Home life & Tunisia and Egypt Riots

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

　
I have been hard put to write about anything cheerful in my Windows on the World. So first of all I’ll say something about my personal life not that much has happened there. But this is supposed to be for social history and needs everyday details of life even if they are repeated, which in the way of things have always been.

It may be recalled that I knitted two hats for my friend's young girls and finished two scarves to match. They, with their mother called in to collect the scarves the day before yesterday. They were well behaved on the visit although I know they can be a handful at other times. At first they were fascinated my the multitude of birds in my back garden eating me out of house and home on the winter cold day. Indeed today I spotted all at one time six blackbirds, a robin, five blue tits, a blackcap and a pigeon resting on our fence all puffed up to keep warm. Bad pic taken on my phone. He comes and sits there most days.

                          
They appeared to love the scarves and I heard later one of them wanted to wear it to bed. We chatted on what they wanted to do in life, one a physical education teacher and the other a doctor but they are young yet, plenty of time to change their minds. One liked art so had a look at my computer art. I don’t know if I did right but I took the opportunity to warn them that difficult times were around the corner and they would not be able to have everything they wanted, I tried to make it clear it was not the fault of their mum and dad whom I know are going though difficult times, job loss and so on. I felt it might help if it came from somebody outside of the family. I gained some amazed looks when I told them I had lived through the second world war and knew what it was like to live in austere times. Heavens, I must have looked like something out of the arc to them.

Oh yes, I went back to Slimming Club last Wednesday and had put on more than 8 pounds since before Christmas. Not surprised as I had my operation to contend with, then bitter cold weather and then CHRISTMAS. No chance to stay slim. Now back on ‘The Plan’ and trying to lose it again.
　
Other than that visit life has been quiet and going along as usual. Lots of knitting, I finished the first glove I have ever knitted. I thought it would be difficult so have never tried to knit them. It seems to have come out OK. Had shopping delivered from Tescos via the Internet and today David took me to Teignmouth for things I had forgotten to order or can’t get from Tescos. Watched a bit of TV and listened to the Radio.

Heard a good play on radio this afternoon about the pope in the war time failing to condemn the Germans for the killing of the Jews. It was in 1942 and I had no idea that we knew so much about what was happening that early in the war. Somehow I have always felt some guilt for the Holocaust even though I was only a child and not on that side during the war. Silly I know but perhaps it was because during the war we were close friend of a Jewess who had escaped pre war with her mother. Later I remember finding a book with pictures of Belsen and the piles of bodies. The shock has stayed with me and I could not say anything to my parents as I knew I was not supposed to look at the book and they had been careless and left it out.
　
Window on the World

First riots Tunisia and now Egypt which all the pundits say is more important to the stability of the Middle East. Which North African state next? Will they go down like dominoes? A powder keg and no mistake.

A British tennis player has reached the finals of the Australian Grad Slam. He is Scottish if he does not win and British if he does! So far he has never won a grand slam poor boy.

More horrific was a newsreel about a man and woman being stoned to death for adultery in Taliban held territory in Afghanistan. The worst was not shown but enough to know why such extremism is a terrible thing. It upset me. I’ll say no more.

So the Russian Airport bomber where many were injured and killed was a man not a woman. He was from the North Caucasus which is what I expected in Russia.

The weekend is here and they say there will be some bright sunshine although it will be cold, that is before the rain and wind comes in from the Atlantic. Oh yes they say we didn’t get enough rain in 2010 and there may be drought conditions- does it ever end? Don't know if I can walk as the cold has brought on arthritis badly in my ankle and also in my shoulder. Agony last night , had to take some pain killers.

Bad News on the Doorstep

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

　
My windows on the world seem all doom and gloom but then what’s new? Media doesn’t find much change in giving good news. Our new coalition government is trying to get our national debt put right but cutting anything and everything – very quickly. The opposition want to go on borrowing and cut later – or at least that was what was in their manifesto in the last election – which they lost. They want us, the people, to go out and spend yet have cut jobs by the tens of thousands and say there are more to go, and taxed us to the hilt. Nobody feels safe enough to spend any money they have in case they will need it in the next few years. Today figures were down on what was expected, whoops from the opposition and lots of ‘I told you so's’. Fuel is the highest price ever known and so all travel in cars is limited. It means all goods that have to be transported will have to go up in price to pay for it and we the people will be screwed down pretty tight.

