In with the New.

Busy day with the two great-grandchildren, so not much to say except to express the hope that the New Year brings us all health, happiness and good fortune.

My wish for each and every one of you is that your dreams come true in 2012 and that it is a very good year for love and peace both in the world and in our families.

God Bless us every one!

A Blast from the Past.

Well, it has been and gone, and a very good one it was too, hence my absence from writing for a while! Family, friends, very good food, plenty of tasty drinks, pina colada was the cocktail of choice this year, and some pretty amazing presents made it a great week for me and those around me, thanks for the memory.

It is, of course, a time to think of those we haven’t seen for some time, I find as I get older I especially wonder about relatives and friends that no longer form part of our usual daily lives, people that have not been seen for years, yet because of past memories hold a place in my heart.

I usually send a Christmas letter out to those people in case they are wondering what this year has brought for me and mine in the same way as I wonder what the year has brought for them and theirs and I am always delighted when similar letters arrive at our house.

This year was especially good as I received news from two cousins about what was going on for them and one of them also included info about her siblings.

There was also news from several friends who regularly send a Christmas update and this year I was very pleasantly surprised upon returning to work to find an e-mail from old friends that I had not heard from properly for a very long time.

It had been one of those when do you let it go scenarios, I had continued sending birthday cards, presents, letters etc. but getting no response for a while I had decided that the investment, just wasn’t worth the return (I mean emotionally not fiscally!) and it was time to move on when last year, out of the blue, a Christmas card arrived with a note inside and a promise to get back in touch properly after the holiday period was over.

I dropped a note back in January with an anniversary card and some of our news. Birthday cards went out in April and June and still the promised contact did not come, so when I sent this years Christmas card and letter for some reason I put a return to sender note on the back in case they had moved.

Well it didn’t come back, at least it hasn’t yet! But surprise, surprise when I opened their e-mailed Christmas letter they had moved this winter to Spain!

Spooky intuition or what!

White Whine

Well the good news is that the gutter is fixed, that is we have a nice new white gutter ‘cos the old one actually couldn’t be fixed but I was kind of expecting that. Only problem is that the sparkling white gutter now shows up how badly the rest of the conservatory needs cleaning!

So to the other white bads, the washing machine thankfully is fixed and working, it is churning away as I write. The tumbler is another story and here is the abridged “U” certificated version.

The man arrives takes it apart drinks tea and tuts, needs a new drum and a couple of other bits, will have to order them, we will let us know when the parts are in.

Not too long and message on the answer phone, parts are in man can come and fit them. Man comes, drinks tea and fits the drum and other parts, demonstrates drum turning and no more grating noise, good-bye.

Put wet washing in tumbler, all turns, all heats, no noise but the floor floods!!!

Phone man, oh dear, must need a pump now, will order one.

Few days go by, phone call, man can come to fit pump.

New man comes, other man’s company gone bust, new man looks at tumbler, drinks tea and tuts, new drum not been fitted properly, takes it out, takes out fuse, machine is dangerous cannot be used, has to be condemned!

Probably be a while for the paperwork to go through, then have to get new machine, will be in touch!!

I’m dreaming of a wet washing Christmas!

Drop the Ball.

Now under normal circumstances I get my film reviews from “Awesome Wez” as it’s really his forte. However, as I found myself giving a quick critique of ‘New year’s Eve’ to a young friend of mine who I know to be a Bon Jovi fan, I thought I’d share my review here.

It is a well orchestrated ensemble piece, with a pretty solid cast, Robert De Niro, Hilary Swank, Katherine Heigl, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zac Efron, Ashton Kutcher etc. Jon Bon Jovi equips himself well as a rock star and for any Glee fans out there he sings with Lea Michele, who plays a backing singer looking for the big break. Okay, so not exactly any casting against type but it really isn’t Shakespeare and it works well, possible because no-one is trying to deliver a performance that is outside of their reach so the whole thing is convincingly acted and no-one lets it down.

