Goodbye January

I am never sorry to say Goodbye to January and Hello to February which is as much as three days shorter than some months.   I tell myself that four weeks tomorrow it will be March.   Yes, I know, it is bad to wish one's life away but here in the UK it has not been a pleasant Winter.   After breaking my hip on October 23rd I have not been able to walk outside until the last week or so and then only on some days.   My leg muscles need strengthening and although I do my  hospital exercises each day it is not the same as walking - and the paths are frosty again today so I doubt a walk will be possible.

I am toying with the idea of giving up my car.   I hate the idea of giving up my independence but there are several factors to consider.  First of all, last year when I had my Eye Test my Optician (who knows my eyes well) told me he doubted whether my eyes would be good enough for driving in a year's time.   Well, an appointment for that eye test arrived in the post this week.   Also my mobility is now such that if I drive somewhere there is the question of how am I going to move around when I get out of the car?   For the year prior to my hip-breakage  the only place I went regularly in the car was to my Hairdressers each week.   When I think of the Insurance I now pay each year (over six hundred pounds as my son is also on my Policy) it does beg the question 'wouldn't it be cheaper to have a taxi each time?'   It would be a huge milestone in my life to stop driving but the time will come and it may well be now.   My little car has only done six thousand miles in its three and a half years and has been regularly serviced - and what is more I have someone interested in buying it.   A painful decision.

Last evening I indulged in an hour of Michael Palin in the Himalayas --- what a wonderful programme - up in the mountains on his way to the Khyber Pass.   How lucky we are that during Lockdown we have such things.   I think of my parents - in the days before television - what would they have been doing?  Well, they were both great readers, they listened to what they called 'the wireless' a great deal (Henry Hall, Itma, Tommy Handley, ) and they played Cribbage every night of their lives.  And, of course, what you never have you never miss.   My father would have missed his Crown Green Bowling over the Summer (as would my mother as she always went with him  - the ladies made tea half way through the evening- ) but there was always plenty to do in the garden.

The clock tells me it is lunch time.   Yesterday I made soup and there is enough for today and my Carer has brought me a lunch of a Bacon Chop with new potatoes, green beans and cauliflower cheese.   I have never had a Bacon Chop before so I have a new experience to come. 

Pheasants

 I often read a bit of Monty Don's book of snippets about wild life and nature when I am waiting for J to come to start me off for the day.   This morning I read his thoughts on Pheasants and it made me realise that this week end is the R S P B's Big Garden Bird Watch week end.  I have always fed the birds and always done their Bird  Watch until I moved here but now the rooms where I spend time in daylight hours are on the front of the house where there is just a lawn and there is constant traffic and pedestrians - not the ideal place for bird feeders.  Also my poor mobility makes doing so just another hazard.   I miss doing it but I don.t see all that many birds in my garden apart from blackbirds, robins, a wren who can usually be seen under the hedge.   And there are a few cats who use it as their daily walk through. We always did it at the farm.   But the article by Monty reminded me of an incident which happened in our front garden at the farm.  The garde n was not all that big and a porch stuck out into it from the front door.   In the corner of the garden, and climbing up the porch was a clematis - a perfect hiding spot.  One day the farmer came in and beckoned me out into the front garden and there, behind the clematis, tucked into the corner was a nest with fourteen eggs in it and no sign of a bird.   But later in the day Mrs Pheasant was there, sitting there, low and watchful.   We avoided the area as much as we could, asked the Postie to bring the mail to the back door and waited. And then -one morning - there she was on the lawn with fourteen tiny chicks.   She stayed there for a couple of days so she must have felt safe.   And during those days I worried about how they were going to get out - it was a walled garden and the gate had only a very small space under it.  Then on the third day they had gone.   We concluded that she had flown over the wall and then encouraged the babies to go under the gate.

Then next year there was another nest there and egg after egg was laid but we never saw a Mrs Pheasant and the eggs were deserted.  They didn't last long as one by one they were picked off and eaten - often the shells were left as evidence of the thefts.   Was it the same bird?   We shall never know but we were quite disappointed when we didn't have babies on the lawn.

If you are doing the Big Garden Bird Watch this week end do enjoy it.   I hope the weather stays fine so that you get a good mix of birds.

Thursday

What to chat about today?    My mind is a bit of a blank.   I have just had a chat on the telephone with my neighbour who is using this lockdown as a chance to 'declutter' the house.   She says she is enjoying it and as she does it room by room she will get more and more pleasure from it.   I am sure she is right.   During lockdown it is very important I think (for our sanity if for nothing else) to have aims and intentions and stick to them so that our days have order to them.   I am speaking now about those of us who are retired of course.   The younger ones who read my blog (I suspect there are only a few if any) are probably working from home and looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Here I had a very ordered day yesterday and was determined to stick to the routine in the days to come.   That has been hit on the head completely this morning when I got up to a couple of inches of wet snow - going fast but not a day for me to walk out.

My routine yesterday:   Breakfast and chat with Carer;  an hour and a half spent doing Mind Games in The Times and getting them right (thus mind exercised); cup of coffee from flask left on my trolley by my Carer (enough to last all day);  half an hour doing the set exercises from the Physio; my first walk down the drive and along the footpath with Priscilla - about two or maybe three hundred yards and back - I found pushing her up the steepish drive quite hard but as it is the first time I have done it since last October it will no doubt get easier;  lunch supplied by my Carer - she has absolutely no need to do this but usually brings me three or four meals each week arguing that she is cooking for her and her partner and it is easy to do a bit extra;  after lunch I put my feet up for a couple of hours - watch Father Brown, Hairy Bikers and Escape to the Country - and sometimes the programme about Farmers Markets which follows.  When I say 'watch' I do sometimes fall asleep!    A bit of tea and a bit of reading completes my day unless there is something to watch on TV - last night it was a new series of The Repair Shop which I do enjoy.

So I went to bed last night happy that I had had that walk out.   I know I must get back into walking every day if I am to get really mobile again.   But snow intervenes today - but as I said yesterday it is February at the weekend so I shall soon be able to get going.   As my Carer pointed out this morning 'Bulbs are coming up all over your garden' - that cheered me up for a start! 

Oh what a beautiful morning....

 No the sun is not quite as high as an elephant's eye but it is getting there - shining directly into my sitting room today and now high enough in the sky to not shine directly into my eyes.   And at the week-end is February and if we can try to look beyond the dreadful figure of 100,000 then the Vaccination Programme seems to be going well so there just might be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. One more month - and a short one at that, only 28 days, and it will be March  and signs of Spring will emerge as if by magic.

So, what to write about today?   Well Wednesday is Matthew Parris day in the Times and he talks today about the birds at their Bird Table (he has had his knee operation and is home, legs up, recuperating.)  He just wonders, because there are so many birds at their feeding station, whether we might be teaching birds to get their food at such places in the Winter rather than search for it.   The RSPB recommend it - and they know what they are talking about - but he does begin to wonder.

