Feeling Good that Spring is Here

March 28th

Red Lane Ainsworth 

A cottage wall garden

Hello again, I cannot believe another month has whizzed  by again so fast and we have not seen any snow and Spring has certainly arrived …its lambing season already. I took a walk today and captured a few spring flowers growing by the side of the road.

Thinking about my brother today its his birthday and he is going through a very tough time, his wife is seriously ill in hospital and needs your prayers. I feel so helpless living so far away from them but what gives me strength is knowing they are well supported by good friends and neighbours.

Shortage of Fence Panels

Finally found some fence panels for sale, ordered 4 pm Monday they arrived 2 pm Tuesday, most impressed with the price too.  An uneventful couple of week except for the brilliant blue skies and sunshine we are having  alternating with usual cold wet windy days, its crazy weather..
I enjoyed pegging out my washing in the sunshine this week, it really felt good, the clothes smell so fresh and are soon dry. I can see the garden is slowly waking up, Spring has arrived, there are  lots of buds on the trees and  the pussy willow soon will be out, then comes the task of clearing the garden and paths of its fluffy droppings .  The Camellia, Forsythia and Hydrangeas are looking good and lots of daffodils are in full bloom although they are somewhat wind blown,stayed out on the garden for a while and pottered about.

Finally got around to booking a  holiday my friend Dorothy and I will be joining another PTG Rail and Culture Tour around the region of Catalonia Northern Spain and going into Southern France. Our last holiday with them was through Southern France and the Catalan Region of Spain so its almost a continuation of our last holiday.  Really looking forward to getting away to some constant sunshine.

Go see PTG Tours

Went along to another Web Master Class at Lancashire Federation Headquarters this month and  this time it was less confusing and I managed to get my web page finished. There are 2,58000 members of the National Federation of  Women’s Institute comprising of 69  Federation in England, Lancashire is one of the largest with 156  WI’s under its authority. It is a huge task placing every individual WI website onto the National site, but it is happening……

The National Federation of Womens Institute

Attended  the NHS Retirement Group this month to hear a retired Probation Officer talk about his job in the 1960. He was  very interesting to listen to and it was very evident that society in the 1960s was not as complicated as life is today and the probation service in the 60s dealt with many social problems as well as crime.
At the ladies group this week we heard from  a BBC Journalist Kevin Fitzpatrick who was very entertaining, he should have been a comedian as he kept us in stitches all evening.

Finally got round to having my hair cut and coloured.   I toy with the idea of letting it grow about once a year,  then one day I look into the mirror and say no that isn’t me .!  So  I am back, happy to be looking myself again.

I had a wonderful surprise my youngest son bought me a slide converter for Mothers day. I have talked about converting our vast collection of colour slides into JPG format and burning them on to a DVD for ages and its proving to be so simple …. Brilliant.  Thanks Stu I love it..

Time to sign off,  goodbye for now my friends.

The March Wind doth Blow

                                                                 

                                                                                                                        

Go see

                                                                     
“It’s not the years in your life that counts .
It’s the life in your years.”

I don’t know who penned this but I like it. Having just celebrated a phenomenal birthday on
St. Valentines Day ...  Yes I had a wonderful birthday, busy  as usual,two birthday lunches
and a family dinner that my youngest son prepared, he is a brilliant  cook !
I really do appreciate all  my family and friends, they are my anchors in a sometimes stormy sea.

 The stormy weather has since abated but last week I lost three fence panels during a hurricane (108 miles per hour)  it was an horrendous storm and because of the demand for new fencing through the UK the stores are completely out  but I will try again soon..   Also my garage door was banging about, it was terrible  so I padded it with cloth, filled all the gaps to stop it  twisting about and it worked. Lots of properties where damaged with trees falling into the road and onto homes lots of electricity pylons came down again and it was the south  of England that suffered the most with coastal landslides, homes washed into the sea and more flooding.. 

But now we have enjoyed  blue skies and  sunshine these past few days, a welcome change from  grey skies wind and rain. Because of the good weather I drove up to Harrogate to see my family. I took the Motorway to avoid potential hazards on the way through the  Yorkshire Dales. It is a wonderful drive whatever the season but prone to flooding over the past few years.  I was once caught up in the flooded fields just outside Skipton in a brand new car, water up to my ankles but she sailed right through, the water was so clean there was no evidence of the incident I was so lucky.

