Bramblings

    You may have thought that the fireworks & attendant celebrations this past weekend were exclusive to the US.  Rubbish!  They were for us!  We celebrated our twenty-seventh wedding anniversary last Friday.  H had the day off.  We had several plans.

Pln A:- veg all day.  H has been leaving 6.30am, returning 5pm, or later, four or five days per week since Easter.
Pln B: - Concert in Chichester - Parnassian Ensemble (recorders, violin, piano) & a meal.
Pln C:- do something else!

    Saturday we visited friends to help celebrate their toddler's second birthday - & to catch up with other friends so visiting.  Very pleasant.

    Sunday was Church, which is always good.  Our pastor is doing a sponsored cycle ride from Land's End to John o'Groats to raise money for Open Doors - an organisation which supports persecuted Christians.  He was still down in Cornwall, in the rain, day 2.  He'll be in Somerset by tonight, also in the rain, & in Wales tomorrow.  Rather him than me!

    Then I cooked a steak dinner, with the first of the runner beans from the garden & made a strawberry & vanilla cheesecake for dinner, as a continuation of the anniversary celebrations.

    Today we were hoping to get to another of the Chichester Festivities concerts - percussion this time.  But the rain, which has been holding off for the past three weeks, has finally arrived, in force.  So we'll see how long it lasts.  Ah well, at least the water butt will refill.  w00t!

    Come to think of it, the weather almost won the Men's Singles Final at Wimbledon last night too - forcing them to play, on & off, right 'til 9.15pm.  Anyone for floodlit tennis?  Maybe it's time the All England Tennis Club got a cover for the Centre Court that they could whip across when it rains, this being England it will rain, that covers the court, the spectators & allows the games to proceed?  We even got a British Winner - in the girls' section.  She's 14.  Poor kid, she'll be next to shoulder the "burden of expectation"!  Not that I am bothered anyhow.  Maybe now there'll be something interesting on BBC2 of an evening?  Oh, the Silly Season is starting, maybe there won't be.  Pooh!

    Meanwhile the G8 Summit is on in Japan.  Let's hope they really look at the impact of Global Warming & how to reduce, or at least slow it, & also remember their promises made in response to the Make Poverty History campaign (which was us, the people who elected them), rather than getting hung up on the price of fuel.

    Ooh look, the sun's just come out.  Maybe we'll try some Culture in Chichester after all.  Posh yoghurt, anyone?

Current Location:	Chichester, I hope!
Current Mood:	cheerful

    According to research done in California, as many as 45% women in their nineties may suffer from Dementia, compared to 20% men in their nineties.   Which seems to be a bit of an unfair divide, but then, life is unfair.

    The main reason for telling you this, Dear Reader(ess), is so that you can do something about it now.  Older women are more prone to stroke and heart disease - part of which is genetic, part diet controllable.  Time to lose weight/stop gaining more?  The report also suggested that women who had received higher education were much less likely to develop dementia than those will a lower level of education.  Of course, back when these nonagenarians were young most people left school at 15 or so, married at 18-20 & the women promptly started having children - which takes its toll on body and brain.  Raising them ditto, wonder whether the researchers thought of this & factored it into their findings?

    Either way, if you're still in school, girls, pay attention & stick with it.  If, as in my case, school is but a distant memory, try doing something to stimulate your brain - learn a new language, try an Open University course, mistress a new skill or several, join a debating club - I said debate, reasoned arguments, not a fight!  Just keep the ol' grey cells active.  Seems like the Romans were right - mens sana in corpore sano & all that.  A healthy mind in a healthy body.  Going to the gym/exercising isn't enough.  We also have to exercise the muscles between our ears, the thinking muscles.  So switch off the TV, unless it's something thought provoking, & go read a book or play chess.

    Yes, well.  I try to keep the leetle grey cells occupied, the diet isn't too bad - plenty of fruit & veg, some from the garden, olive oil, fish, not too much red meat, & lay off the doughnuts!  Weight gain due to depression is another matter.  But I'm well now, & attempting to tackle it, again!

    Around 130 million people now live in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in what are called low elevation coastal zones, which comprise coastal regions that are less than 10m above average sea level.  I empathise with them, most of Portsmouth is less than 10m above sea level as well.  Mind you, most people in Portsmouth could afford to move if they had to, & our government would do something to provide.  However poor we might be here very few locally have only the clothes they're wearing.

