Today

I was suddenly aware of the fact that although I had kept up with others in Blogland, and left remarks, I had not actually written anything myself and we are almost three weeks into this New Year.  Because of John's Accountancy Firm, he and his staff are  usually so busy in January getting all the clients' accounts stowed away with the Inland Revenue's offices, that our New Year feels that it actually starts at the beginning of February.. It is a bit better now that John has semi retired, but there is still a lot to do.Added to this, he has been unwell since Christmas fighting a recurrent cold and cough and doesn't feel at his best either.

We haven't gone out at all today, the snow has settled and it is very cold, so we have sat by the fire and read books and drunk endless cups of tea to keep warm. I have also made bread and the dinner is in the oven so I thought I would grab these few moments to sit down and tune into Blogland.

My father was a school teacher and my mother worked in Shops selling high fashion clothes. She enjoyed her work and my father loved being a teacher. Our lives were pretty ordered and followed a routine.. At the weekends because mother also worked on a Saturday, we would travel to where she worked and meet her after she finished and go to the pictures after having a meal out. That was magical and so much to look forward to.  I remember when money got short and they made a decision not to do the Saturday picture routine, I thought I would really really miss it so much. surprisingly there was plenty of other things to do, and the routine was superceded by another activity after we met Mother from work.

My parents both worked very hard, and of course my dad would be working every evening in marking the school work of his students. Our house was warm and solid and safe and we never really felt we missed out in anything. I guess in the 50's and early 60's we were all in the same boat, trying to keep everything going and doing the best we could. Of course it was not until much later that we moved to a house with actual central heating in stored. Most of the houses had fireplaces for coal fires, but that didn't heat up much. I can still remember going to bed, running across the lino floor and leaping into bed where I would lie shivering and shaking until my body warmed the bed up then I could sleep!!

y parents like to entertain every so often. They would invite their friends over for a meal and then afterwards, my dad would get his violin out and my mother would sing, with him playing the music to accompany her. She had a beautiful soprano voice, which was very similar to that of Maria Callas, and she did so love to sing. We would all listen, then the other guests would perform some little ditty, then horror of horrors it was my turn and my brother's to do our turn.. When we were very small, the star piece was 'I tort I taw a pussycat'!! from some Walt Disney character and it seemed to make everyone laugh a lot as we were so small... then it became a solo piece. I did have  soprano voice too, and was chosen to be lead singer at my Xmas concert when I was 9[ at that age my mother sang in Drury Lane Theatre, which she kept reminding us-!!]-- anyway as I got older, in order to perform I would only do it standing in the hall way, face pressed against the wall in order not to see anyone.. odd behaviour I know, but singing for guests overwhelmed me at that stage.[up to early teens].

 Looking back, our lives were so simple then. We had radio for listening to.. games to play inside and outside the house. We also read a great deal, which was a wonderful escape to lands we travelled with the writers, and all the adventures we could pretend to be part of. I read avidly all my childhood and loved to seize any moments to bury my head in books.

Saturday mornings, Dad would take us to the library to choose the books for the week. Each time I went in, my stomach would feel like water with excitement as I was in a whirl trying to choose what to take home. That feeling has never left me and even today all these years later, that same feeling rears its head every time I go to the library!

This society we live in is becoming more mechanised in its interaction.. its all with machines.. if you walk along any street, the betting is, that at least every other person is tuned in via their headpieces to a phone chatting and carrying on conversations as they walk, or listening to music. Only the older generation seem to have time to look up and smile and say hallo as they pass. We are tuned into another world, almost 24 hours out of 24.

Because we only had a radio, and didn't get a TV until I was into my late teens, we seem to have had time to interact with others so much more. People did talk to each other and tried to do their best in getting on in life.

We  were expected to go to school to learn, take exams, then decide on a career, or if you were really really clever, you went to University. Of course we were also fortunate that at that time, England was building herself up again after the war, and so jobs were easily had and changed and moving on to another job was easy. This is not the case for our young ones coming up to working age. It is hard, but their lives are going to be harder in the long run than ours were, despite all the gadgets and computer interaction going on. The computer has taken the need out for using people to achieve the same results. With Computers they can work on a skeleton staff and achieve good results at less cost. What future do our young ones have to look forward to? Depressingly I think its all going to blow up in our faces.

Having the choice of having children, means that many couples do not choose to..   However,in the cycle of things children is where it all happens.. if you don't have enough children produced in every generation, there will not be enough fee earners to to generate the money a government needs to manage all their care programmes and benefits. We need to take stock before its too late, and decide what the next generation will do, how they will do it, and what the results will be... Traditionally, it seems to me, that each generation says to itself , 'well it doesn't effect me, so leave it to the next ones who will have to deal with it' That is not really a good answer. We have to care about the world, the children we are bringing up and how to manage a balance society.

