First Day of Spring

The Year's At The Spring - Poem by Robert Browning

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven—
All's right with the world!

Poem Hunter

I made it back home from St P's today about 30 minutes before the delightful Spring rain hammered down across the land.  I now wake about six in the morning which is good and the day is almost bright, bar the gray clouds that is. 

Spring - Poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Birds' love and birds' song
Flying here and there,
Birds' song and birds' love
And you with gold for hair!
Birds' song and birds' love
Passing with the weather,
Men's song and men's love,
To love once and forever.

Men's love and birds' love,
And women's love and men's!
And you my wren with a crown of gold,
You my queen of the wrens!
You the queen of the wrens --
We'll be birds of a feather,
I'll be King of the Queen of the wrens,
And all in a nest together.
Poem Hunter

Today, without telling the Scots, Theresa May spoke of the date she begins the Brexit process.  The condescending selfishness of the woman is giving many Scots the desire to vote indy!   Today I notice May, in her three hundred pound trousers and several hundred pound outfits posing for a glossy magazine.  How nice to take time of to present yourself, no man would do such a thing.  Arrogant, ignorant to and off Scotland, failing to accept the losses that will accrue she rushes into leaving the EU with no trade deals of any sort ready.  
Disaster awaits.

Oh and there is this!

Stronger in Europe!

Spring Sunday

I cheered myself up considerably this morning by not reading any of the lying online papers.  This was a good idea, though one or two things that appeared on facebook did niggle.  The woman at the Kirk who follows slavishly the UKIP line was close to getting my thoughts this morning but I managed to control myself and twice avoided expressing my opinion.  Coffee time would not have been so enjoyable for some if I had  mentioned my opposition to the hate filled messages she thinks acceptable.  I must write something biblical about this, it shouldn't be too difficult. 
The morning was good otherwise, these people are becoming family to me now, whether they see things that way I would not like to say but "You know how awful family can be," is a phrase I have heard in my presence...   

Plodding home from Kirk I noticed the Spring weather at its best.  Sun bright over there, black clouds over here scudding along at speed.  The football in Manchester I watched today began in teeming rain and soon afterwards the sun was shining, typical Spring weather.  Tomorrow I go out in sunshine but if the weather report is fulfilled I will drown on the way back. 

 
Is there nothing but Daffodils in this country?
These I believe are nearer the colour of the wild daffs that Wordsworth saw when wandering 'lonely as a cloud' though I have yet to see a lonely cloud in this country myself, usually they come with many friends.  
Small flowers, blossom on trees, milder temperatures in spite of high winds and occasional blue in the sky indicate better prospects.  Life is getting better.

  
It is noticeable how scared Westminster is of the IndyRef 2.  The media campaign is well under way already while the problems with the failure of Brexit negotiations and the Northern Ireland danger are pushed aside while Scotland is attacked on all sides.  The referendum has not yet got a date you notice!  England needs Scotland to keep it afloat yet will not accept this.  Instead the usual lies are offered and the usual suspects brought before the biased TV and radio programmes.  Today, in the week the SNP had their Spring Gathering the Andrew Marr show offered the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, not someone from the SNP!  Possibly they were at the Conference "cough."
There is however a great deal of hope for Scots, the greatest weapon we have still exists, Theresa May!  Her patronising attitude, her intransigence and contempt for Scotland will offer Scots an insight into England's understanding of Scotland.  I see that here all the time, and this from well meaning folks, they have a total ignorance of Scotland and its people, a total misunderstanding of why Scots require to be a nation again.   With their media being what it is this can be no surprise.

With the lighter mornings I am awakening at six these days.  This means I must begin to get to bed earlier for my much needed beauty sleep.  As it is past eight at night I suppose this would be the right time to head off for that is around the amount of 'beauty sleep' I require!

Lee is at Fault.

It is not my fault we have yet more Daffs.  Oh no, all I had to do was get up long before I was awake and cross the park to capture the daffodils in the early (ish) morning sunshine that's all I had to do.  This because she who must be obeyed insisted!   A lovely Spring morning, just right for entering the supermarket early on...

