Lovely Day

Bank Holiday over so the sun came out today along with lots of unsuitably clad bottoms in shorts.
We went to the Museum and saw a wonderful exhibition of wild life photographs by the winners and runners up
of the National Geographic Competition.   Amazing pictures from all over the world taken by photographers
as young as 10 years and as old as Methuselah and all for free.  We also had a lovely cup of coffee and a huge
piece of cake but that wasn't free sadly.

......and talking about not being understood!

When we went to live in Spain some years ago we lived in a totally Spanish speaking area and we developed a way of speaking which became known as Spanglish amongst our Brit friends who used it too.   We would begin a conversation using (we thought!) excellent Spanish and before long would run out of Spanish vocabulary and finish the sentence in English.
Our neighbours soon got the message and sprinkled their Spanish with the odd words in English they had picked up - it seemed to work though I don't know how.
Last week I brought some books home from the library and settled down this w/e to read a good thriller which began well and then lapsed into Scots that began to lose me entirely.
'Fit can I dee for you?'   'It's mae chiz'   'It's blawin a hoolie oot there'  I should be congratulated for reading more than 200 pages before giving up.   My next prize, another thriller but what on earth is the FDLE and the AFIS database?   Oh no, it's an all American book -  I made another big mistake.  I'll struggle on for a bit.
After all this, listening to Cheryl will be a breeze.

Oh poor Cheryl

Poor Cheryl Cole sacked from her milti million pound job in America because her Gordie accent was too unpenetrable for the citizens of the USA.   It is odd that the Americans expect everyone to understand their range of accents whilst they refuse to even try to understand any one else  - just like the French!   What will Cheryl do now poor thing?  Who cares?   She's a tought cookie so she'll be OK
It is not everyone who can be arrested for 'Actual Bodily Harm' as she was when she beat up the poor little black lady toilet attendent some years ago when she was a member of 'Girls Aloud' and then become the most talked about (never talented) member of the band  -  even after doing her 120 hours of Community Service - she was too famous to be sent to prison you understand.
It has to be said that the little black lady toilet attendant is still in the same  job on a basic wage.
Who ever said life was fair? -  nobody  -  but we all know that it does have the habit of slapping you back.

Mr President

Oh please don't let the Icelandic Volcano extend his stay.   I have found the visit of President Obama quite
tedious I'm afraid.  He was like a guest you couldn't wait to see and then no sooner had he arrived you were looking for the time of departure.   I blame the media for a lot of the hype, boring us to death with his every move and the wardrobe of his lovely wife.   I know he is the most powerful man in the world and not one to make an enemy of but a bullet proof, iron clad car, two ambulances, a mobile IC unit, eleven vehicles brought over and 1000 US staff to look after his every move!...and we send our 86 year old Queen on the train to Sandringham.
OK Mr President you have been lovely and so has your wife, you have secured 36 million Irish/American votes for your next term in office by visiting the birthplace of your great, great, great and I think another great. We have heard loudly and clearly your calls for more European troops in Afghanistan.  Time to go home Mr President and talk to the million people converging on Capitol Hill protesting against your Presidency.
The biggest job in the world - who'd have it?   

last comment on the Rapture

I read this morning that Harold Camping is in hiding and feeling  'a little bewildered and mystified'
that his Rapture prophecy  didn't come true.    Aaw Bless!

 Last comment on this subject.

The Rapture

I really find it hard to believe that Harold Camping spent 50 million pounds on his campaigne to promote
the fact that on a day named by him;  he and his followers were to be taken up to his idea of Heaven whilst the rest of us (mainly non Americans)
would be swept away to a place of his fabrication named Hell amidst ghastly earthquakes, volcanic erruptions and sunamis.  I think we might have been alright in the UK mainly because he did not know such a place existed and for the fact we do not have volcanos, serious earthquakes and have not yet had a sunami.                            I can't imagine anyone having the gall to think that they and they alone can rule the world.

I read of a dreadful murder of a British lady in Teneriffe by a young man who wanted to kill everyone
including his girlfriend who would not address him by his new name of 'God'.   That poor, poor lady did not even know he'd changed his name!   I would hope that he and Mr Camping might spend the rest of their lives together but the fellow in Teneriffe is claiming to be insane now that he is in Police hands and wants hospitization for the rest of his life as apposed to prison. He is full of nasty drugs that he has been filling himself with for years... so he's suffering from ...self inflicted injury.
  Not insane, just an idiot like Mr Camping.