It is light, probably a chick flick, a romantic piece with a few comedic moments and a bit of drama, not too cheesy and definitely a feel good Christmassy film that reminds us about forgiveness, family, new beginnings and the importance of love.

The action takes place on New Year’s Eve leading up to the Ball dropping in Times Square at Midnight, the story of the characters all start off from their separate place. Yes, it was somewhat predictable, you knew that there was going to be some happy endings, it’s a Christmas release film for goodness sake!

But there was enough mystery about who fitted with whom character wise, some come together quite early and the uncertainty is about what will happen with their relationships. For others it is not until the end that we know which stories are going to link together.

And that’s all I’m going to say plot wise, anymore and it will be like some of the trailers they do these days where you get to see in two minutes all the best bits of a film!

All in all it was a very comfortable, relaxing, pleasant couple of hours after the bustle of Christmas shopping. Final thought is that it was orange Wednesday but I would have paid full price to see it!!!

Guttered.

So the other day the wind was whipping around the house and a crack and a crash resounded through the conservatory. Now this sort of noise usually heralds the arrival of pigeons or magpies having a stroll across the roof.

However, this was particularly loud and the moving shadow tracing back and forth in my peripheral vision was particularly large. Was Santa doing a practice run, had the reindeers gone astray and stopped for a rest, unfortunately not, it was my gutter broken loose with the force of the wind.

So up the ladder, strangely not great fun, as the wind was blowing a gale and as far as I am concerned anything above 18inches off the ground counts as high altitude work.

Having donned hard hat, affixed the pitons and the safety line I ascended at least three feet, that’s nearly a metre these days, to the summit of the conservatory. Adjusting my vision, to compensate for the vast expanse of white up there, I found that the gutter was seriously broken and like poor old humpty couldn’t be put back together again, so we were in for an expense repair job just before Christmas.

Of course this was the third thing to break as the washing machine and the tumble drier had both broken, so maybe everything else will stay in one piece until after Christmas, oh yeah that’ll happen!

The gutter needed securing somehow, until I could get someone to fix it, otherwise it was going to do more damage as it danced about in the wind. Tricky business this as both hands had to let go of the step ladder but out came a roll of insulating tape and leaning my body mass into the wind and with hardly any thought for my personal safety I performed first aid on the gutter and strapped it up like a sprained ankle.

OK yes, obviously I used white tape so that it matched the uPVC!

When a Special Child is Born.

I was moved by a re-working of the night before Christmas poem that was written by a parent and published on a site related to autism. It was found by an in-law and passed along. There are many different special children in the world, some the medical and educational professionals slot easily into nice little boxes that can be conveniently labelled, others fall outside the boxes until, as the years go by, new boxes are erected.

If you have a special child in your family the boxes are only helpful if by opening one you find the right support and tools to help your child to fulfil his/her full potential, to help them live as well and happily as they can, in other words to give them the best quality of life that is possible. Of course if your child falls outside any accepted ‘label’ or outside of the criteria for entry to the ‘box’ 9 times out of 10 you are on your own and then the judgemental attitude and lack of understanding of others really hits home.

I was Portage trained back in the stone-age, 1981ish, when it was first brought over to this country and was I was sold on the simplicity and efficacy of the system, we saw such amazing results in such a short time I can still remember how good it felt.

I know it is still around but don’t know how it has evolved or devolved over the years but I would certainly recommend checking it out.

Dark Night!

For the second time in less than a month I have had to apply the brakes when people have stepped out between parked cars, and yes I was well within the speed limit, luckily!

What is worse both times it has been women pushing prams out in front of them, the last one was at night in a not particularly well lit area. The pram was black, not a flash of white blanket or light colour and the woman following it into the flowing traffic was dressed completely in black or very dark clothes. So all that was visible even when she and the pram were in front of me was a dark shadowy silhouette, she didn’t even look right or left but ploughed straight across the road with her head down.

