Dreich or just Freezing?

The man in the 'run-of-the-mill' suit offered a forced smile while cheerfully telling us the high temperature of 6%, that's 43% in English, would lessen to around 3 during the night, that, he said with a smile, was "Just above freezing."  I am so glad he pointed that out.  
I wished to inform him the "Just above freezing" last night left the field opposite 'just about white' with frost, but I suspect as he is in warm studio in front of TV lights in Norwich he really does not care to know.  
However, I was forced out after 8 this morning to get through Tesco before it got busy.  This was because I forgot yesterday to go upstairs, which had been the whole reason to go there yesterday, and so trekked off in the frost this morning.  
When I returned shivering I wandered through the gardens, stupidity is my middle name, to see what effects had occurred during the cold night.  The frozen pond was beginning to thaw, white surfaces on plants, and Blackbirds with scarves around their necks foraging in the hedges.  I suspect what fish remain are now frozen and awaiting Mr Birdseye to collect them.  

 
Apparently. last night there was a debate on TV in which Boris and Corbyn made absolutely no difference to the publics view of them and their views.  It appears the questioner was inept, the answers brought laughter not admiration, Boris claiming something about 'Truth' brought giggles, and nothing happened to make anyone take notice.  
I watched Scotland playing Kazakhstan instead, more important and worth a great deal more.  That also makes me ask why the Welsh game was on at the same time, I wanted to watch both? If only one had been held back 24 hours!
Anyway I suspect Boris and Corbyn did not realise football was on, if England had played the debate would have found another night of course, but I doubt we missed anything much.  We know where they stand, or pretend to stand, the sheep will vote without thinking all over the UK, thinking folks will strive to choose he right place for their cross, and others will wonder where the 'Anti-smoking, pro Cycling' candidate is this time.  Possibly he has run out of money from losing so often.  
I have discovered one of our 'Independent' candidates has referred to himself on one sheet as 'Bell-end' or possibly that was an outsider making an observation.  As he is based in Haverhill, right on the border just inside Suffolk I fail to see why he stands here, possibly he has been rejected too often there.  

    
To make the town appear worse a TV company has been filming in the town.  The programme on offer is from BBC 3, 'TOWIE,' 'The Only Way is Essex.'  This has brought much disgust from the locals who suggest that Basildon or Billericay would be more appropriate.  It appears they did not stay long, as folks d not do in the programme I suspect, and the slappers young women involved have run off back home to mum while not forgetting to have several 'touching' photographs taken for publication accidentally in the 'Daily Mail.' 'Touching' can be taken in various ways here...

'Dreich' you will be pleased to learn, has become top of a Poll to discover the favourite Scots word.
Beating 'Glaikit,' 'Braw' and 'Scunner' to become number one, and no surprise.  No surprise as this is the word most Scots utter first thing in the morning upon waking.  Whether they refer to the view outside or inside is not always clear.  
The words meaning are in themselves quite obvious, what?... Oh!
All right then, here is a run down for you...  

• Dreich - tedious; damp and wet
• glaikit - stupid or foolish
• scunnered - disgust or strong dislike
• shoogle - shake or move from side to side
• wheesht - call for quiet or silence
• fankle - to tangle or mix-up
• outwith - outside or beyond
• braw - fine or pleasant
• beastie - an insect or animal
• bumfle - an untidy bundle 

They appear straightforward to me...

'Angels' on the Fence

As I sauntered out towards St P's and the sorting office this morning I noticed these 'angels' on the fence opposite.  It appears to be the thing these days for women's groups to knit such items for Christmas, sometimes decorating pillar boxes and other street furniture in an attempt to promote 'good feelings.'  It is happening in many places and was seen last year also if I remember right.  There are one or two groups who make use of our hall on occasions to sit and knit, croquet, spin and gossip for a few hours and occasionally put on a display.  I suspect they have a hand in this.

