Mother's Musings No. 3

Here is an other entry from Mother's Common Place Book:

"To plough is to pray.
To plant is to prophesy
And the harvest answers
And fulfills."

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-99)

"Our lives are not our own to dispose of as and when we think fit. Whether we know it or not, we are part of a divine and purposeful plan with a place to fill and a task to perform. And the punishment for...sliding out...is hell. What do you think hell is? Where do you think it is? Who can say? Hell has many names and aspects. Who can describe it? Perhaps you can. The ancient Jews called it Gehenna after a valley outside Jerusalem, a valley desolate and lost, the dumping ground of refuse consumed by perpetual fires - the ultimate end, a place without hope.

A place without hope. But it isn't Gehenna or the furnaces in the depths. It's the break-up where nothing stays good. It's your soul alone in space - trying to get up among the blue stars and being sucked down into the awful heaving sea where everything swirls away and falls apart. Death isn't sleep and darkness. It's the vibrating infinity that could be bright and beautiful if it didn't heel(?) over into hell - the place without hope."

The Man in the Mews, Joy Packer

Mother's Musings No. 2

Here is another entry from Mother's Common Place Book:

“If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.”

― Walter D. Wintle

Here is a link to a bit more about the poem.

Mother's Musings No.1

Mum, or Margaret Elliott to those who know her, wrote in notebooks and collected little musings, newspaper cuttings and other such paraphernalia that was cut out and stuck in or copied out in her neat writing, so in a way to keep these musings and in order to help her deal with loss of sight, I have started to write the things out from her notebooks - she, like any others of her age and generation wrote a blog in notebooks or Common Place Books.

• Farm as though you are going to farm forever, but live as though you are going to die tomorrow. (John Marsden)
• You should plan as if you will live forever and work as if you will die tomorrow.
• A farmer is the steward of his land for his lifetime.
• In life you have the choice, to be a large fish in a small pond, or a little fish in the sea.
• Rather than be at the mercy of your boss, it is better to crow on your own dung hill.
• There is no better fertiliser for the land then the feel of the farmer's boot. (attributed to Hansard's Report on Small Farmers)
• To thine own self, be true (Polonius in Hamlet by Shakespeare Act 1, Scene 3, 78-82)

If you know where these might have originated from or you think I may have got something wrong, please feel free to comment...

Scotland dinnae start the fire

Scotland dinnae start the fire

(With apologies to Billy Joel)

North Sea Oil, Irn Bru, Smoked Salmon, Tartan true

Loch Rannock, Our Poor Wullie, Ewan McGregor

Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Cumming, Television

North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Beer Swilling Beggar

Trainspotting, Amy Pond, Rabbie Burns, Bracken Frond

SuperGran, Scrooge McDuck, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Conner MacLeod, Tam Lin, Scotland's beheaded queen

Dr. Finlay, Whiskey Galore, Golf Ball Double Bogey

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Alex Salmond, Tony Blair, and Dame Evelyn Glennie

Vettriano, The Wasp Factory, Deep Fried Cross Bun

James Bond, Buckfast Tonic, Iannucci, Nevis

Inverlair Falls, Lindsay Davidson

Tunnoch’s Teacakes, Scotland’s curling winning team

Gerard Butler, Thirty Nine Steps, Craig Ferguson, Dis Nae Harm

Green Tweed, John Hannah, Gordon Jackson, Courage

Auburn Hair, Twins in Specs, Bowl of Salty Porridge

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Muckle Roe, Oransay, Benbecula, Isle of May

Loch Ness, Dougray Scott, A Reproductive Cell

Deborah Kerr, West Lothian, Caledonian Scene

Edinburgh, Shotgun Shell, Alexander Graham Bell…

John Logie Baird, James Watt, Edinburgh Rock, St. Serf’s Inch

James Hutton, Hemming, Alexander Fleming

Orkney, Heart Disease, Bridge Over The River Forth

Berwickshire , Midge Ure, The Celts A Force Majeur

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Gordon Brown, Rab C, Tam o’ Shanter in Bed

Wee Dram, Sporran, Sgian Dubh in a long sock

Friday Night Behaviour, Harry Pottermania

South Uist, Billy Boyd, Atheletes Battle Weirdly

Choose Life, Hibs and Hearts, Will The Vote Say No Or…

Scotland taken away, what else do I have to say

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Holyrood, McDonald, Loch, Mountain, Firth and Fountain

David Hume, Great Scott , Andy Murray, Celt Rock

Zetland, Perthshire, Kinross-shire, Terror in the Valley

The Kilt Wearing Highlanders, The Wettish Fly Fisherman

Richard Wilson, Airplane, Bomb In The Hold, Lockerbie

Scottish debts, Homeless Pets, Books, Scots, Thistle Stem

Tourists On The Golden Mile, Glasgow holding sport aloft

Yes and No Votes Fighting Now, I can't take it anymore

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

But when we are gone

It will still burn on and on and on and on

And on and on and on and on...

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

Tips on Dealing with a Partially Sighted Parent - Part One

Some months and maybe more than a year ago, I started this blog as a way to put down my thoughts and this seems the ideal place for putting down a few tips or life hacks to help other children or adults who are looking after their parents who have partial sight.

Please note: these are tips that I have found useful whilst looking after my Mother who has severe visual impairment in the left field of vision that originated from temporal arteritis - these "tips" may or may not help your, the reader, situation or those of who you are caring for (and please don't blame me for anything) but I certainly hope it helps the situation you are in.

• Piatnik Playing Cards - Superb Giant Index Cards - I got a set from Amazon and have used them for playing Snap and my Mother uses them for playing Patience. The latter game helps with her sight, placing skills and memory. I expect to play with Vingt et Un soon. 
  
