The wind and the rain. Things in the garden. The Bayeux tapestry. NEETS, education, phones and AI in general.

It was raining when I went to bed last night. It may well have rained all night. When I woke up this morning it was not just raining x it was positively torrential. I gave up on the idea of running round the village and did some indoor exercises instead. Not quite as satisfying but there it is.

Later in the morning, after breakfast, in a lull in the weather (it’s very windy again and consequently the weather keeps changing) I stepped out into the garden to check on the progress of my stray sunflower. All good!

The next door neighbours’ son and his girlfriend were removing water from the roof of the gazebo which was erected in the garden early in the summer. It has served as a sunshade and as protection from the rain. In the spells of hot weather clothes were hung out there to dry overnight. The son and his girlfriend shelter there to smoke when it rains. The overnight rain had collected in the roof of the gazebo, stretching and weighing down the fabric.

I read that King Charles and President Macron had a visit to the Bayeux tapestry yesterday. Did they speak French or English, or maybe a mixture of the two? I wonder. Anyway, here is a Bayeux tapestry related cartoon:

Simon Jenkins was writing in todays’s Guardian about NEETs, the young people not in employment, education or training, calling for a change in the way we prepare our young people for adult life. Here’s a link to his article. 

I was particularly struck by this section:

   “I used to notice pupils at my local secondary breaking up for the day. They would burst through the gates conversing in twos, threes or larger groups. These groups would merge and dissolve down the street like clouds. I liked to see them as a metaphor for the economy at work.

Today those same groups are quite different, composed of pupils with heads buried in phones and with just a few of them shouting into the air. The American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, in “The Anxious Generation” finds this a universal facet of younger generations on both sides of the Atlantic. Social media is denying them the art of conversation, of intellectual tolerance. It is electronic introversion and there is no GCSE in that – let alone a job interview. These phones must disappear.”

Coincidentally, here is a link to a short article which comments on the fact that people in general, people of all ages, are talking less and less. We do so many things online these days that casual conversation is disappearing. Personally I am conduction a sort of mini campaign, talking to people on buses, trying not to use self-serve checkouts if I can avoid it (this has a double purpose, keeping cashiers in employment and keeping chitchat alive), shopping in person instead of doing a weekly shop online. But it becomes increasingly hard to avoid the intrusion of AI into our everyday life. Here’s a comment about that. 

Quite so! It’s bad enough that my phone seems to listen in to all my conversations, resulting in my receiving advertisements for items I have just mentioned in passing. I really don’t need my household equipment spying on me as well.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Windy weather. Sunflower again. Reading in foreign languages. Taking the time to read. Mischief on the internet.

It’s a rather windy Thursday. I’ve not been out and about, apart from a quick foray into the garden, because we are expecting some old friends for lunch, due to arrive at any time now.

My foray into the garden included an inspection of my self-seeding sunflower: still rather small but definitely having a good try to be fully bloomed before El Niño hits us all.

Apparently this is going to be “the biggest El Nińo” to date. The linguist in me rails at reports of AN El Niño or THE El Niño. I keep wanting to shout out that EL means THE. So it goes. 

Adrian Chiles, writing in the Guardian talks about choosing books to study on his English literature course according to the size of the volumes. I can relate to that as I have been choosing short books to read in Portuguese. When I embarked on A-Level studies in French and Spanish in my teens I rapidly discovered that I could read novels in those languages with very little difficulty. I also discovered what an excellent way that was to improve your fluency in the foreign language, both in vocabulary and sentence structure,  and in my Modern Foreign Languages teaching career I have always advised my students to read as much as possible. 

Now, since we have been going to Portugal for “chess holidays” I have been attempting to learn Portuguese. I have long been able to read simple stuff as Portuguese is a romance language like French, Spanish and Italian, all of which I speak. Listening to people speak Portuguese and understanding what they say is a different matter however. So I have enrolled several times on courses which have folded for lack of sufficient numbers and I have purchased teach-yourself packages. It’s mostly working but rather slowly. My latest foray into reading Portuguese is a slim volume by Saramago: As Intermitēncias da Morte. Described as an ironic, sarcastic reflection on life, death, love and our awareness of existing, or lack of the same, it is a strange tale in which Death is the principal, and female character. 