 
The sun took some time before it beat off the cloud cover, making this chopped down tree stand somewhat bare against the sky.  I would have had more pics but I was carrying cards to the church on my way and carrying a packet back from the sorting office afterwards.  The postie woman claims she knocked but I never heard her, she would not lie but she finds it difficult to hammer the door, the other man who does this round manages that well!  So I had to walk down not knowing what I would find and all I found was 'Nutmeg' a Scottish football magazine!  This thick item is too thick to bend and will not go through so that meant walking for a mile or two just for this.  I might get round to reading it eventually, so far I have three book tokens to make use off, and I am smiling as I think there is one more on the way.  

I failed to take the angel home, who knows where that might lead?  Instead I was satisfied with photos and notice many have already made homes for themselves, the brightly coloured ones first of course.  I will be out in town tomorrow (twice! Such excitement!) and who knows what these wimmen will have done elsewhere?  

  
Jeremy is in trouble apparently for calling Theresa 'Stupid!'  Quite why this is bad I fail to comprehend, are we not allowed to be honest?  On top of this manufactured row the Speaker himself was confronted by (a Tory) female MP claiming he had called her 'stupid.'  How strange that such an attitude can be found in the House while yesterday a Scots MP was told to 'Go back to your own country' by Nicholas Soames (Churchill's grandson) and yet this was not considered racism and dealt with by the speaker.  What is more serious, racism or speaking the truth?

At least we are not the US...

Sunshine!

As I wandered in the gardens gathering Vitamin 'K' (or is it 'D'?) from the sunshine I cogitated on Theresa May's handling of these Caribbean types who have lived here fifty or so years and are being chucked out by the dozen.  It seemed to my little mind that a woman who while spending six years as Home Secretary has forgotten that during her time she ordered advertising vans to drive around 'ethnic' areas plastered with information regarding how these folks should go back home.  Nothing racist in this, just obeying the 'Daily Express' and the like.  Somewhere along the line the records of such immigrants from the West Indies have been deleted by the home Office, Labour say she did this, now today she claims this was done under the Labour government, I wonder who to believe? 
The speed in which the Tories have apologised for such blatant racism reveals how much this situation has hurt them.  Even Brexit has been put aside, or is being hidden, by the fuss.  The poor Junior Minister who first had to admit the policy of dumping folks back home was wrong was bad enough, especially as she appeared not to care one whit, but the Home Secretary Amber Rudd, she who cavorted with an 'activist' at the Party Conference, she also has admitted the wrong although again without any heart showing through.  This is driven by the desperate PM, desperate to inspire her troops, desperate to keep her job, desperate to hide the Brexit failure.
All this and the Labour opposition under Corbyn can make no headway.  It makes you laugh!

             
Sitting under this tree I had my first take of warmth today.  All around the kids were screaming, mums chasing them, people happy as Larry as the sun shone properly for the first time.  The wind chill was a nuisance but I missed it sitting here.  The warmth forced me to open my shirt and let the sun pretend we were in the Mediterranean and not Essex.  It of course did not take long for the attractive young ladies to arrive.  They gathered around offering compliments like "He will never get that belly back in that shirt!"  And "Captain Ahab, the white whale is here!"  
I hope they all get mumps.  

I suppose it is a terrible thing, facebook stealing all our info, but when they merely use it to pass on to advertisers of whatever persuasion I remain unmoved.  For years I have used  Ad Block Plus on Firefox and Chrome and rarely ever see and advert.  One or two appear for seconds and then disappear but any advert of whatever nature is hard to see on facebook or indeed anything else.
The sight of the creepy wee man Zuckerberg facing the US committee ensured any love for him was lost.  His appearance reminded me of the weird types seen in some old US movies, the one who turns out to indeed be weird, or a gangster or a zombie perhaps.  He did not appear as one you would trust in any capacity.  He also gave the impression the US committee could do nothing about him or his actions, and he is right.  With so many billionaires working alongside him no Congress committee will get far in putting him down.  
However it is worrying just how much info people can gather through 'social media.'  Fine as long as you do not become opposed to the tyranny that rules and unfortunate of you do as they will know more about you than you do.  At this point I'd like to say "Hi!" to MI6, MI5, the FBI, Scotland Yard, the CIA and Mr Putin.  The Chinese we met when they had the Olympics and their lackeys watched for any disagreement worldwide and were always ready to spout the party line.  It kept them out of jail I suppose. 
At least they will not see the adverts.

