Ulverston Lantern Festival

Is here again.

Theme: What's under Hoad

The organisers are working hard as usual. Though there was some doubt about it happening this year. But Gavin Knott has stepped in as Treasurer and I assume with the usual impressive involvement of the scout troop who have in the past led one of the processions with  a gigantic creation.

Every year there's a new crop of children eager to join in this wonderful event. I'm always amazed at the creations that emerge from people's living rooms, cunningly created so that the  large lanterns can emerge through restricting door ways and windows and the final version put together outside.
Apparently it's been going 32 years now. I still remember some of the early events, instigated by John Fox and Sue Gill of Welfare State when the events in Ford Park were spectacular  with some superb Firework displays. Now their children in turn have their own children though still very young. John and Sue usually still play their saxophones as part of Blast Furness in the procession.

Thus children who first got carried away at the excitement of the procession are now parents of children also excited at the prospect of joining in themselves. No wonder that the procession continues year after year.

Leaflets abound.  In case you haven't seen one:

Lantern kits are available now from

The Coro
Laurel and Hardy Museum
The Book shop in the Market Hall
and Costa Coffee

Lantern Making sessions are great fun :getting ideas from other people of all ages:Every day Sept 5th to Sept 12th in the Lantern House.

The time table for the  four processions   are on the leaflet: basically starting at five minute intervals: from 7:45pm at Croftlands Community Centre, then the Parish Church, then the Auction Mart Yard and last from Hill Foot Hotel at ten minutes later at 8.05pm

For updates  Ulverton Lantern festival can be found on Facebook

Daniel Barenboim

Thank you

Superb musicianship.

Makes all our problems fade into insignificance.

It's a lovely day

remember this? 

Had to throw the LP - gone to Oxfam- so bought the CD which has just arrived






love the pictures.

Wistful.

Blog statistics

I'm sure you will be aware that Google Analytics provides information on the  different people that look at a blog.

It is very gratifying that so many of you continue to look in to read what I am writing. It's good practise for me of course as I learn to express myself in writing: at school I found English my most difficult subject, preferring Maths by far (It used to take me a whole weekend to write an essay starting on Friday evening, continuing on Saturday and finally being forced to finish on Sunday).  In fact I still have some quite good pictures I drew and painted for fun just to avoid writing my very demanding essay. I was an only child without the distraction of siblings and television- very few families had one. I also took my studies at school very seriously!

I get quite a lot of ideas for postings from the people I talk to and from emails I receive.

 The numbers over the past four months since my stroke are steady and in fact rising  up towards 500 people (now at 441) with as many as nearly 60% returning  visitors (58 in fact) who have made 1,439 pageviews in the last month.

It is a puzzle why so few people comment. This may be that the kind of people who read this blog prefer not to be identified with their views as the internet is quite exposing to people who value the opinion of those around them. I also now refuse to publish negative and abusive comments (something I used to do, thinking it revealed the kind of negative people that were around).When I talk to people in 'real life' they freely admit to having read what is written here yet  I get the impression that they are the kind of people that would rather not share their views in public. They tend to be people who have very busy lives without feeling the need to write about what they do.

There is perhaps another group of people  who prefer to use Facebook where topics of the kind discussed here are not shared. Facebook I think is quite different and much less serious and more fun and chatty. Personally I find it quite addictive. In fact I get drawn in to making inappropriate comments and find it difficult to follow if I don't keep 'looking in'  on a daily basis. There are  too many other things to get on with such as answering emails and taking live to people I meet : something I far prefer to do.

Wisdom

Someone  very wise originated this thought.

It has at least two versions of unknown origin:

God give me strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

God grant me the SERENITY to
accept the things I cannot change;
COURAGE to change the things I can;
and WISDOM to know the difference.

 Serenity is an old fashion word which has now changed its meaning. For 'God'I would substitute my own reasoning and conviction.

In my present state of mind, suffering from severe lack of sleep after my stroke, it has great pertinence.

Battles, I would normally have taken on, must be left to others to fight in their own way. Their fresh approach may well succeed in the long run. Succeed in a way I would have never achieved.

I for my part need to focus on getting better and if necessary, letting my opponents winning  battles over issues I feel very strongly about . Another wise quote comes to mind:

He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.

I'm looking forward optimistically to being fighting fit again in about six months to a year, but this is not for me at the present time.

Reflection

Stopping to reflect is such a powerful thing to do.

It keeps us  in touch with our emotions: the very essence and core of out being.

Isn't it easy to get swept along into living at a mad pace? Swept along ,thinking we have found what is important to us, without having given any time to reflect why we're pouring all this energy into what we're doing?

We miss the  feeling of  calm by being  in touch with the person we are.

I love this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Leisure by W.H.Davies

Perhaps we need to pause and learn to stop and stare a lot more.

Doing it will help us discover what we really want out of life.

Common sense: Where is it?

An extraordinary tale from Ulverston's Recycling centre.

Is it time to start breaking petty rules made by bureaucrats?

For my part I've started. They can take me to court if they want to!

