Thursday 17 March 2016

Spring

Spring is always late coming up here.   But today is St Patrick's Day and Spring is definitely in the air - pure, unbroken sunshine and not a breath of a breeze.   The daffodils, crocus and hyacinth are all out in the garden, the sheep have all had a pedicure, the one naughty one who belongs to someone else but who got in with ours weeks ago, has been sorted out, penned and is waiting for collection.

I have just been for my weekly hairdressing appointment and find that our little town is riddled with traffic lights whilst various bits and pieces are being done here and there.  Someone told me that it is all happening at present because Councils have to spend up by the end of the financial year (April 6th) when their new budgets are set and if they haven't spent up then they may get less from the public coffers next year.   They have to keep something back for 'emergencies' but now is the time to spend it.   This does make sense and I do know that something like that used to happen in schools in the past.

Is anyone else thoroughly bored with the Budget?   In the long run, unless you have thousands to invest does it make a lot of difference to you?   I stand corrected if it does but I really do almost die of boredom at M P's just sounding off against one another.

Does anyone write letters any more?   I have written to a friend this morning.   My handwriting is terrible now as I have a severe shake in my right hand, but I still enjoy sending and receiving 'real' letters - so much better than an e mail.   Finding one on the mat when the postman has been is such fun after the usual heap of junk mail.   I do urge everyone to keep up the old-fashioned practice for as long as we can.

On that note I shall close down for another day.   Hope the weather is like this tomorrow - the sight of the sun after the awful wet winter is a joy in itself.

24 comments:

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Yesterday was grim, today much better but alas I'm at work. Next week looks like the start of spring proper, I'd say.

Midmarsh John said...

Ah, mention of politicians reminds me of the old saying:
Q How can you tell when politicians are lying?
A Their lips are moving.
That sums up how much regard and respect I have for them all these days.

A Heron's View said...

Wall to wall blue sky here Pat but still quite cold, as it is not a day that I enjoy (St. Pat's) we shall stay in by the fire and dink hot tea.
Yes I still write letters, for have elderly cousins in England who don't use computers
and one of them is ninety.

donna baker said...

Well, we'll take them when we can get them. I've heard of the use it or lose it workings. Right now, Oklahoma is in dire straits, due to the collapse in oil prices. Schools, infrastructure, aid programs - everything is in free fall. You'd think with our wind, they'd have invested more in solar and wind energy, but no, the oil kingpins grease the hands or pockets of the lawmakers. The crazy part is, most of the people whom support Donald Drumf, are working class people tired of the political shenanigans in Washington and who do they turn to? A billionaire that wouldn't give them the time of day.

Derek Faulkner said...

Wall to wall sunshine here in Kent today, as well Pat. A tad chilly at first in the E. wind but so nice in the garden 'safternoon that I put the tortoises out for an hour on the lawn. Another couple of weeks and they should be able to stay out until October. What a great couple in the farming programme the other night, they humped all those bales of wool onto the lorry but forgot to count how many, love 'em.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

If you think politics is in a bad way then just wait till Trump and Boris are running things. Help!

Joanne Noragon said...

Your budget woes are interesting. We must save up the funds from not buying traffic lights, year after year, until we have enough money to replace a truck, at about $200,000. The governor of the state doesn't understand the need to save, and goes looking for our extra money.

Mac n' Janet said...

I ignore all politics, it's all lies, more lies and damn lies. I love writing letters, but the only person I write to is a cousin of my husbands. She's never joined the electronic age so we write. She's 84 and travels extensively and is in Spain right now visiting more cousins.

Coppa's girl said...

Politics in general, and the upcoming US elections in particular, are all mind numbingly boring, and when all is said and done, things don't seem to change much, do they?
I do receive letters from friends - very occasionally - but they all seem to be computer generated, printed off and popped into an envelope ! I owe replies, but must confess that it's so much easier to sit down at the computer and send an instant reply. That way, friends can guarantee that they'll hear from me.

jinxxxygirl said...

YES! I do write 'real' letters. :) And i make and sent art PostCards...No one in my family writes though so only me.. so all my letters to them are a one way street... They tell me they LOVE receiving my letters but they themselves hate to write... so i continue to write to them maybe once a month...BUT i did go out on the internet and find myself some like minded people and now i have penpals! One in Mexico and one in North Dakota and PostCard swap friend in CA... Would you like to be penpals Pat?? Hugs! deb

Dawn said...