Look, blue skies!!!

Messy State

While hiding from the chill wind I have cogitated on the government situation.  Now I know you will ask "Government? Does the UK have one?" and I will answer, "Not at this moment."  
The Scottish Labour Party then leader requested those Labour voters in constituencies where the Labour man would not win to vote for the Conservative Party thus ensuring the SNP would not win at the general election.  The result was many did indeed follow this instruction and the UK government was then won by a handful of seats, Scottish seats, that meant we now have a Conservative Party forming the government.  Had the Labour voters voted Labour and the SNP won the seats Jeremy Corbyn the leader of the UK Labour Party would now be Prime Minister instead of Theresa May.
Theresa May's government has been a farce since she was elected as she knows the Brexit nonsense will bankrupt the UK but she goes along with this just to keep her job as Prime Minister.  Her control of her cabinet is non existent and add to the farce of Brexit and the incompetence regarding the discussions with the EU we have the 'sex scandals' some of which are genuine and the loss of cabinet ministers from said cabinet.  
Today we await the MP for Witham, Essex, who has been called back from Africa where she escaped to avoid answering questions in the House regarding her latest shenanigans. 
It appears Pritti Patel, a woman who knows the colour of money, has been meeting with members of the Israeli cabinet on numerous occasions unbeknown to the PM or indeed her office (She is Minister for development).  This is serious as such meeting s require a civil servant to be present to take notes and make reports etc but this was not done!  Not only but also, she has met with and discussed government business with the Prime Minister of Israel without informing Theresa May her own PM!  Just what is going on we ask?
Today we read the Jerusalem Post claiming Theresa May was aware all along these meetings (all 12 of them) were underway, and aware that no civil servant was there also.  This is serious stuff and totally out of order from the correct handling of such circumstances under Parliament protocol. 
Who is telling the truth?  
What will be the result?

p.s. Tonight we hear the Patel woman has 'resigned,' they normal way to say she has been sacked. 

This government has an easy time as Corbyn also wishes to leave the EU.  Had he differed in his opinion he could bring this government down but is unable to do so.  A government with a lying Minister, a lying Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson also, and David Davis the Brexit secretary claiming over 50 studies relevant to the result of Brexit are available and refusing to release them when parliament demands they are released he now claims they do not exist! 
Yet Corbyn cannot bring them down?
There is no stable government in Westminster, a rag tag group of individuals on the make each eyeing up the other as a dangerous opponent.  A weak opposition, a frustrated populace and all the while costs to the people rise daily (BT the latest to make a grab for another billion) the NHS loses money, the disabled, unemployed and sick lose benefits and housing and parliament is in a mess.
What a state to live under.  I have never known such a mess. 

I of course have a theory.
The more I look at things I begin to see judgement at work.
The UK has the Conservatives, the US has Trump!  The West has political correctness and the lunatics run the asylum.
We have left the ways of God, poorly followed as they were, encouraged abortion and gay sex, worshipped Mammon and become disinterested in human life.  I have mentioned the benefit claimants who are all regarded as scroungers I can add those who kill on the roads and walk free after a short sentence of four, five or six years while the dead are just dead and the victims families are not considered worthy of care.  
We are worshipping ourselves, this only leads to trouble.
The more the 'self' is glorified the more we die. 
Turning to he who rules is the only way forward for us.  
Turning to Jesus and the way of truth is our only hope.
Few will find it while the cosmos implodes.

Autumn Mists

Autumn, the season of 'Mists and mellow fruitfulness' said he poet, I'm not sure about the mellow fruitfulness but last night there was plenty of mist.  This contrasted sharply with the warmth found in the middle of the day today where people walked about shirt sleeved, they must be mad!  

  
The aged bandstand in the gardens has been in attendance at almost 140 such seasons.  The trees around have cheerfully deposited their leaves for someone else to gather over a similar time.  The gardens once were the sole property of one of the Courtauld's, George I think, who had the big hoose over the road.  He also had a huge area of fields there also which now form the park l and in a spirit of generosity donated the gardens to the town.  This was received with much pomp and display.  The townspeople marched through the town in celebration and a picnic in a local field was held at the end with a bonfire and carousing no doubt at night.  People made their own fun in the late 19th century.  The gardens are now run by a trust and a Courtauld is one of the leading men attempting to keep the gardens running.

