Neighbours and the art of being neighbourly

The village spokesman, and his brother, have now fixed the Church boundary wall next to the field we hope to rent soon, and a grand job was done indeed. I went out to survey the work and was joined by other neighbours Carol and John from Next door, as well as one of the Parish committee members from the high street. The informal chatter made me think of how neighbourly village life can be compared to city life. In Wynyard road, I was friends with neighbours John and Bev, but I certainly was not neighbourly to other people living on the street. I just never really saw any people , let alone spent the odd half hour chatting in the road about village life, dogs, gossip and the state of the weather. I am not usually one to chat to people, especially acquaintances,

I prefer the company of friends, but the "art" of small talk in village life is one I am getting better at.

Well Meg may be pregnant! Even though she seemed to finish her season, out of the blue we caught Finlay indulging in his first graphic sex act! Admittedly I think the experience shocked and frightened him (not to go into too much details they were "joined" for half an hour or so), so he has spent most of the time acting post coitially , "like a monk !!!

Worked last night, and today after a short sleep,am now looking forward in a full roast dinner. Judy (aunt) is comming for tea, which will be nice as we all have a glass of wine and watch Antiques roadshow.

Control and claustrophobia

Slinked off a lecture today and came home, because I had a need to be in control and a bigger need to get rid of the claustrophobia of being either in University or work (or traveling to and from each). So the ideal place was the beach. So for an hour we had a great walk on the promenade, and all the stimuli of the last three weeks was blown away. It was lovely. I used to do the same after a particulary hard shift in Sheffield, but there I went up to Redmires, for an amble around the dams. The beach clears your mind much easier.
Instead of looking at my notes from the week, I cleaned the house, cut the grass, cleaned the chickens out properly, bought all the animal feed from the farm and pet shop ( we all, that is , me and the dogs) shared a MacDonald, and washed the windows!......the control felt very good, and has given me a boost to tackle next week!

The Crowded Sky and perhaps a new field

When you sit on a train for any length of time, you get to thinking. Now, thinking about dependent variables would have been usefull today, as I have a test on them tomorrow, but true to form, I didn't and thought instead of the huge numbers of planes that seem to fill our skys. In the deep blue sky above Liverpool Bay and the start of the Irish Sea, I counted no less than 10 vapour trails. 10 vapour trails in a matter of two minutes!!!......that is scary, especially given recent reports on pollution
and carbon dioxide emissions and calls for a "plane" tax by an ernest Tory leader. My imagination wandered into cinema ( what's new?) and the 1960 film The Crowded Sky. Indeed this evening's news that a small plane crashed into an upper East Side apartment building only compounded my disaster film mentality, especially as the apartment building in question could be seen quite clearly from our usual hotel on 42nd street.

Anyhow as a student I doubt I will be flying anywhere for a considerable length of time.

Today found out from the village spokesman, that we are in the running to actually get the field opposite the cottage. Now I WILL believe it when it actually does happen but I am quietly optimistic that we can have a few more chckens and free range ones at that! hummm next stop a small holding? watch this space.....

Rosebud

Snowglobes, I always think, are typically American in their appearance; true you see plastic cheap versions in British seaside tat shops, but for quality, nostalgia and "that certain something", you just cannot beat the Americans. One of my favourite possessions is my 5th Avenue snow globe , complete with Patrick's Cathedral,The Empire State Building and can you see right at the front? yes a little yellow taxi cab!
The History of the snowglobe ( From Wikipedia) is interesting

It isn't certain exactly when the first snow globe was made but they appear to date from France during the early 1800s, possibly as a natural successor to the glass paperweight, which had become popular a few years earlier. However, by 1879 at least five companies were producing snow globes and selling them throughout Europe.
In 1889 a snow globe containing a model of the newly built Eiffel Tower was produced to commemorate the International Exposition in Paris, which marked the centenary of the French Revolution. This quickly became a favourite souvenir for those attending.
Snow globes became popular in England during Victorian times and, in the early 1920s, crossed the Atlantic to the United States of America where they became a popular collectors item. Many of these were produced by the Atlas Crystal Works which had factories in both Germany and America.
The first US patent related to a snowglobe was granted in 1927 to Pennsylvania’s Joseph Garaja. Garaja then got Novelty Pool Ornaments to start manufacturing a fish version, underwater, in 1929
During the 1940s, snow globes were often used for advertising purposes in America whilst religious snow globes were common gifts for Catholic children in Europe during the 1940s and '50s. Even Hollywood was bitten by the snow globe bug, with globes featuring in a number of films over the years, the most famous of which was in the opening moments of the 1941 classic Citizen Kane.

At the end of the day

Well this is my first blog c/o the University. British rail let me down yet again today, (points failure outside Chester) so faced with an hour wait, I have driven to Bangor, and surprisingly made it over here in 35 minutes,( route master said 1 hour! ) so perhaps I did make it a little over the speed limit.

Today we had SPSS TEACHING, via a vod cast (voice with pictures) It took twice as long as the 18 year olds but by 14.00 I had mastered the software and at least could do what the instructor asked of me ( a soft scouse voice with no face)..Mind you I didn't quite understand what everything meant, but hey, that's for later!

Mel ( a staff nurse) from ITU rang me and asked if I could look after her student nurse in the morning! Hope we aren't too busy. I said yes but to realize I was all researched out and to keep her questions to spinal injuries.

Meg is still in season, and has hit fertility BIG STYLE, of course she is locked away in her crate and Finlay is busy sawing through the bars with a small hacksaw. Maddie is happy, having the entire house and masters to herself: there is a lot to be said for being infertile.....

A Scandinavian Tutor and Little Miss Sunshine

Had my first proper psychology introduction lecture this morning from Mihela Erjavec, our course leader. She is an impressive looking and sounding woman. Obviously from Scandinavia or perhaps Iceland, she wore what I presumed to be a "native" type outfit made of highly coloured wool, and warm looking boots and sported an incredibly long plat. she also had a rather a lilting "Ingrid Bergman"- type accent , which complimented a precise and considered way of talking. During a one and a half hour lecture, I did not hear one hesitation, a mistaken word or an "err" or a "hum". She spoke quite eloquently and with a quiet passion, I could have listened to her all day!

Took the dogs for a huge walk up the Gop, which was a trial, as the welsh sheep dogs from Gop Farm, had an inkling that Meg was in season and turned up on mass to shadow us!!! There were more hormones on that walk than an average Rugby game in Swansea.!

Then took the afternoon off and went to the pictures. Saw a funny little film called Little Miss Sunshine. A sleeper of a comedy which I think tried too hard to be cynical and dark, but failed as it just had just too much warmth and heart. It tells the story of the mother of all dysfunctional families, who get clumped together to take 9 year old Olive to appear in a "Little Miss Sunshine "child pageant. Standouts amid the family are Steve Carell as a suicidal, gay intellectual uncle, Toni Collette, as a hard pressed mother and Paul Dano, simply wonderfull as a mute, anger ridden teen brother. The film lapsed at times into farce
(when grandad was carried dead in the back of the camper van), which just didn't work!, but what did shine through was a score of very moving moments, that chronicled the characters' journey through life and its many difficulties.


(Right) Steve Carell and the vapid Paul Dano, seem to have all the best scenes as Uncle and Nephew.

Worry?..............We all do it!

Last week I had my "wobble" about University and today I was talking to my Friend Mike, who is having a tough time at work, so is having "his wobble" today!, and whilst on my 10.30 walk with the kids tonight got to thinking about how awful it is to worry about a problem that never seems to go away. Now most of us do not suffer this exaggeration from the norm! ...we have a problem, worry about it for a while then hopefully ( with the help of family, friends and the odd psychologist) we get over it! True that ice cold, overwhelming panic that can take you over is awful ( especially when it often occurs at 4.30 am) but it passes!! Having a chronic endogenous anxiety state must be the most debilitating condition, as it often never really goes away!

