When our children were small one of the things we liked to do when we visited my parents in Southport was to go to the Land of the Little People, a model village. Yesterday we took a trip down memory lane and visited another model village, Bekonscot, in Buckinghamshire. We’re visiting the southern branch of the family for a few days and organising child-friendly activities for the small cousins to be involved in. There should be photos when I return home and have use of the main computer again. Watch this space.
For a good deal of the time the two older cousins set up games such as hide and seek that the smaller one manfully joins in with. Even I find myself roped into this activity. And this afternoon, after a morning out and about at the local market and then in the park, the three children have been busy tie-dying T-shirts. Messy but fun. And we had to be very careful not to spill colours on the wooden floor - a huge sheet of plastic pinned down with masking tape saved it from major problems.
After a lovely sunny day yesterday, today has been grey and miserable but that has not prevented us from walking down into the town centre and back again. The Saturday market here very impressive.
Out in the wider world, chaos continues. I read about a woman in Salford who had her window smashed by a flying brick because she displayed a Palestinian flag. A good friend of nibe was planning on putting a flag in her widow and is thinking twice about it now. Much is being made of a rise in antisemitic attack since the Gaza conflict began but it seems that it’s not just the Jewish community that is suffering. The world (and our own country) has become a more aggressive place.
My Italian friends are growing excited about the selection of a singer to represent them on the Eurovision Song Contest. A number of people have been saying thar Israel should be excluded from the contest this year. On the other hand, a number of famous people such as Helen Mirren and Boy George have signed an open letter supporting that country”s inclusion.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/feb/15/gene-simmons-helen-mirren-boy-george-sign-
Personally I never quite understood why Israel was involved in the first place. One explanation offered says:
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public service broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East. It is a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has participated in the contest for 50 years.”
I’m still not convinced. After all, no other Middle Eastern public broadcasters are involved as far as I know.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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