Tom visits the Recycling Centre with a broken glass shelf from his fridge to get rid of.
He sees an identical shelf in a fridge there. "Can I have it?" He asks.

 "Nope. No one is allowed to take anything out of here. They're our orders from the boss"

"Couldn't you just look the other way then?"

"No, I lose my job. There are CCTV cameras up there."

"I thought this was a Recycling Centre. Clearly it's not"

So next time let common sense prevail  take it without asking or perhaps say "Prosecute me then":

Is it time to break the silly rules so that umcommon sense prevails?

Remaining positive

It's the only way to be.

Getting angry with things around us, can often trigger off more anger back, setting off a vicious circle that escalates. The stuff that wars are made of.

People  like Lawrence Conway with his vicious way of dealing with happy people that are having a great time together Mill Dam Park, need to be pitied and ignored whenever possible.

He has now made himself and the actions of his staff, the laughing stock of people around them. I'm sure that his actions has  brought the people of Ulverston even closer together to resist outside interference from people who are so out of touch with us here.

At some point Conway and his team will be looking for employment. Will they want someone like these?

"Don't let the buggers get you down " is an expression I hear more and more these days. Buggers appear to be raising their heads left right and centre these days. So What - we can get used to dealing with them and just getting on with life.

We need to have a good laugh and get on enjoying the lives interacting with the great people close to us :  people we get to know well at places through places like our park.

So what's going to be our next project there that we can do together.

How about buying soft toys and dangling them from the trees for the children to come and find?

There are a few other positive ideas floating about. Things we can all do together

How about you, have you got some ideas? Something worth considering rather than getting dragged into feelings of resentment.

Lawrece Conway: Communites, in these times are essential

Despite the fact that I have been told to keep out of this. (The families concerned know that because of my stroke and my sensitive and vulnerable state of mind, I need to stay out of the the situation that has arisen at Mill Dam Park). However for my own sanity I must speak out here on my blog: it has always proved to be my safety valve for what I feel strongly about.

After a night , full of outrage,   I see no alternative but to speak out here.
It concerns the high handed and vindictive actions of Lawrence Conway, who is a Chief Executive  of SLDC. He is clearly out of touch with the communities in his area

Background: a thriving local community

The Mill Dam Park community of hard working  Mums and Dads have suffered an enormous shock to their enjoyment of their Park; one they use almost daily.Over the past four years they have invested a lot of precious energy in making the park into their very own space for meeting and enjoying and encouraging their children to play. Anyone who visits the Park becomes immediately aware of the friendly and supportive nature of the people who use the Park. In fact because of the picnic tables , paid for a in some cases built by this communityPeople are encouraged to chatas they watch their children plating with others in the Park .All the flowers are there because this same community have either put them in themselves or helpful supporting gardeners have kept the beds stocked with an increasing number of perennials. The local Guides were responsible for planting the annuals that are there now. They were donated by David of the plant stall on the market who has given about 400 plants to the  park every year.

In short there is a probably no better organised group of parents and supporters in a Park: like no other park within South Lakeland District Council. It attracts users from as far afield as Lindal, Pennington,  Haverthwaite and Bouth.

 Recently the parents were given the pottery that  they  and their children actually made in the park. They decided to put this pottery back up on the fence where it could be enjoyed by all those using the park. Its presence encourages the feeling that this park is part of an intimate caring community. Putting back the pottery was a joint activity  of  mothers, fathers and children, with unanimous approval from those that use the park.

Outrage

Yet  on Friday, to their absolute outrage, they found that their pottery had been removed. They still have not been told who stole thoir pots, but from past actions, the removal was certainly authorised by Lawrence Conway. If it is he, he in possesion of stolen property, the ownership being the people who put the pots up in the parkand the people who made them. He must return them immediately to the pots owners and notify them why he had them removed.

If you visit the park today you will witness their fury at such aggressive action being taken against them. Parents have put up notices all over their park demanding the return of their pottery. Whose park is it after all? Are not the SLDC the custodians of the Park for the community to use?

Conway and his officers are clearly out of touch with this  very active community. This is of course not the first time he has ordered his officers, against their will to remove the pottery. Last time he was ridiculed in  the main editorial of the Westmorland Gazette( see below) saying : hadn't he got more important safety issues to be concerned about. He claimed that the pottery was dangerous and hadn't been authorised my a constituted group.

The Pottery is clearly not dangerous . Furthermore because of the transient nature of the park users  there is no interest in a formal group. Parents are only involved with the Park while their children grow up to five years old (when the children move on to other activities). Besides parents have had negative experiences in the past with power grabbing members of committees who like to throw their weight about. No. The park runs extremely well as it is now . Common sense and spontaneous activities prevail as is found in any small community who get to know each other well.

What is needed now is for our local councillors to assert themselves. These councillors are: Colin Pickthall , Helen Inving and Margaret Hornby    on the Town Council and Helen Inving their District  councillor.   SLDC are clearly out of touch. They need to tell SLDC to keep be their noses out and ruining of a very happy and thriving community. It is this community our councillors need to support not a remote Chief Executive.