Very young children may be forgiven as they are learning their road safety for an occasional lapse, when something exciting chases across their concentration, but what planet is a parent from who pushes her child’s pram out into traffic. Obviously the safety of the child should be paramount but when people cross the road like this the driver also needs to be considered, if people can’t see the traffic when they come out between parked cars they need to remember drivers can’t see them either and whilst if an accident occurs the pedestrian will likely be more seriously hurt physically, the mental trauma from running someone over, especially a child, even if you are blameless, will last a lifetime.

At the very least be aware of how invisible you are in the dark and wear something light at night. Better still what about fixing reflective strips on prams to give the children a chance to grow up and the poor motorist a bit of warning!

The Rocky Road to Christmas

Several people have recently asked for the Rocky Road recipe that I use, well here it is. The basic recipe was given to me by a friend but the adaptions and suggestions are mine, hope you enjoy all the variations.

Basic mixture:-

125g/4½oz                soft butter

300g/10½oz              best quality dark chocolate

3x15ml/tblsp            golden syrup

200g/7oz                  plain biscuits

100g/3½oz                marshmallows

You can use mini marshmallows but I prefer to tear up big ones into several irregular pieces, I roll them in the biscuit crumbs so they do not stick together.

Substitutions:-

·         Vary the biscuits, I tend to use digestives, but you can use any kind you like.

·         Replace some of the biscuit pieces with honeycomb or maltesers.

·         Vary the chocolate, either 70% cocoa solids for a rich dense mixture, ordinary dark chocolate, or milk chocolate if you like it sweeter.

Depending on what I feel like I add variations of the following to the mixture:-

200g/7oz                  glace cherries, halved

100g/3½oz                desiccated coconut

200g/7oz                  nut pieces, pecans are particularly nice.

·         Melt the butter chocolate and golden syrup together, if you want a softer topping take out about 125ml of the mix and put to one side, if you want a harder toping then ignore this step.

·         Put the biscuits in a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have both crumbs and pieces of biscuit.

·         Mix the melted chocolate mixture and all the dry goods together.

·         Line a 9inch square tin with foil, pour the mixture in and press down evenly.

·         Either pour over the reserved chocolate mixture or melt some fresh chocolate for a more solid topping, or leave plain and dust with icing sugar when solid.

·         Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

·         Turn out and cut into 2 or 3inch squares.

If you want to make and serve it as a cake then line a 7inch round tin with foil, refrigerate overnight then turn out and decorate, I usually use dark chocolate to cover it and white chocolate for detail.

For the softer version I use well crushed digestive biscuits, ordinary dark chocolate and add in the glace cherries and coconut then put in a foil lined 10inch square tin so it is also a bit flatter.

ENJOY!!!

Parking Mad.

So the news is filled with the pain and angst of motorists, who are now going to have to pay to park up town evenings and week-ends. Now I am a great believer in public transport for inner city areas, as congestion is getting out of hand and we do not have the roads to cope with the volume, but and it is a big one, our public transport is not that good, especially at week-ends when so much of the maintenance work is undertaken. If people decide that they can’t rely on public transport and can’t afford to park then they are going to go elsewhere to pray, shop and spend their leisure time. In the horror landscape that is the edge of the seat economic situation we inhabit, surely we do not want any more ghost town areas with boarded up shops where people have lost their jobs.

The best quote, in all of the pros and cons being expressed, for me was that to encourage people, to still come and park, by telling them that it wouldn’t cost anymore to park than it would if they had paid for public transport.

Obviously no-one thought to factor in petrol at £1.30 per litre!

Up the Downs.

We were talking the other day about the worry of children being out and about on their own, what with gang fights, muggings and knife crime it is kinda scary anytime they are out of sight. Yes, they have mobiles now which we never had and I must say I found it a godsend when our youngest was in his teens ,but the mobiles the kids have now are more of a crime magnetic as they worth so much money. Mind you I think my mobile may soon be worth something as an antique!

