Ev - September 11, 2020 at 10:13 AM At present I have a half of Mike’s service and civil service pensions and if I were to co-habit or marry again I would lose it all and become dependent on a man! Apart from having no desire to enter into a relationship as I have lost the love of my life, not flipping likely to lose that income! So no toy boy for me. Some would say highly unlikely!
Janice - September 11, 2020 at 11:12 AM If a man has provided for his wife and his intention was to go on providing for her throughout life then I think it most unfair that the pension should stop, regardless of how she chooses to spend the rest of her life.
Proud to be Yorkshire - September 11, 2020 at 10:24 AM I've been married 31 years so far. How I haven't killed him I don't know!!! I would not go through all this ever again, be it toy boy, Adam Frost or even Noel Fitzpatrick - Supervet. LOL
Janice - September 11, 2020 at 11:08 AM How about Hauser?
MrsP AmbridgeSeptember 11, 2020 at 11:13 AM As a woman who gave up on men before the age of forty, Sarnia, Ev and PtbY, have given ME a good laugh too. Mind you, I can say with all honesty that I have never encouraged any woman to give up on her marriage. Even without the benefit of inherited pensions, it's a lonely road. But perhaps I should also say, I do enjoy the companionship of some men.
Sarnia - September 11, 2020 at 11:29 AM Ev 10.13: I'm with you on that. The idea that widows who choose to enter into another relationship should then become financially dependent on the new partner, who will most probably also be a pensioner, is SO out of date. Like PtbY, I have no intention of going through all that again, but should a likely candidate ever present himself, I'm afraid he'll have to retain a separate household and I'll pencil him in for weekends!
Ev - September 11, 2020 at 2:11 PM Good idea, Sarnia!
Basia - September 11, 2020 at 12:58 PM I assume a single person's pension goes to the state when they die? Are there different rules that apply to men when their wives die, do they benefit from their pensions? Does anyone know? A woman I know was widowed early in life with two young sons. She hasn't married her long term partner for the reasons you have quoted above, though they have always lived together.
You wouldn’t lose state pension of course but in my case would lose all the extra benefit of his graduated pension. It is a bit harsh, I think but again in my case will never apply!
To answer Basia - for a single person, the state pension is stopped...but a SIPP (which I have from consolidation in 2015) goes into an "estate" and can be inherited. Also this is not counted into inheritance tax, I think.
On a totally different topic, there are messages going around, suggesting a family get-to-gether in Wales on Sunday, as the forecast is good. This will be a socially distanced event, but they have the largest garden, so all should be able to meet up outside. If we don't do this now, then when will be able to do it so again? As said, still early days, as to ideas floating around. 😀
Tea is now cooking. It is a pork casserole, with red onion, a sliced apple, unsweetened apple juice, a tin of chopped toms. herbs, stock, to be soon thickened into a gravy. Also now cooking is a potatoe boulangere, with leeks - 90 mins cooking time now. I was about to say, just in time for TA, but it is Friday, so no episode 😭😢
I am confused. Are you talking about works pensions or the state old age pensions? I believe that if I were to die before Mr LJ ,he would get some form of pension from the teachers pension fund - Not sure about that but I won't be around to find out anyway . Perhaps I should check.- but if he dies before I do,I will not get a pension from his former employer because he had already retired when we married.
Just before we married (I was aged 60 ) I informed the Pensions people about my change of status and I was told that part of my old age pension came from my former husband's contributions. When I asked why that was I was told to imagine the scenario of a woman who stayed at home looking after the children only for her husband to run off with a younger woman leaving her penniless.
You do have credits which are as good as contributions whilst you are at home looking after children. It might be different if you are divorced as all too often as pictured to you LJ the man will exit the marriage leaving wife penniless. Certainly if you stay married you have to build up your own entitlement. I was surprised though to get Mike’s graduated pension as well as my own. The basic state pension dies with you.
Yes, LJ, part of my pension is based on my husband's contributions. Hence, when he dies and everything came up for review, DWP discovered that they had been underpaying me since 2009 and I received a considerable back-payment. Apparently this happened to a huge number of women and it's taking them forever to catch up. Some time ago in the Money page in RT Martyn Lewis was urging women to apply, but mine had already arrived.
I only ever taught full-time before I had the children and paid the 'married women's stamp', as it was always assumed that David's contributions would also fund my pension.
Have just had a look at rules and was very misinformed and ignorant! Apparently if you had paid married women’s stamp your pension will be partly based on your husband’s contributions. Apologies!
Because my daughter has 3 children, Mr A and I can only visit them separately from Monday because if we go together, that would make 7. It must apply to a great many families across the country where there are 3 or more children in a family. I had hoped to spend my declining years spending as much time with my children and grandchildren as I, and more importantly, as they wanted. Not to be allowed to see them as a couple is very upsetting as is the realisation that this could carry on beyond Christmas. I know the restrictions are affecting so many people in very many different ways but this is the particular way they are affecting me.
My son-in-law cannot visit his ailing and dementia affected parents in Caerphilly now because the whole area is closed. His sister is having to take on sole responsibility for their care.
Coronavirus, Covid 19, has an awful lot to answer for and is changing so many freedoms we all took for granted.
Archerphile, it is very sad for you and many others. Don't think about Christmas for the time being, concentrate on your next appointment. Things have gone well for you so far, others are not so fortunate. Let's hope it'll straighten up soon...
Archerphile it is certainly a distressing situation on a personal front for you, Mr A & so many 🙁 even though we (mostly) all appreciate the reasoning behind the rule(s). If your grandchildren were younger you would be ok as under a certain age they will not count towards the “6” - is that 11yrs? (Local paper has a picture of “Hinton Ampner” gardens on the front cover mentioning the 20 varieties of Dahlia in the gardens - I immediately thought of our brief meet up a year ago this month 😱 what a difference a year makes.....)
Goodness yes, Lady R, is it really a year? I suppose you have to make an appointment to visit Hinton Ampner now. My neighbours went to The Vyne yesterday, by appointment and said it was very strange that there were so few people there.
That’s right AP the latest magazine arrived this morning looks like it will be an interesting read as info on lockdown of the properties and now the welcome back and new procedures. If one way system in place at HA which is likely Mr A may not be able to manage the whole route so I don’t know if we will go this year. We renewed membership without taking the offered cut as we have always enjoyed our trips to all venues and one day when 🤞🏼 normality returns would like the houses and lovely gardens to have survived 🙏🏼
Well, looking on the brighter side, we are now actually going to do something to help the Covid situation. All due to a letter received half an hour ago.
We have both just registered to take part in the Office of National Statistics Covid 19 study. Apparently we were selected at random and will be visited at home by a ‘health care professional’ every week to answer questions and take a Covid test. This will carry on for 5 weeks and then monthly for the next year. All to provide a picture of infections across the country and help the Govt. make these decisions we are subject to.
This has made me feel much better, it is a positive step we can both take and help us to understand why the restrictions are being applied in the way they are. Oh, and we are to be given £50 vouchers for taking part. Don’t know where they can be used, but hopefully we could donate them to a foodbank or some such.
How interesting Archerphile! Plus you will be able to keep us all up to date with your contributions to the survey. Well done to you both 👏🏻 and thank you!
AP ( your 10.09am post), I am going to be a touch subversive. The number 6 for a gathering is totally arbitary. What difference can 7, or even 8, members of 2 family households meeting, possibly make to infection risk ? Common sense says it doesn't. I sincerely hope you & Mr AP see your daughter & family together, as planned, & that others caught in this trap do the same. I don't expect you will take any notice, but I do strongly feel we should make reasonable judgments on our own initiatives, to decide how far to comply with arbitary 'rules'.
I think it is very sad that families will be parted because of the rule of six. However, it would be even sadder if the virus spreads and loved ones have lasting effects or even worse. It is depressing that the R rate has gone up already. Hopefully now we know more we won’t need to go into lockdown again.
Carolyn, surely it's a question of where to draw a line that has to be drawn somewhere. Where ever it goes there will be people on the wrong side of it who would prefer to exercise their initiative and push the boundaries, and if we all did that there wouldn't be any boundaries left at all.
Two words probably sum up the situation: Dominic Cummings.
I am unsurprised at the reactions to what I wrote.. Furthermore, I see for the sake of the often repeated cry for 'clarity' from the authorities, it would be considered necessary to draw an arbitary line, in this case, the no 6 because, in England anyway, as lockdown started to ease, that was the no. decided. My point was not to flout the instruction in essence -- limit the nos. meeting ( even if one doesn't agree fundamentally with continuing restrictions, another question unsuitable to be debated here no doubt) - but to use reasonable &, I assert, responsible judgement, without frightening the horses, by meeting in a group of 7 or 8, if that is the number of participating family members involved. I am NOT suggesting a riotous assembly of 30 people in a relatively small garden ! I'm simply arguing for common sense & the exercise of common sense.
To comment on the question of pensions, I like LJ am confused. I get one pension, from the state. It will stop when I die.
My mother never paid any stamp throughout her life, but was fortunate to have from my father when he died, his army pension and his company P&O pension. I don't know if her state pension included a widows element or not.
I worked from my fifteenth birthday until married at 24. My husband was self employed and rarely paid his self employment stamp. Credits were awarded to woman at home in 1977, at the very time that I separated and returned to the workplace, so I never received any credit for my years as a wife and mother.
In my fifties I applied for a pension forecast and as a result of getting it I was able to pay some extra to bring my contributions up to the required level. However, even that did not mean that I got a full pension as, because my husbands contributions had been erratic and not enough I lost out on the years as a mother at home. Most of my pension is apparently made up from my contributions between the age of 15 and 24 which I still find extraordinary.
Well, well. Here we are discussing decisions made by politicians to curb our behaviour and control a virus that and many people are choosing to ignore exists. We have four different governments making slightly different rules and all claim to be ‘ following the 🧬 science’. I think carolyn has a point. Its a bit like, pick a number, any number, multiply that by a positive number, then divide by a negative number and hay Presto we get the answer. Rule of six. Everything must come with a three word slogan, D C thinks we aren’t capable of understanding, hence infantilising our behaviour. But, we the common people, can’t break the rules. When I, sometime back, attempted to discuss behaviour, the virus and rule making some accused me of being political. Life is political determined either with a big P or small p. It’s simple controlling behaviour is more difficult than shouting slogans.
It is strange about the differing rules in the 4 countries which make up the UK. With the "rule of 6" children are included in England, but in Wales, children under 11 or 12yrs, are not included in that number.
It's The Last Night of The Proms tonight. For the 1st time for years, I will not be watching. I am sure the music will be brilliant, but without the Albert Hall filled with the very devoted audience, with the ambience that they normally create, it will not be the same. It's a 👎 from me, sadly.
I intend to be standing in my kitchen singing Rule Britannia and Sea Shanties at the top of my voice.
Even though Britannia is rather muddled about who and what it wants to, or is, ruling at the moment.
I am with Carolyn and Stasia regarding the rules formulated by muddled understanding of the science. I do not wish for anyone to flout the rules, but do believe that the large majority of the public are capable of interpreting those rules by using common sense at the same time. And since we all look at life from a different perspective, then our behaviours will differ in degree.
I agree. But my thoughts are that there are many who, just do not apply common sense, as we all do, and so that is why we are in this situation. It only takes a minority. Also, these new rules are based on scientific evidence, from those who know far more, than any of us, the general public. These rules are based on scientific fact, on a daily basis. I would not even attempt to say, that this is wrong! That's my view of things, rightly or wrongly.
Seems to me that the scientific evidence is open to interpretation by, or inclination to ignore for politic reasons, by our beloved leaders. However, while I'm quite sure that all who contribute to this blog have the intelligence and common sense to act appropriately, there are hundreds, if not thousands who haven't, or simply don't want to know. The young lady at the Sainsbury's checkout last Wednesday told me that she didn't care about Covid or the rules, because they were unenforceable: ' no one can see how many people I've got in my house, and if I have friends round who's going to stop me'?