        
Apparently the Labour party have been having a conference this week, only listening to the news headlines means I miss out many tales and yet miss out nothing important.  It appears Jeremy Corbyn thinks he could win an election but there are two problems here: we are not having one and stopping Brexit is more important.  The election one is fun as this is three years away I guess and the Tories will have gone through about three Prime Ministers by then and while it is possible Jeremy might be acceptable to many by then I suspect he also may have followed them into the abyss.
If however Brexit is not stopped, and Jeremy is all for it, then in three years time Scotland will be independent, England broke taking Wales and Northern Ireland with them and the world will be a different place.  In the meantime we struggle on with the worst government we have ever had, sometimes I wish David Cameron would come back at least you knew where you were with the ignorant toff.

        
There has been much cheering in the realms of the easily led by the radical news from Saudi Arabia that from next June women will be allowed to drive cars in that country.  Cue much cheering from feminists, media women and others with little intellect.  Women being allowed to drive gets a round of applause yet not one word is asked re stopping the crucifixion of 16 year olds, the decapitation of offenders nor the chopping off of hands and other bits and the stoning for adultery, these are less important than a woman driving!
Questions must be asked why this decision has been made?  Could this reflect the new young rulers intention to 'modernise' his nation?  Could it be a lessening of the influence of the Wahhabi imams? Or could it be a distraction taking our minds of the proxy wars on Yemen and Syria?  Or is this to hide something else we are not being informed off?  We wait and see.

The Autumn sun peeked out between the large misty cloud formations time and again today indicating that more such weather awaits us.  Rain clouds form as we speak, the residue from those US hurricanes make their way east and affect our nation, typical Yankees!  Not only do their money loving Boeing attempt to kill of 4000 jobs in Northern Ireland they dump their old storms on us also.  We can hit back concerning the aero companies but sending our weather to them is not so easy.
I expect Mrs May, when not taking the knives out of her back, will call that nice Donal Trump and inform him handbag style what she thinks of it all.  He can attempt to hold her hand but I suspect this will not work again.  Not sure it worked last time right enough.  
Mrs May is still PM but there are rumours of a coup approaching.  However all rumours are just that, rumours.  Who plants them?  The Russians, The Tories, a Tory bigwig unsettling other bigwigs, the CIA or 77 Brigade?  Who knows?  So many false items on Twitter and Facebook and so little truth among the whole thing.  I am cutting down on both social media and lessening my search for information to more reliable informants, who are possible lying I must admit.  
Just imagine, a British government with a divided cabinet, backstabbing ministers and no opposition, no matter what Jeremy says, is this possible? 

Surprise at Work

Several surprises at work today, the worst being made to transfer the kitchen stuff elsewhere while the builder rebuilt it!  Long before my starting time I was lugging things about and sweating in a manner not known for many a day.   This is not a situation I wish to repeat.  It does show however how much is contained in a small kitchen and questions must be asked about most of it.  Still the builder is a good guy and soon we will have more space in their yet I bet the majority continue to dump everything in the sink and do a runner as always.  
Good job I am not one to complain or I may have had to when the first visitor arrived as I opened the door intending to sit, drink tea made in the cleaning sluice, and instead I was forced to chat in an inane manner while she looked for gifts.  I just wished to lie back and breathe without gasping.

   
As we are in a mess at the moment, one exhibition comes down and the second begins to claim space, the museum is flooded with helpers running around with little idea what to do.  I help by keeping out the way or removing white 'Blutack' from the back of information cards.  The woman in charge muttered something about me 'finding my place,' stole some of my chocolates and disappeared in a whirl of waste paper and exhibition stuff.      
I however continued with my work, two male visitors, one Museum Friend and two more helpers for the clean up, two phone calls booking events, all this while attempting to read one of our books and doing without tea as mine went cold and no-one was free to aid my distress.  So I filled in time by taking pictures of stock with a small and not too good camera to see what I could get from it.  This entertained me if not being very productive.  