When I was about 8 or 9 my dad got hold of an old bike which he stripped down painted and fixed up for me, learning to ride it involved me peddling like mad, him holding onto the saddle and running along behind me up the middle of the road, (there was no traffic in those days, maybe one or two car owners in the whole street) until I realised he was no longer there and I was on my own.

Once I had my own transport my friends and I would go out all day in the summer months, I had a basket on the front of the bike, in which my packed lunch would sit, the boys had saddlebags, and off we would go, usually up the South Downs for the day. We had a watch, instructions to stay together, not to talk to strangers and to be home in time for the evening meal, we were always home on time because it didn’t cross our minds not to be, besides after all that cycling and playing we were starving and ready for dinner.

They were glorious days, we were carefree and had no worries or fears of might befall us and more significantly nor did our parents, sadly it is not so easy for parents these days.

Adventful time.

The countdown to Christmas begins, the craziness, the commercialism, the hustle and bustle, the prices slashed, the must have items quickly sold out, the siege buying shopping trolleys, the whole stress inducing hassle of it.

But, and it is a very big one, if you can ignore the mall mentality that surrounds us all, stay focused on what Christmas is really all about and hold fast to family and close friends, remembering that the true gift of the first Christmas was love.

 And that is the only gift that counts on Christmas morn.

Gods and Lobsters.

So I was down at the seaside for that lovely week-end to close up the caravan for the winter. Walking along the seafront so late in the year, well after the summer season is over, it is great how buzzy things still are. Some of the hardier stall owners are still selling their wares along the harbour side and the fish stalls are open, so that tangy smell is still in the air.

It was incredibly clear and bright in the autumnal sunshine and the visibility range was one of the best this year.

The tide was coming in and I stood and watched as the long spit of beach that people had been walking out on gradually disappeared into a line of ruffled water running transversely across the waves.

For a while it seemed like it was still the summer, but the illusion faded with the light, as soon as the sun disappeared the heat went with it and the chill of November evenings set in quickly.

There was a Christmas fayre on in the castle which added to sense of moving rapidly through the seasons of the year within a few short hours.

The great thing about the end of the caravanning season is that I can then start to look forward to opening up again next year and dream of long summer days and fish, lots of lovely fresh fish!

The First Scam of Christmas

So the phone rings and we get the usual am I speaking to…..My response as ever is what do you want?

“Well, madam our records show that your computer is being compromised via the window operating system, I am contacting you about a malicious virus that has invaded your computer system, from internet browsing via your window operating system, if you switch on your computer I will help you and guide you through eliminating this malicious virus that will destroy your computer.”

Obviously I get my jollies from stringing them along by pretending to be interested and gullible!! (sad isn’t it, I do have real friends who phone me honest)

Anyway that was pretty much the gist of it, fairly clever really as most people these days have a computer, I don’t know the stats, and frankly I’m too lazy to look them up this is a blog not a thesis! But I would guess that, at least 75-80% of people have one of windows operating systems. There was a lot of encouragement to act quickly with his help to save my computer now!

Strangely, when I said I already used expert technical support, he very quickly put the phone down.

Still it’s not all bad news I’ve still got todays calls about personal payment protection, debt relief and claiming for that trip or fall, unfortunately for the scammers I’m not falling, make sure you don’t either!!!

Supersize it!

Given the economic situation that we are in why is it that the predominant culture of this country seems to be pre occupied with emulating the American obsession with giant portions of everything? With the shocking news that a huge proportion of our children are either already obese or are heading towards obesity all we see in the high street is famous fast food chains offering to supersize the meal deals. Yes, I know, a lot of them do now have a salad option on the menu but have you ever seen a child eating one?

Look in a famous health food store window and you can see packs of their products that are bigger than the old party cans of beer that we used to buy back in the day, and yes they really did used to last the night!

Out the other day for a working lunch in an all you can eat buffet Chinese restaurant I couldn’t believe how high some people were piling up their plates. Yes, I really enjoyed my meal and no, I don’t have the appetite of a sparrow (would that I did!) but one of those plates would have been three meals for me.

