Penny Pincher

After a tightfisted 8 years living off our retirement capital I've become rather used to Penny Pinching. Perhaps I should change my blogging name to Penny Pincher. I could re invent myself. That's the beauty of the blogging life. But however much one tries to write as if this is a fictional account real life creeps in. It's hard to keep it out.

Over the last few months I've become much better off. It started last year with being granted, on compassionate grounds, my work pension several years early. I wasn't due to receive it till I was 65. Once my pension came in I was able to cash in my AVC pension. Finally I've been awarded a Carer's Allowance. With several months arrears. Such riches.

Just at the time the whole world appears to be going into financial meltdown I appear to be bucking the trend. Hooray.

Weighed Down

I feel weighed down and hardly have the energy to think of weight issues. I can see that some, well most, of my diet problems are caused by emotional eating. Stress, anger, frustration and sorrow all make me eat more than I need. I can see that I need to express or resolve these feelings.To find some way where food is not used as a comfort factor.

As it is I'd welcome a large glass of red wine this evening. I am upset and angry. I'm sure a glass would soothe me. But it would make me hungry and then I'd eat more. Life sucks.

Peace and Calm

No - this is definitely not a view of my garden. How I wish! These photos were taken of the garden at Burrow Farm, Dalwood, near Axminster in Devon.

It's all in the Mind

I've been listening to Paul McKenna now for several days. The only problem is I fall asleep very quickly. I don't know if the 'mind programming' is working or not... I haven't heard any of them all the way through yet... I've copied the CDs onto an MP3 player. Now I can listen to the recordings lolling in the armchair after lunch - I still fall asleep though... I also have the P McKenna personal progress journal that I am religiously completing each day ... weigh day will be the 17th . . . fingers crossed.

A Stab in the Back

I see in yesterday's Daily Telegraph that Andrew Pierce wrote "Cabinet ministers are being subjected to so much abuse in the street ....." that they have talked informally about extending security cover to all ministers. They are afraid to go out in public, where they may have to cope with "an abusive drunk " or "slow hand clapping", without personal body guards. Well, we thought that a few weeks ago when we saw Harriet Harmless venturing out on to the streets of Peckham wearing a protective vest and surrounded by police protection officers.
How do they think the rest of us feel ?? It's a fine mess they have got us into and their solution is that we can pay more in taxes towards their personal safety! It rather reminds me of Tony Blair telling us that we will 'not let terroists change the way we live' as he built a concrete crash barrier around the Houses of Parliament and ordered himself a bullet and bomb proof car.

Return Journey

I am making a return journey. A return back to the woman I used to be. I used to be confident, positive, happy, relaxed, neatly dressed with well manicured hands and make up. And slimmer. Much slimmer.

I've always liked to wear my clothes on the loose side so as the excess weight crept on I just filled out my clothes more. I hadn't noticed just how much until Christmas when I couldn't squeeze into my festive outfits. That made me pause for thought and weigh myself. What a shock. I started to re think and go back to healthier habits. I started to lose weight. But then life events got the better [or the worse] of me. Again to have to think about food and preparation became the last thing on my mind. I just piled on the pounds I'd managed to shed.

Then a few weeks ago I decided that although my husband has health issues I really did need to sort myself out. I've decided to work on one thing at a time. To change one habit at a time. to re-introduce myself to me. To find out who I am again rather than being 'just' a wife and carer.

I decided to let many of the household chores go. To save time for myself to enjoy life. First was to start to learn to play Bridge. Second was to grow my nails, to manicure my ragged cuticles and start to wear nail polish. Now I am working on my weight problem. However, this time I am not on a diet. I already eat a healthy diet. But I think that with the stress and depression I have been eating without thinking. I have been eating too large portions. I am trying to see whether Paul McKenna can do as he says. I have bought the book and studied the rules. I will try my best. I will let you know how it goes.

Sod's Laws

It's Sod's Law that :
[1] the young don't want to stop for sleep, feel full of energy, but sleep as if poleaxed for 12 +hours
[2] the oldies want to sleep, feel perpetually tired but feel grateful if they manage more than 4 hours deep sleep
[3] it rains when you've just watered the garden and all the containers
[4] it fails to rain for weeks if you've just sprinkled powdered weed n feed on the lawn
[5]the house gleams, smells of polish, is tidy but no one calls
[6] the house looks like Steptoes' junk yard with thick dust every where and unexpected visitors drop in for a 'surprise' visit.