When you are young, the future seems so far away, and yet it all catches up with you very fast. We need to sit down and think about what we are leaving for our future kids to deal with..... Yes, there is Global Warming- but on the ground right at this time, Wars are being fought all over... Do they mean anything to us...yes, they do, because we get involved in sending troops out to help... create charities to try and feed starving people...

I think we have to stop trying to solve World problems and take a good look at us and our people in this country... we need to stop looking at the far horizons, get focused on what needs doing in this country first..

We have to examine why our kids are leaving school not reading or writing, and then not able to get jobs. We have a whole raft of infrastructure that needs repairing... the wonderful things that the Georgians and Victorians did, all need repairing and restructuring.. Why aren't our jobless people doing this and in doing it, earning a proper wage.?. We have schools that need repairing, hospitals that need so too.. all kinds of buildings that could be put to better use than lying idle and falling into dangerous disuse-- in this present day, we should have NO homeless people at all.. get all the empty houses and get them ready to live in- put the homeless to work in order to have a roof over their head....Make sure the benefits are for food, not misbought on booze... get the drunkards and the druggies something to make them feel good about themselves and they will never need to get stewed again ...they only use these drugs as an escape from a lousy useless life.. in being involved they will gain their self respect back.. it all could change, but it needs a really stong leadership who will not be swayed and who will get back to the nitty gritty of dealing with life.

Change is never an easy thing... but this world has to change, get its priorities right... stop sending money where it is used in war and fights about leadership in countries. far from these shores.... let them all take back control, make them all accountable for their anger and with no extra money to prop up the regimes, we might see some ground rules established and bring back to order.

This might mean that the strongest will take over and the West might not like the choices that they make. but if we are not supporting either side, World trade does continue..

why do we have to send money to prop them up?... make them responsible for their own actions.. if they choose war, then they will run out of money and will have to stop.... of course it means the populations will have to find a way to survive, but before England became a World power, all these places managed to get along....They call destruction of the population  the cost of war... we have to leave these countries to find their own balance, We cannot do it for them!!!

If then, England and America and all the other Westernised Powers agreed to withdraw and focus on the needs of their own people, I truly believe that making the decisions to be more home focused, we shall create a country, where our own balance is restored, where there will be jobs as we shall be rebuilding where we need to, strengthen our infrastructure and develop our housing and all other works.... we shall become with Balance, a nation totally wholly in agreement and our kids will have a future to look forward to.

Well, I went and missed it!! my first anniversary of blogging was on 30th December.. another senior moment!!

Another senior moment meant that I missed the first anniversary of my blogging... for some reason I had thought it started in January last year, but close, not the date.... so, here is another post actually all about nothing....

Our Christmas was rather splendid but I got paid in spades for having so much enjoyment! On the 30th we attended a party at the house next door, which we rent out. Our tenants have proved very nice and good, and not much trouble.. It was an easy party and everyone very friendly.

However they did comment that their Christmas had been rather ruined by having a virus that was going around... everyone said, how good it was that they were better..so we carried on.. However this virus is quite contagious, and of course of all people, I went and managed to use up yesterday being sick and running to the toilet all day, staying in bed as I felt so weak!!

 It was not a pleasant way to spend a day, but with the sunshine this morning I got up and have managed to stay on my feet without much trouble, although I have not eaten at all, just cups of tea and water..  Its quite amazing how the sunshine can make you feel so much stronger and more positive, it certainly encouraged me out of bed, that's for sure.

Of course having a virus that is catching, I had to cancel the luncheon party we were going to today, which is sad as we all have such fun when we meet up.. but they would not have thanked me for bringing it into their midst. 
[which brings me to another thought..]
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Every year for many many years, this country England, and no doubt other countries too, endured the plague each summer, when the heat encouraged the spread of the illness which led to death in so many cases.

There is a little village in Derbyshire not far from here, which made the amazingly difficult decision to not leave the village once the plague had descended on it. I believe it was the Vicar that persuaded his villagers to be strong and not give in to their wish to run away from it. What courage that must have taken for them to stay put! The next villages would leave food out for them on the other side of the bank of the river, so they did not starve.. 

A large number of that congregation died due to the pestilence, even I have read, the Vicar's wife and several members of his family. But the plague did not travel further, and stopped at that little village deep in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside. I cannot imagine how brave they were in keeping to themselves and waiting for it all to pass. I know that the first idea would be to flee, but in staying put, their bravery allowed other lives to be lived. An enormous cost they paid, but they did it and will be remembered for all time for their sacrifice.

The viruses that we come across these days are small in comparison, but no less lethal for some. I'm just glad that mine was for 24 hours, and I am hail and hearty again to welcome the start of another new year... 2013, I wonder what joys you will bring us.. I hope that we shall have more joy than tears, that's for sure!