The day has been taken up with important things but I put them aside to listen to Theresa May the English Prime Minister talking down Scotland and watching how the English media have given her unstinting, and dare I say it unthinking, support.  Not only the media but the slaves of the comments forums have been once again bringing out their old insults, lies, false facts and abuse.  How lovely to meet old friends again.
The Tory press slants its coverage with little attempt to hide the bias.  The Scottish versions of the papers do have different slanted stories however, just in case these offend I suspect, and this added to the Glasgow based BBC Scotland (full of unionist Labour serfs) with the biased journalism (sic) that they offer it is clear the desperation of the Westminster elite to keep Scotland under the thumb has not diminished.
The usual scribes appear in the comments sections, the usual phraseology indicating 'copy and paste' is much used to abuse Scots and lie about independence.  Rarely do these creatures indulge in debate, they cannot as they merely earn their money by spouting what they are told, and all under several names freely provided and used to give the false impression that vast numbers oppose Scots independence.  Surely this lie has been seen for what it is by now.
The question I ask, and never receive an answer for is 'Why does England wish to keep Scotland if the Scots cost her so much?'  No-one answers as Scotland keeps England going.
How amazing that Theresa wishes to leave the EU without offering answers to the questions that are daily asked re trade deals and financial deals yet claims Scots cannot have a referendum as such questions re Scotland have not been answered!  Silly girl.
Another strange item is the number of Englishmen who fail to understand Scotland's situation yet feel free with their comments, I suppose such arrogance comes easily to them.  I have had to rebuke several and am used to doing that living in this wilderness as the knowledge of most here re Scotland is as a holiday place 'up there' somewhere where they went twenty years ago.  The clarity of the situation ought to appear as they look at the strain on Theresa's face when talking down to Scotland. 

During the week I was searching YouTube for things to watch that required no effort.  The sea slapping against the shore, birds chattering in trees that sort of thing and i found one or two happily enough.  I also came across this Penguin Cam the Penguins at Edinburgh Zoo enjoying their day.  On the occasions I looked they were being fed, some of you with your own animals will recognise the scene.  One is fed while the rest gather around desperate not to suffer malnutrition!  It's a nice watch.

I'm Sick of Daffodils

I'm sick of daffodils, much as I love them!  I wandered out today in the hope the Spring sun might allow for some pictures.  Not only did all the wee birds hide from me, as did some big ones, but no beastie of any sort was interested in posing for me.  
The flowers for the most part comprised Daffodils, more daffodils and yet more daffodils!  I understand why the park keepers fill the park with them, the bright flash of colour is magnificent, but no other colour is appearing.  On top of this I can wander only around the doors just now and this means there is nothing new or exciting to snap a foto off.  Really annoying.  

A few purple things did appear here and there, mostly not quite out yet, and my attempts to capture the early bees hovering between them failed miserably.  Rather a disappointing flower count today but I expect many more to appear in a week or so.  

Nothing else has happened as I have been resting from my housework all day.  Having cleaned up to no purpose last week I see no reason to do any more for a month or so.  The clean up was successful in that I still cannot find half the stuff I removed from sight.  
Bored yet?
I am with having little to report.
So here is another daffodil and good luck with it!

Monday Dawdle

The day went it's usual way.  My desperate Spring cleaning that caused each and every muscle to ache so much that I could hardly sleep on Saturday was in the end a waste of time.  The Boiler man arrived right enough, just as I was thinking of leaving, but the Landlords manager never entered the flat!!!  Now I have a clean flat for no purpose! 
Ridiculous, now not only can I not find anything but the place smells so clean and pine finished.  Tsk! I canny get used to this.  Having said that I must say it is better when I can walk across the floor without dust rising and actually find a space on the settee where I can sit with out having to move things.
But what a waste of time!  Bah!

 
While waiting for the men this morning I did little else, just in case it caused mess, however I did read the facebook pages and some things stood out.  One was facebooks insistence of shoving adverts in my face again.  This happens every so often, especially after the share value has dipped, and as they keep demanding I note other people 'Who I may know' it gets a bit wearing.  I am capable of finding people I know and people I wish to know without help thanks, and the adverts all get called 'Spam' and dumped.
The other thing was my niece, her daughter is 18 today and she is the youngest in the family (though from what pictures I have seen she dresses far from young if you ask me!) and here was my niece and her friends grumbling about being 'OLD' because this one is 18 and that one is 20 and 'innit terrible.'  
How do they think I feel when I can barely remember being 18!    
I canny mind that day when I could legally drink.  This at the time was very important to me and as I worked in a brewery at that age I then got an allowance of beer free each month.  This was more than enough for me as we (my mother and I) were not drinking that much, or should I say she didn't drink except at new year.  However I suspect this allowance of four dozen cans of beer would not be sufficient for my family today.  One of them would have it away in a day or two if he was not working!
This shows how much I have changed from those far off days and the life I then lived.  Meeting together at the church this morning for our debate I realise how distant those days and now my family and I are in our lifestyles and how we see the world.  I would add 'I prefer mine' to a life centred on sitting in pubs but tonight the church men meet for a social evening in a ...anyway I must be off, the sooner I'm in the sooner I get home again...  

