I was in two minds about going to Bacton WI on Monday evening because the speaker was the lady who came to talk to Over 60's in my village a few months ago. She's an Ipswich Tour Guide and showed slides of the buildings around Ipswich and their history.
But I'm glad I went because this talk was completely different. At the Over 60's she did Ipswich buildings then and now and on Monday it was all about the people from history who had had a hand in shaping Ipswich and where they had lived. Ipswich and it's port were very important for the export of wool back in the 15th and 16th Centuries and many wealthy people had homes built there. Coincidentally one of the people she mentioned had somehow come into possession of some of the Bury St Edmunds Abbey manuscripts after the dissolution, that later went to Pembroke College Cambridge and she asked had anyone been to see them on loan to the Cathedral - and I was the only person who knew what she was taking about.
At last, at last, I finally got back to swimming. After moving it seemed a long way even though it was only about 3 or 4 miles further and the lane swimming times were a bit odd but with the schools not using the pool this term there were a few more opportunities to go. Luckily I'd not forgotten how to swim but blimey it was hard work! Now I need to go regularly for a while to help me feel a bit fitter.
I'm ready for entering some things in the produce show now after picking up the schedule that was in his Parish Magazine from Brother-in-Law
Just need my tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes to grow and be ready at the right moment. There's baking to enter too and perhaps photographs.
This week I have been grateful for
- Some sunshine to enjoy
- The first few strawberries from my tubs
Flowers on the shelves this week are some of the smaller side flowering shoots from the huge Foxglove right by the shed door.
Oddest thing seen this week - (because I was standing in the queue behind her waiting to get my £1 car park fee back because I'd forgotten to hand the ticket in at the checkout - Asda Stowmarket don't own the car park) was a very elderly lady buying £35 of lottery tickets ......£35 !! good grief. What would I do with a spare £35? NOT lottery tickets for sure! (although someone will be sure to remind me about how much lottery money goes to "good causes"!)
I remember, when the Lottery first started in the 1990s. Young mums (with children in my class) in real poverty were collecting their benefits in the post office, then buying tickets in the desperate hope of escaping their lifestyle. None ever did. I have never bought a lottery ticket in my life. As William Wilberforce said "it is a tax on the poor"
ReplyDeleteI've never bought one either. Prefer to give to charity directly and anyway the chances of winning are so very low.
DeleteAnd there is the opposite problem. What happened if you won millions and had to administer it between everyone?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I would manage! - pay off the children's mortgages for a start
Delete£35!! Goodness - maybe she was buying for a whole group (is syndicate the word?) of colleagues or friends. Actually, probably not work colleagues if she was that elderly. We used to have one at school and I did contribute for a while and we did win small amounts but not enough for a good share out, it just went back into the pot and we didn't pay the following week or whatever . . .
ReplyDeleteI do have money in Premium bonds though and have won several lots of £25 - probably giving me a better rate of interest than anything else over the past few years.
Loving the strawberries. xx
I guess like Cathy says below - have to give her benefit of the doubt. Still seems a lot of money to me
Delete£35 on lottery tickets seems excessive but that's just me I guess. Still a bit early for my strawberries, yours look great! :-)
ReplyDelete£1 on lottery tickets is enough for me and thats at WI with a better chance of a prize!
DeleteWe’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and think maybe she’s getting them for someone else (if you’re going up town could you do me a favour)
ReplyDeleteIf she was putting it on for herself, £35 equates to about 61AUD, a hefty sum out of an aged pension…..makes you wonder doesn’t it.
There are a lot of people who wouldn't want to spend that much on lottery tickets - me included. I wonder how many do that every week
DeleteThe only time I ever bought lottery tickets was as a Christmas gift one year to my nieces and nephews. Just $1 scratch off cards to add to their treats. I don't think any of the tickets were winners tho! :)
ReplyDeleteNot a lot of chance of winning anywhere on any lotteries - or the companies that run them would be out of business!
DeleteAm I the only peron who has never bought a lttery ticket?
ReplyDeleteNo I've never bought one either! or Ang in the first comment, so that makes 3 very quickly
DeleteBuying a lottery ticket can be a form of entertainment for the buyer, the same as purchasing a film ticket. The elderly lady may have more money than she knows how to use after buying everything she needs ad wants. Or, more likely, she may have an obsession, a drug habit, for it which she can't control. And, Sue, "it's" = "it is" while "its" is "of it". Not too old to learn. Roderick
ReplyDeleteWell Bor, Us don't give a dam 'bout ol' apostrophes in Suffolk!
DeleteThat is one reason why they voted for Boris Johnson, the human embodiment of the misused "it's". And look where their carelessness has got them! Roderick
DeleteThat is a great deal of money to spend on lottery tickets!! Like you I could find a better use for that kind of cash.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed the WI meeting.
God bless.
Those Foxgloves look lovely near your beautiful jugs, they highlight the colours so well. I sometimes think how nice it would be to win a million or two, and then I remember that to do that, nearly a million people have to have put their money in, and won nothing ... and why would I be the one to win? And I go and buy a coffee instead!
ReplyDeleteVirginia
Your WI speaker sounds very interesting. I wish we had WI. Swimming is excellent and I'm glad you enjoyed the pool. It's great exercise. I love to swim too. No lottery tickets for me either. The chances of winning are slim, so why bother.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me how some people can spend so much on lottery tickets. Perhaps they think having more tickets will increase their chance of winning something big? Certainly not my choice of how to spend money!
ReplyDelete