tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154725292009-07-11T07:12:37.203+01:00The diary of an oldie who refuses to go quietlyJudithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.comBlogger364125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-71979368258410639872009-07-04T17:41:00.008+01:002009-07-06T08:46:53.570+01:00

~... they sap my energy, fuddle my wits and make my feet hurt. My policy is to stay indoors, close curtains and shutters, open windows and doors, put on all of my three fans, and drink lots and lots of water. And it goes without saying ..... DO NOTHING!The media don't help with their constant warnings to those who are most at risk: the elderly - ME; those with chronic health problems - ME; those

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-57234889390095998672009-06-18T06:49:00.010+01:002009-06-18T07:16:45.851+01:00

I am trying out three different translators at the moment.No 1, Yahoo's Babelfish, has a drop-down list and seems efficient, but only has 12 languages. This one is available with flags as an alternative.No 2, by Google Translate, has flags and 24 languages, and also seems efficient. And it has the advantage of offering a floater (or whatever they are called) with the original text, to read

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-10149273057176455542009-06-05T08:44:00.008+01:002009-06-05T11:40:26.344+01:00

A year or two ago my lovely son who keeps me and my computer living happily together, did some additional sorting out for me, and transferred my energy and telephone accounts to companies who would charge me less. At the same time I opted for on-line billing, because it seemed a good idea to save some paper, and for paying by direct debit.I don't think this has been altogether a good thing. The

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-39367432589995543902009-06-03T18:11:00.004+01:002009-06-03T19:20:04.011+01:00

~Governor representatives in my Education Authority had a very long-running lobby for improving the clerking arrangements for governing bodies, beginning in 1988 as part of an Education Committee review of the clerking service. They campaigned not only for individual clerks for individual governing bodies, but also for their proper training and support. As so often happens when those fighting

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-71244060406043738912009-06-03T10:00:00.009+01:002009-06-03T18:08:27.905+01:00

~Back in 1991, the secondary school of which I was a governor gave a concert, called 'Music Galore', performed by staff, parents and ex-students. Some talented person adorned the programme with this lively cartoon - it was not, however, captioned in the original.When I got it home the temptation proved too much for me, and I set about identifying each of the characters performing before the

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-81665273019130504462009-05-20T18:55:00.011+01:002009-05-21T08:25:00.215+01:00

~It happens more and more as I get older. I don't know whether it is increasing age or living alone that brings it on, or a combination of both, but I do it all the time at home. It's nice to have the sound of a voice, and sometimes I need to encourage, or possibly discourage myself in what I am doing, or even ask myself what the hell it is I think I am doing!On the whole I try not to do it when

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-20780634202712040062009-05-17T11:46:00.004+01:002009-05-17T12:14:09.307+01:00

~Ten years ago, at one of our Growing Old Disgracefully gatherings, we did a writing workshop. We were asked - or rather challenged - to write a poem to someone we know well, and to liken that person to:a coloura kind of weathera time of day or yeara sounda form of transporta kitchen implementsomething eatablean animala speed We were given about 15 minutes to complete the task. In such

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-50839993958740640292009-05-16T09:11:00.002+01:002009-06-04T12:17:46.792+01:00

.So what other delights came my way during my northerly tour?Firstly ~ daffodils :: drifts and swathes and gusts of daffodils everywhere - hardly a stretch of road without them it seemed, in gardens, in fields and on roadsides. My Australian family were particularly delighted with these. Secondly ~ lambs :: I had not seen any before we left, but they seemed to be in almost every field as we drove

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-874953193073971172009-05-10T08:33:00.019+01:002009-05-19T11:54:01.332+01:00

.We visited two castles in the ten days I was on Deeside, and I almost made it to a third.Balmoral CastleHere you can only go in to the old ballroom, where there is an exhibition, but there are extensive grounds to be visited, including The Queen's kitchen gardens in season, and more exhibitions in the stabling behind the gatehouse, not to mention a substantial cafe and gift shop. The Queen also

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-43920930421182672932009-05-09T15:15:00.009+01:002009-05-19T11:54:01.332+01:00

.On the first day after our arrival we - and that is three grandparents, two and a half couples, five children and a baby - took a picnic to this lovely private estate not far from Aboyne. After eating we set off to walk across the fields to a small chapel just seen in the distance. This is the Chapel of St Lesmo, who lived in 731. The Chapel, which is tiny, was built in 1872 with a thatched roof

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-4708615026360404512009-05-08T09:31:00.001+01:002009-05-22T11:46:36.440+01:00

.Tigh na Geald - or House on the Hill - is a traditional Victorian house overlooking the village green in the centre of Aboyne on Royal Deeside. The front porch is supported by Scots pine trunks roughly trimmed of their branches, a traditional way of building in Scotland I am told, and the inside of the house is richly and solidly finished with doors, window frames, banister rails, and kitchen

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-28546307378973181632009-05-07T18:27:00.009+01:002009-05-19T11:54:01.333+01:00

.We are in Scotland at last. I have only been here twice before. Once in 1963, with three small children, to attend the wedding of a friend; and once in 2002 when our Growing Old Disgracefully Annual Gathering was held in Glasgow University. On neither occasion did I depart from the event I was attending to do any sightseeing. Sadly the day was dull and damp - (don't the Scots call that a 'soft'

