During First Minister's Question Time, the Tory Leader was first on his feet, looking for all the world like he'd just done a few rounds with Joe Calzaghe.

Sporting a large patch above his right eye, and a deep cut below the eye, I'm sure our man wasn't the only person in the public gallery wondering what fate had befallen the poor AM.

Even Rhodri Morgan seemed perturbed, asking "I thought it was the deputy first minister that had met Muhammad Ali?"

Somewhat tongue in cheek, Nick Bourne replied "I wish I had..." leaving most in the public gallery somewhat baffled as to what had actually occured.

Of course Tuesday was the Senedd's first day back in session after the summer recess, and it seemed the answer invoved neither boxing legends nor bar room brawls.

Mr Bourne, it transpired, had fallen over leaving the shower while on holiday.

We're waiting for the press release highlighting his concerns over slippy showers....

***

"Dear farmers, we thought you might like this," writes a friend...

A local farmer was checking his flock when a brand new BMW appears over the hill. The driver, a young man in a smart suit, Gucci shoes and sunglasses with an expensive tie, leans out and asks: "If I tell you how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one of them?"
The farmer, always keen for a wager, says: "Why not."

The yuppie whips out his computer notebook, connected to his mobile phone, surfs the internet for NASA and dials up a satellite navigation system for an exact fix on his location. He feeds this to another satellite which scans the area to produce an ultra high resolution picture.

The young man opens the photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and stored. He accesses a database and prints the results on his miniaturised laserjet printer, turns to the farmer and said "684."

"Blimey, you're right," says the farmer, who tells him to take a sheep. He watches the young man take an animal and stuff it in the boot then adds: "If I can tell you what your business is will you give me back my sheep?"

The young man agrees and the farmer tells him "You're a DEFRA official based in London."

"How did you guess?" asks the young man.

"You turn up here uninvited. You wanted to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are and you don't know a single thing about sheep.

"Now give me back my dog!"

Thanks for that Eirianwen Jones.

***

TALKING of officials, it was good to see a bit of people power putting the bureaucrats under pressure this week.

Planning officers looking at proposed LPG storage tanks in Llanfyllin say they have never had so many objections opposing a single application.

I find that hard to believe after all the uproar over windfarms but it's good to local people exercising their right to protest against something that is being imposed on them.

Well done to the people of Bron-y-Gaer housing estate, I don't think I'd want huge gas cylinders put next to my house either. I'm glad to see they have won the day, the idea seemed like a no-brainer to me!

***

I HAD to chuckle this week when I heard about Dai Chainey from Welshpool who grew a 14-inch tomato.

I'm sure someone will have grown a bigger tomato, but it was the fact that he told us he has had the hobby of growing tomatoes for 35 years, and is obviously an expert grower. But then admitted that he can't abide them!

I think I'll see if I can grow some rude-shaped or oversized beetroot – yuck, can't stand the stuff.