It's Easter Sunday and we've gotten off our backsides to rectify some rather uncharacteristic behaviour that has shadowed us thus far into 2010...
...we are having our first BBQ of the year!
Yes it's true. What with...well...weather (no raindances please) and the busyness of life in general, we have not ventured into our small patch of 'great outdoors' to fan the flames of BBQ bliss this year. But we are rectifying that oversight this afternoon and J's already out there fanning said flames in anticipation of our guests' arrival. We have mountains of meat and the obligatory salad-y accompanients and I believe there is even a small trifle for dessert.
So there you have it. The sun is shining and the bbq is smoking...but enough of this gas-bagging. I'm must be off peeps...I'm already 1 G&T behind!
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Friday, 2 April 2010
Wishful thinking...
Well here we are...it's April, it's Easter, we're on British Summer Time......and I have no daffodils...
Such a disappointment after I got 6 gorgeous sunshine-y blooms last year and after only 2 the year prior, I thought things were heading in a more prolific direction...
So J bought me some home the other night to console me...
But part of me still wishes that I grew some of my own.
Sigh....
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Leading By Example...
As the General Election looms closer and closer here in the UK, there has been a lot of talk about the impact (or not) of the 'third' political party, the Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) and whether a vote for this party is a wasted vote.
I live in an area where Labour have no chance of winning the seat so the choice is the incumbent Lib Dem, Susan Kramer or the Tory candidate, Zac Goldsmith. I am a Lib Dems supporter and while the dust-up over Richmond Park Car Parking Charges really got on my nerves, I think we have good representation from someone who is committed to making a difference for her constituents.
That aside however, I have found it fascinating to see the strategies employed by the Tories to win this seat, namely 'you need to vote Conservative to oust Labour nationally' and 'this seat is important in the fight for change' which kind of implies that a Lib Dem vote is a 'wasted' vote.
I don't think that any vote is a wasted vote. We are fortunate enough to live in a democratic society, giving us the right to be heard, freedom of speech and the opportunity to choose. Voting is not compulsory in the UK as it is in other countries like Australia and I think anyone who gets to a polling station to cast their vote in the face of the current political apathy is to be commended. But I also think that we make the bed we lie in - if we are 'tactical' rather than truthful in our vote, how does our message get heard? And how do we build the case for new causes and new ideas to become viable options if we won't throw our proverbial 'hat' in the ring when we are given the opportunity?
Many people around the world do not have this opportunity to have their say...shouldn't we be teaching the next generation that they can make a difference rather than let them slide into apathy and disinterest? And isn't the best way to do this by example...by getting out and voting honestly - whatever that personal truth may be for each of us.
I live in an area where Labour have no chance of winning the seat so the choice is the incumbent Lib Dem, Susan Kramer or the Tory candidate, Zac Goldsmith. I am a Lib Dems supporter and while the dust-up over Richmond Park Car Parking Charges really got on my nerves, I think we have good representation from someone who is committed to making a difference for her constituents.
That aside however, I have found it fascinating to see the strategies employed by the Tories to win this seat, namely 'you need to vote Conservative to oust Labour nationally' and 'this seat is important in the fight for change' which kind of implies that a Lib Dem vote is a 'wasted' vote.
I don't think that any vote is a wasted vote. We are fortunate enough to live in a democratic society, giving us the right to be heard, freedom of speech and the opportunity to choose. Voting is not compulsory in the UK as it is in other countries like Australia and I think anyone who gets to a polling station to cast their vote in the face of the current political apathy is to be commended. But I also think that we make the bed we lie in - if we are 'tactical' rather than truthful in our vote, how does our message get heard? And how do we build the case for new causes and new ideas to become viable options if we won't throw our proverbial 'hat' in the ring when we are given the opportunity?
Many people around the world do not have this opportunity to have their say...shouldn't we be teaching the next generation that they can make a difference rather than let them slide into apathy and disinterest? And isn't the best way to do this by example...by getting out and voting honestly - whatever that personal truth may be for each of us.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
A Good Sort...
What is it about a glimmer of Spring-like weather that makes us want to sort...and not just have a little clean out but to sort obsessively, without forethought or preparation.
Spring is start to...well spring here in the UK and I have found myself in the midst of a sorting frenzy. Everywhere I look there seems to be something to sort - shoes, clothes, books, papers, recipes, filing, kitchen cupboards, plants, projects - and I can be meandering through the day completely on schedule only to be subsumed into an 'I've had enough/I need to sort this now' fugue from which I emerge with a flush of virtuous 'sorted' satisfaction...only to be followed by an 'oops that took longer than I thought and now I really need to crack on and do the things I was actually planning to do' feeling of slightly, mild-ish panic.
Does this actually happen to anyone else (apart from me & J...he's a sorter too but not a thrower-outer...which explains why we still live next door to each other!)
Do you think that there is a completely rational, scientific explanation for this seasonal bout of obsessiveness? Or am I just Monica-Geller bonkers?
Maybe an intervention is in order....
Spring is start to...well spring here in the UK and I have found myself in the midst of a sorting frenzy. Everywhere I look there seems to be something to sort - shoes, clothes, books, papers, recipes, filing, kitchen cupboards, plants, projects - and I can be meandering through the day completely on schedule only to be subsumed into an 'I've had enough/I need to sort this now' fugue from which I emerge with a flush of virtuous 'sorted' satisfaction...only to be followed by an 'oops that took longer than I thought and now I really need to crack on and do the things I was actually planning to do' feeling of slightly, mild-ish panic.
Does this actually happen to anyone else (apart from me & J...he's a sorter too but not a thrower-outer...which explains why we still live next door to each other!)
Do you think that there is a completely rational, scientific explanation for this seasonal bout of obsessiveness? Or am I just Monica-Geller bonkers?
Maybe an intervention is in order....
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