I have just been sent a wonderful "image", which is slightly sacrifridgeous (sorry as to spelling!). It is "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan Cathedral. There are 5 photshopped British Bobbies looking at them, with the caption:- "I don't care who your Father is, this is still an illegal gathering"
It just amused me, but that is my silly sense of humour. 😐
Carolyn I am surprised you suggested that Archerphile should flout the new Covid rule. I hope she doesn't.Surely it is because some folk -mainly the younger element of Society who have been doing so, means it is necessary to impose new rules? I am in favour of large fines given to anyone who flouts any of the Covid rules .
One year when I was teaching ,a girl in my class had a birthday on 1st September It was the year the school leaving age was raised to 16 She had to do an extra 2years at Secondary School because of a few hours There has to be a cut off point.
If we want to halt the spread of this Virus people must behave responsibly It is a pity they are waiting until Monday to impose it though.
I have just watched a very different but very moving last night of the Proms (well, the second half) I must congratulate the BBC for making a tremendous effort to produce a near traditional ‘last night’ and especially the new Director General for dismissing all the nonsensical arguments to drop Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory, They were both there, played by a suitably distanced orchestra and a very distanced choir standing around the hall. But the lighting effects were magnificent and lifted what could have been a disappointing concert to a magical experience. I don’t mind admitting tears in my eyes as we sang along with the choir and those watching in the parks and at home.
Next year....hopefully....a season of concerts with full orchestras, choirs and audiences and a proper ‘Last Night’. 🎶 🇬🇧 🎶
I agree Archerphile (I need to catchup with the first half hour) but I have to say a great effort overall. I was not sold on the 2020 Jerusalem but the singer was fantastic and I appreciate the reasoning behind its new arrangement.The views shown alongside “The Lark Ascending” were beautiful and “When you walk through storm” always breaks me but I do so love it, also immediately thought of our Lanjan and her beloved Liverpool ⚽️ My classical knowledge is mostly of well known pieces but happy to enjoy others. Just love music and feel it not only in the soul but through tapping / conducting away 🤣 (I love the BBC news intro music for that very reason 🥁)
Having not been able to sing with a choir for almost two years, the muscles are lax. Therefore some of the noises emanating this evening were pretty raw and mostly tuneless. But I was standing and doing my best to sing along. I did not like the 'new' arrangement of Jerusalem, but it takes all tastes and I'm glad I watched. Always brings me closer to my parents.... The last night.....
That version posted by Lady R is very clever. Well done whoever wrote it.
The entire concept of pride in one's "country" to me is as alien now as it was when I first discovered that such a thing existed at the age of about 9 years old.
I am a very proud Yorkshire woman, you’d never guess eh!!, and I used to be a proud English woman......not any more. I despair of this country now. Not politically.....let’s not go down that road, but of the people, their behaviour and the snow flake generation. There was a woman on some prog the other day saying how she’d had this baby, a bad birth, left her and her husband traumatised and they’d had to go through this on their own with no help because of COVID. They’d had no help when they got the baby home, were tired blah blah blah!!!
Why is it that everyone wants someone to hold their hand for them, have various agencies give help to them instead of them just getting on with life......??
No one seems to be able to do anything without either having help or someone to blame.
I am familiar with that particular item Ptby and thought the same. Ditto with housing programmes “we’ve had our first baby and are desperate to move as we need more space at least 4/5 bedrooms“ 🤣 I always wish for them to be a part of one of those back in time programmes where they would have to bring up many children in a 2 up 2 down property (at best)
Well said ,P tbY . I am with you all the way. I heard on the News this morning that during Covid ,pregnant women couldn't have their husbands with them during labour. Why would any woman want anyone there anyway? I am sure I was not alone but I was left by myself both times in a bare room until the births were imminent . No midwife came near me although I believe there was a cord I could have pulled in case of emergency . I imagine that was the norm . We accepted that. Sadly we have become a spoon fed society.
Gary, I think you had said that why should one's loyalties lie with the place where one happened to have been born. I've been a nomad all my life - Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home. Sadly, in the latter part of my life I'll have to justify my existence to the authorities yet again.
Basia,I was born in Oxford . My father was a Londoner and my mother was born in Glasgow . I have an affinity with both London and Scotland but have none for the place where I lived for the first 6 years of my life, However as you know, I just love Lancashire where I have spent. most of my life. It took a very special man to persuade me 20 years ago that I should move south .
Determining the origin and emergence of a virus is a difficult process even for scientists. Studying its progress is time consuming and requires logic and reason. It Is when the scientists have to inform politicians that we see the growth of conspiracy theories. Differences in opinions cause misinformation and we as individuals are left to make sense of political decision making. Some believe the virus was deliberately engineered, that it is a hoax, that Bill Gates want to inject us with a micro chip under the guise of vaccines, and it is being spread by Three G technology. If we are on the receiving end of changing behavioural rules we might then pick and choose what theory suits our own belief system. Macro and micro decisions are made on an understanding of what is expected and sometimes that can seem over the top eg, partners not being allowed into the birthing room. I’m not sure if the increase in positive recording is anything to do with groups congregating or if the spiking is independent of human behaviour. What I do know from my own professional background is that when responding to any viral contagion creating a barrier is key to protecting ourselves and others. Keep ones distance, constantly wash hands, carry alcohol hand gel. Don’t share with others. Wash everything.
Ptby I couldn’t agree more about people being spoon fed and unable to get on with life without external help. I am amazed at mother’s expecting free childcare so that they can go out to work. They miss so much in their children’s growth and development and we now have a generation of children who have problems connected with lack of parenting. I realise that it is difficult nowadays to afford ridiculous house prices where there is a single earner but often ready meals and takeaways for instance bump up the household budget. We found that having me at home cooking from scratch meant living cheaply and I was there for my daughter and stepdaughters. I am by no means an earth mother btw!
My daughter would very much agree with you about meals and budgeting Ev. In the early months of lockdown, with eldest son sent home from closed University, and 2 other children and husband not going to school or work she found herself having to provide three meals a day for five people. She had to rely on Tesco home deliveries and go back to basic home cooking from scratch. At first she thought it would be costing fortune, but she soon found they were spending much less on food than before. How come? Because they were not going out for pub lunches at the weekend, or ordering Chinese, Indian or f&c takeaways once a week. No school lunches or work canteen lunches to pay for either. The return to home cooked food not only saved money but they were all much healthier for it. A lesson learned, I think.
Agree about the home meals this year. We haven’t been to a cafe since early March and I have lost half a stone. Dinner was always freshly cooked but we did go out for lunch a lot before lockdown.
I/we do miss going out for a meal with friends, I admit (as said before) I love to eat good and tasty food but do not enjoy cooking. Also we have not been able to go on holiday for a number of years now and so such jaunts become a mini break. Currently “our bubble” meet in the garden of the couple with a very large garden and each provides items towards a course as summertime still with us we have moved from BBQ to mainly cold meal but they are very enjoyable social occasions 🍷
Regarding children and food. I heard a mother say way back then that to her babies were just lumps of meat. Another took her mother's advice to go out to work because anybody can change a nappy and then engage once it becomes more interesting. When my nephew was born I didn't think he was just a sleeping, eating, nappying bundle. A woman I knew always struggled with her weight and debt but lived on takeaways and pub drinks. My sister has always cooked for her family from basic ingredients. I can't cook but I like fresh produce and just throw it all in and like eating it! I bought some 'real' apples at the market this week, from a tree and not a warehouse storage. They smell and taste delicious. I am definitely a (small e) european.
Just starting to harvest gorgeous apples from out James Grieve apple tree - they have a wonderful flavour and can be used as eaters or cookers. What I don’t like is having to dissect each one minutely to remove the grubs and all the other insects that infect them and not being able to just take a bite!
Arherphile, so you're sharing the food with others and providing an environment for other living beings! Personally I prefer to halve and quarter apples before eating, then perhaps if I picked one from a tree myself I'd want to sink my teeth in.
Archerfile..we just finished picking up a wonderful crop of potatoes and cabbage yesterday that will see us through winter and beyond..we're still getting zucchini every day and I've eaten so much that I swear I've got a green stalk growing out of the top of my head. I've already frozen celery, parsley ,basil ,beets and Swiss chard. Next week well take down the plums...we've still got tomatoes and leeks plus hopefully some late lettuce. Never has our little garden been more welcome not knowing what winter has to bring. And a surprisingly good crop considering how late in the season we started...we couldn't leave the village to buy seeds or transplants until the middle of May ..very late in these parts. Oh I forgot some nice pumpkins are coming up, great for soup ravioli and risotto.
That’s amazing Autumn. I didn’t know you could freeze celery! What a wonderful harvest you’ve had. Our tomatoes (6 different varieties) and cues in the greenhouse are finished now but we still have some rather scrawny lettuce and runner beans. The only things I freeze for winter is our soft fruit. Raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and far too many black Currants. They will keep us in crumbles for months, I hope. I
My zoom art lessons resumed this week and here is the latest effort! It is of a fish market in Venice, a study in scarlet because of the red blinds. It does need further work and was a challenge. Afterwards they post other’s paintings and it is interesting to compare. Some were much better than mine, some worse so I am about average! We followed it up with a takeaway Italian which was so substantial we had enough left for lunch the next day! I too like eating out and takeaways as a change from cooking but as an occasional treat, not a regular occurrence! In early days we sometimes took the girls to a Berni Inn which we all enjoyed and they learned to behave well in public!
Ev, I like the overall picture but wouldn't have guessed it was a fish market without the slippery, silvery mass of fish, hope you're open to opinions.
Yes, Basia. I thought that but the photo didn’t show the fish closely. It occurs that a close up fish counter with the shimmery bits would be a really good subject! I have memories of a fish market in Madeira where the vendors had large scimitars to cut up the tuna (Hadn’t realised Tuna were so big!). They were having a good natured argument, the vendors that is, and swishing the scimitars around. It was comical but quite scary!!
I understand now, if that's what it showed then that's it. I discovered about the size of tuna when my sister was preparing it once (not a whole one!), we are used to the small tinned variety.
So the BBC are “regrettably” saying goodbye to Sue Barker after her hosting A Question of sport for 24 yrs. also Tufnell & Dawson 😮 They will finish their run next year. The BBC have not yet decided on the new format 🤣 Cheaper & younger Presenter and Captains no doubt. In that case just axe the bl..dy programme. Maybe their new “old” licence fee holder viewers would like the programme to remain as it is😡
Endorse PtbY and others following regarding 'snowflake' attitudes, and had similar thoughts when hearing that piece. But latest news heard yesterday was that Parliament or NHS, not sure which, has ordered that fathers must be allowed to be with the mother for scans etc.
I have written before about being the pioneers for fathers to be present at birth, but even so in this time of ' going without ' for all, I feel that it is a most opportune time for those today who have so much and expect more, to learn that it is possible to have less and yet to survive.
The MPs have written to the NHS to allow the fathers to be present. I think it's for the individual hospitals to decide about their rules on visiting etc. I also think that although most fathers are eager to participate all along, in the old days when it was not allowed some might have felt grateful.
Katy was saying yesterday how her generation as teenagers were aware of the environment and being green but now she finds, working with teenagers, that they don’t give a fig about it and are only interested in themselves.
My husband was with me when I had Katy but afterwards looked grey and worse than me! It doesn’t suit everyone! There was no such thing as scans then and I think far too much fuss is made with the pictures being bandied around. For medical reasons they are important and interesting to the parents but not to anyone else! Certainly not me!
