Going Gently

Bake Off ( Beware Spoilers)

Yan, the big hearted, wise cracking Londoner was voted off Bake Off tonight, which was a real shame .I noticed that throughout the series she was the one that helped her fellow bakers the most, which underlined her innate good nature and humour!
Her family, friends and wife should be very proud of her!

Poof!

In comprehensive school in the 1970s the worst name one boy could call another was the word " poof!"

As I recall the name was more concerned more with effeminacy rather than with overt homosexuality, but the definition, I guess was fluid and totally negative as poof was synonymous with weakness, an inability in sports ability and cowardice.

When I was a bit older I rather liked to reclaim the name!

I refused to let the word make me feel in any way negative or second best

In Sheffield I had neighbours on one side that kept themselves to themselves. They were a bit common, and the mother of the household would constantly yell at her brood of useless teenage sons.

One Sunday morning the boys were all sat in their garden ( on an old sofa- how lovely) hidden from my view by a tall brick wall. Presumably they were all suffering from hangovers as the mother prepared lunch and as I gardened around my neat little garden I heard the mother as she berated them

" you treat this place like a bleeding hotel!" She bellowed "Why can't you be like that old poof next door and keep the place tidy!!!"

"LESS OF THE OLD!" I shouted back at her as the family dissolved into silence

When I joined the village community council I remarked to fellow councillor- the Red Faced Welsh Farmer- that it was about time that there was a poof on the committee. Of course I said it out of devilment and of course the red faced Welsh Farmer never so much twitched an eyebrow at the remark.

I bought a pouffe yesterday. I've always wanted one and as the Prof climbed into the car he spied it on the back seat

" oh two poofs in the car" he quipped

Oh Lordy

I deleted today's post by mistake as I was waiting for the car to pass it's MOT
IT's my fat fingers on my iPhone .
It is a bit like threading a needle with a raw sausage !
Yesterday's post cost me three followers! I should have known better!
I thought it was measured and fair.
At least Ursula got all moist over it.
She loves conflict.

I fell over this morning as I was trying to take a picture of a kingfisher.
The kingfisher in question was a seven foot wooden sculpture on the banks of the river Elwy and not the actual bird, although I managed to witness the real thing as it looped over the water quite, quite beautifully.
It was a wonderful thing to see on a sunny morning.

Two elderly ladies on sticks saw me slide down the long grassy bank on my arse.
I think it provided them with quite a spectacle given the fact that Mary's lead was wrapped around my wrist and she followed me quite gleefully a second after I had disappeared from view!
It must have looked all rather Wile E Coyote
They stopped and asked if I was alright which was sweet of them .

I Don't Understand

Yesterday I was asked by a villager to be a referee for them.
The reference was for a shotgun licence.
When I was asked, I must admit I did hesitate for a moment, but as the shotgun was an antique, had been dismantled and was kept by the most responsible of owners I was happy to oblige.

Now I've blogged about gun laws before and the ensuing debate it caused opened my eyes to a few things, namely the near fanatical way many Americans view their right to bear arms.
Owning an antique family heirloom is one thing which is acceptable to me. If the owner was a farmer and wanted to use the gun at work, then I would have signed the forms too. But if the gun owner just wanted the gun " as protection" then I would have refused the request.

One of the biggest reasons for gun ownership in the US seems to be for protection. It's a kill them before they kill me mentality and although I do disagree with it, I do understand it to a degree.
What I cannot get my head around at all is the need for some seemingly ordinary people to keep automatic weapons. Automatic weapons that can kill 58 people and wound nearly 500 in just under an hour.

I just don't understand that.
And I never will.

Mine

He works too hard.
He can't knock a nail into a piece of wood.
He's crap at badminton.
He wakes far too early in the morning and switches on his bloody iPad
He's loud when I want to be quiet.
He moans constantly about the fact I leave my clothes on the floor of the bathroom.

My husband is finally home today after a week away
And I am very glad!

What Makes Us Human?

I heard Melvin Bragg talking in about this subject in an essay of his, that he read out on the radio.
His take on it is that humans have and hold dear and indeed cultivate friendships.
I think he is right.
Animals have companions.Companions that they live with, play with and spend time with but they don't have friendships. Friendships are quintessentially a human phenomenon .
A dear friend of mine has just received some life changing news.
He was stoic, and typically cavalier about the whole thing but did show the real emotions behind the mask of ok-ness when I pushed him gently.
I have known him twenty years or so and I am glad to be able to stand in his corner now, as he would do in mine if the tables were turned.
That's what friends do.
My best friend Nu, picked up on my upset and waded in with some support of her own. It was a brief phone call. I had been washing Mary's " Mary" in the kitchen sink and she was still outside St Paul's basking in the Late afternoon London sunshine , but in a few words I too felt supported at a time of reflection and unhappiness.
That's the strength of the chain of friendship me thinks.
Each link supporting the next.
That's the power of friendship.
And that's what makes us human

For One Night Only

I forgot to blog today, and only just realised when I went on line to see what movies were playing in the local cinemas.
The weather is damp and its dark and miserable outside, and the woodburner has made the cottage all cosy, so instead of going out I am having a night off with weightwatchers and have planned an evening with some fatty nibbles , an energising face mask, a pair of fluffy slippers and a great South Korean zombie movie!

I'm easily pleased!