Another icon gone. Election stuff. Wine producers’ problems.

Françoiise Hardy est morte! 

That’s another icon of our youth gone. Back in 1963 she represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest, at a point when I was discovering I could understand at least some of the foreign language songs in the contest. Does that still work? I wonder. I get the impression that many of the artistes sing in English, regardless of their nationality. And do youngsters learning French or Spanish or German still seek out songs whose lyrics they can try to figure out? 

And Françoise Hardy was singing when it wasn’t obligatory for a young female singer to dress outrageously, wearing as little as possible. Mostly she looked like one of us, perhaps a bit more polished and very beautiful but still recognisably a girl you might have gone to school with.  

And when she managed to stop being totally manipulated by the music industry she wrote her own songs and was quite an example to young feminists. And something of a fashion icon as well. 

I’m not inspired by young singers around today. Maybe I’m just too old for them.

Some news reports are talking as if a Labour Victory in the upcoming election is a done deal, talking confidently about Rachel Reeves moving smoothly from Shadow to actual Chancellor. We shall see! 

And some people even think the weather has turned against Rishi Sunak:

“Rishi Sunak must be cursing the British weather. He got soaked to the skin when announcing the general election outside 10 Downing Street last month. Now it appears wet weather has brought a halt to the UK’s economic recovery.” 

Apparently “the economy would have grown in April had it not been for a 1.7% drop in construction output and a 2% fall in retail activity. Both declines were almost certainly weather-related.

That’s not to say the economy would have exactly been booming had April not been so cold and wet. Manufacturing output, which is not affected by the weather, fell by 1.7%.”

Thinking of the weather, I have just heard a weatherman on the radio say that once again today’s temperature is below average! Indeed! I don’t expect to wear gloves in June, but that was the case as we walked to Uppermill this morning. So it goes!

Meanwhile, in Italy they are having problems in wine-growing regions. Some farmers are taking measures to protect their crops, putting nets on vine growing terraces to guard the grapes against hail, and planting fig trees to shade the grapes and cool the vines in periods of very hot weather. There’s a reason trees were planted in vineyards from 100 years ago, says Prosecco producer Paola Ferraro. “It’s not just because they look good.”

Its all part of the environmental problem which so many people are ignoring.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!