Ev, re your latest painting. I love the colour palette and do so wish I could paint/draw figures as you do. It really livens up a painting to have humans to give scale and interest. For my birthday last month, my daughter gave me new artists materials. Derwent pencils, a large tin of their Academy watercolour crayons, fine outlining pens, watercolour paper etc. etc. She knew I hadn’t been able to paint for some time because of my eye problem and thought once I had my ‘new’ eyes I might like to start again. I have never used watercolour pencils before so this is going to be a new technique to learn. I think I’ll have to seek help online!
Lady R 10.57am: Quite so. My mother brought up the first three of her children in the 1920s in a third floor flat with no running water. Every drop had to be carried up three flights of stairs from the pump in the yard to be boiled in the gas copper, and taken back down again after use. The one privy, also in the yard, was shared between all the tenants.
She dined out on the history all her life, believing that it somehow qualified her as more virtuous, which it possibly did, but it sounded to me like slum dwelling and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
LadyR & Archerphile, I was almost sure that the new presenter of Woman's Hour would be BAME, they way they go on about it, but no, Emma Barnett will take over from Jane Garvey next year. She'll present from Mon-Thu, so they can fill Fri and Sat (repeat) with some PC person. Emma Barnett is much younger, 35 and married, with a son. Although a feminist she sits in the synagogue together with other women.
Having just caught up with all today's really interesting posts, I have my thoughts. Ev- the fish market in Venice is just amazing and very well known. You need to go + see it for yourself. I always home cook (which you all know) but it is far cheaper. I am also missing meals out, but I have totally accepted this, as have the other Ladies Who Lunch pals.
I feel I have won The Lottery with my new neighbours. I had a long chat with one of them today, over the hedge, and our chatter was just so natural, esp when I quoted part of the "periodic table"! It is too difficult to explain why, and how it came into conversation! I feel so at ease with them, and I have an invite to pop in for tea and a chat, any-time. What a difference - so much so, my BP must have gone down...
Sarnia ,have I read that correctly ? Your mother brought up the first three of her children in the 1920s?
Archerphile I have been " playing". with acrylic painting and really enjoying it. Prior to that I was using glaze pens Watercolour pencils sound right up my street if it means dipping the pencil in water.
Grandma Moses some of us are trying to emulate you. (I have a feeling that one person Is well on the way to doing so!) Well done Ev. Good Luck Archerphile
Lanjan : So far I have tried ‘ colouring in’ sketches with the crayons, then going over them with a small paintbrush dipped in water - the colours blend nicely. My daughter said you can wet the paper first then draw on the damp surface - haven’t tried that yet. I’m not sure if you’d actually dip them in water, I expect they might dissolve quite quickly!
You did, LanJan, 20s and early 30s. The elder of my two brothers was born in 1923, followed by the elder sister in 1927. The second brother was born in 1930, but they weren't able to move into a rented house until 1933, for the birth of my other sister.
I was brought up in a two up two down with no bathroom and the toilet at the end of the yard. Talking to my brother the other day we agreed we were deprived as children but so was everyone else around us so having nothing to compare with we didn’t know it! I only became aware when I went to grammar school and mixed with others from better off backgrounds. In the end though it did toughen me in some ways and meant that for the rest of my life I have always lived within my means having seen how debt can creep up on you. My mum wasn’t good at budgeting but I take after my Scottish dad, not mean but canny!
My brother is still undergoing immunology treatment at Christy’s but we don’t know yet whether it is working for him. He is cheered by the fact they are continuing with it though.
My thoughts are with you and your brother. It must be so worrying for you. He is getting treatment, in a place of pure expertice and ongoing knowledge and research. Stay Strong + Positive. 🤗
I was also brought up in a 2up + 2down property in the late 50's early 60's but there was an indoor toilet, off the kitchen. I so remember the ice on the inside of the bedroom, in the winter, where all us sisters slept, with eiderdowns and flannelet sheets. Bath was in a tin bath, in front of the coal fire!
PS the flanelette sheets, when they wore out, were cut down the middle and outside edges joined to make a new sheet. These then had a uncomfortable seam in the middle - but it was needs must. Did anyone else have similar?
I cut them down into dusters..the top sheets are still good so I just buy a bottom sheet which you can usually buy individually without buying the whole set.
Yes Miriam 7.05pm, exactly the same up to the toilet scenario ours was outside. Brrr 🤣 Many of us are now the so called baby boomers and are much envied by the young but would they be able to cope with the first part of our lives. One can’t control when born and many very unlucky to be born and then die very very young in war. Most lives are a mixture - yes a boom time in the 1980’s but also an incredible mortgage rate followed by negative equity for many! I can remember receiving an exceptional 12% company pay rise one year especially as we received 10% of yearly pay for a Christmas bonus (for many of us tax free) that was sensational and not to be seen again I fear (as were the many benefits I received from my firm in its hey day) and in that regard I do feel for people these days and am so appreciative of all that I gained and still do as a retired member of staff via pension and discount 🙏🏼
I think my mother in law did that but my mum was hopeless with sewing and never had a sewing machine. I learned to use one at grammar school. I also learnt the basics of cooking in Domestic Science. A pity they don’t teach these practical subjects nowadays! Katy tells me they have lessons in managing their mental health!
To me cooking etc should be passed down from mother to both daughters + sons. This seems not to be have been done for a while, so a generation seems to have been passed by. I am sure home cooking + crafts, will re-appear in homes again, due to this current situation. My grand-neice wants me to teach her how to knit, which I will do so willingly. She also has asked me to help her to learn to cook, as her Mum, is just hopeless..
Miriam, it was. That's why I can cook baked beans on toast and OMiaS is in charge of the day to day catering!
'Though my home economics lessons at school gave me a very thorough grounding in all the basic methods.To be fair, Mum and I can cook - we just don't like doing so! Now, for important things like flapjack, trifle and Christmas cake, I'm your woman!
I am so pleased to hear you are very happy with your new neighbours MIriam. That's a blessing and makes life so much more pleasant. I do remember ice on the inside of the bedroom window and the house being cold so we rushed down to the paraffin heater to warm up.
Cooking and sewing skills passed on by my mother to me and sister. My mother passed the same skills along with me to my daughters. All three of my grandchildren, two girls and a boy can cook and are able to produce a meal. The eldest one, off to university, Westminster today, can certainly sew and is to study fashion design.
Miriam you've won the lottery with your neighbours. Well done and long may it last. Invite them to dinner ! You might be the best cook in your street.
"maladie" striking in the tomatoes, green tom chutney today. More butternuts coming to replace the one that was nicked, with the hot weather time to ripen!
My neighbour grew tomatoes for the first time this year and was trying to ripen the green ones. Most of them had some brown which I suspected was blight. I took them off her to ripen with some other ripe toms given to me by another friend. Took them all out of the paper bag this evening. Blight ! It seems rampant in this district this year. Elsewhere ?
Chutney, courgettes, apples...all sounds wonderful. I’m harvesting glass, bricks, bits of old plastic flower pots and seaweed feed bags, bitumen and a couple of corrugated metal sheets. The odd gardening glove. My father’s old shed left to sink into the ground.
It actually sounds daunting, Seasider! What's your plan ? Am thinking it won't be easy to get the buried shed in a skip....to extend Stasia's idea, maybe if you leave it, it could become an interesting find for archaeologists in 200 yrs. time( if there are still archaeologists, if there still is any kind of world as we know it...)
Re 🍅 tomatoes. It’s not unusual to find blight at this time of the year. I’ve had a glut this year on the allotment, the weather has helped early outdoor ripening.
Lanjan. We went to visit Grandma Moses house and gallery in upstate NY. My sister did not appreciate the print I brought back for her to use in teaching. She looked down her nose at the naive primitive style. As a non artist 👩🎨 I actually liked the detail.
Stasia, she sounds like the St Ives 'naive' artist, Alfred Wallis - no idea of perspective, but he doesn't half capture the atmosphere & character of the place! He lived there all his life & was, I think, a fisherman.
We had plenty of hot water and central heating but a cupboard for a bathroom and a shared toilet with neighbours on the landing, have no recollection of them. I only experienced lovely frost designs on the windows in the countryside with the blazing fire indoors. Also, the inside of my nose freezing outside and sheets hung on a line becoming stiff! Such weather is now long gone. There were hot potatoes mashed with some cereal for the pigs and the smell was so nice I wanted some, I do like potatoes!
Oh dear! Feeling really grotty this morning. Too much red wine and cheese last night! Our next door neighbours held a cheese & wine get together for us + 2 other sets of neighbours, before today’s rule of six came into force. A sort of end of summer, before winter lockdown, gathering of 8. In their huge pavilion each couple sat in a different corner with their own cheeseboards, knives, baskets of crackers, bowl of peanuts etc - so well distanced and not sharing eating irons. The only thing that was shared was the wine! I had 2 largish glasses + a tiny glass of port, but loads of creamy cheeses including ones I’d never tried before. The evening was very convivial and a lot of putting the world to rights went on.
But boy, did I suffer in the night! Felt very ill, passed out on bathroom floor + other unpleasantries. Can’t face coffee or food this morning. Don’t really understand why, but I think it might have been too much fatty cheese which I shouldn’t have due to a compromised liver. Also think the tablets I take made the wine I drank even more intoxicating. Lesson learned. No more red wine (prefer white anyway) or creamy cheeses for me!
“Oh dear” indeed Archerphile - Mr R questions the port mixed with red wine (especially with many different and creamy cheeses!) However you enjoyed it at the time 🤣 but agree best not repeated.
I can no longer drink or eat dairy, basically only eat at home or at my sister's. I know a woman of 70 who doesn't accept invitations and only attends restaurants where she doesn't have to eat much. I know it's limiting but I don't suffer, been there, done that.
Very sensible Basia, not sure I could go that far though! I should have known better because our son can’t touch red wine or eat fatty food due to having caught hepatitis at the age of 10. It damaged his liver and he gets very similar symptoms to mine if he doesn’t stick to the rules. It was very inconvenient when they lived in France!
At least Archerphile enjoyed her evening out, regardless. Haven't we all done that at some time? I know I have - port and red wine - are no longer imbibed!
What a gorgeous Indian Summer day. September often makes up for a poor summer.
I had problems with my washing machine today. Yesterday I scooped up the dirty towels (after a bath) from the bathroom floor, and put into wash on a 60C wash. I realised my slippers were now also in the machine, and disingretated. I got all the debris out of the drum (so I thought). It was a main wash today, but things went wrong.To keep it short, all stopped with a fault no. flashing on the display, but I couldn't find what it meant. The 💡 went on. I could open the door, water pouring out into a bowl, sodden washing removed, water bailed out by cup and soaked up by sponge. Only then did I remove a panel and then the filter. My 💡 was right, it was clogged with slipper debris. My washing was finished, is now drying outside and the machine is working perfectly, Phew...😄
PS I also had 3 sodden towels, which I put down to soak up excess water, and there was a lot! To think I had washed the kitchen floor an hour earlier 😵
I am tempted to book a holiday in Africa for Oct 2021. I am hesitating, though. It is perfect for me but costly, and who knows what things will be like in a years time. I must just pick up the 'phone, ask the questions I have and then decide. Life Cannot be put on hold, indefinitely - It has to be onwards + upwards and thinking positive. Life is too short.
I think I must have made a decision, of sorts, as to what to do next. This is how this site helps, as on posting my thoughts with my hesitation, I think I know what to do now.
If going on safari, Masai Mara in Kenya or the Serengeti in Tanzania are both full of wildlife. Another good place is Zambia and Botswana where you can also see Victoria falls. We saw elephants swimming in Botswana! They use their trunks as snorkels! We don’t know what will happen next but have to get on with living! All the best on your quest, Miriam!
I have stayed in the Chobe national park, stayed in a concession in the Kruger national park, been to the Okawanga Delta, stayed in a hotel in Zambia with free access to the Vuctoria Falls and a wonderful trip in a very small boat (just 3 + guide) on the Zambesie river.
