spring has sprung and Londoner’s go walking

Today surely heralded the start of spring….a sky that started out grey and dull and as the morning progressed turned into a blue skies and balmy breezes kind of day, the sun beating down, sparkling on the river like shards of diamonds.

sunshine sparkling on the water

The day started real early, my daughter had a course in town to attend so we rose early (but not too bright) and had tea together before she set off.  I hopped online (what else) and before I knew it, twas time to go.  I had a meeting/catchup with a friend I met through twitter.  It was months since we last met up…way too long.  The day was developing into one of those amazing spring days, days that you can only appreciate after a long, dark and cold winter.  The air was filled with the thrilling, trilling of birds tweeting!  A wonderful sound, albeit the sound of defending territory.

I headed towards Twickenham.   Along the way my eye was captured by the daffodil faces dancing in the breeze in Oak Lane Cemetery.

even in death there is life

My immediate destination was Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery in Church Street – a favourite venue, a frequent place of merriment and munchies…..english tea and the best scones and cupcakes in town.

cupcake heaven

Today was no exception!  The meeting was fun, filled with chatter, plans and ideas – the time flew by way too fast.   All too soon our time was up, goodbyes were said with a promise to meet again soon.  Church Street looked gay and cheerful, lined with Welsh and English flags, bustling with shoppers, the pubs packed with revellers preparing for the days rugby game soon to start.  I strolled down to the embankment, the smell of barbecued meat hanging heavy in the air.

Church Street, Twickenham

By now the line of the sky was hard to distinguish from the water, blue blue blue.  The sun sparkled diamond bright on the waves, ducks and geese squabbled noisily on the banks.  The alabaster white of the York House statues glowed eerily in the shade of the trees.  White blossoms on the trees by the bridge a splash of joy after recent cold, dark days.  On the lawns of York House a little boy played, screaming with delight as he kicked the ball.  From there I headed off to Orleans House Gallery; currently being refurbished.  The whole of Twickenham was out for a stroll, dogs bounding along, children running and shrieking, filling the air with joy.

York House, looking splendid in the sunshine

On an impulse I decided to cross the river with the ferry! For just a £1, you can cross from one side to the other.  Once there, I strolled along to Ham House, revelling in the warmth of the sun, stopping to chat to a horse along the way, and whilst giving him a scratch behind the ear….he bit my hip!! cheeky chap.

cheeky chap

From there I made off along the Thames Path towards Richmond, dodging cyclists and walkers I stopped frequently to take photos, unable to resist despite the fact that I have dozens already.

Boats chugged busily along the waterway.   Richmond Bridge looked magnificent, perfectly reflected in the water below as buses and cars crossed back and forth; stop-start in the queue.   The embankment was busy with strollers, cyclists, joggers and all the people that hibernate in the winter; today out on the lawns basking in the sun.  The tide was down and not expected for a while, so the rugby folks gathered in noisy groups outside the pubs, still a few hours to revel and quaff their beer.  A queue of customers lined up in front of an ice-cream van parked on the side, an easy decision in the heat of the day.

tide tables

The stream that runs alongside the old deer park was rushing back into the river as I walked by, gurgling noisily down the drain as the tide receded, a train rattled loudly across the old Victorian bridge on it’s way to St Margaret’s Station, planes flew overhead on their way to Heathrow and I made my way towards Richmond Lock, looking splendid as always.

what a view - Richmond Lock

Richmond Lock is surely one of the best views in London, and something I get to see every morning on my way to the station.  If it was not for the fact that I had loads to do at home……I would have kept walking all the way to the sea!

I made a video of my photos that you may enjoy!

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Green Award

In the past I have from time to time copied and posted an email that my sister sends to me.  I just got this one, and thought I would share it.

“Look how simple this is….. What a great idea, no more twist ties or rubber bands. This method is WATER PROOF AND AIR TIGHT. Great!

Who ever thought of this should get a Green Medal
The guy who first thought of the idea should be given an award for originality!!!

