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A woman's work is never done
As I walked back to my car having loaded my supermarket shopping into the boot and returned the trolley to the bay, a man walking towards the entrance said to me: 'Is that it for today?'. I laughed and replied: 'Crikey no, it's only the start'. By then a second lot of washing was in the machine and I had a fence to erect in an hour's time.
The HN and I started work on the fence at 9am and finished it at 3.30pm without lunch in the middle. Don't know what happened to his lunch; perhaps he and his wife don't bother with lunch on Saturdays. I didn't say anything because I thought that if I stopped for long I wouldn't want to start again. It was tiring. If he could keep going I ought to be able to.
It must have taken us about two hours to clear a clump of bamboo that was growing against his side of the fence. We used chisels, hammers, secateurs, a chain saw and a crowbar. If I ever grow bamboo it will be in a pot.
Lifting out the old panels was fairly easy; they weren't that heavy. Lifting in the new ones (ten, 6' X 6') was harder because they were heavier and damaging them would matter. I was glad when the last one was in place.
Thought for today
Sins become more subtle as you grow older; you commit sins of despair rather than lust.
Piers Paul Read (1940 - ) British novelist
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9.9.06 21:23
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Proper food, not pap
The British are eating burgers again and binning salads. An article in yesterday's The Times said that fast-food restaurants' brief flirtation with healthy eating was over. Healthy eating, implied the article, was eating salads. An editorial said 'Parents try to force their children to prefer watercress, lettuce and tomatoes to minced beef in a bun.' That's daft. Kids should eat both; watercress, lettuce and tomatoes are no substitute for minced beef in a bun. They want filling food, not rabbit food.
I eat a lot of salads but none with watercress, lettuce, or tomatoes. Watercress is a waste of money and lettuce isn't cheap nor in season all the time. Raw, finely chopped cabbage and carrots are cheaper and filling. Diced apple, cucumber, and mushrooms, for example, give extra flavour. Many vegetables can be eaten raw. Add lemon juice, black pepper, raisins, cheese. The possibilities are endless.
Watercress, lettuce and tomatoes instead of burgers. Misguided.
Supermarkets are to introduce compostable bags to help reduce the amount of plastic that goes to landfill sites. I wonder if the makers of the plastic wrappers that encase magazines, catalogues and junk mail will follow suit. That would still leave all the plastic pots (for yoghurt, margarine) that aren't recyclable.
Visited my parents in the care home today. My mother described the routines. She said: 'Gladys usually starts up in the evening. It's as good as a play.' They sit in the library together undisturbed until another resident, Chris, a skinny woman who rarely speaks, comes in and rearranges the chair cushions.
Thought for today
Practical politics consists in ignoring facts.
Henry Brooks Adams (1838 - 1918) The Education of Henry Adams, 1907
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10.9.06 21:16
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The crush count
Spotted two vine weevils today. Squashed them both, beastly things. They were small so I hope they were too young to have laid eggs in the soil of any of my potted plants. Slugs and snails eat the leaves; vine weevil maggots eat the roots.
Walked in to town at 8.15am today to post a letter and discovered that it was not a good time to travel by car or by foot. The roads were busy as were the pavements--lots of traffic and lots of pedestrians.
As I passed an oriental-looking young woman with two little kids (the nanny, perhaps) one of the kids bent down to pick up something from the pavement. 'Don't touch it,' almost screamed the woman. From her reaction I thought it must be a lump of shit. 'It's dirty,' she added. 'I know you want to put it into a bin, but it's dirty.'
It was an empty crisp packet. What a fuss. She'd have done better to pick it up herself and set a good example. She could have said that it could be dirty so she was handling it carefully and would wash her hands well when she got home. I thought about picking it up to set a good example but the moment had passed and I would have been in their way.
There was an item on the news about a proposal to make riding a bicycle without a bell illegal. New cycles have to have bells fitted but riding with one attached is not compulsory. Bells are too quiet to be much use. No drivers would hear one and few pedestrians would either. No one suggested a horn. I have a 100db horn fitted to my bicycle. That turns heads.
Thought for today
You should always believe all you read in the newspapers, as this makes them more interesting.
Rose Macaulay (1881 - 1958) A Casual Commentary, 1926
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11.9.06 21:00
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The tip run
Stringent new rules about dumping rubbish means that those who leave extra bags by their wheelie bins may be fined for fly-tipping.