Our food production is even in question apparently. They say by 2050 there will be 9 billion people in the world – luckily I will not be one of them. I heard it said on the radio we in this country are only nine meals away from starvation because of the way our shops are now supplied every day by road. Well I lived through days when we very nearly starved. My childhood was filled with always being hungry. (World War 2) Perhaps that is why I find it hard not to eat food now. But we survived even on minimum food rations that were so small a family would probably eat it in one meal in developed countries today. And half the world goes to bed hungry. Always makes me feel guilty.

There has been another suicide bomber in Moscow Airport, they say it’s a woman and probably one of the Caucasus region Black Widows, women who have had a relation killed. I cannot imagine walking to ones death like that and taking so many with you. I am not sure the type of war we have these days isn’t worse than the one I lived through. I cannot see how you can ‘fight it’. Yet we must or the whole world will live in constant fear.

I bought a news paper last week that was advetised as new and relatively cheap. Turned out it was an old newspaper with a new name. I really didn't find anything interesting in it or that I hadn't heard on my radio or seen on TV. Shan't buy another, not worth it.

So as I said news is not good. Personally things are not too bad. I finished two scarves on my new knitting board for my friends two young girls. I have now to concentrate on David’s sweater which is very complicated and drives me mad. I got my tread mill out and did an exercise walk on it. Can't run as Doctor said it won’t do my new knee joints any good. Also walked the dog so got some exercise. David was out all day but is home tomorrow.

                                            

Re-joining Twitter and my fight with Dyslexia

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

　
Just about to write my blog and you might guess it – David has just come in and wants his lunch. Until later.
                                                           ----------
It’s now later and David will be off again in a while. As mentioned elsewhere he works on a Saturday and our weekend is Sunday – Monday.

David mentioned that he wanted to join Twitter so he could follow his favourite Grand Prix racing drivers. I used to be on Twitter but got fed up with it and closed it down. It is a social network site where you are supposed to put up what you are doing supposedly all the time. Hmm. I don’t think so. It is the same with Facebook but the trouble is now lots of programmes on TV and radio say go to ‘My Twitter or Facebook page’.

So I recently joined Facebook and last night I rejoined Twitter under a slightly different name. If I bothered with them all the time I would have even less time to do anything else constructive which might have tangible results. However I did go back to follow Stephen Fry and even sent a tweet reply on his last tweet. Brave!

I often think of something that would be interesting to write about and when I sit down I can’t remember what it is. I put it down to the dreaded old age creeping on but the other day I caught up with a programme I had recorded featuring Kara Tointon and her Dyslexia. Now this young lady has just won a series called ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ in which she was truly wonderful. She examined all sides of her problem particularly re reading and maths, and her troubles when young of being thought stupid.

Well she taught this old dog some new tricks I can tell you. I suffered agonies when young from school teachers and my father. Maths still pass right over my head in anything save simple arithmetic and spelling eludes me (God bless the person who invented the spell check!) Like Kara I was good at anything arty or physical. My mother had taught me to read very early in life and by four I could read almost anything. BUT she had taught me by the shape of the word and not dealt with the spelling. I can read at almost speed reading speed but I still cannot spell certain words. One of those is ‘school’ I still put scool. Did it just now.

I have tried to improve during my life and since the invention of home computers I definitely have got better. Even to the point of having two books published one by a top publisher. Of course it was after my dad had died so I never got to say ‘not completely stupid dad’.

But there were other things Kara taught me. Like her, I was unremittingly untidy in my younger days and in the Air Force it got me into all sorts of trouble. I, again like her was good at all things physical and to do with arts and crafts. In fact after a year at Art School I became a Physical Training Instructess in the WRAF. Arts and crafts have been my hobbies all my life. But there is a certain destructive element in my character that makes me chop and change. I am doing this at one time and something else pretty soon after. I have tried to stick to one thing but it never works and I think, according to this program, my dyslexia is something to do with it. Problems also with short term memory.