A visit to Yorkshire

Left lovely sunshine behind us to drive more than 4 hours to Yorkshire where it was cold, windy and raining on arrival (which continued).   I forgot to take a pair of tights with me to wear with a suit for the funeral - bad news as it was freezing.  Went to two 'convenience stores' and they did not sell them - 'not very convenient then'
I said to the man in the shop, who replied, 'You can buy one of three different bottles of champagne - how convenient is that?  We smiled at each other and I left quickly before I hit him!   Went to the funeral with bare, cold legs.  Booked in the Holiday Inn Express because it was situated very conveniently for us but at £70 per
night B & B plus £5 to park the car it was poor value for money; only one chair in a room for two people, no wardrobe or drawers and a tiny shelf between beds to park books, clock, glasses etc for the night. Coming in late after a cold wet day to find the evening meals finished at 9.00pm plus no bath to have a warm soak was the end for me.  Only a large Gin and Tonic saved me from suicide. We booked out first thing next morning.  Just think we prefered it to the Travel Lodge next door - we could have had the same deal there for exactly half the price.   You live and learn.

A few home truths

This morning I did a tour for 20 people around the Cathedral, all visitors to the city and all thankfully very
complimentary.  They were all very friendly and afterwards when I retired to the coffee shop in the cloisters
three people asked if they could join me.   One of the ladies was an Aussie from Sydney whom it turned out lived VERY close to my friend in Hornsby Heights though she did not actually know her.  What a small world!
This lady was on her very first visit to the UK and though a 5th generation Aussie she was looking up her descendants/ancestors whichever is the right word; amazingly she discovered she was actually descended from
a rich, powerful family who fought for the King in the 14th centuary.
She said she loved being here but some of her comments were interesting:-  
  She found it difficult to understand what people were saying, she thought we all spoke English but apparently not so!.  Fair to her she did realize her own accent caused as many problems.
  She had hired a car and had to take it back after just three days as the other drivers scared the very life out of her.  She said she had never been shouted at, pushed off the road or had rude signs made to her in her life and it scared her.
I think that a sad reflection on our drivers.
Most of her comments were positive though except for the extraordinary remark that we had too many foreigners here.....what?...doesn't Australia have lots of people from all over the world then?  It all makes for an interesting life in a set of tiny rain drenched Islands in the North Sea.  I didn't say that though. 
Can't help remembering a sentence I heard many years ago - 'Life is all about the people you meet'.
 

Sats

Poor Miss Hickett is doing her sats exams this week and she is feeling so nervous you would think she was sitting for a place at Oxford:  today is Maths x 3 tests.   I can't believe that that this set of examinations is still continuing despite the Government saying it was scrapped.
We are assured this is not a 'streaming' test for the children's senior education later this year.
The children,  as far as I can see, are getting nothing but stress.

 The school on the other hand is hoping to climb up the Osted list.
What's it all about?

my sister

My dearest sister died at 4.30pm this afternoon after a massive heart attack and I am far more devastated that I thought I would be.   I have told myself for days that I did not want her to live on as an invalid but in fact obviously I did - that is selfish.   I am flooded with memories of our childhood and what a loving sister she was to me when I was a little girl.   What beautiful memories to leave behind.  RIP

the death of a dog

I remember cuddling my dog of 15 years whilst the vet put a leathal injection into her buttocks and after just a few seconds she died.   I felt so proud to be able to do that for her after she had given us so much of her love and trust all those years.
I liked this story of a little boy of 6 years old having lost his beloved dog.  His mother was so upset he felt he had
to comfort her so he told her:-
'People are born so that they can live a long time and learn how to love everybody all the time and be nice.
Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay long here.'

I love him, he's going to grow up into a beautiful person and I hope he has lots of wonderful dogs in his life as I have had.

The price of oil

Some interesting figures were published today regarding the prices of oil around the world.  Poor old Norway came out worst with oil at $6.82 - in GB pounds £4.13, after Hong Kong and Belgium came UK at £3.61-
getting cheaper came Italy and Canada, India in at £2.24 -  even cheaper in Australia and South Africa and less again in Mexico and Argentina then bringing up the bottom two countries came Saudi Arabia at £0.09 and not surprisingly Kuwait with the lowest figures in the world at £0.08.   Well at least there were three countries above us in the dearest oil prices in the world list.

The Sea of Galilee

I just read something I did not know.   All around the sea of Galilee are lots of towns and villages, trees, flowers and farms.   By comparison the Dead Sea close by has no trees or farms, all around it is dead.   So what is the difference?
Well, the Sea of Galilee is alive because it had has an outlet.  Water flows in and very quickly flows out at the other end.  The Dead sea is dead because it passes no water on at all, it is simple static.

There are many lessons to be learned here - I can't stop thinking about it.  Give and take and be alive and well or just take and become lifeless.

FACT

'The United Kingdom has 70 million residents, home to people from 160 different countries and 300 different languages are spoken.   By contrast, New Zealand, a larger Island has just 4 million people.'

Now why is this do you think?   I do not know but I hope that it is because we find it difficult to turn anyone away so our borders are always open.   I may be wrong and the same might be said of NZ but it intrigues me.