23rd November 2013 - Saturday

Every other Saturday in Cirencester means Farmers Market in the Marker Square. We always try to go because we firmly support buying local produce wherever possible, and the food we buy comes direct from the producers to us. Fruit, vegetables, meat, cakes, pickles, pies and pasties, the list goes on. Whether it costs more is a very moot point. All averaged out I don't think it does, but I do know that the quality is high because it hasn't been packed in plastic, it hasn't been carried hundreds of miles on trucks over several days. Rather, it has reached us direct from local farms that day and is really fresh. 

My son and his family were staying with us and enjoyed coming to the market. And then later we went to the National Arboretum at Westonbirt. This was wonderful because the sun shone, the autumn colours were still clinging to the trees, and our grandson discovered a mud hole. He immediately stomped into it and there he remained, stomping, until his Dad hauled him out with a broad hint of chocolate cake. Boring adults like us took pictures of trees, but mud was the hit of the day. 

I say the hit, but there was another contender who ran it close. His name is Gromit.

There was, to my chagrin, a first for me today. I was wheeled around Westonbirt in a wheelchair. My health has taken a downturn lately and I just couldn't walk around the beautiful Westonbirt trail of autumn colours with the family. I was prepared to wait while they went around, but they insisted I come too, persuaded me into a wheelchair and off we went. They are lovely, Westonbirt is lovely, and we all had a perfect day.

22nd November 2013 - Friday

I always like to watch BBC's Question Time if I can, because I enjoy some good political argument and to hear not only the inevitable MPs battling it out, but also well informed guests from other walks of life adding their views. Sadly this has been going off track lately, and I hope that it is only a phase. Tonight it reached a pitch and I turned it off in disgust.

The reason was that the non-MP guests had been unable to appear due to a train delay, leaving just three MPs on the panel. One of the first questions involved the inevitable "Should pensioners give up their benefits in this time of austerity? query. 

To my horror, the Liberal-Democrat MP, of all people, kicked off by referring to pensioners as though we were ALL wealthy property-owning baby boomers. Well, for her information, we are NOT. I am not. In my mid fifties I was £3000 in debt and owned no property. I still own no property. I depend on my State pension, plus some very small work pension income earned during the final stages of my working life, 

And I am not alone. There are many pensioners in this area who are in a similar position. In the media we frequently see pensioners having to decide whether or not to keep warm or eat. So why do many MPs appear to be woefully ignorant of the way we have to live? I'm lucky. I am warm and well fed, thanks to a very happy marriage. 

However, my point is that I get very angry when MPs threaten to take away the minor, - yes, minor - benefits we have been granted through bus passes and prescriptions. We still contribute around £30billion per annum to this country and still pay tax in most cases. I've been paying tax for the past 47 years and probably will do until I die. The tax-free threshold hardly even covers the old age pension for most of us, and anything extra, like my tiny work pension income is taxed.

I am proud to pay my fair share of tax, but I do NOT like being referred to as a "wealthy property owning baby boomer". 

I am not.

21st November 2013 - Thursday

Today has been an Alexcar day. Alexcars is our local coach company and we go on several of their trips every year. It's so relaxing to sit there and be wafted along on their magic carpet. No traffic stresses, no parking strains, and it's fascinating what you can see from the bus. You can peer at people and peek into parks and parlours. The big advantage is that you arrive at your destination relaxed and looking forward to the day. 

Today we arrived at Devizes.

Just a short trip across the county boundary into historic Wiltshire.

What do we do first on a day out? Look for lunch!

And Devizes didn't disappoint. We found a lovely pub called the Four Seasons, where I had roast chicken breast wrapped in finest Wiltshire bacon, while D had gorgeous pork belly. Wiltshire is famed for its top quality pig products, and the Four Seasons knows just how to cook them.

And serve up a glass or two of Merlot to go alongside.

We chose this trip to visit the Wiltshire Museum, recently restored and redesigned, making it now one of the leading museums in the country. That's what we'd heard, and we were delighted to find that it's true. Devizes is a lovely Wiltshire town, and if you go there, don't miss the museum, especially the golden 'lozenge', one of their prize exhibits. A fantastic object.

Wiltshire has a rich vein of pre-history running through it, with incredible relics to show. Many can be found in the museum or referred to here in depth, such as Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill, the list goes on. 

I just love being immersed in all this and trying to make mental connections to my ancient ancestors in the rolling countryside. We and they are part of the same ancestral line, just numbers of generations apart. We gazed on the same landscape and felt the same wind, rain and sun. The same skies revolved above our heads. We are one and the same, merely separated by time. And my mind reels at my ancestors skills, especially in fine craftsmanship, all achieved without the aid of modern technology. Just head, hand, heart and eye.

The museum takes us back to see beautiful they objects created and left here in Mesolithic times, including by those here before our own Homo sapiens kind, and even before Neanderthal people. Most of the objects they left are flint axes, made for workaday tasks such as jointing game, but nonetheless beautiful works of art. I'm left with the impression that these people were highly practical, they had to be to survive, but they also had a heightened aesthetic sense. They knew a beautiful object when they saw it.

This book will tell you much more if you are interested.