That's life I suppose ....

Bridge Too Far

Bridge lessons have been suspended until mid September. I am relieved. It will give me chance to catch up in the garden. And give me some time to blog again. I love bridge. After a 10 week course I am only half way through knowing all I need to know to start playing. I just have to keep reading and studying my notes to ensure I don't forget all we have been taught so far.

Garden and Favourite Plants

I love our garden.


On our move here from Gloucestershire we thought this was a level playing field. That garden was so steep I was unable to mow the lawn. It was a man's job. A hover mower was used to cut the grass up hill as far as could be reached. On up to a grassy terraced path and to lower the mower on a rope to cut the rest of the steeply inclined lawn. Children used to love that lawn. It was perfect for playing roly poly. But as we got older we could see it would eventually prove troublesome.

This garden by comparison was perfect. Although it is uphill it is more gentle. But being on top of the hill it is windy. So every plant has to be hardy, impervious to winds, frost and to earn its keep. Anything finicky, or especially delectable to slugs,that I find irresistible are kept in pots. The only trouble is the pots are growing in number.

Now Swiftly Moving On . .

When I started this Blog I was very unhappy. Looking back I can see I was more depressed than I realised. Suffering from unresolved grief through many bereavements over a 3-year period. The loss of my 2 very old cats compounded that feeling of bereavement so severe I lost sight of myself for a while. It was only my recent attendance at two funerals that made me realise that I no longer feel emotionally overwhelmed. I still feel sad but it is no longer an all enveloping sadness.

I've been reading 'The Book of Happiness' . It is helping me to focus. It defined the difference in the feelings of sadness and unhappiness. "Sadness is a part of life and we experience it as a result of life's events . . ."! Well I have had plenty of those of the last few years. Ithas been energy sapping. Now I am trying to come to terms with those events and 'move on'.

To move on I need to make several changes. We moved into our present house [1999] from a larger 4 bedroom house. As it was a sudden move we didn't have time to de-clutter. We just packed up and moved with more stuff than we needed. We were going to expand into the roof here with a loft conversion. It was going to be my husband's home office. Suddenly our circumstances changed and he no longer needed a home office. We never did the loft conversion. Meanwhile the spare bedroom and garage held all his office papers, tax and VAT files, etc .

To move on we need to de-clutter. We have sold all the office furniture. My husband is slowly trawling through paperwork, archiving financial information and shredding personal client papers. It's a slow process. We also need to make a decision on life changes about where we will live out our retirement years. Home is very important to me. I need to feel settled, rooted, in order to regain my equilibrium. I love it here and so it adds to my feelings of sadness on thinking of leaving. But it is not suitable for our situation now. My husband now has a strong desire to move elsewhere. We just don't know where yet. It needs to be somewhere less hilly.

We are also trying to sort out a new car. Just normal activities but very time consuming and demanding. Especially when trying to make decisions with someone who doesn't feel at all able or capable of making decisions. I'm pressing on as I don't feel we can waste time. I've reached the age where time seems to gallop by at an alarming pace.

I've missed posting a regular blog. . . .. this is just a short note to let you know why I haven't had time to call by to meet up with you and chat at yours on a regular basis.

Going Metric

Let's go metric. Completely metric. I need a 10 day week; 30 hour days. That way I may get to the end of the week and have managed some of the tasks on my ever expanding and demanding 'To Do List' .

A Right Royal Garden Party

I was looking forward to attending a party this week. Until the weather changed for the better. I'd been looking forward to an indoor party. But with the change in the weather it changed to a garden party. Except that it was so hot and sunny most wanted to remain indoors in the shade.

Shade there was a plenty but it was hotter in than out. The huge conservatory heated the already scorching air and shepherded it in thorugh the french doors into the lounge. It was like sitting next to a huge glass Aga. The wine didn't help. It just enhanced the rosey glow on everyone's cheeks. The ice melted before it had chance to chill the drinks clasped in our hot little hands. Sandwiches and cakes began to wilt.

A few of the hardier guests [who took holidays in exotic locations] with skin like crisp brown leather, sat outdoors on the sunbaked south facing patio under the scant protection of one sun shade.