 
Another surprise came at lunchtime when one of the women Generals came out of her interminable meeting with the big boss to inform me of Theresa May's decision to have a General Election on June 8th.  Naturally this is interesting news and reveals something of the impotence of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.  Had he been a successful leader she would not risk this.  
It is right that the Brexit farce requires a General Election not a referendum in which the people were lied to as a mandate for Brexit.  However as the Conservatives are 20 points ahead in the polling it suggests she will win, wipe Labour out for years and bring about an even greater chance of Scots independence.  The Conservative policy of making the poorest face the burden of austerity will keep them out of Scotland, other troubles such as the 'Rape Clause' will lead to the Scots Tories suffering badly up north.  I forsee a Tory win but elections are not referendums, voting for Brexit does not always mean voting Tory, especially as the cost will come home to roost soon enough and the Labour voter will suffer much more than the middle class Tory.

 
As we have local council elections on May 5th folks are not happy about another election a month later.  In this area it matters little, this part of the nation is Conservative controlled at local and County level with little room for opposition to show.  Not only do we have the country peoples who are often the bedrock of the Tory Party but we also have the 'Working Class Conservative' who votes  for them because he thinks they give him more money in his pocket.  ON top of this UKIP the loony Conservative voters abound in this area, a mixture of 'little Englander' and 'Racist,' these folks will not even eat curry in case they fail the Empire!  So whatever way we vote the Tory MP will be returned, the majority of local and county councillors will be Conservative and nothing will make much difference for me.  Already the local Labour Party have dumped leaflets on us and in a few weeks we will be flooded by them and the recycling bag will be overflowing with lies, half truths and desperation!
Oh joy!  Two months of this to look forward to.

Once I had hobbled home I was confronted with more surprises.  The boys were fixing the broken flooring in the hall, the flooring that has been broken for nearly 20 years!  I expressed my surprise and was confronted with demands for tea!!!  This I managed to ignore as I pleaded weariness from my mornings endevours.  This obtained no sympathy, workmen I find often fail to empathise with those who do less than they.   Nonetheless I made tea for me and left them to it.  I bet I find the floor totally taken up tomorrow when I go down, just for spite!

Now important things are at hand, Real Madrid playing Bayern Munchen!

Oh My Knees!

How lovely to see my favourite Museum women again, how they missed me!  Oh yes they did!
My knees did not need to run around as I did, checking things were in the right place, removing Christmas gifts, walking to kitchen to make tea.  I should have left it till the afternoon - when another takes over!  How nice to be back and have such a good day.  My knees ache mind.

The smug Eton prefect has decided to allow his cabinet to campaign any which way they choose regarding the forthcoming EU in or out referendum.  Many papers feel this is a good thing.  These are the same papers that criticise Corbyn for dumping members of his opposition cabinet who disagree.  In truth Corbyn has shown leadership in removing one critic while Cameron is not strong enough to keep his cabinet together if he tried to make them obey his will.  The half truth and lies of the media know no end.

 BBC

In Northern Ireland we see some of the present worlds dafter moments however recently Pastor McConnell was subjected to one that could not have been thought about a mere twenty years ago.
In one of his sermons he mentions Islam as 'satanic' and claims he could not trust Muslims.  This brought him into court on grounds of offensive language and hate speech.
For one the judge made the obvious decision and declared him Not Guilty and rightly so.  His considered opinion may annoy some but it cannot be called either offensive or hate speech.  As has been pointed out elsewhere many Muslims preach hate against the west and this country yet are never dragged into court, we can wonder why?  
This case should never have been brought but will real hate preachers, especially Muslim, be charged this way?

Debate!