The one I am looking at is in the Limpopo region, an area I do not know, so could be very different. I am tempted..
Archerphile 2:47 - Yes, I'm boring and sensible and glad to be, but I know it's more difficult when living as a couple.
As for going away, since France is the most visited country I "don't have to". On a recent stay in Strasbourg I thought I was in Paris, looking across the street into other people's flats.
Now for the washing machine, I always put the powder or liquid detergent straight inside in a plastic bottle top, so it rumbles a bit. Once it was rumbling a bit too much and it turned out that I scooped up the alarm clock which was on the bed. I put it back together with the dried up battery and it still works!
I have to tell you all of a wonderful experience I had this morning. My husband and I ( I sound like the queen) went up to our vegetable garden which backs onto the playground of the local nursery school..the sound of "I bambini" squealing and jumping for joy was music to our ears. We just stood and watched them for a while enjoying their zest for life . Simple pleasures😊😊
Same here. The playing field of the school, to which all my children went, is at the bottom of my garden. I listen out at 1.00pm for the half an hour of the noise of the children playing! Lovely music!
What a glorious Indian Summer’s day we are having. I shall be in the garden all afternoon, sweeping up early fallen leaves, and tidying the herbaceous border ready for winter. There are apples and plums to pick, loads of pruning to do and the bonfire heap grows bigger by the day, but at least we have the lovely warm weather to make working a pleasure. 🍁🍂 🍁🍂 ☀️
I planted a Christmas tree about 30 years ago after the 12 days, but really too near the house. This year it finally was level with my bedroom window (on the third storey!) and only about 10 feet away so I decided it had to go. Youngest came over last Saturday and he and Jon became lumberjacks. A huge pile of scrubby branches were then laid on the patio. "How are we going to get those branches and the trunk all in the brown bin?" I asked. "I'll trim them but I'll stack them here because they'll be perfect for burning when Scouts start again!" said Jon. We've hammered copper nails into the stump. We'll see if that really will kill it off! Someone was asking about disease or blight this year. Yes I had it . It has killed my beautiful Camellia plant my daughter sent me for Mothering Sunday 3 years ago and it got to the veges as well.. My runner beans didn't grow this year. They flowered but then died off. However I've got lots of outdoor tomatoes which haven't yet ripened so I'll have to bring them in to ripen. Shame because they taste so much better straight off the vine. I've made piccallili to go into my home produce cupboard but cheated because I had to buy the veges there. I have stacks of potatoes which I am not sure we'll get through before they sprout and go rubbery. There are still some carrots in the trough-type planter I sowed them in. When I'm feeling a bit better I am determind to start even earlier with my planning, digging etc ready for next year and grow even more.
I had this problem with runner beans last year but they have done well this year providing plenty for immediate eating and a few for the freezer. The outdoor cherry tomatoes started to ripen early in August but the plum ones were later. I suppose being so far south our seasons are a bit earlier. The courgettes have slowed down though and don’t seem to be growing very big. Last year I couldn’t keep up with them! Who knows why there are such variations!🤔
We are preparing for the first public worship since March 15th. I haven't been near the church since then because I can't use the bus, but before I practise I will have to deep-clean all surfaces on organ and piano which might have been used during lock down by others who have their own transport.
Echo that, Sarnia! We have our first chorale rehearsal tomorrow under the new "protocole sanitaire", 6 in one row, 5 in the next, etc, 2m between each chair. V different, fewer choristes, but at least we're managing to keep going.
Great news re organ music and choral, again, in a different way.
I had my hair cut today, and it was great. The staff were wearing protective eye-wear, masks, plus face shields, very much more so than last time. It was a lovely experience and my new stylist, has done a brilliant cut plus we had a great chat. We respond to each other well, regardless of the different generations. I have been booked in for my next two appointments, which will take me into 2021.
My car has its MOT tomorrow, so it is 🤞🤞.
I am talking to my "Money Mon" on Friday (who has had 6 weeks off) to discuss my requirements, so that I can go forward, to buying a new car etc etc. I am in no rush as such, but I just want to work out all my options, re how to sort out my new monthly income and how much I can release to spend! I have so many plans.
But this should have been the situation 6 years ago, when I gave up work. I have missed these years of being able to do, as and when I wanted to. My car is 6yrs old, and it is only now, I can replace it.
My Dad, was a canny man and almost "bullied" me as to pensions, savings, ISA's etc. saying I had to put xx% of salary into my future. How right he was, which I so now appreciate. He put me in touch with the financial firm I have used for many years. If left to me, what a mess I would have made!
Forget about the last six years when you didn't have the extra money you and millions of others should have had ,Miriam. From what you have told us you have had a very enjoyable retirement so far and with your new neighbours things are likely to get better You coped well and now you have extra money so can go on your foreign holidays if you do choose and buy yourself another car. Our car is 13 years old and if it ain't broke ..................
I haven't got a "Money man" I am too tight to pay someone to do something I feel I could do . The last time I listened to Mr LJ about finance I bought some Saga shares!! Enough said.
We all do things so very differently, to suit each + everyone in there own way. I don't mind paying the fees, as these are swallowed up, in the "growth" being made, on my behalf.
When you think of it, it is only fair that everyone regardless of sex should have the same retirement age but I do think the change was too abrupt and should have been very gradually phased in.
At one time I suffered from the delusion that men's pension age would be lowered to the women's 60. What happened to the 70's ? optimism that modern technology would enable people to work part rather than full time. What went wrong?
Very small, but my first attempt at a botanical illustration with the new Aqua watercolour pencil. I’ll have to work on getting the colours stronger as they are a bit wishy-washy.
Archerfile, that’s really lovely. You are so good at the details! I have some watercolour pencils Katy bought for me but haven’t used them much so must have a go!
Great documentary about cats tonight on BBC4 - well worth a watch. (And in the interests of balance and fairness there was one about dogs last week too...)😺🐕
There was a very funny start to a programme about cats a couple of years back. A team was going to study all the cats in the isolated village (about 20) i.e. where they hunted, how far away did they go, did they have their own territories etc. Village Hall was HQ with computers and large screens, all cats fitted with trackers, large maps fitted to the walls. They planned to be there about a week. The first day it poured with rain and not a single cat left their house!
My next door neighbours bought 2 very expensive pedigree Burmese cats a couple of years ago (thank goodness they don’t ask us to look after them when they go on holiday any more!) They are sisters, but different colours. The cream one stays around their house and our gardens. The brown one goes walkabout for days on end. Several times they’ve thought she’d been run over or been stolen, or got in the back of a van and been transported away. But after several days she appears back home, has a good feed and sleep, then a week or two later the whole routine is repeated. They would love to have one of those trackers to see where she goes off to.
This morning on Breakfast, Esther Ransom said no presenter on BBC should be paid more than the PM. She put these crazy salaries alongside the withdrawal of free TV licence for over 75’s. Gary Lineker has taken a pay cut of £400,000 which she said stuck in the craw! Zoe Ball is paid around a million a year for a her radio program. Will the BBC listen? I doubt it!🙁🥴
I believe the new Director General is clamping down on BBC presenters, news readers etc from moonlighting, taking paid work for other events which could be thought to compromise their neutrality. Naga Munchetty was criticised for earning a big fee for working at some commercial event or other (can’t remember which company it was). I completely fail to see why Gary Linneker should have been earning £1.7 million for presenting one football programme a week and the Sportsview Personality of the Year Show. It was obscene. And an insult to elderly license fee layers. 😡
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteEv - September 11, 2020 at 10:13 AM
At present I have a half of Mike’s service and civil service pensions and if I were to co-habit or marry again I would lose it all and become dependent on a man! Apart from having no desire to enter into a relationship as I have lost the love of my life, not flipping likely to lose that income! So no toy boy for me. Some would say highly unlikely!
Janice - September 11, 2020 at 11:12 AM
If a man has provided for his wife and his intention was to go on providing for her throughout life then I think it most unfair that the pension should stop, regardless of how she chooses to spend the rest of her life.
Proud to be Yorkshire - September 11, 2020 at 10:24 AM
I've been married 31 years so far. How I haven't killed him I don't know!!! I would not go through all this ever again, be it toy boy, Adam Frost or even Noel Fitzpatrick - Supervet. LOL
Janice - September 11, 2020 at 11:08 AM
How about Hauser?
MrsP AmbridgeSeptember 11, 2020 at 11:13 AM
As a woman who gave up on men before the age of forty, Sarnia, Ev and PtbY, have given ME a good laugh too.
Mind you, I can say with all honesty that I have never encouraged any woman to give up on her marriage.
Even without the benefit of inherited pensions, it's a lonely road.
But perhaps I should also say, I do enjoy the companionship of some men.
Sarnia - September 11, 2020 at 11:29 AM
Ev 10.13: I'm with you on that. The idea that widows who choose to enter into another relationship should then become financially dependent on the new partner, who will most probably also be a pensioner, is SO out of date. Like PtbY, I have no intention of going through all that again, but should a likely candidate ever present himself, I'm afraid he'll have to retain a separate household and I'll pencil him in for weekends!
Ev - September 11, 2020 at 2:11 PM
Good idea, Sarnia!
Basia - September 11, 2020 at 12:58 PM
I assume a single person's pension goes to the state when they die?
Are there different rules that apply to men when their wives die, do they benefit from their pensions? Does anyone know?
A woman I know was widowed early in life with two young sons. She hasn't married her long term partner for the reasons you have quoted above, though they have always lived together.
Janice.....ooh I’d forgotten about Hauser......looking at him though I don’t think I’d have the energy required....😉
ReplyDeleteI don’t know how you always manage to find an apt cartoon or photo for the top of this page Gary.
ReplyDeletePerfect, as always,
Brilliant!
Delete✔️✔️✔️ Gary 🤗
DeleteBasia, 12.58: Co-habiting doesn't make any difference, you still lose the pension from your husband.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was in the literature sent to me. It is up to you to report it.
DeleteYou wouldn’t lose state pension of course but in my case would lose all the extra benefit of his graduated pension. It is a bit harsh, I think but again in my case will never apply!
DeleteWhat a brilliant cartoon.
ReplyDeleteGG - How do you find them? They are always sooo topical, as to what is being talked about.
Another round of 👏👏👏
To answer Basia - for a single person, the state pension is stopped...but a SIPP (which I have from consolidation in 2015) goes into an "estate" and can be inherited. Also this is not counted into inheritance tax, I think.
ReplyDeleteOn a totally different topic, there are messages going around, suggesting a family get-to-gether in Wales on Sunday, as the forecast is good. This will be a socially distanced event, but they have the largest garden, so all should be able to meet up outside. If we don't do this now, then when will be able to do it so again?
ReplyDeleteAs said, still early days, as to ideas floating around. 😀
Tea is now cooking. It is a pork casserole, with red onion, a sliced apple, unsweetened apple juice, a tin of chopped toms. herbs, stock, to be soon thickened into a gravy. Also now cooking is a potatoe boulangere, with leeks - 90 mins cooking time now.
DeleteI was about to say, just in time for TA, but it is Friday, so no episode 😭😢
Oh - One "witter" too many.
DeleteBack tomorrow 😀
I am confused.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about works pensions or the state old age pensions?
I believe that if I were to die before Mr LJ ,he would get some form of pension from the teachers pension fund - Not sure about that but I won't be around to find out anyway .
Perhaps I should check.- but if he dies before I do,I will not get a pension from his former employer because he had already retired when we married.
Just before we married (I was aged 60 ) I informed the Pensions people about my change of status and I was told that part of my old age pension came from my former husband's contributions.
When I asked why that was I was told to imagine the scenario of a woman who stayed at home
looking after the children only for her husband to run off with a younger woman leaving her penniless.
You do have credits which are as good as contributions whilst you are at home looking after children. It might be different if you are divorced as all too often as pictured to you LJ the man will exit the marriage leaving wife penniless. Certainly if you stay married you have to build up your own entitlement. I was surprised though to get Mike’s graduated pension as well as my own. The basic state pension dies with you.
ReplyDeleteYes, LJ, part of my pension is based on my husband's contributions. Hence, when he dies and everything came up for review, DWP discovered that they had been underpaying me since 2009 and I received a considerable back-payment. Apparently this happened to a huge number of women and it's taking them forever to catch up. Some time ago in the Money page in RT Martyn Lewis was urging women to apply, but mine had already arrived.
ReplyDeleteI only ever taught full-time before I had the children and paid the 'married women's stamp', as it was always assumed that David's contributions would also fund my pension.
If you had paid the married women’s stamp, when rules changed you couldn’t even pay to catch up. Very unfair.
ReplyDeleteHave just had a look at rules and was very misinformed and ignorant! Apparently if you had paid married women’s stamp your pension will be partly based on your husband’s contributions. Apologies!
ReplyDeleteBecause my daughter has 3 children, Mr A and I can only visit them separately from Monday because if we go together, that would make 7.
ReplyDeleteIt must apply to a great many families across the country where there are 3 or more children in a family.
I had hoped to spend my declining years spending as much time with my children and grandchildren as I, and more importantly, as they wanted. Not to be allowed to see them as a couple is very upsetting as is the realisation that this could carry on beyond
Christmas.
I know the restrictions are affecting so many people in very many different ways but this is the particular way they are affecting me.
My son-in-law cannot visit his ailing and dementia affected parents in Caerphilly now because the whole area is closed. His sister is having to take on sole responsibility for their care.
Coronavirus, Covid 19, has an awful lot to answer for and is changing so many freedoms we all took for granted.
me very sad and
Archerphile, it is very sad for you and many others. Don't think about Christmas for the time being, concentrate on your next appointment. Things have gone well for you so far, others are not so fortunate. Let's hope it'll straighten up soon...
DeleteArcherphile it is certainly a distressing situation on a personal front for you, Mr A & so many 🙁 even though we (mostly) all appreciate the reasoning behind the rule(s). If your grandchildren were younger you would be ok as under a certain age they will not count towards the “6” - is that 11yrs?
ReplyDelete(Local paper has a picture of “Hinton Ampner” gardens on the front cover mentioning the 20 varieties of Dahlia in the gardens - I immediately thought of our brief meet up a year ago this month 😱 what a difference a year makes.....)
Goodness yes, Lady R, is it really a year? I suppose you have to make an appointment to visit Hinton Ampner now. My neighbours went to The Vyne yesterday, by appointment and said it was very strange that there were so few people there.
DeleteThat’s right AP the latest magazine arrived this morning looks like it will be an interesting read as info on lockdown of the properties and now the welcome back and new procedures. If one way system in place at HA which is likely Mr A may not be able to manage the whole route so I don’t know if we will go this year. We renewed membership without taking the offered cut as we have always enjoyed our trips to all venues and one day when 🤞🏼 normality returns would like the houses and lovely gardens to have survived 🙏🏼
DeleteWell, looking on the brighter side, we are now actually going to do something to help the Covid situation. All due to a letter received half an hour ago.
ReplyDeleteWe have both just registered to take part in the Office of National Statistics Covid 19 study. Apparently we were selected at random and will be visited at home by a ‘health care professional’ every week to answer questions and take a Covid test. This will carry on for 5 weeks and then monthly for the next year. All to provide a picture of infections across the country and help the Govt. make these decisions we are subject to.
This has made me feel much better, it is a positive step we can both take and help us to understand why the restrictions are being applied in the way they are.
Oh, and we are to be given £50 vouchers for taking part. Don’t know where they can be used, but hopefully we could donate them to a foodbank or some such.
How interesting Archerphile! Plus you will be able to keep us all up to date with your contributions to the survey. Well done to you both 👏🏻 and thank you!
DeleteAP ( your 10.09am post), I am going to be a touch subversive. The number 6 for a gathering is totally arbitary. What difference can 7, or even 8, members of 2 family households meeting, possibly make to infection risk ? Common sense says it doesn't. I sincerely hope you & Mr AP see your daughter & family together, as planned, & that others caught in this trap do the same. I don't expect you will take any notice, but I do strongly feel we should make reasonable judgments on our own initiatives, to decide how far to comply with arbitary 'rules'.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very sad that families will be parted because of the rule of six. However, it would be even sadder if the virus spreads and loved ones have lasting effects or even worse. It is depressing that the R rate has gone up already. Hopefully now we know more we won’t need to go into lockdown again.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, surely it's a question of where to draw a line that has to be drawn somewhere. Where ever it goes there will be people on the wrong side of it who would prefer to exercise their initiative and push the boundaries, and if we all did that there wouldn't be any boundaries left at all.
ReplyDeleteTwo words probably sum up the situation: Dominic Cummings.
Totally agree, Sarnia. We will beat the virus but only if people act responsibly and abide by the rules.
ReplyDeleteEv & Sarnia, totally agree.
DeleteDefinitely agree. I would far rather be more cautious than less. Only way in my view to get through this.
DeleteI am unsurprised at the reactions to what I wrote.. Furthermore, I see for the sake of the often repeated cry for 'clarity' from the authorities, it would be considered necessary to draw an arbitary line, in this case, the no 6 because, in England anyway, as lockdown started to ease, that was the no. decided.
ReplyDeleteMy point was not to flout the instruction in essence -- limit the nos. meeting ( even if one doesn't agree fundamentally with continuing restrictions, another question unsuitable to be debated here no doubt) - but to use reasonable &, I assert, responsible judgement, without frightening the horses, by meeting in a group of 7 or 8, if that is the number of participating family members involved. I am NOT suggesting a riotous assembly of 30 people in a relatively small garden ! I'm simply arguing for common sense & the exercise of common sense.
Correction :'....arguing for personal agency in determining conduct & the exercise of common sense'.
DeleteI DO agree with you too carolyn - to a degree!
DeleteTo comment on the question of pensions, I like LJ am confused.
ReplyDeleteI get one pension, from the state. It will stop when I die.
My mother never paid any stamp throughout her life, but was fortunate to have from my father when he died, his army pension and his company P&O pension. I don't know if her state pension included a widows element or not.
I worked from my fifteenth birthday until married at 24.
My husband was self employed and rarely paid his self employment stamp.
Credits were awarded to woman at home in 1977, at the very time that I separated and returned to the workplace, so I never received any credit for my years as a wife and mother.
In my fifties I applied for a pension forecast and as a result of getting it I was able to pay some extra to bring my contributions up to the required level.
However, even that did not mean that I got a full pension as, because my husbands contributions had been erratic and not enough I lost out on the years as a mother at home.
Most of my pension is apparently made up from my contributions between the age of 15 and 24 which I still find extraordinary.
There are so many confusing rules + regulations - re pensions and the meeting of Six - that I am getting totally bewildered.
ReplyDeleteThat's Life 😣😭
Well, well.
ReplyDeleteHere we are discussing decisions made by politicians to curb our behaviour and control a virus that and many people are choosing to ignore exists.
We have four different governments making slightly different rules and all claim to be ‘ following the 🧬 science’.
I think carolyn has a point. Its a bit like, pick a number, any number, multiply that by a positive number, then divide by a negative number and hay Presto we get the answer.
Rule of six.
Everything must come with a three word slogan,
D C thinks we aren’t capable of understanding, hence infantilising our behaviour.
But, we the common people, can’t break the rules.
When I, sometime back, attempted to discuss behaviour, the virus and rule making some accused me of being political.
Life is political determined either with a big P or small p.
It’s simple controlling behaviour is more difficult than shouting slogans.
Politically determined.
DeleteIt is strange about the differing rules in the 4 countries which make up the UK.
DeleteWith the "rule of 6" children are included in England, but in Wales, children under 11 or 12yrs, are not included in that number.
Ahh Miriam that’s where the children’s ages come in then - not England I could not remember where when I replied to Archerphile earlier!
DeleteIt's The Last Night of The Proms tonight.
ReplyDeleteFor the 1st time for years, I will not be watching.
I am sure the music will be brilliant, but without the Albert Hall filled with the very devoted audience, with the ambience that they normally create, it will not be the same.
It's a 👎 from me, sadly.
I intend to be standing in my kitchen singing Rule Britannia and Sea Shanties at the top of my voice.
ReplyDeleteEven though Britannia is rather muddled about who and what it wants to, or is, ruling at the moment.
I am with Carolyn and Stasia regarding the rules formulated by muddled understanding of the science.
I do not wish for anyone to flout the rules, but do believe that the large majority of the public are capable of interpreting those rules by using common sense at the same time.
And since we all look at life from a different perspective, then our behaviours will differ in degree.
I agree. But my thoughts are that there are many who, just do not apply common sense, as we all do, and so that is why we are in this situation. It only takes a minority.
DeleteAlso, these new rules are based on scientific evidence, from those who know far more, than any of us, the general public.
These rules are based on scientific fact, on a daily basis.
I would not even attempt to say, that this is wrong!
That's my view of things, rightly or wrongly.
Seems to me that the scientific evidence is open to interpretation by, or inclination to ignore for politic reasons, by our beloved leaders. However, while I'm quite sure that all who contribute to this blog have the intelligence and common sense to act appropriately, there are hundreds, if not thousands who haven't, or simply don't want to know. The young lady at the Sainsbury's checkout last Wednesday told me that she didn't care about Covid or the rules, because they were unenforceable: ' no one can see how many people I've got in my house, and if I have friends round who's going to stop me'?
DeleteI have just been sent a wonderful "image", which is slightly sacrifridgeous (sorry as to spelling!).
ReplyDeleteIt is "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan Cathedral.
There are 5 photshopped British Bobbies looking at them, with the caption:-
"I don't care who your Father is, this is still an illegal gathering"
It just amused me, but that is my silly sense of humour. 😐
Self correction:-
Delete"sacrilegias".
Well I love it Miriam 🤣🤣🤣🤣
DeleteI thought it was hilarious.
Delete🤣😂😊
DeleteHeard read out on LBC radio earlier today the new version of Rule Britannia:-
ReplyDeleteLAND OF WOKE AND BORING
SMOTHERED BY PC
WE SHALL NOT OFFEND THEE,
WE’RE THE BBC!
RIGHT-ON, BLAND AND DREARY
SHALL LAST NIGHT PROMS BE
NEVER MIND OUR HISTORY, PAY YOUR LICENCE FEE!
NEVER MIND OUR HISTORY, PAY YOUR LICENCE FEE!
CHORUS:-
RULE,BRIT ANGER! BIN ANTHEMS FROM AIRWAVES
BRITONS EVER EVER EVER SHALL BEHAVE!
RULE, BRIT ANGER! BINS ANTHEMS FROM AIRWAVES
BRITONS EVER EVER EVER SHALL BEHAVE!
So it seems you have a choice Mrs P 😉
😲 Funny and amused me but, I prefer the original, sung in true gusto! 🇬🇧🇬🇧
DeleteAbsolutely 🎶 ✔️🎶 ✔️🎶
DeleteVery 'woke' and PC, I thought.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn I am surprised you suggested that Archerphile should flout the new Covid rule.
ReplyDeleteI hope she doesn't.Surely it is because some folk -mainly the younger element of Society who have been doing so, means it is necessary to impose new rules?
I am in favour of large fines given to anyone who flouts any of the Covid rules .
One year when I was teaching ,a girl in my class had a birthday on 1st September
It was the year the school leaving age was raised to 16
She had to do an extra 2years at Secondary School because of a few hours
There has to be a cut off point.
If we want to halt the spread of this Virus people must behave responsibly
It is a pity they are waiting until Monday to impose it though.
There you go, Miriam, then there were three!
ReplyDeleteI have just watched a very different but very moving last night of the Proms (well, the second half)
ReplyDeleteI must congratulate the BBC for making a tremendous effort to produce a near traditional ‘last night’ and especially the new Director General for dismissing all the nonsensical arguments to drop Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory,
They were both there, played by a suitably distanced orchestra and a very distanced choir standing around the hall.
But the lighting effects were magnificent and lifted what could have been a disappointing concert to a magical experience. I don’t mind admitting tears in my eyes as we sang along with the choir and those watching in the parks and at home.
Next year....hopefully....a season of concerts with full orchestras, choirs and audiences and a proper ‘Last Night’. 🎶 🇬🇧 🎶
I agree Archerphile (I need to catchup with the first half hour) but I have to say a great effort overall. I was not sold on the 2020 Jerusalem but the singer was fantastic and I appreciate the reasoning behind its new arrangement.The views shown alongside “The Lark Ascending” were beautiful and “When you walk through storm” always breaks me but I do so love it, also immediately thought of our Lanjan and her beloved Liverpool ⚽️
DeleteMy classical knowledge is mostly of well known pieces but happy to enjoy others. Just love music and feel it not only in the soul but through tapping / conducting away 🤣
(I love the BBC news intro music for that very reason 🥁)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHaving not been able to sing with a choir for almost two years, the muscles are lax. Therefore some of the noises emanating this evening were pretty raw and mostly tuneless. But I was standing and doing my best to sing along.
ReplyDeleteI did not like the 'new' arrangement of Jerusalem, but it takes all tastes and I'm glad I watched.
Always brings me closer to my parents.... The last night.....
That version posted by Lady R is very clever. Well done whoever wrote it.
The main headline on the front page of my newspaper today was
ReplyDelete'Britannia waives the rules'
which I thought was a lot more catchy . I could provide a pertinent rhyming chorus with that - but I won't!
The entire concept of pride in one's "country" to me is as alien now as it was when I first discovered that such a thing existed at the age of about 9 years old.
ReplyDeleteI heard a bit of the new Jerusalem rendition. Singer sounded fab. Orchestra sounded like an out of tune lot led by Les Dawson.
ReplyDeleteMy exact words to Mr R Ptby and once that image. Popped into my mind I could not erase it 🤣
DeleteComma after image where did that come from 😡
DeleteI am a very proud Yorkshire woman, you’d never guess eh!!, and I used to be a proud English woman......not any more. I despair of this country now. Not politically.....let’s not go down that road, but of the people, their behaviour and the snow flake generation.
ReplyDeleteThere was a woman on some prog the other day saying how she’d had this baby, a bad birth, left her and her husband traumatised and they’d had to go through this on their own with no help because of COVID. They’d had no help when they got the baby home, were tired blah blah blah!!!
Why is it that everyone wants someone to hold their hand for them, have various agencies give help to them instead of them just getting on with life......??
No one seems to be able to do anything without either having help or someone to blame.
To put it bluntly.....I’m bloody sick of it!
I was sick during lockdown listening to people who slept too long, ate too much and were bored, I didn't suffer from any of these afflictions.
DeleteI am familiar with that particular item Ptby and thought the same. Ditto with housing programmes “we’ve had our first baby and are desperate to move as we need more space at least 4/5 bedrooms“ 🤣 I always wish for them to be a part of one of those back in time programmes where they would have to bring up many children in a 2 up 2 down property (at best)
DeleteWell said ,P tbY .
ReplyDeleteI am with you all the way.
I heard on the News this morning that during Covid ,pregnant women couldn't have their husbands with them during labour.
Why would any woman want anyone there anyway?
I am sure I was not alone but I was left by myself both times in a bare room until the births were imminent .
No midwife came near me although I believe there was a cord I could have pulled in case of emergency .
I imagine that was the norm .
We accepted that.
Sadly we have become a spoon fed society.
Gary, I think you had said that why should one's loyalties lie with the place where one happened to have been born. I've been a nomad all my life - Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home. Sadly, in the latter part of my life I'll have to justify my existence to the authorities yet again.
ReplyDeleteBasia,I was born in Oxford .
DeleteMy father was a Londoner and my mother was born in Glasgow .
I have an affinity with both London and Scotland but have none for the place where I lived for the first 6 years of my life,
However as you know, I just love Lancashire where I have spent. most of my life.
It took a very special man to persuade me 20 years ago that I should move south .
Determining the origin and emergence of a virus is a difficult process even for scientists.
ReplyDeleteStudying its progress is time consuming and requires logic and reason. It Is when the scientists have to inform politicians that we see the growth of conspiracy theories. Differences in opinions cause misinformation and we as individuals are left to make sense of political decision making.
Some believe the virus was deliberately engineered, that it is a hoax, that Bill Gates want to inject us with a micro chip under the guise of vaccines, and it is being spread by Three G technology.
If we are on the receiving end of changing behavioural rules we might then pick and choose what theory suits our own belief system.
Macro and micro decisions are made on an understanding of what is expected and sometimes that can seem over the top eg, partners not being allowed into the birthing room.
I’m not sure if the increase in positive recording is anything to do with groups congregating or if the spiking is independent of human behaviour.
What I do know from my own professional background is that when responding to any viral contagion creating a barrier is key to protecting ourselves and others.
Keep ones distance, constantly wash hands, carry alcohol hand gel. Don’t share with others.
Wash everything.
Ptby I couldn’t agree more about people being spoon fed and unable to get on with life without external help. I am amazed at mother’s expecting free childcare so that they can go out to work. They miss so much in their children’s growth and development and we now have a generation of children who have problems connected with lack of parenting. I realise that it is difficult nowadays to afford ridiculous house prices where there is a single earner but often ready meals and takeaways for instance bump up the household budget. We found that having me at home cooking from scratch meant living cheaply and I was there for my daughter and stepdaughters. I am by no means an earth mother btw!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter would very much agree with you about meals and budgeting Ev.
DeleteIn the early months of lockdown, with eldest son sent home from closed University, and 2 other children and husband not going to school or work she found herself having to provide three meals a day for five people.
She had to rely on Tesco home deliveries and go back to basic home cooking from scratch. At first she thought it would be costing fortune, but she soon found they were spending much less on food than before. How come?
Because they were not going out for pub lunches at the weekend, or ordering Chinese, Indian or f&c takeaways once a week. No school lunches or work canteen lunches to pay for either.
The return to home cooked food not only saved money but they were all much healthier for it. A lesson learned, I think.
Stasia and Gary:✅✅
ReplyDeleteLike PtbY, proud of my Yorkshire roots but...
I happened upon the Lark Ascending (sublime) and Jerusalem (made me smile).
Agree about the home meals this year. We haven’t been to a cafe since early March and I have lost half a stone. Dinner was always freshly cooked but we did go out for lunch a lot before lockdown.
DeleteI was born in one country, grew up in an other and now live in a different country.
DeleteI see myself as an internationalist.
Sarnia. How apt ‘Britain waives the rules’.
I/we do miss going out for a meal with friends, I admit (as said before) I love to eat good and tasty food but do not enjoy cooking. Also we have not been able to go on holiday for a number of years now and so such jaunts become a mini break. Currently “our bubble” meet in the garden of the couple with a very large garden and each provides items towards a course as summertime still with us we have moved from BBQ to mainly cold meal but they are very enjoyable social occasions 🍷
DeleteRegarding children and food. I heard a mother say way back then that to her babies were just lumps of meat. Another took her mother's advice to go out to work because anybody can change a nappy and then engage once it becomes more interesting. When my nephew was born I didn't think he was just a sleeping, eating, nappying bundle.
ReplyDeleteA woman I knew always struggled with her weight and debt but lived on takeaways and pub drinks.
My sister has always cooked for her family from basic ingredients. I can't cook but I like fresh produce and just throw it all in and like eating it!
I bought some 'real' apples at the market this week, from a tree and not a warehouse storage. They smell and taste delicious.
I am definitely a (small e) european.
Just starting to harvest gorgeous apples from out James Grieve apple tree - they have a wonderful flavour and can be used as eaters or cookers.
DeleteWhat I don’t like is having to dissect each one minutely to remove the grubs and all the other insects that infect them and not being able to just take a bite!
Arherphile, so you're sharing the food with others and providing an environment for other living beings! Personally I prefer to halve and quarter apples before eating, then perhaps if I picked one from a tree myself I'd want to sink my teeth in.
DeleteArcherfile..we just finished picking up a wonderful crop of potatoes and cabbage yesterday that will see us through winter and beyond..we're still getting zucchini every day and I've eaten so much that I swear I've got a green stalk growing out of the top of my head. I've already frozen celery, parsley ,basil ,beets and Swiss chard. Next week well take down the plums...we've still got tomatoes and leeks plus hopefully some late lettuce.
DeleteNever has our little garden been more welcome not knowing what winter has to bring.
And a surprisingly good crop considering how late in the season we started...we couldn't leave the village to buy seeds or transplants until the middle of May ..very late in these parts.
Oh I forgot some nice pumpkins are coming up, great for soup ravioli and risotto.
That’s amazing Autumn. I didn’t know you could freeze celery! What a wonderful harvest you’ve had.
DeleteOur tomatoes (6 different varieties) and cues in the greenhouse are finished now but we still have some rather scrawny lettuce and runner beans. The only things I freeze for winter is our soft fruit. Raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and far too many black Currants. They will keep us in crumbles for months, I hope.
I
My zoom art lessons resumed this week and here is the latest effort! It is of a fish market in Venice, a study in scarlet because of the red blinds. It does need further work and was a challenge. Afterwards they post other’s paintings and it is interesting to compare. Some were much better than mine, some worse so I am about average! We followed it up with a takeaway Italian which was so substantial we had enough left for lunch the next day! I too like eating out and takeaways as a change from cooking but as an occasional treat, not a regular occurrence! In early days we sometimes took the girls to a Berni Inn which we all enjoyed and they learned to behave well in public!
ReplyDeleteEv, I like the overall picture but wouldn't have guessed it was a fish market without the slippery, silvery mass of fish, hope you're open to opinions.
DeleteYes, Basia. I thought that but the photo didn’t show the fish closely. It occurs that a close up fish counter with the shimmery bits would be a really good subject! I have memories of a fish market in Madeira where the vendors had large scimitars to cut up the tuna (Hadn’t realised Tuna were so big!). They were having a good natured argument, the vendors that is, and swishing the scimitars around. It was comical but quite scary!!
DeleteI understand now, if that's what it showed then that's it. I discovered about the size of tuna when my sister was preparing it once (not a whole one!), we are used to the small tinned variety.
DeleteSo the BBC are “regrettably” saying goodbye to Sue Barker after her hosting A Question of sport for 24 yrs. also Tufnell & Dawson 😮 They will finish their run next year. The BBC have not yet decided on the new format 🤣 Cheaper & younger Presenter and Captains no doubt.
ReplyDeleteIn that case just axe the bl..dy programme. Maybe their new “old” licence fee holder viewers would like the programme to remain as it is😡
And, no doubt, the new presenter/captains will have to be BAME and non-gender specific.
DeleteOf course! Will Sue still be required at Wimbledon I wonder 🎾
DeleteEndorse PtbY and others following regarding 'snowflake' attitudes, and had similar thoughts when hearing that piece.
ReplyDeleteBut latest news heard yesterday was that Parliament or NHS, not sure which, has ordered that fathers must be allowed to be with the mother for scans etc.
I have written before about being the pioneers for fathers to be present at birth, but even so in this time of ' going without ' for all, I feel that it is a most opportune time for those today who have so much and expect more, to learn that it is possible to have less and yet to survive.
The MPs have written to the NHS to allow the fathers to be present. I think it's for the individual hospitals to decide about their rules on visiting etc. I also think that although most fathers are eager to participate all along, in the old days when it was not allowed some might have felt grateful.