And that brings me back to covid in a roundabout way.   A friend rang yesterday for a chat during which he told me he had gone into our local Pet Shop last week to restock on Bird Food.  As we are told, he had gone in wearing his mask.  While waiting another elderly lady came in and was asked by the Shop Owner to please put on a mask.   At this the lady said there was no need as she had had her first vacination!   It's not only the young who neither listen nor care is it?

Oh and while I am on the subject of wild life can we have a minute to contemplate rabbits?   We had plenty in our fields when we farmed, then there would be a cruel outbreak of Myxamatosis and the farmer would have to go round his fields killing suffering rabbits and how he hated that.   Then a year or two would pass and the population would surge again.   This morning after my breakfast I was reading Monty Don's entry about rabbits in 'My Garden World'- did you know (or are you indeed interested to know) that rabbits can have as many as ten babies at a time and they usually have four litters a year?  Perhaps we could persuade some of the trendy TV cooks to put Rabbit Pie back on the menu.   My mother used to make a super one.

Enjoy the sun, especially if you live in the North of England.   Snow is forecast for tomorrow (but remember Monday it is February!)

What to write about today.....

 Well, what indeed.   Having to stay inside does rather limit one's ideas but my trusty daily Times always adds a bit of daily spice to my life. And this morning the piece which set me off thinking is a piece about Elaine Paige who played Evita in the long-running musical in the West End.  Paige was only 4ft 11in tall and had dreams of being a professional tennis player.   One of her teachers crushed the dream flat in one sentence when she remarked Paige 'couldn't even see over the net'.   Paige says she never forgot because 'in one sentence that woman devastated my dream'.

Having been a teacher for most of my working life I am only too aware of how a crushing remark can hurt a growing child far more than it is intended to.   Some teachers use crushing comments as a way of control.   Praise has always been a much better way - however hard it may seem at first.   Young people, on the whole, rise to the occasion. I have had so many instances of this throughout my career.

But thinking back to my own childhood (I have most likely told this before) - I passed the Scholarship to go to the High School and what's more I passed it a year early.  and I remember there was great rejoicing in our household and my parents held a party for me - inviting our Headmistress who was a friend of the family.  She was a spinster in her sixties, brought out of retirement I suspect because of the Second World War.  The jollifications were in full swing when I overheard her say to my mother - 'well Pat is never going to be a pretty girl, but she has such an intelligent forehead'.  That statement coloured my thinking for many years.   Until I married my first husband (who was a painter and drew and painted me for years both clothed and unclothed) the 'pretty' bit was ingrained on my brain.   Then the intelligent bit kicked in and after having my son I studied  to go into University - and eventually became Head of a Special Unit.   So here we have the positive and the negative.

But seriously - I do think more emphasis should be placed on Positivity in teacher training.   It is so very important.

What other news today.   Well - all over grey sky, severe frost - so no likelihood of my going out walking with priscilla today I fear.   So it will be double exercises - including a new one I have included - that of standing on one leg for thirty seconds (obviously holding on to the table) - it is said to improve balance - and goodness knows I need that.

Until tomorrow.....

All's Well!

Yes indeed - all has got to be well.   As a nation if we all begin to get that 'giving in' feeling it just makes things seem worse.  In lockdown, where we have been more or less a year now I think it is so important to keep one's spirits up.   In my case - and I guess many people of my age feel the same- it is easy to get into the frame of mind which asks whether or not I shall actually survive long enough to see things return to something like normal.

In some senses it will never be the same.   I switched on Breakfast TV as I sat waiting for my Carer to come this morning.   For a moment the lady speaking didn't seem to be speaking about Covid - now that's a first because rarely does Breakfast talk about anything else -  but of course a couple of minutes later the words 'South Africa' popped into the conversation and I realised I was wrong.

But then they went on to discuss the destruction of the High Street as we know it (the lady was a Government Minister) and the possibility that Boohoo may be on the point of buying Debenhams - but not the High Street Stores as they are a completely 'on line' business.   This would mean another twelve thousand without a job  almost every town would have a large empty Debenhams on its High Street.  Oh dear!

Then thank goodness a moment of really Light Relief.   I do hope you  all saw it - if not there might be a way of finding it if you are a TV whizz.   A delightful man (probably in his seventies I would guess) with a lovely white beard (so he really looked the part) has a hobby of singing Sea Shanties (and making up the words sometimes too).  His Grand daughter asked him to make up a Shanty about Covid.   He did - it  was wonderful.   He sang it through.   It had thousands of hits on Facebook within an hour of being put on and the number has gone up and up since then.   Now that's a good luck story in these dismal, lock in days, if ever there is one.   Wouldn't you agree?

Nature's Healing Powers

I know I keep harping on about Monty Don's latest book 'My Garden World' but because it is a book full of snippets of information, a book to be picked up, read and put down, it does tend to be forever in the front line of one's reading at the moment, particularly when the brain is hungry for anything to take one's mind off Covid.

My first reading this morning was a piece about Orchids - and it brought back such memories.   As part of a series on 80 gardens around the world, Monty visited Singapore Botanic Gardens where there is a famed collection of orchids.   As Monty himself says, he found the collection 'underwhelming'.   He also visited hothouses in this country where they grew orchids to sell in the supermarkets and he didn't find them exciting either.

Then - and here I related to what he said entirely - he found a wild one growing in one of his fields - and suddenly the excitement was there.

I was back on the farm.   Among the farmer's fields was one which didn't belong to him and it came up for sale.   Being a Yorkshireman he had a firm price for the field fixed in his mind when he went to the sale and the price rocketed past it.   He came home from the sale empty handed saying the field was just not worth that.  Five years later the field came up for sale again - the man who had bought it didn't find it suitable for his purpose.   The farmer negotiated with the man and bought the field((for more than the original price) so now it was his and added considerably to his farm.   The next morning, as we walked across the field with the dogs, there it was - growing in the grass   - a Common Spotted Orchid - just one.  I almost felt the field was worth the outlay for that alone.   Over the next couple of years one became three and when they erupted the farmer would come in and tell me.   Are they still there?   I don't know.   It is four years since he sold the farm but that find brought him such joy that I do hope so.

Cultivated, hothouse orchids did absolutely nothing for him at all.   But one common spotted orchid - now thats different - and does (as so many instances do) beg the question 'when does a plant become a weed'?

Later on he speaks of 'Birds Foot Trefoil' and what a pretty wild flower it is.   Last year - for the first time since I have lived here - suddenly one morning my front lawn was more Birds Foot Trefoil than it was grass.   So were a few of the lawns on this side of the road.   We could only assume that the seed had lain dormant until conditions were right.  The more the lawns were cut the thicker the crop grew until about a month later when its season was past.   Will it come again this year?   Who knows - we shall have to wait and see.

