Life's little ironies

I have just returned from a lovely weekend away. I travelled to Kent via the Dartford Crossing both ways where the speed on the M1 and M25 motorway was slower than B roads for long stretches. There is something very wrong with our infrastructure if people cannot travel without excess delay. As I approached the Dartford Tunnel the red-lit road signs said "40mph". If only we could have gone that fast. I went through the tunnel at a maximum of 20mph. This was a Sunday morning, not even a week day.

On the way down to Kent on Friday afternoon the traffic dawdled along the motorway and I noticed that the bridges over the motorway were also chokka. Lorries were lined up and stationary in many places. We hear complaints from the government that we are not productive as a country. While the roads are blocked, we can't be totally productive. Drivers are earning money sitting behind a wheel and going nowhere! 

Despite the slow journey, it was well worth the trip. My friend, Jane, and her family had organised a celebration for a lot of family milestones at Kench Hill country house - and what an amazing place it was. In the grounds were vegetable plots, a polytunnel, fruit trees, animals and playgrounds for children- a mini paradise. 

The house itself was once a nursing home and some of Jane's guests had actually been born there. In fact, I might have gone to the toilet in the very room that David Frost was born in! Now the house is a charity run by Hackney Borough Council for children to holiday in. It was extra nice to be part of such a big gathering of a wonderful family. The circumstances of me being an orphaned, only child who is now divorced made me so aware of how marvellous it is to be part of a very big clan. 

Cliff on the BBQ

The small irony was that Danielle was due to come with me but at the last minute, Ezra-Mae had really bad diarrhoea and sickness so that put the kybosh on that and then Danielle contracted the same bug. I took the lovely cake she had made down to the party and it was very much appreciated by all who had a bit. Basically the cake was one of her chocolate heart attacks on a plate! Talking of plates, Sophie stepped up to the plate in my absence and was Danielle's angel of mercy while I was miles away having fun. Thank you, Sophie!!!

Mattaya trying cheer her sister up

St. Swithun's Day

 

Rainy Leighton Buzzard High Street

It rained on July 15th - St Swithun's Day.  Thank goodness it rained and if the folklore is correct it will carry on raining for forty days and forty nights. My garden was parched and in need of rain. I had been sparingly watering it mindful of how badly Anglian Water takes care of this precious resource over here. Even so, my plants looked thirsty. My windscreen wiper squirter had also dried up and my windscreen was far too dusty for lack of rain. That rain was truly welcome. but I am over it now. It has continued to rain and that is a bit annoying. It would be nice, however, if it only rained at night. 

I went for lunch at Naser and Amira's house on my bike in the rain. Because my raincoat isn't a posh breathable one, I was as damp on the inside as I was on the outside. I still haven't got the habit of wearing the right clothes for the right weather over here and that annoys me. I have been back in the UK far too long to still get it wrong. 

I planned to go and tidy up the graves in Leighton Buzzard this weekend. Danielle came too so we made a day of it and went to the market in the High Street on Saturday morning. I was so disappointed to find such a sparce collection of stalls. Apparently, the amber weather warning for storms pre-empted the organisers to cancel the event. Nonetheless, we found a bread stall that sold garlic sourdough and a plant stall where I bought fresh plants for the graves. 

The High Street is actually quite a buzzing place even in the rain. There was an exhibition from the history society with a weaving activity that Ezra-Mae loved and the town centre was full of independent coffee shops as well as busy pubs that proudly boast they date back to the 1200s. We had coffee in All Saints and then we walked through Page's Park which looked amazingly well kept. The children's area was full of wonderful climbing things which must have been a massive investment but it was far too wet to try them out. Even without a proper market, it was well worth the visit.

All Saints

By the time we got to the cemetery another rain jacket - my Peter Storm, grey affair with far too much velcro where it isn't needed  - was soaked through. Definitely not a favourite in my wardrobe. This is another purchase that is not suitable for the British climate! Danielle's jacket was just as wet. Only Mattaya stayed dry under her plastic stroller hood. With this level of wetness, Danielle stayed in the car while Ezra-Mae and I went forth, got wetter and sorted out the graves. 

The cemetery looked amazing. Just like Page's Park it was so well kept. I needed to do minimal trimming of the grass around the stones and with the rain being as heavy as it was, I have no doubt the new plants will last some time. For the first time, I had help. Ezra-Mae was genuinely helpful and didn't mind getting even wetter. 

My aunt's grave

My little helper

The day must have been fun. Within minutes of getting in the car, both girls fell asleep. Job done! We had a fun day out in the rain, two happy girls and lots of reminiscing. Cosgrove held the Canal Festival this weekend too. Despite the iffy weather that was also well attended. I popped down in the late afternoon when the sun had finally decided to pop through the clouds. And then.... it rained. 

Thirty-four days of rain left to fall.

Oneupmanship

Mattaya and the rainbow cake

Mattaya, my grand daughter turned one this week. Danielle organised a DIY picnic at Willen Lake. It turned out to be a lovely lunch in glorious sunshine. For my contribution, I made a quiche and some rhubarb muffins - the ingredients of which were home grown. I exaggerate, just the tomatoes in the quiche and the rhubarb in the muffins were grown in my little garden. The bubbly I brought along was definitely not home grown in any way. This was my contribution to one-upmanship. 

