Sun, Sun , Sun, Let it Shine!

South Africa should be one of the happiest nations in the world.

It has been 20 degrees here for 4 days now, sometimes as much as 22, and the Poms are so happy! They are out in their T shirts, fat, thin, young, old...all smiling...sitting out in the sun, in pub gardens and parks, shopping, driving with the windows open, music blaring, waving, chatting...burning their lily white skins ...BBQing.

We all know it's not going to last, that summer is not here yet, but lordy, lordy, how wonderful it is.

The Hubby and I are happy too, we had breakfast in the sun, lunch in the sun, a glass of alcoholic ginger beer in a very odd, but fascinating pub called The Lamb.

Last summer they built a massive version of Mousetrap in the garden of this pub, raised £2000.00 for a children's hospice, this summer we are building Hungry Hippos. Such fun!

A little bit of sun and warmth has given such joy.

Isn't it amazing?

Come on summer, come on, come on!

Royal Wedding

Getting close and closer....I realised I was getting into this whole mania when I triumphantly told The Hubby "See! I TOLD you she would go with Mc Queen!"

And, indeed , I did tell him, ages ago.

So...what to do ...what to do??

Do we go with a local Street Party or a Wedding Party with a group of friends and family? Or go the whole hog and head off into London with the other million billion people?

Then do we do the big screen TV option in one of the various venues, or queue a hundred deep to catch an actual glimpse?

I was thinking it may not be a bad idea to hire a wheelchair for the day . But that would be evil.

And somehow not very patriotic.

I guess I could attach a Union Jack to the wheelchair...but , no, no, no.

Health and Safety

When I arrived at the hospital on the K4 bus yesterday, just as I had stepped (in my pathetic way) off the bus, the driver banged on the glass and beckoned me back, as the dear old lady behind me had fallen over.

He, as a bus driver, knows that Health and Safety does not allow him to pick her up by himself. There always has to be 2 people to pick up someone who has fallen over, in case of injury to the picker upper.

So I helped to pick her up.

Then, much like the blind leading the blind, I helped her (with her crutch) get to a seat outside the hospital, having established that she was diabetic. She was very shaken , poor thing.

So I left her on a bench and limped (or walked like an idiot , as we have now established) to the hospital entrance.

In this enormous hospital in The Royal Borough Of Kingston, there are Welcome Ladies. They have sashes that say "Welcome" and they tell you where to go and so on.

So I told the Welcome Lady about the poor old duck, and said she needed a wheelchair to get her to the hospital. Due to Health and Safety Regs, the Welcome Lady could not push the wheelchair. Neither, apparently , could I.

If I pushed her, and a bus or taxi or car or even Godzilla ploughed into her, it would be my fault. So we had to wait for a porter. I had to go , seeing as I had my physio appointment, so I hope the poor old duck is not still sitting on a bench waiting for a porter.

I know this whole Health and Safety thing is a bit crazy, and they do go overboard, but it is not a bad thing.

You can either have no Health and Safety, or the total overboard Health and Safety they have here.

Is better to go overboard.

Annoying as some of the Health and Safety things are , and as pathetically funny and amusing and sometimes even tragic as they may seem...believe me, it is better.

Think of the alternative.

Physio

There has been an improvement , so says Robin The Physio.

Then, he very cruelly did an imitation of how I am walking and warned me that I am headed for The Ministry of Funny Walks. Those were his very words. A tad cruel, I thought, but effective seeing as he looked like a total idiot.

Apparently I am walking too fast.

Seeing as I am constantly overtaken by pensioners, toddlers and people with crutches, I thought not. He has made me slow down to a pace which is undetectable as actual movement.

Combine this with my new Sissy Baby Pom feet and I am doomed.

Disaster!

It has happened. My feet have turned into Sissy Baby Pom Feet. I was at Amiga Jane's house and I couldn't walk on the gravel. Teeny tiny gravel which my Saffa tackie feet would't even have noticed.

I don't think there is any way to reverse this process. Soon I will be like Darling Simon and be unable to walk on spiky grass.

Obviously the turning into a Pom starts from the feet up.

Also, I am outside typing this and it is too hot for me.

I checked the thermometer and it is 20 degrees.

Bloody hell.

FROG

Today I saw my first frog in the UK.

I was taking out the bins (rubbish day tomorrow) and it attacked me .

So, I had to run (yes, on my ankle) out of the service alley, and it was just like a dream, I could neither run nor scream. I managed to get to the front door where I hammered on the door knocker until The Hubby came to save me. After he had calmed my hysterics, he said he thought my 6 months of aversion therapy all those years ago may have worn off.

Well, let me tell you, in that aversion therapy we did not cover what would happen if a frog jumped on my FOOT.

We only got as far as " Look, accept, and walk away"

I am traumatised.

Beware! A Rant...

It is A Very Good Thing to have a blog, otherwise I think I would explode and/or make snotty replies on Facebook before I have formulated my thoughts.

As Facebook does, another survey has popped up.

Do you support the freedom to marry for Gays and Lesbians?

Firstly, this is not a grammatically correct sentence

Secondly, I do not want to hear you say 'No'

The Hubby and I have a Civil Union. Dr Lauren and Darling Simon have a Civil Union.

In fact, everybody does. The ceremony in the church is not legal. You cannot get married in church and then hop off home in wedded bliss without signing the legal documents. A marriage is a legal right, not a bloody survey.

Nobody has the right to make a judgement on who should marry and who should not.

Lots of people marry 'out.'

Man to man, woman to woman, catholic to Jew, black to white, just look at us! The Hubby is Linux, Darling Simon is Windows. Insurmountable, you may say.

But No! There has been no judgement, and despite this massive difference, all is well.

We have adapted. Bill Gates did not get up on his soap box and question the union.

Do not judge anyone's right to choose their partner.

Or say whether they can marry or not

Or WHERE they can marry.

In this wonderful secular country, there are many churches with signs up saying 'Civil Unions Welcome here' Of course , what they mean is 'You can get married here if you are the same sex, we do not judge you'

And so they bloody well shouldn't.

If you are gay , you can also choose to be religious. Two way street.

And while I am ranting, never say that you 'tolerate' a gay marriage. It is not to be 'tolerated' You 'tolerate' bad behaviour in a child or a puppy.

You either 'accept' a gay marriage or you sit in judgement.

It seems to me that most of the judgmental people also happen to be religious.

I think they forget that religion does not belong to them only. It belongs to anyone who wants it.

Me, I don't want it. But here in the UK I am not judged for being an atheist. In fact, my rights are protected as much as anybody else's.

If any of my gay friends choose to get married, I will attend their wedding (church or otherwise) with love and joy in my heart.

I will throw rose petals and confetti, I will even sing a hymn, and I will wish them the long and glorious marriage that The Hubby and I have .