Monday 23 March 2020

Strange Times Week 2, Post 1

An annoying thing...........................
It was a lovely sunny weekend,  and I started cutting the grass with the ride-on mower - when Clunk! and whatever it is that engages the cutter blade - belt? cable? - broke. Botheration. I'll ring up the mower repair place.......again. I did some cutting with the small battery mower until that went flat and needed charging, then some strimming with the battery strimmer. .... the joys of owning an acre............machinery is needed. Luckily the weeding and cutting back of the flower beds only needs a hand fork and secateurs.

An amusing thing..............
My BiL A (Col's brother) the one who comes to help me sometimes with wood cutting, is a 60 year old bachelor, who spends his spare time in a pub. So I texted him to ask what he was going to do now the pubs are shut? He said he wouldn't have time to miss the pub as he's spending all his time reading his phone. I asked what on earth he meant and turns out after all these years he's got himself a smarter phone and is now on Facebook. He got someone to help him set it up and now he's getting bombarded with friend requests! I did say that he didn't actually need to look at his phone every time it bleeped at him! 

Lovely things...............
On Saturday the postman brought me a parcel for Mothering Sunday from the Surrey family......Lindt Lindor.....very bad for losing weight ......but very delicious, I shall try to ration myself to one a day. They are 100 calories each!
My children rang and texted - not quite what we had planned but that's the world now. Son and DiL called round with a card and flowers and to pick up a bag of books for Willow - with libraries all closed she needed a bit of variety.

An ignorant thing..................
I see the computer generated comments about  Baby Boomers spreading the virus and needing to die have gradually got longer and more prolific, the authors must have even more time on the hands. It's so funny as baby boomers are presumably the parents of the people who've started off these nasty comments. I just delete forever.

Sunday Worship.............
I'm not particularly religious but love a good hymn sing so I enjoyed  a blast from the past.......a Sunday morning service on TV as well as Songs of Praise. It came from St Davids Cathedral in Wales - somewhere I regret not visiting on all our Welsh holidays.

Greed.............
According to TV news there is now 1 BILLION pounds worth of extra food in people's cupboards. I have an awful feeling that greed will mean terrible waste later on - it's frightening how greedy some people have been. Where notices tell people to limit to two items some are taking all family members shopping, so each have a trolley. Crazy. Then I wonder how I would feel if I had a big family to feed and empty cupboards.......would I be the same?

A quicker stitch............
My last cross stitch took me an age to get finished, this seagull just took a couple of hours as it was one of the little Mouseloft kits. I think it was a gift from a penfriend. I'll get it into a card blank soon.
When I cleared out lots of craft stuff I kept all the cross stitch charts, thread, aida and some of the smaller kits that had been collected over the years. I think I might be grateful for them in the next few months.

Kindness............
My neighbours down the other end of the lane popped a note through the door with their mobile numbers just in case I needed anything as they are both classed as key workers so will be out and about. More neighbours from down on the proper road walked by when I was outside and said to call in if I needed any help and I already have the mobile numbers of my other neighbours in the lane so should be OK I reckon.



Today's Saint is GWINEAR
When St Patrick was trying to convert the Irish to Christianity in C5 he was rejected by King Clito. But the King's son Gwinear was converted and left the palace and became a hermit (Yes another hermit!). Later he took 770 men and women to spread the Christian faith in Wales and Brittany. He was martyred by Teudar a Cornish tyrant  and there is a Cornish village called Gwinear named in his memory.


I've got a final Suffolk Church Posts in drafts for tomorrow.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

42 comments:

  1. What a bother not to have your ride on mower now the grass has started to grow again. I hope it is fixed soon. If the good weather continues we should be able to get lots done outside. The little crossstitch is cute what will you do with it? I am finishing off lots of projects that have hung around for such a long time. I have about 20 rows of a cuff to knit then I can finish a cardigan I started a year or two back.

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    1. The X stitch will be a card. I hope I can get the mower done ASAP but they are always busy this time of the year

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  2. Your post has some good and happy things in it, which I think we all need to be seeing right now.

    I've seen that computer generated comment thing popping up here and there. Such stupidity.
    But for every act of selfishness, stupidity or total idiocy, the kindness of others far outweighs them. Your neighbours are good people.