Cut up a disposable water bottle and keep the neck and top.

 

Insert the plastic bag through the neck and screw the top to seal. 

 

The bag is made to be air-tight, such that water will not leak, the
secret lies with the top and screw cap!  This is a great idea to share.
Good for us and the environment too.

Zip-top bags are great, but sometimes you buy something in bulk and you’re stuck with an unsealable bag. Home-centric blog Re-Nest shows us an easy way to give these bags an airtight seal with an old water bottle.
All you need to do is cut off the top of the bottle and take off the cap. Push the bag through the bottle neck, fold it over the edges, and twist the cap back on. Now, your bag has an air and water tight seal, and you didn’t have to waste the bag.”

It certainly does seem to be an ingenious idea. How green it is I am doubtful, except that it does ‘recycle’ an old bottle top.  What I would like to see is a complete replacement for ANYTHING plastic.  It was my intention last year to refrain from buying anything that comes in plastic, only to have my good intentions dashed at the first turn.  There is practically nothing that doesn’t either come in plastic or is not made of plastic or doesn’t contain plastic as one of the components, whether it be hard or soft. I would not be able to buy a massive range of household items or ride on the tube or a bus, use my phone or computer as well as a whole list of other items we need to live in the ‘civilised’ world; even my travel card is plastic….not to mention my money!

For my contribution, I never buy bottled water and endeavour to avoid using plastic or buying stuff with plastic wrapping wherever I can and  recycle whatever plastic I am encumbered with.

If someone could show us a way to not use plastic at all – now that would be worth a ‘Green Award’.

p.s. the pics I got with the email did not convert….sorry! You will have to use your imagination

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milk bottle at my door…

……ok, well not actually at MY door but….. I still love the idea.

I remember when I was a little girl of about 7 maybe, we used to have a milk-cart drive round the neighbourhood each morning delivering milk.  They also used to deliver orange juice, cream, butter and eggs.  But my over-riding memory is of a blue and white milk-cart clanging away along the street, ‘Milkie’ in his white trousers, white shirt, blue & white checked apron and blue cap, ringing the bell to alert the ‘housewives’ he was in the area.

You had the option of meeting him in the street/road to place your order or just leave your empties at the door with money in and a note to say how many bottles you wanted.  It’s quite weird to recall that in those days you could quite safely leave money out overnight in the empty milk bottle and it would still be there the next day.   I know it all changed at some point, but I can’t really remember when it was that we realised this was no longer an option……the money ususally got stolen.

Eventually in time the milk-carts also went by the wayside and the early morning bell-clanging was no more to be heard.

Imagine my delight when I arrived in London/UK to discover that in some areas they still deliver milk to your door.  Now, granted, no-one leaves money in the empty bottle from what I have seen, but nevertheless there are places where the empty milk bottle is left out on the verandah at night and in the morning you open your door and voila…..there are 3 or 4 bottles of fresh milk, icy cold, water running down the sides with early morning condensation.

To me there is something delightfully old-fashioned and quaint about having milk delivered to your door.

milk delivered to your door

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what do U get when U cross a turtle and a plastic bag

A. a dead turtle.

As harsh as that is, that’s not the worst of it. I follow myEARTH360 on twitter since I am keenly interested in the future of our planet and in taking a stand against plastic, especially plastic bags, (5billion p.a. and counting) as well as keeping track of whats going on in the world of the ecology.  It is one of my ‘rants’ as you may have noticed from a previous post. 