There was a programme on radio four recently about a chap who wanted to stop having a car. He wanted to do his bit for the environment. His wife was not so keen; she had the weekly shopping to do. Their kids would have to find another way to get to school.
If people abandoned their cars, how would they take rubbish to their local tip? When the school run ends, the tip run starts.
Last week when I was at the tip, a man arrived in a ride-on lawnmower towing a trailer full of bags of rubbish. He was followed by a woman on a bicycle, his wife I presumed, who helped him dump the rubbish in the skips. I doubt many travel to the tip like that.
Thought for today
You can't say civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way.
Will Rogers (1879 - 1935) in New York Times, 23 December 1929
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13.9.06 20:33
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A slow departure
On my way back from visiting my mother in the care home, I was stuck behind a funeral procession. As if the roads aren't congested enough already, I thought. I wondered if the person would have been pleased to know that their final journey caused a traffic jam. Annoying even when dead. An up yours even in death. Perhaps more of a nuisance dead than alive.
A party of six pupils, aged about sixteen, and a teacher from the local fee-paying school visited the home earlier in the week. My mother was curious to know what for. Someone said it was for them to see what went on in the community. A fee-paying home for old folk with dementia is hardly typical of the community. My mother said that she asked one of the staff if was to teach them not to get old.
Gladys becomes active in the evenings and walks around asking residents why they are in her house. The staff tell her it is everyone's house. She disagrees and retorts: No it isn't, it's my house.
While I was there a little old woman came into the hall looking distressed followed by two members of staff looking pleased. They had managed to give her a shower, something she hated. The manager said that she hated showers because she didn't know what was going on. I suppose being taken to a room by strangers who strip you naked and pour water over you for no apparent reason would be upsetting.
The longer we live, the more likely we are to develop dementia.
Thought for today
Death and taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them.
Margaret Mitchell (1900 - 1949) Gone With the Wind, 1936
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14.9.06 22:29
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Comparing notes
A cousin of mine and his wife visited yesterday. I collected my mother from the care home to see them.
My cousin's 95 year old mother, my father's sister, is also in a care home. She remained independent in sheltered accommodation until a year ago when a urinary tract infection precipitated dementia. When she failed to turn up to one of her usual gatherings, people investigated and found the carpets in her flat covered in shit and her eating a frozen curry. My mother and I heard about the events leading up to this.
My aunt had slowly been doing less and less, though no one seemed to have noticed. The last time I saw her was at her ninetieth birthday party. People remarked how well she looked; I thought she looked pretty decrepit. Frail I suppose is the polite term. A gust of wind would have sent her flying. To me it was only a matter of time before she needed residential care. My cousin and his wife seemed surprised, almost annoyed, at her decline which to me was inevitable. We do not live for ever. To reach ninety without serious illness is fortunate.
Their experiences of my aunt's care home were similar to mine. 'Why am I here?' is a common comment. 'I have to get home; my daughter will be wondering where I am,' is another. The daughter is likely to have been the one responsible for the old person's admission to the home.
My aunt is scathing of the other residents. She thinks they are so old. My father speaks loudly in the communal lounge and refers to the female residents as old biddies, and to the men as old charlies. My mother says: 'Hush, they'll hear you.' 'Why will they?' asks my father.
One woman said to my mother that she wanted to go out. 'What for?' replied my mother. 'That's a good point,' was the answer. The woman could think of no reason.
Thought for today
You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question.
Albert Camus (1913 - 1960) La Shute, 1956
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16.9.06 08:50
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A day of rest
I had a rest today, a rest from household chores. I joined a group of walkers and went for a ten mile hike. With my usual early morning four miles walk and the three miles there and back to the starting point, I must have walked about twenty miles. I shall be glad when it's not so hot.
A wasp stung my right arm on Wednesday. It must have flown or crawled up the sleeve of my T shirt without my noticing and stung when I unknowingly squashed it. It wasn't particularly painful but it itched like mad. Today my arm is less itchy and less swollen. Winter has one advantage in that there are no flies or wasps.
I bought some curly kale plants, repotted them as I hadn't prepared a bed for them in the garden and put them in the greenhouse safe from the beaks of pigeons. Today I noticed a leaf had been eaten. There must be a caterpillar lurking in the foliage. I looked carefully but could not see it. Now I shall have to check every day until I find it.
Thought for today
There's no reason to bring religion into it. I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible.
Sean O'Casey (1880 - 1964) The Plough and the Stars, 1926
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17.9.06 20:32
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