The Ticking


My day off therapy has a a three or four hour cleaning element to it
I've filled glass jugs with garden buddleia and opened the windows wide so the butterflies can come and go like miniature angels.
I've even found the key to my grandfather clock, which after being silent so long is ticking away so loudly that Albert came downstairs all wide eyed to see what the commotion was all about.
There is something quite restful about the ticking of an old clock .


I've washed my uniforms and the cheerful blue of them provides a colourful backdrop to the garden as they dry in the sun, hung swinging from the beams above the patio.
As I worked I listened , with interest to the eloquent speech by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as she replied to insults dished out by her fellow congressman Ted Yoho who referred to her as a " fucking Bitch" 
If you haven't heard it, try to , it's a wonderfully powerfull and important speech.

More therapy now

Making sour dough bread and soup , and will video call some friends later
Oh and there's a meeting of the Memorial Hall Commitee at 2pm
To look at fundraising !!!

The clock is still ticking, I started it just after nine


75 comments:

  1. John, I can't believe you also heard the words of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It is all over our FaceBook here in the states. She is our hero! I have an old school clock on the wall that I should get wound up as well. Have a great day!

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    1. She spoke with power and dignity and is a true role model

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    2. It's all over Facebook here too. Such a powerful and genuinely inspiring speech!

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  2. Where was the key hiding? Enjoy your day off!

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    1. It was lying at the bottom of the duster and polish box

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  3. hopefully key and clock have been reunited so you don't have to go a-searching again. AOC IS DA BOMB!

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    1. It's on the top of the clock labelled

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  4. She was so calm, cool and collected, a real hero.

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  5. Wasn’t it a wonderful speech. Goes alongside Julia Gillard’s (ex Australian PM)

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  6. Seems such an idyllic day, although I know it was earned by hard work and deliberate choices to make the most out of your day. AOC was amazing, wasn't she? Now I'm craving sourdough bread and soup, no matter that our high will be 99 (37.2C) degrees.

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    Replies
    1. I made basil , tomato and chorizo soup
      Bloody lovely

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  7. Does buddleia last long in a vase?

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    Replies
    1. No, you need to water it daily
      But I like the dry blooms against the euphorbia

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    2. The dried blooms also keep their delicious scent for a long while. If you keep them in a tin you can pull them out in the winter to sniff.

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    3. I didn’t know that Tom, thanks for the tip

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  8. I love Alexandria. I also love that you can cut fresh flowers from your garden and make pretty arrangements.
    A grandfather clock? Sweet!

    XoXo

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    1. I've always had flowers in my house EVERY WEEK growing your own makes for some savings x

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    2. Flowers in a house are important. Just before lockdown a plant nursery near me had free orchid plants. I excitedly grabbed three of them and planted in a vintage planter and put on the living room window sill. They looked glorious, but after five weeks they looked the same, two months later the same. Last week I gave them away...in my mind they had become to resemble plastic flowers...just sitting there never changing.

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  9. During my brief stint in healthcare work 40 years ago, my uniforms were blue too! I had a dress and a pantsuit. Some things never change, I guess!

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  10. AOC is the kind of leader we need. it's time for women to start cleaning up the messes. i love the ticking of an old clock. it's cool that you allow butterflies in your cottage. i would die. i am scared to death of butterflies. they are ugly bugs with nice clothes.

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  11. Love the sound of a clock like that ... until I don't! LOL My ex-mother-in-law gave my husband and I a chiming wall clock as a year-late wedding gift ... the tick-tock was so loud to begin with, that we could hear it through the floor/ceiling ... from the living room into our bedroom above! Annoying as hell until our ears got use to the sound and then we didn't hear it anymore! What a blessing! LOL
    Yes ... caught AOC's speech to that Yoho idiot ... it's a mirror of the GOP/Republican idiots over here, John. They do the outrageous and then deny having done the deed ... Jesus ... everything is videotaped these days ... there is no denying ... video at 10 p.m.!
    Glad you got to see that little lady in action ... she is a force to be reckoned with ... that's for sure!

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    1. Boris, yoho, trump
      Lies are the new norm

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  12. I've never had a bit of luck with the buddleia. I keep on trying but it is an exercise in frustration.

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  13. Barbara Anne2:30 pm

    What a great speech from AOC! I hope the women of this nation wake up to the horror that abounds from the current moron/sociopath in chief.

    We keep the key to my Grandma's mantel clock on the shelf right beside the clock. The grandmother clock that my dad made from a kit keeps good time but when my mother had Alzheimer's, she wound the chimes wrong. They now only chime occasionally, a few bongs, and at the 3/4 hour only. Go figure!

    Enjoy your day off and your accomplishments!

    Hugs!

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    1. Thanks babs
      I saw my friend fernando for a gossip after the meeting ...it's been a nice day

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    2. Barbara Anne3:59 am

      Perfect!

      Hugs!