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-74872723846537382012009-05-05T15:47:00.009+01:002009-05-10T09:46:36.224+01:00

.So, leaving Ric at work on his Granny props, we set off northwards again, with no fixed plan as to where we might spend the night. We would see where we got to. Ric had shown Matthew a route that would take us across the Yorkshire Dales on an unfenced road, via Wharfedale and Langstrothdale. We were blessed with a brilliantly sunny day and the scenery was quite spectacular. I kept wanting to

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-74536984639144401312009-05-05T15:16:00.004+01:002009-05-06T09:34:25.592+01:00

.Pictures are coming in as I write of a new 'electroglide' act by the group Larkin' About, whom I have shown previously on my blog performing as Gliding Angels. When we left Ric to continue on our travels, he was busy making props for the act for the Falkirk Festival in Scotland on 2nd and 3rd May. The new Act is called ''Go Granny Go!" - a touch of ageist stereotyping there, I fear, but I have

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-81869933092778170432009-05-05T08:49:00.008+01:002009-05-10T09:46:36.224+01:00

Ric had fed us on a superb fish pie on the night we arrived, and my daughter-in-law Elizabeth had cookd fresh tuna steaks for us on the second night. After our visit to The Mill, we gathered with some of Ric's friends for dinner at the Rim Nam Thai Restaurant in Hebden Bridge. It is built in an old warehouse right on the edge of the canal, a superb setting, as it has big french windows at one end

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-78127502092674539482009-05-04T08:00:00.010+01:002009-05-10T09:46:36.225+01:00

.Ric is a street theatre performer, working sometimes on his own and sometimes in a group. For this he needs to have rehearsal space, and he has rented the whole first floor of a disused mill near his home. He also makes the space available to other performing groups, and this is apparently much appreciated: one member of this group came up to be introduced, and asked "Are you Ric's Mum?" "Yes" I

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-79266203614054135122009-05-04T07:52:00.003+01:002009-05-05T07:30:03.392+01:00

I have been confusing my readers over the dates of my holiday, because I made an error in the first 'holiday journal' post. My Australian family arrived at the beginning of APRIL, not May, and this is now all in the past. I have altered my headings (for the second time!) to try to make this clearer. Sorry!

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-24838416983026664542009-05-03T12:33:00.017+01:002009-05-11T18:30:53.417+01:00

.After we had dug ourselves out of the crack in the road map, we made good progress and arrived eventually at Pecket Well, Hebden Bridge. Ric recently bought his first house here, although he has been living in rented accommodation just down the road for a number of years. He lives in one of a small terrace of houses built of stone, with their backs up against the road, and facing down the valley

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-66773879163534468042009-05-03T08:36:00.008+01:002009-05-10T09:51:17.139+01:00

Matthew had said right from the start that arrangements for this trip would be fluid and variable and must above anything have the laid-back quality of a relaxing holiday. That suited me fine on the road, but I did find it a bit disconcerting when a departure day was suddenly brought forward, and I was caught with my packing not yet done! However, on Monday morning I managed to be ready in time

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-52278655724884686622009-05-02T14:25:00.008+01:002009-05-10T09:51:17.139+01:00

.My Australian family was due on Friday 3rd April; the Thursday was quietish, with most things I wanted to get done already sorted, and time to cool it a bit. They had taken flight from Sydney at about 5 a.m. our time and were on their way. At 3 p.m. I got an email from my daughter-in-law sent from her BlackBerry while they were on a stopover in Hong Kong. That's a new benefit of technology since

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-59999279658751845972009-04-03T08:13:00.014+01:002009-05-03T12:11:21.576+01:00

.My month-long holiday is over and I am home again, to bask in the memories, and endeavour to get some of them down here on my blog. It has been exciting, emotional and exhausting - three characteristics that are guaranteed to make it memorable!I thought for a few days that I had totally blown the holiday plan: I did something stupid and the inevitable happened. I know that I should not stand on

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-6978317923298326432009-03-30T09:58:00.005+01:002009-05-03T09:36:46.944+01:00

.

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-41472783588133623772009-03-29T19:06:00.019+01:002009-04-02T08:17:14.042+01:00

~Oh dear! My friends are beginning to worry again. I am perfectly well, but nearly distracted with excitement, and an endless round of preparations for a visit from my eldest son Matthew, who lives in Sydney with his wife and 9-year-old son Peter. They only get over here about every three years, and usually have only about 10 days, to divide between Matthew's family and his wife's. But this year

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-45412885222076783982009-03-17T18:58:00.002Z2009-03-17T19:05:40.447Z

.I've dipped into my file of drafts again, as I don't have time for a decent post at present.The first picture was taken by my friend David Harris in November 2002. Just for a lark he decided to 'open' my eyes for me. Unfortunately he got the colour wrong, as you can see if you check with the third picture, taken more recently. I think he has made me look rather predatory. Clever work, though!

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15472529.post-9502186122512716062009-03-10T07:55:00.017Z2009-03-12T15:16:44.177Z

.It cannot be given to many people to know what their grandfather bought in the way of clothes for his trousseau; grandmother, possibly, since women are more inclined to value and to keep records of the things which are important to them. But I had a grandfather who was a very precise and careful man: his hobby was entomology, or the collection and study of insects, and by the time of his death

Judithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07056868850692279739judithtaylo@gmail.com11