Attended the Hypnotherapy Talk at the Ladies Circle and realised that for 20years I had been using the same technique the therapist used on his clients to relax my expectant mothers, prior to and during Childbirth.  He really put a spoke in the Stage Hypnotists  Act,when he explained how they worked to fool the audience. ???  
Speakers Club this month was book readings, we where asked to bring a book and read aloud for 3minutes followed by another 3minute read from someone else‘s  book. It was entertaining listening to the varied  selections and was a good exercise.  I chose Stephen Fry’s   “The Ode Less Travelled”  It’s an idiots guide to writing poetry. Simply because I feel some  do not appreciate Poetry as much as I do and it was well received. Then I read an excerpt from  “Nella Last’s War”  -   WW2  Housewife’s War Diaries. My other contribution was a few words from Winnie the Pooh. We also had a social event  later in the month a Beetle Drive and supper,  that was good fun.

Our annual Women’s Institute’s visit to the University Catering Department for a  Silver Service Lunch didn’t disappoint , the student waiters where excellent, it was a meal to remember  and for such a small price..    It was very difficult to chose as there where three choices all very enticing.
My starter was chicken and black pudding stack, it was delicious.
 I love blood puddings ! They are a Lancashire delicacy.
 For my Main course I chose Calves Liver + gravy , peppers, peas & onions, duchesse potatoes and  mash.  Very tasty.    Dessert was phenomenal a Chocolate cup cake filled with chocolate cream (very light) covered with cherry sauce and accompanied with white chocolate ice cream, I savoured every mouth full it was delicious….  followed by coffee, the best meal yet.

Went to see the War Horse Thursday evening at the cinema, it was a live feed from the National Theatre in London .  The  puppetry was incredible you soon got used to not  seeing the puppet masters that where inside the shell of the horse . It was a magnificent production very different,  a huge emotional story I loved it…..

"So goodbye again, I am sorry to be leaving you, goodbye again as if you didn't know its goodbye again"    John Denver         



       National Theatre Stage Play : The War Horse
     

Rain Rain, Go Away Come Again Another Day

British Coastline 2014                 Daily Telegraph

                                                      
February 6th
Hi everyone

 For those of you overseas, sadly I have no good news today as England is in crisis, the countryside is saturated, the floods are increasing daily. People are evacuating their homes, power supplies are unstable  and  now the main rail track along the coast into the south west of England  has been destroyed as our coastline is being eroded by the huge waves and high tides that buffet our land. Here in the Northwest we are fortunate to be fairly safe from these unprecedented  disasters but its still harrowing to know that Britain is under siege from this vile  weather that has created this crisis.  The USA has suffered too and is still experiencing extreme cold weather and  its blown over the Atlantic to plague us.

But life has to go and its true, we can take the rough with the smooth and carry on regardless, I just pray it ends soon….

One sign of change is that the bulbs are pushing up into the light and  hurrah, daylight is lasting longer so Spring is on its way. I  haven’t seen any snow yet, just freezing 90mile an hour gales, hailstones and sleet but in the higher parts of Bolton they have had a  few hours of snow, but it quickly cleared. From my  own aspect  I want it to snow, I love it, the soft fluffy deep snow is part of our winter scene and the quietness that descends on the town, clear bright daylight and cold crisp fresh air, and the bonus is that it wipes out unwanted bacteria and germs that thrive in the moist warmth of summer…..and overheated homes...... no one seems to open their windows these days.

I went to the Movies  to escape another wet miserable day, to see 12 Years A Slave, an excellent film. Based on a book by the slave himself written  in the 1800  presenting a different aspect of slavery than what we have learned in the past. There are always people ready to exploit often the most vulnerable in today’s society.   The Cockle Pickers of Morecambe Bay are just one example. It’s a sad reflection on all we believe in.

Morecambe Bay Cockle Pickers Disaster

Trailer 12 Years A Slave

One uplifting moment last month was my granddaughters graduation in Perth Western Australia. She is now a qualified primary school teacher, its been a long hard journey for her, I feel so proud and happy that she is happy. I am also as proud of my daughter who as a single mother has excelled in all she undertakes. Brilliant outcome,love them to bits.

We had a  dry day last week,  so I hit the Sales.   February !  there wasn’t much left but boy did I get some bargains. It was well worth the trip to town and I treated myself to lunch. I don’t shop as much as I used to do, hate window shopping I have to have a list and I am usually in and out quick, but boredom and lethargy was killing me so I made the effort and enjoyed the day.

