Fivers by Post

After a rather prolonged Lenten sabbatical from all things twitter/facebook/blog I thought I'd better try and get my hand in again with a post or two. I had been finding inspiration hard to come by, but then by chance my Mum came to the rescue with another of her eccentric plans. She's quite remarkable and keeps us amused often with various projects and schemes totally without realising how much entertainment it gives both family and friends. A couple of weeks back we were all together for a few drinks and a spot of tea to celebrate her birthday, the conversation meandered round as it does in most families after a couple of glasses of wine, you know the kind of thing "...did you ever get a reply from that message in a bottle you threw in the sea beside the Esplanade in 1958?" or "...why did great aunt Agnes run off with that brush salesman and leave a husband and five children?" For some reason on this particular evening Mum asked "I wonder if I put a stamp and address on a bank note and posted it, if it would reach it's destination?" Our Dad's retort was unsurprisingly something like "don't be so bloody stupid woman, of course it won't, some bugger will nick it straight away, I tell you what, I'll set fire to the money now if you like and save you the stamp!" which of course was throwing down the gauntlet so to speak. If there's something Mum can't resist it is a challenge, so she decided to send each of her grand children a fiver through the post in a clear plastic envelope with just a stamp and address.



Well, the bank notes were posted and all arrived safe and sound at their destinations. So it would seem good old fasioned honesty is alive and well and mum has been vindicated in her hare brained experiment, plus each of her grandchildren got a drink out of it too.

In Praise of 'Dymo' Tape

Would you believe it, human interface design at the Artcafé ?!. An interesting and pithy piece on theartist's brother & sister in law's blog 'You May Also Like' Who'd would have thought that 'Dymo' tape could be so fascinating?

NHS ~ Failing to Treat Elderly with Care & Respect

John Allerton 1927 ~ 2009

For nearly two years I have been trying to pretend that the things that happened to my dad when he died were a tragic one-off but now I realise the sad truth. I can barely stand to hear the terrible things in the news about neglect of the elderly in hospitals, the removal of all their dignity and total disregard for their human rights.

My father died in hospital. He had dementia which had advanced very quickly and after a short time in a care home was admitted to hospital after a fall, just a fall. Within the first few days he had another fall but it was not noticed that he had broken his shoulder. When it was noticed, he was bandaged with a pillowcase because they "didn't have the right dressing".

There followed a catalogue of neglect bordering on abuse and he wasn't the only patient I saw left to their own devices, without drinks, without help eating, without any caring attention. My dad was nil by mouth and so slowly, over a month starved to death.
We made an official complaint to the hospital and were fobbed off with excuses which we accepted because at that time it was too painful to pursue it. I wish now that we had been stronger, louder and more determined.

My father was in the Royal Navy during the 2nd World War, so he survived Hitler. He had T.B. and diabetes which he survived. He survived the death of my mother from lung cancer, only to die scared, confused and neglected.

Sorry Daddy x

The Search For A Diabetic Cake

Has anyone out there got any fabulous cake recipes for diabetics?

Having cracked (albeit with just one cake) the gluten free barrier, I am now on the hunt for a diabetic cake that is good enough that non diabetics will like it too. I have found that often the recipes for diabetics are a sort of last ditch attempt to pretend that you are allowed cake.

My dad pretended for years that Orange Fruit Teabread was ok for him because he liked it, but for the diabetically challenged it was disastrous. I would like to find a cake that leaves diabetics feeling spoilt & lucky, not disappointed. I've tried two types of apple cake but as my guinea pig Mrs. Borrie will tell you, they were horrible. What's needed is a 'sneaky cake' that looks, feels and tastes fantastic but is, almost accidentally, good for us all.

The Coldest Night, The Energy Gap, Then We Zoomed To Norwich!

TBTE 08/01/10 or more accurately 'the road to the beach this evening'!

We took advantage during this current icy blast, of a break in the snow this afternoon to get artistandtartist jnr. back to university, so the three of us got in the car and zoomed up to Norwich. I was very apprehensive and almost didn't go as driving conditions have been lately described as 'treacherous' on the news, fortunately the snow didn't start again until we were almost home. We talked for the whole journey about loads of interesting stuff...not just the driving conditions, although the current weather did seem to be the dominant theme.
Now this raised the thorny issue of the current fragility of our energy supply, it seems that we really are down to the wire when it comes to our supply of energy, and this situation has simply been waiting in the wings until we experience a prolonged 'cold snap'. Now if we add to the equation all the new build housing thats been springing up were really heaping on the pressure to an energy supply that's already frankly at full stretch. The really big dilemma for us in the U.K. at the moment seems to me to be how to bridge the gap that will inevitably widen between getting our renewable sources of energy on stream and when our own fossil fuel resources run out (about 15 years I think is a reasonable estimate). And thus reduce our reliance on buying in large amounts of our energy from other nations who may whimsically jack the price up...or worse still, turn off the tap completely. At this point in time (several people on Mersea will hate me for saying this) nuclear generators seem to be looking a more attractive solution than they did twenty years back. I'd much prefer that there were a more user friendly alternative, but I'm not at this point persuaded that renewables will come close to filling our energy gap.
Now all of this kind of dovetails into another thread of our conversation we had today about Transition Culture and its pro's & cons, and I intend to get on my soapbox about this subject soon too, when time will allow.

TBTE 04.10.09 ~ Strood Channel

So already it is October, blimey October again with all of its sunsetty golden splendour and a dew on the grass most mornings. my father has just turned 70, making me very aware of the passage of time...not just for him but for all of us. We had a good old family gathering yesterday with birthday cake and photo albums to help him celebrate. And now the baby of the artistandtartist family has recently left for university, making us all feel a bit older and reaching another milestone for us as a family.