South African Shame

I used to love a South African FaceBook page that posted delightful nostalgic pics of years gone by.

Childhood toys, old cars, adverts, sweets and treats long forgotten, magazines, music, it was charming. Fisher price toys, old shops like John Orrs, odd food we used to eat...

Almost overnight, it changed into a bitter, nasty, rascist diatribe.

I really do not know how this happened.

My theory is that the person running it was replaced.

The way I envisioned it, there was a nice, 40 to 50  year old woman who ran the page.

Suddenly she was replaced by a 50 to 60 year old male rascist pig.

Who brought out of the woodwork all the other horrible rascist , and I mean , really dreadful idiots who have ruined this page, and quite frightened me about how there ever will be any hope between black and white in South Africa .

I have left the page.

Really, all I said was " Wow  Is this post appropriate?"

And I was shot down in flames in quite a spectacular manner.

I know that I may not have too much credibility seeing as I no longer live in South Africa.

And, believe me, I do not mean to comment on something I know nothing about, but it's not as though I left the country before  or after the free elections. Or even left for any political reason. Or know 

nothing about South Africa.  I lived there all my life.

I understand that there is freedom of speech, I understand that you shouldn't be on a page that is not aimed at you...but , fuck ,really? 

A page that is recalling memories of South Africa is just recalling white memories? 

Up until the unfortunate posting that seemed to reveal all the fuckwits who subscribed to the page, I innocently assumed that this page was for all of us. 

Well, have your stupid page to yourselves. 

My daughter always says to me " You are not the Facebook Police"

She is right.

I am not.

But sometimes, you just have to be. 

Sonic

 A very enjoyable day spent in the pet shop looking for a home for Sonic.

Looked online forever for a hedgehog home, bloody hell, they ranged from £99 for what was basically an upside down pot with a hole for a door, to £28 which was a teeny grass hut.

No good at all.

In the pet shop , although they had everything else known and unknown to man...

Like this...

And this....an edible hut?? 

Ended up buying what essentially is a small rabbit house ( sorry Sonic) but seems to be just fine.

Of course, it will not be placed on the lawn, this was just for photographic purposes.

You may note that the lawn is somewhat overgrown.

Well, yes, because it will simply not get dry enough to cut! 

I have reseeded the bits I ripped out ( moss and weeds)

Now I can't mow the fecking stuff because it will just rip this sissy baby Pom  grass out by its roots.

Come back, kikuyu grass, all is forgiven...

I digress...

So, Sonic came for his late night snack tonight, I was very excited and said

 " Look , Sonic, mamma has bought you a wee house for you to hibernate in!"

I said to The Hubby, "pick him up...pick him up and show him! "

The Hubby said something quite rude and did not pick Sonic up.

Never mind.

Tomorrow I will place the wee hibernation house, add straw ( left over from my goat recipe from Hugh Wittingstone- Twit  ( as The Hubby calls him) and have all in place for the hibernation period.

This is worrying because it is autumn and today was 20 odd degrees.

Never mind.

I did have a place in mind for the wee hibernation house, but tonight Sonic seemed to be almost making a nest in the back alley under the leaves that I have not yet swept up.

So I think I shall place the wee hibernation house there.

Whilst in the pet shop, which was FANTASTIC , I got a leaflet from a RSPC person to whom I gave a substantial amount of change 

Most helpful! 

Bless.

Also , oddly....

Why?? 

There was a really lovely rabbit , but The Hubby said NO! 

Even with insurance.

Love, actually

The Hubby and I have been married for 31 years now.

Bless, I love him.

Still make the joke that if I had killed him on our wedding night, I would be out by now...

Cousin Katy introduces her hubby as her "first husband" , just to keep him on his toes.

We all joke, secure in our love.

Dr Lauren and Darling Simon are a match made in heaven, maybe they don't even quite realise it yet...

If you are lucky enough to meet and marry the Love of your Life, it's truly wonderful. Joke all you like, but it's a rare thing to spend so many years together

My dear friend Graham has just lost his wonderful partner of 34 years.