My friend Betty encouraged me to go along to Bolton Ladies Group who meet up alternate Monday evenings at a local hotel.  The Speaker  on “ Victorian England” was very good and the company warm and friendly, I was surprised that there where so many there  whom I knew, so I decided to join the group. Looking forward to the next meeting, there is to be a speaker on "Hypnotherapy"!!

I think I am slowly coming out of my Winter Blues, its been miserable trapped in-doors all day, because of the horrid weather.   I took a  lovely walk a few days ago and it really cheered me up. So that’s a Resolution, to get out and about when its fit to do so, I spent far too long indoors when I was ill,  and it took a great effort for me to get my  fitness back, so there is much to do.
Byee for now dear friends.

        
  


   

Welcoming in 2014

13th January

Hi
Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you had a Christmas as wonderful as mine was.But I have been so busy since New Year that I couldn't say just what I have been doing its been rather hectic,
and here we are already two weeks into 2014. One thing I have been doing is re-organising the office it was  chaos in there.  For me January is always somewhat demanding with the usual annual payments for this and that and they all have risen in price. I think every aspect of owning a house is covered by insurance these days they don’t half frighten you with horrid stores of  “what if.” I like to keep household accounts so I am in control from the start of the year. Last year panned out well, so I am hoping this year will be the same. 

Thought I might have to buy a new Desktop Computer this month  as this one being rather elderly as PC go, it runs Windows Vista, was being rather temperamental and refusing to obey me and we cannot have that . Anyway after a few taps here and there, plugs out and in  and a few strong words, it is performing perfectly, fingers crossed as I am so reluctant to upgrade to Windows 8 as  it’s  creating such stress amongst my friends that  for the moment I just don’t want to know until they have sorted  all the kinks out out of the system.

New Year was quiet, finished some reading and writing and catching up on things that had been shelved until after Christmas.  My tree and  all decorations all safe and sound up in the loft. Almost a spring clean too, as  housework has been on hold for ages with  all the extra work and my gallivanting about over Christmas. I always say this  and I am sure some of you do to, “I am so glad to be back to  my  normal routine…..

Our weather has been terrible, very stormy with major flooding and loss of power through out England. The North West is not prone to floods it’s the coastal areas and  major river systems that cause the floods but now the ground is so saturated with the very heavy rain fall its hopeless, many  more  areas are being affected.  I feel for everyone who have been driven out of there homes and been without power for a long time, travellers stuck in far flung places separated from family and friends over the holidays.

I haven’t been out much but went to the first W.I. meeting of 2014 it was a “ Beetle Drive” and  such a fun time mixing and meeting new and old friends, a good start to the New Year..  Speakers Club started also with “Call My Bluff” another fun night to get the New Year off to a great start.

On the 18th January I am very proud to announce that my eldest grandchild  graduated from Edith Cohen University in Australia, she is now a qualified primary school teacher. I am equally proud of all my three children  who also have professional occupations supporting their communities.... I cannot go without a word of praise for my other grandchildren who bring so much  joy, love and pride into my life. 

Children are our joy,a gift to the world,
They are our future.
Our life's work that will perpetuate and run through eternity.
An ongoing gift to you and I of love and sharing,
Because that is what life is all about.
 
VCook 2008

Rather a sad start to the year was the death of a close friend and colleague. The church was filled to capacity, many retired and working midwives where present, it was good to catch up but equally as sorrowful to be saying goodbye to a dear friend. 

 I hope you are all ready for the challenges  of 2014 I think I am but time will tell.... I haven’t made any resolutions this year as I rarely keep them, so decided not to bother.

 Now here is a real treat for you, the latest album release of  one of  my favourite singer/ songwriters Sting    “The Last Ship”  The songs are related to his beloved Newcastle and the ship yards that are no more.   I am listening to this album a great deal it’s so good.

 Inviting you to listen to all the songs on the Album

The Last Ship

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Dear Friends

I think I am sorted for Christmas now, but no doubt there will be a last minute panic, something I have forgotten.The weather is awful, fierce winds and heavy rain which is no fun when trawling around the super heated shops in wet clothing.  As usual at this time of year  there are so many events,meals and visits, that I come home absolutely bushed,but the beauty is I can have a nap and recover at my leisure. Its been wonderful to see so many of my friends and it's been really easy to make new ones. I attended four Christmas Lunches over five days, that was a marathon, I thought I would never face another turkey dinner again,but no doubt I will.  Enjoyed the Speakers Party and our WI Dinner which was rather more formal than lunch. This Christmas I am staying over with friends, we all live on our own so it seemed a good idea and my boys don't mind..