(Typing resumed a good while after lunch.)

For such a slim volume it has taken me a few weeks to get through it. This is partly because my reading was interrupted by family visitors but also because of the sheer length of the sentences. Whereas Adrian Chiles in this article writes about taking 10 years to read a book by Rebecca West!

According to this article some joker has listed 10 Downing Street as an air b&b. And according to this one, Sadiq Khan. Mayor of London has been fined because of failing to tax a vehicle which it turns out he doesn’t own and has never owned. In this case it may not be a joke but may be a bit of mischief by people who are rather peeved about ultra low emission zone charges in London.

It’s amazing what you can get up to with the internet!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

September. Shopping. Sunflower. And terrorist-related arrests.

So here we are, two days into September already. Time is rushing past!

I’ve been taking a photo of my favourite tree at the start of each month. Here is September’s picture.

Yesterday I went into the town centre as I needed to go to Waterstone’s bookshop to buy a book token for Granddaughter Number Four’s birthday, which is today. Suddenly she is of an age to want to choose books for herself. In a week”s time it will be her small brother’s birthday. And in between my daughter-in-law has her birthday. Like buses, birthdays come in threes this week.

I was also looking for a ‘happy anniversary’ card to send to my son and his wife. Yet another event in the same week! Anniversary cards are hard to find, especially now as the displays everywhere are full of Christmas cards. Yes! Christmas cards! I can hear Granddaughter Number Two complaining that we haven’t got Hallowe’en out of the way yet.

The buses yesterday were particularly frustrating. I went to the crossroads bus stop in plenty of time for a specific bus. The Bee App for Greater Manchester travel told me it was minutes away but then it disappeared from the app completely. Getting on the next bus, a good 30 frustrating and boring minutes later, I asked the driver what had happened. “They put the windows out”, he told me. Which I presume means that someone broke the bus windows and so the bus was cancelled! And so a quick trip into town turned into a rather longer expedition.

This morning’s bus to the supermarket was more punctual but because of roadworks was diverted and I had to get off rather sooner than usual and walk down the hill. So it goes! At least the rain kept off until I got home.

The stray sunflower that randomly appeared in a plant pot in my garden is trying hard to open up. Maybe it will manage to bloom before winter gets here.

Now for more serious stuff. I read yesterday that official data indicates that almost half of all terrorism arrests in great Britain since the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers in 2001 have taken place in the last year - a sudden increase that coincides with the proscription of Palestine Action. Since the 2001 attack there have been 6,539 arrests for terror-related activity in Great Britain. In the year ending March 31st 2026 there were 3,021, according to the Home Office. Amongst the arrested were rather a lot of respectable retired people! 

Ruth Ehrlich, the director of external relations at Liberty, said: “The staggering increase in arrests over the past year is the clearest indicator that the UK’s counter-terror laws are not fit for purpose.”

Indeed! 

I’ve also seen reports of homes being raided, homes of respectable retired people, and items such as Palestinian flags being confiscated! When did it become possible for such things to happen? Respectable retired people are protesting! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Flood warnings.. Robots. And trying not to blow up the neighbourhood!

We had a thunderstorm on Sunday but not a very impressive one. Central Manchester fared worse, with water reportedly pouring down the steps in Piccadilly Station.

Here’s a comment on the weather, which continues changeable.

And here’s a cartoon about robots.

A few weeks ago someone from the gas company came round and tested our gas meter and our electricity meter for possible gas leaks. They checked the electricity meter because apparently if there is a gas leak the gas can follow the  route of the electricity cables. Who knew? Anyway, we were given the all clear, as were the next door neighbours. Somebody must have reported a possible leak but we heard no more.