The year my Gardener and I are going to try to ignore the Mares Tail on my rockery until it is a certain height and then he is going to cut it off at ground level in an effort to weaken it.   Will it work?   I doubt it but I shall try harder this year to not be troubled by it.

Saturday=

The sky is blue and clear and the sun is out.  But it is bitterly cold.   I put on my hat and coat to have a short walk with my walker along the back patio but it was much too cold.   I have not been  out for days and I am not absolutely sure that the patio is clear of ice and the sun doesn;t get on it in Winter.   So here I am at the computer with nothing to say on this afternoon.   The sun has just gone in and there is still ice along the wall in the back garden.   I am best inside in the warm but it is becoming frustrating.  If anything exciting happens later -I'll be back.-

Friday again.

 How quickly the weeks fly by even though there is little or nothing to do during lockdown.   My carer, J. comes at half past seven in a morning, does the essential jobs, helps me wash or shower and dress and is gone in an hour - an hour when we constantly chat - my only 'real' company of the day.   But then that is the same for us all during lockdown.  I usually have three or four phone calls from friends and relatives and three times a week I have a Zoom meeting - faces help to make people seem a bit nearer.  I wonder how we will cope when we are all 'let out' again.

I for one have lost much of my mobility.   I was able to walk with my stick before lockdown - but not now.   Since breaking my hip - although it seems to have healed completely and gives me no trouble, I can only walk at present indoors with a Zimmer frame.   Hopefully once Priscilla and I get going outside things will improve but at present Wintry conditions are holding things up.   Having said that today has been a lovely sunny day - no central heating came on as the sun shone in all day.  But outside there was a bitterly cold wind - too cold for me to venture out.

So, what have I done all day?   Hard to put my finger on it really.   Done all the Mind Games in The Times, eaten my lunch (which my Carer kindly brought for me although it is not part of her remit), watched The News (once only each day otherwise it is so repetitive) and Escape to the Country (sheer escapism) and the farming/agricultural programme after it, done a bit of office work (lots more to do but didn't feel in the mood) and that's about all.   And yet the day has passed quickly and I haven't got down hearted or felt lonely.   I shall give my son a quick ring now to let him know things are fine here - and then I shall go to bed - something I always enjoy in winter.  Sleep well.  See you tomorrow.

Changeable day

 In the three hours I have been up today I think the weather has changed at least a dozen times.   I almost slept in because it was so dark.   Much of our country is suffering from very severe flooding and in some areas homes have been evacuated.   I don't know how the beck in my son's village has fared.   I rang him before I went to bed last evening and the beck had not reached the top of its banks then so let's hope it has stayed that way overnight.   Eventually it got light here and the sky was black, then the dawn sun broke through on the horizon but a moment later it was pouring with rain.   When I came in here to look at my blog the sun was shining but within a minute there was a heavy blizzard.   Now the sun is out again.

Did you watch the Inauguration of President Biden (how good to be able to say that)?   I did as I have watched those of previous Presidents.   I find it fascinating mainly because it is so very different from the way we do things over here.   For example can you imagine Lady Gaga singing the National Anthem at a serious ceremony here?   But, my goodness, what an amazing voice she has. And I also noticed the hair - how natural all the womens' hair looked - just like I have said several times over the past few weeks about clothes - the whole area surrounding 'fashion' has changed for the better I think don't you?

When I was in hospital in October with my broken hip a young Medical Student came to see me and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed by him every couple of months or so for a study he was doing.   I find this sort of thing fascinating and so readily agreed.   He rang me yesterday - our third chat which lasted about a quarter of an hour.   We discussed how my hip was (very good), how my mobility was (poor but owing entirely to the weather and the fact that I just cannot get out for my regular exercise walks), how my state of mind was (good I said - and helped a lot by daily blogging - if I cant talk to friends then I can chat to them on our posts and that is the next best thing I am sure you will agree) and then the subject of my Benign Essential Tremor came up - not at all dangerous, quite common amongst older people and, when it affects one's hands - very irritating.  He asked what medication I took (Gabapentin) and then said that there was evidence that it was one of the few things   that seemed to be improved by a daily dose of an alcoholic drink!  So do I start having a sherry each day (I am not a drinker - only very occasionally do I have a drink) or would such a thing become a habit and lead to my becoming dependent on it and developing into something more?

Wall to wall sunshine outside but a bitter East wind blowing.   Thelma - if you are reading this it will be blowing even more strongly where you are so keep warm.

See you all tomorrow.

.

 A blank mind, a blank canvas this morning.   How to fill it?   Well the weather would be one way.   Horrendous rain is forecast and when this occurs we all worry around here because we are on the edge of an area which floods easily.   The River Ure - the river which flows throughWensleydale (the Dale used to be called Yoredale after the river as most of the Dales are) is very prone to flooding - and is said to rise twenty feet in an hour (and similarly go down the same).  I understand from my Carer that it is well up this morning and she dare not go through to her first call while it was still dark because it was impossible to see the extent of the flooding.   It rained heavily all day yesterday but this morning the sky is very stormy-looking but we must be on the edge of the storm area because at present it doesn't appear to be raining thank goodness.

Covid would be another way.   The rate of daily infections does at last appear to be going down - but we still have a long way to go.   It will soon be a year since I actually went anywhere other than to have my Covid injection a fortnight ago.   As you know I love clothes and I have a wardrobe full of clothes I bought to wear over winter and I fear I shall not wear them before summer comes (apart from the fact that sitting about and eating things like a packet crisps or a slice of Battenburg has done little to keep my weight stable.  ) Thank goodness I am an avid reader and I also enjoy reading The Times from cover to cover and doing all the Mind Games.   In addition if you search on the arts area on iplayer there are lots of really interesting things to watch.   My afternoon 'feet up hour' always coincides with Father Brown, the Hairy Bikers and Escape to the Country (actually a total of 2 hours) and providing I can stay awake through them I enjoy all three.

And then of course there is today's Inauguration of President Biden.  Whether to watch it or not?   There is the intense fear of unrest and worse after the trouble at the Capitol a couple of weeks ago.  How disturbing it must be at the moment to be a US Citizen and to worry about events there as they unfold - and to worry indeed about the future.  Of course events have been in turmoil before.   I remember on a visit to Dallas actually standing on the spot where Lee Harvey Oswald is said to have stood when he shot President JFK - and the terrible outcry of grief after that.   And then I remember going to the National Cemetery and seeing the eternal flame burning on JFK's grave.   And I remember thinking - could anything so appalling happen here - and of course it could happen anywhere.   Let's all hope that today's Inauguration passes off well and bodes well for the future of the great Country.

Looking out of the window I see that the rain has now started so keep your fingers crossed that it doesnt overwhelm us here in the Dales.

Harbingers of Spring.

