LIFE: 9th -28th July 2018
A catch up on my activities, following a cataract operation, done for various reasons, under a general anesthetic. I am pleased to say it went well and Borders General Hospital staff I could not fault. My left eye distance vision is miraculous - everything is so vivid. But I have to wait six weeks for things to settle, before I can get new glasses, so things still remain rather blurred at the moment with my old specs.
THE HEATWAVE CONTINUED
One day of light rain in five weeks and we are sweltering this week, with temperatures around 75F here and much higher down south, breaking all records. Nothing compared to a friend in California who is coping with temperatures reaching 100F!
The "boys" (Nh. guinea pigs Chocolate and Marshmallow) were finding it much too hot and had to be taken inside to cool down.
A SMALL FAMILY GET-TOGETHER
"Little" brother and sister in law came up from the south of England, so we had a lovely family get together including a buffet lunch and a walk by the river. .
Brother and sister many years ago!
KEEPING YOUNG
Nh.
for three days this week - good that she could spend time with her
only great uncle on Monday; Tuesday was a baking day of brownies and
cup cakes, plus a walk in the woods (a scramble on Nh's part up & down slopes and over logs} whilst I followed sedately behind with eyes skinned for the hazards of tree roots and big stones on the path; Wednesday was a Melrose library visit, where she enjoyed choosing three books, followed by an ice-cream
and visit to the apple orchard in Priorwood Gardens, where the chance to climb a tree was too tempting for Nh.; plus back home some water play when she cleaned out our little lily pad water feature in the garden. You can tell she is an active, country girl,and not a girly, "all things pink" child. but she keeps me active - I'm
exhausted in the nicest possible way!
GREEN FINGERS TO THE FORE
A return in my energy levels, so had a grand session on the garden, before it got too hot - grass cutting, edges, weeding, feeding. The garden tubs at the front of the house are the best I have ever had.
The blog post on "Memories of an Earlston Land Girl" has had a great response. I have managed to get on with items for our October exhibition where I am pulling together material on how the village was affected by the two world wars. The British Newspaper Archive online is invaluable for information and it is great that the small weekly Border newspapers are indexed there.
Land Girls gathering in Earlston for work on local farms
during the Second World War.
GOOD READS
Fighting on the Home Front: the legacy of women in World War One, by Kate Adie
A vivid, compelling, readable account of how during the First World War, women came out of the shadows of their domestic lives to play
a a part in the fight for victory - as munitionettes, as land girls, nurses, nursing, lady police, in fund raising, charity work, and entertainment, plus providing auxiliary support for the armed forces. Written by Kate Adie, former BBC war correspondence, she draws on her family in Sunderland for many of her anecdotes and concludes with an assessment on the achievements of these pioneering women and their legacy for the future.
Points that struck me - that on the outbreak of war, there was already an “army” of society women with influential connections, who were experienced in organization and fund raising for charitable causes; new to me the role of Flora Sanders from Poppleton, York (where I lived for four years), as a serving soldier in the Serbian Army; the rise of the Women’s Institute in breaking down the isolation of farm workers’ wives and extending their horizons; the petty, patronising focus (e.g. on dress) adopted by the military chiefs on women taking on auxiliary roles, and the intransigence of the Church of England to granting women increased involvement in church life - it was to be 80 years before the first women priests were ordained in 1994. Highly recommended for anyone interested in social history and the pathway to female emancipation.
So pleased to see the return of two of my favourite TV programmes - WDYTYA (Who Do You Think You Are) and University Challenge - I am lucky if I can answer five questions, usually on history and classic literature, but I still enjoy it under the genial chairmanship of Jeremy Paxman - even better this week, Glasgow University beat Emmanuel College, Cambridge in a close contest.
TENNIS WAS TERRIFIC
It
seems ages ago already, but I timed my convalescence well with the
second week of Wimbledon tennis, heading for the finals, including the
longest match ever whcih lasted six hours and went onto 26 games in
the fifth set - the only sport I really follow and Wimbledon beats all
other championships - I do like to see the players wearing all white
against the green grass, rather than the black, grey or purple you see
at other grand slams. which seems quite slovenly by comparison.
THE WEATHER IS CHANGING
Only 64F today (July 28th) and a light breeze, so much cooler, and a few short showers,puncturing the sunny periods, but nothing like the thunderstorms and heavy rain in England. But the hot weather is due to return!
*********
Journal
Jottings
Recording my everyday life for future family historians
Developed from the "Genea-Pourri" prompt on Randy Seaver’s blog Genea-MusingsI I decided to change his title for my own version of this weekly online diar.
No comments:
Post a Comment