On facebook today I noticed one of their posts, and followed through to sign the relevant petition, http://greenhouseneutralfoundation.org/articles/2009/12/15/stoplasticbags-a-global-petition-to-ban-the-bag-3/

and reading these stats has given me a jolt:

Some of the ugly facts: plastic bags

•Once brought into existence to tote your purchases, they’ll accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years.
•The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags. That’s more than 1,200 bags per US resident, per year. Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic.
•The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
•Australia, a country of only some 22 million or so, consumes about 6.9 billion plastic bags each year, that’s 326 per person. According to Australia’s Department of Environment, an estimated 49,600,000 annually end up as litter.
•Every single piece of plastic ever manufactured is still on the planet.
•It is in use, intact in landfills, as windblown litter, and also toxically contaminating global river systems and oceans.
•There is an estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic in each square mile of ocean. Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.
•There are 39,600 deaths of children around the world who die from asphyxiation from plastic bags.
•There are over 3,300 deaths of children each year in the US alone who die from asphyxiation from plastic bags.
•WSJ Target, the second-largest retailer in the U.S., purchases 1.8 billion bags a year. In the U.S. alone $4 billion per year is spent by retailers giving away free plastic bags.

http://icountformyearth.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/yikes-could-plastic-take-over-our-oceans/

Most assuredly it is our responsibility to do something about this. This is our only home, we can’t buy a new planet, and just as much as the science community and others would like to set up ‘home’ on another planet….that is not in the forseeable future.  By the time they do get to do that…..we will most likely have killed off most of our precious sealife as well as birdlife.  And this is not counting all the other terrible things we inflict on this planet eg destroying forests etc.

OK, so I am not going to continue here coz my bloodpressure is going up.  All I am asking is that whoever reads this blog, takes a stand… it’s like the starfish on the beach  story….. you can’t save them all, but it will make a difference to the one that gets thrown back in; the creatures that don’t get to swallow plastic bags will get to live!!!!  They won’t know the difference, but we do!

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as I was saying……

found this report on the net tonight….. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11563513  it is absolutely frightening.  and yet folks still waste fuel (like leaving their cars running while they clean the windows or go shopping et etc), or run water into the kitchen sink while cleaning the counters, or burn all the lights in the house, or have the heating turned up all day, or, or, or….you know what I mean. I would like my grandchildren and their children to have a world to live in!

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Hello!!! Universe…..

a vintage model.....1955 VW Campervan

Ok, so a couple of days ago I posted a blog and therein made mention that currently I am working at my ‘day job’ not my ‘dream job’.  So what is my dream job?  This has been incredibly difficult to pin down….until I came to live in the UK…..

When I was just 17 years old (lordy but that does seem like such a long time ago)….I wanted to be a Nursery School Teacher (I loved little children and babies…still do)…. but my Mother said NO! you go get an office job, you will earn more money! (and what Mother said…you did).  So I did, and she was right.   But was I happy….NO!   I hated working in an office, but as the years went by and I progressed from being a typist who could not type… (the guy gave me a job coz I burst into tears in his office and told him my Mother had said I should not come home till I had a job, and it was 4pm by then)…. to being a Credit Manager; managing a staff contingent of 10 for a group of 5 Companies…. this took the best part of 30 years by the way.  In between there were many positions, not just a few companies, and a whole lot of crappy bosses

However, along the way I learned to enjoy working in an office and to love what I did….phoning people and asking for money.  Just a shame it wasn’t for myself

Anyways, when I arrived in the UK, which was by default; I came on holiday and never went back (well only briefly to get my Ancestral visa) and I have never looked back…..quite literally – no looking in the rear-view mirror.  So when I first arrived in the UK, what was the job I applied for…..?  Why of course…. I applied to be a Nanny .     However as fate would have it…. I did not have current experience DUH! and I did not have an NVQ in child management… double DUH!!  So that idea was scotched and went out the window, and anyhow by all accounts being a Nanny in the UK is akin to being one up from a slave.    Not to be deterred I continued to look for a ‘job’ and again by default managed to find a position as a Care Assistant for the Elderly….which I initially hated and then without warning I found that I actually enjoyed it and so I have and have been for the last 8.5 years (except for a 1 year stint in an offfice which nearly drove me to the brink of a nervous breakdown!).

So here I am….. working as a Carer…..but is this my dream job? Nope!   