Late in the afternoon as the sun slowly sank those of us timid pale skinned folk who had already survived skin cancer or malignant melanoma ventured out to partake of the slightly cooler air. A lovely fresh 80+* F rather than 100+*F indoors. The house bricks emitting all the days stored radiation as if from a baker's oven.

By this time even the hardy brownites wanted to keep in the shade. We all huddled together at the end of the patio - squeezing up close in a friendly manner to share the measly amount of precious shade. Like penguins on an ever decreasing ice flow. Someone suggested the sun shade could be tilted to provide a bit more shade but as soon as it was tilted it caught the slightest breeze and swung like a gib to the east. Hauled back to the west someone kindly sat there with his arm up to hold it in place. Then with the next breeze it billowed like a spinnaker and slowly toppled dragging the patio table and wine glasses with it. Jim the host leapt to attention from his sun drowsed slumber and made an athletic lunge. Anchoring the table down before it hit the deck. So there we sat us ladies, with Jim clutching the table and Mark holding on to the sunshade.

The breeze dropped and the heat stored in the house walls began to leach into our small shady spot. We all started to glow. I suggested we all move the table, chairs and ourselves a few feet across the patio into the shade cast by the house as the sun continued on its westerly dip. Nobody picked me up on the idea. I repeated it in a louder voice. Still no response. I shut up. maybe it was too close to that giant Aga of a glasshouse.

I thought that if only I had been a traveller and visited South Africa or Ayers Rock then I wouldn't be so affected by a hot English summer evening. But no, Jim later confessed that it had been far too hot for him too and he'd lived for many years in Australia.

Northern Rose and Woes

Here is a little something to cheer you all for the next few weeks - this will have to do till the book is out.

I Could Blog About this ...

I could blog about this I think numerous times a week. I'm not short of ideas. I'm not short of daft or peculiar observations on life, the universe and everything. But I have been short of time. A friend's husband has now returned to full health and driving duties after a pacemaker was fitted. So I am now relieved of taxi duties. Unfortunately a couple of friends have died. I have attended one funeral. Another one to go on Monday. After that I hope to have finished with my share of sadness and upset for 2008. I now want to cash in my 'happiness' voucher' for a bit of daft frivolity.

Funerals aren't what they used to be. Well not in Sidford they aren't. Do all funeral directors now arrange for the coffin to be carried into church on a squeaky wheeled trellised trolley? or is it only in Sidford - where the pall bearers appear older than the recently dead incumbent of the coffin? If Health and Safety at Work rules now insist on coffins being wheeled along then couldn't the Funeral Director at least ensure the wheels are well oiled before the sombre journey is undertaken.

A trolley doesn't have quite the same emotional impact as a coffin being transported in and out of church on the shoulders of 6 burly black clad men. Replaced instead by a less dignified slow march to squeak squeak squeak.... We crowded into the church 15 minutes ahead of the service. It slowly filled with people of all ages over 70 yrs, the walking sticks and zimmer frames taking up as much room as the mourners. I feel very young amongst so many older folk.

A moment - well several moments - of quiet reflection was frequently broken by the clatter of falling walking sticks. Each clatter on the stone floor made me jump. I must be stressed and tense - I leapt out of my skin each time. A sad occasion but as I felt a giggle trying to surface I was reminded once again that Les wouldn't be there to share the funny side of his funeral service with me. He had a wicked devilish sense of humour. I'll miss him.

Meme for the Bookish

Merri tagged me the other day. I thought I might have to think up some more truthful, embarrassing or quirky facts about myself and expose them on my blog. But no - this is different, it has a form of randomness to it ... once you've selected the book.

Here are the rules:

Step 1 – take a book from the book shelf.
Step 2 – turn to page 123.
Step 3 – read and write out the 5th sentence.
Step 4 – tag 5 more people.

I have 3 bookcases. So first I had to choose which set of shelves to attack. I discarded all the encyclopedia, the books on 'How to Play Bridge' or any self improvement books such as 'How to Win Friends and Influence Money'. I was left with the choice between a book from all the books purchased but as yet unread or selecting an old favourite.

In the end I chose a very old favourite -

Lord Chesterfield's "Letters to His son and Others" a paperback version published by Dent ISBN 0 460 11823 4

"He sometimes affects hard words by way of ornament, which he always mangles,like a learned woman. A man of fashion never has recourse to proverbs and vulgar aphorisms; uses neither favourite words nor hard words; but takes great care to speak very correctly and grammatically, and to pronounce properly, ..... . "

As you can see from the excerpt which is taken from page 123 beginning with the 5th sentence [along with this page of ' quotes'] these letters were from a very different age; written by a Gentleman.