I Need a Cook.

It was when packing the card to my great niece I realised something was wrong. 
The expensive gifts (I say) were placed in the envelope, an address was written (and checked) and as I lifted the envelope I realised it was possible to see the contents if the card was held up to the light.  
A larger brown envelope was procured from the dust covered pile.  The old white envelope was inserted, the address added, a stamp (first class) placed in the top corner and satisfaction was guaranteed.  
Then I noticed the card was still sitting on the desk!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Ripping open the brown envelope, ripping open the white envelope, ripping to bits and dumping both the ex-envelopes in the pile of refuse at the side of the desk.  Card inserted, with expensive (I say) gifts into new envelope.  Address added, stamp affixed, sudden realisation first class stamp on other envelope wasted and lost!  Card checked, passed and placed for posting.

I contemplated the situation.  Several days running such situations had arisen.  Something was wrong my mind was not working.  I often found myself wondering what I was doing and questioning where I was.  Either dementia was here or it was the more usual cause stupidity.  
Poison was considered but the price of cyanide these days was beyond me.
Then I realised what was wrong.  A combination of the wee bug that folks have found difficult to shift was hanging around (no news there) and my inability to eat was the main cause of the trouble.
I had eaten but was forgetting some things like meat, fish, etc.  Last night I felt rough and there was I enjoying a delightful Saturday night stuffing Corned Beef down my throat as I lay in bed watching the wee team playing Dundee United in an effort to rescue some comprehension in my head.  It worked!
There is a obvious need for Matron to ensure I eat properly, it might help me lose some weight also.

 

With Monday being the day the boiler gets serviced I have been busy 'Spring cleaning' early.  Until recently I got on well with the Landlords manager but after 13 years she left to make money.  The new staff I know not and I am tidying the place in an effort to ensure they think it is well looked after.  The problem is I am off out around midday and it is likely he will not arrive until then.  This allows her, and it will be a 'her' to snoop around and no doubt make her own conclusions.   Hmmm I suppose I had better hide the whisky also in that case...
If the weather is good she may not notice the windows have not been cleaned since the scaffolding was placed outside when the building was repainted two years ago.  Maybe I ought to suggest repainting the place...?   
This afternoon I ought to be cleaning the kitchen but I have been accidentally trapped in my bed listening to the football on the wireless.  I will attend to the other things later - if I have time...

Thursday

Nothing happened today except the sun shone.
Just imagine, sun and blue sky, daffodils reflecting the sun while they wave in the wind, seagulls bothering folks in the park while they chase food scraps (seagulls not the people), and another inkling of Spring in the air.
However I did nothing.
I do that very well.

This afternoon however was taken up wandering through the shops to find a gift card for my great niece.  If only 'Poundland' did them!  I finally found one (Primark) that would suit an 18 year old though I believe booze was on her list also.  Whether it was on her list or her mothers who informed me of this I am unsure but these folks don't behave in the seemly manner in which I spent my youth.
What?...oh!

Having said that I am reminded of the (near empty) bottle of Armagnac Brandy that has been lying about for a year or two.  I thought I had better ensure it was fit for purpose and indeed it is!  Such smooth brandy has never before bee invented.  How lovely this stuff is.  How low the level in the bottle...now.
During the Great War General Haig, then the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army was being constantly pestered by General Joffre the avuncular French top man.  He would arrive at Haig's door blustering about the situation and demanding action in a near hysterical demeanour.   Haig, though from the 'Haig whisky' family, rarely drank much but when confronted by a demanding Joffre would reach for his best Brandy and supply copious amounts to the eager General. By the time Joffre headed for his car he had agreed in principle to everything Haig required.  
I might try this with some folks I know...

Day Off

The Chancellor in the English Parliament has offered his Budget to the nation.  The chattering classes are chattering twenty to the dozen to convince us it is a good/bad thing for us all.  I suspect it will be a good thing for those who already have plenty and not so good for the rest of us.  I have dealt with it in the usual manner by switching it off and awaiting the reports tomorrow which give a better indication of what it all really means.  What it all really means is the ones who already have more than enough will have more and those without will have less, as always.  Not that I am a cynical type you understand.

Quite whether I need to make use of the dregs from this ancient bottle I know not as yet but listening to the clever people often drives me to such as this!  Being a day off, I must open the curtains sometime soon, I am in no mood to do anything that demands thought so maybe thisis a better idea than at first contemplated.