Since living in the UK I have developed a passion for travelling.  This came as quite a surprise to me since I had never really thought about actually travelling around the world.  Sure I had the odd dream about going to the Maldives (not got there yet) or visiting Venice (been there ), going to Paris (been there ) and New York (been there ).  But besides the odd daydream it was certainly never something I seriously considered I would actually get to do.

Till now!  So UNIVERSE, here is what my DREAM JOB would be…… to travel first around the UK (coz it is so fantastically gorgeous) then round Europe and then the US of A, and then if I am still alive and able to….spread my wings further afield. (ooh that has a double meaning!) LOL.   I would however like to spend at least 4 months a year in London!

So here is my message to the Universe….hello!!!! : My ‘DREAM JOB’  is to travel around the world in VW Campervan that has ‘NotJustaGranny’ with the funky logo emblazoned on the sides…. taking photos of everywhere I go, blogging about the places I am visiting and tweeting! and getting PAID to do it!  I would quite enjoy writing a book too…if that’s ok with you.

So dear Universe, if perchance you are actually listening, as the Guru’s in the Personal Development world maintain that you do…. Hello!!!!

Oh, and just a little p.s. The Guru’s say that when you ‘state’ what it is you want, you have to be specific; so just that there is no confusion about this…..

the VW Campervan should be a 1955 model (nothing but vintage is good enough for me)… you know what I mean

It should be yellow with white trimmings (yellow is my favourite colour)

It should have 2 beds at least….1 for me (of course, and one for my daughter to join me from time to time, or for a friend to come along occassionally…and also for when my grandchildren arrive…have to have enough space for them to travel with me)

It should be fully re-furbished and reliable; preferrably with modern accessories and equipment…like an up-to-date engine. 1955 is all very well but it is a bit long in the tooth!

It should be modified to be eco-friendly….no fumes please.

I would appreciate it if there is enough space for my laptop and camera equipment (oh and I would need sockets for the chargers).

Don’t worry too much about wardrobe space….I don’t have much clothing… LOL

and it would be awesome if it had a lift-up roof-top for air circulation

oh, and a tent attachment would be brilliant for when I am stopped alongside a lake somewhere in the UK or Europe or the US of A, so that I can sit outside and enjoy the scenery and the night stars while I sip a sherry (or two).

If you need any further specifications….contact me via this blog and I will be happy to give you more details.

and just a final p.s.s. (sorry to be so picky, but…) when I talk about being paid to do this…I am happy to earn the money….. but please note that I would require at least £5,000 per month. For travel expenses and so on. ta

by the way….this is a 1955 model (the one on the right) please be sure to send a yellow one

1955 VW Campervan

and just in case you are wondering….. I put the picture twice so that you are clear on what it is I am looking for!

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The magical bank of TIME!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!!!

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:

Each morning your bank would deposit (your currency) 86,400.00 in your private account for your use.

However, this prize had rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:
1. Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.

2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.

3. You may only spend it.

Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another (your currency) 86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:

1. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, “It’s over, the game is over!”

2. It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?

Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?

Even for people you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?

You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right? 

ACTUALLY, THIS GAME IS REALITY!!

Each of us is in possession of such a “magical” bank. We just can’t seem to see it. 

THE MAGICAL BANK IS TIME!

Each awakening morning we receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life,

and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.

What we haven’t lived up that day is forever lost.

Yesterday is forever gone. 

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time…….

WITHOUT WARNING. 

WELL, what will you do with your 86,400 seconds?

Aren’t they worth so much more than the same amount in any currency?

Think about that, and always think of this:

Utilise every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

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@HelpSaveBees

Hi Damian, I hope you dont mind me replying via my blog, but I had too much to say for a tweet

Firstly I think you are doing a brilliant job and are to be commended for taking action to help save our bees.  I have been horribly concerned for the bees of the UK and the USA for some time now and if I remember correctly I wrote a couple of blogs a while back.