I now nominate the following to take up this meme and, if they have the time to, run with it:

1. Stinking Billy
2. Merryweather
3. Maggie May
4. Teeni
5. Canon Bass 1

If you call in and read this and want to take part please feel free to do so.

For Pianists Everywhere

I'm so impressed to learn from MerryWeather's latest blog that she plays the piano.

However much I like and admire Merryw I bet she is nowhere as cute a pianist as Nora. I just love Nora's relaxed style of playing. I admire the fact that although there are a few off -key notes she continues with unabated enthusiasm. I think the best example of her work is at the beginning of the duet with Betsy Student. A concert of her full repertoire can be viewed here on this video.

Stats

I've hardly had time to put fingertips to keyboard these last few weeks. I came on today to post a quick link to a petition and then couldn't resist popping out to see some old friends. Then just when Ii should be in the kitchen and starting to prepare an evening meal I peeked at my Stats counter. I felt awful when I saw that a few loyal blog friends had continued to pop in to see what if any news from me and there was none.

I am out - again - tomorrow but hope to catch up with blogging over the weekend. To tell you why I've been so short on time. Meanwhile please accept my apologies.

Help Save Your Local GP Surgery

Sign the BMA petition to try and save your local GP surgeries from going the same way all our local Post Offices went.

Information for the Public and Patients: http://www.supportyoursurgery.org.uk/public.php

Click on the link below to Sign the on- line petition for public and patients: http://www.politicalwizard.co.uk/administration/campaign_layout/index.php?category=petitions&uid=3396&campid=2488&detail=y&c=s

A Laugh for Today

Very funny - sweet kittens taking exercise on a treadmill.

Counting My Blessings - the pros and cons of them

1. After 6 weeks of no longer using my fingernails as 'tools' and taking care of my cuticles I no longer feel ashamed of my hands when I am learning how to play Bridge. But I now have to do that prissy ladylike way of holding things and pushing buttons with the pads of my fingers to preserve my long nails. I also keep hitting the CAPS LOCK button by mistake with my longer finger nails.


2. Financial worries have eased somewhat after receiving Carer's Allowance. But I don't get time to go out to the shops to spend any of it - apart from Boots Chemist for nail care products.


3. I have bought a '3 Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation' CD. But I've listened to it 4 times and only finished step 1 so far - on step 2 I keep falling asleep. Heaven only knows what step 3 will do to me, if I ever get that far.

Speaking for Myself

'Speaking for Myself' is the title of Cherie Blair's book which apparently has been rushed out earlier than the planned autumn release date. Perhaps she is worried that by the October no-one will have £18.99 spare cash left to waste on a work of fiction/faction. Speaking for Myself I find the idea of reading 'Speaking for Myself' by Cherie Blair to be a complete waste of time. It sounds as if she is trying to get us to like her and see everything from Tony's point of view. But all it appears to do is highlight how greedy, vulgar and self deceiving the woman is. Cherie must think we are all less than intelligent. Why should we believe any of this? After all she has admitted she is not incapable of telling 'pork pies'. Her husband is also a stranger to the truth. She only confessed to fibbing when 'found out'.

Speaking for Myself I'm also amazed that she was so embarrassed by being found to have a 'contraceptive' device in her luggage that she decided to leave it at home. Why not carry it in her handbag? Being such a devout Catholic female maybe this was the contraceptive device she chose for Tony to use.

At least this latest outing of the B Liars serves to remind us of just how grateful we should be that bungling Gordon 'Prudence' Brown did manage to remove Teflon Tony and the 'Cat Trainer' from office.

Update: 16th May - and who would like to guess just who this eager beaver of a reader and reviewer on the Amazon website is?? Me thinks it is probably a publisher/editor desperate to get the sales up - or maybe even a 'pen' name of Cherry Booth/Blair QC.

I agree with the Judge who thought she should resign as part- time Judge. Imagine standing in court and having this loose mouthed loose morals female pronouncing Judgement on your behaviour! HUH!

Smile and be Happy

London's Pride

London Pride is such a simple little plant. So often taken for granted as ground cover. But if you get down, up close and personal you will see it has such an intricate flower. It really is amazing.

