Out with the Old, in with the New

I hope you had a great Easter break? I had the Bank Holidays and weekend off and the weather was sort of okay, at least it was dry. A 21st birthday party and other social events kept us busy and chilled out and the weather has miraculously decided to get better here. This post Easter week has been pleasant and warm - so much so that smog is a problem in the south UK with industrial pollutants from Europe, domestic road pollution and Saharan desert sand being deposited upon us, it makes for difficult breathing for some. 

A break down this weekend coming will see fresher conditions, little in the way of pollution and some rain.

Richie Benaud, OBE

I was sorry to hear of the death of Australian Richie Benaud today. He was 84 and had been suffering from skin cancer, something he had campaigned to protect people against for years. This man was a blast from my past and was the voice of cricket on UK television for many years on BBC and then Channel 4. His melodious gentle Aussie accent was coloured by a dry wit and long periods of silence from the commentary box as he left the viewers to enjoy the game and the atmosphere without lots of forced waffle and drivel. His co-commentator for many years was Yorkshireman, the late Jim Laker, himself a spinner (for England) and still holder of the record for taking 19 wickets in a single test match.

Richie Benaud had credibility too. He captained Australia to three Ashes test series wins and took nearly 250 test wickets as a spinner. His honesty meant that the listener could enjoy the game knowing that he praised good cricket from whatever team and criticised it by equal measure without fear or favour.

For him the score book is complete and the pavilion doors close for the last time.

What did Easter mean for you? Did you celebrate it in a religious context or with traditional pagan rites such as buying  Easter eggs and suchlike? Perhaps you mixed the two. I missed the funeral of a good friend recently through no fault of my own which I regret, but I have happy memories of him which will always be around.  I would have liked to celebrate his life and what he gave to people. In the same way that I guess most religions celebrate the life of Christ and give thanks for the sacrifice he gave for us and his rising so that we may live again. 

I know of one religion that sees this as a sad mournful occasion with grey and dark overtones. What a pity. Spiritualism has so much connection to religion although seemingly at a distance for some sometimes. Some who follow my faith don't like to associate themselves with God or religion at all, yet believe in Angels (as I do) who of course are messenger of guess who? God. Nothing is perfect I have learned.

I don't like the orthodox church particularly but it gives people faith and comfort - good for them. I guess I have seen too much hypocrisy to impress me any more. I still have both my Methodist and then my later Church of England christening, but these in my view have now lapsed as I have left their ways behind. God is here, in my heart, God is all around us, I don't have to go to church to believe in the divine. I am a good person, do good things; I think I'm a good citizen, I care for others, I'm even philanthropic now and then where I can afford it. I love my partner, my children and our family. I pray - to the God I understand and love.

Importantly, I respect others love for their religion even though some of them are a little at odds with modern living. Religion has damaged me in some ways and recovering is hard but with the love and support of my partner and family, my live is becoming more fulfilled spiritually.  There is life after religion!

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Mad as Hatters

Normanby Hall

Good morning blogging friends one and all to this Easter Sunday. In 725, the Venerable Bede (a famous English monk) apparently wrote, "The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter." Also known as Resurrection Day, this day celebrates the rising of Christ after the third day following his execution. This should be a joyous day for without the resurrection, there is no Christianity as we know it today. There are Christian religions and cults that treat this as a solemn memorial day without celebration. This is a real shame, for not to celebrate it if you are a Christian seems to ignore what sacrifice was done for us.

Anyway, moving away from this religious theme, I am a prisoner in my own home today. That's not as dramatic as it sounds, I simply can't get my car out because the local roads are closed for the Hull Marathon. 'Good on them' I say, mad as hatters*, but I secretly admire them for their fitness and courage to run the length of a Marathon. I've sponsored a couple of people at work who are running it so I am delighted that charities benefit from their perspiration and efforts (or in the ladies case - glow and effort.)

Yesterday I went to Normanby Hall which is a few miles north of Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, a short journey across the Humber Bridge and along pleasant meandering roads through the pretty countryside, occasionally with magnificent views along the Humber basin. Normanby Hall was once the home of the Sheffield family, Dukes of Buckingham. The hall is a square Regency style building surrounded by lovely grounds, a deer park, a Victorian walled garden (with hot houses), small museums of life in the hall at various times, camping grounds and good facilities with good toilets and a nice cafe.

The hall and grounds are now in the hands of the local authority since the family moved out in 1963. Briefly, there has been some sort of family home there since 1530s and the current hall, built in the 1820s replaced a 17th century building. Now here's something I didn't know until yesterday, Samantha Cameron (wife of the current Prime Minister) grew up in the grounds of the Normanby Hall Estate.   

Just a fraction of the extensive park surrounding the hall

The grounds are beautifully kept and cost £5.50 to go in with which includes parking and access to everything including the hall. The hall itself is warm and homely (you may remember this is one of my tests - does it feel like a home.) There are many rooms on two floors which we roamed around although there was a wedding there so one wing was cut off from us. The rooms are roped off but contain wonderful furniture, musical instruments, paintings and there are silk wall hangings in the music room. The bathroom was opulent to say the least and there was a nursery and a four poster bed in one of the many bedrooms remain in situ. 

One of two male peacocks I saw, this one meandering in the walled garden

This isn't necessarily a full days visit, unless you have children and you could picnic and play (as many do) in the extensive grounds, but I was there for four and a half hours and it was just about right. There is easy access to motorways and there are some disabled facilities although you should check with the local authority' website, www.northlincs.gov.uk/normanby for more details.   

Normanby Hall Country Park is a pleasant distraction on a nice day and worth while visiting.