It breaks my heart, and I cried so much when he simply said " I can't believe you aren't coming home"

Garry, I will miss you. 

Graham , I love you and wish you strength to be on your own, you and I know what a true privilege it is to be with , to love somebody and to be loved in return for so long.

I hope you don't mind me putting this on my blog, but such love is rare.

Travellers?

It was always a thing that somewhere in my past, I was related to the gypsies.

Although  now, it is not PC to say gypsy, one must say Traveller.

Anyway, I was related to gypsies in the Romany sense, and indeed, Irish Horse Thieves sense. 

Lets not pretend I am of Downton Abbey Heritage! 

My grandmother always commented that the fact I never wore shoes was due to  the "Bad Blood" 

Never bothered me, I always thought my gypsy heritage was quite charming.

Until I saw "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" 

Seeing as how we are not supposed to say gypsy, but anyway....that's what the programme is called.

Bloody hell! 

It is truly fascinating .  Thousands of £££'s spent on weddings, not exactly the idea I had of gypsies, but I guess times have moved on....

Biggest day of their lives,no expense spared...

Movies mean something different....

This must just be me...I don't understand this pic, courtesy of Dr Lauren.

Does it mean that if you are actually going to do drugs in the cinema , you can go to the toilets on the next level?

How do Ultra Violet lights be anti drug? 

Being a child of the seventies, the only drug I have any knowledge of is pot.

Anyone who can explain this to me?

Cousin Jane? 

Washing Blues

It is not cold enough to have the heating on. 

It is not dry enough to hang washing outside.

It is not warm enough to dry washing inside without the heating.

I am too mean to use the tumble drier.

I have discovered yet another downside to having no sense of smell.

The Hubby pointed out to me that the clothes that have been on the clothes horse for two days were starting to smell funny.

Lucky I don't live alone. 

Ducks

Well, there is The Great Cherry Hinton Festival .

Pretty cool actually, I sat on the Cherry Hinton Reading Group Stall in the Community Centre.

There is a duck race....

I have indeed bought ducks...

Good day

Indeed, sometimes I am just a genius.

So, wanting to make peanut butter cookies for Dr  Lauren, bless....

Download recipe to ipad.

Take screenshot

Print, from ipad, miraculously, absolutely amazing, I love it!

Load shopping list to Tesco, all done with scanning. 

List is organised before I get to  the shop

Post.

Actually post cookies.

Only takes a day!

Wow! 

Neighbourhood Watch

I love the neighbour who lives behind us.

I have never met him, have no idea what he looks like...but he has a dog called Lucy, and he loves her so much.

He has an incredibly LOUD voice , and a very strong accent..not quite London, not from the North..but I think somewhere close to London.

He swears like a trooper.

He also, to my delight, not only talks to Lucy, but sings songs to her.

There is the "I Love Lucy " song

I love Lucy

Yes I do

Even when she does a poo.

There is the "dinner time " song

Lucy Lucy lucky you

Here is dinner just for you

These lines are sung at least 5 times each, with a variety of variations.

Then there are the long conversations explaining why she has to have a bath, why he is going out, why she is a rubbish guard dog...all very amusing.

I thought he was quite an old guy, but no, he is 45. 

I know this because he told Lucy.

I can't see him because our back fence is quite high. I have no idea what kind of dog Lucy is, but I never hear her bark or whine, I am guessing Labrador.

Our neighbourhood is odd.

There are some very nice detached houses. Some quite nice semi detached (that would be ours) and some yucky semi detached,  all these within the same area.

(For the Saffas, the worst, absolute worst house in the area sells for £235 000)

The streets wind around with no grid system at all. 

I went for a walk, had only travelled about 10 minutes and bloody hell, was in a strange area with actual street urchins.

Urchins....I swear to god.

Health and safety gone mad

Made me laugh....

Scandal/Skande

Due to a severe lack of real crime in our area, headlines in the paper can be fun.

A local vicar caused a storm that raged for weeks....