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Bramblings
Ramblings on life
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I was going to blog about the gardening I did at the weekend - a bit of weeding and a lot of cutting back of the Winter Jasmine. There is now a pile of WJ offcuts awaiting removal*, or something. But there's been yet another series of bomb attacks in Iraq. No longer single incidents, multiple blow-ups now. There's been a tornado in Oklahoma. In 'Tornado Alley' what should one expect, but . . . And at least 21 miners are dead in a mine collapse in Indonesia. What price gold and copper now? So anything I've been up to seems entirely trivial in comparison. As I used to say to the children, "LIfe isn't fair. That's why we live here and not in *insert one of the three places above*!" Y'all have a good day now! However bad it may be, I doubt if it'll be as bad as the above. *That could be the subject of another blog.
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usual |
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 thankful | |
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Short one today. What's green and dangerous? An angry lettuce. Thanks to The Boy and His Dad. I'm off to knit some more socks. Two finished, one well on the way & another just started this week, so far. Y'all have a good day now! |
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Well there we are, it was windy here. In Shropshire, Wales*, and parts of Devon (Devon, I ask you, Southwest or where, ok, it was Dartmoor) it snowed! It's half-past May and there was snow in the country! In the southwest of the country, even! It's melted now. Usually around now I'm listening out for the screaming of swifts as they arrive from Africa. They didn't have a good year last year, not many insects. Let's hope 2014 is better for them, and us. Today the winds have dropped and it's sunny again. Which is nice, and much more 'May-ish'. *As if the Welsh farmers haven't had enough to contend with, what with late snow storms during lambing killing off their flocks and the cold spring holding back grass growth - farmers across the country who still have hay and silage left are shipping it to Wales, to the hill farmers, and other places where they have run out of fodder altogether. So that their animals have something to eat while the grass gets around to growing as the weather finally warms. 2012 was very dry, 2013 very wet, let's hope there is a summer in 2014 for their sakes too. Y'all have a good day now!
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usual |
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mellow | |
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It's been windy recently, still is. The Sou'wester has been flapping round the chimneys, whistling through the narrow gap round our bedroom window (because it was fastened open) and flipping the letter-box flap. This last is a bit of a nuisance. One is left thinking, "Is that someone at the door, or is it the wind?" Cos if it's the wind wanting to come in it can use the bedroom window, as usual. Last night, before we went to bed, H fixed the flap so it couldn't & bother us all night. It's a Sou'wester cos that's the prevailing wind direction around here. Up Channel from straight across the Atlantic and so rain-laden. w00t! Ah well, the garden needed watering. S'pose I ought to get out & fertilise the bulbs. Now they've flowered they'll be building themselves up for next year, and I would like some flowers next year. Oh, we get winds from other directions. Once we had a Southerly, direct from the Sahara, so say, and bearing Saharan sand - which it proceeded to drop everywhere. We get Easterlies. They are usually dry, freezing, & occur in the winter - think we had a lot through March & April, hence the prolonged winter. We get Northerlies too, they are also cold. But mainly we get sou'westerlies. It's the accompanying rain clouds which keep this island a green and pleasant land. The title of this entry comes from a picture book we borrowed from the local library when the children were small. You can work out the plot for yourself, Dear Reader. Suffice it to say that a lot of people lost a lot of articles. Y'all have a good day now!
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usual |
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windblown, if that can be a mood | |
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I said I'd let you know when our amaryllis flowered. 
Two beautiful large blooms. Now we have to be extra careful with the blind, but it's well worth it. Y'all have a good day now!
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usual |
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calm | |
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It was early, and the sun was a-shining, no, not in through my window - that faces south, and lying there was getting too hot and uncomfortable, so I got up. Had breakfast & tried scanning my usual selection of blogs. Of course, it being before 7am, only the lass in Australia had updated. So I'll update this with a few trivia, then try again. There is a spread which is euphemistically called "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter". Well I can, it isn't, so there! Ooh! *notices banner heading is different, a bit 'Birthday Party'-ish* I wonder why? Of course, I could always try updating myself with the News. Hmmmm. There, I blogged the other day about the MMR vaccine & how measles has come back to bite us, here's a more detailed report. If you're interested, Dear Reader. Yesterday, being the first of May, was, officially, the first day of Summer. As H said when this was mentioned, 'What happened to Spring?' Indeed, a quick view of the garden yesterday found daffodils and hyacinths both still in flower, and three tulips. Normally at this time of year the tulips are the only things out, apart from the wallflower, and they are beginning to look a bit faded. Still, we've had daffodils in bloom for over a month now - the same flowers - must be some kind of record. Wonder what Summer will be like, like if we'll have one at all? We're due something after last year's washout. Right, things might have moved on a little in Cyberia. Y'all have a good day now!
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happy | |
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It's the first of May. Spring is springing, somewhat slowly, there was a frost last night, but the year rolls on and it's now light til gone 8.30pm. What with it still being chilly-ish, I'll be wearing the woolly socks for a while yet. With that in mind and after yesterday's entry, have a poem by Pablo Neruda ( Ode to My SocksCollapse )
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as usual |
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cheerful | |
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Having completed The List (see yesterday's post) I can now show you some of the socks. Only eight of the eleven pairs I've knitted so far because I sent three pairs off to Mum early this month, while the weather was still cold, so she could get some wear from them this winter/spring. ( Several Pictures of Handknitted Socks, skip if you wish, Dear ReaderCollapse ) Ok, I'm off to do some more knitting. Y'all have a good day now!
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as usual |
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 creative | |
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I’ve been knitting socks at the rate of about three pairs per fortnight for quite a while now. I wanted to show you some of them, what with having pictures in your blog being all the rage, & things. A while back I mentioned the faff involved in actually getting pictures from the camera to the blog. The process is actually more complicated, and goes something, like this . . . ( The ProcessCollapse ) Aaaarrrggh! Actually I’m only part way through the list, which is why you’re reading this, if you are, Dear Reader, & not viewing the fruits of my labours. Are socks fruit? Y'all have a good, & unfrustrating, day now! *Many thanks to H for wrangling the camera, etc
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as usual |
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 frustrated | |
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There is a measles epidemic in the UK. Particularly in South Wales, Swansea to be precise. With S living in Cardiff I'm thankful I had him inoculated as a babe. While measles may have once been classified as a 'childhood illness' it can cause blindness, deafness and death. There has been one death recorded already this year. So, with inoculation available, what's prompted the epidemic? Well, many years ago, at least 30, the NHS brought out the MMR, Measles/Mumps/Rubella, jab. Which sounded like a Good Thing. Get all three immunisations done in one go. Except that around twenty years ago some research was published indicating a possible link between the MMR jab and autism. Cue much heart searching among parents of tots. Should they get them immunised and risk autism? Or not have the jab and risk infection? Now the government/NHS could have sorted things by offering the three inoculations separately, but they didn't. Ask them why, not me. Something about policy? A lot of parents decided to not give their children the jab. Autism is not a Good Thing. Hence the epidemics now, among teenagers and younger. Eventually research showed that there was no link between autism & the MMR jab. This was promulgated and more parents are having their babies vaccinated, but the government is doing a major catch-up programme with all those who weren't. Which just goes to show, being a parent is never easy. Being pregnant and giving birth - they're a doddle compared with what comes later, for the rest of your life. But it's Worth It. Y'all have a good day now!
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as usual |
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grateful | |
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bronchitikat