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Times change
Here's an extract from Lark Rise to Candleford (Flora Thompson, 1935) a book about life in the 1890s.
At first only comparatively well-to-do women rode bicycles; but soon almost everyone under forty was awheel, for those who could not afford to buy a bicycle could hire one for sixpence an hour. The men's shocked criticism petered out before the fait accompli, and they contented themselves with such mild thrusts as:
Mother's out upon her bike, enjoying of the fun,
Sister and her beau have gone to take a little run.
The housemaid and the cook are both a-riding on their wheels;
And Daddy's in the kitchen a-cooking of the meals.
And very good for Daddy it was. He had had all the fun hitherto; now it was his wife's and daughter's turn. The knell of the selfish, much-waited-upon, old-fashioned father of the family was sounded by the bicycle bell.
Thought for today
Life is a play! 'Tis not its length, but its performance that counts.
Seneca
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2.4.08 20:23
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The days lengthen
The evenings are now light at 7.30pm. The disadvantage of this is that there is less excuse for me not to finish jobs in the garden. I weeded the back of the vegetable patch and found some healthy-looking shoots of bindweed. They won't be healthy much longer; I sprayed them with poison (glyphosate).
Why do the owners of some dogs speak to them as if they were human? Sometimes on my early morning walk I meet a woman with a spaniel which usually barks at me. Yesterday as I approached them the dog paused from sniffing the ground and looked up at me. True to form it barked. 'No,' said the woman to the dog. It stopped barking, more, I thought, because I had passed it rather than it understood English. 'Good boy,' added the woman as if the dog was an obedient child.
Thought for today
A man who has taken your time recognizes no debt; yet it is the one he can never repay.
Seneca
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4.4.08 20:18
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Winter returns
The weather was warm enough yesterday for me to sit outside in the sun for the first time this year. Today it was cold, and this evening there was a burst of sleet.
The kitchen is finished, well, almost, all apart from a blind for the window and a piece of plastic to go along the bottom of it. I have yet to replace all the contents because I have yet to decide where to put them. (I am too lazy to decide where to put them.) There is no need to rush things. I am working out a system--whether to store things according to type or according to frequency of use. Another reason for the delay is that I ought to chuck out some things such as spices past their use by date. If I do that then I have to decide what to do with the jars, whether to save them or chuck them out too. What would I tell someone else to do? Chuck them out and stop dithering. Right.
Thought for today
He who buys what he does not need will soon have to sell the things he does.
Yugoslavian proverb
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5.4.08 20:27
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Spring turns to winter
It snowed today for the first time this year (as far as I can remember). The roads and pavements were covered, as was the netting over my vegetables. The weight of the snow made the netting sag so, as soon as I noticed this, I went outside to shake it off. I feared the supports might collapse.
Years ago there was a heavy fall of snow one day which brought down telegraph lines in my neighbourhood. When I went to bed I noticed that my telegraph line was sagging. This alarmed me so much that I woke in the night and looked out of the window to check it. It was sagging more under the increased weight of snow. I had to do something. I got dressed, went outside, made a snowball and threw it up at the telegraph line. My third shot hit the line; the line quivered and all the snow on the sagging line came off. The line sagged less after that and I returned to bed pleased but somewhat surprised at my success. I hadn't expected one hit to clear the line.
Thought for today
Desperation is the mistress of the impossible.
Spanish proverb
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6.4.08 20:10
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Spring returns
What a contrast to yesterday. Today the scenery is back to normal; the snow has gone. This morning a few small patches remained on hills and sheltered areas but now fields are green and roads and pavements are grey and dry.
Tony Blair gave a lecture last week in which he talked about faith and politics. I doubt he would want a neurosurgeon operating on his brain to base the surgery on his faith; he'd want him or her to operate using tried and tested methods. I doubt he would want the surgeon to rely on divine intervention. Robert Mugabe presumably considers that he is right and his opponents are wrong. Thinking something is right doesn't make it right.
Thought for today
A library is thought in cold storage.
Lord Samuel (1870 - 1963) British Liberal politician
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7.4.08 19:55
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The pecking order
Yesterday on my early morning walk an owl flew overhead and perched on a tree above me. Twit twit it went; this alerted me to its presence so I looked up and spotted it. This morning there was a chorus of woodpeckers. One gave a burst of drilling then paused. Another had a turn on a different tree and then paused. The first bird then started again and so on. Then there was more drilling, this time on another tree as it came from further in the wood.
Thought for today
Words and water are easy to pour, but impossible to recover.
Chinese proverb
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9.4.08 20:00
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Last respects
Went to a funeral today for the first time in years. It was well organised and a good send off. The chapel was packed; there was standing room only. The deceased was a neighbour who, I discovered from the tribute given during the service, had done more in his life-time than I expect I shall ever do in mine. He was talented which is more than can be said of me. Oh well, it's those like me lacking talent that make others talented. It's the dimmos that make others intelligent. Talent and intelligence are relative. At least I have a bit of a brain. I wonder how much of talent is due to hard work.
Thought for today
Everyone has talent at twenty-five. The difficulty is to have it at fifty.
Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917) French painter, sculptor
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10.4.08 20:30
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