Tag Archives: UK

Family and a Funeral

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In my last post I mentioned we were hosting my half-sister Pat’s dog, Bessie, a small black Patterdale terrier. Pat’s husband, David, had been waiting for surgery and did not want the dog around in the run up to it, or in the recovery period. Bessie was with their daughter, Kate, but needed interim lodging. We collected her at the end of December. The trip was also a chance to see family.

Sadly, David died on New Year’s Eve 2023. Arranging funerals and cremations can be a lengthy process, the facilities are busy in January. The date was set for 1st February in their hometown of Cranbrook. The Norwich contingent was Ailsa, Douglas, Rowan, and me. As Rowan and Douglas could only get one day off work, we had to make a day trip.

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A Very Chilly Spell

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We are well into the New Year and have had an unexpected guest for the past few weeks. This is because of my complicated family. My father (born in 1899 and died in 1989) married his first wife, the daughter of his landlord in London, while he was training as an architect. His first daughter, Patricia, was born in 1931 in Bulawayo. Although he and her mother divorced, he remained involved in her life. He was instrumental in getting her a job in Kenya in social work in the 1950s.

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The Score: Durban 27°, Norwich 5°

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It was something of a shock to travel from Durban to Norwich in early December 2023. Firstly, the difference in temperature was considerable; secondly, although there was a fair amount of rain in Durban, there was also sunshine. For the first week in Norwich, we had virtually no sun, just unremitting grey days; and thirdly and finally, I had been away for a long time, nearly six months. Regular readers of the blog know the reasons for my extended stay, and I won’t go into them again.

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It is Chilly in Durban

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When I last posted, over a month ago, I speculated about the prospects for a drought in the south of the UK. Although I have now been in South Africa for three, I am assured that there has been ample rain in Norwich, indeed some very heavy showers with ‘localised flooding’. Sadly, this is symptomatic of global climate change. By contrast, the nights in Durban have been extremely chilly, to the point that I have had all the blankets in the flat on the bed and am wearing my fleece.

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Is a Drought Beginning in England?

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June was a dry month, and the garden, which is still verdant, lush, and green, will start showing heat stress unless we have rain in the next week. I find it unbelievable that there are those who still deny the reality of climate change. I wonder if the importance of ‘lived experience’, pardon the academic jargon here, is underestimated.

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Hearts, Plays and Passports

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The Yiddish proverb, “Der mentsh trakht un got lakht” translates as “Man plans, and God laughs”. A couple of months ago I became aware of an intermittent pain in my left shoulder. On a few occasions it was severe enough to wake me. I decided it was indigestion, and chewed a few Rennie’s tablets. This seemed to do the trick for a while but, towards the end of the month, it was happening more regularly, and the pain extended into my arm and up to my jaw. I probably would have ignored it but I was advised to have it checked out.

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Elections and Coronations in Spring

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There were two Bank Holidays in England at the beginning of May. The ‘Early’ May Bank Holiday fell on 1st May. This, briefly, put the UK in step with much of the world, where May Day, or International Workers Day, is always celebrated on 1st May. But it will only be the case for 2023. One week later Monday the 8th May was gazetted as the public holiday to mark the coronation of Charles and Camilla on Saturday 6th May.

Some of the ideas put forward around the coronation illustrate how tone deaf the Monarchy and their supporters are, although it must be said that the press did their best to make up ‘shock horror’ stories. The first example was the ‘Oath of Allegiance’. This will, as part of the ceremony, be sworn by those present in Westminster Abbey. It was suggested that British citizens watching the coronation could do this (swear the oath), from their sofas to create a “Homage for the People”. The Mirror, a downmarket paper, had a headline: “Religious leaders sparked outrage saying those watching on TV can join the 2,000 in Westminster Abbey”. Lambeth Palace, the source of Church of England press releases, backtracked and said this would be an ‘invitation not an expectation’. I should hope so!

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Spring

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There is no doubt that spring is in full swing! It is welcome after a spell of chilly weather at the end of March. The clocks changed a few weeks ago so we have an extra hour of light in the evening. The daffodils are in full bloom, as are the trees and bushes: hawthorn and magnolia to mention just two. The leaves are rapidly unfurling on most of the trees, the exceptions being the laggard silver birches and walnut. The theme for this month’s post is change, and I am aware of change in more than the garden. Spring comes every year of course, but there are bigger changes.

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Don’t trust anyone with your WhatsApp messages!

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It is important to celebrate small wins. Last Friday a horse drawing a hearse clip-clopped its way down the road past our front window. I only caught a glimpse of it as it went past, however when we went out later there was evidence – horse droppings in the road. When we were children, and my mother was establishing her garden, on what had been virgin veld in Swaziland, collecting cow pats was a regular weekend pursuit. We would pile into the car and drive along the dirt roads around Mbabane. When cow pat was spotted we would hustle out of the car and scoop it into a sack. I channelled my childhood, collected a bucket, went out, and now we have nutrition for at least a few of the roses!

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Aging is a mixed blessing

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At the age of 66 I do not consider myself to be ‘old’. I believe I am not yet at the point where I have to consider Dylan Thomas’s injunction:

‘Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage ‘against the dying of the light.’1

Equally I am pleasantly surprised to find some advantages to age. In the UK, provided a person has made enough contributions to National Insurance, they are guaranteed a state pension. The age at which one can get it has risen and will continue to do so. It is not a huge amount, and no one should have to live on that alone, although there are people who do. This is made possible by pension credits and free health care through our National Health Service. Aged Britons do not have outrage of their Gallic counterparts, where Macron is facing angry ‘wrinklies’.

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