The press can also help with insightful reporting. It would be a good story for North West today on television.

I'm sure the polite views of people reading this article will be listened to by Lawrence Conway: email -  L.Conway@southlakeland.gov.uk  .  I suggest that you insisist on a reply to be sure that your message has been received.

The government is after all trying to clamp down on spurious uses of the Health and Safety Issue see:

Judith Hackitt, who chairs the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said: "I would urge all decision makers to take a step back and ask themselves whether a decision made in the name of health and safety, is actually just an excuse for something else.

From the Westmorland Gazette's editorial on 25th July 2013: "When safety concerns go to far"

"the pottery display does not meet with the council’s approval. He  cites health and safety as his prime concern. "

" It would be ironic given their safety concerns over the pottery. A sensible move would be to officially recognise Bugs as a representative group of the local community so such displays can be arranged with the council’s blessing and guidance. That way SLDC might stop itself from looking silly."

WRVS, you are about to lose a very hard working volunteer

The local WRVS  (or the RVS as it is now known since men were admitted),  amongst other things run a very much appreciated cafe at the Ulverston Health Centre, at which this volunteer has been helping for three months now. I know her well because I see her regularly and often go over to the cafe for a drink and a chat. Many people in Ulverston, often pensioners living on their own do the  same to enjoy a drink and a tea cake at low prices, made all the more enjoyable by the friendly helpers.The volunteers there are a lovely group of people and she gets on well together there.

This volunteer has in  fact she  put herself out to help out  and does extra shifts when they are short staffed there, in spite of having a heavy work load at home. She enjoys the work.

The problem is that Head office in London is run by bureaucratic bullies who insist on their mindless procedures are followed.  A woman there, by the name of Fiona insists that the two referees for membership ring her to give approval of my friends application for membership. This they tried to do, Head office insist they keep trying.

At this point my friend is rightly digging her heals in . "No if you want me as a volunteer - and she knows the Ulverston branch is short - you will have to ring them". They are doing you the favour of supporting my application for membership. It's great to see someone sticking up for her colleagues. They are fed up with being bossed about by the bullies above them who come along with 'inspections' when knowing very little of local circumstances.

Now we have someone who is ready to make a stand. "You give me membership . I have complied with your rules of providing with two references. Now take it or leave it. "

"Do you , Fiona at head office with your mindless rules really want to lose a much needed volunteer who has the strong support of those that work with her?

Note: if you go enquiring at the similar WRVS run cafe at Furness General Hospital in Barrow you will hear of similar heavy handed complaints about the way the bosses outside the area attempt to supervise them from away.

Do we, the public, really want to donate to this charity?

 if this money goes to pay for incompetent people who boss others about. I suggest we make sure our donations go to support our local groups and not to an organisation that allows power crazy people to dominate. Furthermore our local managers must be encouraged to stand up to this bullying behaviour.

Surely now is the time for local people in this kind of organisation to assert themselves.

The Joys of Getting Old and "passed it"

When you're eigthty, had a stroke and face the possibility of another one any time, you're attitude to life changes. You begin to think "What the hell, who cares! Let's have some fun. If I'm not here to pick up the tab for my misdemeanors: Why worry?"

 Take heed of the message below; so delightfully put by Jenny Joseph. It could apply to me sometime very soon. 

Note: Have you seen me scooting across the Supermarket floor on my trolley recently: look no feet  touching the floor? This gives new meaning to the expression "Off his trolley"

 Warning!

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. 

Jenny Joseph

If you love moving to music

You can even dance to this: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves by Verdi.

Incredibly moving music from the past.

Another confession from my midnight dancing friend.

No it's not Dire Straits this time!

I must say I think the facial expressions on this video are superb.

This will get your feet tapping

Or are you past it? Or does other stuff turns you on? But is it any better?

Here's another tune that my midnight dancing friend used to love moving to.

Isn't it amazing how many people used to get carried away with Dire Straits? Literally thousands.




She told me how recently she was at a dance when this number was announced and she was really looking forward to getting up for a jig around as she used to at night. However she was mortified to find that an acquaintance came along just as the tune was starting and start to chat mindlessly about this and that- nothing important to her - sadly her whole life had trained her to be  very polite to everyone, so that she  was the true lady. Instead of saying what she was thinking (in my words "stop yattering on and sit down so that I can have this lovey dance") : she remained  patiently sitting down for the chatter to finish. By then the band had moved on to the next number.

Sometimes we can be so preoccupied with ourselves that we don't pick up on the inner turmoil going on in the polite person opposite us: a fault that I must admit is mine over and over again. No wonder that some used to people cross over the street when they saw me coming. A fault I'm working on , but have a long way to go.

I got it first

Another friend tells me that she and her husband used to vie with each other to read the Evening Mail when it arrived. She would watch out for the paper boy as he came up the street and nobble it before her husband got a chance.

There was an unwritten rule between them that whoever got it first got to keep it  until read.

We're all children at heart playing and love to play games with our partners don't we. or me it's the sign of a happy marriage ; one that lasts; one with a humour at the heart of it.