Then, on Friday, they were back. The across the road neighbours were smelling gas in their basement. We were all checked again. We were declared clear again. The across the road neighbours’ basement was investigated but the source of the leak was not located. Their front garden was dug up. A hole was dug in the road outside our next door neighbours’ house. Another one was dug outside the across the road neighbours’ house. Temporary traffic lights were set up. Workmen returned on Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday, a bank holiday, nobody came and as far as I know nobody has been today. However, the holes on the road remain. The traffic lights remain. We are assuming that the leak has been dealt with and that all that remains is for another team to turn up to fill the holes and reestablish the previous status quo.

As the investigations were underway on Friday afternoon Grandson Number Two and his Spanish cousin, both 6 years old, were playing in the garden. The workmen were in the gulley between our garden and the industrial estate beyond the wall. At one point Grandson Number Two asked the workmen if they had finished. Yes, they had. “So, will you please leave,” said Grandson Number Two in the charming way of six year olds! The workmen left.

We were relieved to see the investigation going on, not wanting the neighbourhood to explode. I remembered an incident in my 1950s childhood when someone maybe half a mile from our house blew up his house in the middle of the night. He had been by-passing the gas meter, something our builder neighbour assures me people used to do back then. At some time in the night someone must have maybe switched on a light and that was sufficient to make a spark. And BOOM! house and family blown away!

Dangerous stuff, gas! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

On barbecues, and baked potatoes, and picky bits. And spam callers.

I’ve never been a great fan of barbecues. Maybe it’s because I don’t eat beef. Maybe it’s because it’s a great deal of fuss for very little product. My friend Colin commented in his blog yesterday about barbecues, declaring his intention never again to do a barbecue. He mentioned the men who have always come to advise him on how cook stuff on the barbecue. Yes, it is almost always men. barbecues are the man’s regime. 

30 August 2026 – Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Anyway, barbecues are getting bad press at the moment. Here’s a link to an article against barbecues, an article which begins by advising readers to have a good meal before going to a barbecue, if invited to one. And this morning I skim read an article, which I have since been unable to locate, about the harm to your health and to the environment that comes from burning charcoal in your barbecue. Not to mention all the problems with disposable barbecues.

If you must eat outdoors, what’s wrong with a good old-fashioned picnic? A variety of sandwiches and a bottle of pop!

Mind you I have fond childhood memories of bonfires in the garden on Guy Fawkes Night. When the fire was nicely established, beyond its first burst of glory, when the guy was consumed in the flames, and most of the fire was down to very hot glowing embers, my father would wrap baking potatoes in foil and push them into the embers. Later in the evening, when we had set off most of the fireworks and we children had finished running round making patterns and writing our names in the air with our sparklers, he would rake them out and unwrap them. And we all ate perfectly baked potatoes.

Still on the subject of food, this summer my daughter introduced me to the term “picky bits”. We had gone away for a family weekend, packing the children into the car straight from school, planning to eat when we arrived at our destination.  We parked the children and my husband in the holiday accommodation and she and I went off to a nearby Aldi to buy supplies. “We’ll get some picky bits”, she said. And so we did: salad, cheese, pâté, sausage rolls, and so on. We spread them out on the table - picky bits! Well, here’s a link to an article protesting at the very use of the expression.  

I’ve just had one of those spam phone calls, this time from the employment agency ‘Indeed’. I disconnected at once. Even if I wanted a job, which I don’t, I’m not expecting to be headhunted by a bot. I keep reading about people falling for scam calls seeking their bank details, and about people falling for it and losing their hard-earned savings. Well, here’s a link to an article by someone who turned the tables on the scammers by pretending to be a confused old gent and keeping them talking and calling him back for several hours. Someone had to do it!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Routines. Raining … or not. Alarming road signs. Cycling crashes. Drama workshops.

 Getting back into my usual routine of a morning run, after the better part of a week with a houseful of visitors, I looked at the weather app on my phone, saw that the temperature was down to about 12° and decided to wear running trousers and a long-sleeved top instead of the running shorts a a sleeveless vest I’ve been wearing for at least the last couple of months. Outside though it felt rather warmer than that. So it goes!

I had decided to leave my waterproof at home on the grounds that even if it rained on me I would not melt. It didn’t rain on me. There was, however, evidence of the approaching autumn!