 

Victoria Hall Bolton

Last Saturday I went with Betty and Lucy to hear Wingates Brass Band with The Houghton Weavers at the Victoria Hall,an

iconic Methodist Building in the centre of Town. I loved it, it was one of those concerts that was very interactive warm and friendly,there was lots of singing so I was quite hoarse the day after. 

Houghtonweavers Website

Wingatesband Website

Went to see Philomena a very sad movie but well written with a great cast. Steven Coogan and Judy Dench were brilliant, sadness and humour well balanced through out the movie,I really enjoyed it.

Philomena Movie

This week British Gas, during their annual service on my central heating boiler fitted a special box !! that can send information to their computers to record and monitor my boiler's performance and hopefully prevent problems arising, and it's all done via WI-FI, what will they think of next. I am very happy because last winter it broke down twice, once when I was away in Australia and thankfully  my son could boiler sit for a day until they came to fix it..

Even though the weather has been wild  it has been very mild, I still have blossoms on bushes and I have heard there are still apples on trees and raspberries thriving in the south of England, just watch out by February it will be freezing.

 So I am  very happy my central heating boiler now has a nursemaid. 

It was a very special day this Saturday my youngest son and grandson paid me a visit, it was lovely to see them. For one reason or another this year I haven't been to see them in Harrogate as often as I would like to but  I will get my act together next year and in winter take the train. Driving home over the Yorkshire Dales when there is no moon and pitch  black is a problem. 

 

Have a wonderful Christmas and may great fortune follow you throughout the 2014.

Val X

Autumn Colours

Stitch- Me- Lane Harwood Bolton

27^th October

Well the clocks have gone back an hour and its dark by 4pm, those who suffer from  Seasonal Affected Disorder S.A.D because of this lack of daylight  become deeply depressed, others like me just feel fed up at times when the nights last so long.                Australia stopped this practise years ago all our Government do is talk about stopping it! The sale of daylight lamps and bulbs I understand are very affective but expensive, I just might get one .....

Within a week of my renewal application, my passport arrived safe and sound as I paid extra for courier service. Recently our Royal Mail  was sold on to investors.......   over the past few years it has been somewhat chaotic at times and unreliable lets hope it improves. 

Been a busy bee making my Christmas Cards this month,its just something I enjoy doing,it keeps me out of trouble !   This year the  last day for surface mail overseas was the 10^th October for them to arrive in time for Christmas so says the Post Office, but magically every year they arrive at their destinations with two weeks. I did test the ones for Australia by posting late and  they too arrived within the two weeks.?? So next year I won't be as rushed, they can go a few days late.  Surface mail is really economical and every little helps these days,sending them via airmail adds a significant increases to the cost of Christmas. .

At the beginning of November my friend Betty and I enjoyed an evening of Performance Poetry at the Central Library hosted jointly with the University of Bolton. Two award winning poets where Kim Moore from Cumbria and Mike Garry who often performs on the BBC. They where excellent, I was most impressed and came away with a few ideas to try next time I am asked to read.

Later that week I attended the funeral of a very brave lady, someone I have admired for her patience and support of many of our ladies in the WI. She had suffered far too long with cancer and thankfully slipped away peacefully. I went along with many of our members  and we sang the W.I. anthem Jerusalem, at the end of the service many left  in tears. 

I had a very interesting day at  Lancashire Federation Headquarters of the Women's Institute  learning to set up a Website and be the Webmaster for our Branch. It will be linked to the National WI Website and at the moment its so complicated its giving me a  headache.......but no doubt it will soon start to make sense, I hope.

November 18th  is my grandson's eleventh birthday, I am looking forward to seeing him this afternoon. I do hope he likes my present,its always difficult finding a gift as he is a boy who has everything. I usually sweeten it with some money because that always puts a smile on his face. 
Finally treated myself to a new mobile this month,a Samsung Galaxy Smart Phone it is something else to master but brilliant, I love it. I can access the internet and do so many  new things plus the camera is great. My Nokia was so slow  and heavy, reliable but not as pretty  and versatile as my Smart Phone.
Visited for the afternoon with my friend Dorothy whose husband Bill recently passed away, our friendship goes back many years, we worked together and Bill was an Ambulance driver, we had many  happy times on holiday with them,he will be missed.
 

 

Remember remember the 5th of November

gunpowder treason and plot

Guy Fawkes

Bonfire Night was quiet for once not many local  bonfires as there is not much to burn these days since the council started recycling  refuse. Fireworks are always a problem in the wrong hands so there is a huge  fireworks display on the local park every year on the 5th.   I had planned to go with friends over to Bentham in the Yorkshire Dales, to an organised Bonfire and Firework Display but the weather was terrible, high winds and rain, I felt sure it would be cancelled so I stayed home. But it wasn't cancelled so they took a risk and had a splendid evening in spite of the rain.