To make matters worse dyslexia can be inherited and my son did just that. Luckily, like Kara, he found some coloured glasses that help him and he now has lots of letters after his name and I am very proud of him. Me, I have had to fight though on my own and am proud of my abilities with computers and crafts. I love writing and don’t think I am too bad at it. I hope by 2525 children will never suffer as kids still do today being thought stupid and even ostracised for it my their school mates and bullied.

One thing my dear old dad did give me was a full vocabulary but he never understood why I could not spell it. He would send me back my spelling mistakes in letters I had sent hime at the age of forty! I think he was able because he had been taught Latin and Greek. I had a terrible education which started just as the second world war broke out. Between bombs and poor teachers I learnt nothing. Thank goodness mother had taught me to read.

Some of my Computer Art photo taken at Exeter Musuem and artwork done on Photoshop. Have acually sold a hard copy of this.

          

A Bright Blue Day

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

We woke up this morning and there was a clear blue sky. As David didn’t have any work until the afternoon we quickly had our breakfast, checked that the tide was low and set off to walk along the Teignmouth sea wall. I took a flask of hot chocolate drink with us and biscuits for the dog. It was chilly but so lovely and bright. Beginning to get SAD disease with so little sunshine in the past few weeks.
The sea wall looking toward Teignmouth. A bit washed out as I was taking itinto the sun and only on my phone camera.

    

We got back in time to have a little sit down and then after lunch David when off to work and didn’t get back till after seven O’clock. I sat and tried to get to grips with a cable jersey I had decided to knit for David. It is more complicated than I thought it would be and I have undone it several times having gone wrong with the twisting pattern. Yesterday I made up a grid on paper to write down every row which has helped a bit but I still went wrong. Poor David is going to wait rather a long time for his new Jersey I think.

My Computer repair man was due to come at four but like all computer repair men, I have found, he was an hour late. His previous jobs always seem to over run and if you are at the end of his list he is late. Not too much wrong with our main computer, he cleaned it up and put in an extension wire for our wireless keyboard and mouse that had been jumping all over the place. Apparently it had been crossing with something else. Personally I can deal with using computers and software quite well but it mechanics are completely beyond me so hence the computer repair man. Actually Sam it great and very clever with computers in fact we bought our main computer from him and so far it has been great.

Poor Pakistan – what karma does it have? An earthquake, a flood and now another earthquake. I feel very sorry for them. I am a great supporter of Shelterbox partly because the help is quick and direct to the people who need it, secondly all money donated goes to the work. It started here in the West Country by a man in Cornwall. I wish I was nearer so I could offer my services when there is a disaster going on. Another thing is that even if you only send a small donation they write back a thanks telling you where you money has been used, With all the disasters lately it is a charity that is needed.
Prices on everything are rising astronomically particularly car fuel. Everything else is going up as well. Belt tightening time is here.

How will the future view us?

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

15/1/2011

I was ironing and watching a programme I had recorded where some people were acting out living on an Edwardian farm down here in Devon at Morwelham Quay, Living History I think they call it. I was particular interested as it was in our own county. Some time before the same three people had lived a year on a ‘Victorian Farm’ in Shropshire and that had been equally as fascinating. One difference though. Some of the things they used in this one were still around when I was a girl in the nineteen forties.

Set me thinking how you in years to come will reconstruct our lives in the early 2000s. How will you think of our flat screens that we think so good when you possibly have holographs acting out a play in the corner of your room? How will you look at our clothes that we have to wash and iron when you either have clothes that self clean and or throw away clothes and have new ones every day made by a computer or robot. Will you think all our housework to keep our houses clean a great laugh? Will you think our attempts at communication hilarious.

I often quote an experiment I read about at Duke University in USA. A Professor and some of his students were rigged up with a computer and had a connection to all the others built into a head set. It was viewed in one side of a pair of glasses worn all the time. The group built up a rapport that was as close to them as breathing. When the experiment ended they were almost bereft of their intimate connection with their class mates.

