A Weather Rhyme, TV Favourites and Some Silent Screams

LIFE - 19th-25th March 2017 
 

No wonder we  talk about the weather so much in Britain -  in the space of the last seven days  we have been out sweeping  snow, been blown away by gusty winds, walked through  icy rain and, as a bonus, enjoyed lovely Spring days of sunshine  - which meant we were able  to sit  in our little sun room. 

But so we don't get too hopeful - the forecast is for a wintry Easter weekend!

I was reminded of the rhyme,  made famous by Flanders and Swan in the 1960's. 

January brings the snow

makes our feet and fingers glow

February's ice and sleet

Freeze the toes right off our feet

Welcome March with wintry wind

Would thou wert not so unkind

April beings the sweet Spring showers

On and on for hours and hours! 

ect. etc.  

 WEDNESDAY CLUB

A good timely choice  of speaker with  the topic  "Spring Gardening"  with a demonstration on planting  pots for the patio and the opportunity to buy some blooms - which I did!

TELEVISION 

A new series with Michael Portillo on  Great Indian Railway Journeys. I must admit  my knowledge of the country is very sketchy - I know some place names but not where  they are in a map.  His first journey was Amritsar to Shimla at the foothills of the Himalayas which in the days of the Raj  was was the summer home for the British. A  fascinating programme with great credit to the cameramen - and I learned a lot,  both about the history of India and India today.

The Golden Temple at Amritsar in the Punjab region of  north west India.

Masterchef - the latest series featuring amateur cooks puts me to shame!  There are some brilliant entrants, with a lot of ethnic influences in their cooking.

I know at home we eat healthily (high in our 5 portions of fruit and veg a day),   but my range is very limited and  preparing meals does not come high on my priorities of how I spend my time.

Pointless Quiz - some good formats of questions recently.  One round featured a list of book titles (two per author)  and contestants were asked to name the author. There was a mixture of familiar classics e.g. "Kidnapped*  & "Treasure Island";  "Sense and Sensibility" & "Emma"  etc.  and also modern novelists e.g. Dan Brown, John Grisham. 

One contestant was quite prepared to admit on national television "This is a hopeless round for me - I don't read"!!!   Does she realise what she is missing out on in her life?
 
I COULD SCREAM! 
Lost Post - on the main computer.  I drafted a post for the Auld Earlston  blog; finished it and went to do lunch. I decided on my IPad to  check it over once more before I clicked "Publish" -  I don't  know what on earth I did,  but suddenly the page was blank and  Ihad lost it.  I must have deleted it by mistake!!!!   So back to the drawing board and a test of my memory  of what I had written. Computers certainly do test my patience as well. 

Pixabay

Missing Post Van -  In Earlston we lost our village post office a year ago and it is only in the past  month we  have had a mobile post office visiting on a Wednesday and Friday  afternoons.  On the principle of "Use it or Lose it" I have made a point of going  to the Square with my regular overseas mail that needs weighing - rather than make a bus journey to a town post office.  

Friday afternoon - no sign of the van in the Red Lion Hotel car park.    I went into the hotel and "no", they had no word of  its non-appearance.  Ditto another shop. I can quite understand that a situation might arise e.g. snow, vehicle breakdown.  staff illness that stops it coming, but surely there is an obligation to get a message to the village? 

By this time, my hackles at this lack of customer service were high!   Came back home, looked up "Post Office"  in the phone  book, was referred to the entry under  Royal Mail who were singularly unhelpful,  (nothing to do with them), but gave me a number to ring - all I got was an answerphone, so I fired off a complaint on the post office website - it has been acknowledged but I await a reply with interest. 


To End on A Positive Note
We had Nh after school a few times this week and enjoyed playing card games and "Articulate".   She has developed an interest in chess and it is lovely to see her playing it with her Papa, as it has never been a game that appealed to me.  

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Images  - courtesy of Pixabay  

Journal Jottings   
Recording my everyday life for future family historians  

Developed from the "Genea-Pourri" prompt  on Randy Seaver’s blog Genea-Musings

I decided to change his title for my own version of this weekly online diary