Vegetable beds ready for planting

here's hoping it goes on the blog

Mugabe & the White African

I know a little about Zimbabwe's crash into economic and political disaster following President Mugabe's land reform initiatives. My information came first hand from some of the black Zimbabwean moderates that left the country to take up nursing jobs in Sheffield . Their move to this country was a last dash effort to escape the disintegration of democracy and poverty in a failing Zimbabwe.
What I didn't know,was that the land that was effectively stolen from the white African farmers was given, not to the poor Black Africans that had nothing, but to the friends, family, close officials and in one case a girlfriend of the country's elite.
Mugabe and The White African, is an amazing ,covertly shot documentary, about the last stand of a 75 year old mango farmer Michael Cambell , who along with his son in law, (the articulate and charismatic Ben Freeth (above pic) take on the Mugabe regime in an international court of law to win back their rights to stay on their own farm.
Cambell and Freeth as it turns out are no pushovers, despite constant intimidation, threats, a near fatal and truly horrific beating (when Cambell's elderly wife is also severely assaulted ), the two men take on all comers with a deep religious faith, good humour and a pragmatic arsenal of weapons to back themselves up.
The family farm is also supported by a large group of loyal local workers whose livelihoods depend on the successfully run business, a business that would be left to rack and ruin if the farm fell into the mobs inexperienced hands.
Scenes where a neighbouring farm is overrun is heartbreaking to watch as we witness the white farmers wife breaking down at the despair and angst suffered by her loyal black workers, who are forced to leave their own homes as she herself is evicted.
At one stage I felt that It was almost unbelievable that we were in fact watching a documentary and not just a piece of fiction.
The overtly racist abuse finally overwhelms theCambell/Freeth families as even though they win their case in an historic landslide result ( the Zimbabwe lawyers walk out the court in an astonishing display of disrespect), their farm is finally burnt to the ground.
It is testament to their strength of spirit and moral fortitude that to this day the family remain in Zimbabwe (the home they love), fighting their cause with a hope that has to be seen to be believed. 8/10

The Wynyard Cup

Now, I did post a video via YOU TUBE earlier but for some reason it has not arrived on the blog as yet!

I am absolutely knackered after digging over two vegetable patches, and even though it is only March I have caught some sun this afternoon....so much so that I now have a healthy glow after returning back to the cottage.

I found a real bargain on the wonderful EBAY the other day and it arrived today. It is an old ( around 1910) art nouveau trophy to add to the prizes that we are giving at this year's Flower Show, and will be grandly called the "Wynyard Cup".

Wynyard Road was the road where we lived in Sheffield, and I kind of liked the "mystery" in the cup's new title rather than name it after someone who is now dead!

Mind you I have already put in another cup into the show in memory of Finlay (our first Welsh Terrier)- That cup goes to the children's' entry which I though was rather apt.

Tonight I am off to see the move MUGABE & THE WHITE AFRICAN.......review later......

Bun fight

The open meeting at the village hall was an interesting bash. An official spokeswoman made a valid plea for the need of affordable housing for the village community but had to concede that the official feasibility study had yet to be commissioned and viewed.

Until then, of course nothing concrete will proceed, but I did feel sightly sorry for this woman who had to face some of the frustrations and anger from some people present.

The frustrations, of course seemed to be worries centred around three specific areas :

1. If the proposed ten houses are built then would there be enough village people to utilize them

2. In view of there being several empty houses present in Trelawnyd, why cannot the housing association purchase these properties?

3. Would the building proposal be just a start of further development? Development that the village infrastructure may not be able to sustain.

I think what was in fact needed was another open Community Council meeting so that the villagers could actually clarify some of the concerns that they have and where misconceptions and half truths relating to the whole process could be ironed out. But my suggestion that such a meeting was required was met by a less then enthusiastic agreement by some on the council.

I know affordable housing for the village young ( and there was a persuading plea for such housing from a young man I had never seen before) is needed as it is an every area, I just think that as in most initiatives there a substantive need for the community council to listen to the thoughts, worries, wishes and hopes of the community which they represent and to address these areas individually and with patience.

The presentation today, did go some way to clarify the issues.......but I must admit, there are plenty of other concerns that need addressing.

hey ho

Bullying

My first blog today was centred around the extremes of bullying behaviours that we sadly see in our human world...but bullying happens without rhyme or reason in the animal world too .
Yesterday two of the turkey poults ( females) suddenly turned on the smallest bird which is the slate grey poult. Viciously the little stag ( I am still quite not sure of his sex) was pecked and harassed by one of the females even though he constantly ran to the performing Boris in what resembled a plea for protection.
The attack was sustained and completely out of the blue, and in the end I had to intervene and remove the little guy from the enclosure to walk safely around with the hens and ducks (above)

Last night I replaced him into the turkey house with the others, in the hope that things would settle down overnight, and this morning the aggression ( although still there in bursts) is no where as pronounced as it was yesterday..
I am digging out the veg beds today, so I can keep an eye on the little fella!

Tonight there is a community council "open" meeting at the memorial hall to discuss the proposed building of houses "outside" of the village envelope in greenbelt land.....I suspect a large proportion of the village will be in attendence and the whole thing will be a bit of a bunfight!!!
I shall be there!!!

The Death of hope

It was with great sadness that I read that Jon Venables, one of the killers of the baby Jaimie Bulger, had been returned to jail after breaching the terms of his release.

It is unclear just what this man has in fact done, (by not knowing the press and the general public's imagination has run riot), but I cannot help worrying that the biggest victim of this re hash of the infamous "children that kill children" trial of 1993, will be the death of hope in the judicial rehabilitation process.

I thought that the only good that came out of the the prosecution of the 10 year old Venables (right) and his friend Robert Thompson was that when the boys were "imprisoned" the general public was reassured that they had been removed from the "toxic" home lives that may have helped to shape their destructive behaviours and had entered a more supportive, educationally superior and structured environment.

To the lay person that perhaps did not just want to see vengeance,the boys had some hope to grow into more balanced and productive members of society, and the news of today has gone along way to perhaps shake that beacon of positivity, which is a great shame.

I just hope the hysteria in the press can be balanced in some way

Let The River Run - Carly Simon

I was going to post this when I reviewed Working Girl....another blast from the past......doesn't Carly look pleased with herself?

Yazoo 'Don't Go'

Now I found myself humming this blast from the 1980s past today and It took me an absolute AGE to remember just what the song was................it was NEARLY THIRTY YEARS AGO!!!!!