 Well thank you everyone.   It is a pouring wet day here - heavy rain forecast for the next few days, followed by heavy snowfall.   The ground is already saturated and the becks are full to bursting with snowmelt from the Moors above us.  So what happens over the next few days is quite crucial.  So it will be good to just look through what you all very kindly wrote yesterday as your Harbingers of Spring.   Just reading through the list makes my heart lift a little - hope it does the same for you:

Here in the UK

Spring bulbs poking through the ground. 

The first daffodil. forsythia and crocus - and the preponderence of the colour yellow - surely the colour of Spring.

Tadpoles appearing in the ponds.

The arrival of the chiff chaffs - although some apparently stay here all year with climate change (they'll have a shock this week).

And Tom points out that a doctor told him that sputum becomes cleaner as Spring progresses (not sure we wish to know that).

In Canada and the US

A lot of you spoke of the arrival of Summer birds - the Cranes feature heavily as did the robins (much bigger than ours) and the blackbirds

The piping up of the frogs.

The first Spring flowers.

The catkins.

The smell of the Aspen woods.

The last leaves on the trees being pushed off by the arrival of the new ones.

Migrating geese going South.

In Europe

A softness in the air

The quality of the light and the arrival of birdsong.

Cherry blossom in bud.

The arrival of martins and swifts

First cuckoo call.

Arrival of lapwings, geese and coltsfoot (Sweden)

Now, don't you feel a bit better reading through that regardless of the awful weather outside?   Have a good day.

Coincidence

 It's strange how coincidence works isn't it?   I don't think I have thought of the cuckoo for years.   Then, suddenly on Saturday I thought of it - how we always 'waited' for the first cuckoo call when we were children, how we always came running home to tell everybody we had heard the cuckoo - that odd bird that lays its egg in the nest of another bird because it is too 'lazy' to bring its own child up.   That is what we always said.

Thinking about it on Saturday for some reason, I wondered how long it was since I had actually heard the cuckoo.   So long that I really can't remember.   Then on Saturday, in the night, I dreamt I heard it - it kept calling and I woke in the morning with this odd feeling that I had heard the cuckoo.   Then on Sunday, reading Monty Don again, I turned the page and there was his article on the Cuckoo!  Cuckoo numbers are down 65 per cent since the early 1980's so that, coupled with the fact that their favourite birds for using to rear their offspring are pipits or reed buntings - maybe there are more of these in Lincolnshire where I grew up than there are up here in the Yorkshire Dales.

Interestingly he also points out that we can hardly accuse these strange birds of coming 'home' to lay their eggs because they spend at least seventy percent of their year in Africa - that is their home.  He says they are 'every bit as African as Gorillas'

But we did look for them as one of the pointers to the arrival of Spring.   I am not sure what I look for now.   Do you have a day when you see or hear something which confirms for you that Spring is here?   Snowdrops appear - always a delightful sight - and we are inclined to say that it won't be long before Spring.   Then the early daffodils confirm this.   But somehow there has to be more - maybe the arrival of the first swallow (we had many at the farm - always a lone one (male) would arrive and for perhaps a week he would sit on the wires waiting before another arrived), or perhaps a smell in the air, or the first 'sticky buds' on the horse chestnuts.

Let's see if between us we can compile a list of what we look for as the first sign that Spring is actually here.   It can't come soon enough can it?   Heavy rain and localised flooding 'promised' here this week.  So let's try and ignore it and think of Spring.

This and That

 Sun out nice and early, temperature above freezing, snow going gradually, half past nine in the morning and folk already out walking their dogs.   My Carer has been, helped me wash and dress, got my breakfast (I can get it if she is not here), made my bed - done other esentials and gone.

Sundays are always long days and now that we are not meeting for our usual Sunday lunches (oh how I miss them - the friendship, the conversation, the food,) the day seems endless.   So today I am determined to keep myself busy one way or another.   The sun is already rising higher in the sky (it is, after all, a month since the shortest day) and is already shining into my sitting room this morning.   I am putting out of my head my father's old saying 'as the days lengthen the storms strengthen').

Over my second cup of tea I was reading a bit of Monty Don's 'My Garden World' - the bit where he speaks of Geese and how many farmer's wives used to keep a few geese to sell at Christmas to add to their coffers.   How they used to get them 'oven ready' and how they would all be ordered well before Christmas.   It brought back memories of my parents when I was a child.   We lived in a small Lincolnshire village of, maybe, a couple of hundred inhabitants.   There was a post office and village store, a Co-op grocery store and a Butchers.   Mr Green, the Butcher, whose shop was almost opposite our house, had an arrangement with my mother.   She dressed all his poultry for him (she loved doing it) and in return she never paid for her meat (she was a real meat-eater, which probably explains why I am not all that keen on meat having had it almost every meal as a child).   My father was happy to kill the poultry humanely and he would also light the copper (outside in the wash house) so that he could 'dip' in the dead birds to make plucking easier.  Thinking about it I suspect my parents somehow kept the goose down because we always had goose-feather 'mattresses. '   In fact I rather think my parents still had one right to the end.   My father was a 'reluctant changer' (remember the collar studs and the short sleeved shirts from earlier posts).

I had thought about this yesterday evening too watching Rick Stein's 'Cornwall' (which I am enjoying tremendously) being repeated on BBC 2.   The women of Cornwall were 'dab hands' at dealing with the fish - especially in the days when huge shoals of mackerel were being caught and exported rapidly all over the country already 'gutted'.   It does seem that often women do essential support work in some industries.

And to change the subject again - if you are at a loose end today and need something to watch - Rachel suggested I watch Mark Lawson interviewing John le Carre (available on iplayer) - I watched it yesterday tea time - rivetting - do watch it if you haven't already seen it - absolutely brilliant.

Have a nice day. And - if you blog with BB at 'Codlins and Cream' do join with me in wishing her and her family all the best wishes now that they have moved into their new house.

All Change

Yes, all change for now at any rate.   A thaw has set in and this morning, for the first time this week, there is a line of wet droplets on my washing line rather than a line of icicles.   And the sky has patches of blue here and there and the sun is out on a field in the distance.   But 'make the most of it' says the weather man - 'it won't last' - the snow will go and the rain will come and cause some 'localised flooding' and then it will turn cold again with more snow.   It is certainly an interesting winter with plenty of surprises.   But it breaks the covid monotony up a bit.

Vaccinations were going well but I understand that various places in the country have run out of vaccine at the moment so there are hold ups.

I have just been to our Saturday morning Coffee Morning - six of us - virtual (Zoom) of course.   Everyone has found something to do - some of us have shopped in Tesco during times when few were there, others are reading or doing jig saws or watching interesting programmes on TV.  Most are having other Zoom meetings to chat  and exchange news.   I think I am the only one with a blog to do each day - I enjoy it so much and it makes me think of something to say to you all even if it is pretty facile.

There is a lovely photograph on the front of The Times this morning of a bride with her two bridesmaids.   Covid regulations messed up her plans for her wedding so for her bridesmaids she has had her two Grandmothers - one eighty and one ninety - the photograph is one of such joy and is a delight to see. Small things like this make for small pleasures which enlighten the day don't you think?

An almost silent world.

 Outside, would you believe after yesterday, pure unbroken sunshine in a blue sky.   The snow on my roof is just beginning to drip past my sitting room window and the road outside was more or less impassable until a 'snowplough' of sorts went through earlier this morning.   Now it is possible to get out on to the main road with care.   Yesterday my carer never got here, as you know, but today she arrived an hour late brought by her aunt who has a four-wheeled drive car.   She brought me two cooked lunches to heat in my micro wave and she cleaned and tidied the kitchen which I was completely unable to do yesterday although I managed quite well on my own, knowing well that she would be here today to deal with jobs I couldn't do.   It has convinced me that I shall always need a carer for an hour each day - just to do  essential jobs I am not able to manage (shower, make and change the bed,)

Looking at the weather map on Breakfast television this morning I see that round here (Bedale) was the coldest place in the country last night (minus eleven degrees).   Pretty it certainly is but it is hampering my recovery as I just can't get out of the door to do a daily walk.   Yes I walk up and down my bungalow on and off all day but it is not the same and I fear my  mobility skills are slipping back at the moment.

But The Yorkshire Dales is not called 'Dales' for nothing.   We sit on the Eastern side of the Pennine Chain of hills (I daren't call them Mountains blogging as I do with friends from countries where there are 'real' mountains) but leaving our little town to go anywhere there is only one way out which is relatively flat(ish) - the other ways are all both hilly and bendy - that is the nature of our countryside and the fact that it does hamper travel in this kind of weather is more than made up for in the days when we can enjoy travelling around in such beauty.

And (selfishly) another minus factor is that everyone loves us so that any nice weather brings out tourists aplenty.   Yes - they are fully entitled to come and many of our shops and bed and breakfast facilities, not to mention holiday cottages and pubs serving meals - depend entirely on their custom to survive and make a living.   But on any nice day at the moment they do seem to be still arriving for their daily exercise - and Covid is ever present and we do wish at present they would stay away.

I am watching locals doing their daily exercise walk along my road - the same faces, the same dogs daily.   Today locals are struggling in the snow and ice - dogs are loving it, as are small children romping along, throwing snowballs, being pulled on sledges, what it is to be young!  If I was mobile - regardless of age - I would be out there making a snowman  - two bits of (plastic from my fire) coal for eyes, a carrot for a nose, one of my dear farmer's caps (I have four) on its head and a scarf round its neck.

Yes dear readers.   I am still young at heart.   Keep safe and warm.

A Silent World

 Yes, it is a completely silent world here.   We have had about eight inches of snow and most of the roads around us are blocked either by snow or by accidents.   Nothing is moving.   A few people pass well wrapped up on their walks or their obligatory dog walks, the odd Tesco van ploughs through the snow with a delivery.   Otherwise there is nothing to disturb the peace and it has snowed all day.  My carer has not been able to get out of her drive so I have been left to my own devices today.   I have stayed in my dressing gown, nightie and slippers - no point in putting my rather limited energy into getting dressed.   I managed to set off the dishwasher and empty it onto the units above when it finished.   Until I get my trolley with brakes I can't put crockery away.   I dealt with my commode, made my bed,  cooked a lunch (bacon, 2 fried eggs, eight small tomatoes fried,  a pan of sliced mushrooms fried in a little olive oil and the whole lot served on a slice of fried bread) - maybe not all that healthy but certainly tasty.  By that time I was really tired so I sat in my chair and went to sleep - slept through the Hairy Bikers cooking programme, Escape to the Country and Farmers' Market.   I only woke up when my carer texted me to ask if I had managed alright without her.

It isn't particularly cold and I really wonder whether it is actually freezing or not.   I suppose I shalln't know until morning - it does seem to have stopped snowing now.

I rang friends P and D in The Lakes to gloat over our snow - P loves snow and they never seem to get any in Windermere - and true to form they had none to speak of this morning.   They are moving shortly if everything goes according to plan -always a worrying, stressful time without all the worries about Covid too.

If you have snow where you are take care.  See you tomorrow.

A New Day

 A new day dawns - much like the last and the one before that.   Yes the weather changes but that's about all that does.   My single carer comes at half past seven in the morning, gets my breakfast, makes my bed, helps me dress- this morning gave me a shower and washed my hair.   I am not sure I shall ever reach the stage where I can shower without help again.  Even the news stays much the same - Covid, Brexit, t h e state of things in America.  Everything is depressing and there is little to brighten things up unless we happen to get a sunny day - not going to happen today - it is a grey sky.

The Times no longer makes exciting reading.   Today is Fashion Day in Times 2 but who wishes to buy new fashion when there is nowhere to go to wear it?   I already have one pair of trousers, one sweater and one (yes, another) leather jacket all unworn.

So - what to do to get a bit of interest going around my head?   Well there are the Mind Games in Times 2 and, providing I do them early rather than later in the day I can usually do them all fairly easily - and that does give me a sense of satisfaction that the old brain is still working.   A couple of chats with friends is  good.  Chatting with all of you takes up another hour or two and keeps the old mind working - and I really do value your virtual friendship - thank you

 

So what is there in today's Times that is worth thinking about?  Well, Matthew Parris is my favourite columnist and he writes every Wednesday a column called 'My Week' and there is usually something controversial in   it.   Today it is private medicine in a crisis.   He is in urgent need of a partial knee-replacement and he does not have private insurance - considering it unethical.   He is having increasing difficulty walking and feels it wrong to go on to an NHS List for an operation during this crisis - so he has booked himself into a private (self pay) hospital.  Private consultants feel that although the NHS paid to requisition beds in private hospitals during the pandemic they never actually used them.  This meant that consultants whose specialisms were not Covid related anyway were denied the opportunity to do operations.   So - is he right to 'buy' a bed in a private hospital, to pay for the operation?   He feels misgivings.   Is he right to?

And on the subject of Covid - was Boris right to go on a ten mile bike ride for his exercise?   Peter Black's cartoon in today's Times shows two Police Officers carting Boris off while he is saying that he was only testing his eyesight.   Poor old Dominic Cummings - he'll never live it down will he?

Tuesday

 Sadly I have had to ask one of my carers not to come any more.   We are at the stage of discussing about cutting down on how often they come.   I really must learn to be independent again.  But asking her to stop coming was prompted by the fact that she also goes into our local care home and there two members of staff have tested positive although her test came back negative.   I just cannot take the risk at this point in my recovery.   I am sad to have to say goodbye to her - she had become a real friend.