Re the @InnocentDrinks issue, I agree that they should be complimented for the 40 hives to the @NationalTrust and helping to re-introduce 2million bees back into the UK, and bravo to them for doing that.   I love too that they have the wee flower packs attached to the drinks bottle… great idea and excellent marketing, and why not also to the carton?

What I have issue with is what feels to me like a bit of jumping onto the band-wagon.  Now I know that they are not the first, are certainly not alone in the practice and probably won’t be the last to use a current cause to promote a product.

I just have a problem with what feels like commercialism and self-interest.   I also feel very uncomfortable with them making a drink using honey.  The bee population is already having great difficulty meeting human demand and are overstretched in so many ways, that it is almost unbearable.  If they had promoted the bees and the project using a different flavoured drink I would have applauded them for sure, although of course for obvious reasons they have to use a drink with honey.

Your comment raises an interesting question: Have Innocent in fact used British honey for the drinks?  Their whole marketing agenda  is based on ethical buying, congruency & giving back to the planet et al, so I sincerely hope that they have in fact only used UK honey.   BTW, whilst reading through their press releases I noticed they recently did a deal with Coca~Cola????

As for myself I only ever buy UK honey and preferrably from smaller co-operatives or at markets.  I would rather pay more for the product than not support our industry, although I do realise of course we have to trade.  I just feel that with the current situation the poor bees should be given a break and allowed to recover.  After all they need the honey for their own purposes too and that is why they make it in the first place (citation off wikipedia: Honey is created by bees as a food source. In cold weather or when fresh food sources are scarce, bees use their stored honey as their source of energy).    It’s only coz we humans have formed a liking for the taste that we have bred bees to produce more than needed by the bees themselves    I’m not surprised that the poor wee creatures are dying out, they are exhausted! and that besides all the muck (chemicals) that has been thrown at them over the years.

I did some research and reading up on the subject some months ago for my own personal interest, and this is one of the sites I visited to that end.  It may be of interest to you although I am sure you know way more than I do.   I have learnt a lot more since reading your posts

Just as a matter of interest, what do other tweeters say about the Innocent Drinks campaign?  Or am I the only one with a bee in my bonnet?  Excuse the intended pun

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Making the most of retirement

Making the most of retirement.

Things have changed dramatically for the current generation of retirees.   These days when we retire, we hopefully have some 25-30 years of active life ahead of us.  It’s a huge opportunity.  However the change from a work situation, to one where there is no structure, is one of the biggest challenges of our lives.

Whatever the length of time we worked and spent travelling to work, and whatever aspirations we have for retirement, filling 40-50 hours each week’s on top of previous leisure times, for the next 25 years, is a major feat!

That’s why going on a pre-retirement course can be one of the best things you can do.   A 2009 study of University of Greenwich found a highly significant increase in life satisfaction among people who had attended such courses, as did a survey by retirement specialists ‘Laterlife Learning’.

What is a pre-retirement course?

There are many such courses, which are purely, or largely, financial.   However we’re concerned here with those that focus mainly on the lifestyle aspects of retirement and also include financial.

The courses help you to think about retirement and the implications, in all it’s aspects and challenge many pre-conceived ideas.

The purpose of such courses is to encourage participants to think seriously about all aspects of their forthcoming retirement in a structured way, so as to increase their chances of enjoying and making the most of this potentially fulfilling phase of their life and avoiding some of the common pitfalls.

A good course will be highly interactive, led by an experienced facilitator and will engage participants in thinking through the changes they are going to undertake and specifically looking at each area of their retirement plans from their own perspective.

As a result of attending the course, participants will often see retirement in a way they won’t have done before and as a result clearly identify issues, opportunities and pitfalls and have lots of ideas and new areas to consider.

For those worried about retirement it will also overcome concerns and fears, making retirement an opportunity to look forward to.

Retirement these days is a time of opportunity and choice.

for more information visit: http://www.retirement-courses.co.uk and http://www.laterlife.com

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