Anyhow that 4.30 am anxiety attack that we all Suffer from sometimes got me thinking of Everything and the Girl, and especially their song entitled We walk the same line!

Everything But The Girl - We Walk The Same Line

If you loose your faith, babe, you can have mine,
and if you're lost I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line.
Now I don't have to tell you
how slow the night can go,
I know you've watched for the light.
And I bet you could tell me
how slowly four follows three,
and you're most forlorn just before dawn.
So if you loose your faith babe,
you can have mine,
and if you're lost, I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line.
When it's dark baby,
there's a light I'll shine,
and if you're lost, I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line.
And I don't need reminding how loud the phone can ring
when you're waiting for news.
And that big old moon lights every corner of the room.
Your back aches from lying and your head aches from crying.
So if you loose your faith babe,you can have mine,
and if you're lost, I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line.
When it's dark baby,there's a light I'll shine,
and if you're lost, I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line.
And if these troubles should vanish like rain on midday,
well I've no doubt there'll be more.
And we can't run and we can't cheat,
cause babe when we meet
what we're afraid of,
we find out what we're made of.
So if you loose your faith babe,you can have mine,
and if you're lost,
I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line.
When it's dark baby,
there's a light I'll shine,
and if you're lost,
I'm right behind,
cause we walk the same line

I think that It is a lovely song,that tells the story of support from a loved one when you are out of control. The highlighted text, captures exactly that panicky cold feeling I mentioned before!

Well if that song helps you not, I always think that a film will , and my musings on tonight's walk came to that old chestnut My Best Friends Wedding. There is a scene in it when Julia Roberts becomes totally overwhelmed by the problems in her life. She is found sitting outside her hotel bedroom door by a friendly bellboy (Paul Giamatti), He offers her a fag and a piece of advice, to help her deal with her woes .He repeats an old Jewish saying

"This too shall pass...................."

So Mike remember "This too will pass!!!"

The full version of this seems to be a Bible saying

The origin of the saying "this too shall pass" appears to date back to a story told about King Solomon. It is said that the King, feeling blue, asked his advisors to find him a ring he had seen in a dream. "When I feel satisfied I’m afraid that it won’t last. And when I don’t, I am afraid my sorrow will go on forever. Find me the ring that will ease my suffering." Eventually an advisor met an old jeweler who carved into a simple gold band the Hebrew inscription "gam zeh ya’avor" – "this too shall pass." When the king received his ring and read the inscription his sorrows turned to joy and his joy to sorrows, and then both gave way to equanimity. More recently the saying has been popularized in the West by spiritual leaders imported from or inspired by the East, including Ram Dass, the Dali Lama and Tich Nhat Hanh.

pen and paper?....naw.... podcasts.....

Being a student has all changed since I was a girl. Its all emails and "virtual" tutorials via the University Web "blackboard" rather than simply dragging yourself to a lecture with ballpoint and paper. Podcasts make learning seem like something out of Logan's Run (1976) Now that IS showing my age, but It is all very exciting and new. Some 400 psychologhy students mind you, crammed into PJ Hall ( all clutching ballpoints and paper), was a lttle too much.


Got home at around 7.30pm, exhausted, but did feel a bit better as I overheard four mature students ( from different courses) chatting on the train home about their respective "first days" and how hard and strange it felt. Although I didn't join them, I felt supported and and comforted by their chat!

Sorrel has tearfully gone home, which is a shame, and I know Chris misses her greatly. But, I do think he doen't always realise that his relationship with his mum IS a special and very close one, which is a rare thing !. Not many people are fortunate enough to experience a close bond like they have.

Just enough time to tidy up and walk the dogs, then bed to sleep a nice long sleep!