It’s been at least 25 years since I read it and I’m enjoying it immensely. For a month or so I have not been able to find a novel I want to read* so I turned to my huge collection of Anne Tyler and chose Ladder of Years to read again. This morning in bed I had an idea for an abstract, so if it rains again today that’s what I’ll be working on. Since getting home I’ve been picking and processing fruit - making jam out of blackcurrants with Dave’s helpĪnd although I am half way through one of ferns on a rocky outcrop, I feel in dire need of a break from all kinds of vegetation. They look set to keep all the austerity policies of this last despicable administration. No-one would recognise the current Labour Party as a socialist one that cares about the living conditions and welfare of ordinary people. Three quarters of people whose asylum claims were processed last year were found to have a valid claim, and if you just consider refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea and Sudan, at least 80% have a valid claim.Īnd there is no hope of an improvement when “Labour” wins the election next year. government could speed up the assessment of asylum claims (which would mean, incidentally, that refugees could work and help solve the labour shortage) but they prefer to incarcerate refugees in detention centres and then deport them. The holiday was a real break from reality, but now I am home I am assaulted daily by the bleak political news, and I am struggling not to sink.įirst there is the passing of the illegal immigration bill, which means individuals and families fleeing war and persecution will be treated like criminals. In order to get to the second part I had to get the first (brief) part out of my system, but you are at liberty to skip it. My friend bought this second one and was very happy. And then when I’d finished, I liked the first one better - even though the second one was just as good. Halfway through painting the “replica” I got bored, and that convinced me never to paint a picture twice. A friend wanted to buy one of my paintings that I wanted to keep, and I thought hmmm…if I painted a second version I might iron out what I saw as the imperfections and then she could have the first one. It is, however, possible to paint a picture again. However, writing a book again, revising a novel, isn’t a runner…well…I suppose I could rewrite it, making changes, but who is going to want to read it? I like everything else about the book, but there was something not entirely convincing about Joe. One day I spent a lot of time pondering my book Even When They Know You, and wishing I’d made the main male character more likeable. Imagine an intellectual baby drawn by Mabel Lucie Atwell. She has a lot of curly brown hair - which she has had since birth - beautiful blue eyes, and a very serious expression a lot of the time, because - as we all agreed (!) □- she is so intelligent and is attentive to and absorbing every little thing in her environment and thinking about it. One day our new granddaughter’s other grandparents brought her, Ms X, over for the afternoon, and there was much admiration of this gorgeous baby who is now almost 9 months old and oh how I wish I was allowed to show you a picture of her because she looks so very different from all of the other grandchildren. This has led to stretches of ‘wet playtime syndrome’ at Hepworth Towers, but there have been some interesting and/or pleasant happenings none the less. You’ll have seen one or two of them before. This is a selection I’m picking today to share with you. When I feel like this, I often turn to my screenshots. I feel desperate this morning, sitting here in bed with my second mug of Yorkshire tea while Dave listens to the morning news and does the ironing. How will our grandchildren fare in this doomed world? How do we maintain hope when the world is on fire and politicians do NOTHING SIGNIFICANT about the climate emergency? How do we maintain hope when even the main "opposition" party wants to continue with austerity policies? How do we maintain hope when companies - both national and multinational - get richer and richer and while the living conditions of ordinary people - even in ‘advanced’ countries - get worse and worse? How do we maintain hope when injustice and a lack of compassion is enshrined in law? How do we maintain hope in the future when extreme right wing administrations are springing up all over the world, and some very close to home?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |