PROUD TO BE BRITISH,VOTE TO LEAVE EUROPE.

When we joined the E.U. many years ago we were assured by our politicians that what we were entering was simply a Free Trade Agreement and that our Sovereignty, our Laws and our armed forces were to be safe from foreign interference. It was only a matter of months before this assurance proved to be false.

In the intervening years the inroads into matters which were supposed to be sacrosanct have been many, far too many.

Unable to fish in our own waters our fishermen were obliged to watch while Spanish Trawlers scoured coastal waters and the sea bed until our fish stocks were exhausted and our fishing industry crippled.

Our Farmers were encouraged to enlarge their dairy herds taking out loans in order to build huge milking parlours only to fall foul of milk quotas. Our fruit growers were actually advised by Tony Blair to fell their orchards when the bottom fell out of the apple market.

We were obliged to buy huge quantities of French apples while at the same time the French outright refused to purchase ours, Free Trade? I don’t think so!

The list of such interferences is far too long to enumerate, but the statistics speak for themselves if you care to look

. Farms are going out of business at an alarming rate.

Recently when a group of Farmers desperate to keep their farms afloat joined forces to pool their milk yield and make artisan cheeses the E.U, most notably the French did their level best to put a stop to the enterprise.

They claimed that because the cheese was organic it was unhealthy and might contain Listeria, a ridiculous argument when one considers the arcane methods still employed by many French Farmers.

Every corner of our lives is subject to meddling of this sort but there is worse to come.

There have been serious talks concerning the E.U.wish to form a united European Army the control of which would not be our own.

When I listened last week to David Cameron warning us that if we left the E.U it would start a Third World War I was reminded of The policy of Appeasement in the Thirties when the Nazis were invading their neighbours without let or hindrance, peace at any cost. Well we all know that it didn't work.

My father and my both of my grandfathers fought in the two World Wars to keep our nation free, and to liberate other nations who had been unable to fend for themselves in the face of German might.

Are we now expected to give for the asking that which could not be taken from us by force.

Of course there are those who say that things have changes, but have they?

Southern Ireland Joined the Monetary Union and as a result are no longer allowed and control over their spending. Greece was allowed to join and when like Southern Ireland it was unable to repay massive E.U loans it has been subject to similar attempts to take over.

Germany even offered to pay all their debts if the Greek Government would surrender control of their country. Spain Italy and Portugal may shortly follow them into the financial abyss.

What they were unable to acquire by force they are now attempting to take by stealth, and there but for the one sensible decision made by Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown goes the UK.

He stood out against monetary union and as a result we are now the fifth largest world economy.

No wonder envious Europe wants to control our country.

Much has been said about Boris Johnston’s recent remarks about Nazi Germany and some have considered his views as inflammatory, but were his remarks any more a matter of scare scaremongering than Cameron’s threat of a Third World War?

The fact is that the Germans dislike us because we have stood against them and won. The French hate us because they were oblige to be bailed out when they were invaded by Germany.

As a nation we have been the enemy of France for centurys and Germany for over a hundred years, many nations have attempted to invade our land and have been beaten off.

We have stood alone and survived without help from Europe for a thousand years, we did not need them then and we don't need them now.

David Cameron claims that we now have a reformed European Union. The truth is that after weeks of lobbying and days of talks he was unable to get permission from the E.U. for his Government to control immigration or to determine what benefit should be given to those migrants. If we are unable to make such decisions now, is it likely that things will improve if we deepen our involvement with Europe?

Let us keep our sovereignty and our self respect,and our Army and our Government British. Vote out.

HIILSBOUROUGH, TRUTH AND JUSTICE.....AT LAST.

I make no apology for having chosen political subjects for my last two blogs, nor for today’s which concerns its self with the Hillsbourough verdict.

It has taken twenty seven years for he families. the fans, the city and those who died to obtain justice.

Corruption at every level, not only in the Police Force but in successive governments and large sections of the media has been the cause of the disgraceful episode which shames us all.

To the brave people of Liverpool I say, well done, especially those who fought so hard and for so long to achieve this verdict in the face of overwhelming odds.

Now let us hope that those who caused the tragedy and those who contrived the cover up will get the justice that they deserve, public disgrace, and prison where appropriate

Hillsbourough was not the first time that South Yorkshire Police, in cahoots with Government officials covered up the truth and not the first time that the Press played along with them.

The disgraceful conspiracy between these bodies during the miners strike was the forerunner of what happened at Sheffield on that dreadful day.

The climate of cover ups, manufactured evidence and malicious reporting was already well established and a gullible population had become used to believing what they were told.

During the miners strike Margaret Thatches Cabinet colluded with the police force in a successful campaign to discredit the strikers and the Press were happy to assist.

This is not a secret for like the Hillsborough families those who were involved at the time knew what was happening and have suffered a similar vilification by the Media and the contempt of Government and the Police Force.

The West Midlands Police Force who investigated the South Yorkshire Forces conduct at Hillsbourough assisted with the cover up and added to the appalling fiction that the fans were to blame. They lied, they all lied, but now we know the truth.

Andy Burnham, to my utter amazement actually stated in Parliament today that successive governments were responsible for the cover up at Hillsbourough and the conduct of the Police Force during the Miners Strike. Surely now there must be reckoning.

If at last the guilty are punished for their crimes against the people it will be solely due to the courage and tenacity of the Families of those who died and the brave people of Liverpool and I salute them all.

THE NATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTS OPPOSE FREE SPEECH

Way back in 1968 while an Art Student I joined the N.U.S.

This was during the time of the student's revolt and there were, sit -ins and rallies an marches, we were fighting for the rights that today’s students take for granted and Freedom of Speech was high on the agenda.

While politicians attempted to curb our activities by limiting the number of people who could assemble in one place, we continued to fight on. Some were arrested for their beliefs, others lost their place at University or College and the removal of grants was always a threat.

Over the years I have watched with concern successive generations of N.U.S. Committees preside over the erosion of these rights with barely a murmur of decent.

Student Grants have been replaced with Loans insufficient to support the students needs. Student accommodation has become extortionately expensive and Universities have increased their fees far beyond what is reasonable or even in keeping with the standard of Further Education on offer at their establishments.

Finally they appear to have found a cause.

This morning I watched in disbelief as N.U.S.-members defended their decision to ban certain groups from sharing their platform at debates. In effect they are refusing to allow anyone who disagrees with them to be heard, and in doing so have effectively ended the right to free speech within the N.U.S.

Listening to their arguments on “Victoria Derbyshire” I was struck by their self satisfied snugness about what they were doing and their unwillingness to engage with the views of others which differed from their own.

They spoke of creating a “safe place” for their members who are, they claimed intimidated by having their beliefs challenged. What are they really afraid of?

Having reached the exalted position of a place at University it seems odd that these minor dictators have failed to grasp the very basic fact that in order to have a debate all sides of an argument must be represented.

One young man, dressed as if acting in a play about the young Lenin spoke quite rudely to Peter Tatchell a former N.U.S President and now a politician about “gay rights” and was joined by another young man even more offensive than himself.

Peter Tatchell has championed Gay Rights for the whole of his adult life and from a time when the public was far less tolerant of homosexuality than, thankfully it is today. He has been banned from speaking on any N.U.S. platform, because what he has to say makes for uncomfortable listening.

Entire organisations have been blacklisted in order that no one should be offended by having to listen to a point of view which differs from their own. Or, God help us, something not quite P.C!

I have news for these young “lions”. One cannot edit life!

It is dangerous out there and there are people who's opinions are different and challenging, even down right unacceptable, and they had better find this out sooner rather than later.

When the delicate little flowers whom the N.U.S.governing body purport to be protecting emerge in to the real world they will meet with racism, sexism, religious prejudice of all kinds, they will encounter homophobia, political extremism and every kind of small minded bigotry, for which they will not be prepared.

If you lump the arguments about feminism, racism and all the rest together they can NEVER matter as much as every man's right to free speech, without which no real discussion can take place.

These young people have no experience of life and yet they feel it their right to deny others the chance to listen to and discuss the views of those who have been instrumental in shaping the world in which they grew up.

They are denying their members the right to gain for themselves an informed opinion and this is wrong on every level.

Every generation wants to change the world, that is natural, but the stance taken by the N.U.S will be the cause of a great change for the worse.

An entire generation is sleepwalking into a world where they will no longer be able to speak their mind, I find that terrifying,don't you?

CELEBRITY SEX ANTICS COULD THREATEN THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Until about an hour ago I must have been one of the few people unaware of the identity of the “celebrity couple” (the information being available on social media)  at the centre of what I can only describe as a legal circus.

Having no interest what ever in the sexual doings of the famous I found the extensive B.B.C. coverage of the farce annoying, many far more important events were given mush less air time.

When informed of the couples identity and the nature of the incident under scrutiny my response was,”So what.”

Of course the real issue is the matter of the freedom of the press to report to the public without hindrance, and although I deplore these ludicrous invasions into peoples private lives I would defend this freedom to my last breath.

Having been on the receiving end of such intrusive reporting in the past I speak with some authority on this subject, I firmly believe that the inconvenience which can be caused by these fearless expose' is well worth enduring to keep this precious right intact.

The problem is, once you begin to erode free speech where do you draw the line?

Most Governments would be ecstatic if they were able to muzzle the press where their own interests are concerned., and as we saw with the Anti Terrorist Laws, who's misuse by Local Authorities and others has become notorious I fear that any changes to this law would be equally abused.

For instance because of the anti Terrorist Law one can no longer hackle a politician at a public meeting. At a Labour Party Conference an elderly war veteran was manhandled out of the assembly by several burly minders merely for shouting “Rubbish” at the then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Weather or not the Chancellor was talking rubbish matters not at all, what does matter is that we have apparently lost the right to tell him so if we feel that he is!

We cannot have selective freedom of speech. It must be total or it is worthless.

In allowing Celebrities to keep their peccadillo’s private we shall open the door to other far more serious censorship and this is one door that, if we are not to follow countries like China and Russia in to the censorship abyss must remain closed at all hazard.

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AFTERMATH

                                     AFTERMATH

Yesterday's catalogue of catastrophes had repercussions today, our little cat is thankfully much improved but the same cannot be said for the conservatory roof. Being somewhat distracted by yesterdays events I had failed to notice the shocking mess left by the contractor employed to deal with the leak.

What kind of builder rocks up to mend a roof with neither tools or, more importantly ladders? Answer, the numpty who came to fix our conservatory.

Having no means to reach the roof he climbed on to the rockery to gain a little hight and in doing so trampled the plants into the ground.

Unable to fix the roof without tools he abstracted a length of drain rod from our greenhouse and used it to hammer down a loose panel and rip off some Virginia creeper from the wall.

Having banged about for a while he then threw threw drain rod into the flower border demolishing several clumps of Tulip and dumped the massive hanks of creeper on top of a gorgeous display of Bluebells flattening them completely: No wonder he was in a hurry to leave.

After a night of rain I arrived downstairs this morning to find that not only do we still have the two original leaks, we now have a new onto add to the collection…. The floor was awash.

Evidently his violent attentions had made the problem much worse!

My son fired off an irate e mail but as today is Saturday we shall here nothing for at least a couple of days. I am to some extent to blame as I paid little attention to the builders doings while he worked on the roof, but frankly with everything that was occurring at the time I was too distracted to nursemaid this so called professional through what should have been a simple task.

A sleepless night followed yesterday's débâcle, pain caused by the arthritis in my hands reached screaming point around midnight and no amount of pain relief could ease it's onslaught.

Having at last managed to doze off I was awakened at three in the morning by the sound of hammering, it sounded as if someone was attempting to open someone's garage doors with a sledgehammer. I dragged myself out of bed, opened the window and looked out into the darkness and as I watched the lights in several houses came on, the hammering ceased and I returned to bed to sleep no more.

This afternoon our chatty neighbour came round to ask if we had heard the racket. Last time I was unguarded enough to invite her in for morning coffee she was still with us for dinner, I kid you not!

Determined not to make the same mistake again I stood in the porch while she prattled on about prowlers until I was frozen stiff and in urgent need of a pee! I take diuretics, sorry if that's too much information. Deciding that honesty was the best policy I declared my predicament and departed in haste.

In spite of all this it has been a pleasant day, the rain which came through the conservatory roof fell as snow upon the hills which surround our village and remained a beautiful sight throughout the day.

Sparrows were busy stuffing our row of terraced boxes with dead grass and the sun shone brightly although the day was perishing cold.

Being back in the countryside makes up for everything and each day there is something new to wonder at. This morning I noticed that our wild cherry tree was in flower and looking very lovely in the sunshine, and some of our remaining tulips are almost ready to open. Tomorrow, who knows?

Whatever the new day brings will be leavened by the beauty of this lovely place, I truly am much blessed.

                                                 IF IT CAN GO WRONG

Today was one of those dreadful days when everything goes wrong at once.

The morning was set to be troublesome, Pa's visit to the dentist yesterday and the removal of four of his teeth left him in a good deal of pain and with a face like a football. He and as a consequence I too had a disturbed night. I left poor Pa asleep at last when I went downstairs to prepare my son's breakfast at seven thirty. If I'd had the least idea just how much aggravation lay ahead I should have remained safely in bed for the day.

Our cat Moth had been sick in every one of the downstairs rooms…..several times and both of the stoves had gone out. Poor little Moth had been sick the previous evening but had appeared quite recovered by bed time and we had retired untroubled.

Came the dawn!

While going from room to room clearing up the mess I was disturbed first by the Postman, next by a Courier and finally by Sainsburys who arrived with our groceries earlier than expected.

While my son lit the fires in the drawing room and the library I called our local Vet for advice.

Usually our Vet comes to the house in emergencies, today however he was understaffed and unable to leave the surgery. I made an appointment and booked a taxi, while longing for the days when Pa and I were fit to drive and cursing my son for never having learned!

Pa surfaced at twelve and it was as we were having an early lunch that the phone began to ring.

The chap who had been booked to fix the leaky conservatory roof on Wednesday and who failed to arrive called to say that he was on his way….bugger!

This meant that I would be unable to take the cat to the vet and that my son, who must have his novel finished by Sunday would be obliged to stop work and take her himself.

The taxi had barely left when the conservatory man arrived and having taken a brief look at the problem spent the next hour and a half hammering and banging on the roof in a manner so alarming that I feared that the glass would break.

Another telephone call from an obscure N.H.S. department enquiring as to the delivery of Pa's medication threw me into a panic. Apparently afraid that I might be a drug pusher they refused to confirm delivery without first speaking to him in person. Pa was at the Vet with my son. Since this medication is vital I was seriously concerned at this turn of events.

They agreed to call back (reluctantly its being P.O.E.T.S. Day) and relieved I returned to the conservatory the floor of which was now littered with dead spiders and bits of paint.

“A loose pane, infiltrating ivy, and a blocked gutter were the cause of the trouble” He said.

Quite how the remedying of these defects had warranted all the hammering remains a mystery.

I had heard nothing from my son and my concern for the cat was growing by the minute, the gardener arrived unexpectedly to mow the lawn. Recent heavy rain had left the ground sodden and I had misgivings, but what the hell, either he mowed today of it would be two weeks before he returned by which time we would require a baler...he mowed.

His departure was followed by the Avon lady and since I had not completed my order I scrabbled about for a pen and placed an order for God knows what, knowing my luck It will turn out to be some grotty perfume of awful aftershave!

At last the boys returned wit the cat who apparently had worms, thanking the Gods that it was nothing worse I spent the next hour cuddling the little mite and crying on and off.

Next I took a fall, fell on my already; painful wrist and am now in absolute agony and typing with my left hand only.

I mean now to have a large Scotch and a dose of Morphine, I would say goodnight, but it will probably be anything but.

MORE FUN WITH THE TROLLLS

As anyone who has ever surfed the net will know there are two absolute certainties. Firstly it is certain that from time to time one lands in strange territory, secondly one will eventually encounter Trolls.

I have often seen the comment” How the hell did I get here” and although it can be a little disconcerting at times for me it is all art of the fun.

Trolls however are different, they are parasitic little ticks who delight in singling out those who may be vulnerable for their sick games, and take delight in spoiling the pleasure of others on popular sites by becoming so offensive that contributors leave in droves and often the site is forced to close

I recently encountered such a creature after leaving a short comment on a video I had been watching. The young woman, who shall be nameless, treated me to the usual rambling abuse and foul language common to the breed.

When this failed to achieve the desired result she began a barrage of personal insults couched in bad grammar, a woeful dearth of capital letters and littered with glaring contradictions.

Now unable to get the better of me alone she has inveigled a friend into swapping malicious chatter in the hope that I shall get angry and respond. She has not the wit to realise that by doing so she has given me the game.

Hopefully while these silly children amuse themselves in chatting to each together others will be safe from their malice.

What is worrying is the fact that she appears to have employment which gives her a degree of control over vulnerable people. Small wonder that events such as the recent death of an innocent child due to the incompetence of a team of Social Workers happen so frequently when such ignorant, vicious people are place in charge of the welfare of others.

I have some advice to anyone who finds themselves on the receiving end of trollery and it is this. Always remember that they resort to these games due to their own inadequacy. Never explain yourself to them not matter what the provocation and always give as good as you get.

Of course you could ignore them altogether but where' s the fun in that. Wind them up and watch them go, then sit back and enjoy the show.

I spent some time in the garden yesterday continuing the battle with Ground Elder and Cleavers. Since my recent bout of ill health I am easily tired and how I have missed my time out of doors.

The garden looks very pretty now and most of the bulbs we planted are either in flower or well on the way to it, apart that is from the Anemone Blanda corms which were scoffed by squirrels. Ho hum.

LIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE HILL

You will have heard the expression” the wrong side of the tracks” or maybe “The wrong side of town” well I live on the wrong side of the hill!

Living on the wrong side of a mountain or a range of hills means that you get far more rainfall than those more fortunate souls who live on the right side of the afore mentioned elevation.

I learned about “precipitation” while taking a geography course in the dim and distant past, and mighty dull I found it!

Living with the reality of daily torrential rain is far from dull. During the course of just one day we have experienced rain so heavy that In looked as if lengths of chain were falling from the sky, followed by massive hail stones in such quantity that the ground was white over in five minutes and the noise on the conservatory roof so deafening that the cats went into hiding.

Thunder accompanied by sleet while at the same time the sun shone brightly and made the flakes sparkle like tiny crystals followed and the performance was repeated throughout the day.

On the other side of the hill, guess what? No rain, no sleet, no snow, just bright if somewhat chilly sunshine,

I conclude from these events that had I paid more attention in Mr Bradley's lectures I might now be living on the sunny side of the hill. We live and learn!

EQUINOX

                               

Getting back to a normal state of health after my illness is proving to be a long winded affair. No sooner do I begin to feel better than I suffer a set back which leaves me exhausted once more.

Still, on the whole I believe that I shall soon be as normal as it is possible for me to be!

Today a large load of bark chip (ordered last week) arrived and has been stowed away in the newly tidied garage, and I am impatient to apply it to the borders before the dreaded cleavers and ground elder appear.

I must say that the gardens look vastly better than they did this time last year; the battle with the over grown shrubberies is beginning to have a good effect upon the long hidden plants which have been shaded for so long.

The weather has been a little warmer and this has encouraged the birds to begin nesting. Everywhere I look I see them flitting about with beaks full of dry grass, moss, straw or feathers, and it looks as if the nesting boxes will be well patronised this year.

Bumble bees have appeared and are bust prospecting for nest sites so with luck one of the queens will find our bumble bee house, newly sited in a sheltered corner of the garden.

Sharp frosts are still a feature at night and the wood stoves area great comfort both to myself and the cats, being allowed to doze by the fireside id, I find one of the nicer things about growing old.

Each evening I ensconce myself in one of the big leather chairs in the library with a glass of Scotch and watch the brightly burning fire for a while before the somnolent ticking of the old clock lulls me off to sleep for an hour or so…….it's bliss.

Today I am camping out in the conservatory as the cleaners are busy putting the house to rights. I still find it strange to be employing domestic staff and gardeners to do the work I used to do for myself, yet it is also a relief now that the arthritis in my hands has become so much worse.

Cheered by the arrival of the Vernal Equinox I have been planning the garden borders and putting together the seasons plant order. In the past I grew all my own flowers, bot perennial and annual myself, but no longer. Now I order plug plants online and I do miss the thrill of watching the tiny seeds sprout and grow into lovely plants.

Some years ago a friend asked me why I had so many seats and benches in my garden as I never sat on any of them, well now I have all the time in the world to relax and enjoy my gardens summer beauty so in spite of advancing old age and decrepitude, life is still sweet.

TURBULENT TIMES...AGAIN.

Once again the weather forecast is a mass of dangerous looking isobars and large expanses of blue to indicate that yet more torrential rain is on the way. We have lost several fence panels, indeed the fence at the top of the garden has given up the ghost completely, so much so that our neighbour(a miserable old so and so) has been complaining about it.

Oh not to us to be sure, but to just about everyone in the village, by way of the corner shop!

It would be useless to tell the old bugger that we are in the process of getting it fixed but we are told that until the wind drops it would be useless to attempt the job.

I also need to have some overgrown shrubs and trees cut back but this too has had to wait for the same reason, mind you, if the wind over the weekend is as fierce as we are told it will be there may be no need for help from either tree surgeon of gardener!

At present the house is being lashed by heavy rain and strong winds as usual, our cats steadfastly refuse to leave the house and any outside chores have to be done at the dash between squalls, I doubt if there is an intact dustbin in the entire village!

Trapped indoors due to the weather and ill health I can almost sympathise with the poor chap who has spent an age mewed up in the Bolivian Embassy…..almost.

My son, who is to begin another novel tomorrow has been attempting to take a long walk for days, so far all he has managed is a brisk trot up the lane and a dash around the church yard, we are all becoming stir crazy.

Indoors we are very snug and cost yet we all long for some fresh air of the kind that does not drench to the skin anyone foolhardy enough to venture forth. Late this afternoon I opened my window for a breath of air and the catch was snapped off by a great gust of wind,, a blast of cold air scattered the papers on my desk and the cat Twiggy, who had been sleeping peacefully on my bed, shot off in high dudgeon and was not seen again for hours.

When we first came to live here she discovered, on the first day a hiding place so perfect that we have yet to discover it's whereabouts. The house if full of odd crannies and peculiar wall cavities, and the wardrobe in the hobby room, which is too vast to move is so massive that for all I know our cat could be spending her afternoons in Narnia!

Lucky cat, at leas she is getting out of the house for a time, if so.

POST !!!

Since well before Christmas Parcel Force deliveries have been as rare as Unicorn poo in this neck of the woods, almost every parcel delivery has been by courier. This has meant that, by and large our packages have arrived on time and within a few days of being ordered.

However there are still a few poor benighted souls who use Parcel Force, sellers on e bay, small on line businesses and often ones friends and relations, and this has proved to be problematic.

Some items which we have ordered have been days, even weeks overdue occasioning the writing of letters of enquiry to suppliers as to the where abouts of goods ordered…….until today!

Normally there is someone awake, dressed and downstairs by seven thirty each morning, not today. How tiresome then and how typical that Parcel Force chose this very morning to deliver over a months backlog of parcel post, small packages by the normal post man and an absolute mountain of large ones a little later.

Many of the packages had been posted so long ago that the writing on them was in Sanskrit! We had actually forgotten about one or two of the items completely, and so were pleasantly surprised.

While it was a great relief to receive our parcels their arrival necessitated the writing of numerous letters of apology to those suppliers who had been in receipt of several increasingly irate missives from the three of us(manners dictated that this must be done) about our overdue mail.

Some of the packages were very tatty and appeared to have spent some time in a very damp place, thankfully all the items were intact.

I can only suppose that, Parcel force had saved up all the packages until they had enough to make a visit to our very rural village worth while, for we are not an isolated case. A number of neighbours have expressed concern about the situation.

Small businesses in rural areas depend upon a reliable delivery service and thisi s something which Parcel Force no longer offers.

We once had a postal service to be proud of, not any more.

I am just thankful that I resisted the temptation to purchase a Stilton Cheese!

JANUARY IS OVER, THANK THE GODS!

What a right royal pain in the behind January was. Of course I never expect much of the month but this one has, for sheer unpleasantness surpassed any January I can remember.

To begin with I was struck down with Noro Virus and barely having recovered contracted a “virus” which has caused me to be practically bedridden for the past four weeks.

Continual gales, named storms, torrential rain and days when it was so dark that it almost seemed like night time lasted for a week added to the depression my illness had caused, talk about “gathering gloom”! Ghastly!

To make matters worse I have been without a cleaner for the entire month and being unable to raise my head, let alone a duster the house now wears a patina of dust from the two stoves which will, I fear, form a crust if it is not tackled soon.

Fortunately I have now engaged another cleaner, this time from and agency who will I hope prove to be more reliable than my last, who's complicated love life became as much a burden to us as it was to her! Don't mistake me, I really liked the girl and I hope we shall remain friends (doubtful she has not spoken to any of us since we fired her), but really I could not allow her to continue cleaning the work tops with the same cloth she used to clean the loo!!!

Could this explain my current condition, the test result make it seem very likely.

Then the sad news of David Bowie's demise which threw me into a decline for days and he death of Terry Wogan was the last straw, even my stalwart son was deeply shocked and spent the entire day watching back numbers of “Blankety Blank”! I could not believe how much his death affected me, and everyone else it seems.

On the first of February I ripped the page off the calender and burned the wretched thing, it gave me great satisfaction.

Of course there is no guarantee that this month will be any better than the last, indeed it began with a bloody hurricane which brought down branches and closed a few roads here about. That said I do feel a little better and am able to eat again, and if I see one more jacket potato or bowl of rice pudding for at least a year I shall howl!

From all around the world tales of plague and pestilence, war and famine and the rise of potentially dangerous politicians (Messrs Trump and Corbyn) to name just two have caused alarm and despondency, mind you this is no new thing to be sure.

But enough of this misery, on the plus side the garden if full of Crocus and Snowdrops and the daffodils will soon be in flower. Today I noticed that the Hazels were covered in long catkin tails and tall knots of Bluebell leaves are to be seen among the shrubberies.

The nest boxes we put up in the Autumn have survived the gales and are being used as dormitories by the many Blue tits which frequent the garden and the new Dove house has attracted the attention of our tame Robin who is often to be seen standing in it's door way. it will be a grand residence for so small a bird I think.

Now the nights are drawing out, always cause for joy in our house, and soon it will be possible to spend time in the garden after tea, or take a stroll in the lane, wonderful.

                           A ROUGH TROT
I was taken ill on Boxing day and since then I have been confined either to bed our to a couch in the library, where I spent several feverish nights sleeping by the fireside.

So far my G.P. has no idea what the problem is in spite of several batteries of tests, the latest of which were done last Wednesday. The virus is cyclical subsiding for a while then building up again until I am as ill as ever, it is very debilitating.

Unable to eat at all for over a week I have for the past three weeks partaken of nothing but rice pudding, jacket potatoes and toast and even that is an effort.

Bouts of fever have left me dehydrated and exhasted as I am unable to sleep for more than half an hour, after which I have to put dry sheets on the bed and change my nightclothes, it's a perishing menace believe me.

Today I have felt a little better and even managed to eat an egg with my toast, there's progress!
meanwhile anti biotics, anti nausia tablets and gallons of water are the order of the day.

down with the lurgy

I was taken ill on Boxing Day and since then I have been confined either to bed or to a couch in the library where I have spent several nights sleeping by the fire side.
So fat my G.P has been unable to fathom the cause and has declared it to be "a virus", this, in spite of several batteries of tests, the latest of which was last Wednesday.

The virus is cyclical. the fever and nausia subside after 24 hours only to return withing the next 24 hours,it is very debilitating.

Unable to eat at all for over a week I have for the past three weeks eaten nothing but rice pudding, toast and jacket potatoes and even that is an effort.Today I managed to eat an egg with my toast, there's progress!

Meanwhile the  anti-biotics, anti nausia tablets and gallons of water are the order of the day as the recurrent fever leaves my dehydrated.
Sleep is impossible as I have to keep changing the bed sheets and my nightclothes and I am now using disposable sheets!

I have felt a little better today and at least I feel able to write, something which has been out of the question for days.

I await the test results with impatience, I want to get on with my life. It may well take a while to get over this as I am very weak and not eating properly has not helped.

I hope to be able to write again soon but as things are I never know from day to day how I shall be, in even a few hours time.

I should like to wishh one and all a Happy New Year, belated I know but heartfelt none the less.