Are we really all going to eat a whole society into ill health or death.

If we keep it up we won’t need enemies to hurt us we can just blow ourselves up and out with our greed!

True Mudblood!

They used to say you can choose your friends but not your family, however in these days when there is a vast range of famial set-ups, it seems that you can! You may well be forgiven for not knowing who is and who isn't family and who belongs in "our" family or "your" family, especially as that can seem to vary from situation to situation, from year to year and sometimes on the turn of an event or incident.  

Some people seem very definite and say it’s only blood relationships that count, if so does that mean that husbands and wives or civil partners are not family? because if they did have close blood ties they may well be on dodgy ground from a legal point of view! (not that it stopped Cersei and Jamie of course).

There are those who have very close blood ties, brothers, sisters, parents and children who say and do appalling things to each other, ever watched those poor, exploited, dysfunctional people who appear on a certain morning TV show?

So who constitutes family seems to be very different things to different people and within any given "family" there are also huge variations in the complexities of the relationships.

For some of us the baseline is that of unconditional love, which does not stop us from disagreeing with some family members over things, but it does mean that we still love them even when we despair over their behaviour.

So my keywords for family and special friendships are

·         unconditional love,

·         mutual respect,

·         positive regard,

·         active listening.

Obviously non-judgemental is clearly missing from the list and that is because try as I might I’m definitely NOT a saint!!!!

Underneath the Arches.

So there we were in Rome, must say they have let it go a bit, most of the tourist sites were in ruins!

Seriously folks, great time was had by all but there we were having “done” the Colosseo, we went to the Palatino, a pretty vast area and not brilliantly signposted. So as we came out of the museum we realised we had lost sight of some of our party, we had not crossed each other’s paths again for a couple of hours so we tried texting to find a meet up spot.

Our text:-                                      Where are U?

Their response:-                              By the big arch.

Our comment on reading it:-             Which bloomin arch?

Have you seen how many arches there are around that piece of pizza?

A Fringe too Fah............

OK, so we are spending far too much time watching Fringe and I am sooooo enjoying it, it has captivated me the way Robert Heinlein did when I was in my teens, A Stranger in a Strange Land probably my favourite, I was really caught with the whole thing. The premise of the Fair Witness influenced the way I thought about the subjectivity of the how we record account for and retell things, I think in a good way because we all see things from our own perspective but at least if you can recognise that fact then it goes some way to mitigating against our bias. The Fair Witness of course only reports exactly what is there, what is seen or heard, there is no judgement, no speculation no interpretation.

Back from digression, so given how tied up I am in Fringe I was somewhat bemused to find the comedy interlude towards the end of series 2, when we were treated to a musical, 1940’s detective story episode! So many other series have done this type of thing, including Buffy, that I was frankly disappointed that a serious science show should resort to such frivolity. Shows our universe up in a bad light, you wouldn’t get Walternate singing I’ll bet.

For a while there I really thought I was back in the Holodeck of the Enterprise!!!

Style Council

So packing for a trip, only a small suitcase, don’t want the hassle of a big one but what to take, it all won’t fit, always a problem for me as I do like to be well prepared.

This time of year it could be mild or it could get freezing so layering I think is the way to go. However there is also the problem of who you are you going to be this trip. The look is not about money but about putting yourself together in certain way for the occasion. So is it to be the scruffy tourist dressing down really comfortable and probably not likely to get into the Opera or a good restaurant, is it the smart visitor, neat clothes, elegantly draped scarves and a bit of slap and not a problem if you get your picture taken.

Maybe it should be a bit of both comfy for the walking around but tidy enough so that you don’t get rounded up as a vagrant when you try to go out to dinner in the evening.

We all have our own individual style, or range of styles, you can tell a lot about people by what they wear, whether they are confident or not, if they are independent or need support, if they are a follower or trend setter.

Uniforms of course are the ultimate leveller but other work clothes also can mask some of the individual, the work suit or dress code that is expected in a job leaves some people no room to express themselves yet others can appear to be following the trend yet still give it their own style or twist.

