush countryside of your bike ride, Sel.
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Those stories of innocent people wrongly convicted and then killed for it are just horrifying…but it’s good news that Virginia at least has turned the page. It’s so encouraging that good things are happening despite all bad stuff, and that our hopes and efforts are not in vain!
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I hope you enjoyed your bike ride but most of all, I was so happy to read about all that good news…. (after so long) 🙂
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Oh delightful selwa what a great way to see the world around us very funny about herrings human gas also?!😁🧿🚲🥰
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I need to visit that cafe.
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What a good idea for news! Thank you for sharing it 🙂
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What a lovely post – really captured the place.
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Thank you 😊
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What a lovely idea. We need all the good news we can get! Looks like a lovely forest to ride through too. 😃
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