Finally, apparently someone attempted to use my debit card to spend 19,000 rupees in India yesterday (worth around £235). Needless to say I now have a cancelled bank card which won't be replaced for seven days but at least there are two silver linings to this cloud, a) I can't spend anything for the time being and b) the bank's anti-fraud processes actually work.

I hope you are enjoying your Easter break and if you don't celebrate it, enjoy the time off courtesy of Christianity!

Chat soon

Ta-ra
*"Mad as a hatter" is a colloquial phrase used in conversation to refer to a crazy person. In 18th and 19th century England mercury was used in the production of felt, which was used in the manufacturing of hats common of the time. People who worked in these hat factories were exposed daily to trace amounts of the metal, which accumulated within their bodies over time, causing some workers to develop dementia caused by mercury poisoning. Thus the phrase "Mad as a Hatter" became popular as a way to refer to someone who was perceived as insane. Courtesy Wikipedia

Bank Holiday Blues

Happy Easter. It's Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and the start of a short holiday for me. The last couple of weeks has been really busy both at home and at work and rather tiring hence no blog. I've done another Angel stall with my business partner Linda; and her and I have given free Reiki treatments on behalf of Hull and East Riding Breast Friends (HER Breast Friends) a group dedicated to supporting women who have or have had breast cancer. So weekends have become a bit of a premium. My son is home from University and it's a pleasure to have him back and today, we sat and painted with oil paints together which was really nice and relaxing. 

Now I'm sure you've noticed if you are in the UK that the weather has returned to what can only be described as wintry again. I was in Leeds on business on Wednesday. I set off from Hull in driving rain and sleet and the spray on the roads was terrible. There was gale force winds during the night, several trees had been blown down near us and in the north of England, 50,000 homes were without electricity due to power lines being brought down. Bear in mind this is the first substantial rain for several weeks, there was much in the way of standing water on the roads.

I had driven about 35 miles when all of a sudden, the verges and the hedges began to take on a white hue and as I reached the A1, there was snow as far as the eye could see. Just another 30 miles up the road, roads were blocked because of snow. It's April for goodness sake! Still, I made nice patterns in the car park.

Although winter is only recently demised, we need the rain and the water because in Yorkshire there is an official drought order in place. They haven't banned hosepipes yet, but it's only a matter of time I guess. Much of the south east of England have drought orders in place and they have hosepipe bans already and we're just into spring.

We're losing our electricity for a day next week whilst the local power company connect some new houses across the road. Time to spend a day in the garden, but the long term forecast doesn't look very inspiring. I do hope this late snow and ice didn't damage any crops or buds on the bushes and trees. I do recall having snow on Easter Friday when I was about 16 and that was in April too so it's not unheard of.

Forgive the language, but here's a little moral story for the festive season:

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realise how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral of the story:

(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy;
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend;
(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

Have a great weekend of Easter bunny frolics, and if you don't believe in the Easter celebrations because you think it's all Pagan stuff, well just enjoy the weekend.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

DIY ineptitude & Easter

Easter is just around the corner and the weather conspires against the great British (and Irish) public by promising grey, damp and cool Spring weather. My 'holiday' starts today; in truth this is a week starting today I have always taken traditionally as a way of preparing the garden and life in general for the summer. A good spring clean, trips to the tip, central heating turned down or off, houseplants re-potted and conservatory windows open occasionally and we wait for the wires to go up but clearly the race for a decent spring has hardly begun.

I got home yesterday evening and my wife had prepared a list of small jobs: fix a net curtain hook, fix two light fittings and replace all the smoke alarms (they are nearly ten years old but still go off when I over-cook the lamb chops!) This morning I have already cleaned the fish tank and my other half is in a good mood, she's lost three and a half pounds on her diet - she might forget she's written me a list but I'm not holding my breath.

"I haven't spoken to the wife for over a month. We haven't had a row, I just daren't interrupt her!"
Les Dawson

I am, I have to confess, a DIY dummy. I sort of get by but I reckon I could have saved thousands of pounds during our near thirty years of marriage by being able to do the plumbing, the electrics and build useful and practical furniture. I once replaced some ceiling lights in my old house with brand new three bulb hanging lights. We had newly decorated and the room looked fabulous. I hooked the wires up firmly fixed the fitting back to the ceiling, switched the electricity on and the lights worked a treat. Trouble was they wouldn't switch off! Needless to say, red faced I had to ring a friend to ask what I had done and even to this day, whilst I did what was instructed, I still don't understand how they worked. I'm not a disaster zone mind, houses don't fall down or anything when I drill a hole in the wall and I've now learned that the right drill and the right plug have to be used with the right sized screw - hey presto it all works!

I don't eat Easter Eggs any more and my diet wouldn't allow it anyway and so apart from being a nice break, I wondered how many people really think about Easter and what it's all about. We could use the same question to ask about Christmas (the celebration of the birth of Jesus) or other religious based holidays such as Whitsuntide (the Holy Spirit approached the Apostles in the form of flames). Do we appreciate what it means and do we trouble to celebrate the origins and reasons of the occasion? Some people do of course, their faith leaves them in no doubt that the execution of Jesus and his Resurrection three days later is the whole basis of Christian religion - without this it seems to me there is no religion, no hope, nothing to look forward to.

The Easter bunny has its origins in folklore of course and some religions do not celebrate Easter at all thinking that some of the things we do are simply pagan. But if His death and Resurrection is so fundamental to our lives - after all it's given us the common thread through the modern western world for nearly 2000 years, then why not celebrate unlike the Jehovah's Witnesses who have a 'memorial' dirge or the Quakers who believe every day is the Lord's day and have no need for extra celebrations.

Whatever you believe (or not) have a great weekend, enjoy the chance to be with family or friends or doing something you really like.

Lord Byron described the English Winter - "...ending in July to recommence in August."

Chat soon

Ta-ra!