Peter Rhodes: How much patriotism is too much?

AND suddenly it's over. Another Devon holiday tucked away in the memory, another bottle of scrumpy slowly turning to cider vinegar in the fridge. Not that you'd notice the difference.

AN aged cider drinker once told me the secret of enjoying old scrumpy is to add enough Ribena to take away the taste. At least I think that's what he was saying.

DELIGHTED to see that the American spell-checker with this computer does not recognise "scrumpy."

DR John Bradshaw, an academic and author of Cat Sense, says the cat's instinct for hunting could be wiped out by tinkering with its DNA to produce cats that don't kill. Dr Bradshaw admits the process would "take away a bit of the catness of the cat." While he's at it, any chance of creating a cat that can manage to get itself on the right side of a door?

THE eagerness of humans to tinker with animal species is shown in the nationwide cull of the ruddy duck. Originally from America, it was introduced into the UK and developed the unacceptable habit of flying to Spain in the hope of sex. It mated with Spanish ducks and created hybrids. So Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, decided to shoot every one of the 5,000 ruddy ducks in the UK . A couple of years ago only a few dozen were left. On holiday in Devon last week we thought we saw one, with its distinctive chestnut flanks and blue bill. I dare say a civic-minded holidaymaker would contact Defra to arrange a positive identification and shooting. But it occurs to me that thousands of British humans fly off to Spain every summer in the hope of sex, and no-one suggests shooting them. What's sauce for the tourists should be sauce for the duck.

PATRIOTISM is a bit like whisky. Too little and you don't feel the effects. Too much and you're ill. At the Last Night of the Proms some years ago, everyone was merrily singing Land of Hope and Glory – except for one red-faced, frothy-mouthed maniac in the front row who appeared to be screaming the words. Too much, dear boy. I was reminded of him this week when the Women's Institute annual meeting in Brighton ended unhappily. In celebration of the Queen's 90th, the audience were happy to sing Happy Birthday and the national anthem. But when it came to belting out Rule Britannia with some members in union-jack costumes, other members thought it was all a bit Ukippy. They remained seated, for which they were harangued online and ordered to "enter into the British way of being British." I'm with the sitters on this. The British way is – or rather, was – not to make a fuss. Fancy dress is for foreigners and I've yet to see a WI member who looks good in a union jack. Too much, dear ladies.

I ASKED for sightings of hotel guests and others clad in pyjamas. A reader writes: "Around here we get women putting the rubbish out in their pyjamas, at midday. Recently in Telford I saw a woman mowing the lawn while wearing pyjamas." Not union-jack pyjamas, one hopes?

JEREMY Corbyn says staying in the EU will protect workers' rights. Question: if workers' rights are so wonderful in Europe, why are the French always on strike?