Dancing in the middle of the night

A friend of mine married someone .  She loved and admired him greatly, but one thing he hadn't a clue about was dancing, apparently he had no sense of rhythm. So what she would do is get up in the night and have a little dance in the living room where she wouldn't disturb him.

This is one of the songs she danced to:

(it's a lovely video too!)

Twistin round the pool Dire Straights

Some mothers do have them

I witnessed the ultimate in texting earlier today!

 I've watched what is a common sight now:
a group of youngsters together in say a cafe not talking to each other but instead on their mobile to someone else.

 But texting someone whilst riding a bike is for me is extreme. What next :riding a bike, texting someone else and with the other hand waving to a friend, nearby. "Look no hands" I used to regard this as a challenge when young ; but have the times changed?

Sleep

That wonderful elusive state that you cannot enter by will power.

When you've lain in bed, motionless for an hour in bed and you're still not asleep, what do you do?

"Get up, do something different and then go back and have another  go later " is my answer.

I've had a great day, and I'm not cross. On the contrary I'm feeling very content , but still sleep eludes me.

The only thing I can think of, that is worrying me is the thought that I won't sleep for more than two hours before waking up again. This has been happening almost every  night for the last few months since I had my stroke.

Now the thought occurs to me that it's not a good idea to write about!

But I had thought that writing would help. I did this last night and it worked. It clearly doesn't seem likely at the moment. Writing about not being able to sleep is obviously not a good idea.So I'm off to do something else I shall enjoy.

Dancing around maybe.

How mad is that? Surely that will wake me up. Oh well we'll give it a try.

Maybe dancing sleepily will help!

Let's try. See yah.

The sequel. Of course I didn't dance but listened to  some lovely calming music and went back to bed, eventually fell asleep and woke up  feeling calmly determined.
 As Jeremy would say

"Let's just soldier on'!

Coping with the windy rain

On  London's wobbly bridge 

Pedestrians dash through torrential rain along the Millennium Bridge, London, as the remnants of Hurricane Bertha swept across parts of the country. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

These people are clearly being stretched. Even so one, at least, appears to be smiling. They might feel differently if they were dressed differently. Sadly they are unlikely to be near their dry clothes and the comfort of warm shelter.

I must say I love this kind of weather. I find it so invigorating specially in this warm weather. All that can happen is that I get wet. If I'm moving, with it being warm anyway, this for me is no discomfort, after all when I get home there are dry clothes are available.

So what did I do last night at ten o'clock: I went for a quick walk to the Market Cross and backin thestrong wind and rain.

I loved the experience. Believe it or not, I have a friend who feels exactly the same.

Our attitudes to getting soaked have changedover the last century.

Within living memory (if you're over ninety!) some people remember men who walked from farm to farm in the Lake District who thought nothing of getting soaked to the skin as they did it. They were taking with them  a strong male cart horse to 'serve' working mares. The foals  so produced were essential to  a  working farms is a tractor now.When they arrived at each farm if soaked to the skin, They would simply stand/sit in front of the fire - the centre of all working farms and dry out in the clothes they wore: something people wouldn't dream of doing now.

In fact looking back at my childhood :it's so different to life now. People now would see it as hardship , but of course we knew no different:

Getting out of a warm bed into a freezing cold bedroom in  the winter. Scampering down at the age of twelve to get dressed in front of the french design anthracite stove in the living room that was kept in all night. In the cold weather this was the only warm place in the house. Washing in freezing cold water.

French anthracite all night stove similar to the one  Ilooked forward to seeing each morning when it was freezing in my bedroom !

This was normal and although we didn't like it, as there was no choice we learnt to live with it. Could it be perhaps, that's why present day's older people are 'tougher' than people who have got used to central heating and running hot water.

Could it be, this why I enjoy a  quick 'blow' in the evening in the pouring  rain outside returning to a dry warm house to sleep in dry clothes none the worse for wear.

Have we lost our way?

When we stop and ask ourselves what matters most in our lives; isn't it the people we mix with?

Our partner, our children, our parents, the friends we meet and do things with?

The friendly conversation with someone we know well. We see this all over central Ulverston  particularly on Market Days when people still come into town just to catch up on the gossip seeing friends they haven't seen for a little while.

Time with happy enthusiastic young children that are curious about everything they see.

Invites into people's house to share their thoughts and aspirations sand discuss the activities  they share.

Isn't this why people  love Facebook and why it is so addictive? We all want to have good friends.

So don't we want to encourage and preserve places where people enjoy each others company, the interaction with people we know?

Small family run shops where the people serving us know us and our families. If these kind of shops are slightly more expensive, is this really that important? After all we enjoy the experience of shopping there. In fact these shops can often  be less expensive than the commercially driven , out of touch chain stores that only cater for the lowest common denominator . Chain stores and supermarkets without detailed local knowledge of where to access locally produced  supplies which avoid the expense of distant road travel. Stores run remotely for the benefit of impersonal, uncaring share holders where profit is the sole motivation; and closure is dictated by the bank balance. Contrast  the variety and price of Brocklebanks green grocers with similar Supermarket produce. Contrast again the friendly and helpful Co-op  with the impersonal Tesco up the road where the goods carry dodgy descriptions: eggs produce in the open countryside ( actually in sheds with no daylight where the hens are crammed in on top of each other. Do you remember  Bird Eye Custard produced with similar catchy phrases:"on the sunny banks of the  river Rae" ( actually in central Birmingham where the river Rea is a culvert underground)?

