tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19324949805865924532024-02-22T08:31:26.887-08:00Anthropological MumAnthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-17587034862619247452016-06-12T07:21:00.001-07:002016-06-12T07:21:14.002-07:00Feminine Financial Planning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2XPe7TLaQ2d5FIqTK8UypE-FM5mCqQq16Y2gjwyJ90QvJw3XxNybtEYzp3K1BtPNZPJoS3NXN9tpzMlfZ_Whwcq1k_v22WGR4zOOE5cVLS4RVGTjodAIftP32uDmoE_zeralUOtEEeM/s1600/feminine+finance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2XPe7TLaQ2d5FIqTK8UypE-FM5mCqQq16Y2gjwyJ90QvJw3XxNybtEYzp3K1BtPNZPJoS3NXN9tpzMlfZ_Whwcq1k_v22WGR4zOOE5cVLS4RVGTjodAIftP32uDmoE_zeralUOtEEeM/s320/feminine+finance.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm ambivalent about advice on investing. On the one hand, I don't want to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">prop up the markets with my money when </span>I'm reluctantly more and more convinced by Marxist feminist arguments that women are materially oppressed through capitalism. (Rather than articulated as heterodox in discourse, as my postmodern leanings suggest.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the other hand ... I was on my way to teach once, when a bloke came up and asked if he could have the <i>Money </i>section of my <i>FT Weekend</i>. Now at that time, I never read the <i>Money </i>section, automatically assuming it had nothing in it I would be interested in<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I focussed </span>on the <i>How To Spend It </i>magazine. (I adore this magazine because it doesn't have things in it I can afford to buy. I can safely browse through it, saying to myself: "Gosh, diamonds are so unfashionable, what a good thing I haven't got many. This is a pretty feather cocktail dress, mmmm - only £1,785.00!") Still, I resented the fact that the guy took one look at me and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">articulated me as someone not likely to be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">checking out how <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">her </span>stocks and </span></span>shares were doing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like many women, my pension provision is laughable. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However</span>, I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'</span>m used to living on an income that is similar to the state pension so not working and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">still </span>earning the same amount seems quite attractive to me. Recently I noticed articles in the <i>FT Money </i>about pensions (unsurprisingly - the British pension system is a complete mess). I started flicking through that part of the paper and I found a lot of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">p<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ertinent </span></span></span>writing in it. I shan't drop my moral stance about capitalism and the oppression of women, but why let it oppress me personally more than I need to. Capitalism is unfortunately unlikely to be superseded in my lifetime, so I had better sort out my pension sooner rather than later.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was </span>rushing around <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">last </span>week doing womanly mumsie things - and some work - so I didn't manage to get my act together and take advantage of free financial planning meetings offered by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment during <a href="http://www.financialplanning.org.uk/wayfinder" target="_blank">Financial Planning Week</a>. Also, I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>really <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was</span>n<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'</span>t sure these are meant for me - surely they are designed for people who actually have money to invest?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3UTOZ-iRdJ8Y89-xPZdoAH2cDwQj5afsKsB_Xi3tF-4Fp7L0auXCqIF16pUsnwJzmCp365MhDDSn0rLp5GJj-VLgt_EsGlfm3jU85rBjCJqtJ7Iseua5ZtwgyuRVfGIuLFWeYI7G8WQ/s1600/feminine+finance+advert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3UTOZ-iRdJ8Y89-xPZdoAH2cDwQj5afsKsB_Xi3tF-4Fp7L0auXCqIF16pUsnwJzmCp365MhDDSn0rLp5GJj-VLgt_EsGlfm3jU85rBjCJqtJ7Iseua5ZtwgyuRVfGIuLFWeYI7G8WQ/s320/feminine+finance+advert.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This advert might be more appealing to Scottish widows </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">than the Scottish Widows adverts<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">? Well - rich ones, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">investment example is for </span></span>£100<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">000.00</span></span>. </span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a strong article, Claer Barrett in the <i>FT Money</i> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">argues that </span>this mistaken belief and other reasons lead most women to avoid exploring good investment options. (<i><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b681b8e6-2705-11e6-8b18-91555f2f4fde.html#axzz4B4I3tN5d" target="_blank">Why do most women fear the stock market?</a></i>) Another reason is our habit of sacrificing our needs, financial as well as other, for our children. This is a shortsighted view, though. If we do not put aside for our basic needs as we grow older, who is going to have to pick up the burden of making sure we can live a dignified old age? I don't want to have to fib to Piglet and pretend I have got plenty to eat when she visits me at weekends, I want to take her and her children out for a slapup meal. I don't want to have to ask her to stump up for a decent care home if I start to get a bit forgetful and need supported housing.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I</span>ncidentally <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in </span>the following week<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'s <i>FT Money</i>, Meryll Somerset Webb <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">argued </span>that <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">once women earn more money, they do tend to invest it in higher risk <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ventures. She advised the finance industry to take the beam out of its own eye and employ more wo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">men in higher paying roles in order to resolve the issue of gender and low risk investment habits. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We social scientists are always ex<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">plaining to students that there is<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n't necessarily a relationship between <i>correlation</i> and <i>causation</i>. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If fewer women are investing in<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> high risk <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">financial products, this may not be because they are wo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">men, or <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">have a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">more self<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-sacrificing</span> parental insti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nc<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. It may<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">because <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">more women </span>are lower earners so women have less money to risk.) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">didn't </span></span>take up a free financial planning meeting<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. However I might have a look at one of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the Open University's free MOOCs <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on personal finance (<a href="http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/money/personal-finance/you-and-your-money/content-section-0" target="_blank">Y</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/money/personal-finance/you-and-your-money/content-section-0" target="_blank">ou and Your Money</a>)</span></span></span></span>, then go on<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to see if there are others which could <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">give me a better understanding of investment funds</span></span> and pensions. </span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> just have to fin<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ish </span></span>the washing up first, and sen<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d</span> off some emails <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a </span>workshop presen<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tation</span></span></span> for which I will be paid quite a sma<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ll sum of money. </span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you have very small savings, the best way to start your pension may be an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts/overview" target="_blank">ISA</a>. Although I'm not sure if this would benefit me, as I pay so little tax that a tax-free savings account is probably not going to do much for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My best investment was<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n't in a buy-to-let property but in my own <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">home. Buying a very small leasehold property outright in<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tead of a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> larger <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">house </span>with a mortgage <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">means that I have <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">much more of my monthly income available to me, as well as a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">happy feeling of peace and security about the four walls round me and Piglet. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't suffer from <i>cashtration</i>: <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he act of borrowing money to buy something very large, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-88057145172410909482016-06-08T08:19:00.002-07:002016-06-08T08:19:52.963-07:00Duffryn Gardens (and house) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwCquA2n8tnGRtPksdgi8B_cM30HIpgQHoPgv09K5XKSLwPiJmGpDZONDOorHO18cfuL3rAoUoTuZX3Tgwlb1jnRgvYCV37Ku8VK4kQV_zkf7kCwvwfHaYDZDTb4at9kUtStFarOMHRg/s1600/Duffryn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwCquA2n8tnGRtPksdgi8B_cM30HIpgQHoPgv09K5XKSLwPiJmGpDZONDOorHO18cfuL3rAoUoTuZX3Tgwlb1jnRgvYCV37Ku8VK4kQV_zkf7kCwvwfHaYDZDTb4at9kUtStFarOMHRg/s400/Duffryn.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually I wanted to go to the beach. It was Piglet who asked if we could go to <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dyffryn-gardens" target="_blank">Duffryn Gardens</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we first started going, about ten years ago, the house and gardens were just at the start of a major restoration programme. It's been great fun to see how they slowly blossom (ho ho!) with the work that's being done to bring them back to their former glories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm minded to make our trip the subject of a blogpost because the gardens are so family friendly. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iqWgmOYqPYdbwYObms2UfnRekzeFKBYBl0Z94eGHqWuxN62wStccw6g91O1cRL5WY4lEysd9I6etJzmewNImKKC6Ny8oIrgrE21j5cFNebzobg36vvHQ8AlQr4zfBAsA2DnkkPs66sA/s1600/Duffryn+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iqWgmOYqPYdbwYObms2UfnRekzeFKBYBl0Z94eGHqWuxN62wStccw6g91O1cRL5WY4lEysd9I6etJzmewNImKKC6Ny8oIrgrE21j5cFNebzobg36vvHQ8AlQr4zfBAsA2DnkkPs66sA/s200/Duffryn+6.jpg" width="132" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A host of hostas</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even Piglet and her pal, who are 12, found plenty to do on our day out there. There are often educational events: today's was Fascination of Plants with <a href="http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/biosciences/about-us/community-outreach" target="_blank">bioscientists from Cardiff University</a>. Ignoring Piglet's frequently squealed expectation that it would consist of plastic magnifying glasses and a few leaves, I dragged the two of them along to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"</span>just see what it's like<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"</span>. The bioscientists expertly tailored their discussion to the ages of children who came along, there was a proper microscope and Piglet and her pal were soon absorbed in extracting DNA from strawberries. (They may have ingested a few strawberries too. I took the opportunity to nip off and sit on a comfy sofa to do some knitting.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3l2mdCP6BeTvf9jBveTX6r-x4TpGP8pvZzkT9dAg4WuiCqvTnKETfHqdgtc6iqLaHQ8qRk29Yo0IE7W9N-AYWTKIT98rfzOJQ5K-VxqbWwf6Xs1D2-lT0kbV4gqPE7U7lk9TvT_DvS0/s1600/Duffryn+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3l2mdCP6BeTvf9jBveTX6r-x4TpGP8pvZzkT9dAg4WuiCqvTnKETfHqdgtc6iqLaHQ8qRk29Yo0IE7W9N-AYWTKIT98rfzOJQ5K-VxqbWwf6Xs1D2-lT0kbV4gqPE7U7lk9TvT_DvS0/s200/Duffryn+2.jpg" width="158" /></a>We walked through the woods where we were delighted to see that the rhododendrons were still out in full flower. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aLooBzGHBIyISDUch0_K_04N9rzHJt2wSCrTaIUe5P4QuN5UEmKIEhViTe9oNmiwicpxOMYVsi5JtnTKDAZmv5QlB9Mhb09fM-KFktrl4HfvV8g1HN2JnL4tjUhwVJBMgC8XpMEclR0/s1600/Duffryn+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aLooBzGHBIyISDUch0_K_04N9rzHJt2wSCrTaIUe5P4QuN5UEmKIEhViTe9oNmiwicpxOMYVsi5JtnTKDAZmv5QlB9Mhb09fM-KFktrl4HfvV8g1HN2JnL4tjUhwVJBMgC8XpMEclR0/s200/Duffryn+1.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4lsfhwUhjj08_k951oBRt0OadTrr9WhyKVuzrONDKejREnMMftmI57fUdxr-D4IRR-h9Hmk-eEbdhCOGvtXSicHP7wy82Xwlq_uXbqP27BFhxHP5UtoZ0-cCUmpFt5Ql93RxQkcdClM/s1600/Duffryn+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4lsfhwUhjj08_k951oBRt0OadTrr9WhyKVuzrONDKejREnMMftmI57fUdxr-D4IRR-h9Hmk-eEbdhCOGvtXSicHP7wy82Xwlq_uXbqP27BFhxHP5UtoZ0-cCUmpFt5Ql93RxQkcdClM/s200/Duffryn+3.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then we fetched our picnic, which we ate by the side of the croquet lawn. (People often eat their picnic sitting on the main lawn or under trees around the gardens. You can also eat at tables by the entrance, where there is an activity play park for kids and a caf</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">é - you don't have to pay and go in to access these.) There are mallets and balls as well as some other lawn games laid out by the house, and Piglet and her pal were able to have a couple of rounds of <a href="http://www.woodmallets.com/howto/playcroquet.htm" target="_blank">croquet</a>. They were particularly delighted to hear about the rule that you can knock your opponent's ball with yours, then knock theirs into the far distance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another big draw was always the narrow pool that runs down the middle of the main lawn, with huge koi carp swimming in it. It was too green with algae for photos today, as Duffryn House's ponds are home to the great crested newt and can't be cleaned in spring or autumn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIYrfuIdhbrAtMx5fhitrvs6SUTuWkW38vyu5aX2yrkv2vd7NdWGcD1MxkyU1KD5RMmppzb0Vt1mQv-rocBxPeQwGhvpDZvXV6G7IoDmiPtSW6eSH9G6FllnxoWkKsmUQxRsRj6sjOnE/s1600/Duffryn+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIYrfuIdhbrAtMx5fhitrvs6SUTuWkW38vyu5aX2yrkv2vd7NdWGcD1MxkyU1KD5RMmppzb0Vt1mQv-rocBxPeQwGhvpDZvXV6G7IoDmiPtSW6eSH9G6FllnxoWkKsmUQxRsRj6sjOnE/s200/Duffryn+5.jpg" width="150" /></a>Finally we had a wander through the 'garden rooms'. This delightful set of small hedged gardens to the side of the main lawn are perfect for a ramble. Three of them are being restored to the 1920s look, with the guidance of some paintings done at the time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had a wonderful time. However we will have to go back, as we were enjoying the gardens so much, we forgot to go and look round the house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ws7DqofEyDq5njXyjCCnQULYfRFhlYEdP3Xo84pllgUQp_IMWj2vs92j8ALI7TEaetF-sBUjNv7Zo7HlIjIB5OlOJz3-MBFevHYVNrL3GIEYJBhsmwr8v4yISYVOW9Diu-UvhvHJXkI/s1600/Duffryn+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ws7DqofEyDq5njXyjCCnQULYfRFhlYEdP3Xo84pllgUQp_IMWj2vs92j8ALI7TEaetF-sBUjNv7Zo7HlIjIB5OlOJz3-MBFevHYVNrL3GIEYJBhsmwr8v4yISYVOW9Diu-UvhvHJXkI/s320/Duffryn+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(There are many wide paths through the Duffryn gardens, making most of them fully accessible to wheelchairs and buggies. The main lawn is perfect for toddlers to play on; there are haha walls which kids can roll down; the woods provide good rambles for older children - take wellies in winter if intending to go into the woods.) </span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-69474780980902561502015-11-29T02:35:00.002-08:002015-11-29T02:35:57.181-08:00Good Online Booksellers for Christmas <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The other day as I was drinking a coffee and hurriedly knitting up a pair of mittens for a pal for Christmas, I overheard two people at a neighbouring table complaining about Amazon. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Barbie relaxes on an airbed which </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amazon is very handy for Christmas shopping, as it has all kinds of toys and useful knick-knacks, food and of course Kindle. Piglet and I can find the Barbie outfits of her dreams and send a link round the family, so they can just buy exactly the right thing she wants with one click, instead of sending her a dreary pair of knitted mittens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">However ... Amazon have been strongly criticised in the past for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/23/amazon-to-begin-paying-corporation-tax-on-uk-retail-sales" target="_blank">tax avoidance</a>. Many shoppers will also not realise how geared up they are to market dominance. I do a little writing on the side, and publish online. So I notice how Amazon attempt to sweep all other online competitors off the net, and also how they advertise books simply in line with commercial success. If it's selling well, it's listed top and is most likely to be seen by new buyers and to earn Amazon more money. New writers have little chance, and also there's little scope for work which might be recommended for other than commercial reasons. Indie writers and small publishers have experienced <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/06/indie-booksellers-hachette-battle-amazon" target="_blank">more insidious problems</a> with Amazon dumping down our work if it starts to look like it's getting popular.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Barbie bling (those silver boots were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">clearly not made for walking as they </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">won't even stand up on their own!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I use two other book buying sites, which I find more attractive than Amazon although they don't have the Barbie/Lego/Set of Chic Screwdrivers stuff so I still do a bit of Amazon shopping for those.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.hive.co.uk/" target="_blank">Hive</a> is an online bookseller which also supports independent actual bookshops. They offer free delivery on ALL books, not just if you spend over £10. Some books and DVDs I bought from them were cheaper than on Amazon. You can collect your order from a bookshop, meaning you go and browse there at real books on the shelves. They will give a percentage from your purchase to an independent bookshop of your choice so it keeps going on the high street for you to pop into.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Image from <a href="https://myartsyodyssey.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/the-rose-and-the-ring/" target="_blank">MyArtsOdyssey</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even more exciting, though, is the second hand book website: <a href="http://www.abebooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Abe Books</a>. Here are brought together second hand book dealers across the length and breadth of the British Isles. Not only can you get all sorts of titles which are out of print, you can buy books which are in print much more cheaply and in different editions. Last year I especially enjoyed shopping at Abe for titles ranging from Sabre and Lance (illustrated history of cavalry for my nephew) to Elizabeth David's French Country Cooking. The books are all carefully described but as a mum, I'm far too busy running around hoovering bits of packaging fluff off the carpets to check exactly what they said. When the parcels arrive, I get some lovely surprises. French Country Cooking came not only with illustrations by John Minton but also colour plates of French paintings of food. Thackerey's <i>The Rose and The Ring, Christmas Books of Mr MA Titmarch, and The Book of Snobs </i>- which I was expecting to be a large volume, was pocket-sized and bound in teal-black calf with gilt lettering. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was almost like Christmas already, opening the lovely parcels and seeing the surprise contents.</span><br />
Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-26216623733279467152015-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:002015-11-09T13:21:05.699-08:00Stretch mark scars<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like many women, I have pale lines - scars left from where my body grew too fast and my skin didn't quite keep up. However, these are not on my tummy from pregnancy. I got my stretch marks during my teenage years. Although I did have a normally healthy diet, from what I can gather I just didn't happen to have the right vitamins at the right moment to keep my skin supple. As Piglet reaches an age where she will start growing, I have been looking into how to help her avoid teenage stretch marks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Stretch-marks/Pages/Introduction.aspx" target="_blank">NHS information on stretch marks</a> recommends Vitamins E and C, zinc and silicon in your diet to avoid stretch marks. Generally the advice is that moisturising your skin doesn't do much for stretch marks, as these are caused by tears in lower layers of skin. However, I did buy a tub of coconut oil from the health food shop; I encouraged Piglet to use it (and spread it liberally over my own skin), as it can't be bad to keep your skin supple and moisturised whatever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At this uncertain age, with hormones raging, I feel it's good for Piglet to learn to treat her body kindly and give it a gentle rub down every couple of days. Being in touch (literally!) with her own body <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">should </span>help in those moments of teenage despair when she becomes convinced she is a Gorgon and ugliest kid in the universe. I will try to help out too at these times by saying things like: "I love you anyway." LOL, no, I do tell Piglet she is pretty and not to worry too much about it, just enjoy life. A laugh is worth a ton of make-up in the attracting nice friends and cool boy- or girl-friend zone. (Some of us grownups would do well to remember that!) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Information on foods in which vit<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">amins and trace min<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">erals are found is available from the <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-minerals/pages/vitamins-minerals.aspx" target="_blank">NHS</a>. </span></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vitamin E is found in nuts and seeds, and in a lot of oils (including coconut oil so I could start cooking with that as well as massaging it into my legs, although olive oil also has Vitamin E - and zinc - in it, so maybe not). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vitamin C is found in oranges, red and orange fruit generally, broccoli and potatoes. (NB, your body does not store vit C so you need some every day. You need it to absorb iron as well so make sure you get some.