This was some years ago but I can now see it happening particularly to the young via their mobile phones and even older folk as well. They always want to be in contact with their groups in some form, text, phone, email, video and so on. If you see someone with their hand close to their ear you immediately think they are on their mobile.
So will you future people have it plumbed into your brain soon after birth and have to be ‘In Contact’ all your lives? The outcome could be mankind will change and become telepathic if not in reality then by being hot wired.

So here I am tapping in this writing on a keyboard and seeing it on a screen. Even I have moved beyond a hard copy on paper. We you in a hundred years time reconstruct my sort of life and watch it on your ……what ever you watch it on.
Of course you may be back in the dark ages and just find our detritus puzzling.

The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, a wonerdful bit on 21st century engineering.  It lift whole canal boats to a higher level or brings them back down. It was pouring with rain the day we went there.

                               

                      
. 　

Hairdressers

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

12/1/2011
　
A morning at home doing the usual sorts of things. David had appointment so was out of the way. He came home for lunch, After lunch he drove me to Teignmouth for my hair dressers appointment. Had a wander around as I was early and after getting money out of a hole in the wall machine I went to have a coffee only to find my favourite coffee house had closed down. I found another which I didn’t like too much and the coffee although cheaper was muck.

After a nice visit to the hair dresser I called David who was home by then to come and fetch me home. We met in the Co-op store after I had bought a few bit and pieces.

About five O’clock we had a cook up. We made a soup with root vegetables and the last of the Roast chicken plus lentils and condiments. At the same time we made up a spaghetti bolognese with a tin of tomatoes and mince beef. I had bought. Had it with pasta, very nice.

World News
The floods in Australia are getting worse and a friend reminded me that a mutual friend was in the middle of it visiting relations. Hope she is OK. It has moved down to Brisbane and was like Boscastle only 8 times worse. Cars floating off down the river torrents. Here at home we are in for more and more rain ourselves. 60 cm forecast by this time tomorrow. Thank goodness we live on a hilltop. For me it makes my joints ache so I shall stay in and keep warm.

Art work of mine from a photo of a summer steam train that ocmes thugh our town on Sundays.

              

Weekend walks and being lazy. Shooting in USA

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

　
11/1/2011
After spending up on Saturday we had a quiet Sunday. The weather suddenly had one of those beautiful winter days we get here in Devon. It was still with a calm sea and there was blue sky and sunshine. When that happens here we take a walk with the dog along the sea wall to Teignmouth. You gradually undo winter coats and strip off hats and scarves as you get too warm on one side but still feel the chilled on the other. When we get to Teignmouth there is a kiosk we always patronise for a the best hot chocolate drink in town which we take off to sit on a bench and drink.

I enjoyed our walk but found I became a little dizzy and felt sick. I think it was too much exercise after being very sedentary for several weeks. Got home OK but was glad to get in and sit down. We cooked a roast chicken dinner in the evening and watched the new ‘Dancing on Ice’ programme of the celebrities making chumps of themselves. Two got pushed out and we thought they were the right ones.

David works on Saturdays which tends to make Sunday Saturday and Monday, which he takes off, our Sunday, if you see what I mean. We woke up to a totally different day, Grey, fast moving clouds and rain. At lunch time we noticed a break in the clouds and went out for a quick walk to blow the cobwebs away. Nearby we have a small park with an avenue of old trees set closed to each other with a path in between. As we started down it the wind was blowing in from the sea and bending the trees in an alarming way. Several have come down in the past but we went to the bottom of the park, looked at the foaming white horses out to sea and turned round to come home. What a change from Sunday’s calm sea. This is typical of British weather and particularly down here in South Devon. Good job we went when we did as it rained hard for the rest of the day and all night. Below avenu of trees and path in spring time, yes, and that dog.

                           

Didn’t do much else other than I have been knitting on my new board like mad. I have finished a scarf for my friend’s little girl to match the hat I made her. Now I have to make one for the other sister. But I am going to tryout my new thicker wool first. Had a go at the pattern for David’s new sweater – I think I have bitten off more that I can chew – it’s a cable stitch and quite difficult. Going to have to do it now I have spent out for the wool!