    For that matter, if nothing is done it is predicted that about 45 million people in India could become "climate migrants", & that's just India.  So they won't just be 'poor them suffering over there'.  They'll be richer & poorer them wanting to come here too.  So whether from humanitarian reasons, or racist reasons, it'll pay us to help them.  I dunno, it comes to something when one can argue racism to motivate people to help other people who are/will be in trouble!!!

Current Location:	At home - knitting, shopping, cooking, gardening
Current Mood:	Praise the Lord!

    There now.  Something for the real Adrenalin Junkie - free-fall kayaking over waterfalls in exotic locations.

    Meanwhile the annual campaign to stop young men (& women) jumping off Southsea Pier (& other locations) into the sea continues.  Around eight weeks ago (the hot spell in May) a young man ran up the pier, pulled off his t-shirt & leaped from the railing into 1m sea - breaking his back.  Only because there were other, more sensible, people around did he not drown.

    His family (& the young man) agreed to widespread publicity in an attempt to deter other 'tombstoners'.  Last Saturday, when it was Hot, a lad leaped off the pier into shallow water, & was later taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries.

    Strikes me that no matter what warnings are put up some people will still do stupid things.  & expect everyone else to pick up their pieces.  Maybe even sue someone for not stopping their act of stupidity - for all their anthem may have previously been "I'm going to do what I want to do!"*

    The difference is the kayakers are rich enough to be able to afford trips to exotic locations seeking their thrills.  Wonder whether they've also thought that these places often have Rather Poor healthcare facilities?  Doubt it. 

    Local thrill-seeking tombstoners evidently haven't thought much either.  They're young, they're immortal.  Accidents always happen to someone else.  They're selfish.  They're thoughtless.  They're sometimes drunk.  They're occasionally accident or mortality statistics!

    *A theme familiar to parents of toddlers & teenagers alike.  Sometimes they grow out of it, despite 'Society's' encouragement to them not to.

Current Location:	Near the seaside
Current Mood:	Amazed

    Oh look, the US have finally removed Nelson Mandela from their Terror list!  Only nearly twenty years after he became a widely recognised representative of his people*.   Mind you, watching coverage of the 90th Birthday concert last Friday evening I was remembering when ANC activities in South Africa were reported by the BBC as terrorist attacks - this was before the IRA really got started in The Troubles.  Truly one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

    *Yes, I know, he was representing his (black) people as an ANC member, by the late 80s even white regimes were 'recognising' him as a potential leader.

    I am always encouraged to see that one who was treated so badly: - beaten, denied basic Human Rights, imprisoned 27 years - hard labour, etc  has turned out to be so wise, forgiving & willing to move on.  It can be done.  Revenge isn't everything.  He and Archbishop Tutu are examples of good African leaders.  Goodness knows, we don't get to hear about many.  Hmmm, how much of that is cos of the 'Good News is no News' bias of the media?

    Writing of Bad News - how the BBC got into Burma to report the aftermath of the cyclone.  Of course, Burmese survivors are still having to cope with the aftermath - two months on, attempting to rebuild, & the oppressive government.  That's on top of living in what most of us would term poverty.

I was also rather wondering about Laura Trevellyan's 'portable satellite'!  Did she also take a portable satellite launcher with her?

    Right, gotta go deliver a letter.  Y'all have a good day now!

Current Location:	On me bike!
Current Mood:	cheerful

    The trouble with having democratic votes on things is that sometimes the voters give the 'wrong' answer.  See the initial presidential election in Zimbabwe, also the Irish referendum on the new EU constitution.  Quite what the EU are going to do about ratifying it . . .  Particularly now that the Polish president has said that with the Irish result it is pointless for him to ratify the treaty!

    Of course, the other, more usual, problem with democracy, as practised here, is that too many voters just can't be arsed to actually get out & vote.  At which point I repeat, if only 20-30% of the electorate are bothering to vote then someone's vote, if they do bother, will actually carry more weight, proportionally.

    Where have all the bees gone?  Twelve million of them were on a lorry which tipped over in Canada.  As Richard Duplain, vice president of the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association, said, "You certainly don't want to go walking through a field of disoriented, agitated and wet honey bees."  It isn't at all certain from the article whether they were trying to save the bees, or merely prevent them from flying off & causing mayhem, though as it was raining when the accident occurred maybe they had a little more time to think about it!

    Things are starting to improve in Baghdad.  And  about time too!  Goodness only knows it's been bad enough, particularly since W decided that America had 'won' the war.  Nice to see that the peace looks as if it might be beginning to be won as well, & high time too!