Losers

No matter how bad life appears, you know there is always someone worse off than yourself. But we should act with dignity and grace at all times.

It's amazing - if only we could see ourselves as others see us!

What is the True Rate of Inflation?

Gordon Brown as Chancellor and latterly as Prime Minister does boast about the low rate of inflation in comparison to the years under the Conservatives.

However, several years ago the Labour Govt. changed the measure of inflation from the Retail Price Index [RPI] to the Consumer Price Index [CPI] . As can be seen from the graph from the ONS website these rates of inflation do differ by a substantial amount.

The govt can only boast about low inflation when quoting the CPI because the index is made up of many non essential items or one off purchases. However, the old RPI consists of mortgage rates, fuel costs and basic food items - all the necessities of life. The rate of RPI compared to CPI is consistently higher e.g. Nov 2007 RPI = 4.3 % CPI = 2.1 %

I find it particularly interesting that the Govt quote CPI rate of inflation when it serves its own ends and then uses the 'defunct' RPI when to its advantage. Therefore when working out the rate needed to increase the state pension it will use the CPI. Many local govt/civil service pensions are increased annually by the RPI rate. But students' loans will have the interest rate calculated using the RPI rate.

In other words, it appears to me, that if the Govt have to pay out money then they use the CPI but if they are claiming money back from us or to award themselves pay/pension increases then its the RPI figures that are used. MP's pensions are the best available - and are costing taxpayers a fortune.

Just Good Friends

What a lovely surprise. I popped in to check on emails, my bank balance, update anti- virus and firewall and then a fast sneaky look at the blog world.

I popped in on Merrydaze and then over to Stinking Billy. And what do I find? Why I find that St Billy left his word processor to go out to meet up with another woman. Crystal and he have had a meeting - well a cuddle to be precise. I rushed over to Crystal's Palace and find the meeting included a photo shoot.

Red Arrows 2012 Olympics

There has been a petition raised to overturn the view by the

"Department of Culture, Media and Sport have deemed the RAF Red Arrows
as Unsuitable for the 2012 Olympics because they are too British.This is a
ridiculous decision and should be overturned in the name of common sense."

If you agree then click on this link to sign the petition. You will be sent an email with a request to click on a link - once you have done this your name will be added to the petition. The emailed link is just to make sure you are a person and not some robotic machine trying to place fictitious names on the petition.

Do you Agree With Me?...

I have this hanging in my kitchen - a warning to any who dare to disagree with me. If she had glasses she would look just like me.

Moved to Tears

I was first moved to tears by a movie when I was very young. "John and Julie" was about a young boy and his younger sister travelling to London for the Queen's coronation. At some point Julie becomes lost in the crowds. Much time is spent with John pushing his way through the crowds calling out "Julie, ..... Julie......., Julie......" with shots of Julie surrounded by crowds of adults calling out "John......, John.......".

A bit like Leonardo and Kate on the Titanic "Jack......, Jack ........, Jack........". However, even though Kate was wet and cold while she tried to find Jack, I remained unmoved by the Titanic experience.

I was moved to shed tears as I was fearful that John and Julie would not be reunited. It was my first visit to the movies. I had to sit on the upturned seat so I could see over the adult shoulders in front of me. The velvety plush of the seat tickling the backs of my thighs. Being 6 years old I didn't realise the film was a comedy. I don't remember laughing. I just remember the emotions it aroused in me along with the haunting music. As to the theme tune I'm not at all surprised to find it was played by Eddie Calvert. There was a haunting sweetness to his playing.

Aspiring Author

Once many years ago I was an aspiring author. I had aspirations to be a published writer. To be an author.

I can clearly remember the opening sentence of my first draft paragraph.

"The judge placed the black cap on top of his wig and pronounced sentence on
the prisoner. "You will be taken from this place to prison from whence you
will be taken to a place to suffer death by hanging"

As you can see I was attempting a dramatic opening. I remember clearly the events that raised this rich seam of drama in my mind. I was young at the time of the murder. It was the first murder of which I became aware of newspaper coverage of the crime, the victims, and then the trial. I remember my father's distress over the hanging of a man who may well be innocent.