• Cutting Boards - despite being severely visually impaired, Mother still wants to do things to feel that she is being helpful and she is, too. These boards are flexible, dishwashable and impregnated with anti-bacterial agents.
  
  
• To improve hand eye co-ordination, I gave her a small Klip Lock box with dried cranberries or mixed berry fruit mix and a cocktail stick. This was so that she could pierce the fruit with a cocktail stick, it helped to reinforce a form of eccentric viewing. Her determinism shone through as she finished the box and I felt it did help with depth perception as well.

• I did also get her a high visibilty USB 2 keyboard to help with her typing on the computer. I used orange bumpons to act as anchor points on the "Q" keys as well as highlighting the keys with the raised lines on them - these being the "F", "J" and the "5" key on the numeric pad. I taught my Mother a few mnemonics to remember the letters on the keyboard. The most successful one was for the second line "All Squid Dive Freely (to the) Golf Hole (to see) JeKyL". 

I look forward to hearing from other people who have had to work with partially sighted or blind people for tips. 

Storms from a while ago

Originally taken from a Eurolink blog post, that I wrote about this time last year,  I thought it was a timely reminder of that storm after the wind and rain of St. Judes' Storm.

It was twenty five years ago (and a week ago) that the South East of England was hit, by what some newspapers called, a hurricane or a very strong storm. Michael Fish MBE is a weather forecaster who has worked for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and is still known for a comment before a forecast he made on the 15th of October 1987:

"Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!"

It was suggested that Michael Fish was referring to Hurricane Floyd in Florida, USA that had developed off the coast of Nicaragua on the 9th of October and had been referred to in the One O'Clock News bulletin. But to his credit, Mr. Fish did warn people of high winds for the UK and to "batten down the hatches", but the storm did turn out to be a lot stronger than predicted.

The BBC On This Day website for the 16th of October records that "at least 13 people are known to have died and many dozens have been injured, mostly by falling trees and buildings...winds hit 94 miles per hour (151 kilometres per hour) in the capital and over 110 miles per hour (177 kilometres per hour) in the Channel Islands" and "In the London Borough of Ealing alone, 600 calls came from people whose homes and cars had been struck by falling trees and debris."
 
 The BBC Science and Environment website for the 15th of October 2012 records that "an estimated 15 million trees were uprooted...with winds recorded at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour or 86 knots)" and "at Toys Hill, the highest point in Kent, about 98% of the woodland...was lost".

It was suggested that this widespread devastation of woodlands was going to be disastrous, but with time it has been shown that the storm helped increase the woodland biota. Dr. Keith Kirby (of Natural England), a co-author on the Great Storm's ecological impact on woodlands (an interesting pdf on climate and woodland ecology can be found here) reported that the lack of woodland exploitation after the Second World War and decreased coppicing had led to the woodland canopy closing over and reducing the low-level biodiversity. The storm opened up the canopy and led to an increase in bluebell and primrose density as well as a temporary increase in the fritillary (a woodland butterfly)  population

Dr. Peter Buckley, the other co-author with Dr. Keith Kirby, found that the effects post storm changed the past monoculture of the woodlands. The tightly packed tall trees had shallow roots that led to them being easily ripped out, whereas as coppiced trees tend to be kept shorter and lead to less trees being damaged by the stronger winds. A lot of the woods regenerated naturally with pioneer species and since there were struggling with nature, there was less need for artificial management.

What are your memories of the Great Storm in 1987? Please add your comments.

Defrosting my Mother's fridge

Okay, not the most exciting title and its not a euphemism, but whilst my Mother's refrigerator has a chance to breathe new live into the assorted liquids, solids and those that live between the two states; it still needs to be defrosted as the ice box gains more ice than Chilean glacier during a period of hot sun.

It has an old pull handle reminiscent of the large and old American 'fridges that Smeg embraced when they redesigned the pantry hardware. You then pull on the vertically channeled handle and there is a reassuring clunk as the mechanism detaches from the lock. It does not have the same snug fit around the door seal as it would have done when it was first purchased due to the material becoming perished and that no doubt leads to the increased accumulation of the frozen water in the ice box.

Admittedly, the ice box currently has the unimaginable maw of a potential Abominable Snowman or a Yeti. Knowhow.com describes the two forms of ice buildup in fridges - powdered ice and solid ice. The former that looks like Jack Frost has been popping into the fridge and dusting the food with delicate ice crystals or maybe it was one of those delicate fairies from Fantasia. 

Basically it means that warm air has got in either due to lots of opening and closing from frequent trips to see if the light really stays on when it is closed (see further down for that point) or that you have a poor seal.

(Source - Flickr)

The latter, the scourge of solid ice, is due to the freezing of water that has found its way into the fridge. Bugger.

So as to the light conundrum, this fridge takes away the problem of the unknowingness of the light being on and/or off. It has a bayonet fitting at the back of the fridge, so you just take the bulb out and remember not to get a potential electric shock. Out of the time that the fridge has been in the pantry, over fifty years, no-one has had an electric shock. The controls for the fridge are equally easy - it has two settings on opposite ends of the spectrum.

This Methuselah of the domestic equipment is supplied by the GEC and is made to the British Standard 922

The BS933 seems to have been written in 1959, Amazon has a link to a binding of the British Standard for Electrical refrigerators and food freezers for household use. After two hours, the ice box still resembles a mouth of a yeti. (All uncredited photos are the authors, which I took with my slowly dying Bleckberry, may get a new one - things aren't built to last nowadays).