Demob happy teacher

HS2 - What a good idea!

If you feel emotional about the recent fiasco regarding the government's insane determination to spend £33 billion on HS2, watch this. It may cheer you up or ...
it may make you feel even worse!

(Link courtesy of The Telegraph, for which, much thanks.)

OK, I know I have been neglecting this blog for a while now, but I've been doing things, you know, and it is a recognised scientific fact that, as one gets older, time goes more quickly, so while it might be two weeks since my last post, to me it seems like only two days. Well, that's my excuse anyway.

So, during the last few weeks, while I have been neglecting the blog, the dogs have been walked, the shopping and housework done and life has meandered on. Welsh lessons have started again (good) and autumn has arrived in all its damp greyness to take the place of the summer that never was (not good). No magnificent Indian summer for us this year, then.
As clients for counselling continue to be rather conspicuous by their absence, I have cast around for other useful things to do and have come up with Pets as Therapy. The idea is for people to take their dogs, and in some cases cats, into old people's homes, special schools and sometimes hospitals, to provide contact and stimulation to the inhabitants. There have been studies which have concluded that contact with animals can help lower blood pressure and be beneficial for those suffering from depression and dementia. So, in a few weeks, Paddy and Jake could be hard at it therupping any poor unfortunates that we happen to descend on. Now, isn't that a thought to dwell on!
Then I decided that perhaps I would like to be a 'lady who wheels the sweets and newspapers trolley round hospital wards' and I applied forthwith. You see, I am going to great lengths to keep myself out of trouble. Within a week, I was invited to the local hospital for what I thought would be a brief interview.
"Just put your coat and bag over here," said the man, when I arrived.
"Oh, I didn't think I was coming to work straight away," I said.
"Oh, I thought you were," he said.
The upshot of this brief conversation was that I did the shift with a very nice lady and, by the time I had finished, the man was gone, so I left my phone number for him to contact me.
But he didn't, so that one's on the back burner for now.
But in between, I have been spending many hours researching how to root a tablet and flash a phone, both of which I have now done. Clever, eh?
And so much more interesting than the housework.

A green environment

An interesting video. It's a bit lengthy but, stick with it. It's worth watching.

"This is a spectacular example of sustainable living architecture that will live grow for generations.

In Meghalaya, Northeast India, the rivers during the monsoon season are wild, unpredictable and impossible to cross.

But the people there have created a beautiful solution: bridges made of roots that last for hundreds of years and will survive any deluge! These living bridges are part of a network connecting the valleys of Meghalaya.

In this visually stunning video, a man teaches his niece to care for a living bridge, which he started with a simple fig tree 30 years ago. He shows her how to coax the roots to the other side where they will take root.

No man can complete this task in his lifetime, so they must teach the young, who will teach their young. This living bridge will grow for 500 years.

What will it take for us in the West to begin to incorporate this level of imagination, resourcefulness, working with nature...and thinking 500 years down the road?

-Bibi Farber"

A fine weekend

It was, for once in this benighted summer, a fine week last week, so Keith and I were finally able to set off in the caravan for a long weekend in Barmouth, chosen for its long, flat cycle ride into the town from the campsite and the large expanse of beach available for dog-running-around.

Paddy has been before but it was Jake's first time, and probably his first time on a beach of any kind, as you can tell here by his obvious lack of comprehension as to what one does on a beach. In the end, he decided to be guided by Paddy and just have fun.

As you can see, they are both so fit that it only took them about two hours to recover from the exertion!

Jake is definitely built for comfort, not for speed.

Is it too much to ask that they untangle themselves by retracing their steps?

Yep!

A Mother's Story: Little boxes

Go, go go!

So this is what mobility scooters are for!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202081/It-s-Gran-Prix-Pensioners-combined-age-158-Britain-s-oldest-stunt-riders-80mph-MOBILITY-SCOOTERS.html

Shed clearing day

Today is 'clearing out the shed' day.

This has probably been brought on because Keith has killed another computer and is awaiting a new power pack for it, so in the meantime, he has the one from upstairs, which means that the corner of the living room and the study are both awash with cables, leads and other detritus. In addition, he has been working on my old laptop (Did I mention that I now have a shiny new red one?) and this has led to another mess all over the dining table.

To add insult to injury, he then announced yesterday that he wanted to get his model aeroplane and helicopter out of the shed, presumably to spread them over the small remaining tidy areas of the house. Surprisingly, when he noticed the expression on my face, he quickly thought better of it.

So, today is 'clearing out the shed' day and 'building a new workbench within' day but it has also turned out to be 'mending the shed roof' day, as the squirrels have been chewing away at the roof felt, with predictable results. It never rains but it pours - in both senses of the phrase.

I did try to help with the clearing out but soon got sent back indoors due to my extreme reactions to the horrible, massive, revolting spiders lurking on everything I went near. If you heard any screams of terror in your neighbourhood, wherever that might be, as you undoubtedly will have, it was me.

And I make no apology for that!