Ulverston has the wonderful benefit of being small enough so that we all know a lot of the people we meet. We can quickly develop friendships because someone we meet one day at say the Bay Horse at the end of the canal is  then in town doing their shopping at the weekend. People I find, who are very willing to talk and get to know new people. People, I find are increasingly starved of face to face interactions where honest, open exchanges take place, where facial expressions and body language are so revealing. Something you don't get when technology , like the computer driven Facebook and even the phone remove this rich form of contact. The former are surely useful as a back up to face to face contact, not as their replacement.

We in Union Lane, where I live, have the great benefit of regular personal contact. We are frequently doing each other personal favours, when the need arrives. In my case rails and bathroom supports where constructed and available within a day of me needing them  after my stroke: no waiting endlessly for public 'services to provide them.   At this very moment one neighbour is baking me a blackberry and apple pie  with lovely shortbread type pastry, in exchange for extra supplies of the fruit that I  picked and gave them. Up the road I can drop in at almost any time and see another family with young children that know me well. I give sweet peas to other neighbours and get raspberries and rhubarb back from two different families. With another family their plum tree is loaded with plums some of which I'll be getting in exchange for produce from my allotment. In another case a teenage son is helped with his Maths exams by an experienced  retired teacher.

Here older people can take the stress out of the busy lives of younger working families my looking after the children  for a while, an activity that is welcome because it's brief. Similarly we walk friend's dogs  and have their company without the responsibility of feeding them and looking after them every other day of the year.

All these interactions take only  a little time to keep alive but the benefits of close contact with real flesh and blood people is  so reassuring when most of our contacts are with people don't really know us.

I know of many streets and roads in Ulverston,  where the neighbours all know each other and are helpful: where similar things are happening all the time.

Isn't it worth making an effort to build  and preserve communities of friendly people ? The benefits are amazing.

Yes people really matter. 

Small is really beautiful

School

Thanks to this blog:   Just for Fun

Growing old disgracefully

I love it

Keeping a sense of fun in our lives is essential, isn't it?

Thanks to this blog:   Just for Fun

Chess in town

Chess is going really well at the Stan Laurel pub where people are dropping in for a game from Grange. James, age eleven, comes along with his mom and brother and is beginning to beat us all , Last Tuesday there must have been six games going along with some who where watching. There's a lovely friendly atmosphere as we've deliberately kept the interactions low key. We have no power struggles that you can get in some clubs ass Peter Hanks avoids the existence of a formal club with chairmen, secretaries. In fact when they do have a match, Peter will bake a cake.

If you're curious,  why not say hello in the Market Square where we play every Saturday from about 10 till as late as 2 every time the weather permits or of course drop in at the pub on a Monday or Tuesday after 7 pm.

BT you're a disgrace

When will you be connecting the phone lines to  the  new properties on the Hoad View, at the end of Union Lane?

Residents moved into many of the twenty five new houses built by Persimmons last December and they still haven't been connected. They were given assurances back then that their main line phones would be connected soon after arrival yet this never happened . Now, you keep promising  over the phone when Open Reach is called that the work will be done. Individuals are made to feel completely powerless. Time and time again theses promises are broken. Mobile phones that have to be used instead are clocking up ridiculous charges as people attempt to cope.

Tantalisingly phone lines are connected to outside of the houses yet the final connection is not made.

To my  mind Persimmons are also to blame as the fail to help to use their considerable clout to support their new purchasers in their plight

Power mad, bossy people at the top of Cancer Research and the WRVS

Watch it Debbie White , area manager of Cancer Research, who is trying to boss around our local shop manager with her high handed policies:

I have you in my sights. Yes this bossy woman comes and tells the shop manager that she can't have leaflets on the counter and I'm toldthows them in the bin when the person who asked have them put there is someone personally known to the local shop manager. The latter takes a great pride in supporting local peoplewho support her shop. In this particular case the person reqesting the display of leaflets had played his clarinet tin the drizzle for many hours in the Market square in order to attract donations

The same applies to the power mad person who is trying to impose policies on the WRVS local volunteers in Ulverston and Barrow.

I'm meeting this similar behavior more and more where people grab power and start imposing their rules over volunteers and people that work below them.

Skateboarders Still Practicing determindly as they become Men

They were here at the Ulverston  Health Centre again tonight and they are definitely getting better.

I tried to estimate how many times they practise just one trick. You can work out a rough ball park figure:

If one attempt last ten seconds -which at their rate it must be faster-and they practise for over an  hour (sometimes they are here at least 90 minutes. Then that would be 6 in a minute: 6x 60 =360 in an hour that's 360 x 1.5 = 540 in an evening.