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can get silicon from oats, barley, rice and fruit and veg. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Go to meat, fish, cheese and cereals for your zinc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avocados are a good source of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">vitamins E and C - although Piglet doesn't like </span></span>avocados<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. H<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">owever, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">if held in front of her nose as a possible <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">stretch mark prevent<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ion strategy, she will give <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">things </span>she hasn't <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">yet got a taste for </span>a go. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-48170367332620453212015-11-05T07:28:00.001-08:002015-11-05T07:28:50.656-08:00Handy kitchen appliances<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the latest module I'm teaching, we've got to the topic of the sociology of the home. I am quite excited about this area of social science, as I have lots and lots and LOTS of data about The Home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(This is one of those bits of the module where I have to be careful to stick to the module materials and not include a lot of interesting ideas from other things I've read and experienced. Although those all provide fascinating insights into domestic life, I can end up putting too many of them into my discussion. Then I don't have a clear argument, whereas if I stick to the carefully selected module materials I can write a much simpler clearer account.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As an early task, students are asked to take a photo of a labour-saving kitchen appliance and upload it to a Group page.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is mine. (The big red one is mine, LOL - the little one belongs to Piglet, or did a long time ago before she graduated onto my mixer.) I would<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'t</span></span> normally spend the kind of money on a labour-saving appliance I spent on this Kitchenaid mixer - after all, it only takes ten minutes to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">b<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eat sugar into flour</span></span>. OK - fifteen. However I had long wished to have one of these luxury cake making appliances, so when it came round to my 50th birthday I asked my friends and family to pitch in and help me buy it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I never really wanted a dishwasher, since there were just three of us in the family, but when I moved into a house that had one, I gradually started to use it. I was of the opinion that with a dishwasher, you have to rinse off the dishes before you put them in so why not just wash them? And I wasn't convinced by the long scientific arguments of the dishwasher manufacturers that this is a more ecologically sound way of washing up than doing it by hand. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of sound evidence being presented for that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found the dishwasher quite stressful. Unless you have lots of people round all the time, it takes a while to fill it up. You have to buy extra plates so you have enough to use while dirty ones sit in the dishwasher and find somewhere to keep them on the rare occasions they are all clean. You try to cram bits and pieces into places where they <i>might </i>fit and worry when you hear them rattling in the washer. You have to think constantly about what to put in it<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>and when to just wash up a couple of mugs by hand, whereas when you wash by hand you just run less water if you have fewer plates. It was handy when the cub scouts came to tea - but that was just once a week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Labour saving appliances, like many things in the home, are about social class. Those at the lower end of the scale can't afford them, those in the middle will sometimes buy them to demonstrate status rather than because they're useful, and those in upper classes can often afford to do without (sometimes by hiring people in the lower paid quadrant of the working world).<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It reminds me of what I noticed in Pakistan, wh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ile I was working there. In Pakistan, many women live 'in purdah' - they don't leave the family <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">comp<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ound. Lower class women had to go out, though, to help on the farm. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This suggests why many wo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">men were content to live in purdah, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">stayi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ng at <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">home is </span></span></span>better than having to labour hard outside the home. </span></span></span></span></span></span>Upper class women also went out, they had the social status to defy this <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">convention. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a few years, my dishwasher broke down. I considered whether to buy a new one but I figured that I could treat myself instead. Even students who think they are the world's worse dunce at statistics will be able to make a strong comparative statement about these two figures:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Dishwasher: £150.00 </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Bottle of nail varnish: £2.50 </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hmmm. At that rate, I could afford to buy some really special nail varnish. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I went to John Lewis where they had some nail varnish for about £3 and another one for about £10. I don't like to make assumptions but there was a young woman near the nail varnish who had beautiful make-up so I asked her if there was a good reason I should pay £7 more (see! I can do maths too) for the luxury super-duper nail varnish. She said: "Oh! I am the Ellie girl. I don't know about nail varnish. I will see if I can find someone to help you."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She came back with a young man, who looked gravely at the two varnishes I had selected. "I don't use nail varnish myself," he said. "However, all the reviews for this one [indicating the more expensive one] are very good. Nobody ever brings it back to the store."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This shows you the difference between two kinds of thinking. One is called standpoint epistemology, and basically argues that we understand things much better from our personal experience. If you are a woman, you will know much better how sexism works from your personal experience (this is called feminist standpoint epistemology). However, it seems like a dim lookout for the world if only women are going to be able to understand how sexism operates. I do hope that by studying expert advice (as this man did by looking at reviews on the internet), people can come to a good understanding of things they don't necessarily have personal experience in. Then, since positions of political power are largely occupied by men, we might get something done to tackle sexism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, I was treating myself. So although I didn't believe for a minute that this nail varnish would be able to cope with my already splitting nails when they suddenly had to take on board the family's washing up, I bought the stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LOL, it worked! People were stopping me at the school gate saying in envious tones: "Your nails look great. Have you had a manicure?" and I would say: "No, my dishwasher broke."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually I afterwards reflected that I should have chosen the <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/an-iron-will.html" target="_blank">steam iron</a> as my labour-saving device. I th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ink that really does save <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">labour; compared to heating up heavy flatirons in a fire and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hefting them<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> onto my clothes. Ho<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wever my upper class friends laugh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> at me and say they never bother to iron clo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">thes </span>.... </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-34972725194604527182015-06-23T06:01:00.000-07:002015-06-23T06:01:54.266-07:00Yayyy! Menopause! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://rlv.zcache.co.uk/im_not_hormonal_tee-rcb46839bf33c49dc94e9048576571b07_8natd_512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://rlv.zcache.co.uk/im_not_hormonal_tee-rcb46839bf33c49dc94e9048576571b07_8natd_512.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hormonal warning t-shirts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">available from <a href="http://www.zazzle.co.uk/hormone+gifts" target="_blank">Zazzle</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have the ultimate secret weapon against Piglet's impending teenage hormonal mood swings. Menopause! Being an older mum, I will be able to out-hormone her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a couple of years to get used to the impending 'Change'. A little while back, I started getting irregular and unusually heavy periods. I sensibly called up the NHS Helpline and went to see my doctor. Medical professionals spoke to me like this: *hushed whisper* "It's your <b><i>age</i></b>." ??? "It's the <b><i>CHANGE</i></b>!" </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTk1WDEwMjM=/z/XFkAAOxydlFTAPEN/$_35.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTk1WDEwMjM=/z/XFkAAOxydlFTAPEN/$_35.JPG" height="194" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Barbie and Ken as Apollo </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and Daphne - available on <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apollo-Daphne-Greek-Myth-OOAK-Grecian-Barbie-Goddess-Ken-God-Doll-Repaint-Set-/131118591778" target="_blank">ebay</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sheesh, I felt like I was not human any more. As if I was about to metamorphose like some ancient Greek maiden being pursued by randy Gods or evil Fates, turn into a laurel tree or waves on the ocean shore or something. But then I reflected that half of the population goes through this 'Change'. There seem to be a lot of human-looking ladies walking about with elegantly coiffed white hair. I figured it must be survivable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In fact I wasn't menopausal at the time. When I pointed out to these medical professionals that surely in that case my periods would be getting lighter if not disappearing, not getting heavier, they said: "Oh ... yes," in disappointed tones. At one point I did think I was having a hot flush, but then I realised it was just that Piglet had racked up the heating in the car. I had a tiny fibroid, which disrupted my periods badly and sometimes left me feeling washed out and exhausted. Medical intervention was felt to be inappropriate as the fibroid was so small, and would disappear when I became menopausal i.e. very soon. So I have been looking forward to the menopause, when my body might settle down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think this probably is IT. I checked out my symptoms on the <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/Pages/Introduction.aspx" target="_blank">NHS website</a>. To start with, my periods have disappeared - although I expect they will make a brief spectacular come-back at some highly inappropriate moment. The second key sign was that I became subject to mood swings. I felt very anxious, irritable, tear-y. Of course, being a community-minded mum, there were many reasons for me to be emotional: friend finally getting to move into safe new home, Piglet kicking off about next to nothing, the state of welfare provision - actually, don't talk to me about that right now.