DeleteKaty was saying yesterday how her generation as teenagers were aware of the environment and being green but now she finds, working with teenagers, that they don’t give a fig about it and are only interested in themselves.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was with me when I had Katy but afterwards looked grey and worse than me! It doesn’t suit everyone! There was no such thing as scans then and I think far too much fuss is made with the pictures being bandied around. For medical reasons they are important and interesting to the parents but not to anyone else! Certainly not me!
Ev, re your latest painting. I love the colour palette and do so wish I could paint/draw figures as you do. It really livens up a painting to have humans to give scale and interest.
ReplyDeleteFor my birthday last month, my daughter gave me new artists materials. Derwent pencils, a large tin of their Academy watercolour crayons, fine outlining pens, watercolour paper etc. etc. She knew I hadn’t been able to paint for some time because of my eye problem and thought once I had my ‘new’ eyes I might like to start again. I have never used watercolour pencils before so this is going to be a new technique to learn. I think I’ll have to seek help online!
New 👀 new horizons Archerphile - good luck 🍀
DeleteLady R 10.57am: Quite so. My mother brought up the first three of her children in the 1920s in a third floor flat with no running water. Every drop had to be carried up three flights of stairs from the pump in the yard to be boiled in the gas copper, and taken back down again after use. The one privy, also in the yard, was shared between all the tenants.
ReplyDeleteShe dined out on the history all her life, believing that it somehow qualified her as more virtuous, which it possibly did, but it sounded to me like slum dwelling and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
LadyR & Archerphile, I was almost sure that the new presenter of Woman's Hour would be BAME, they way they go on about it, but no, Emma Barnett will take over from Jane Garvey next year. She'll present from Mon-Thu, so they can fill Fri and Sat (repeat) with some PC person. Emma Barnett is much younger, 35 and married, with a son. Although a feminist she sits in the synagogue together with other women.
ReplyDeleteHaving just caught up with all today's really interesting posts, I have my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteEv- the fish market in Venice is just amazing and very well known. You need to go + see it for yourself.
I always home cook (which you all know) but it is far cheaper.
I am also missing meals out, but I have totally accepted this, as have the other Ladies Who Lunch pals.
I feel I have won The Lottery with my new neighbours. I had a long chat with one of them today, over the hedge, and our chatter was just so natural, esp when I quoted part of the "periodic table"! It is too difficult to explain why, and how it came into conversation!
I feel so at ease with them, and I have an invite to pop in for tea and a chat, any-time.
What a difference - so much so, my BP must have gone down...
Well you’ve waited long enough Miriam and having suffered so badly the pleasure will stay with you for a long time 🤗
DeleteSarnia ,have I read that correctly ?
ReplyDeleteYour mother brought up the first three of her children in the 1920s?
Archerphile I have been " playing". with acrylic painting and really enjoying it.
Prior to that I was using glaze pens
Watercolour pencils sound right up my street if it means dipping the pencil in water.
Grandma Moses some of us are trying to emulate you.
(I have a feeling that one person Is well on the way to doing so!)
Well done Ev.
Good Luck Archerphile
Lanjan :
ReplyDeleteSo far I have tried ‘ colouring in’ sketches with the crayons, then going over them with a small paintbrush dipped in water - the colours blend nicely. My daughter said you can wet the paper first then draw on the damp surface - haven’t tried that yet. I’m not sure if you’d actually dip them in water, I expect they might dissolve quite quickly!
You did, LanJan, 20s and early 30s. The elder of my two brothers was born in 1923, followed by the elder sister in 1927. The second brother was born in 1930, but they weren't able to move into a rented house until 1933, for the birth of my other sister.
ReplyDeleteHow amazed I am with all your artistic abilities. I do not, sadly, have any skill at all in that area...
ReplyDeleteI was brought up in a two up two down with no bathroom and the toilet at the end of the yard. Talking to my brother the other day we agreed we were deprived as children but so was everyone else around us so having nothing to compare with we didn’t know it! I only became aware when I went to grammar school and mixed with others from better off backgrounds. In the end though it did toughen me in some ways and meant that for the rest of my life I have always lived within my means having seen how debt can creep up on you. My mum wasn’t good at budgeting but I take after my Scottish dad, not mean but canny!
ReplyDeleteMy brother is still undergoing immunology treatment at Christy’s but we don’t know yet whether it is working for him. He is cheered by the fact they are continuing with it though.
My thoughts are with you and your brother. It must be so worrying for you. He is getting treatment, in a place of pure expertice and ongoing knowledge and research.
DeleteStay Strong + Positive.
🤗
I expect your brother must be constantly in a "shielding" situation. This must be so hard for him + his family.
DeleteI wish them well.
I was also brought up in a 2up + 2down property in the late 50's early 60's but there was an indoor toilet, off the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI so remember the ice on the inside of the bedroom, in the winter, where all us sisters slept, with eiderdowns and flannelet sheets. Bath was in a tin bath, in front of the coal fire!
PS the flanelette sheets, when they wore out, were cut down the middle and outside edges joined to make a new sheet. These then had a uncomfortable seam in the middle - but it was needs must.
DeleteDid anyone else have similar?
I cut them down into dusters..the top sheets are still good so I just buy a bottom sheet which you can usually buy individually without buying the whole set.
DeleteYes Miriam 7.05pm, exactly the same up to the toilet scenario ours was outside. Brrr 🤣
DeleteMany of us are now the so called baby boomers and are much envied by the young but would they be able to cope with the first part of our lives. One can’t control when born and many very unlucky to be born and then die very very young in war.
Most lives are a mixture - yes a boom time in the 1980’s but also an incredible mortgage rate followed by negative equity for many!
I can remember receiving an exceptional 12% company pay rise one year especially as we received 10% of yearly pay for a Christmas bonus (for many of us tax free) that was sensational and not to be seen again I fear (as were the many benefits I received from my firm in its hey day) and in that regard I do feel for people these days and am so appreciative of all that I gained and still do as a retired member of staff via pension and discount 🙏🏼
Mortgage taken out in 1971 on house roughly £5,400 at 16% interest. In 1996 we still owed over £4,000. Extortion!
DeleteI think my mother in law did that but my mum was hopeless with sewing and never had a sewing machine. I learned to use one at grammar school. I also learnt the basics of cooking in Domestic Science. A pity they don’t teach these practical subjects nowadays! Katy tells me they have lessons in managing their mental health!
ReplyDeleteTo me cooking etc should be passed down from mother to both daughters + sons.
DeleteThis seems not to be have been done for a while, so a generation seems to have been passed by.
I am sure home cooking + crafts, will re-appear in homes again, due to this current situation.
My grand-neice wants me to teach her how to knit, which I will do so willingly. She also has asked me to help her to learn to cook, as her Mum, is just hopeless..
I agree with you there Miriam . It all starts at home.
DeleteMiriam, it was. That's why I can cook baked beans on toast and OMiaS is in charge of the day to day catering!
Delete'Though my home economics lessons at school gave me a very thorough grounding in all the basic methods.To be fair, Mum and I can cook - we just don't like doing so!
Now, for important things like flapjack, trifle and Christmas cake, I'm your woman!
I am so pleased to hear you are very happy with your new neighbours MIriam. That's a blessing and makes life so much more pleasant.
ReplyDeleteI do remember ice on the inside of the bedroom window and the house being cold so we rushed down to the paraffin heater to warm up.
Cooking and sewing skills passed on by my mother to me and sister.
ReplyDeleteMy mother passed the same skills along with me to my daughters.
All three of my grandchildren, two girls and a boy can cook and are able to produce a meal. The eldest one, off to university, Westminster today, can certainly sew and is to study fashion design.
Miriam you've won the lottery with your neighbours.
Well done and long may it last.
Invite them to dinner !
You might be the best cook in your street.
Indeed Mrs P I wish I had moved next door to Miriam 🍽 🍲 🍮 🍷
DeleteMiriam 👍😁
ReplyDelete"maladie" striking in the tomatoes, green tom chutney today. More butternuts coming to replace the one that was nicked, with the hot weather time to ripen!
ReplyDeleteWe were doing the green tomato chutney thing today too! The smell in the house was amazing.
DeleteWe enjoyed the Piers Morgan Interview with Colonel Tom tonight! Cheeky young whipper snapper at heart 🤗
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, ladies, you would not have wanted my mother's cooking skills passed down to you or anyone else!
ReplyDeleteDitto Sarnia!
DeleteSame here! She used to drain the potatoes and then put them back on the hob!
DeleteMy sons could say the same about me .
DeleteMy elder son apparently enjoys cooking .
My younger son takes after his mother.
My neighbour grew tomatoes for the first time this year and was trying to ripen the green ones. Most of them had some brown which I suspected was blight. I took them off her to ripen with some other ripe toms given to me by another friend.
ReplyDeleteTook them all out of the paper bag this evening.
Blight !
It seems rampant in this district this year.
Elsewhere ?
Chutney, courgettes, apples...all sounds wonderful. I’m harvesting glass, bricks, bits of old plastic flower pots and seaweed feed bags, bitumen and a couple of corrugated metal sheets. The odd gardening glove. My father’s old shed left to sink into the ground.
ReplyDeleteGoodness Seasider. Jut pretend you are Alice Roberts on an archeological dig.
DeleteIt actually sounds daunting, Seasider! What's your plan ? Am thinking it won't be easy to get the buried shed in a skip....to extend Stasia's idea, maybe if you leave it, it could become an interesting find for archaeologists in 200 yrs. time( if there are still archaeologists, if there still is any kind of world as we know it...)
DeleteRe 🍅 tomatoes. It’s not unusual to find blight at this time of the year. I’ve had a glut this year on the allotment, the weather has helped early outdoor ripening.
ReplyDeleteLanjan. We went to visit Grandma Moses house and gallery in upstate NY. My sister did not appreciate the print I brought back for her to use in teaching. She looked down her nose at the naive primitive style. As a non artist 👩🎨 I actually liked the detail.
Stasia, she sounds like the St Ives 'naive' artist, Alfred Wallis - no idea of perspective, but he doesn't half capture the atmosphere & character of the place! He lived there all his life & was, I think, a fisherman.
DeleteWe had plenty of hot water and central heating but a cupboard for a bathroom and a shared toilet with neighbours on the landing, have no recollection of them.
ReplyDeleteI only experienced lovely frost designs on the windows in the countryside with the blazing fire indoors. Also, the inside of my nose freezing outside and sheets hung on a line becoming stiff! Such weather is now long gone. There were hot potatoes mashed with some cereal for the pigs and the smell was so nice I wanted some, I do like potatoes!
Oh dear! Feeling really grotty this morning. Too much red wine and cheese last night!
ReplyDeleteOur next door neighbours held a cheese & wine get together for us + 2 other sets of neighbours, before today’s rule of six came into force. A sort of end of summer, before winter lockdown, gathering of 8.
In their huge pavilion each couple sat in a different corner with their own cheeseboards, knives, baskets of crackers, bowl of peanuts etc - so well distanced and not sharing eating irons.
The only thing that was shared was the wine! I had 2 largish glasses + a tiny glass of port, but loads of creamy cheeses including ones I’d never tried before.
The evening was very convivial and a lot of putting the world to rights went on.
But boy, did I suffer in the night! Felt very ill, passed out on bathroom floor + other unpleasantries. Can’t face coffee or food this morning. Don’t really understand why, but I think it might have been too much fatty cheese which I shouldn’t have due to a compromised liver. Also think the tablets I take made the wine I drank even more intoxicating. Lesson learned. No more red wine (prefer white anyway) or creamy cheeses for me!
Good Lord AP! What a horror show! But as you say, lesson learned. (Until next time, if you're anything like me...)
Delete“Oh dear” indeed Archerphile - Mr R questions the port mixed with red wine (especially with many different and creamy cheeses!) However you enjoyed it at the time 🤣 but agree best not repeated.