Now Tuesday and David has gone off to work. The weather has improved today. I am having a lazy morning and have bought my breakfast upstairs and gone back to bed and am now writing this blog. I have an appointment for the hairdressers this afternoon and have to collect my prescription pills from the chemist. I have low thyroid trouble and have been on pills for it for some years now. Thank goodness for modern medicine or I would be miserable most of the time with a temperament that fluctuated.

World news is mainly the shooting of a congress woman in the USA. She was holding some sort of meeting outside of a Safeway’s store for her constituents to meet her and a young man started shooting at her. He wounded her in the head but she is surviving at present. But he killed six bystanders including a little girl of nine and a Judge. As he was trying to reload some brave people pulled the gun away from him and detained him so this time he couldn’t kill himself and he will stand trial. It is very hard for us in the UK to understand the way the US citizens have the ‘Right to bear Arms’ . I heard a pundit on the radio saying that it was something laid down in the seventeen hundreds and perhaps it was not really relevant to modern times. Another USA man said it kept America ‘Safe’. Hmm. I am glad we don’t have guns for everybody here is all I can say. We have had enough mass shootings here anyway.

A Day out Shopping

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

8/1/2011

Went Saturday shopping just like I did in my younger days. I went to our little market town of Newton Abbot and it was market day. Not the animal market, That’s on Wednesdays, but the market square was full of traders.
David had to go on an appointment in a town nearby so he dropped me off. I wanted to go to the only decent knitting wool shop in the district. Really got the knitting board bug now and I wanted some thicker wool which is supposed to be the right wool for it, not the thinner one I am using. Had a lovely time choosing wools and patterns and talking with the owner. She had never heard of my knitting board and I think I quite interested her. I must have spent nearly an hour in there and over £20,00!
From there I had a quick call into the craft shop which was only two doors away and got some white card for making my handmade cards, only £1.20 here. David was due to come back and meet me for lunch so I wandered around the indoor market hall and the outdoor market where I saw some reasonably priced dog walking shoes for David, his had just got a hole in them this morning. Shoes cannot be mended these days at least not the moulded trainer type.
I phoned David on my mobile to see if he was going to be long but got no answer. Decided he must be driving and it is illegal to use the mobile while driving. While waiting to try again I found a kiosk jewellers shop that sold reasonably priced watches. One had lovely dark thick black hands which I knew I could see even without my glasses, I have astigmatism. Bought it for £4,50 and am well pleased as I am rough on watches and its not worth me paying more.
David phoned to say he had arrived and was parking the car, soon he joined me. I showed him the shoes and he bought a pair for £20.00 Then we went to a very nice pizza café which was very busy but we were lucky and found a table. We had the snack sized pizzas, David had sea food on his and I had pineapple and extra cheese, not good for my weight loss but….. The meal cost around £14. During the meal I chatted about my wool purchases and showed David a pattern I had bought for a mans pullover in cable stitch Arran wool. He liked it so much we went back to the wool shop and bought some lovely wine coloured wool, that was another £20, so now I have a long job on my hands. I told him it would have to be for next winter! This one is on ordinary knitting needles not on my new board.
I said ‘home James’ before we spent any more money but I had enjoyed myself, it not often I get to do some fun shopping. Got home and David had another appointment to go to and I had to walk the dog, at least the sun was out which was lovely after all the grey weather. Below my dog, she is ten this year but still like a puppy.

                        

Lazy January Days

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..
These January days have been short, dark and wet and I have not felt like doing much. The radio and television are full of ‘are you keeping up your new year resolutions?’ I didn’t really make one because I always put on weight at Christmas and have to get back on my eating plan in the first days of the year anyway. It is not really so surprising that for most people the resolution is to lose weight as they have just announced that a quarter of the people in this country are obese or at least over weight. With half the world starving the other half can’t stop eating something is wrong somewhere.

I myself have spent the last two to three years losing 4 stone in weight. As some of the programmes have been saying, it is not hard to lose weight – what is hard is keeping it off. I have watched and listen to advice, belong to a ‘Fat Club’ called Slimming World, (Which is very good by the way) but along comes the Christmas or summer holidays and on goes half a stone just like that. I hope one day that they find some way of keeping weight off yet allowing one to enjoy some of the pleasures of food.