This is 'International Women''s Day' and on Twitter and Facebook vast numbers of pictures of women are appearing along with the #Womansday hashtag.  Naturally I wished to do my bit so apart from enquiring when is 'International Man's Day' I have posted pictures of women, such as the one above, with the required hashtag.  For reasons as yet unknown no reply has been received on either social system but at least on one the number of pictures has lessened.  On a newspaper (that word is dubious) a lass is demanding 'equal pay' and I agreed with her.  I requested similar pay as to what she is receiving as a member of the Scots Parliament, I have as yet received no reply.
One day men will be equal to women...

Exhibition

As a little experiment I began the day by attempting to video the exhibition.  It did not quite work as expected but gives a flavour of what it is all about.   

This was not an easy operation as I had some things to do, the man was vacuuming the floor nearby, and worst of all the kettle was nearly boiling so I had to hurry.  

The first two cover the main gallery, the next the second gallery space.  There was a bit more but surely this is enough for you?  OK, if you wish I may add the few seconds of other bits.

This Bardfield Painters thing is bringing folks in.  They come from miles around, thee art lovers chase pictures everywhere, and all enjoy both the pictures and the way they have been portrayed.  Quite right too she made a good job of the display.

An added joy is the money spent of books, cards and postcards that go along with the exhibition, visiting an art work makes many wish to take a bit of it away with them, so cards it is.  All helps keep us afloat.

Like cats not all pictures move.  

This is just a taste of the exhibition which kept me busy this morning.  People enquiring about the afternoon event, a vintage local film show, were also keeping me from hot tea.  However in spite of the pressure in which we were under Peggy and I managed to find time for gossip and other important things...

Memory at Work

Watching St Mirren score early on against one half of the evil twins brought back to mind a similar goal I saw scored in 1962, long before you and I were born.  Not only did it bring back to mind the goal it brought with it the very essence of the day also.  For a second I could 'feel' the atmosphere, smell the glossy programme and the embrocation cream then used to lubricate players before a game and tasted again the very ambience of the day.  For a second I saw the blue sky and bright green grass, again I was sensing the surroundings, then new to me, again I experienced for a brief moment the exciting experience of that day long a now gone all because of memory.  I remember also the six goals which we went on to score and note St Mirren and also now losing!

It never fails to amaze me just how much we have stored away in memory and also how difficult it is to retrieve it when required.  Just listen to BBC's 'Brain of Britain' and note how often you know the answers to a question but cannot find it in that large brain box of yours.  It takes merely the slightest fragrance from a Hyacinth plant and I am back in Primary School, cross a muddy field and the sweetish grass brings me back to Lying face down in a goalmouth, not always successfully, a song might bring to mind good days or bad and a photograph from times past can fill the mind with memories of a place.
What returns easiest, good memories or bad ones?  
Tiredness can bring to mind the memories of failure and regret that are not wanted, tiredness rarely brings good thoughts let alone good memories.  Looking back people tend to consider life was better in the past, are they deliberately forgetting the bad things or just deluding themselves?  All too often it is age that makes us remember the energy we once had, the hopes and dreams that no longer register in the mind, maybe that is why the past appears better even though at the time we grumbled so often.

      
Repressing memories can be hard on us.  
I recall a lass who had many problems, a young thing with too much arthritis in her bones and no memory of early days.  One thoughtful woman considered she had been a battered baby and possibly this accounted for the problems, and she had many problems.  Closing the mind can keep us sane but there comes a time when we need to be freed from certain memories.  
On the other hand many who lived through war have memories they do not wish to bring to mind.  Guilt for actions taken in stressful times, sights seen and hard to forget, pain and suffering endured all lead to a refusal to face the memories, and who can blame them?  Some memories are hard to face and it is likely we all have them to some degree.

  
Old Photographs.
These are all old photographs taken long ago before digital was available and because I never left the abode once today, rain and appallingly poor football keeping me inside.  Each picture is a memory, of a wander in Kensington Gardens where pigeon dodging is part of walking along the pathways, a stone cat somewhere on the south side of the Thames reminds me of my lost ability to walk for miles in strange places seeking new sights.  The old railway, which one day soon I might get to see if the rain goes away, the sun shines early and I can get the knees to work the bike again, the old railways and the long gone gate that vandals destroyed for a laugh and the Rangers never bothered to repair brings good memories and two Penguins haughtily enduring my camera while stinking of fish when I last visited Edinburgh Zoo a hundred years ago.  All good memories, I keep the bad ones to myself.    

More 'Roses'

Yesterday I wandered about in the bright sun and chilly wind.  This was just as well as today the weather has been 'fair drookit' and instead I sat here fiddling with the laptop to no avail and making a bad chicken stew.
Maybe I ought to have gone out?