    I hope you can get a mower fixed.

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    1. Wonder why anyone thinks we would take any notice of that rubbish about baby boomers - so easy to delete and ignore

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  3. Oooof! I just read through the comments to add mine, and that last one was a 'baby boomer' one! I haven't read such a load of poisonous tripe in all my born days. I didn't realize the true nastiness of the type of comment you were describing on your blog.
    I had meant to comment that blogs such as yours are a breath of fresh air and sunshine to read, especially when so many of us are staying at home. I'm going to get hold of packets of cress seeds for my son and daughter to grow in their flats as that's probably the closest they will be able to get to gardening!

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    1. I received the exact same one too, Kirsten, there are some very sad people out there. I deleted mine instantly...

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    2. Cress is a good idea + pea shoots, sprouted beans are ideas too

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  4. I got that message too - and deleted with some sadness as to the sender's state of mind/character. Imagine having a mind like that, eh?

    A nuisance about the mower - will you be able to get it repaired quickly?
    xx

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    1. I think those comments are just automatic to all blogs once they've been written and computer generated.
      The grass is growing so fast - hope the mower can get done quickly

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  5. Someone worked out that the 1 billion pounds of food actually equates to just £5 extra per person, which goes to show what havoc just a little bit of food hoarding can create.

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    1. £5 per person doesn't sound much. I don't have the maths skills to know if that is right. 1 Billion divided by 66 Million??

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    2. I think it means that normal amount accumulated is one billion less L5 x 66 million? So there is usually about 700,ooo,ooo pounds of food accumulated, rounding numbers. But I could be wrong!

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  6. I'm busy crafting too - mainly working on the bed quilt I started last year. Lots of hand stitching in it, so a slow process and the tiny star blocks were fiddly to do as well!

    I had that message too, only a shorter version - it went straight in the Spam folder. There are some sick people out there.

    Sorry about the ride-on mower - talk about bad timing!

    Never heard of that Saint, will have to check and see if he is mentioned in my books.

    We finally unpacked the plastic polytunnel we bought in January and typically, all the bits that go between the uprights are missing, and the nuts and bolts (though all present) were in there LOOSE. Tam doesn't think she will have any luck getting replacement bits so it will mean a replacement, if we can find one.

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    1. There are some saints that have probably not been heard of for decades. Hope you can bodge the polytunnel

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  7. Sue, I found your old photograph of the school staff at Stowmarket Grammar / High and need to get in touch with David Dawson who was amongst the staff (right hand end next to Des How) on your reunion picture. We recently moved back to Suffolk from many yaers away in Herefordshire. I've got his address in Cotton but not his phone or email that got lost in a move. I know this is a long shot but have you got any details? (I've tried the school but they've got no more than me. Kind Regards, Patrick Podd

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    1. HI! Welcome back to Suffolk!
      I moved back to Mid Suffolk 3 years ago after 23 years over on the coast so have not kept up with people in Cotton (we lived just round the corner from David and Jill Dawson for a few years). They are not in the phone book for Cotton, so I have no idea if they are still there or even still alive! I'm 65 and I guess they were at least 15 years older. But I do (sort-of know) someone who lived close to them and still in the phone book so could try and find out.

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    2. It would be great if you have any info. I know Jill sadly died some years ago as I met David in 2009 on a trip back to Suffolk for a 40 years reunion! It was also our 30th anniversary so the two went together, but we are now back and close to our daughter who manages the equitation centre at Otley College.

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  8. Time to think about an area of grass that could be left for wild?? Well that is our excuse as our ride on mower has been in for service for 10 days. Grass is going well even if its too cold at night for planting out veg!

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  9. Never plain sailing is it when you have a house and land to maintain.

    Our Mothering Sunday didn't go to plan either, but we were able to Facetime with our daughter and her family yesterday and I received a card during the week. Our grand-daughters were in high jinks to say the least.

    There are some obscure saints around aren't there?

    With the Coronavirus taking over our lives at present there is no way I can ignore my word for this year, which is 'Focus', lol. So, as we won't be having our youngest grand-daughter for the foreseeable future I can 'focus' on all the old and newer craft projects that are waiting. No excuses now. Loved the sea gull, reminded me of Jill (Land of the Big Sky).