I didnt know there has been a budget have I missed anything exciting, I suppose I should make the effort to watch the news but its so boring and depressing and dosent make any difference to my life.

Heather said...

I would be happy to water our garden by hand if this weather stayed with us for a few months! I love receiving letters and a few years ago had several friends who wrote quite regularly. Sadly, one by one, they are no longer with us. As for politics - it has all become a farce. I think councils across the country are busy spending the last of their budgets. There seem to be road works everywhere I have been recently.

Barbara said...

Our weather has been amazingly beautiful. However, cold and SNOW are supposed to make a comeback over the weekend. I was hoping that it was an early April Fool's joke, but no such luck. *sigh*
I truly wish more people would write real letters. There is something so exciting about opening the mailbox and seeing familiar handwriting.

Wilma said...

I do remember "end of year" spending so as not to get a cut next year. Very silly and it does not encourage saving and budgeting for emergencies.

I do not hand write much of anything these days. Even my shopping lists are likely to be made on my computer or phone. I love my electronic devices. Having read that sentence, it sounds rather sad, but I do revel in the electronic and internet connected age. Being geographically isolated, snail mail is absurd for us. I have whole-heartedly embraced the internet. My moments of excitement are seeing the arrival of an email from a correspondent that I recognize; followed by the joy that I can respond IMMEDIATELY. For me, the internet has opened vistas I would never have otherwise known existed. Like the view from Weaver. :-) Thank you from a fond reader many miles distant. Cheers, Wilma

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

We had a gloriously sunny spring day but it was a bit nippy with a brisk breeze and only 50 degrees. But the sunshine was wonderful streaming in the windows.

Librarian said...

With some of my relatives in Yorkshire, I exchange letters because they don't have computers and are not connected to the internet. We also exchange a lot of cards for Christmas, birthdays and so on, even with those who do have email. It is lovely to receive "real" post, isn't it! My handwriting is very bad, too, but I don't have any real excuse except for having ruined my handwriting during the years I worked at a publisher's and had to take copious notes very fast while on the phone all day.

You go to the hairdresser's every WEEK?! Wow! And I thought I'm a spoiled woman of luxury when I have my roots done every four weeks!

Sunny and a little milder now here during the day, but still very cold at night.

Maria said...

I still write letters to my ex high school boyfriend's 93 year old mother. I have been in letter writing contact with her for over 40 years. She is an adorable lady who enjoys receiving my letters but I am the gifted person because she writes lovely letters and in a beautiful cursive handwriting. I have kept all her letters and cards.
Greetings Maria x

Bovey Belle said...

The roads are being ripped up all over Wales for much the same reason. On Wednesday we were toodling along the A40 heading to Abergavenny, only to find the road shut two miles on from the 2nd Brecon roundabout, and diversion signs up. We ignored the diversion and took a series of tiny back lanes near Llangors (very pretty drive). On the way back we followed the official diversion - 15 miles round if we had followed it to its conclusion (Bronllys roundabout) but again we cut across country. The views were stupendous but I was driving and no stopping places by the best views!

I still write the occasional letter - but for speed, type them more often than I put pen to paper.

Jayview said...

It's always good to hear there are still other letter writers around. I write from Australua every other week or so to friends in the US and UK. My letters are made if packets of postcards of my photos I make via the Redbubble website, or other cards I buy from there. I am also in touch with these friends by email, and iCloud photostreams. Don't you find that each form connects us in different ways, suits different content and gives expression to different experiences? Jean

jinxxxygirl said...

I so agree Jay view... I'am apt to say things in letter that i would not say in person or on the phone... I'am more thoughtful in a letter i think

jinxxxygirl said...

Hi Pat..

I sent you my snail mail address... did you receive it? You can send me your address at the following email...

jinxxxygirl@yahoo.com

Hugs! deb

angryparsnip said...

I can't believe I miss this post by you.
Love the naughty sheep.... she just wanted to go on walk about !

cheers, parsnip

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks to you all for your comments.

Dartford Warbler said...

Our village is full of traffic lights and new pavements this spring. We had similar thoughts about the money!