    Back to Zimbabwe - Tesco has decided to stop trading with it "while the political crisis persists".  Considering the purchasing power of the supermarket chains (£1 million for Tesco alone) this may just have more effect than all the political repudiation etc put together.  Mind you, knowing how various supermarket chains try to screw commodities from their producers at the lowest possible prices, maybe it won't!  Though a representative said Tesco was looking at ways to support Zimbabwean suppliers in other ways.

    And Finally, a personal note.  I was eating my breakfast croissant on Sunday when a chunk came off one of my teeth, middle lower left molar, tongue side, for those interested in details.  Croissant!  Now if it had been my more usual muesli I'd have understood.  Ah well.  I visited our dentist (yes, we have one.  There are advantages to living in an area for donkey's years) late yesterday afternoon & got it all x-rayed, drilled & filled.  I wasn't sure afterwards whether my legs felt a bit wobbly as a result of the drilling or cos I'd cycled there - against the wind, of course!  Either way I was glad I'd made the tea before I went.  I'd been advised to wait til gone seven that evening before eating, so was hungry.  Lamb stew.  Very nice too!

    Y'all have a good day & enjoy the sunshine, if you have it, cos tomorrow it might just rain.  Will it be enough to refill the water butt, that's what I want to know?

Current Location:	As usual
Current Mood:	Praise the Lord!

    Surprise, surprise, Robert Mugabe is again President of Zimbabwe.

    Apparently oil is trading at around $142 barrel, which is Very Expensive. 

    I think Exam Season is, largely, over now, bar the results. 

    And Finally - this year's Glastonbury Festival was, largely, dry.

    So, is this layout better for your LJ Flist?  I'm interested.  Also off to peg out the washing.  It hasn't rained (not real rain) for going on three weeks now.  Gotta dry washing while the sun shines.  Y'all have a good day now!

Current Location:	Pegging Out - the washing
Current Mood:	cheerful

    You know the paradox, someone invents a time machine, goes back into history & causes the death of someone.  They then cease to exist as said someone would, had they lived, have gone on to become the time machine user's ancestor.

    Try this scenario.  LOL!

Current Location:	'K, I'm off to do the shopping, honest!
Current Mood:	amused

    There's an 'election' being held in Zimbabwe today - with the choice of one candidate, & the chance of getting beaten up if you don't vote.  I heard a clip from a Robert Mugabe speech last night.  He said that he, & his country, had no quarrel with ordinary British people, just our government.

    Well, Mr President, this is one Ordinary British Person who has problems with you, the way you're running your country into the ground, the way your doing anything to cling onto power, the way you're encouraging the police force & army to go around brutalising anyone who so much as breaths the wrong way.  Ian Smith was  Wrong.  Robert Mugabe is Wrong too. 

    What kind of idea of Black Majority Rule is he giving the rest of the world?  Cos the way things are going it very much looks as if black people CANNOT rule themselves democratically.  The appearance, from Zimbabwe & other some African states, is that the old Chief system comes in & the country descends into brutality, faction fighting, tribal warfare, starvation etc (& that's without having the climate turn against them).  Which is what the White Supremacists predicted.  Congratulations, Zanu PF!   View from the 'inside' here.

    Now I know that black Africans are perfectly capable of ruling themselves (just can't think of examples at the moment), particularly if various outside 'interests' don't interfere too much - cos usually they're interested in keeping the government destabilised so they can make fat profits!  It would be nice to see it happening, & get that reported in the news occasionally.  I also know that white folks are just as capable of running their countries into the ground with inter-'tribal' violence - see the Balkans, Northern Ireland (though things are much better there now), bits of the former USSR . . .   So it's a human thing, not a race thing.

    What I don't understand is what people have against wind turbines.  I think they look rather elegant, & a line of them across the top of Portsdown Hill would help generate power for Portsmouth as well as brightening the skyline.  Goodness knows it's windy enough up there.  They'd look a whole lot better than some of the other stuff up there too - MOD establishments, pylons etc.

    The NIMBY attitude of some amazes me.  Maybe if they were offered the choice of wind turbines near them or electricity being rationed - black outs - they'd change their minds.  There was plenty of outrage & opposition in the 1930s when electricity pylons started striding across the landscape, but most people wanted electricity.  There's always outcry when a new mobile phone mast is planned for an area, but people moan when they can't get coverage & continue using their mobiles.  You can't have one without the other.  That's the way life is.  Or would protesters rather have a nuclear power station built near them - with all  the potential fallout?

