French sperm

It was reported this week, or maybe last - time flies by so quickly these days - that, as a nation, the sperm count of the French is going down. Leaving aside how on earth
 a) they know and
 b)they care,
 I give you for your delectation and entertainment this offering, courtesy of News Thump, which, as you will gather from its title, is a serious, heavyweight publication aiming to defer to no-one in its quest for the truth.

eg. "The study also discovered that although there was a precipitous fall in French sperm count, the gallic feeling of self-importance was as strong as ever amongst the subjects."

You read it here first, folks!

Stop talking, I'm interrupting!

BBC's Radio 4's Today programme is a daily current affairs programme which airs six mornings a week from six to nine o'clock and has something of a reputation for taking no prisoners. I generally listen to it for the first hour, whilst contemplating getting up and starting the day and on Thursdays I hear more between eight and half past, on my way to my Welsh class.
Today Evan Davis was 'interviewing' George Osborne. You will notice that I have placed 'interviewing' within quotation marks and if the definition of interviewing is talking over/interrupting/patronising/condescending, or any combination of the aforesaid, then that is undoubtedly what he was doing.
Accepting that a politician actually giving a straight answer to a question is rarer than a barbecue summer in Britain, most people, I think, would nevertheless expect to hear some attempt at answering a question posed by the interviewer, if only to wriggle out of it and, whilst I am no fan of George Osborne, I was almost beginning to feel sorry for him.
At every attempt to speak, he was accused by Davis of refusing to answer the question, even to the point of being told, "Well, I know you're not going to give us an answer on that." At one point, it even led to Osborne actually begging to be allowed the answer the question! When he did manage to get a few words in edgeways, he was repeatedly cut off mid sentence by Davis.
I have to say that, by the end of this farce, I was quite impressed by Osborne's calm, polite response in spite of being repeatedly goaded. I can only assume that Davis is intent on making his mark as a 'cutting edge' interviewer with a reputation for cutting to the chase, but the result this morning was nothing short of loutish, ill-mannered rudeness and he should be ashamed.

Hyperemisis gravidarum

So, the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting but is now holed up in hospital with hyperemisis gravidarum and just in case anyone out there is shrugging their shoulders and muttering, "Oh, just morning sickness then" I can assure you, from personal experience, it certainly isn't!
Hyperemisis gravidarum is apparently the result of an extreme reaction to the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and can vary from mild morning sickness to the more extreme, debilitating reaction that Kate is suffering from at present.
During my first pregnancy, with Elder Daughter, my morning sickness rapidly escalated to the inability to keep anything down, even the smallest sip of water. I was still working, of course, and dragging myself into a classroom of lively three and four year olds soon became beyond me, although I had to work hard to convince my head teacher (childless) of that!
In those days, the late seventies, a drug called Debendox was prescribed. I was assured by my GP that there was no danger of side effects, unlike Thalidimide, which had been the drug of choice in the previous decade, so I trusted him and took it and thankfully, there were no ill effects with that or my subsequent three pregnancies. Yes, I put myself through that three more times!

So, I wish Kate a speedy recovery and, if she's reading this, (Would you doubt it?) it's worth it in the end, when you hold your baby in your arms. I couldn't wait to do it all again ... and again...!

Leave it with a neighbour?

A few months ago, Royal Mail informed us all that, in future, if there is no-one at home, they will deliver parcels to a neighbour, unless we opt out. I am sure of this, having just checked it on their website and the reason I felt the need to check it was that I was beginning to wonder if I had dreamt the whole thing. Basically, it ain't happening!
Keith orders keys, transponders etc for work on an almost daily basis and, if he is out in the morning on a job, then yours truly has to do her best to arrange her timetable round possible/probable visits from the postman. So this morning, for instance, I risked taking Paddy for his walk and then legged it home when I spotted the post van and waited in until we got our mail. There was also going to be a delivery from another company and luckily, that arrived at the same time. "Pretty safe to go out now," I said to Jake and he leapt around excitedly.
Wrong! Postman sneakily came back with two packages while we were out and dropped the dreaded 'You were out' card through the door.
Last time I had to go and retrieve a parcel from the local delivery office, I asked about this new plan.
"Oh, I think it depends on the individual postman," said the woman at the counter. The more astute among you may be wondering about the point of introducing the initiative if its execution depends on the whims of individual postmen, but I kept my counsel and, the next time I had to chase up the road after the postman to retrieve an undelivered package, I asked him about it.
"Oh well, we don't like to do it for things that need to be signed for," he said, "unless you specifically ask for it."
So, I specifically asked for it and requested that, in future, he should feel quite easy about delivering to our neighbours, one of whom is practically chained to the house at present after she took delivery - of a baby.
So the fact that I specifically requested the service must be the reason why I got home after Jake's walk  this morning to find the familiar red card in the letter box!
Maybe I need to say it in Welsh!

A Mother's Story: Remembered always

A Mother's Story: Remembered always

Moss Valley

I never tire of walking round the lake in the nearby valley. Photos taken on my mobile phone with Paddy on his lead in one hand. Not too bad, considering...?

A Mother's Story: No other words needed

A Mother's Story: No other words needed