Two days into this new year and I am still not fully recovered from some sort of virus thing that has had me coughing, congested, sleepy and just not my usual healthy self. I haven't been inside a pub in several days. I guess this condition has hung about me for two weeks now. Sleep disturbed and my taste buds malfunctioning.
In case you were wondering, it's not COVID. I have taken two lateral flow tests and both proved negative.
At least I can rest, stay warm, sleep in a comfortable bed, blow my nose and drink water. But what if I were homeless with this wintry health condition? There'd be nowhere for that kind of relief and it would be challenging to get better. It would be hard enough to be homeless in summer weather but in winter with a virus that brings you down, it doesn't bear thinking about.
We were up pretty early this morning. Stew, Frances and Phoebe arrived just after nine and we were driven out into Derbyshire, through the Chatsworth estate and on to Rowsley for breakfast at The Peak Village shopping outlet. I couldn't face a full English breakfast so I chose eggs royale and tea instead. As you probably know, eggs royale involves a toasted muffin and poached eggs on smoked salmon with hollandaise sauce. It was a really nice treat.
Stew begins a new job tomorrow in the world of software development and coding. Phoebe will transfer to a new nursery school and Frances will simply be back at work in her home office. Next week, fingers crossed, they'll be moving to their new house half a mile from here. They were supposed to move in just before Christmas but there was a not uncommon legal spanner in the works.
Out in the wider world, I am not too optimistic about how things will go. The crazy Ukraine war will continue unless Putin is overthrown and I cannot see that happening. Many more innocent people will die including young Russian soldiers who don't even know what they are fighting for.
Here in Great Britain we will continue to suffer the bitter consequences of Brexit that so far seems to have brought us no benefits whatsoever. What was Clown Johnson thinking of when he flipped his coin and chose that disastrous path back in 2016? So many thoughtless voters followed his lead, tipping the balance.
One of the things that Brexit voters most certainly wished to see was a reduction in immigration but since the referendum, illegal immigration into Britain has actually increased! Sending small numbers of our arrivals to Rwanda at great expense is certainly not the solution. In fact that is just plain crazy - like The Home Secretary who hatched the plan.
And the world's enormous human population will continue to grow alarmingly in 2023. Did you know that we are now way past eight billion! As I publish this blogpost our planet's population has just risen to 8,008,918,975. Below, with her maternal grandparents this very morning is one of the more recent additions to this sea of humanity - Little Phoebe:-
I have some kind of cruddy cold but no cough yet. I hope to keep it away! There seem to be so many viruses out there right now. :( What a beautiful photo of the three of you. Grandparenting is the best!
ReplyDelete"Cruddy" would be a perfect describing word for my recent condition.
DeleteSome tings are in great need of being improved. The war in the Ukraine is one that is urgent.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the spelling of "things"!
DeleteOops. The Newfies quite often say tings but that isn't what I was trying to do.
DeleteWe don't learn, do we?
ReplyDeleteAs in the refrain of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"
DeleteSo sweet to see happy little ones with happy grandparents. Phoebe is adorable.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of the world, what the heck eh? Craziness abounds, minorities are favoured to the point they do exactly as they please with no regard for others, politicians play games, despots ruin other countries "just because", while good people like us just try to live the best lives we can.
Excellent summing up River.
DeleteThat is a fabulous photo of you both with little Phoebe. Hope you are feeling better soon.
ReplyDeleteYou and Paul will feature in a similar photo... one day.
DeleteYep, the level of that sea of humanity keeps rising, and it rarely gets addressed even though overpopulation is at the root of nearly all the other issues our species has to deal with these days.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Brexit means that sending and receiving birthday and Christmas parcels to and from the UK is no fun anymore. It takes AGES (my Christmas presents to the Yorkshire family were posted on Dec. 7 and arrived there on the 28th, and the parcel my sister-in-law sent to me has still not arrived) and is much more expensive than before; on top of the increased postage, one often has to deal with customs (in spite of sending perfectly legal items and rightly declaring them as gifts) and pay a fee to actually have the parcel.