So I am coping alone in the evenings.   Last night was the first night and I coped well.   When I get my 'hostess trolley' with brakes I shall cope even better.

All traces of snow  have gone although there was a frost this morning.   Now, at a quarter to twelve, the sun is shining in a bright blue sky.   As usual I watched the thousands of rooks fly over from their rookery at day break as I ate my toast and then - joy of joys - a  - huge skein of geese flew over heading West.   Not sure what that means weather wise but it was a sight for sore eyes.

 

Isn't it strange what a day of sunshine can do?   It is not the middle of January yet and yet Spring is in the air today.   Tomorrow a band of snow is promised to cross us - that will drive away all thoughts of Spring - so I shall make the most of today.

Having finished my Book Group book (brilliant) I have now started another - 'Where the Crawdads Sing' by Delia Owens. It is another book about America and about the 'marsh girl' - fascinating stuff and top of the best seller list at the moment.

I shall now go and microwave my roast beef and yorkshire pud which my carer brought me this morning for my lunch.   Then I shall have a walk with Priscilla.   Have a good day.

Goodbye snow

 Overnight the snow has disappeared apart from just a few places on East Witton Fell which I look out on from my sitting room window.  I haven't put my nose out of the door but obviously it is much warmer.  No sun though - just a dull, grey sky.

I am sad this morning because I have had to ask one of my Carers not to come any more.   She also works in a Care Home and several of the staff have tested positive for Covid.   She has tested negative - for now.  But I just dare not take the risk.   She is sad not to come and I am sad not to see her - she was a brilliant carer and I counted her as a friend too.

Right - let's get away from Covid - it does dominate our thoughts, the News, the Papers -  let's think about shorts for men - we can't get much further away than that can we?  Kevin Maher writes in The Times today that an Employment Trubunal in Manchester  - a man  it was ruled had suffered sex discrimination by being refused permission to wear three quarter length trousers - and yet his female colleagues were allowed to show the same, if not more, leg every day.   Now what do you think to that male readers?   And, if you are still of 'going to work' age are you going to get out your 'long shorts' to wear in the next hot summer?

I was immediately reminded of my dear late farmer.   Once when we were holidaying in Texas it was extremely hot.   Most of the men in the group were wearing shorts.   I popped into a shop and bought him a pair.   Did he wear them?   No he did not.As far as I could see his legs were fine (I fancied his legs as I fancied every part of him) in fact a lot better than most of the legs on show.   But no.   Cap on head, trousers on legs - the norm and he was sticking to it.   There is a different dress code I think for men and women.   I did touch on it the other week with stiff collars - but at the time women wore long skirts.   Short skirts have been all the rage for a very long time.   I remember a particular occasion in 1970 when I wore a yellow mini skirt and a navy blue silk blouse - adored both.    Plenty of leg showing.   So fifty years of short skirts and yet men still only wear their shorts on holiday - certainly not in the office.

We must conclude that men love to see women in short skirts - well we all knew that didn't we?   But they are not keen on showing off their own legs.   I wonder why.

Good Morning

 Good morning dear blog friends on this Sunday morning - a Sunday which, for some obscure reason, I keep thinking is a Monday.   Over Christmas the days meld into one and it  takes a week or two of the New Year, with The Times popping through the letter box at eight in the morning, to get me back into the rhythm of the week days.

Well good news this morning.   After a week of snow and ice with very bad driving conditions there was no frost last night and this morning I got up to find that the snow had receded about three feet from my front door, giving me a nice strip of green lawn and the road is full of puddles of water.   My carer even managed to get up - and park on - my drive again.

She brought me a lovely plate of quiche and salad for my lunch.   As I have sausage casserole and mashed root veg left from yesterday that is my two meals sorted for today.   I really am very lucky aren't it?

Several of my blog friends commented yesterday that Spring is only just around the corner.   I always try to think that once the first of February arrives but now I have brought my thinking forward a bit.

I had a very good night's sleep - not waking until a quarter to seven - couldn't believe it.   Last night I sat up and finished my Tracey Chevalier novel '

The Last Runaway' - how I enjoyed it.   And like several of you said - how nice it is to find a new author that you really enjoy.  Now I have all her books to 'go at'.

Looking out of the window I see that the thaw has at least uncovered my large clump of snowdrops which are well up in the green but not showing any white yet.   Every year I intend to ask my gardener to split them when they finish flowering and plant them around the garden.    They move so much more contentedly when moved in the green - so this will be their year.

I am discussing with my carers when I can manage without them and we have finally decided on a plan.   I am expecting a trolley with brakes shortly, which will mean I can transport goods across the kitchen - to the dishwasher, to the fridge, to the cupboards.   I can transport my lunch to the table easily and life will be much less complicated.   Once this arrives they will cut down to one visit a day - the morning visit.   This will mean they can take it in turns to come - I can have a couple of showers a week, they will change my bed and do the washing and drying in the tumble drier, and -- vitally - they will put my compression stockings or tubigrip on my legs.   This will be a good compromise for a while until I am (hopefully) completely back to normal.   Once the snow has gone I can get out onto the footpath with Priscilla and build up a bit of leg-strength.   I just hope she behaves as well as Percy did (as she has more efficient brakes she should behave better).

Well friends coffee calls (Taylors Lazy Sunday since you ask) - my carer makes me a flask before she goes and it keeps me going.   Have a good day and enjoy the sunshine if you are lucky enough to see our friend the sun today.

Snow

 It has snowed here non stop all day and has been thoroughly unpleasant.   It has been that horrible wet snow - not pretty big flakes - but has nevertheless settled and now frozen as the temperature has dropped well below freezing.   Traffic has struggled all day and now there is a string of cars parked opposite my bungalow so that they do not have to negotiate the hill in the morning.   Luckily my Tesco order arrived absolutely on time and I personally dealt with it all before my carer came - it pretty much tired me out but I managed it.   I somehow twisted a muscle in my wrist doing it but am hoping it has recovered by morning.  The time is now 10.53m on Friday night - so off to bed and finish this on Saturday.   Night, night.

A Saturday morning of beautiful blue sky and brilliant sun but still below freezing.   A smiling weather girl on the News tells me that it will gradually warm up 'a little' in the coming days.   My carer negotiates 'black ice' for most of her way here.   I manage to get to our Zoom coffee morning on time at 10am.   Nice to see friends 'in the flesh' and have a brief chat.   It does bring some sort of normality to the day.   Also I have managed to concoct a sausage casserole in my slow cooker.   It is simmering away gently and scenting the bungalow with an enticing smell.   Hopefully I shall enjoy it at tea time.  So some small steps back to normal life.  Hopefully there will be more before long.

Anyone out there a Tracey Chevalier fan?   Our Book Club book for next month is 'The Last Runaway' -  I am finding it almost 'unputdownable' - if it is new to you do read it.

