Dreich Day All Round

What a dreich day!  The sky remained gray, often filled with rain, and I wondered about between showers avoiding puddles in case the shoes leaked, they still managed it mind.  The highlight was jumping on the free bus to Freeport and buying two T-shirts that might fit!  I have had enormous trouble finding such garments that not only fit but do not shrink after the first wash. The charity shop is pleased with my buying so far this year.  These items are all made in the far east, usually China or Bangladesh these days, and the Chinese, mostly wee folk about 5 foot 3 inches tall appear fooled into thinking that what they call 'XL' is actually large.  Sadly to me it is more like what we call 'M' and that is before it is washed and shrinks to just above 'S.'  Just who decided asking Lilliputians to make clothing for fat folks better built people was a good idea I ask?  Tsk! These two T-shirts have been made by underpaid employees in a Sri Lankan sweatshop and at first sight fit well.  This means they will be down to 'L' by the first wash and probably 'M' by the second! Grrrrrrr!  Good job they were at a reduced price....

Now I think of it I buy jeans from Tesco, I no longer buy their shrinking T-shirts, and even though I buy the same size jeans each time each pair is slightly different!  The Rupees the Bangladeshi makes from this sale (£6) will not do much for her I guess.  

Nothing else happened. No news worth mentioning, no cards or presents fell through the door, no invites to parties or grub, nothing happened yet again! The kids will be off school now, standing at the windows looking for a fat man on a sleigh, not that you will see him fro the gray clouds above. The mums and dads will be looking also, at the next Credit Card bill when it arrives.  Many's a light will be turned off in those houses next month!  The media will be glad there is no real news, just the usual murder, corruption et al, and they newsrooms can relax and discuss their trips to South Africa, show the family their pictures and chat about the people they met.  The fiddling of expenses will be done later.  The football pages rejoice that they have removed the Spurs manager, one thing they have attempted since the season began, and are now looking towards West ham where the man in charge and his results will be the next to be put under the microscope, discussed (ignorantly for the most part) and his boss pressurised to sack him to give the press a story to fill their pages. Now I am not being cynical here, but they are!  

This is however the last week for a Christmas shop.  Panic buying will set in, men obtaining those frilly negligee's for their wives (returned and replaced with flannelette ones the week after Christmas), children will be demanding expensive goods not available in a any local shop, mums planning the dinner (as they ought) and some greedy shopkeepers rubbing their hands with glee while sympathising with their customers.  Soon be all over and Valentines cards will replace the Christmas ones and Easter eggs appear in the shops.

Mind you I like the eggs...

Life goes on however, whatever we fuss about.  The birds nestling in the wind shaken treetop care little for our concerns.  The face the wind as it howls towards them wishing the leaves had remained a little longer.  Our trials mean nothing up in that tree, life continues as it always has up there.

   

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Dreich Sunday

Dreich, damp, dismal, and looking to depreciate further.  The weather appears to be doing the same!  Trees are rapidly losing their leaves, standing stark against the intermittent drizzle.  Yet one bush in a garden appeared to have buds in Spring like mode.  They will not like what they see if they open any time soon.  The drizzle drizzled all day.  I moped, managing to do nothing but watch Bradford City play Coventry, most interesting that was!  Then I moped, a bit more, attempted to discover why a road was given the name 'Grenville,' in the early part of the 20th century, failed, and did the decent thing, gave up!  

However, regarding the left handed jibes the other day that nice man Dominic offered us an interesting, musical piece regarding a left handed piano.  This is one is a must for music lovers, who are left handed......  

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One Dreich Morn

While Australians sit on the beach grumbling about the 40% of heat I wandered across the damp park looking for a chink in the gray clouds above.  They fight fires in Tasmania which destroy homes and lifestyles, around here we light fires in the streets just to keep warm!  It's no fair so it is!  I was inspired this morning to sit here after what passes for breakfast and watch the folks outside cough their way to market.  By lunchtime the dank atmosphere has lightened to allowed me out for the cheap veg.  "Happy New Year," greetings came from the veg stall, desperate to keep their loyal customers.  (The other stall has many more for no good reason)  It made no difference to me, I am still using up the left overs in the fridge!

Glory be!  The afternoon saw the sun appear and left us with this lovely dusk view, Once I chopped of the view of the back streets at the bottom of the picture.  It is always a good piece of advice to ;look up' rather than around you.  The place you stand may be a dump but the sky almost always looks good, unless the clouds are gray of course!  Tonight the sky was fab, and hopefully it will stay this way, well, not when dark I mean.

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Maudlin Monday

The weather forecast threatened snow but as always it lied!  The snow stayed where it belonged, up north!  Let the Yorkists and the Scots keep what belongs to them - bad weather!  Instead we here in the soft south endured cold, cold rain.  As I crossed the almost deserted park it was indeed dreich.  The rain was coming straight down as I crossed, heavy shopping in hand.  In spite of the lass on the TV claimed it had, "Passed into the North Sea."  Liar!  It passed down my neck girl!  At least there has been no need to keep the heating on today although I did retire to bed for a while to keep warm - just in case.