Say they've been here five times practising then that would be 540 x 5= 2500 times. All for one trick.

My, this shows some perseverance. They also have a circuit that they race each other and travel at speeds of in the region of twenty to thirty miles per hour.

This shows guts and the willingness to take calculated risks. Making judgements about what they can and cannot do.

This is a skill people that take physical risks develop. It's a skill that is typical of boys though there are some gutsy girls that develop it as well. For me it's the kind of behaviour that develops boys into men.

I can recognise this pattern of behaviour in myself.

In spite of having had I stroke, I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenge of picking the apples  out of our tree. I have to make judgements all the time as to how secure I am as I climb steadily higher into the tree to reach the apples towards the top. I thrive off the satisfaction of succeeding to reach more and more challenging apples that require me to climb higher and higher. Every minute I am testing the security of my hand-hold with my left hand: the one previously paralysed by my stroke.

I recognise the connection between my willingness  to take these physical risks and the strengths that I have developed in taking on difficult tasks.

I sure this characteristic contributed to my ability to run away successfully from boarding school at the age of seven and give my mother the shock of her life when I turned up standing outside her bedroom french window at seven in the morning having arrived at the local station on the first train of the day. I can still remember the fear I experienced of setting off in the early hours and stood still summoning up the courage to walk down the road under  very large threatening leafless trees in the early winter in the dark.: Their long tentacle looking bare branches stretching threateningly. Highly risky stuff for a seven year old. All worth it  because my determination resulted me in reaching home after having failed the previous two tries.

Then again this same spirit enabled me to travel my train boat, train, then underground across London in my journey from Paris to Birmingham at the age of eleven in 1946 : something unheard of in these days of fear-ridden Health and Safety.

No, I'm not going to criticise any youngster who develops the ability to develop risks of all kinds as they grow up into adulthood. Far from it : I give them every encouragement I can.

We need to encourage skateboarders as they persevere to hone their skills of taking risks of any kind in life.

Slow progress with my stroke at present

It's now four months since my stroke which paralysed most of the left hand of my body.

To start with my improvement was rapid . I could move my leg  and walk though balance was a problem.

I could move my arm  to a limited degree and clench my fingers though with little strength.

However movement of individual fingers was totally beyond me.

My biggest problem is frustration. I am slowly coming to terms that I must put a slow but steady effort into getting better. It could easily take a year to recover full use of my fingers so I must think in these terms and set small less demanding goals if I am to succeed.

Steve the Occupational therapist , a fancy name for the guy who helps put up hand rails in the house (which incidentally were put up, kindly my very helpful neighbours, long before he arrived) then disappears to deal with his heavy work load, gave me some excellent advice:

Use it or lose it

With a good working right arm, hand and fingers, the temptation is to use this all the time and ignore the none functioning left hand.

I therefore have set myself a reasonably demanding task with regard to dexterity:

Getting out of a box  and then setting out my 32 chess pieces on a board ready for play.

It's tough and I need to be patient because in the process I easily knock pieces that are in place, down, only to have to put them back up.

Great fun and activity in Mill Dam Park yesterday

Lots of parents and many more kids came again to use this very popular little park in Ulverston

It went really well - Loom Banding clearly is the craze thay inspires children at the moment! 

Happy kids made an epic loom band - which streched all across the park and back again -57m long!  

Jennie Dennett was the person that inspired all this activity. 

The day started miserably with rain but undetered, she  and Maureen Rodgers  worked on a picnic table, shelterred under a tree surrounded by the first group of children to arrive at ten thirty.

An estimated thousand of the small coloured elastic bands, the starting point for a loom band were in place ready for this mammoth project:

the creation of the longest ever Loom Band that Furness has ever seen

Jennie and Maureen were quickly joined by Clare Clark and friends, with many kids in tow.

A shelter was quickly constructed to provide shelter until the sun obedient came out to transform a miserable start into a very successful day.

The cake stall takings were in the region oft £40 so well on their way to raising the £100 Jennie was after for the World Land Trust to buy an acre of rainforest for a reserve.

Mums can loom too... in fact it is quite addictive.  Clare Clarke's was about 3m!

We all thanked Clare for co-ordinating the decorating of the boundary of the  Park.

 She got a crew going with screwdrivers and the log term decorations were up in a matter of an hour. They look great, back where they should be along the fence. The price paid: some sore palms from the unfamiliar use of these screw drivers.

A happy community day. 

Keeping a sense of humour

I love this quote

"Don't grow up . It's a trap."

Children have a great sense of fun and I love to preserve this way of looking at life

With this way of looking at our daily life when things are tough, I find there's always a quirky way of thinking that brings on a great smile and even a laugh out load that cheers me up.

One person I meet regularly as I walk around town with this wonderful sense of fun is Pat Jones, otherwise the best Town Councillor that we have. Every contact she has with other people has, is a wicked sense of humour lurking below the surface. Nothing is too serious for her for this joyful outburst of childish play to be absent. My contacts with her bring out this playful quality.This is something we share.