DeleteOr perhaps, in some moderation Archerphile
ReplyDeleteI can no longer drink or eat dairy, basically only eat at home or at my sister's. I know a woman of 70 who doesn't accept invitations and only attends restaurants where she doesn't have to eat much. I know it's limiting but I don't suffer, been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteVery sensible Basia, not sure I could go that far though!
DeleteI should have known better because our son can’t touch red wine or eat fatty food due to having caught hepatitis at the age of 10. It damaged his liver and he gets very similar symptoms to mine if he doesn’t stick to the rules.
It was very inconvenient when they lived in France!
At least Archerphile enjoyed her evening out, regardless.
ReplyDeleteHaven't we all done that at some time?
I know I have - port and red wine - are no longer imbibed!
What a gorgeous Indian Summer day. September often makes up for a poor summer.
I had problems with my washing machine today. Yesterday I scooped up the dirty towels (after a bath) from the bathroom floor, and put into wash on a 60C wash. I realised my slippers were now also in the machine, and disingretated. I got all the debris out of the drum (so I thought). It was a main wash today, but things went wrong.To keep it short, all stopped with a fault no. flashing on the display, but I couldn't find what it meant. The 💡 went on. I could open the door, water pouring out into a bowl, sodden washing removed, water bailed out by cup and soaked up by sponge.
Only then did I remove a panel and then the filter. My 💡 was right, it was clogged with slipper debris.
My washing was finished, is now drying outside and the machine is working perfectly, Phew...😄
PS I also had 3 sodden towels, which I put down to soak up excess water, and there was a lot! To think I had washed the kitchen floor an hour earlier 😵
DeleteI am tempted to book a holiday in Africa for Oct 2021.
ReplyDeleteI am hesitating, though. It is perfect for me but costly, and who knows what things will be like in a years time.
I must just pick up the 'phone, ask the questions I have and then decide.
Life Cannot be put on hold, indefinitely -
It has to be onwards + upwards and thinking positive.
Life is too short.
I think I must have made a decision, of sorts, as to what to do next.
DeleteThis is how this site helps, as on posting my thoughts with my hesitation, I think I know what to do now.
If going on safari, Masai Mara in Kenya or the Serengeti in Tanzania are both full of wildlife. Another good place is Zambia and Botswana where you can also see Victoria falls. We saw elephants swimming in Botswana! They use their trunks as snorkels! We don’t know what will happen next but have to get on with living! All the best on your quest, Miriam!
DeleteI have stayed in the Chobe national park, stayed in a concession in the Kruger national park, been to the Okawanga Delta, stayed in a hotel in Zambia with free access to the Vuctoria Falls and a wonderful trip in a very small boat (just 3 + guide) on the Zambesie river.
DeleteThe one I am looking at is in the Limpopo region, an area I do not know, so could be very different.
I am tempted..
Sounds really interesting, Miriam. I hope you can go for it!🦒🦏🐘🦒🦒
DeleteNot the great, grey, green, greasy Limpopo river, all set about with fever trees?
Delete🤣😂🤣
DeleteArcherphile 2:47 - Yes, I'm boring and sensible and glad to be, but I know it's more difficult when living as a couple.
ReplyDeleteAs for going away, since France is the most visited country I "don't have to". On a recent stay in Strasbourg I thought I was in Paris, looking across the street into other people's flats.
Now for the washing machine, I always put the powder or liquid detergent straight inside in a plastic bottle top, so it rumbles a bit. Once it was rumbling a bit too much and it turned out that I scooped up the alarm clock which was on the bed. I put it back together with the dried up battery and it still works!
😂😂 It's so easy, isn't it. I am glad I am not alone.
DeleteI have to tell you all of a wonderful experience I had this morning. My husband and I ( I sound like the queen) went up to our vegetable garden which backs onto the playground of the local nursery school..the sound of "I bambini" squealing and jumping for joy was music to our ears. We just stood and watched them for a while enjoying their zest for life .
ReplyDeleteSimple pleasures😊😊
Yes, it is a joyful noise!
DeleteSame here. The playing field of the school, to which all my children went, is at the bottom of my garden. I listen out at 1.00pm for the half an hour of the noise of the children playing! Lovely music!
DeleteWhat a glorious Indian Summer’s day we are having.
ReplyDeleteI shall be in the garden all afternoon, sweeping up early fallen leaves, and tidying the herbaceous border ready for winter. There are apples and plums to pick, loads of pruning to do and the bonfire heap grows bigger by the day, but at least we have the lovely warm weather to make working a pleasure. 🍁🍂 🍁🍂 ☀️
I planted a Christmas tree about 30 years ago after the 12 days, but really too near the house. This year it finally was level with my bedroom window (on the third storey!) and only about 10 feet away so I decided it had to go. Youngest came over last Saturday and he and Jon became lumberjacks. A huge pile of scrubby branches were then laid on the patio.
Delete"How are we going to get those branches and the trunk all in the brown bin?" I asked.
"I'll trim them but I'll stack them here because they'll be perfect for burning when Scouts start again!" said Jon.
We've hammered copper nails into the stump. We'll see if that really will kill it off!
Someone was asking about disease or blight this year. Yes I had it . It has killed my beautiful Camellia plant my daughter sent me for Mothering Sunday 3 years ago and it got to the veges as well.. My runner beans didn't grow this year. They flowered but then died off. However I've got lots of outdoor tomatoes which haven't yet ripened so I'll have to bring them in to ripen. Shame because they taste so much better straight off the vine. I've made piccallili to go into my home produce cupboard but cheated because I had to buy the veges there. I have stacks of potatoes which I am not sure we'll get through before they sprout and go rubbery. There are still some carrots in the trough-type planter I sowed them in.
When I'm feeling a bit better I am determind to start even earlier with my planning, digging etc ready for next year and grow even more.
I had this problem with runner beans last year but they have done well this year providing plenty for immediate eating and a few for the freezer. The outdoor cherry tomatoes started to ripen early in August but the plum ones were later. I suppose being so far south our seasons are a bit earlier. The courgettes have slowed down though and don’t seem to be growing very big. Last year I couldn’t keep up with them! Who knows why there are such variations!🤔
DeleteWe are preparing for the first public worship since March 15th. I haven't been near the church since then because I can't use the bus, but before I practise I will have to deep-clean all surfaces on organ and piano which might have been used during lock down by others who have their own transport.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for your new debut, Sarnia! Some sense of normality!
ReplyDeleteHave just read “The day she came back” by Amanda Prowse. A gripping read, she is a really good author.
Echo that, Sarnia!
ReplyDeleteWe have our first chorale rehearsal tomorrow under the new "protocole sanitaire", 6 in one row, 5 in the next, etc, 2m between each chair. V different, fewer choristes, but at least we're managing to keep going.
Great news re organ music and choral, again, in a different way.
ReplyDeleteI had my hair cut today, and it was great. The staff were wearing protective eye-wear, masks, plus face shields, very much more so than last time. It was a lovely experience and my new stylist, has done a brilliant cut plus we had a great chat. We respond to each other well, regardless of the different generations. I have been booked in for my next two appointments, which will take me into 2021.
My car has its MOT tomorrow, so it is 🤞🤞.
I am talking to my "Money Mon" on Friday (who has had 6 weeks off) to discuss my requirements, so that I can go forward, to buying a new car etc etc.
I am in no rush as such, but I just want to work out all my options, re how to sort out my new monthly income and how much I can release to spend!
I have so many plans.
But this should have been the situation 6 years ago, when I gave up work. I have missed these years of being able to do, as and when I wanted to. My car is 6yrs old, and it is only now, I can replace it.
DeleteMy Dad, was a canny man and almost "bullied" me as to pensions, savings, ISA's etc. saying I had to put xx% of salary into my future. How right he was, which I so now appreciate. He put me in touch with the financial firm I have used for many years. If left to me, what a mess I would have made!
DeleteForget about the last six years when you didn't have the extra money you and millions of others should have had ,Miriam.
ReplyDeleteFrom what you have told us you have had a very enjoyable retirement so far and with your new neighbours things are likely to get better
You coped well and now you have extra money so can go on your foreign holidays if you do choose and buy yourself another car.
Our car is 13 years old and if it ain't broke ..................
I haven't got a "Money man"
ReplyDeleteI am too tight to pay someone to do something I feel I could do .
The last time I listened to Mr LJ about finance I bought some Saga shares!!
Enough said.
We all do things so very differently, to suit each + everyone in there own way.
DeleteI don't mind paying the fees, as these are swallowed up, in the "growth" being made, on my behalf.
When you think of it, it is only fair that everyone regardless of sex should have the same retirement age but I do think the change was too abrupt and should have been very gradually phased in.
DeleteAt one time I suffered from the delusion that men's pension age would be lowered to the women's 60. What happened to the 70's ? optimism that modern technology would enable people to work part rather than full time. What went wrong?
DeleteIt all comes down to pensions being very costly and of course people live longer nowadays so more payout!
DeleteVery small, but my first attempt at a botanical illustration with the new Aqua watercolour pencil. I’ll have to work on getting the colours stronger as they are a bit wishy-washy.
ReplyDeleteI think your illustration is just beautiful Archerphile - like Ev you certainly have talent 👏🏻
DeleteWell done Archerphile.
DeleteLovely Archerfile.
DeleteArcherfile, that’s really lovely. You are so good at the details! I have some watercolour pencils Katy bought for me but haven’t used them much so must have a go!
ReplyDeleteGood grief Archerphile, a bit wishy washy ?
ReplyDeleteLooks bloody marvellous to me.
Well done.
Well Ev & AP, I'm in awe of both of you..
ReplyDeleteWhen I get round to it I'll post pictures of our new little girls! 🐈🐈
ReplyDeleteGreat documentary about cats tonight on BBC4 - well worth a watch. (And in the interests of balance and fairness there was one about dogs last week too...)😺🐕
DeleteThat is beautiful Archerphile!
DeleteThat is a beautiful paintiing Archerphile. I wish I had some drawing talent.
DeleteThere was a very funny start to a programme about cats a couple of years back. A team was going to study all the cats in the isolated village (about 20) i.e. where they hunted, how far away did they go, did they have their own territories etc.
ReplyDeleteVillage Hall was HQ with computers and large screens, all cats fitted with trackers, large maps fitted to the walls. They planned to be there about a week.
The first day it poured with rain and not a single cat left their house!
My next door neighbours bought 2 very expensive pedigree Burmese cats a couple of years ago (thank goodness they don’t ask us to look after them when they go on holiday any more!)
DeleteThey are sisters, but different colours. The cream one stays around their house and our gardens. The brown one goes walkabout for days on end. Several times they’ve thought she’d been run over or been stolen, or got in the back of a van and been transported away. But after several days she appears back home, has a good feed and sleep, then a week or two later the whole routine is repeated.
They would love to have one of those trackers to see where she goes off to.
This morning on Breakfast, Esther Ransom said no presenter on BBC should be paid more than the PM. She put these crazy salaries alongside the withdrawal of free TV licence for over 75’s. Gary Lineker has taken a pay cut of £400,000 which she said stuck in the craw! Zoe Ball is paid around a million a year for a her radio program. Will the BBC listen? I doubt it!🙁🥴
ReplyDeleteEsther also pointed out that top presenters have all sorts of freebies and of course there are always crisp adverts if they fall into poverty!!!
ReplyDeleteI believe the new Director General is clamping down on BBC presenters, news readers etc from moonlighting, taking paid work for other events which could be thought to compromise their neutrality. Naga Munchetty was criticised for earning a big fee for working at some commercial event or other (can’t remember which company it was).
DeleteI completely fail to see why Gary Linneker should have been earning £1.7 million for presenting one football programme a week and the Sportsview Personality of the Year Show.
It was obscene.
And an insult to elderly license fee layers.
😡