Unexpected Pleasures

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

I've just spent a pleasant weekend with my daughter and two grandsons and the weather behaved itself while they were staying with me.

15 yr old Dean drew this sketch from a picture which I thought was very good. Apart from his older brother Rick, who is on the autistic spectrum and doesn't like socialising or going out very much, we had a walk on Saturday all around Clifton Suspension Bridge and The Downs (beauty spots of Bristol) and found ourselves laughing a lot and we all enjoyed the fresh air and exercise very much. We then came home and enjoyed a game of Scrabble and then sent out for a Chinese Take away just to round everything off. 

The visit was over too quickly and now they are home again but the sunny spell is still with us and I've noticed the daffodils quite suddenly are now in flower. That seemed to happen almost overnight without me noticing.

Maybe Spring is Springing!

Getting Out The Sun Glasses?

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

What a lot of things happen in a week.

Trees have come down all over the place.

Strange how a whole row of identical trees can be standing in what appears to be identical conditions, but one succumbs to the wind and falls.

The floods spread to the Thames Valley and now Parliament seems to be panicking and help is coming in faster than it did.

The Dutch have sent in massive pumps in order to help get rid of the water and there are now appeals for money to help The Somerset Level victims, in major supermarkets.

I've just come home after going out for a walk in glorious sunshine. I was over dressed and therefore too hot and I should have taken my sunglasses. It made a welcome change from the rain though.

Shouldn't we be taking Global Change more seriously with so many unusual weather patterns going on throughout the world? Is there anything really that we can do anyway?

A friend's nine year old boy said to her the other day, "Am I going to have to pay for the mistakes others have made in the past?" She answered that "Yes, it seems like his generation will have to." A bit of a sobering thought.

While the storms raged around us, I managed to finish this 1000 piece jigsaw that took a whole month to do and nearly drove me crazy! All those faces! I was seeing them everywhere!

No End In Sight

Since I last posted, it has rained and rained and rained. One solitary day was sunny when I managed to dry all the washing out on the line in the garden.... a very rare happening indeed. However, it never stays dry long enough to make any difference to the sodden ground.

I expect most people over here have been watching with horror, the pictures of the flooded Somerset Levels, from the various media. This is all within about 40 miles from where I live and is a beautiful but flat area of English countryside We've seen the struggle to try to prevent the unrelenting water from creeping into houses and the rescuing of domestic animals from farms and houses that are flooding. The ruination of crops and farmland that will probably take years to recover. Not to mention all the wild life that must have drowned. 60 square miles of flooding is more than any person or creature could cope with.

I want to know why there has been such a delay in helping these people? Why something wasn't done to prevent this from happening in the first place? The Dutch have a better system of keeping back the sea as much of their country is below sea level. They apparently spend more than we do..... much more,  defending their vulnerable areas. So is it all to do with money, then? 

There doesn't seem to be any fund to help the affected people, either.

Everyone I talk to is really empathetic towards all the victims and wish they could help in some way, while other nastier individuals are racing to the area to ogle and take pictures.  Some have stolen goods from stricken homes and farms. Isn't that just about the most despicable thing that human beings could do to each other? Words really aren't enough.

However, I am impressed by the way the people from the levels have all rallied round to help each other and to share what they do have with others.

Did anyone apart from Ladyfi (my blogging mate) spot the deliberate mistake last week when I said that the film *Way, Way Back* is about time travel? Well I did go to see a film about time travel last week but the title was *About Time*. It was very good and I did enjoy it and recommend the film. I will be seeing the *Way, Way Back* film this week if the weather permits me to do the walk, that is. Maybe I should just go in a wet suit and brave whatever the weather throws at me.

Time Travelling, Anyone?

For the last week it has rained almost nonstop so I haven't had much time to view the garden.

However, today was drier and more springlike for a short while and I noticed the snowdrops were flowering though not as prolifically as the ones in this picture. Maybe they don't like the wet conditions any more than I do.

Gives me fresh hope to see them pushing their way through into this unpredictable climate though, poor things. I suppose they have a fighting chance.

I have started going to my local cinema, where they have a special Silver Screen offer each week, intended I suppose for people with silver hair! It is held on Tuesdays at 10.30 in the morning and I can watch a set film for £3.50. They are all chosen from among the best of last years films. Some times I  don't like their choice so I don't go.

It is a half hours walk to get there and the same coming home so it turns out a healthy and interesting morning when I do go. Lets hope I don't trek in the rain this week as I'm going to see "The Way, Way Back". I think its about time travel. Has anyone seen it?