This bint is filling the news again.  For the next few months we will be fed a daily diet of babies, her health, photographs, speculation, nancy boy 'Royal Correspondents,' boring women informing the world of their opinions on the child, and ceaseless comparisons to Diana from the media.  The sad women who lived their lives through Diana, and now do so through this girl, will be on every radio phone in, every page of the 'Daily Mail,' and the other tabloids.  All the tabloids will be printing those well prepared 'specials' that have been sitting on their PCs waiting to go since the day she married wealth and fame.  I am tempted to point out that the Tories attack the unemployed who have too many children they cannot afford so how about this pair?  They live on benefits (his RAF wage will not pay his way), claiming handouts from the taxes we pay, and doing nothing for society but sell dumbed down papers.  Should we insist she gets a job?  The child will probably be given a Chav name anyway.....

   

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Dreicher Still

A constant cold rain fell, bringing with it dull gray clouds and depression. As I walked through the slush I discovered the areas where puddles gather through the simple method of stepping into them! I did laugh! How lovely to squelch through the streets, frostbite eagerly devouring the toes, and dodging women's umbrellas. There was no need for anything other than a quick wander around town to know that getting back to bed was the only way forward in such weather. If I wanted this I would have stayed in Edinburgh all those years ago and grown another layer of fat! Funnily enough while enduring this weather my stomach has not, as yet, succumbed to the cold. It could be worse, my great niece up in the wilds of West Lothian built an igloo, of sorts, and it stands yet. Had she been better behaved however there would of course been no reason for her dad to ensure she made use of it last night!

There is an item, here on the BBC site, claiming that there is 'No such thing as safe Cocaine.' Now answer me this, why do people take drugs? Since before they became popular in the 60's it was well known that drug taking was habit forming and those who participated would become slaves to the stuff. So why do it? There are enough drunks in this world, from all backgrounds, who are addicted to the stuff and busy ruining their lives, so why take something even more dangerous and destructive? Certainly the 'Celebs' who inhabit the media are seen taking them and popping in and out of rehab almost daily, and their broken lives, broken before they became famous I tell you, their lives do encourage people into such a lifestyle. Fatuous comments in the trendy press claiming how wonderful it all is does not help I suppose, and even less the 'freedom to do your own thing' brigade who of course are careful not to get addicted! Rich spoiled brats may get themselves into the press but always manage, well often manage, to avoid a senseless death, and this must encourage others to give this a try. Peer pressure and stupid parents play a part but in the end why do people take the stuff?

It's well known that not eating enough 'greens' affects us, as does putting too much 'fast food' into our fat gobs. Margarine has to have vitamins added to make it worth while and too much cheese leads to Cholesterol problems, and death! Yet daft folk put 'E' tablets, whatever they are, heroin and cocaine into their system and expect to avoid problems. Now call me fussy but if eating a 'MacDonalds' burger is dangerous just how dangerous is Crack Cocaine? Are you not safer  following the trick in the early 70's of some folks in the US? The lay down at the end of runways and inhaled fumes from passing aircraft in the hope of getting 'high!' When asked if they did so the local sheriff, a somewhat taciturn gentleman replied, "No sir, they just got run over."

Is life so dreary we have to get out of our heads? Now I occasionally take a wee dram, a cheap one if I buy and a half of water if Mike buys, but getting drunk is never on. I got away from that when 18, now I wonder why folks find being unstable on your feet, not being aware of your actions, and ending up with a face full of vomit entertaining? Even at 18 this was not great. Is this all life has to offer? The experts may well tell us drug taking is dangerous but the whole world is infected with this, and there is nothing that can stop it except personal choice. That alas, appears to be lacking. The world is in  a bad way and we cannot see it.  

The sooner this cold 'snap,' as the weather men call it, is over I am off down to the beach again. A walk along the breakwater is always enthralling - unless you fall in of course! Roll on Spring and the sunshine once again!

Dreich

Dreich indeed today. Gray clouds overhead, occasionally releasing flurries of snow that swirl around, neither big enough to lie deep and crisp and even, nor small enough to avoid irritating those wandering through them. When I sat inside, suffering soup in which I had foolishly forgotten to add the imitation 'Oxo' cubes, I watched the sun break through and the sky, briefly, turn blue. When I left an hour later the scene above greeted me. Standing stark and tall, bare of leaves, and shivering in the cold, this tree dominated the scene as I passed by.How long until the buds start to sprout? How long till the birds can gather under her leaves to avoid the heat? How long until this dreich, cold weather runs away back where it belongs at the Arctic circle? I am left wondering how those who suffer six months of darkness survive?