Seeing people out of the usual setting in which you normally interact with them can sometimes be a surprise, a stern boss who you always see in a dark three piece seems somewhat incongruous on the beach in flowered shorts, yet we all have different facets in life and usually our clothes reflect the role we are in at that point in time.

Are we agreed then, going with smart casual and comfy shoes, yes, so I’ll just unpack and re-pack the suitcase one more time, or just maybe get a bigger suitcase!

The Hoarse Whisperer.

Due to more than a touch of laryngitis in the family home, meaning that excursions other than to work and to buy food, have been curtailed, we have been spending far too much time watching Fringe. Silently watching it for the most part I might add, as conversation has been somewhat one-sided. Now don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing that I like more than the sound of my own voice, except when it is recorded of course at which point it bears no resemblance at all to the voice I hear in my head.

I digress, so with no one to argue the toss with me I have formed a hypothesis that Fringe type activities do wonders for your appearance. In the first series Blair Brown, I thought, looked her age, in a good way I mean as I’m not a fan of the plasticised look so many of the celebs of my generation go for. Series two gave us the flashback to the characters younger days, where faces were smoothed a bit for authenticity, but not to the extent of Jeff Bridges regression in Tron Legacy, anybody else think his regressed image looked as if it could have come off the Starman set?

Digressing again, so we had the great flashback and then we jumped forward again and yet she still looked a little smoothed to me. Now I’m not suggesting she had a bit of work done between series one and two, but if she did it was well done as she doesn’t look plastic, of course it may just be the newly discovered scientific light bulbs in Massive Dynamic that refracts the light in such a way to be a window to your face ten years ago.

If it’s not classified do you think I can pick up a couple of those bulbs in Wilko’s?

Grandlins (the new batch)

We trooped up London the other day to celebrate the 2^nd birthday of the great grandson, a jungle themed eatery was our destination and we had a table of 16, mostly adults. The 3½ year old great granddaughter probably had the best time she really loved watching the animatronics moving and got quite excited every time the thunder rolled.

We are a stepped generational family and we have stopped trying to explain to others who is who and what the relationship is, for when all is said and done family is family and the generations just self-select into their own age groupings.

The nephews and nieces are also having children now as well and the exciting news is that we are expecting a new grandchild at the beginning of next year which we are so looking forward to.

What this all means is that after a considerable gap when we had no small children in the family we now have several little ones (and two more on the way), running around at family parties. It is just great watching the next generation arrive and begin to form relationships with each other and I for one just can’t wait to see how large this batch is going to be!

Mental Wealth

To everything there is a season, this is a time to be serious, I mentioned the other day that I had been to a film screening of a really good short film about mental health at the South London Gallery, in Peckham. If you want to see it yourself go to www.mindinbexley.org.uk click on Our Services then Peer Mentoring, scroll down and watch Mind2Mind peer mentoring video.

It is an extremely moving account of people’s real life experiences and although it manages to evoke some of the desolation that mental ill health sweeps over the individuals emotional landscape it is mostly uplifting. Why? because this intervention really works and it makes a significant difference to people’s perceptions of themselves and their intrinsic value to the world. For each of the amazing people who have so willingly opened up their lives publicly in this video there are another ten who could tell a similar story of the journey from darkness into light.

If the issue of mental ill health touches you or someone you are close to, you are not alone, there is a wide range of support available to offer help to those experiencing distress and their family or carers. This film just illustrates one of many services that can offer real help and support.

A Taste of Sunny

Having already bored family, friends and work colleagues with how much I enjoyed the villa holiday in Portugal I thought I’d give it an airing here as I’m not quite ready to let go of it yet. First time to Portugal so an all new experience for me and what a nice one it was. Definitely liked the Villa experience, only done it once before and that was in Florida where we were out and about so much that we probably didn’t appreciate it as a chill out zone, but Portugal was so laid back it was real rest and relaxation. The Villa was lovely, lots of space, a really good sized pool and no need to rush and get your towel down on the sunbeds, highly recommend it as a lifestyle to which I aspire to become accustomed.