Daily Mail

I spent much of the day with the Syria debate in the background.  The House of Commons was full of people with something to say about the debate as to whether the RAF ought to be bombing Daesh in Syria as well as in Iraq.  A serious situation which many treated seriously with a bit of banter and finger pointing but on the whole a decent debate.  The two leaders however were very different.  The Prime Minister David Cameron began the debate with a speech high on words but low on conviction.  He was convinced of the need but when questions arose he failed to satisfy.  Last night he spoke to a meeting of Conservative MP's and used the phrase 'Terrorist Sympathisers' on those who wish to vote against his motion.  Today he was asked on several occasions to apologise and he fell into the 'Eton Prefect' mould and ignored the question, it was an act of brazen ignorance which did him and the post of Prime Minister no good whatsoever.  Cameron continues to demand the bombing of Syrian targets (with only eight planes added to the eight we already have there) without civilian casualties or the loss of a plane yet has not given any indication of strategy behind this.  The real reason is keeping in with the 'allies' and getting a seat at the political table.  The bombing will do little to stop Daesh.  The plan remains send in the jets, no further plan is available.  This looks good.

Jeremy Corbyn on the other hand opposes the bombing as he always does yet his performance was poor.  He made his points while constantly and probably deliberately interrupted by Conservative questions and appeared unable to put his case sufficiently.  Both front benches performed badly for differing reasons.   

The short few minutes for speeches from the backbenches were far better.  Many had prepared well, knew what they wished to say and made a decent case for their opinion.  The majority Tories will support the motion, the SNP and many Labour will oppose and David Cameron might well find the easy victory eh expected when he called the debate will not materialise.  He will win but not by a large majority.  The debate continues, time being short speakers now have only three minutes to get their point across!  This is because Cameron insisted on the debate lasting only one day and not two or three as important debates ought to do.  That also has gone against him.

Bombing while allowing financial assistance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar appears daft yet we do this.  No money is being spent on attacking the internet usage by Daesh, no attempt to curb their social media usage, much better to bomb.  The Turks have been buying Daesh oil some say while sending their men to fight the Kurds fighting Daesh!  We have failed to give armour to the Kurds, our best fighting men facing Daesh as this upsets the Kurds!  What a mess we have in front of us and in the end we will see a similar debate when this clown wishes to send our troops in on the ground alongside our allies!

The debate continues.

A Day in the Life

This is the view I am forced to endure at the moment, except that at the moment it is obscured by the rain belting down.  This rain is I understand the remnants of yet another American hurricane that they send us regularly in an effort to increase the numbers of road accidents from English drivers failing to note the rain that blocks their view from their windscreen.  Quite how so many appear ignorant of rains ability to make roads slippery, especially when leaves are beginning to fall onto them, or that it takes longer to stop when on wet roads amazes me.  It is amazing the police who have just asked people to open their eyes.  I am told 'El Ninio' or whatever it's called on the far side of the Americas is promising to send us the worst winter since 1962/3 when it was horrid, I canny say I am looking forward to that!  Anyone got a bolthole in Portugal they don't use...?

 

This stuff, and the honey, is rapidly running out.  It appears the 'Hot Toddy' is something to be taken occasionally and not consistently as I had misread.  Ah well I will not require any more after tonight as healing is with us and soon I will be outside again.  How can such a small thing interfere with life so much?  How can people indicate that 'dribbling' is not a new thing for me in such a sarcastic manner?  The whole museum has suffered with this and I suspect it began with one of the kids during the summer.  Bah!  At least they have to go to school in the rain!

 

Islington Gazette 

 

Jeremy Corbyn had an excellent start to his public duties during Prime Ministers Question Time (PMQs) today.  By asking questions sent in by the public and mentioning their names he forced the Prime Minister to answer the question and avoid insulting the questioner, he cannot insult the public, at least in public anyway.   Corbyns attempt to have a better PMQs by speaking quietly and avoiding the childish nonsnes also worked as the PM found this difficult.  Indeed Cameron lost it when asked a reasonable question by the Scottish Nationalist Leader in the House and replied in his usual blustering arrogant Eton Prefect style to be put down very well by the SNP leader.  A good start by Corbyn although one woman asked if this meant he could not respond to the PMs answers this way, I see it as possible and if he can keep the PM acting like a decent chap he will all too often see this breaking down to Corbyns advantage.  The PM will react in fury and look bad on PMQs, this is the only parliament most people actually watch so it is important. 

       

The rain started hours ago and has continued non stop since.  There is nothing for it but to stop a passing jet and run off to the Riviera for a few days.  Anyone coming with me...?