But the days of hanging the washing to dry in the garden and taking it in a couple pf hours later bone dry appear to be over. We have had some rain, occasionally quite heavy but on the whole people seem quite pleased to see it - quite a rare reaction around here.

Yesterday Granddaughter Number One and her partner were driving somewhere or other to visit her partner’s aging grandfather. At one point she messaged us this photo of a warning sign, one of those occasional signs that appear on the screens attached to a gantry on the motorway. This one, however, was not the usual sort of thing about speed or about “lane ahead closed” of the like. 

It was rather more frightening! Especially in view of the fact that two incidents have been reported recently of young people filming themselves driving in the wrong direction and posting the video on social media. With dreadful consequences!

We were very relieved when she messaged us later to tell us she was home safe and sound.

I read yesterday that five times Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar has crashed out of the Vuelta a España.  He tried to get back on his bike but the injury to his shoulder was too painful. So that’s the end of his ambition to win the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de Franc3 and the Vuelta a España all in the same year. And that’s Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, rivals, both recovering from crash injuries. 

Here’s a link to article about Darren Raymond, an ex-prisoner turned theatrical director and organiser of drama training for young people. One element of bis inspiration was the actor Mark Rylance in a drama workshop activity in the prison. Now he is directing Mark Rylance in a theatrical production of his own.

In the article actor Tosin Cole comments on having become an actor through taking part in drama activities for young people in an organisation called Intermission and the fact that such activities, as well as youth clubs and other auch places where youngsters can meet and learn new skills, are disappearing:

“He’s also an advocate for more spaces like Intermission’s original venue to exist, lamenting the loss of the city’s youth clubs and adventure playgrounds. “That place was super special. It’s sad now when you’re in Knightsbridge and you walk past and see the place vacant.” The church has since been converted to a luxury home and was on the market for £35m last year. “Look at any artist or musician that’s come from an inner city and a lot of their skill and their success has come from resources being accessible. A lot of talent came out of the youth clubs where things were free.”

And I was reminded of the fairly recent fight to keep Salford Lads’ Club open - now Salford Lads’ and Girls’ Club if my memory serves me well. 

We need such places.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.

International family reunions. And the end of summer?

 It’s all quiet at my house now. For the last 4 days we’ve had my Spanish sister, her daughter and two grandchildren staying wth us. It’s been lovely to see everyone but it’s all been rather chaotic. Not to mention noisy!

 Other members of the family kept turning up from time to time. 

Our daughter has been bringing the two younger grandchildren for breakfast with their cousins. The two small boys, my Grandson Number Two and my sister’s Grandson Number Two, both six years old, have insisted on eating their breakfast cereal at a picnic table in the garden, fortunately before the rain started most days. It’s been interesting seeing well they managed to communicate considering that one speaks English and the other Spanish. They have managed to carry out scientific investigations into insects together, demanding more and more plastic containers to put stuff on. Fortunately I had a number of plastic tubs once full of olives or humous and now waiting for recycling. They have also snipped leaves off plants to creat “potions” in my water barrel in the garden. One day soon I need to get all that rubbish out before it starts to ferment and smell! 

Granddaughter Number One (and partner) and Granddaughter Number Two have been appearing after they have finished work. Even Grandson Number One put in an appearance. And one of the Southport cousins has been on the scene two. On one occasion we had 14 people round the dinner table!

Fortunately the two small boys were happy to sit at a small table of their own.

But this morning the Spanish contingent of the family has set off for London, where they spend a couple of days sightseeing before heading off for home in Andalucía. 

My sister and I have been going rather crazy switching from English to Spanish and back again depending on which members of the younger generations wanted to join in the conversation. As her Grandson Number One, 14, spent a lot of time on his mobile phone, we inevitably talked about young people’s dependence on their phone. And here’s a link to an article appealing for people to abandon heir earbuds and get back in touch with nature when out and about.

And as the rain has set in in, or at least intermittent showers are now around, and summer seems to be coming to an end, here are some cartoons anout holiday reading:

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!