We have discovered this too. It is all so painful and annoying.
DeleteGosh, those eggs look good!
ReplyDeleteI in no way question your statistics on world population but I read recently that in a lot of western countries, ours included, that the birth rate is dropping.
Lovely photo of Phoebe and her grandparents. One to treasure.
Birth rate dropping? Since this year started on Sunday, the world's population has increased by over half a million. That's like a city the size of Sheffield appearing in less than three days.
DeleteBoth photos are a feast for the eyes.. a healthy and delicious breakfast and a pretty Phoebe.
ReplyDeleteHappy to have given you ocular pleasure JayCee!
DeleteWhat a delightful photo Mr Pud. You look well, even if you are not feeling it!
ReplyDeleteNormally, I enjoy robust good health and do not take any pills.
DeleteWhat a busy year you’ve had, Mr Pudding! Not surprised your kids get into bother when you go scrapping in the street! I’m sure he deserved the thumping you gave him. Was it somebody I know?
ReplyDeleteAfter our New Years’s Day walk in our local Ancient Woodland, I found one of your photos online - Brecks Lane near Gibbings Greave Wood. I intend to explore the area more fully while I’m resident in this part of Rotherham. I may even get to photograph the intriguingly named Bare Woman Tree!
If you’re in the area again, check out the Stag Inn on Wickersley Road.
The guy I thumped was Michael Davies... otherwise known as Leeds Mick. Bare Woman Tree... intriguing. I had never heard of that. Happy New Year Steve!
DeleteLeeds Mick! Nobody more deserving of a good thump! Happy New Year!
DeleteAt least the Tories can give the everyone the 350 million Pounds a week they promised if you voted for Brexit. I wonder where that went?
ReplyDeleteI think it was used to pay for Johnson's holidays and his lavish drinks parties.
DeleteWhat a lovely photo with little one, that made my day we need to hope for a better world thank you
ReplyDeleteThat is kind of you to say so Orly. Happy New Year!
DeleteLovely photo of you three, it looks frosty. That breakfast, though looking delicious would make me ill, so you can't be that ill.
ReplyDeleteThere is a whole bundle of problems out there, war being the most serious. How they will be resolved I do not know, but noticed this morning that in Japan where the birth rate is down, they are encouraging more young people to live out in the sticks.
By living out in the sticks will they crack out more little Japanese babies?
DeleteI love that picture! Beautiful little girl, proud loving grandparents. I hope that Stew and Francis have a relatively easy move.
ReplyDeleteRegarding house moves in England, I always say that it is only done when you have the keys in your hand. We are 99% sure it will happen next week.
DeleteThat's a lovely photo of you and Shirley with Phoebe. Phoebe has grown up so fast it seems. As for Brexit, it seems you can fool most of the people, some of the time. As for Ukraine, I pray it ends soon.
ReplyDeleteMany people who voted for Brexit only did so because they were tired of the status quo. Brexit offered something different and now they have got it and it stinks!
DeleteWishing Phoebe a future of peace and happiness, Neil. Wishing the same for all the children of the world. "Let's give peace a chance..."
ReplyDeleteWe American's ditched the royals a long time ago so we prefer eggs benedict with our coffee!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great photo of the two of you with Phoebe. I'm pretty much with you on the state of the world, but there's still a lot of beauty out there and it's important for our own mental health that we keep ourselves focused on that as well. It's not denial -- more balance. (Don't get me started on the evils of Brexit, though! I'll never shut up!)
ReplyDeleteLike Christina, I too have read recently that the birth rate in Western countries will have dropped below a "recovery" rate by the end of this century. Spain, surprisingly for a Catholic country, has the second lowest birth rate in the world - Japan, I think, has the lowest. However the article I read didn't address the birth rates in Asian, African and South American countries. Future Western generations will (according to the article) rely on them to provide essential services, not menial work.
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of Grandma and Grandpa with the gorgeous little Phoebe.
Last night I watched the BBC4 programme "Walks", filmed in Yorkshire. The walker reminded me of you. He was a poet and talked about how the landscape inspired his poetry.