    It isn't windy all the time?  No, but it is most of the time - like the past couple of weeks.  Put solar panels on the south-facing roofs of buildings as well & that'll help a lot too.   Panels either for heating water or for generating electricity.  Or both.

    Only thing is, the lamp by our house also illuminates our back yard - I can see green leaves, red busy-lizzie flowers by night now.  I wonder, is HPSV lamplight bright enough to keep the plants 'awake' all night?  S'pose I'll find out when they start keeling over due to exhaustion or the short daylength stimulated plants don't start to respond as in previous years.  Hmmmm, meet that problem as it occurs, I think.

    For the present I've done a quick check & we have two courgettes almost ready to harvest, a  couple of the green tomatoes are beginning to blush, there are at least three peppers forming on the pepper plant (supposed to bear orange peppers), the runner beans are forming - two of them three inches long even, I must sow some more salad stuff, & the two pea plants still survive the attention of the local molluscs & large furry caterpillars.  Whether they'll flower again is another matter.  So far we've had two peas & about four or five pods we've eaten entire.  Must find the petroleum jelly.  A band of that smeared around containers is supposed to deter slugs & snails from climbing up across it to get at the plants.  Ah well.

    And you never know, we might get some rain this weekend.  Goodness knows, it's overcast enough at present.  Now if it's gentle enough not to cause floods, & hard enough to refill the water butt . . .

Current Location:	At home - knitting, shopping, cooking, gardening
Current Mood:	Hoping it will rain, enough

    I'm FED UP with having to think of things for tea, & get them!  It's the thinking of bit which is particularly tiresome, the getting isn't so bad - usually involves a quick schlep round the front room windowsill & garden to see what's burgeoning/ripe/the snails haven't eaten (we had two more pea pods Tues!), then serving it up as salad or, if cooler, a stir fry.  Tuesday we had stir fry.  Two largish bowls of greenstuff wilted down to a more easily eaten condition, with a bit of bacon, & served over quinoa.

    "I'm going home to Mother.  You can get your own tea Wednesday."

    "Right.  I'll have chips!"

    H did too.  I collected a few marble chips (act as mulch in some of the garden troughs) put them on a plate, with some nasturtium flowers in a glass of water - with a note saying, "Your chips, Sir."  He thought that funny, visited the local burger shop, watered the garden & came to meet me at the station.  Mum is quite well, thank you, & we had a lovely afternoon together.

    So today it's back to thinking of something to get for tea (wonder how the garden's doing, there were a couple of courgettes coming on - Courgette recipes, anyone?), knitting banana 'insides', & watering the garden myself again - see previous entry.  I'll tackle the News again tomorrow.

    Y'all have a good day now!

    *KIP - Knit in Public.  KIPping - the act of so doing.  It was World Wide Knit In Public Day the Saturday we insulated the loft.  After that I flaked & knitted in the armchair.  Much more comfortable.

    **Photo taken by S, posted by me.  You can tell, can't you?  Subsequently rearranged by S, for your viewing comfort.  Good lad, that.

Current Location:	At home - knitting, shopping, cooking, gardening
Current Mood:	cheerful

    I was hefting the watering can from the sink to water the garden last night when it occurred to me, rather than complaining about having to heft the thing - cos it hasn't yet rained sufficiently either to water the garden naturally, or to refill the water butt.  Note - must get another one for when it does rain.  Anyhow, the thought came to me - Be Thankful.

Current Location:	At home - knitting, shopping, cooking, gardening
Current Mood:	thankful

    Oil Prices are HIGH, & not likely to be coming down in the near future.  So use less of it?  After all, it is in the producers' (short term) interests to keep pumping the stuff out & selling it at these elevated prices.  If the demand is still HIGH why bother lowering the price?  That's economics, business etc.  If prices are too high, then attempt to use less, & work out substitutes.  That's common sense.  Only, whatever you do, don't attempt to substitute nuclear produced energy.  That's laying up even more trouble that all the carbon emissions. 

Current Location:	At home
Current Mood:	Praise the Lord!

    There are distinct advantages to having your coffee without sugar, & a split-level computer desk.  Also having a coffee mug which is wider at the base than the top might be of additional advantage.

