Visit to Ann Perkins

With Ann Perkins in her lovely garden (Lis took photo)

This afternoon, without my stick, but holding on to Lis, I managed to walk all the way from our house to Ann Perkins' house in North Street. The full return journey must be at least 3km, maybe more. Although wobbly, I made it there and back. It was a nice afternoon out.

Virgin Media

Broadband speed is good, TV recording is good with Tivo, phones are OK anytime. I just want it CHEAPER. Will ring them later to renegotiate our deal. I may be possible to save money and have a smart phone.

I have written 2 emails and neither has been answered (it would have been nice and polite but that is not their style) yet I get bombarded with offers and special customer deals most weeks by post. You have to love them. Actually there is little choice.

Iraq, Pakistan, India, Nigeria and Kenya

It looks like chaos is breaking out  in the Middle East, Near East and Africa. Fundamentalists are keen to take their revenge. Sadly, these standpoints usually stem from earlier grievances and sadly Western Government decisions are often part of these. This is no excuse for acts of terrorism, but long-term grievances often stretch back many hundreds of years.

Think, for example of N.Ireland where today's children are still sectarianised because of events that go back many many generations.  The only real answer is if deep trust is rebuilt and this takes generations. War and civil wars and acts of terror are not the answer. In the end, everyone has to be treated with total fairness.

Cause and effects

My doctor has been trying all sorts of pills and medicines to try to cure my stomach discomfort and bad breath, all so far without success. This is following my stroke. The bad breath has been an issue only since leaving hospital. Changes since then are more foods by mouth, now nil food by Peg, but I don't believe this is the cause.

I can't help thinking he is trying to fix the effect rather than the cause. Last week I emailed my doctor and my hospital dietician with a possible cause, found on the internet (bacterial infection in gut). We'll see if they read and agree. My stomach discomfort and bad breath are getting me down. This and my giddiness are the main remaining issues I have.

D-Day landings

Just watching a TV programme about the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach. I did not realise the troops had to climb 150 foot cliffs under fire first! The chances of it all going badly wrong were very high. These men must have been incredibly brave. It is not until now did I realise just how brave these people were on my behalf.

 I pray we never have to sacrifice young lives ever again in such a way.

Chppenham Park - Cambridgeshire

Chippenham Park Gardens, Cambridgeshire, today

This Sunday, the gardens were open at Chippenham Park so we visited them to see the flowers. Unlike NT properties (we have subscriptions so visits are "free") we had to pay to pay to get in but, this once, it was worth it. Some of the beds are wonderful. It was good for me to do more walking as well.

Blog readers

Today this blog has been read (already and there are 3 hours still to go) by more people than on any day in the last week. I have no idea why this should be so.

UPDATE 2200z:   133 reads of this Miscellaneous Musings blog today so far.  My amateur radio blog gets about 1000 visits a day regularly and has a dedicated bunch of 115 subscribers.