My father didn't agree with 'legalised murder'. He thought that a sentence of imprisonment for life was sufficient punishment. It allowed for errors in judgement, mistaken identity or other extenuating circumstances. When he was explaining his thoughts to me he told me he came to this decision when Derek Bentley was hanged for murder. A shooting of a policeman committed in Croydon in by Bentley/Craig obviously aroused a great deal of local interest at the time. Many years later it still distressed my father. He was worried that another man was about to be hanged when he may have been innocent of the crime.

I'm not quite sure where I intended to go after this dramatic opening. I'd worked out the beginning. But it had no middle and no ending. The latter surprises me. It surprises me because I have always chosen my books by reading by the last paragraph first.

Desktop Meme

Many months ago I was tagged by teeni to give a glimpse of the 'real' me by taking a snapshot of my onscreen 'desktop'. I never did get around to posting about it. Now that I've been tagged again with the same project by MaggieMay I feel guilty that I never completed it the first time around!

So I've decided to do a double desktop challenge.

The first desktop on the left is a snapshot of my PC desktop taken in September when I had every intention of trying to do something interesting. I didn't think my desktop looked at all fascinating which is probably why the post petered out and died. As you can see I don't change it from whatever MS Windows and added software pacakges supply. However, what you can't see is that whenever I am away from my keyboard for more than 30 minutes a photo slide show screensaver kicks in. I've thousands of photos, local scenes, gardens, plants, family snaps, pets, friends and local architecture. It's lovely not knowing what pictures will be metamorphosing on to the screen when I return to my desk.

The second photo is my whole desktop with all its junk, notebooks etc so you can see what an untidy disorganised worker I am. It may look untidy and disorganised but I never lose anything. It's just that I have a vertical filing system.

Now I don't have time to pop around many folk to ask them to take part - so I'll just a list a few people I would love to know a bit more about. I hope they'll join in if they have the time

1. Mark Wadsworth
2. Richard Madeley
3. Flowerpot
4. Mopsa of Ramblings

and anyone else who feels they would like to have a go at this meme then please consider yourself as 'tagged'..

If you do the desktop meme please leave me a comment so I know to pop over to view. I would be interested in the double desktop view - I am particularly nosey, you see.

Chatty Bloggers Award

I would like to nominate the following for the chatty bloggers award:

1. Suffolk Mum
2. Potty Mummy
3. Merrimerri
4. teeni
5. allmost american

I feel I would enjoy a cup of tea and a good chat with any of the above. There are others but when I've visited their blogs I see they already have won one.

Award for Being a Gossip

Retired and Crazy has very kindly given me an Award. I haven't yet had chance to find who I'll be passing it onto but will be back soon to nominate some other chatty bloggers.

I Am Revolting

I am revolting - and I wish more people would sign up for an apathy bypass and join the revolt wagon.

Today I wish to join the revolt against Tesco. The best news I've heard all day is about Dot Reid a 58 year old from Liverpool who is trying to save her home from yet another Tesco store. She wants the Tesco's boss Sir Terry Leahy to have a taste of his own medicine. She has submitted a planning application to Hertfordshire to demolish his mansion to provide a community garden, with water feature and a kiosk for pensioners.

I just hope thousands of people will write in to support her planning application. Just think of the thousands of jobs it will provide as tourists would flock to the area just to enjoy the community gardens ...

If you would like to let the council planning dept know what you think of this planning application all the details can be found here.


Remember Power to the PEOPLE


Tesco doesn't seem very popular does it - here are a few varied views of the Tesco juggernaut: -
http://www.tesco-complaint.blogspot.com/2006/11/tesco-complaint_06.html

http://tescocampaign.blogspot.com/

http://tescno.blogspot.com/2006/05/sir-terry-leahy-begins-tesco-charm.html

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/lifestyle-news/your-life/tm_headline=end-of-the-corner-shop&method=full&objectid=19843695&page=4&siteid=50003-name_page.html

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=417691&in_page_id=2

Olympic Torch Procession

The Olympic Torch procession through London, Paris and latterly San Fransisco has been very amusing. When I first saw the procession on TV I thought it was an advert then I realised it was the phalanx of guards around the torch. I didn't realise the rough men in blue tracksuits were a Chinese contingent from the 'heavy mob' manhandling our citizens on our streets. If I'd known I'd have been up there with them protesting.

My April Blog Selection

I would just like to draw you attention to some blogs I have enjoyed which are now listed under 'My April Blog Selection' in the right hand column.