The sun is going down, the cold is coming down, soon the 'slush' on the road will turn to ice and be dangerous again.   But my casserole smells good - I will report back on how it actually tastes tomorrow.

Snow

Heavy wet snow has been falling since seven this morning (now half past ten) and when my Carer came she said that she would not have dared to take me for my vaccination this morning as the roads are so bad - so I was lucky to get it in yesterday.   So far no ill effects at all, not even a sore arm.  And the 'outing' did my confidence such a lot of good as I managed well and didn't feel tired when I got back home (and had the added bonus of a handsome young man helping me out of my chair after my enforced quarter of an hour wait after the shot - an ambulance man he had me up in no time from the chair which was too low to lever myself out on my Zimmer frame).  At my age I have to get my 'thrills' as and when I can!

So what's new today?   Well not a lot really.   My Physiotherapist rang to say she has ordered me a trolley with brakes for by my chair since I had my second fall - I no longer dare to use the one I have after falling with it and not have a trolley with trays does inhibit my ability to transport meals back and forth.

The little hill opposite my bungalow is notoriously bad in this kind of weather.   This morning I have watched vehicle after vehicle as they have struggled to get up and round the corner.   Some, with careful management in the correct gear for the conditions , have managed it first time - others have struggled, ending up with resorting to the passenger/s getting out and spreading grit from the box provided by the side of the path and pushing.   We are in full lockdown but this time round there seems to be no lessening of the traffic past my window and yet I understand that Covid has now well and truly reached our little town (last time round it didn't really get to visit us all that much).

Yesterday I ran out of bread.   There is more coming with my Tesco order this afternoon.   There are also sourdough crumpets coming with my order.   Guess which I shall be having for my tea? I am beginning to take an interest in making dishes again and rather fancy celeriac and apple soup (Hairy Bikers made it on a programme I watched yesterday) - maybe when my trolley with brakes arrives I shall have a go.   In the meantime - keep safe, keep warm and if you have snow and ice mind how you go.

Vaccination

 Yes - my first vaccination was this morning.   The volunteer at the Surgery rang me late yesterday afternoon and asked me if I could get to the Vaccination Centre for half past eight.   Luckily this fits in nicely with my carer who was only too happy to do the ferrying.   So at ten minutes past eight (I got up at six and dressed and breakfasted before she came) my carer, my zimmer frame and I set off.   At that time we assumed we would be the first - how wrong we were - Iwould guess they had been going at least half an hour.   It was all well organised - we had to mask up of course- and we had to sit for a quarter of an hour afterwards in case of any ill effects.  Now I am back home with a piece of paper which tells me I must go for my booster on the 25th March.

The News and the pictures from America and the Capitol building this morning are  not the kind of thing we would expect from such a civilised country - it is all very sad.   I do hope it sorts itself out quickly.

We have snow here and icy roads and it is very wintry.   Now and again the sun shines straight into my sitting room and then, a minute later, the sky clouds in the looks full of snow.   None so far today but plenty forecast for the next few days.   Luckily I managed to get into my carer's car quite easily.   In fact my only difficulty was getting up out of the chair after my enforced quarter of an hour sit down after the jab.   I couldn't get up, even using my zimmer.   But as luck would have it, the young man sitting for his quarter of an hour in front of me was an ambulance man.    He had me up and moving on the count of three!

Also I have had more exercise today than I have had in the past three weeks since the weather turned wintry and already I can feel how much it has done me good.  I had begun to think my walking would never recover.   Now I know it will.

Keep safe.   Keep warm.  Keep the old brain exercised.   We'll get there in the end and all will be back to normal.   See you tomorrow metaphorically speaking.  Off to chat to the Physio who has just come about having a trolley with brakes to carry my lunch from oven to table.

This and that

 As I write  weak winter sun has come out.   Five minutes ago it was snowing.   Please sun stay out a little while longer and warm the house and make everywhere seem a little brighter.   The 'picture' is depressing enough without another day of snow like we had yesterday.

Are you one of those people who has good computer skills?      How I wish I was.   What I do regularly I can manage quite happily - my e mails, my blog, answering other blogs, ordering books and clothes and suchlike - no problem at all.   But I know deep down that I really do not know the workings of the computer at all.   So when yesterday evening I switched on to put a blog on and the whole screen was a foreign place - I seemed to be in Microsoft and whatever I did just seemed to make things worse- I really had no idea what to do.   I don't like bothering my son but could think of no alternative so I rang him.   For an hour he tried to guide me through putting it right - for much of the time my explanation of what was happening on my screen made no sense to him at all.

Some days I have severe shakes in my hands and if I get worked up about anything the shake gets worse and I tend to hit the wrong key or keys - it was obvious that this is what had happened.   After an hour he concluded that I had struck keys which had put me into 'tablet mode' -and once he had established this we were home and dry in no time - but I was far too shaky to do any more yesterday.  To add to the confusion - at three o'clock this morning (I am sleeping in my computer room at present) my laptop sprang into life with a very pretty picture on the screen which lit up the whole room.

Anyway, back to normal, sun still out, handrails into garage from kitchen firmly in place from yesterday, Physio calling today to discuss having a trolley with brakes to transport my lunches from cooker to table and computer behaving itself so far.

One of my presents was Monty Don's Garden Book - it is sheer delight.    Just a concoction of short pieces - all about the birds, animals and plants in his garden and his observations about them.   A book on first reading to pick up and put down and read in bits and pieces and thereafter to use as a reference when one wishes to recall a fact about something.   If you like this kind of book do put it on your list of books you would like to receive.   And while on the subject of books - our Book Club book for next month is Tracey Chevalier's 'The Last Runaway'- coming today from Amazon (ordered at 7pm last evening).

Sun still out and plenty of hungry birds about.   I would love to start feeding them but this weather I have been instructed not to go out and once I started it must be sustained.  The rooms I sit in are on the front of the house and my garden is at the back.   All unsatisfactory - so sorry birds.

We are in total lockdown here for the forseeable future - yesterday there was no bread to be had, no coleslaw to be had - panic buying had set in again.   Luckily I have a supermarket order arriving on Friday - so for the time being I shall be fine.

Waiting?

When we were kids we always used to view snow that hung about for days getting grubby but going nowhere as snow that was 'waiting for its friends to join it' meaning the there would be sledging in 'the hills and hollows' our local sledging field and with luck the school might even be shut for a couple of days.   Now of course I have mor less reached that stage again - it does look quite pretty and I can't go anywhere anyway.   But all those years in between were years of frustration - icy roads, traffic cross-ways on on the hills, everyone late for work.   At first this morning, when my carer came, the sun was breaking through and the sky looked promising.   But now at 11.03 the sky is grey and the odd flake is falling and the outlook is wintry.