At Booths we exchange childish gossip where she had some fun recently. To someone who            has just been sent home from the operating table with terminal cancer, she threatens an obscene phone call to cheer him up. She has this wonderful talent for telling stories so that you are drawn in to listening to every word so that you don't miss anything. The last person I knew with this attractive quality was Phil Hopwood who had been a policeman in earlier life and had many tales to tell.

Walking home last night from the Stan Laurel where I had been playing chess for fun,I was reminded of the Scout's pace: run twenty paces, walk twenty. Only my version as I climbed the final slope to home was what I will call the Oldie's Pace five paces uphill followed by five seconds rest. It worked a treat as I struggled home exhausted with a wry smile on my face. My sense of humour had come to the rescue again.

Answer me this:

Can't I find a better thing to do at four in the morning when I can't sleep that write this stuff?

Seems quite a childish activity to me: but it sends me back to bed with a fun state of mind ready to try to regain much needed sleep once again. I need all the sleep I can get and this is no way to prepare for my activities with children in Mill Dam Park that I've been invited to.

Some great ideas

These are taken from Carol McNeill's blog written when reached 60 who's of course only a youngster when compared to me, But never-the less I agree with 90% of what she recommends especially the buying the best chocolate you cn find. Steer clear of Cadbury's if you can: I favour Amatller 85% Cacao Ghana which I buy here in Ulverston. And of course : smile or better still carry along with you everywhere a wicked sense of humour that turns adversity into fun, as practised by our amazing local councillor Pat Jones

Here goes, thanks Carol:

1.  Drink more water. Seems obvious, since the average adult body is made up of 50-60% water. However, for years I almost never drank water. Tea, yes. Coffee, yes. But rarely did I down a glass of water. Now that I drink six to eight glasses a day, it makes all the difference. My skin, clarity of mind, digestion, and regularity have all improved dramatically as a result of adding pure, fresh drinking water to my daily routine.
2. Practice yoga and meditation every day. I can’t explain it, other than to say it’s about everything that we are…physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
3. Spend time outdoors every day observing nature. It makes you realize that you’re a small but integral part of something vast and amazing.
4. Have a dog as your best friend. Because if you have a dog, it WILL be your best friend… no judgment, no questions, no conditions. BFF...(here I choose to borrow other people's dogs and try to get them to become their friend as well which is far more difficult- personally I prefer the rewards of real people who are far more difficult but many times more rewarding when they work- a far riskier business)
5. Appreciate fine art, music, and literature. Go to art museums and concerts regularly, and read the classics again. It’s all so much better when you’re grown up and you don’t have to do it for a grade.
6. Keep a vase of fresh flowers on your table or desk. Daisies are my favorite. Watch the flower scene from the classic, cult film, Harold and Maude (click for link) and you’ll know why I love daisies, and why Maude is one of my favorite role models for growing up, but never, ever, growing old.
7. This one you might find odd, but here goes. Discover the nuances of fine tea. Read The Book of Tea, by Okakura Kakuzo. (click for link) Learn to prepare and savor a proper cup of tea...as opposed to dunking a poor quality tea bag in a cup of tepid water and slamming it down on the way out the door. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. (water is number one) Tea is an art, and the ritual of drinking tea is incredibly rewarding. It really is a form of meditation. Check out this link to my favorite go-to website for fabulous teas. www.bellocq.com
8. Learn something about all cultures...their beliefs, rituals, philosophies, religions, etc. You don’t have to agree with, approve of, or accept what you discover. All you have to do is make the effort to open your mind just enough to comprehend their way of thinking, regardless of how ill-conceived you think that is. Fear and hate hurt the fearful and the hateful, as much as they hurt the feared and the hated.
9. And last, but not least, smile :-)...and always eat the best quality chocolate you can afford. My favorite is right here in Dallas. www.dudesweetchocolate.com (click for link) Don't live in Dallas? You can still smile, because they ship!

Exhausted

This is how Ann and John  at the Barrow Food Bank came across when we delivered the excess bread from the French stall (bread that would otherwise be thrown away)on Ulverston Market yesterday. I wanted to stay to help but felt exhasted myself from dealing with my stroke.

It's sad to find people who are critical of this whole operation of providing food to famililies that aren't coping whilst the schools are closed and children go without the  decent meal that they were getting at school during term time.

Like any organisation there will be examples of it being abused  by people that make a mockery of the free handouts but I have talked to the people that keep the records of those receiving the food hand outs and they are convinced that this abuse only occurs in a few rare cases.

Ann and John can obviously do with more help as they run this wonderful operation.


There really are some amazing people who continue to soldier on to the limit of their physical and mental ability.

Why is this being allowed to happen?

When I passed The Mill in Mill street Ulverston earlier yesterday evening this rubbish had overflowed onto the street broken so that plastic bags had spewed their contents into the street. All the bins where full and the one in the front took the surplus.

I pointed this out to the staff and initially the staff of two young girls said that as there were only two of them and they might not be able to clear the mess up off the street that evening . However a third woman appeared and took a far more responsible attitude and immediately went and cleaned up the overflowing rubbish from the street so that  this is what I found when I returned with my camera about ten minutes later.