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    1. I'd probably get told off by Jills DP bird watcher husband as there are really no such thing as seagulls - Black headed or Herring I think is what it is really

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  10. We had the same thing happen with our mower, not a ride on one, but the first grass cut of the year and it broke. We ended up having to buy a new one but we'd had it years so it had served us well. How lovely that people are looking out for each other through this crisis. It's heartening to know that the majority of people are kind and will help out when the chips are down.

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    1. Yes most people are not nasty , we all stop and speak when we see each other - a nice place to live

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  11. Our local council has asked everyone to not add grass clippings to the green waste bin, as it overloads both their workers and the truck. They are shortstaffed as it is. I am persuading husband to finally start our own composting (he has always been against, for some unclear reason).

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    1. I don't even have a green waste bin - everything is composted here

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  12. There is so much greed at the moment, but most is wiped out by the kindness of others. We have not heard from our younger neighbours and we are helping our 72 year old lady across the road from us, don't know how long we can supply food to her, but we will do as much as we can.

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    1. I hope everyone will soon start helping everywhere they can

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  13. Sorry to hear about your lawn mower. Not something you can fix yourself, no doubt. We also have an acre. The trimming never ends (but this morning, it's all under snow again, so no worries about that now). -Jenn

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  14. I loved reading about Saint Gwinear as my last name is Gwin and my family history shows that we originated in Wales. Live in the U.S. in the South now! Glad you and your neighbors have switched information. you never know when you or they may need to give a shout out. I'm not a hoarder, like a well stocked pantry (for times in past when family over, so I've been eating well these weeks. Most stores are giving 'seniors' the first hour in the morning to do shopping, so I'll be going out tomorrow to pick up whatever fresh fruit and vegs I can find. That's all I need right now. Plus several close by friends are always sending something over and leaving on my porch. The world has some very kind people as well as some idiots!!

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    1. Shops here are doing the same and there are some idiots taking advantage and pushing in

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  15. The anonymous baby boomer comments are ridiculous, delete as soon as you see them, that's what I do. I hate to see them there.

    I think television and the internet are a real boon at the moment. Church services being shown yesterday on both medias were lovely. Also Joe Wicks is doing morning PE Lessons for children on YouTube to exercise along to every day to use up some of their energy, there's lots of resources and lots to watch.

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    1. So many people are writing extra blog posts - I've hardly got time to read my books!!

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  16. Had to laugh about your BiL and his phone :)
    Sounds like you are managing to keep busy (hope the mower can be fixed), and finding plenty of things to do. Stay safe, Mxx

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    1. A real step into the C21 - I'll persuade him to read my blog next!

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  17. Sorry to hear about the. Mower, my neighbour cut my grass this morning which is so kind. I go to a singing group on Monday morning, we don't do concerts etc. Just a good sing song by the computer so that's something l learnt to do today - good fun. I think we are so lucky to have the technology to do these things.
    Enjoy your day everyone.
    Hazel c uk

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    1. Yes I's so glad I have my laptop to keep in touch.
      Hope the weather is good where you are too

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  18. Sorry about the mower, an acre of land needs larger and more complex machinery than our little plot.

    I just got notification of one of those comments happening on my post today. This is why I started comment moderation awhile back.

    God bless.

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    1. I phoned about the mower but no reply as to timing yet. I'm doing a bit every day with the small battery mower.

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  19. Oh how I loved this update! It's nice knowing that there is such kindness in the world. And I also liked reading about the more frustrating things too-the lawn mower, the food hoarders. We live in a small area and have recently seen an influx of out-of-towners. I wish people would really heed the warning and stay put. The Mister and I have decided on a self-quarantine of sorts. Stay well!

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  20. I usually just shrug off spam of all kinds but this anti ''boomers'' seems like true hate language, and at least here in the US hate speech is banned, it goes beyond free speech and I feel Blogger/ google should do more to get rid of it. Yes I know it is computer generated etc, but still. And--what is its purpose?

    Self isolating here, I enjoy your daily posts so much, thanks!

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  21. Your comment about BIL made my giggle. Dh said he has never spoken to so many people checking we are both ok and people sending texts and other messages.
    What rotten luck about the mower!
    I'm a lindt girl too LOL

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