Current Location:	As usual
Current Mood:	relieved

    Zimbabwe - the MDC opposition party has decided to pull out of this week's 'Elections', which means that Robert Mugabe & his Zanu PF party are likely to be returned unopposed.  Whether the attacks on MDC supporters will stop is another matter.  About the only consolation they might have is that Mugabe is an old man, so his time in office will be limited naturally.  I wonder whether he has planned for a successor or, on his death, the country will descend into civil war to find another leader.  Black African countries can rule themselves fairly, it just doesn't look like it these days!  Mind you, when I look at some white politicians I wonder whether they're any better, or whether it's just that we have traditions of peaceful protest etc, & it's been a whole lot longer since there's been anything like 'war' here.  Either way, I'm glad our elections are more peaceful.

    Y'all have a good day now!

Current Location:	Pegging Out - the washing
Current Mood:	thoughtful

    Just for a laugh - if you're quick you can even enter.

Current Location:	At the keyboard
Current Mood:	amused

    The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says there are about 11m refugees worldwide and 26m internally displaced people.  Reasons why they fled there homes are varied: - war, famine, drought, political pressure (eg: Zimbabwe), injustice, economic collapse, climate change, interracial tension/violence, whatever.  Given the conditions in most refugee camps, even those in Europe, things must have been pretty bad at home for people to prefer them!  Apparently the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan are making matters worse.  Well, there you are then!

    It all adds to pressure on relief agencies, immigration etc.  I still maintain that one of the better ways of halting mass immigration is to improve conditions in the countries of origin - but not through vast bloated 'Aid' contracts as in Iraq.  There the money just vanishes into private accounts, usually held by the already Very Rich.  That's one reason I support Tearfund, they work with the people on the ground to improve conditions locally.  They also work at government level, here & there.  & whatever the situation - they always seem to have found ways in which ordinary people can help.  Which I appreciate no end.

    Some people have imagination, drive, creativity, too much time on their hands - & go cause trouble/commit crimes.  If you've that much imagination etc - go make something worthwhile & stop wasting already overstretched police & legal services!  The prices some pay for 'Works of Art' . . .  Just wondering, if you used a baseball shoe, could you be charged with sabootage?  (I can do elephant jokes too.)

    A thought, some of the real feet could have come from victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami.  Or refugees whose ships had sunk in transit.  What comes around goes around!

    Y'all have a good day now!

Current Location:	Near the seaside
Current Mood:	thoughtful

    Something I've thought for quite a while, The Media focus is often wrong* but Franklin Habit puts it soooo much better. 

        *Specially 'life' as portrayed in the Soaps.

Current Location:	At home - knitting, shopping, cooking, gardening
Current Mood:	Go Franklin!

    Happy Birthday Aung San Suu Kyi.  Evidently her place of house arrest wasn't too badly affected by the typhoon last month.  Got to keep places in the News, lest we forget . . .

    Though I completely fail to see how the US administration, this time through Condoleeza Rice, can lecture the Burmese Junta on treatment of political prisoners & observation of their human rights when, in other parts of the world, it carries on like this with its' own detainees - or some of them at least.  Sorry, People, but you can't take the Moral High Ground unless you occupy it yourselves, everywhere you go, all the time.  Otherwise it's just another case of, "Do as we say, not as we do."  & that very rarely works.

    There's Old Bosham* for starters.  There's a low-lying road round the top of the harbour inlet there which goes a couple of feet under at high tide.  Oh, there are signs warning people about parking their cars, but some still get caught, & some even go so far as to make a great, big fuss about it all.  "Scuse me, but part of the attraction of Old Bosham is the fact that it is sited right next part of Chichester Harbour, & the tide has always come in & gone out twice a day.  Famously once in the time of King Cnut!

    Then at the top of Langstone Harbour is a pub with a split-level car park, also with warning sign.  Regulars either park in the top car park, or leave their cars at home, depending on the  time of high tide.  It's quite a sport watching visitors panic as the tide comes in & engulfs their transport so heedlessly left in the lower car park! 

    That's the thing with living by the sea, you have to allow for the tides, twice a day at least.  Inland dwellers might do well to remember such things when they visit!

    Now all I have to do is sort out what we need for next week, & remember to take the shopping list.

    Y'all have a good day now!

    *Aaaarrrggh!  That view at the top of the article - it's almost guaranteed to be pictured at any local art group exhibition.  That & the view of Langstone Mill - with the all too nearby A27 carefully omitted, not to mention Langstone Bridge!

Current Location:	As usual
Current Mood:	Remembering

    Are many & various.  So are the 'joys'. 

    If you're not female, & over age twelve, I suggest you don't click to view under the cut.

Current Location:	As usual
Current Mood:	calm