We had a couple of blankets and some chairs, a cool box, and a wheelie cart which was a really useful piece of picnic equipment. Having seen Sophie's wheelie cart in action, I think I need one too. Sophie had the edge on the organisation front! As I offered my food around, I mentioned several times that some bits of my dishes were home grown. Sophie, for her part said her sausage rolls came from a reputable local supermarket and were freshly baked at home but were not home grown. The tease started, but, with all the effort I had put in to growing bits of my own food, I took it on the chin. 

Present opening and paper eating!

Danielle made a rainbow cake for her rainbow baby. By the time it was served, the colours had melted into each other. The Pollock creation tasted wonderful despite the hot sun! Possibly a couple of glasses of chilled bubbly helped it go down. And now, with two grand daughters over one, I realise how time has whizzed. Ezra-Mae starts full-time school in September and had a taster morning at the village school this week. She loved it. Danielle loved it. As to getting organised for big school, Danielle needs a trailer for her bike so she can cycle the girls along the towpath come September. Failing that, perhaps Sophie's trailer would do! Just a thought. 

The weather has been over-the-top wonderful so I have been having breakfast in the garden this week. Danielle brought the girls over and we sat in the garden surrounded by wilting flowers, drinking coffee  - truly continental, except it was an English Breakfast. 

I even played a tennis match match in the hot sun this week. I am not match fit and still not totally over the op but the team were desperate. So desperate in fact that I got the call up. The match was at Riverside Tennis Club in Bedford. The last time I played there I had a Dunlop Maxply racquet, the balls were white, and I was a junior - just a few years ago! My tennis has gone downhill since the last time I was at that club and despite not coping with four sets, I really enjoyed myself and now I am raring to play again. 

On Sunday my club had a mini Wimbledon Tournament. Initially it was going to be poorly attended so I offered to make up numbers on the basis that I might not last the course. In the end it was over subscribed but I still got to play and I won! Yay. I was drawn to partner Armaan, probably the best player in the club and he was there to make me look good. Even so, winning made me smile despite having to hobble around for the remainder of the day.  For the record, I am willing to play with anyone willing to have me on their team. I see myself as being one of the Knights of Ni - playing to the death, despite bits dropping off me. Beat that for one-upmanship.

Those best laid plans

Me in my wetsuit in the sunshine!

Saturday, 5th July was the 5k pier to pier swim in Brighton. My best laid plans were to rest from swimming from Monday onwards in preparation for this big event. I got up as usual on Monday morning and almost caved in on my plans. I had so much residual energy and an obsession with ploughing up and down the pool, I almost couldn't so without my fix. 

I have been antsy all week. I purposely cut off my outlet for burning my energy reserves. At times I have been unbearable to live with. That is my opinion of me! Then on Thursday I got an email from the race organisers that the swim had been postponed to 27th September due to unfavourable conditions. I have wasted a week of not swimming and for nothing. 

Other parts of my plan to go to Brighton remained as I had already bought my train ticket and Brighton is a good place to visit even so - especially as Sammi is there. In fact, despite the stormy seas and stiff breeze, the weekend was wonderful. I got to have a bit of a swim and did loads of touristy things with Anne. The weather was reminiscent of my childhood holidays walking along the sea front battling high winds. So all in all, not a waste of time and I'll just have to keep up the training until September 27th when the race has been rescheduled for.  

Anne and I on the beach

I have also taken time out from watching Wimbledon highlights to watch Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on All4. This documentary has been banned on BBC because it shows what Israel is doing to Palestinians in Gaza. The horror wrought on those trapped on this small strip doesn't surprise me. Israel has been using disproportionate force against its neighbours since it was first established and this is well-documented.  It is still doing this and it has the complicity of America, Britain and much of the West. We are providing those bombs and bullets that kill Palestinians.

The fact that we all consider the behaviour of the IDF even remotely acceptable is what really galls. Our coverage in the UK is still biased towards Israel. Palestinians are called rats and this excuses Israel their cruelty by saying that Hamas are under every bomb they drop and the recipients of every bullet. I know Bob Vylan was wrong to chant "Death" but our outrage of one person's voice angers me when compared to the fifty odd thousand deaths of Palestinians that have passed without regret or guilt. Is this part of our plans that Palestinians should all be killed. I know this is not the solution to the Middle East problem. And for the record. IDF are illegally occupying parts of Syria. The IDF commit war crimes daily and this is acceptable. Apparently!

Over the weekend there were a number of arrests in London. People wearing badges supporting Palesine and opposing the genocide fell foul of the Terrorist Act of 2000. What is happening is genocide and I believe those Palestinians supporting Hamas have been driven to it because of the mass killings. Those people holding banners calling out the genocide were telling the truth. What would happen if we all wore the same badges or expressed the same opinions as those arrested? Our country is becoming Orwellian and this saddens me. Maybe doublespeak has been part of th great plan all along!