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  14. Sounds a blissful day off to me.

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    1. The cottage looks pristine , so yes pat x

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  15. Butterflies flying in and out of the window sets such a beautiful scene in my mind.

    I cried listening to AOC’s powerful speech yesterday. She was so eloquent. This young woman, who has drawn the wrath of many because she speaks up to power and tells the truth, is the future and the hope.

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    1. No one could ignore her and her stateswoman like stance

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  16. The right-wingers in the USA are scared to death of Ocasio-Cortez -- they see her as a formidable challenger in years to come and they're out to demonize her at every turn.

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    1. By the look of her she's more than holding her own

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  17. If we left an unscreened window open here, our house would fill with flies and mosquitoes. How can you do it, there? We only see that in the movies! -Kate (Saskatchewan, Canada)

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    1. My windows are open all day in summer

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  18. Stubblejumpers Cafe3:30 pm

    Speaking of powerful statements (that congresswoman is a force to be reckoned with!), we watched Roger Waters's film Us + Them last night and were mesmerized the entire time. WOW. Talk about turning your passionate political beliefs and human cares into high art. -Kate

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  19. I think the most important part of AOC's speech was pointing out that men like Yoho hide behind their wives and daughters to pretend they're decent men yet they still feel it's okay to accost women. I could just see women all across America nodding their heads in agreement because we've all been there to some degree.

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    1. When she talked about her being a couple of years older than his daughter brought it home

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  20. Our buddlia has all finished in fact hubby was talking about giving it a trim , I cut some hydrangea blooms instead .

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    1. My hydrangeas are out now too , next week's blooms

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  21. Beautiful blooms,clock is amazing. Do you have room for me to move in? I could manage loving on the dogs, I do believe. I wonder how each of your animals got their names. I am in awe of Mary, such a person of her own. :)

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    Replies
    1. Mary was my grandmother's name
      Winifred and Dorothy just complement it

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  22. I believe that clocks have powers that we are not really aware of yet and are happy that your life is in sync now John so the universe returned your key x

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    1. They are like cats flis, supporting actors of a home

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  23. The way AOC responded to Yoho made me so proud of her that I became a little teary eyed, especially when she got to the part about her being someone's daughter.

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    1. Yes. She nailed him at every turn

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    2. Without a single insult.

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  24. I have a clock that belonged to my Grandma; it was a gift to her and my Grandad (who I never knew as he died when my Dad was only four years old) on their wedding day in about 1932 from his employer and colleagues. The clock face is worn away, as is the little commemorative plaque, because Grandma polished it so much. It's worn and a bit tatty around the edges but I love it. Every time I wind it up, and each time it chimes (four times an hour!) it reminds me of Grandma :)

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  25. It has been a long month this week, lots of therapy is needed.

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  26. I love the ticking of a clock, I find it very calming.

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  27. I just watched the video and it seems to me that he is using typical gaslighting tactics because he is afraid x

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  28. Dear John and Friends Looking at the news photos, Ocasio-Cortez looks like trouble. Guess Yoho found that out. Yikes ;/

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  29. AOC is a quiet dynamo. She wasn't on day one, but now she knows how to bring on her power.

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  30. John, her facial expression in atleast one of the photos looks just like that of a distant neighbor's scowl - very. bad. news.

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    1. "Very bad news?" If a man like Yoho had called me a f***ing b***h, I would probably scowl too. I think she was very brave to call him out like she did.

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  31. Congresswoman AOC really is something else isn't she!?? Great that she had a journalist to verify what he said...

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  32. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is my hero , too!

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  33. We can have our windows open here too and you have motivated me to get moving and do the housework.

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  34. Yes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speech is one for the history books so proud of her gives me hope for the future.
    Love the beautiful feel good photo of the flowers in
    front of the open window, would look lovely framed on your art wall John. Glad you had a good day.

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  35. Anonymous8:36 am

    How can anyone look at what is going on in these democrat controlled cities and think the answer to America's problem is to elect more democrats?
    Ann

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  36. I might not mind cleaning with all that as a backdrop.

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  37. It sounds like a good day, cleaning is good for the soul as well as the house, and a ticking clock will be reassuring for the animals when you are not with them ... as long as you don't lose the key again!

    Why are American politicians so downright rude to each other, I know ours are too sometimes but in a more 'reserved, fill in the blanks for yourself' sort of fashion.

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  38. AOC is most impressive. Sad that some people are saying thank heavens that members of the press clearly heard Yoho's insults, as if her word would not be enough.

    Look for her Boss Bitch video. She knows how to use media. Love her.

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  39. AOC is part of the Democratic Party's deep bench of young talent. A little more experience and time to develop DC relationships (all to be able to navigate/negotiate what she wants to get done), and she will be a huge power in the future. And in the meantime, she builds her profile with speeches like that.

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  40. I'm just waiting for the day AOC turns 35 so she can run for president.

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