Yes, there was exercise, quite a few walks, well ambles really, lots of glass lifting, a bit of swimming, more glass lifting and picking figs and tomatoes. Then, after all that exertion, some well-earned lazing by the pool with a book in one hand, a glass in the other and good company to share it with, what more could anyone want. The people were friendly, everywhere was clean (always a big plus for me) and the food was great, fish, fish and more fish, seventh heaven! Would I go back again? Oh yes, you bet your lucky cockerel I would.

A Desiccated Follower of Fashion.

The colder weather the other day had me thinking of school days and the amazing garb we wore in those days, when our torso’s were wrapped and packed but our legs were bare, got me mentally listing the school uniform. In the winter a vest, liberty bodice (oh, those rubber buttons!), amazing navy blue bloomers with legs that pulled down to just above the knees, school blouse, tie, pinafore dress, school cardigan, gabardine mac, black lace up heavy shoes and knee high socks.  Every winter throughout infants and juniors the back of my knees would crack and bleed from the cold weather. In the summer it was a breeze in red gingham dresses, school cardigan and white ankle socks with buckled sandals, but still in the navy bloomers and as mum’s motto was “ne’er cast a clout ‘til may is out” the liberty bodice was around for a while too! The boys worn the same all the time, heavy flannel short trousers that came just above the knee, grey shirts, striped school tie and  thick v necked jumper.

Thankfully secondary school brought with it the opportunity, for girls, to wear thick stockings in the winter (no we did not have tights in those days!) but also brought with it an amazing navy blocked felt hat in the winter and a bright green tailored beret in the summer. Detention if you were caught out of correct school uniform meant that hats had to be worn all the way home, even if you were riding your bike, so they were not taken off and stuffed into satchels, unlike the boys who were always taking off their caps! However in the winter when it rained and the front brim of the felt hat peeped out from under the hood of your gabardine mac it shrank right out of shape and some girls who didn’t wear hoods ended up with hats that looked more like a kippah.

Game of Tomes

Knights and Viking types, bloody battles, beheadings, you get the picture ? well I  would normally have said no thanks but my son said I would like it and I do. True, not too keen on the chopping off of hands and heads but the characters are so well drawn and just when you think you have their measure you find out something else about them that shifts your perception of them again and again. Not one to do mastermind on as there are just too many characters, detailed history and geography, my guess is that the author has written the character and relationship listings as much for himself as for the poor reader.

Just when you think you have the measure of it in pops some magic, giants and even the artic zombies but what an engaging read. The saga I am referring to is “A song of Ice and Fire” and the twists and turns had me hooked quite early on but what is particularly good about this is that each book, or part book, brings something new. I’ve finished the 2^nd volume of the 3^rd  book and can’t wait to see other shocks and surprises there are in store in book four.  Who is good but flawed and who is really bad and how that shifts as the tale is told from a different perspective keeps your attention but I try not to invest too much in any of the characters because the goodish guys do not always survive. Having said that, I’m really very firmly in Arya’s camp at the moment and so want her to be reunited with Nymeria.

School of Rock.

Went to the South London Gallery, in Peckham, the other day, it was for the screening of a really good short film about mental health and maybe I’ll tell you more about that another time.

A colleague and I went out into the small courtyard at the back after the showing just to get some fresh air and look at the building, and as we were looking up at the big windows and brick work we both commented on how it reminded us of our respective schools. It was so evocative that it triggered a host of recollections during the train ride home.

The infants and junior school I went to no longer exists, (well the name lives on in another building that used to be a secondary school) it was torn down years ago and they built a residential home on the site.

The infants school was fairly modern, a separate single storey building clearly built to augment the old building that housed the juniors. It had a communal playground for boys and girls and the separate dining building was in its grounds. Once advanced to the junior school you ventured once a day down the steps into the infant playground for your school dinners.