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wendyswizardofoz.com/glin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.wendyswizardofoz.com/glin.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://www.wendyswizardofoz.com/billie.htm" target="_blank">Wizard of Oz fan page</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's June so the weather is warm, but these feel like hot flushes. Luckily I'm not getting the breaking out into a bad sweat thing (yet). I can imagine the way I feel could be disruptive but I am just going with it. If I don't stress up about it, it's actually fun to go round in a sort of pink glow, panting lightly. Some people would pay, LOL.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(If it gets too distracting, I will go and ask about <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hormone-replacement-therapy/pages/introduction.aspx" target="_blank">Hormone Replacement Therapy</a>.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I feel curiously more feminine, not less - more aware of my body. I am wondering a bit what additional changes are going to happen. When exactly will my hair get grey and stringy? I have been lucky and my hair is still dark, although with silver streaks. I figure this is my last chance to wear it long. When hair is grey, I think it looks better with a short crop. I have good skin too. (For now? Maybe I need to go shopping for a luxurious perfumed lotion, and have tea and cakes.) When hairdressers try to persuade me to dye, I laugh and say: "No, I like to look at least half my age." I am just sayin' - if you think my hair is getting scraggy, tip me the wink so I can finally go for the low maintenance short sharp look. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I do have the short term memory and sleep issues too. Yesterday I forgot to give Piglet her dinner money and snack money. Last night, I just stayed up watching half a film and doing ironing - but I went to bed forgetting to switch the iron off! I just have to be a bit more mindful, which is not that easy when the mornings are a mad scramble to get the Piglet ready and out the door. Still, she is old enough now for it to be a training exercise: "You really should be able to get your own school things together." (Actually, she mostly can by now. Phew, I'm glad I did that bit of parenting in good time ahead of secondary school!)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://fatcatart.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Rubens-Bacchus-cat-w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://fatcatart.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Rubens-Bacchus-cat-w.jpg" height="200" width="168" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://fatcatart.com/2012/03/u-vakxa-pyatnicco/?lang=en" target="_blank">FatCatArt</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh, and I have been carrying a bit of extra weight which I was surprised didn't shift. After we recently moved house, Piglet and I had a much longer cycle ride to school and I did think I would lose the chub as I knew I was getting fitter. However, the cycle ride unfortunately goes right past a cafe with fantastic cakes. I think that probably is the real explanation for my maintaining a stubbornly Rubenesque figure, LOL. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Princess%20from%20the%20Land%20of%20Porcelain%20James%20McNeill%20Whistler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Princess%20from%20the%20Land%20of%20Porcelain%20James%20McNeill%20Whistler.jpg" height="200" style="cursor: move;" width="112" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">McNeill Whistler's <i><a href="http://www.canvasreplicas.com/Whistler102.htm" target="_blank">Princess </a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>from the Land of Porcelain</i>. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All in all, it reminds me of having periods. The clumsiness, the feeling of being slow. I was lucky enough to be part of a black women's poetry movement in the 1990s when some fantastic poetry was being written about PMT, like <a href="http://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/patience-agbabi" target="_blank">Patience Agbabi</a>'s <a href="http://www.movingvoices.co.uk/poems/pat/patFrameset.htm" target="_blank"><i>It's Better Post- Than Pre-</i></a>. Wise women's words helped me realise that if I rushed around, I felt irritable, anxious and stressed during my period. If I took things gently and enjoyed the extra awareness of the world which comes at that time, it could be a sensual and pleasurable experience. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s.ecrater.com/stores/237669/4f52233ec10aa_237669n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://s.ecrater.com/stores/237669/4f52233ec10aa_237669n.jpg" height="200" width="166" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Poster from <a href="http://printscharming.ecrater.com/p/14163715/keep-calm-and-eat-chocolate-print" target="_blank">PrintsCharming</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think Changing to become more in tune with my body and the world is probably a more human experience, compared to rushing through trying to do more and more every day. I shall wear loose flowing clothing more flattering to my mature figure and buy an attractive fan to languidly wave when I am all aglow. Possibly a matching hat. And chocolate - I'm sure I ought to have a craving for chocolate too. Anyway, chocolate is always good ;). </span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-89794445236510189812015-06-14T09:13:00.000-07:002015-06-14T09:13:45.534-07:00The Eternal City<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a wonderful and surprisingly inexpensive holiday in Rome. I promised a couple of people tips and thought I would share them here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Going to Rome offers exciting learning opportunities for piglets of Piglet's age (11), as they have usually done the invasion of Britain by Romans in history at school, and will give a cursory glance to splendid examples of renaissance art. (Accompanied by exclamations of prudish horror - "ugh! gross" - if these are nude studies, LOL.) </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://static.hive.co.uk/9781409369042/m144/m400/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://static.hive.co.uk/9781409369042/m144/m400/image.jpg" height="200" width="137" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Available from <a href="http://www.hive.co.uk/book/eyewitness-travel-family-guide-rome/19311321/" target="_blank">Hive</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To start with, I bought the Dorling Kindersley Family guidebook to Rome. I checked out lots of books in an actual bookshop rather than online. (That was so nice it felt like the start of my holiday! it's a long time since I've been in a proper bookshop.) Many guide books are still lists of places to stay with a quick checklist of price range and facilities. However nowadays this information is more easily available online, so I found the DK book much better value. It tells you the sort of place to go and stay in rather than specific hotels etc. My friend also lent me the DK grown-ups' book, which was likewise full of useful tips. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nowadays, Roman families are allowed to rent out a room on a B&B principle and I thought this would be a jolly experience for Piglet and me. The DK book suggested that Trastevere is a cheaper and more family-friendly area to stay in than central Rome so I went on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/" target="_blank">Tripadvisor</a> to check out what I could find there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I found Tripadvisor very easy to get around. The places on there are reviewed by people who stayed or ate at them and pictures are often amateur so they give you a good idea of what the place is actually like. I found a tiny studio flat which was very highly rated, and which was about 50 - 500 € <i><b>per night </b></i>cheaper than a hotel room would have been. This made the whole holiday much more affordable. Some cheap flights in my shopping basket and we were on our way!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Be careful of flight providers on Tripadvisor. I started with one offering very cheap flights, then it gave me a message saying those flights were no longer available but wait! just two seats available at a little bit more than that, no they'd gone although there were two seats more ... I used <a href="http://www.traveltrolley.co.uk/" target="_blank">TravelTrolley</a> in the end. They were really good, and even answered my emailed question about baggage allowance quickly and courteously.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdr7X9pbzGcmkQ13liuwo60JX7CkZ3tV_uBXCgwQ2EHRX9bbFVtrI0ad8DGCvU7w6I9bGphfR_y_jMqfSNa7NhEGNIJ0zbQR2OTyr2bUgvEt015pJqtr_MTZ923bbhNgQvLIrPgjQRVIo/s1600/DSC_2607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdr7X9pbzGcmkQ13liuwo60JX7CkZ3tV_uBXCgwQ2EHRX9bbFVtrI0ad8DGCvU7w6I9bGphfR_y_jMqfSNa7NhEGNIJ0zbQR2OTyr2bUgvEt015pJqtr_MTZ923bbhNgQvLIrPgjQRVIo/s200/DSC_2607.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because I had saved so much money with the accommodation, we were able to be self-indulgent about going out and about in Rome. The studio flat I had rented had excellent cooking facilities and was in an area where actual normal Roman families live. There were little supermarkets and a lovely outdoor market selling fresh fish, fruit and vegetables round the corner. However I was on holiday! so I'm afraid most days I didn't even do breakfast, just booted Piglet out into the local caf<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span>s for a proper caffe latte and some nice sugar-laden pastries. (BTW, there are also a couple of highly recommended speciality food shops in the Via di S. Francesco a Ripa in Trastevere, don't miss those for nice food-y presents to take home.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We almost never used public transport, since everything was much nearer everything else than I'd expected. Even from Trastevere, which is not in the city centre, it was possible to walk to all the major attractions. We did get on the tram once or twice, and attempted to use ticket machines. But ordinary Romans got that blank look on their faces when we asked about it, which means: 'we are not going to talk about it but we all illegally skip fares here', so we never managed to pay properly. Walking is best. It allows you to constantly come across some amazing ruin which the traffic just goes carelessly past, or some other fun thing. One time we were going past the garages of the anti-maffia offices, and the mobile phone of one of the drivers rang. I kid you not, it was the theme music to <i>The Godfather</i>! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My main rule was: do a little of everything. In that way, I felt satisfied that I had seen enough, and that Piglet had got a good all-round understanding of Rome, while she wasn't over-tired. She was already very tired when we set out on the trip as she had sat national exams a week beforehand, and had quite bad hay fever, however this strategy worked so well that she was more rested and brighter when we got back, and so was I.