One of my hobbies is knitting and I finished off two hats with hearts moffits for my friend’s two young girls which they picked up today. I think they liked them and I hope they weren’t just being polite. But yesterday I started a new kind of knitting for me called ‘knitting board knitting. It is a series of nails in a board that you wind the wool around and loop stitches over the nails to make double sided knitting, My first go was not so good but I think I have the way of it now. I am making scarves to match the hats, well that is all the wool I have in stock. You can see what I mean on www.knittingboard.com This is my first go on the knitting board.

                    

Vat up to 20%

3/1/20011

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

News that does affect me and mine tonight is that the VAT tax is going up by two and a half percent to 20%. That is the highest as far as I can remember It affects us mostly on car fuel and our electricity and gas bills. Well of course all our bills come to that. I will have to keep a sharp eye on our out goings for a while. This is all because we, as a country, are in terrible debt and the VAT hike is supposed to help pay it off. I’ll bet it doesn’t go down again unless there are more riots and that’s a possibility. Thank God I am too old for any protesting now.

The floods in Australia are getting worse and the peek is expected today or tomorrow. I suppose it is their tomorrow by now.

Another quiet day for me. David went out on one appointment but the weather didn’t entice me at all, Still wet and cold. No sun now for five days. Indeed more snow on Dartmoor above us and in Scotland. I tried to finish the second hat with hearts on but went wrong on the last line of pattern and had to undo most of it. (Swear word). Tomorrow I shall try to go on the local bus to Dawlish to get a bit of food shopping. I am all over the place with the food shop because of the Christmas holiday. I usually either get it on line at Tescos and delivered or David takes me to Teignmouth. We more or less shop for a week and store it in the fridge or freezer.

I am back to trying to eat to a plan as I have put on weight eating too much this Christmas. I heard a text on a radio show today. A lady said

‘I have three sizes of clothes in my wardrobe, one fat, one medium and one small. I have manage to only get the medium clothes after out this Christmas.’

Oh I know how she feels, some of my clothes are a little more than tight this year. I will be going back to ‘Fat Club’ as soon as the weather is better. I need help. I’ll write more on this subject of the Fat Club later.

New Years Day 2011

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings about ordinary life and is intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

2/1/2011
The weather yesterday, New Years Day, was grey and horrible. I stayed in and was lazy. My husband, David, had some appointments for his work to do but I only did was some washing and a bit of cooking. Later I sat watching the television (TV) and did some knitting. I have taken to doing quite a lot of knitting this winter to keep my fingers moving, I have arthritis. I made a hat for my friend’s little girl and now have to make a second for the sister, They have hearts going round the crown which the youngsters today seem to love,

The TV was not that good, it never is on these holidays. Mostly films which I am not interested in. They are nearly all old ones of second or even third rate. I cannot guess how many times they have shown The Towering Inferno. Later we did wallow in several programmes about the comedians Morcambe and Wise including a play about their youth. I miss their humour which was clever and clean. You could watch it with your grandmother as the saying goes. Indeed I did watch it with my aged father one year at Christmas and we laughed ourselves silly. Have decided to buy a DVD of their Christmas shows.

I know there will be many places to find world or local news in the future but here this is as it appears to me from my sources, you could say what impinges on me from my windows on the world.
World news is short at holidays on TV so I got most of it from the radio which I have on quietly under my pillow at night. After having had a long drought there is a terrible flood in Queensland, Australia which they say covers land the size of France and Germany put together. Many towns are inundated and now a woman has been found dead. The people are warned in going back to their homes to be careful of snakes, spiders and crocodiles!

Here in the UK we have had a riot at an open prison in Sussex. The prisoners set fire to the prison and had to be subdued by riot forces. Apparently 500 of them were only guarded at night by two prison warders. The prisoners go out and buy alcohol which is now being blamed for the violence and riot. I cannot think that open prisons were different in the past. I remember being told by somebody who had been an inmate in such a prison that they walked out over the fields behind the prison to meet and have sex with girl friends and wives. Julie

Later 23.40

Doing the washing in 2011

When ever I see or read the social history of any period there are always descriptions of how day to day things were done such as preparing food, doing washing, clothes worn, shopping etc. So I shall start with how I in 2011 keep my clothes and linen clean.

