A gray day that saw me wandering about our limited town looking for a Teddy Bear. People keep having kids and the only gift is a Teddy Bear and could I find one? No! There were varieties of soft toys, some affordable, but no actual Teddy Bear available. I was about to give up and search online when I passed the charity shop with one in the window, cheap but nice. I had to check it was a special buy and not a second hand thing, I am not that mean, but it was indeed a special purchase so in the pocket it went and soon, after I have adapted the price ticket, it will be prepared for handing to the happy worn out mum.
Once I decided to search the web for Teddy Bears I discovered just how many people sell them, often hand made, jolly expensive but decent bears. There is a big business in old bears often worth vast sums of money. New bears, Steiff of Germany is a great name, retail for over a hundred or more pounds, and vintage ones cost thousands! If I ever have money I will ignore banks and out my money into vintage Teddy Bears and these will definitely keep their value.
Ma hoose...honest!
Observant types may have noticed the past post from so long ago made use of the word 'sunshine' and the words 'blue skies.' This was optimism gone wrong. Since that post the clouds have hung around, the rain has teemed down and I have sat indoors sleeping off the bug caused by the change from hot sunshine to cold usual summer.
This slack mental approach of mine has limited my scribbling as I have only had enough effort to do simple things. Forgetting to eat has not helped. However I have managed to watch some of the 'Confederations Cup' football although some of this was so bad that I even preferred to discuss a woman's baby rather than watch it at one point!
Outside I notice nothing has changed, English men still dress as if the weather was hot in spite of the drizzle all around them, politicians still refuse to increase firemen or policeman's pay in spite of glorifying them when trouble arises, nurses did not even expect anything, the NHS is quietly sold off by Jeremy Hunt when nobody watches and few people bother to write on their blogs these days making life even more boring than it already is.
My method of improving the world was to spend today asleep, more or less, eat meat, rest more and tomorrow I expect to be almost normal.
What...?
I did at least manage to finish two books but both took a lot of reading and now I canny be bothered telling you what they were about. It took so long to get to the end of one I have forgotten what he was on about at the beginning! It might be his writing but it might be my hereditary stupidity, decide for yourself. I have of course begun other books which will take a while to read and will get back to you on this. I also received a new book in the post today, free at that as books ought to be.
It does make me realise how powerful books, and indeed writing in general can be. The written word can entertain, inform and delight, it can take us out of ourselves, into a new world and change our life. How sad that some people get no further in their reading than the local or national paper, and how twisted and ill informed are they!
Give books to people, make them read!
The attempt to move around a lot more has been hindered somewhat by the chill in the air. While the sun shines it looks lovely all around but the chill factor leaves an Arctic feel to the world and I am against this.
Yesterday the museum returned to normal, the cheerful staff rushed around tidying desks so they could fill them with stuff, a handful of people wandered in, one or two cups of tea were drunk and Peggy continued to grumble about the music, somethings never change!
It was good to be back but things will only slowly pick up for some of us. The full time staff of course have lots to get on with and I find keeping out the way the best way in which I can help there. It appears that is also their view although I am not too sure about this.
'Esmeralda,' the boiler, continues to play silly games. When I desperately needed a bath yesterday morning, it is a long time since Christmas, she refused to ignite! When I was considering making a move to leave she woke up! Today she took hours to reach a temperature that satisfied her and made me shiver until lunchtime by when I no longer cared, hypothermia had set in. Now I am too warm and had to go out to cool down! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The second picture was taken 20 minutes after the first! I love the setting sun but I do wish I could find something more interesting to snap.
The fact that I have at least seven books open at the moment in one place or another does not stop me from dreaming of buying more, or as I did today, hear something on the radio that made me open another one! Someone talking about Tacitus made me reach for his 'Histories' which I read yonks ago and have forgotten. Tsk! There it is lying open over there while this WW1 book is open here and others next door. Now I have been told 'Foyles' have opened a bookshop in the big city (it claims to be a big city anyway) so I really think I must make my way over there soon, just in case...