Spring is indeed Springing all around.  Wee flowers are blooming everywhere, Robins, Chaffinch's, Goldfinch's and others are singing all around and the Wood pigeons, the males at least, are up for it already.  The Council planted Daffodils are shining brightly in some places, these are outside the Council offices hmmm, the ones opposite me are only now beginning to open.  Soon we shall see helping themselves to them on the basis that they are planted by the Council!  Help yourself to a Council dustcart also if you feel that way.  

While I admire the bright cheerful colours of small flowers that abound in Spring I do wish they were planted higher up!  Falling over while taking pictures is not my favourite habit but any observer in the Gardens yesterday might have taken a different viewpoint.  They could at least plant them closer to the benches placed all around.

    
While a great deal of effort has gone in to placing information regarding the many trees found in this delightful Garden no effort has been made to enlighten daft folks like me as to the names of these flowers.  This I suspect is because the rich who flourish all around have their own gardens and have made use of such creations for themselves.  Only the ignorant with no more than a dying flowerbox require education.

 
Interestingly few wee beasties are seen around the plants.  No bees or wee flies buzzing around.  No doubt these will arrive soon, once the damp weather moves away somewhere else.  The park had the usual local dwellers, squirrels abound, birds and the scattered white feathers told of the cat which has decided to play in the park, a cat I saw in the distance worrying a squirrel up a tree.

The fact that I have to lower myself to get near the plants, in spite of the telefoto on the camera, does ensure that I shake noticeably when clicking the shutter.  This is seen on many pics that fail to appear here, believe me!  I might by a wee stool to carry with me...

At last, as I left the park I found wee plants placed at a suitable height for people who's fitness is not what it ought to be.  The Robin chattering away was unwilling to show himself for the picture, would you like to see pics of branches and leaves...?

It was a delight to freeze my fingers while in the park as the thought of Spring was encouraging.  The days are getting longer, behind the clouds a sun often pops out, one day it will be there for hours.  When it arrives I will sit in the park reading my books and contemplating those as yet to retire who are slaving away paying for my wee pension.
How delightful!

World Book Day, Apparently

Thanks to what we now must refer to as 'social media' I discovered today is 'World Book Day.'  This appears at first sight to be an attempt to get kids to read books.  It seems to my little mind it ought to be aimed at adults also!  A glance at the website showed me that it was to complicated to follow and contained far too much fun for my liking, so I abandoned it.  

I find it surprising that such an effort is required to make kids read books.  As a lazy brat I rarely read books full of words, my sister did that, but we had loads of comics to read and many 'educational' books, the type full of pictures such a encyclopedias or books on different interesting subjects as our folks wanted us to read as much as possible.  Even the comics which appear so puerile in some ways today were teaching us much even if not directly.  
There were a couple of books I did read, not only once either.  One was 'Black Beauty,' the story of a horse about which I remember nothing even though I read it three times at least.  Another was a battered old book set in some Medieval, possibly Germanic town.  This concerned a young lad and his master and his adventures.  However I remember nothing else about the book but there is an uncomfortable feeling that it evoked still hanging around as I think of it.  The title escapes me also.   
As a kid I tried to read those Enid Blyton 'Five Get Drunk' books but these were for girlies and few others come to mind outside interesting books about space travel, railways and football.  
When working, aged about 16ish I read 'Days of Wine & Roses,' a book about a man who tries to stop his wife becoming a drunk, gets her out of it but becomes one himself, then when she has brought him out of it she relapses into drunkenness for good.  Or at least that is how I remember it, later it became a film with an excellent Jack Lemon playing the lead, his only serious part.  Another that I read at this time had a real effect on me, 'Culloden' by John Prebble.  This made me aware that that battle was not between Scotland and England as I supposed, and many still do, but a civil war as Charlie Stuart attempted to take the throne.  Looking back it taught me also that life is not what we think it is and neither is history.  So much propaganda is shoved down our throats we do not recognise it.  

I suspect some fear kids today only look at computer screens, possibly this is because that is what they see the parents doing all the time!  I doubt using computers will harm kids reading, it ought to enhance it and enable them to develop good computer skills.  If we only wish to encourage kids to read stories I would be against it.  I am not one for story books, sorry 'novels' as most are reflections of broken lives and not worth the paper they are printed on.  However there are so many things kids need to know that can only be found in books and these ought to be priorities for parents at all times.  Interestingly the book day is sponsored by 'Book Tokens' and there can never be a better gift to give kids (of all ages) than book tokens, especially when used for teaching them about the world as opposed to the bile they find available shoved in front of them.  Teach them, young and old, to consider for themselves.