I have done a little bit of 'office work' - paying the newspaper bill, filling in a form and putting it ready to post,  getting in touch with the Physio.   The job I am hoping to do today is to get my land line handset working properly.   When I went into hospital when I broke my hip I never used my Mobile and really didn't know how to work it.  Necessity meant I learned very quickly.   Now, having bought a new pair of handsets for my landline I am in the same situation with them and have really got in quite a muddle.   I really must get myself sorted out.

As usual last evening, after watching Sir David Attenborough's new programme on our Planet, I marvel at his expertise and his delivery well into his Nineties as well as the fact that we do indeed live on the most wonderful Planet.   It did strike me, as I watched the Maribou Storks waiting 'in the wings' to pick off any stragglers amongst the baby flamingoes that really we are one of the few species who have no natural enemies and so what do we do?   We make them, left right and centre, we spend millions on the manufacture of arms while millions of children in poorer countries starve, we turn a blind eye on children with limbs blown off in countries like Syria, on starving children in countries like Yemen; we turn back boats holding immigrants intent on getting what they hope will be a better life.   What a strange world we live in.

As I sit here the grey sky has gone and blue prevails once more.   The sun is shining in the window.   My carer has brought me a plate of the casserole they had for lunch yesterday, which is marvellous.   I have Dauphinoise Potatoes and mixed greens left from my Sunday lunch yesterday - so the microwave calls.   What did we do before them?

What a morning.

 What a morning indeed.   My carer came at half past seven and the roads were like a skating rink she said.   Someone had thoughtlessly parked their vehicle directly opposite my drive and so my carer was worried about backing out without hitting their car (she managed perfectly).   Looking out of the window at it snowing was quite pretty but now - two hours later - that snow has turned to rain and it is just miserable and wintry.   A day to stay inside I would say.  There was a time, years ago, when we more or less knew what weather to expect at what time of the year - but now this no longer applies and we are therefore quite surprised when we get wintry weather to start our New Year.

Our News today (well every day at present) is dominated by Covid and whether or not schools should reopen tomorrow.   What started out as simple (ish) instructions - some Secondary school pupils would go back a week late and some a fortnight late and most Primaries would open tomorrow - has now developed into a complex argument as Teaching Unions step in.   Thankfully I am no longer a teacher (long retired) but if I was I would worry about catching Covid if I was back in school and I would worry about my pupils missing school and vital lessons.   And I expect this is how most teachers feel.   And, as usual, whatever happens the poorer, less able children will suffer most - as they always do - while most of those from better-equipped, richer homes will benefit.   But then it has always been so.

I try to rise above it all as I can do nothing at all about it.   But sometimes it is hard to put it out of one's mind.   I sit here and wait to be called for my vaccination (I am 88) and at the same time think that maybe it would be fairer to vaccinate teachers and Health workers first anyway - I have had a full and happy life and am not likely to live all that much longer anyway.

After breaking my hip I am beginning to make a better recovery and feel that once I can get a breakfast trolley with brakes (I had my second fall when my trolley decided to run away with me) I shall soon be able to manage without my carers.   I intend to ring my Physio tomorrow when things are all back to normal and discuss the trolley with brakes and whether it is suitable. In the meantime I have ordered another pair of boots - I have worn slippers far too long - this week is the first time I have walked in boots rather than slippers and already I am feeling the benefit.

Until tomorrow dear friends......

Serious stuff

 Yes, ten  in the morning and really serious-looking snow falling outside the window - large flakes and settling quickly.   It was forecast for down the North-East side of the country as the wind veered round to the North East.  Well, none of us were planning to go anywhere so it doesn't really matter I suppose and it is quite pretty and it is Winter.   I have taken a photograph out of   the window but it is hard to see snow falling.   Post has just dropped through my letter box - it is on these sort of days that one feels sorry for outdoor workers, and especially my Post Lady, herself having had a hip replacement, trudging from door to door with what is most likely these days to be advertising material as bit by bit our 'proper' post comes by e mail and our Postal Service is eroded.   How long before it disappears for ever?    How many of us remember two deliveries a day - even one delivery on a Sunday?   And how will researchers in the future fare when looking back - there will be few letters and e mails will have been read and deleted.

And I wonder how spelling and handwriting will fare - texting brings an end to long words and the need to write things down recedes. and has it been like this with every generation or have things suddenly speeded up?  And can we for a second consider new words which have entered our language?   I ask this because Carruthers yesterday suggested that my heading for yesterday's post was what he called 'Clickbait'.   I questioned what this meant with him on our almost-nightly phone call and  he said most people  would know.   I have only asked two people and neither knew but it is a good word to describe my title.   Did you know?   How do these words enter our language and why do some stick while others fade into obscurity.   And as we age do we try to keep up with all these changes or do we let them all pass us by?   I suggest it has to be the former even if we are tempted for it to be the latter -

As I sit here the snow has continued to fall and there is no break in the grey sky.   Winter is here with a vengeance today.   Stay warm.

Goodbye for ever

 No, not talking about 2020, Brexit or anything like that.   Let's give it all a rest on New Year's Day.   I am saying goodbye for ever to the 'stiff imperial'.   If you came across it in a quiz - what is a stiff imperial? - I don;t expect you couldn't answer the question.   I could but only because I have read Ann Treneman in The Times this morning.   The ' stiff imperial ' is that horrible upright collar for men which they wore in late Victorian times and which always made them look so pompous and self-important (which may be why they wore it in the first place).

It struck me how much times have changed during my lifetime when it comes to clothing.   My dear late farmer was a real conservative when it came to clothes.   Collar and tie with his suit or with his Harris Tweed jacket, conventional clothes always.   I once suggested pink trousers (tongue in cheek) - all I got n a reply was a look.   I once bought him two black roll-neck cotton sweaters.   He viewed them with deep suspicion until we holidayed above the arctic circle, when he wore one under his thick anorak with his cords - from then on they were usually included in his 'to wear' drawer.

My mother never wore  trousers in her life - now I don't possess a skirt.   And I watch Breakfast television over my Breakfast and see how many of the women presenters wear trousers and how almost all the men have left their ties at home.   The actual Newsreader usually wears a tie but nobody else.  And it is trainers with everything these days isn't it?

None of this is meant as a criticism - what a relief that we have all lightened up - and it is a pretty sure thing that things will never return to that stiff level of formality thank goodness.   Because I think that our language and our behaviour has also changed and to a large extent this is a good thing too.   All his life my father wore a trilby and whenever we passed a lady he knew he raised his trilby.   My farmer wore a cap around the farm whatever the weather and when we went on holiday he had to take his 'best' cap with him (he was pretty bald) but I did occasionally persuade him to take it off.

I'm not suggesting we all take up the fashion expertise of Michael Portillo on his train journeys but let's all continue to lighten up with our dress, our chattiness, our behaviour (it is quite possible to be polite without sounding starchy)  - get rid of this wretched Covid, go ahead into 2021 as British (I voted to Remain but too bad) and proud of it and a good New Year to you all.