20th November 2013

Today has been quiet. I've been too darned tired to do much, but I did walk into town in the pouring rain and do a little light shopping. Then the nice bit, I met D in the New Brewery Arts cafe for coffee and a fruit scone. Retirement would be just dandy if it didn't come, in my case, with a heart attack price tag. This has taken the edge off it, but there's still much to enjoy, coffee and cake being part of it. By the way, in case you're wondering, all the cakes D and I eat are half calories. That's because we buy just one cake each time, and have half each. Likewise desserts when we eat out, and so on. That way we don't miss such treats but still reduce calories.

I love apps that allow us to create collages like this. I aim to bring you all of the blue plaque properties in Cirencester this way, but don't hold your breath. They'll get done as and when. 

Bedtime.

Goodnight.

19th November 2013

We started today by going on our weekly visit to my 9(5 year old mother, who lives 20 miles away. The drive through the merging area of Cotswolds and upper Thames Valley is beautiful at all times of year, but especially in autumn. A fair covering of late red and gold leaves are still hanging on the trees and the effect when the low winter sun shines on them is stunning. Unfortunately this morning was dull, so here's one I prepared earlier to give you some idea of the scene.

Visiting my mother is more than being social. We are also part of the group of friends, relatives and professionals who look after her daily.  We get her lunch, clean and tidy the house and garden, and make sure she is taking her medical pills and potions. We're still going and so is she. Sometimes I think she'll put-do us all, especially me!

She has been, and still is, a wonderful mother, and we are happy to do what we can for her. I was very lucky to have such wonderful parents. Sadly, we lost my father far too early. I still think of him every day,  over forty years later.

In the evening we went to see the first live broadcast from the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon. The play was Shakespeare's Richard II. It went to cinemas around the world, and I hope they found it a success from their point of view, because it was terrific. We went to see it at a cinema in Cheltenham, and fifteen minutes before the play commenced the cameras there went live. It was almost like being at the theatre, although the cinema had slightly more comfortable seats. We were treated to a couple of short interviews, and then down went the auditorium lights and we were off. It was fantastic. Not only did we have the equivalent of the 'best seats in the house', we were often seemingly on stage with the actors thanks to brilliant camera work. I can't wait until the next one :)

18th November 2013

Today I got one of those nice fleeting surprises that put a smile on my face. I met another local tweeter. We Follow each other tweet-wise. I was getting on the bus as she was getting off, so our chat was brief, but it's always good to meet other tweeters. They become real people then, and not just tiddly pictures on your phone.

Then this afternoon I took D and friend to a funeral at Cheltenham Crematorium. I stayed outside and wandered round the beautiful grounds. Even on a dull wet day they were so restful and peaceful. I love the challenge of getting pictures anytime, but a dull wet day is a challenge. Here are two I took today. What do you think?

And here are two I took from the bus this morning in the rain.

This one is the old Toll House in Stratton from my top deck viewpoint. It's particularly interesting because it used to be four hundred yards down the road charging tolls.The times, they are a-changin'. 

Finally, on this scintillating, exciting day (Oh yes? I hear you cry ;) I went to a Hospital Radio Meeting in our local hospital. It was exciting. The lights keep going out in the closed hospital restaurant where we hold our meetings, and each time we jump out of our chairs and run around until we are spotted by the sensors and they come on again. I think it's a cunning NHS plan to prevent us becoming too sedentary. Presenters like me fall into two distinct groups, oldies like me and young technical wizards. Patients come in all shapes and sizes and so, broadly, do we. It's a great creative mix and we all enjoy it. 

"My name's Patrick, and you're listening to Cirencester Hospital Radio ... "

17th November 2013

This morning I went with D to Ashcroft Church. I am a member, but I don't always go because, late in life, I've discovered that I prefer going to the Quakers or, to give them their full title, the Religious Society of Friends. To many, the idea of sitting together in silence for an hour is a strange concept and/or extremely boring. But I don't find it so. 

To me, on one level that hour is therapeutic. No phone rings, no doorbell summons, no one asks me to do anything. It's me time. It's restful, relaxing. It allows my mind to free itself of daily noise. 

On a deeper level it allows me to 'listen' for answers. Quakers religious beliefs vary widely. Basically Christian, their interpretations of and relationship to biblical matters range widely. This freedom is refreshing. I was drawn to the Quakers for years, almost unconsciously. What helped me focus and actually step through the doors of a meeting house was a Quaker publicity poster declaring 'We don't tell you what to think'. I wish I'd crossed that threshold years ago. 

So, I like the Methodists. I like the Quakers. I attend both as time and circumstance allows, and I'm not going to choose one over the other in this blog. 

With most of the morning taken up with church matters, we decided to have lunch at the Brewery Arts Cafe, another favourite of ours. I had one of their 'doorstep' sandwiches for lunch. So tasty, and 'proper-job' doorsteps, huge size with extra salad local granary bread. Gorgeous!

Then W.H.Smiths made me an offer I couldn't refuse, a cunningly displayed mini e-reader for £29.99. Really? Thirty pounds? Yes sir, half-price but not for long. I succumbed, and am now the proud owner of a Kobo Mini E-Reader with five books on it so far. I am told it will hold a thousand. We'll see.

I spotted this intriguing window display on the way home. What a wacky legging for one-legged women, I thought.