David and I throw our dirty clothes in a laundry box as we take them off. From there I take them to a front loading washing machine in my kitchen which has various wash, rinse and spin cycles. It holds fairly large load that takes about an hour and 20 minutes to two hours to wash depending on which cycle I choose. During the week I usually do one load a day. This is mainly because in the winter I have to dry my clothes on an airier at the top of the stairs where there is an electric heater. In the summer I take it out to the garden where I have a rotary washing line and I can save on electric heat. I wash our sheets, duvet covers and towels etc. once a week. Many people have tumble dryers either as part of the washing machine or a separate machine. I am not so lucky.

Using my electric iron I try to do my ironing once a week which often takes me a whole morning. This may be partly because I am getting older and I have some pains plus I am slower than I used to be, but I get it done. I use a washing powder which gets biological stains out which I know is not so good for the environment but I do use a lower heat setting on the machine, I also use a softener in the last rinse.

What a difference to the past even in my own life time. I don’t quite go back to the copper and washing dolly but I boiled all my whites and such things as my baby’s nappies in a bucket. I didn’t even have a mangle until someone gave me an old Edwardian mangle with large woodern rollers. You couldn’t put anything through that had buttons on as it broke them, only flat linens but at least it was a help. I moved up to a top loader and electric mangle after a few years. In my very early life we didn’t wash everything like we do now mainly because we didn’t have so many things. The rule was ‘On on, one off and one in the wash. My school blouse was worn for a week as was my underwear, At one time in my younger days I used a Victorian flat iron which was heated on the gas ring!

I still dislike doing washing and ironing but after 70 years have become accustomed to it. It is really so much easier now.  Julie

History for the Future - Mission Statement

I am a magpie for all things historical. I love to know why something is like it is or how a phrase came into use. It set me wondering about how people of the future would look at our plethora of information. No finding of hard copy diaries or writings, all electronic. Perhaps I should try to leave something electronic behind which might throw light on how an ordinary person lived in 2011. I am not talking about people in 50 or even a hundred years time but 500 years or more when my house may only be a mark under the ground showing up on an archaeological machine.
     But how to save it? People leave time capsules buried for future historians to find because the artefacts may survive. Written words have survived thousands of years. But will they in the future have any machines left that will read our electronic words of today: and they say CD discs etc. will deteriorate. Yet they say that writings of the time are more useful than artefacts. Of course they will have photos and movies or at least some of them may survive. Yet I can see already how wrong the young historians are getting the history of the second world war from looking at films.
     So how to leave it and where? I have been writings this ‘History for the Future’ for some months now and storing it on line as a file. If I don’t go to the files for a certain length of time I am told they will be wiped so what good is that? (If anyone has any ideas about this problem please contact me) Meanwhile I have decided to start this as a blog and write it for a year. Here I am on the 1^st of January 2011 starting just that. I understand blogs stay on line as long as the place where you put the blog is still in existence. Later I may publish the blog on Lulu.com so there is a hard copy as well.
I am a 75 year of woman living a very quiet life in Devon with my husband. I am retired and he still works as he is younger than myself. I intend to write about life today as I see it, sometimes very close personal stuff and sometimes what is happening though my windows on the world, those being television, radio and internet. I don’t bother much with newspapers these days and only see the local give away and an occasional magazine. I do not set myself up as an expert of any kind but just like to write about – things.
     I may bring in some personal memories as a matter of interest or to show how things have changed in my lifetime but my other blog -–New Thoughts-Old Memories tends to cover this more – if I can find the time to write it. I am still a busy housewife and have to look after my husband.

     I see from trying to set up this blog I am not the first one to think of a project like this however I shall still have a go at it. Maybe I shall write something for today later on. For now - A Very Happy New Year to one and all.

     Below my first photo for this project of migrating Fieldfare in the rowen tree by my home. We love to bird watch.