This doesn't answer why this is allowed to happen in the first place.

Are these bins not a public pavement? On a narrow street where pedestrians need access to step out of the road? My understanding is that the Pub has a yard at the back where these bins could be kept. It has access from Soutergate. Why isn't this yard being used?

So, U3A committee, where's your evidence?

 First of all who are the Furness U3A committee ?

as given on their web site they are:

Chair	Grete Hughes
Vice Chair
Secretary	Sheila Price
Treasurer	Brenda Edmondson
Assistant Treasurer,Social Fund	Andrew Menary Smith
Membership Secretary	Pat Munro
Groups Organiser	Maureen Houliston
Hospitality/Asst Groups Organiser	Jean Elliott
Programme Secretary	Brenda Crozier
Newsletter Editor	Grete Hughes
Asst. Newsletter Editor	Moira Fair
Website editor	John Kaye
Asst. Web Site Editor	Mike Pearson

These people sent me the following letter in which they deny me membership of the U3A, which I helped found, was their first membership secretary and helped set up the Philosophy group with Denis Clampton. The very group they are banning me access to now because of my aledged abusive behavioru:

 Yet I am still waiting  for Margarete Hughes, their chair, for a reply to my message sent last Tuesday July 19th to back up their statement that I have made personally abusive comments that are to be found on the internet , a claim made in the above letter. Where may I ask?

I repeat I am not aware of ever making any abusive comments to anyone in the U3A. What I have done in the past is to question the past  chair of the committee and his actions.

Though I find the committee's actions very upsetting, I am deeply desturbed to think that this is the way they treat somene who has done so much for this organisation. I did much to help set up this organisation  and help set up the very group they now ban me from attending. One of the main things ha been the creation of a beautiful web site which encouraged feedback from the U3A membership. Something you would have thought would be welcome. Initially , it was seen as a great bonus to the organisation, however it soon became undesirable because a few members started to question the results of a survey carried out by the committee then. The web site was then banned.

In practice I have little interest in being part of an organisation where I am not wanted: I have many interstes outside this organisation. However potential members, in my opinion, need to be aware of the type of orgabisation they are joining or if still existing members, what kind of organisation  they are part of.

Chess - The Game of Kings, Queens, Knights and so forth…

wrritten by Richard Braithwaite

Geoff Dellow's photos from the Luxemberg Gardens, Paris:  where they play chess evey day of the year: rain , snow or sun.

Richard has promissed me more articles in the future

With the rich and varied history that comes with chess, especially with regards to it’s origin (it is believed to have begun in India, but remains a mystery) it is easy to get lost in the facts and figures. It’s true that it requires a mind interested in the depths of infinite variations but it is purely your approach that gets your gears running, and your mind engaged.

The simplest approach for a beginner is to simply treat it as a game and a bit of fun. Whilst this may lead to you losing your first few matches, it is the experience that you will gain which will help you to wrap your head around most of the rules and regulations.  Is it a sport or a game, but we’ll address that another day?

The board is divided into 64 squares, with sixteen pieces on either side arranged in a specific order.  A significant amount of symbolism is apparent in each playing piece, mostly based in the medieval hierarchical system, acting as representations for the on-going struggle of life of differing social status. The black and white board and pieces naturally shows duality, the opposing forces that surrounds us in everything but, showing the good nature of the competition, white goes first.

In terms of symbolism, its up to you how you can see it, from the superficial to its core it best to not let be daunting to you. Everyone has there own interpretation of this quite complicated game and its best to remember thats also about who you play. The prism of personality can be taken into account, the way a pawn or Queen is placed showing its worth through the move, the way the pieces are set-up and especially body language. The expert players have been known to make moves without even thinking about it, their arms moving without thinking in almost Zen-like wisdom. This comes comes from detachment of any personal emotion and complete objective rationality.

To go into the more mathematical side of this, what becomes clear is the statistical value of pieces can be redundant when a clear plan is in made. 

Pawns, seemingly insignificant as the name implies but this is debatable the most important piece even after they changed the Queen from moving one square a turn. Working together, they make nearly impenetrable defenses or becoming Queens, traveling the full board and are often forget in the end game. When sacrificing pieces invariably the pawn would be first to go but in order to have any enticement it would have to be any of the other pieces and knowning when to do this is one of most important lessons to learn. Nothing is more embarrassing than checkmate after a Queens sacrifice save perhaps a Fools mate, (checkmate in two moves).

A way to keep it interesting, play some of variation of chess, 3D chess, battle chess and just try with a clock to really push your skills,  to name only few variations.  What I encourage the most, is to find someone to play with, no better feedback can be found than someone sat across from you nor any improvement than the company of another likeminded player. At Ulverstons Chess club, "Leave em Laughing", we welcome everyone interested in chess, good company and a fun time.7:30 till 11:30 every Monday and Tuesday at the Stan Laurel Pub.  Want something for the weekend? On the Market Square ~ every Saturday we can -10:30am   to as late as 2 pm- we bring out the giant chess board for everyone to try. Beginners very welcome.