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At times I did feel anxious and bad-tempered about having to fight with Piglet and force her to stir her trotters to see some of the wonderful sights of Rome. However luckily on about Day 3 I saw an even more unfortunate family picnicking on the Palatine Hill. They had a 9 year old and a 5 year old. The 9 year old was weeping with exhaustion to the parents' frustration and I overheard them admonish him to try and enjoy it as he was spoiling it for everyone-else. The 5 year old had discovered that if he kicked about on the ground, it threw up dust into everyone-else's eyes and over their sandwiches and earnt him a great deal of (extremely angry) attention so he was busy doing this. I could see the parents were on the edge of despair, having spent so much money to take their uninterested brats to the wonderful city of Rome and being unable to enjoy it themselves because the kids were totally turned off by the whole thing. I realised that all kids weep, moan and drag their feet about the heights of cultural achievement and that you are entitled to tow them round (by the hair if necessary), and just ignore their squealing. When we got back, Piglet told everyone with great excitement about all the amazing things we had seen and learned about, even though at the time she bitterly complained and lay down on parts of the amazing things pretending to make snoring noises. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Day 1 - Sunday. Trastevere hosts a fab flea market! so we headed on down there to get something for the cats (ho ho! geddit?). Piglet groaned and dragged her feet of course, but picked up very rapidly when confronted with about a mile of bling priced @ 1€ for many little items. We wandered back through the cobbled narrow streets of Trastevere and I let her just pick out any restaurant she liked the look of to avoid her grumbling about my choice. There was of course no McDonalds, and I figured the little venues with tables on the cobbled pavements would all have great family cooking. We had simple yet exceedingly tasty spaghetti and gnocchi dishes and went on in search of gelati.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We wandered onto the island in the middle of the Tiber, buying delicious grattachecca en route (these are the local Trastevere ices - grated ice and fruit syrup). Later we bought a very good book in the Colloseum bookshop, which uses lift-up flaps to show you how buildings used to look and how they look today. Then we realised that the island used to be built like a boat in the river. The best day to go is Sunday, when there are street traders on the old bridges over to the island and lots of people strolling about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Day 2 - Piglet had fixated on a toy shop listed in the guide book so we went to the Piazza Navona in search of it. Sadly it was filled with charming hand-carved wooden toys and not a Barbie in sight. What a disappointment. We sat at an overpriced restaurant in the piazza and had a coffee and ice cream, but I insisted we not eat there. Instead we went to the Piazza della Rotunda where we also visited the Pantheon. I'm not sure that meal was cheaper but the waiters were much jollier and there were actual Italians eating at the restaurant, whereas Piazza Navona seemed to be mainly tired footsore tourists. Inspired by the people who had sat next to us in Piazza Navona, Piglet ordered pizza and chips. I was careful not to imitate our fellow tourists and ask how long our food would take - poor things! what had they come on holiday to do, if they couldn't lounge about taking three hours over lunch? I tried to pretend the chips were for me but the waiters laughed merrily and put them well out of my reach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Later in the week we went back to Piazza della Rotunda and visited a couple of nearby churches, including Sant'Ignazio. Piglet protested bitterly at going to a church when we are bad Buddhists but I chastised her for being such a philistine and insisted. She was actually of course charmed when I made her stand on the star in front of the altar looking upwards, and then put 50c in a slot at the side which made the roof above light up and show a fun trompe-l'oeil ceiling painted to look as if there was a cuppola rising above. I let her light a candle and say a prayer for someone even though we are bad Buddhists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We also checked out the front of the rococco </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Santa Maria Maddalena. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Day 3 - we went to the Colloseum. I bought Roma passes, which are about 35€ and will last for three days and get you into some other museums too. We didn't manage to get along to any of those, but I felt the extra money was worth it as it enabled us to join a much shorter queue at the Colloseum. There are three extremely badly sign-posted queues: one for school trips, one for advance tickets (including Roma passes) and one for people who are paying on the day - that last one looks like it's only the same length but it actually takes a lot longer once it gets inside the building so make sure you get the right one by asking around and hunting for the exceedingly small sign. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piglet wanted an audio guide so I bought her one, and it broke up the trip round nicely for her. She could look out for numbers on the walls and get information from the guide instead of from mum-nearly-as-old-as-the-Colloseum. I shan't go on about what a fabulous experience it was; it really was worth going to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I hadn't quite realised that the Palatine Hill and Forum are right next door so very easy to go to in the same day (and your ticket covers all of them). The Palatine Hill is more like a pleasant park with occasional ruins in it, and it's very normal to picnic there so we did that. Then I fibbed that the way home was through the Forum so we walked leisurely past the wonderful remains of buildings there. By saying things like: "Oh, is the exit this way?" I managed to get round most of it without too much bitter complaint from Piglet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Day 4 - we went to Piazza di Spagna. This was a total gurrllzzz day out, and my main fun day. I said forcefully to Piglet that we had done a lot of things she wanted to do on the other days (which was not strictly true! but can be made to look as if it is) so she must not complain if we did things for me that day. Actually of course she really enjoyed it, especially since whining had been knocked off the agenda.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We got the tram to Piazza Venezia, then walked along the Via del Corso, and saw street entertainers and guys with cute puppies begging. The Marcus Aurelius column is along here and worth stopping to check out, if you are not distracted by the Zara window display opposite. We turned down Via Borgognona and wandered into Guccis and Balenciaga. Don't be surprised if someone follows you round as you go through these stores, LOL. I was smartly dressed and actually buying something (very small!) and they still went everywhere with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think Piglet actually liked the fountain in Piazza di Spagna best. You can get close to the 'leaking boat' and dabble your feet in its water and drink from the spouts out the side of it.The fountain is of course right in front of the beautiful Spanish Steps - which all us gurrlzzz know from Roman Holiday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To one side of the Spanish Steps is the famous caf<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span> Babington's, set up by two English ladies in 1893. Deliciously period, you feel as if Maggie Smith is going to sweep in fully costumed for <i>A Room with a View</i>, followed by Cher from <i>Tea with Mussolini</i>. The food actually is great, the scones are not quite as they make them in Britain - crisper, however they serve them properly with jam and cream. The teapots are lovely as they are surmounted by little cats: the symbol of the cafe being a black cat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the other side of the Spanish Steps is the Keats-Shelley museum and once you have had your afternoon tea, you must of course go there - or you must go there first and then you can sigh and shed a little tear over your tea. The rooms are beautifully laid out in period furnishings, and you can stand in the room where Keats died; if you are still and quiet you can hear the rushing sound of water which he used to hear. (He wanted his epitaph to be: <i>Here lies one whose name was writ in water</i>.) You can buy nice books and bookmarks and cards, etc. A big bonus is that they will let you leave heavy bags in lockers near the cash desk, so you don't have to lug these round while you sigh over the romantic poets' untimely demises.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Available from <a href="http://www.hive.co.uk/book/steampunk-mary-shelleys-frankenstein/13066789/" target="_blank">Hive</a> for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">an incredibly cheap price</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Later on in my trip, I went to the super fun English bookshop <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Almost-Corner-Bookshop/183431962225" target="_blank">Almost Corner</a>, which is in Trastevere, and bought a steampunk edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Because of its Romantic themes about the beauties of nature, and the exciting story, and the peculiar circumstances of her writing it to entertain Byron and Shelley, I felt this was the best book to read in relation to visiting the museum. (Mary Shelley Godwin is herself an exciting and interesting person, well worth reading up about.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Day 4 - we hung around Trastevere, checking out the shops and caf<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span>s in the narrow medieval cobbled streets. You can buy pizza by the slice here, and we sometimes had lunch for 3 or 4</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">€</span> the pair of us! We found one shop serving potato pizza and another doing hot-dog-and-chips pizza, evidently influenced by the many American students in the area. The hot crispy pizza is really delicious whatever they put on it so you can try what you like with impunity. Check out Piazza di Santa Maria where the young people all hang out around the central fountain. There are little stalls selling jewellery and scarves and stuff, as well as the small shops full of jewellery and scarves and shoes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVyt6iYJnJtI8UajF4IcF9wWJnxT_FrqCCfzeZijwHHmG7z3XyLdRZT0KJkcWaMZhIAVIu6G2nJ_C_m8Qc35yunpWr8oxZSKcsOm_hUaaHY9qI_rjk-RBUy-ps4F5u07cHhj-XE-qpQE/s1600/DSC_2825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVyt6iYJnJtI8UajF4IcF9wWJnxT_FrqCCfzeZijwHHmG7z3XyLdRZT0KJkcWaMZhIAVIu6G2nJ_C_m8Qc35yunpWr8oxZSKcsOm_hUaaHY9qI_rjk-RBUy-ps4F5u07cHhj-XE-qpQE/s200/DSC_2825.jpg" width="150" /></a>Day 5 - we headed through the narrow medieval gate and went to the Villa Farnesina. I had decided queueing for two hours in order to walk for six hours round miles and miles of exquisite world-famous art in the Vatican might tax Piglet's fledgling powers of art appreciation, so I chose to go to this nearby little villa instead. It has two Raphael frescos - which is one more than Piglet can really take in. There was no queue at all, and the villa was full of charming paintings aside from the Raphael frescos, including these shutters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> We went on from the villa to check out the Garibaldi Monument on the Janiculum Hill. (Romans call this the Giardini del Gianicolo.) By mistake, we ended up in the Orto Botanico - the Botanical Gardens. As we had paid for tickets to get in there, I insisted we walk round it and get our money's worth. It was very charming and refreshing. We found a pretty Japanese garden at the top with a pond full of large koi carp, and sat in the pavillion eating cherries and chatting to a kindly French couple.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Giardini del Gianicolo is free, LOL. The climb up the hill is a bit stiff but by going a long way ahead, I managed to lose the wailing cries of the plaintive Piglet toiling along behind me. The view from the top is spectacular so it actually is worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are many other things so worth seeing in Rome! The catacombs, the Terme di Caracalla, and I wished we could go out of the city to see the <a href="http://www.poetrynook.com/poem/villa-deste-gardens" target="_blank">Villa d'Este Gardens</a>, and Piglet wished we could go out of the city to some sort of waterworld thing full of flumes. However my take-it-easy plan meant we came back informed, refreshed and very well fed, laden with multi-coloured pasta, packets of dried porcini and Italian sweets - which are of course very different to British sweets. </span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-86511535906108495342015-05-10T22:30:00.004-07:002015-05-10T22:30:56.849-07:00A Moment Between Life and Death<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I knew this moment would come and am more surprised it's taken so long than anything else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We moved not long ago to a light airy maisonette beside a park. Our sizeable garden is bordered by trees, full of squirrels and birds. As Spring blossomed, the trees grew young leaf and the birds were busy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We have two cats. I knew one day they would bring back a bird. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They started modestly with a couple of mice and sometimes an earthworm. Then this afternoon, they suddenly produced three baby birds. Two had already been despatched, either by the mother cat who brings home her catches or her now grown-up kitten. Piglet saw the mother cat bring one in through the catflap still alive and howled to me as I put the two little corpses in the bin. (The days when I soloemnly buried these casualties of cat ownership are long gone.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I went and picked up the fledgling. It was quite old but not old enough to fly. It sat in my gently curled fingers, a bundle of feathers barely big enough to contain the rapid beating of its heart. Piglet howled that it couldn't go in the bin. She insisted it should go back to its nest but I had no idea where the nest could be, we are surrounded by coppices full of robins and sparrows and blue tits and magpies and starlings and even a wren. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Eventually I took it round to the trees and put it on the ground under the holly bush. Wild romantic thoughts flitted through my mind of keeping it and trying to feed it (with what?). I knew this would only mean it died slowly in front of our eyes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The tiny bird shuffled rapidly along the ground through dried dead leaves larger than it was. I left it to an unknown fate. "Perhaps it will survive," I said to Piglet. We both knew I was lying. We would rather not know the truth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piglet is quite old now, so I explained Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. I'm not a romantic thinker, I'm a humanist. I don't think animals have the same level of consciousness. I explained to Piglet that we can't blame the cats. They are driven to what they do, it's how they are. We can't lock them in the house for their evil crime that was not against nature, it was entirely in line with their nature, with Nature red in tooth and claw. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Robert Graves describes <a href="http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/cool-web" target="_blank">The Cool Web</a> of language, he believed children experience the world more intensely, while for us, "There's a cool web of language winds us in/Retreat from too much joy or too much fear." Perhaps my words tempered the shock for Piglet, came between her and the sudden death before her eyes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are Buddhists (not very good ones!). For us the world is all a web, not cool; hot, bloody, sparkling, interlinked. For us, the bird, the trees, the cats, the earth, the sky are one. It's all unwound in chaos. For a moment as I put the bird in the leaves, I had an anthropomorphic horror, thinking of it there alone, getting cold as night comes in, hungry. Birds are not like us, they don't have the same consciousness. It wasn't alone, it was in the leaves, under the trees, with the sound of the wind and other birds around. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I thought for a moment, too, that the other birds, who were swiftly killed by the cats, were luckier. Then, that each little spark of life deserves its moment in the hot web of life, its full agonising moment, that makes up that little strand of Life. The dark of death defines those little sparking moments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I didn't exactly cry, and if I did, I knew it wasn't for the little bird. I used to live in a house that was more confined, a smaller garden surrounded by a lane and busy road. We had mice but only once or twice a bird, and never fledglings. We never such a brutal reminder of the rich tapestry of life - and death, the dark that sets off the golden threads. For a brief spell, I've been immersed in it, a raw consciousness of life and death, of a natural world which is not cruel but indifferent to whether you can take your chances or miss them. I still like to live next to the park, the trees, the many birds. I still love the cats, who are not indifferent - often grumpy, shy of other people, sometimes suddenly coming to curl close to one of us - their chosen humans, and purr and sleep in our laps. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-60732469250828831862015-04-25T11:20:00.000-07:002015-04-25T11:28:51.549-07:00The Bluebell Woods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasV-TX0O4vgxMGyiMw8i0T86K0ZVJzPZ_zN776MhFKtJjgOg6FVP9j_vW5Gg5tCmLTWMoKAYv2dIVQvlItF7YQyna8Q4gqrD0vNfvDa9Dn86dZWSSpbWnPVWnWktYtLHRQfN5Ti9PFb8/s1600/DSC_2594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasV-TX0O4vgxMGyiMw8i0T86K0ZVJzPZ_zN776MhFKtJjgOg6FVP9j_vW5Gg5tCmLTWMoKAYv2dIVQvlItF7YQyna8Q4gqrD0vNfvDa9Dn86dZWSSpbWnPVWnWktYtLHRQfN5Ti9PFb8/s1600/DSC_2594.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's about three years since I was shown the Bluebell Woods and every year at this time I think about going there. I didn't pay very close attention to how you got there so it was an adventure! You know, the sort where you go: "Come on! I'm sure it's down this little road," and a rearguard of piglets squeals reluctantly along saying they want to go home, LOL. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Actually the way to get there is a not very visible footpath on the North-Eastern side, close to the roundabout at the junction of Rhiwbina Hill and Pantmawr Road. The path runs down to a footbridge over a stream. Opposite is a lovely hillside just made for dog walking and picnics. (This is not a wheelchair accessible walk, and best done with children who no longer need a pushchair.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There isn't parking, as such, nor anywhere to leave the bikes (which is how we had got there - that accounted for some of the squealing: <i>my legs hurt</i>, <i>I'm ti-ired</i>). We took the bikes down the little path and locked them all together by the stream. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our picnic on the hillside was enlivened by friendly passing dogs trying to join us. After we had proved victorious, and fed, I lured the piglets on by saying since we had come that far, we might as well look around before going home. My own piglet said that she had had a look and there was nothing but I was obdurate, and my lack of confidence in her ability to identify the start to long walks was justified by the sight of a wooden post with faded arrows among the blackberry bushes, pointing towards the footbridge over the motorway. I love watching motorway traffic go by, which is why I particularly wanted to go that route to the Bluebell Woods. (I also saw a whole bank of cowslips on the hillside into which the motorway is cut.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over the footbridge, we wended through some hedges and there was a meadow with the woods at its farther edge. The woods were full of bluebells and many other flowers: violets, anemones, celandines.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"No no, you go on Mum. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We'll catch you up, honest." </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One thing we couldn't find was wild garlic. I was surprised and disappointed, as I'd specially bought some Parmesan and nuts that morning to make <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/wild-garlic-pestou.html" target="_blank">wild garlic pestou</a>. But I felt that at least I'd managed to drag the piglets out to see the bluebells, which was the main aim. They blow over so quickly and I knew that if we didn't make it out this luckily sunny afternoon, that would be it for another year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the way back, right by the footbridge over the stream, what should I see but a whole shimmering colony of wild garlic starred with white flowers. The piglets laughed heartily to think we'd looked all through the woods for some and it was just growing right there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwb5E3uWK_qjQm6Rjp44DVKMcXp_yvaex0yplYCivMn-1Xk-vxoErkH2mmfmBiLVsxH28fz1WnerjvFQAexZOOSKYH4pK7oFa0WERfyZzLXkdHXZIC2vDvFaLxvbah402O_73ahGRmNsM/s1600/DSC_2599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwb5E3uWK_qjQm6Rjp44DVKMcXp_yvaex0yplYCivMn-1Xk-vxoErkH2mmfmBiLVsxH28fz1WnerjvFQAexZOOSKYH4pK7oFa0WERfyZzLXkdHXZIC2vDvFaLxvbah402O_73ahGRmNsM/s1600/DSC_2599.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was very pleased that I'd worn my wellies and could wade in the stream to pick a couple of handfuls of tender young leaves, although not quite so pleased when I realised my right wellie has a leak in it and so I shall have to buy some new ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-53283575588865916352015-02-27T06:57:00.000-08:002015-02-27T06:57:45.884-08:00Piglet on Wheels<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bikes2udirect.com/bikes_html/images/items/B2618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bikes2udirect.com/bikes_html/images/items/B2618.jpg" height="195" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Available from <a href="http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B2618.html" target="_blank">Bikes 2U Direct</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We bought Piglet's first bike online; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">subsequent ones from a good local </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">family shop (<a href="http://www.damianharriscycles.co.uk/" target="_blank">Damian Harris Cycles</a>).</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://bigpedal.org.uk/" target="_blank">The Big Pedal</a> starts next week! </i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piglet never had a tricycle; she started out on the Disney Princess bike with trainer wheels. It also of course had bangles, beads and other accessories stuck on anywhere there was space. She would cycle it fiercely round and round the park with great pleasure, dressed up as Snow White, while I dozed on a bench wrapped in a winter coat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I first tried to take the trainer wheels off, I started with just one. I read somewhere that if you take one wheel off, your piglet gets some sense of balance then you take the other off and they are away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not so! I took both trainer wheels off and ran alongside Piglet shoving her on the Disney Princess embellished creation. She rolled along the path a little way with her feet twinkling round on the pedals. Almost immediately she would be distracted: "Oh look! Birds! Sky!" Whump! grass and mud and howls of outrage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The trainer wheels went back on and we trundled very slowly to and from school in this way occasionally. One day a small boy of our acquaintance saw us and, with typical total lack of tact and social savoir-faire, gasped out: "Do you still have trainer wheels?!!" Piglet turned to me as soon as we got home and said: "Take them off." We went to the park and instead of trying to push her along the long straight paths, she had a go at riding the bike in a square tarmac-ed area. Because she could wobble over it in all different directions, she got on much better and in only one day she was riding pretty well.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://create-cdn.net/siteimages/30/3/3/303314/93/6/5/9365495/500x315.jpg?1417014767" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://create-cdn.net/siteimages/30/3/3/303314/93/6/5/9365495/500x315.jpg?1417014767" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Pigletocycle - pic from <a href="http://www.fishfacecycles.com/ourshop/prod_3616815-Dawes-Paris-26-MTB-Light-Blue-Girls-Bike.html" target="_blank">Fishface </a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We began to progress onto bikes with a couple of gears - that was an exciting step up! although Piglet did cast a wistful look at the Princess decorations she was having to leave behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now came the training of Piglet in road sense. Initially she cycled on the pavement and I went alongside. This was quite annoying as we had to stop every time we got to a road crossing and I had to shout at Piglet to give way to pushchairs and other parents. However in this way we got used to the route to school. Encouraged by bike-it breakfast and the promise of glittering <strike>prizes</strike> certificates, we joined in Cycle-to-School days, weeks and months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am a highly proficient cyclist, having trained myself on the London freeways. Once you have learnt to dodge in and out three lanes of blocked traffic including double decker buses, a lorry which got lost on its way to Wembley and a red sports car whose driver nearly explodes as you go zooming past it while it sits at 0 mph in the central lane, there are few problems in a city where you can go down a <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/bicycle-ethnography-along-taff-trail.html" target="_blank">dedicated cycle route into town</a> at risk only of a seagull pooing on you while you admire the trees draping their leaves delicately around the weir on the river. I do not like to boast, but I acksherly used to cycle with no hands sometimes, on my Dawes Horizon touring bike (sigh).Not so easy on a Landrover Ascot with two large panniers loaded with fruit, vegetables, sausages and a delicate box of meringues absolutely necessary for making some prized Piglet pudding. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I could not believe the things I had to train Piglet into in order to get her tootling along the road instead of the pavement! My hair still rises when I remember the time I shouted 'turn left!' and, accustomed to walking across the road at that point and continuing on the pavement on the other side, she veered right across the junction in front of a car about to turn into the main road. Turning a tight corner instead of wobbling about in front of a bus took three or four training sessions. I took to explaining the road markings while we walked to school, it was easier than howling: "That white line means the other side is for oncoming vehicles!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I kept meaning to sign her up for a <a href="http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cycletraining/article/ct20110111-cycletraining-What-is-Bikeability-0" target="_blank">road-sense cycle session</a> (they will do them in her school but not till next academic year), but we got on with it on quiet roads and she is pretty good these days. I cycle behind her and slightly wide of her so that cars coming up behind us are obliged to skirt well clear of her (as they drive to school too fast, having set off late because they thought the drive would not take very long and have suddenly remembered that parking will). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBlBrV7rLC_jV-iha4p0F-WtU-CifMEbuB2_QVL5VbEDsg_IdNm9V9RIo54r7W0Nx3hpA_9TIohy5AEk4rMkPgHUQ-b-jk5jwMGiyextHtJxr2pxb2xyDHA-q0K5tEGxQwt2KrM_PKuM/s1600/DSC_1823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBlBrV7rLC_jV-iha4p0F-WtU-CifMEbuB2_QVL5VbEDsg_IdNm9V9RIo54r7W0Nx3hpA_9TIohy5AEk4rMkPgHUQ-b-jk5jwMGiyextHtJxr2pxb2xyDHA-q0K5tEGxQwt2KrM_PKuM/s1600/DSC_1823.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the whole, other cars are good as they realise she is a small learner human. They drive in a way which allows for Piglet to suddenly be distracted by the sight of a classmate, wave at them and veer sideways in consequence. Occasionally one of them will do something bonkers, like attempt to wave her into the road in front of their car contrary to the right-of-way. (I know this seems kind, but Piglet cannot learn proper road sense if others don't stick to the rules.) My main difficulty these days is that Piglet has become such a good cyclist she speeds way ahead of me and I am left puffing and panting behind with the violin strapped to my back - and of course also the two large panniers stuffed with fruit, vegetables, sausages and a delicate box of cream slices.</span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-22118644545568104462015-02-17T13:19:00.001-08:002015-02-18T01:41:39.871-08:00Barbie ... Makes a Mistake<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://pamie.com/files/2014/11/barbie1-250x266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="barbie1" border="0" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17705" src="http://pamie.com/files/2014/11/barbie1-250x266.jpg" height="200" width="187" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There is a lot of swearing in <a href="http://pamie.com/2014/11/barbie-fucks-it-up-again/" target="_blank">this blogpost</a>, which is a fairly critical review of the story of how Barbie gets into computing, LOL. I laughed so hard reading this poor mum's vitriolic comments on Barbie having to get Steve and Brian to help her when her computer goes wrong, and how she has a pink heart-shaped memory stick which she keeps handily on her necklace, that Piglet came running downstairs ... from tidying up her Barbies! to see what was going on. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Barbie computer </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">engineer - only </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">£199.99! from </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barbie-Can-Computer-Engineer-Doll-x/dp/B0042ESG9W" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But never fear, fellow feminist mums and dads! When I read her the passage in which Barbie asks for the guys' help, the Piglet nose went into a real pig shape. Piglet is an IT Digital leader in her school, has her own blogs and herself sorted out the child safety toggle on our internet access (incidentally making it difficult for me to access some of the sites I need for my research work). I don't think she will be asking Steve and Brian to sort out her computer.</span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unless, like me, she sometimes finds it easier to sit back and have a coffee while the guys get on with it (wink). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">OK, that was a joke! It can be a real problem when people think women are just not as computer-savvy. We are not always completely au fait with the HDD capacity, RAM and CPU details, but most guys aren't either. We usually know what we need the computer to do for us, and we expect an expert to tell us how it's going to achieve that.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe I'll buy Piglet <a href="http://www.hive.co.uk/book/the-manga-guide-to-the-universe/9570481/" target="_blank">this book</a><br />
instead of Barbie books.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I once went to PC World to buy a computer. I took the Fella with me for company. Carelessly placing my debit card on the table, clearly labelled <i>Dr. Mum</i>, I explained to the salesman that I teach using heavy online tutorial packages and do research, needing to operate several different kinds of data analysing software. The salesman turned to the Fella and explained that what he should buy me was the pink-and-white cheap machine which would allow me to write up shopping lists and go on Facebook. No, no, I am totally serious here! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nowadays I go on a forum where I have friends who are techie-minded, and I get their advice on what to buy. Then I go to John Lewis and ask some more, sprinkling my conversation with technical terms I picked up from my friends. When I am confident I am not being patronised, I purchase the machine I want. I date back to the age before the internet, when dinosaurs roamed the land and we played cards by candlelight. I have only a vague idea what an app is, but I don't buy if the sales person comes with the one for sexism hard-wired into their brain. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ETA - apparently Mattell have apologised and withdrawn <i>Barbie the Computer Engineer </i>from sale! </span><br />
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Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-71889712716067031202015-02-12T09:42:00.001-08:002015-02-12T09:42:24.409-08:00Forest Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PO_pDpLPOIOsJ3LKj0sQAX4zVhXWURqccjjkKJmILJOVdgNPrHt22wRarrqE-QPOx3t5dPCDMFu-12qCVJbV-csSfKlHjLfK7dJhRenpUsedsvzJkASbWgT3NkgBn23YkDw0EjMJmr4/s1600/DSC_2530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PO_pDpLPOIOsJ3LKj0sQAX4zVhXWURqccjjkKJmILJOVdgNPrHt22wRarrqE-QPOx3t5dPCDMFu-12qCVJbV-csSfKlHjLfK7dJhRenpUsedsvzJkASbWgT3NkgBn23YkDw0EjMJmr4/s1600/DSC_2530.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was a day like Spring, a perfect day for a cycle ride. I said to my trusty companion: "Let's go out on the bikes." Piglet of course said: "No, no-o-o-o! agh agh no! I had exercise today, I don't wanna go out, wah wah." I was obdurate so we set off in the wash of pale cold sunshine. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dq8jhUkAFQFppD2Ds3w1WXL-SnRelYrfgbJb8y1ThfONv5ZoJ8GvV5gvYoXkYn5an3NlULg9AVNv_sxCsKI7qLTaFS3U9I8PQUJZ_KMirQQFnpDevqJmcK64A2FPxH4WwJuCUidxrHs/s1600/DSC_2528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dq8jhUkAFQFppD2Ds3w1WXL-SnRelYrfgbJb8y1ThfONv5ZoJ8GvV5gvYoXkYn5an3NlULg9AVNv_sxCsKI7qLTaFS3U9I8PQUJZ_KMirQQFnpDevqJmcK64A2FPxH4WwJuCUidxrHs/s1600/DSC_2528.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Forest Farm is just by the <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/wild-garlic-pestou.html" target="_blank">Taff Trail</a>. Bygone agricultural methods are tried out there in a casual sort of way, they seem to be making charcoal as this used to be a staple industry in the area. However on a cold Sunday in February it was locked up and at first Piglet gleefully said we would just have to go home. I found a gate with a chain only looped round it at the side, so we ventured in. The paths were empty of people and there were snowdrops dotted here and there. It was very peaceful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the time we had had a pleasant meander, Piglet was of course keen to go further so we cycled along the Taff Trail to the pebble beach under the weir. The trail was crowded with people but Piglet considerately rang her bell loudly in their ears to warn them she was about to crash into them. Catkins have come out already. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIh9O03hqA4CjvQn3dZhCVlKomXz6jPgnqGsMdZ50lqyrDXouPq6B8G6NENIkU6-xToYFy8F8tOBMQFf2FNnBtVkHmFpANUsmw90iF-GnOLgYnFdBZgfOHSTh7FLBawcYx3BOjKjzEsJk/s1600/DSC_2531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIh9O03hqA4CjvQn3dZhCVlKomXz6jPgnqGsMdZ50lqyrDXouPq6B8G6NENIkU6-xToYFy8F8tOBMQFf2FNnBtVkHmFpANUsmw90iF-GnOLgYnFdBZgfOHSTh7FLBawcYx3BOjKjzEsJk/s1600/DSC_2531.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-52509561335338131242014-10-25T02:12:00.000-07:002014-10-29T08:56:18.347-07:00Healthy Relationships Education<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<a href="http://www.shnwales.org.uk/page.cfm?orgid=485&pid=64014" target="_blank"></a><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shnwales.org.uk/gallery/485/AdviceSheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.shnwales.org.uk/gallery/485/AdviceSheet.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advice sheet for parents<br />
from <a href="http://www.shnwales.org.uk/page.cfm?orgid=485&pid=64014" target="_blank">All Wales </a><br />
