Garden shipshape

My brother and his wife worked really hard on our garden this morning.

They cut the hedges, cut the front lawn and greatly tidied up the beds and lawn edges.

In my current feeble (stroke) state , I was very very grateful indeed. I must say the difference is very noticeable. Thank you both.

At home, John has 4 acres+ to look after and this maybe getting too much now. My brother will be 70 this December.

Michael Gove

Why does Michael Gove (UK Secretary of State for Education) remind me so much of an overgrown schoolboy without satchel and cap? His recent statements about syllabus changes make me cross. He comes over, to me, as more than slightly out of his depth and talking nonsense. In my view, he should be made to write 100 lines "I must stop meddling" and made to sit in the naughty corner. These are my personal views and I appreciate other may have very different views. As a free country I hope I am able to say how I feel without being accused of slander.

I see he is in trouble from David Cameron (for his row with Theresa May, Home Secretary) and now with the Labour Party. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27753394 .  

http://www.michaelgove.com/sites/www.michaelgove.com/files/imagecache/info_image/picture-28098.jpg

Many did not like Tony Benn, but he was a proper principled politician. Never once did I hear him talking rubbish. Everything he said was sensible, in my view.  His views were definitely left wing, but at least he said what he believed and was "his own man".  I had respect for him even if our views differed.

Mr Gove?  Sorry, in my view you are not even in the same league as Tony Benn.
See http://www.michaelgove.com/  .

More page visits?

This blog seems to be attracting more visits these days (nearly 100 a day). I try to post something most days but occasionally this is not possible. A lot of posts have been centred on my health issues (stroke) and for this I apologise. I guess my stroke has been foremost on my mind in recent months.

My other active blog on amateur radio regularly gets 1000 visits a day!

Brother and sister-in-law visit Burwell Museum

Windmill over the garden wall.

My brother and his wife have come up from Devon to visit us, going back Wednesday. This afternoon they walked about 30m from our bungalow to our local Burwell Museum, just across the green, The museum is quite something. They thought it was great.

Spread over several buildings, the museum is a snapshot of rural village life down the ages. There are old cars , old delivery vans, an old school, an old shop, horses and carts, old cars and buses, and even a blacksmiths and WW2 room and a fully working telephone exchange with phones to dial up.  There is a room dedicated to old clothes and so very much more. You could easily spend a few hours here.

Now, of course, the fully restored windmill is also open too. The museum "punches way above its station" as they say.  It is open to the public 11am-5pm Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. Sometimes school visits are on other days by arrangement. It is run entirely by volunteers.

If you are in the area it is well worth seeing. Our grandchildren love it and ALWAYS want to go back, so this year we bought a season ticket. Every month my wife and I do a volunteer duty.

Heath-Robinson illustrations

My wife has a book that is 97 years old (a book of Hans Andersen's fairy tales dated 1917) and we just realised the plates are by Heath-Robinson.

I suspect the plates are worth as much as the book.  My wife took it off the bookshelf to read, thinking she might read them to the grandchildren.

The book was a gift from her Uncle Ernest to her mum when she was a little girl in the last years of WW1. The book binding is tatty now, but the fairy tales don't age. I hope the grandchildren enjoy it too. It will be owned by one of them soon.

Brother's visit

Tomorrow, my brother and his wife are driving up from Devon to stay a few days. They are good company and it is always good to have them come to stay.

It gives my wife a chance to have a glass of wine with company. I have not been allowed alcohol of any kind since my stroke last September. Can't say I've missed it. but I wish I was fully fit again.

UK weather

Today has been an odd day weather-wise. This morning we had thunder storms and torrential rain, whereas now we have bright, June evening sunshine, the sort of evening that makes you glad to be alive. I am about to go for my evening walk "around the block" about 400m. I do this twice a day to help my stroke recovery.

This afternoon I also managed to go to/from the Post Office and Chemist. which is further. In days gone by these walks would have been trivial. Not at present!

I have some new medicines for my sickness but it is too early to tell if this is more effective.