There was frost on the shed roof this morning. I was not surprised. After yesterday’s positively balmy spring weather the sky remained clear and the temperature plummeted. Today has been equally springlike, despite a bit of a chill in the air first thing.
Out and about the sunshine has brought all the legs out. As a rule it’s just men who insist on wearing shorts no matter what the weather but today they were not alone. Teenage girls were showing off their legs in short shorts. Midriffs were on show too and rather too much cleavage for an early April afternoon in some cases. It is to be hoped that they all go home before the sun goes down or they might regret their choice of attire,
I was on my way to see my dentist, stopping off in the town centre for a couple of items en route. It was quite pleasant strolling about in the sunshine. Even the usually dismal looking centre looked quite cheerful in the sunshine.
Then I went on my way to the dental clinic and for the grand sum of £23.80 I had my crown stuck back in place and my smile restored - gap-toothed crone no longer!
While I waited for my five minute appointment, I saw two people come in to ask if the clinic was accepting new patients, all in vain! My advice to teenagers is to keep going for those check-ups with the dentist their parents registered them with years ago. If you carelessly miss appointments you may find yourself struck off!! Even before Brexit and Covid we had a shortage of dentists but now the situation is quite dire. Our daughter reports that she knows children at her school who have had to go to hospital to have bad teeth removed. What a sad situation! Money needs to be invested in the nation’s children’s teeth!
Meanwhile rumours abound of a plan to spend £8million on pictures of Charles Windsor for use in public buildings. Yes! £8m! A stationery shop in the town centre is already selling Union Jack flags with his face printed in the centre - for use on coronation day! Oliver Dowden, the cabinet office minister, said it was part of plans to celebrate the new reign and bring the nation together. Hmmm! As we are being brainwashed into thinking that coronation day should be a celebration for all of us, I need to find an alternative activity for that day. Long ago, on the day of the same Charles Windsor’s first wedding, we went to a “stuff-the-wedding” party, with televisions not just switched off but put away in the attic for the day. Maybe we need to organise something similar.
Some might say our grandchildren should have the chance to see some of the pomp and ceremony but, given the age of the new king, I suspect they might well see another coronation in their lifetime.
Now, here’s a link to an article about “slave cloth”. The South Yorkshire town of Penistone apparently used to produce hardwearing indigo cotton cloth which was used to make clothes for slaves. Oddly enough when we see slaves in films like “Gone with the Wind” none of the slaves seem to wear such stuff. But that may be because we only see the house slaves.
Anyway, a scrap of this fabric has been discovered and identified amongst some papers related to the slave trade.
Jo Andrews, a textiles expert, said: “Very little is known or has been written about how the millions of those who were enslaved were clothed. This small sample begins to unravel that story and tell us that it wasn’t just the rich in Britain, Ireland and Europe who benefited from slavery, but also weavers and spinners.”
I find myself thinking she should be made aware that those weavers and spinners were probably only a step up from slaver themselves.
She went on: “Very poor vulnerable families were managing to make a living out of slavery. Whether or not they knew in the beginning where their cloth was going, we don’t know.
“This is cottage industry … manufactured by very poor households, by hand, in tiny cottages and farms, and then it’s coming into Penistone, where it’s sold in the Cloth Hall, which is still there, although it’s a Boots chemist today.”
And she added: “The minute [that] emancipation came, demand for these cloths absolutely plummeted. Nobody wanted to wear them because they were badges of enslavement. Also they were extremely coarse and uncomfortable.”
There you go.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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