I am  gearing up for Christmas, not quite sure where I will be as I have a few invitations to consider. Already had two Christmas meals and five more to go.!!

Quote  by Samuel Butler

If we attend to the little that we can do,we shall in time be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do. 
 I like that ….........

Byeeeee

Love you

The Passing of Summer

Manchester Town Hall Entrance

Scene from an Inner courtyard

Wonderful  Gothic Architecture

Stained glass windows on the main staircase

 

30^th October 2013

September was a weird mixture of hot and really cold days. We are now told that the polar  ice-cap is not melting but regenerating how confusing is that, it seems that Global Warming continues to be a rather controversial topic.

The trees are just starting to change colour, I love the autumn it has so much texture and colour and the sun low in the heavens compliments this change.    My apple trees have once again provided much work,picking, peeling, blanching and freezing buckets full of apples I can do it with my eyes shut. It is a chore but well worth the effort when I can enjoy and share my apple pies all year round with family and friends.

Met up with members of Bolton Speaking Club for our Pre-Season Dinner, we broke for the summer in April and here we are back on track eager to start again.  I have been busy preparing for this Monday's meeting when I will be Topics Chairman for the evening having the responsibility to provide varied topics for our members to respond to with a three minute impromptu speech.

It will be National Poetry Day on the 3^rd October when the Libraries around Bolton display original poems by local Poets. This year the theme was 'Water', so my poem is about rain.

The Cloudburst


Dark clouds gather, the sky heralds rain.
Rumbling distant thunder is a warning.
Soon the heavy droplets fall,
As people flee as if in imminent danger
From the deafening drumming of the deluge,
Within minutes on car roof and pavement.
  Torrential rain, thunderclouds and lightening
Fill the darkened sky.

Torrents roar down the streets, 
Flash floods fill doorways, alleys and courtyards.
Bins topple over, their contents sail away
Into full flowing gutters
Gridlocked, with the volume of debris.
 Washed away to be deposited who knows where.
Traffic slows, stalls then stops, highways block,
Everyone watches and waits.

An eerie silence descends
As the sun breaks through the darkness.
Car engines fire up, brakes checked
They hesitantly moved forward in convoy.
People hiding appear from nowhere
To hurry home, wet to the core.
The town washed clean,
Comes back to life, to carry on as before.

Val Cook 2010

Went along to the Cinema to see Helen Mirran in “The Audience”. It's becoming popular to have live feeds from London Theatres and Events, of Plays, Opera, Ballet and Concerts. Helen portrayed the Queen in audience with many of her Prime Ministers during their four year term of office. They met at the Palace for one hour on the same day every week to discuss Parliamentary topics. It was far from boring,was amusing and entertaining in fact the the time flew by and you really felt you where in a theatre watching a stage play, rather a unique experience..

The Audience

Sunday I travelled with my friend Betty into Manchester on the train. Unfortunately there was a Football Match between rivals Manchester City & Manchester United, so the train was packed. We had booked a tour of Manchester Town Hall, a uniqueNeo-Gothic Victorian building,designed by Architect Afred Waterhouse built in 1868-1877. The interior is amazing often used as backdrop to many period films such as Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter. It was quite demanding as there where many steps to negotiate,the highlight of the tour was the great hall that had paintings on the plaster around the walls,by Ford Madox Brown of the Pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood,fantastic....
I love P.R.B. paintings.   Throughout the building, ceilings,walls and staircases are
unbelievable, colourfully tiled and sculptured with huge stained glass windows, no expense spared....I was enthralled. 

Manchester Townhall   

I have been renewing my Passport, the documentation was immense, reading through all the instructions gave me a headache. They requested two very specific passport photos which had to be verified because the one in my old passport looked nothing like me, as I am now. I am getting too long in the tooth to be filling in long complexed government documents like these. Anyway its in the post now, I hope its accepted and my new passport is on its way.

  Three of Ford Madox Brown's Paintings in Manchester Town Hall

Arrival of the Flemish Weavers to Manchester in AD 1383

John Kay inventor of the Flying Shuttle in Manchester AD 1733 

Jon Kay is being Wrapped in a sheet to be spirited away as angry mob

storm workshop

Bradshaws Defence of Manchester in AD 1679