Saturday Thoughts

When I discuss village life on this forum, I try very hard NOT to make the place sound saccharine and unreal.........Words sometimes can belie your true meaning of a situation....and I know I can sound a little “Pollyanna-ish” on occasion, but that is not my intention I can assure you.
Today I am remembering those small actions of thoughtfulness that occur when your life rubs alongside that of others in a small community. This week I was presented with a large bunch of dahlias from a neighbour after I made an off the cuff remark about how stunning they were waving in the back of her garden and a couple of days before that we were given a lovely apple pie by a lady who I had given some fruit to at the allotment open.( funnily enough she made a point for me not to mention her name on the “blog”)
Yesterday an elderly couple made the effort to call around to give me a teaching session on how to re design the back garden flower beds (I have a tendency to over-plant Everything) and I have not even started to describe the flurry of little packages of stale bread, pasta, old fruit for Boris and plastic bags full of egg cartons that are left with regularity on the cottage wall without ceremony.
There is one main reason why these small kindnesses occur ( apart from me being a lovely person tee hee) and that is time. I luckily have the time in this modern, rushed and frenetic world to interact with people within the village, and that others that work full time, just do not have the opportunity to do what I have the privilege to do.
Ok, I will also concede that I do make the effort with people also... and small kindnesses on my part, do go a long way........but generally I have learnt that a change from the modern hysteria of "getting things done" has opened up the positives of social interaction and barter.

I am working nights tonight and with the stupid change of when weekdays start at work ( they now start on a Sunday) I will be working all of next weekend...so today we will perhaps go out for lunch.

I harvested my artichokes yesterday which I steamed for a starter last night, and they were lovely! Artichokes for tea....very grown up!

The news is full of the Pope's visit......and although I am pretty ambivalent about him in general, I do hope that he has a positive visit.... The Vatican's vocal and outdated views on homosexuality leaves me absolutely cold and means that I effectively have turned my back on what else the Roman Catholic Church has to say.. To me Pope Benedict has experienced all of the problems that Kate Winslet faces with her reinvention of Joan Crawford's much loved role of Mildred Pierce.... he has stepped into the Papal slippers of the saintly and humble Pope John Paul........and to many he will always resemble a poor second.

I wonder what PR staff the Vatican employs?

ps. A lady left me a huge bunch of quail eggs yesterday....20 are now in the incubator!!!