Time to be out

Seeing we had some good weather not unsurprisingly I have been out of doors a far bit  this last week or so and one thing I always found handy was the able to read a map and to take a smallish one me in case either I get lost which can happen or for extra details about the terrain or area  that might prove most useful.

One thing I always looked forward to seeing when I was younger were the Dandelion's coming out after Winter even though as you can see in this photograph the soil is fairly dry underneath, they  are all out and I can enjoy blowing the seeds away which always seemed magical to me.
It was taken on my new camera last weekend.
I shall most probably be out distributing our communities monthly magazines on foot this week depending on how soon they get to me from the printers as it's sometimes as a bit of dash to get them done in time.
I don't know about you but sometimes it seems there aren't enough hours in a day to cram it all in but somehow we just manage it all right, making for a rich life.

Caught in the act!

What's with Theo, Two-faced and Peaches that they appear to be gathered in some kind of a conspiracy on Easter Monday?

 Do they have a plan knowing eggsactly what it involves as they hatch it having figured out how to take their very own picture, as they were about to commit a dastardly act just when I was so looking forward to today?
It appears they had a plot to take my egg away for a midnight feast taking that picture leading to them getting busted so I'm afraid they're doing Corner Time.
Meanwhile I nom my way through the day!

*Happy Easter folks

The Put 'Em Rights

While my BFF was away in sunny Scotland, I was doing something rather different really apart from having a laugh on well known children's authors website.

There are some books written by Enid Blyton I'm familiar with because I read them when I was in first childhood either owning or borrowing usually from girls and others because she was most prolific author I am not .

The Put 'Em Rights comes under the latter although the subject matter is something I am very familiar with which is travelling preachers usually of a evangelical sort who come as the name suggests to galvanize people to action around social or moral issues of the day.
In this particular story it's the impact of travelling gypsy preacher  who inspires Sally, a Ministers daughter, to form a group of six children to do "good works" in their village of Under Ridge after a meeting on the village green.

In modern parlance they act as Social Activists, attempting to put situations right such as a dog being physically and emotional maltreated, a woman with a dirty house and equally dirty baby, a family facing eviction and anther facing lack.

What they discover in their eagerness is often situations are more complex than they originally thought and also less clear-cut such as the mother has a mental illness - depression - the family facing eviction are not only being evicted by the father of one of the boys but for theft which when they get further into it is a father taking the blame for what a severely mentally disabled boy has literally taken a shine to, oblivious to the notion it is theft being in human terms more like a magpie from that point of view.

What is more and I feel is one of more worthwhile aspects to this story is while they start of on the basis of changing other peoples attitudes to the right they soon learn their own are not necessarily any better with Sally being impatient and self righteous, Podge is well looked after but careless in looking after his possessions such as a bicycle  just assuming as they go messing or are stolen because he doesn't put them away safely his parent will just buy  him another, not appreciating the sacrifice they made in buying him them.
Amanda starts to realize she is really is very lazy and selfish being allowed to do nothing and get out of taking turns in helping.

Although Enid doesn't say this (and forgive my C.S. upbringing  and background for dropping a religious point in) what she's alerting the reader to is the notion that caring for everyone else's values and attitudes without looking at your own first is foolhardy.
We may be better off caring about other peoples but working on our own, transforming those we encounter by it even if we may not be perfect rather than coming over as somewhat pious, lecturing others.

The outcome of this book is unsatisfactory in one respect, and that is underneath much of the plot is class attitudes and prejudice. 

Bobby is 'working class' his mother unusually for 1946 has to work as his father is in prison and he feels very much ill at ease with the other five middle class children who haven't struggled as he has.

He starts off being friendly with them, almost an equal but Sally's socially superior attitude starting from how she tries to stop a mother from spreading gossip only goads this woman into revealing the awful truth of where Bobby's father is as his own mother has been hiding it feeling this whole thing has just been a matter of the children playing "goody-goody" to make them feel superior. He feels crushed and for all their mixing he can only ever be with 'his own' although they do make up and share ice creams.

In some respects I feel rather than resigning oneself to your lot, Bobby would of better served by having those children apologize for how he'd been treated and encouraged to give breaking out of his social class a second chance and from that be at the point he is able to take advantage of his own abilities rather than in effect limiting himself because of what had happened. 

Although the ending could of been better thought through, I did feel this was a novel well worth reading.

*There are some alterations in this 1992 version - some of the essential social commentary is diminished although later editions are more altered as sadly the case with most of this authors stories.

Colour therapy

You may of noticed a few comments around how the present situation in this country is having a adverse affect on me and I think a few times I have mentioned coping strategies.

Recently I was given this unique product, part of whole series of small books with various inspiration quotes and things.
Although in so far as the general public goes, they see colouring as a relaxation technique as fairly modern although the famous psychiatrist Carl Jung prescribed it as far back as the nineteen twenties and today many medical practitioners and occupational therapists are suggesting it has widespread benefits across many issues.
Personally I've always found colouring  relaxing apart from just fitting in well within my younger than my years frame of mind but moreover because using colouring as a therapy uses parts of the brain that enhance focus and concentration, it helps too with organization skills, memory which is something I sure struggle with and positivity.
What this book has is small selection of drawing to colour but included with it is a cd of relaxing music that is designed to listened to in tandem with the colouring to enhance the relaxation and lead toward a meditative state of mind.
It is something I would suggest trying out.

Mother's Day weekend

While the silliness in the groan up world continues unabated, yesterday when I was working away on writing this was over here, Mothering Sunday/Mother's Day which obviously meant that I got mine a card - pretty funny in an affectionate way actually - and a present.

There's something in the argument that thanks is best served frequently when it is often our Moms do things for us typically when they have other things to be doing to and it can be in the form of things we do for them but it's probably as well to have a focus for showing our appreciation such as a nationally recognized day.

That said I did channel my Inner Brownie too as I was doing things for the community such as delivering a magazine when I faced a pretty big challenge as making way around putting them in letter boxes I noticed a large temporary structure outside one property.
This structure on wheels with brakes started from the upper storey windows and came right to the ground totally obstructing access to the door and letter box being low and not having much height between the individual bits so I wasn't inclined to crawl under it to get to the door!
I started to think what I had on me as there didn't seem to be much activity so knocking on the rear door wasn't going to be an option and I had this idea that involved taking an elastic band the magazines had come bundled with, wrapping it around the magazine  which I could roll up into a tube shape and hooking that on the far end of the door handle.
There was just about a metre and a quarter I could just about stuck my hand through to get to the door handle so having rolled the magazine up and wrapped the band around it on the second go I got on and was able to pull it back toward me to make it secure.
A great example of resourcefulness and being prepared I'd say as I don't know many who'd go to that much trouble to deliver their magazine.