The junior school was a massive cold building with outside toilets. There was a playground for the boys and one for the girls where we met early in the morning, our mothers or aunts or grandmothers would bring us to the respective entrances and in we would go. In those days it was very rare to see the dad’s at the school gate and a special treat and real kudos if your dad collected you from school. Adults did not enter the playground or the school, the horror if a parent went in to the school that meant very serious trouble. Mostly you would take in a note from your parents if anything needed communicating.

Once in the playground there would be much running around, especially in the winter when bare knees were chapped and raw, in order to try and keep warm.

When the whistle was blown we would all line up in our class lines and file into the back entrance of the school to the cloakroom, rows and rows of pegs for our coats, with wire shoe racks underneath, the boys side of the school was a mirror image. Once de-cloaked we would file along the cold echoing hallways, or up the steep stone staircases, to the classrooms, where we would be reunited with the boys. The rooms had huge high ceilings and big high windows that we could not see out of, so no chance of distraction there, and big old desks with a hole for the china inkpot. We had permanently blue fingers from the ink and lots of drips and blotches on our paper! However hard, they were good times and it is a real shame that the building didn’t survive, it was the sort of place they would make into luxury flats these days.

One last thought, I still don’t get why it was fine for us to play with and share a playground with the boys from 4ish to 7 years, but to have to be segregated from 7 to 11 years and then OK to be back with them from 11 years onwards at secondary school!

Que Sera Sera, What Will It Be?

Letters are addressed to someone and are written specifically with them in mind, they may share some of the information with other people but basically it is a private communication. The blog however is just “out there” and once “posted” ceases to be your private thoughts, of course maybe no-one will read it but anyone could.

So what do you write, what are the boundaries for those of us who do not subscribe to the Jeremy Kyle life expose experience?

What is the Litmus test? Something you would tell strangers on planes, trains, and automobiles, things you would share at work (if you had the time), or the sort of stuff you pontificate about at social gatherings when the hosts wine has flowed a little too freely (you know who you are!) or something that won’t embarrass the children or grandchildren.

I guess for me all of the above, except the embarrassing the kids, ‘cos let’s be honest there is no way I am ever going to avoid that!

What should it aim to be comedy, tragedy, drama, intrigue, pathos? Should the tone be “Saga!” or “Meldrew” of course it could well end up being a total farce!

The decision is I will be writing to you, yes you, whoever you are, perhaps a very special person to me, or an acquaintance or possibly a poor unsuspecting and unwary stranger. So if you are bothering to read this hello and welcome to my world (or blog)!

To Blog or not to Blog, That Was the Question!

Well why not, I don’t think we should leave all the self promotion and aggrandizement to the young. Clearly technology belongs to them, just watch those arthritic free fingers and thumbs fly over the blackberries and i-phones sending endless texts, twitters, face book updates and blogs.

In all honesty the only bit that really appeals to me is the blogging and when all said and done what the older generation has to say can be just as asinine or just as perceptive as the new kids on the block, or blog!

Back when we were the new generation, I’m talking ‘bout my generation, we still had to put 4d in the slot and press button A to keep in contact, so things moved at a different pace and in a different place.

Meeting at the coffee bar, hanging out in particular locations, parks, street corners, OK so that hasn’t changed but we had to be “in the Know” or have pre-organised arrangements, there was no such thing as a mobile, many of us didn’t even have a house phone (landline) back then.

When friends moved more than a cycle or a bus ride away, even if one of you had parents with a phone it was expensive to use, sometimes you would set times to be a t a phone box, but 4d didn’t last long either, if you had 4d to spare! So we wrote letters I was a copious letter writer in my youth and continued to be so until phone contact became much easier and affordable but even then with some people letter writing was still the communication medium of choice.

So in essence that is why the decision was to blog, it is the nearest form to the free flowing hand written paper and pen outpouring of my younger days and although it is a keyboard, it exists in the ether and it has no one dedicated recipient it kinda feels like coming home!