<a href="http://www.shnwales.org.uk/page.cfm?orgid=485&pid=64014" target="_blank">Sexual Health Network</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In another life, I do research on identity politics and equalities. My most recent project was a study of government policy on Sex and Relationships Education. I had a great opportunity to go and present on this work to my local Labour Women's Group. We had a good discussion about why education in schools should consider supporting children's growing social skills and self-esteem, as well as their 3 'R's.</span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here in Wales, there are multiple reasons why a young person in some areas is more likely to need booster self-esteem innoculations. The <a href="http://www.assemblywales.org/NAfW%20Documents/tb-07-008.pdf%20-%2028072009/tb-07-008-English.pdf" target="_blank">economic deprivation of areas</a> from <a href="http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/poverty-and-ethnicity-wales" target="_blank">former mining villages in the Valleys to coastal strips in North Wales</a> has been the subject of report after report. There are bleak spots of high unemployment rates, <a href="http://www.poverty.org.uk/w24/index.shtml?2" target="_blank">high teenage pregnancy rates</a> (South Wales) and inexplicable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgend_suicide_incidents" target="_blank">high youth suicide rates</a> (Bridgend). In order to maximise chances of winning work if there is any available, and supporting their flagging spirits if it isn't, young people need to have robust self belief. Ditto, if we are expecting those young people to build a more positive society.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am a passionate believer in the importance of relationships education for more personal reasons too. Bringing up a 10 year old girl is enough to make anyone long for professional help. In two areas, I find myself constantly talking to Piglet about how to manage interactions with other human beings.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.fcs-net.com/surfer8.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fcs-net.com/surfer8.gif" height="180" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://www.fcs-net.com/internet_gateway_links.html" target="_blank">FCS Internet</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One area is internet safety, about which I've written <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/safe-surfing-for-piglets.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Although rules and guidance are being drafted for how children should safely surf the net, these are just the same kind of rules and guidance which ought to regulate their social lives generally. <i>If someone is mean, dump them</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That brings me on to the 'Real Life' relationship dramarama. For years now there has been a stream of 'she said this' and 'I only did that'. Lots of this can be discounted, and how nice it would be if Piglet learned a more measured attitude to her friends suddenly flouncing off. <i>Just wait till Monday and they will have forgotten about it</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">However, owing to Piglet's oversized bump of compassion, I have also had several years' worth of helping her manage more difficult relationships. There are a number of children in the Piglet universe whom I feel very sorry for. Their life chances are immeasurably lower than Piglet's, their parents have never had good social skills and unsurprisingly, they also struggle to engage well with teachers and fellow pupils. However much I want Piglet not to ignore or discount their troubles, I also want her not to come home sad because teachers told her off for talking. ("I was telling so-and-so not to whisper to me, she asks me the answers to things because the teachers tell her off so often she is scared to ask them.") I want her not to come home sad because someone pulled her hair all day. ("I know why she did it, mum. She is having a hard time." "Yes, but is she going to stop doing it? Spend a little time with her but most of your time with kids who treat you well.") </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I want those children to have better support, and I am telling Piglet to be more savvy and less sympathetic about who she chooses to play with.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There is the bullying too. Not the light racist bullying or normal bullying, the school is very good about those. The bullying by adults, ie teachers. I know this is rare, but I did have to tackle one teacher whose idea of the best way to get kids to learn was what we could politely term 'old-fashioned'. The misery for small children of being told all year they are lazy, stupid or otherwise not a good learner is horrible to witness, and when they get the message that kind of environment just has to be tolerated, it makes it hard for them to have self-esteem. For a little while, I said: "Well, I am sure she means well," and other awful things because it's a big thing to go and interfere in your child's education. But I kept listening and finally I lost my patience with what I was hearing from Piglet.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Respect for others, yes. Self-esteem, yes. Compassion for others, yes. Insisting on others behaving with respect, YES. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm afraid I finally got so cross that I went in the school and tore a strip off that teacher in the corridor. Kids came up to Piglet in the playground afterwards and said how glad they were I had done it, and I am too since it sent them the message that behaviour like that is not acceptable. A better way to support the children, though, would be to build it into lessons that they should expect from as well as give respect and consideration to adults.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/590x/EXdailyRoundup-copy-47889-487443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/590x/EXdailyRoundup-copy-47889-487443.jpg" height="118" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/487443/Newspaper-round-up-Child-sex-abuse-scandal-airport-security-and-Alzheimer-s-breakthrough" target="_blank">The Express</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Relationships Education is usually called Sex and Relationships Education, although not everywhere. (In Northern Ireland, it's called '<a href="http://www.fpa.org.uk/sites/default/files/northern-ireland-relationships-and-sexuality-education-in-schools.pdf" target="_blank">Relationships and Sexuality Education</a>'.) This does have the unfortunate effect of making it sound as if it's all about SEX!!! Tabloid papers can run rabid with headlines about toddlers being taught the missionary position. Parents can freak out and refuse to allow their children to watch 'that film'. Secondary school teachers' brains go on holiday at the prospect of talking to a class full of hormonal teenagers about SEX!!! At one workshop a young lad confided that he had learnt to put a condom on a banana five times in school. (As the joke goes, "I don't know how you got pregnant! I put the condom on the banana just like they showed us in sex ed.") </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What he had not had, were lessons on having the self-esteem to insist a sexual partner considers him and uses protection, or the respect for others which would lead to him making sure he protected them against pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted disease. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I go and present on my work at academic conferences, people sometimes sidle up afterwards to ask questions. I always hope they will talk about my methodology or what a good broad base of evidence I have got. Instead they tell me about their son or daughter and ask if there is anywhere they can go to get advice and support in talking them through some difficult sexual situation. Being propositioned by the man in the chip shop who is three times their fourteen-year-old's age. Coping with homophobic bullying. These are highly educated and concerned professionals. Yet even they are struggling to help their young children. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">People often say I'm brave to have had 'the talk' with Piglet. I feel that if I can't explain where she came from to her, who can! She is still at the stage of going 'ewww ewww!' when there is kissing in films but soon I will start leaving condoms discreetly around the place. To be honest, as an older mum, I would quite like it if we had another baby in the family in the next ten years before I become too old to enjoy it. But I would prefer Piglet to have some responsible fun and get qualifications first. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I would be totally gutted if Piglet had to go through what one of my students went through. I was only asking the kid why she had flunked so badly on her essay. She suddenly began to cry and revealed that she had had to have an abortion in the Christmas holidays. She had not been able to tell anyone-else . She couldn't bear to tell her family or friends. The boy in question had not been mature enough to give her support. She was racked with guilt and conflicted feelings. I was not her personal tutor, and I wasn't even supposed to tell her personal tutor what had happened without her permission which she wasn't in a state to give. I could only assure her she had done the right thing, that she would get the chance to have a family in happier better circumstances, and try to persuade her to seek some appropriate support. I will never know if she did manage to get through it, and pass her degree. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If only that lad had used a condom, if only she had had the confidence to insist on it, if only her family had been more approachable on such a subject, if only she had had the self-esteem not to be bamboozled into thinking it was all her own fault. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If only both he and she had had a good Healthy Relationships Education. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wowcondoms.com/Images/Products/Fantasy_Banana_Flavored_Condoms_Wrapper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://wowcondoms.com/Images/Products/Fantasy_Banana_Flavored_Condoms_Wrapper.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Available from <a href="http://wowcondoms.com/Condom_Search_Size/Trustex_Condoms/24" target="_blank">WowCondoms</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-10774947027274727322014-10-20T04:52:00.000-07:002014-10-20T04:52:38.635-07:00Safe Surfing for Piglets<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://indosurflife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mg_3504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://indosurflife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mg_3504.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Uh I didn't actually mean <a href="http://indosurflife.com/2013/03/zorro-the-surfing-piglet/" target="_blank">Zorro the Surfing Piglet</a>, LOL. What I'm looking at here are some of the issues I faced as Piglet took to the World Wide Web.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piglet has been online for a few years now, and has her own blogs. (Can't think where she got the idea from.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From the start, I was of course anxious about her safety. When she started surfing the net, there was very little advice around about how to manage children's access to the internet, however now there are some useful sites which discuss issues you are likely to come across.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mumsnet.com/internet-safety" target="_blank">Mumsnet Internet Safety Advice</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://ceop.police.uk/" target="_blank">Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nspcc.org.uk/onlinesafety" target="_blank">National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These are the rules that I put in place. The main one is, I tell Piglet that if she isn't comfortable, she should immediately sign out of whatever she's playing and come and tell me. There have been two or three incidents friends have experienced, nothing dramatic but enough to make me sure I'm not being paranoid. I knew from the start that apart from buying a time machine and zooming us back to pre-internet days, the only way to make sure Piglet didn't get into difficulties online was to teach her to take care of herself.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://ai2software.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/computer-programs-for-the-kitchen-funny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ai2software.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/computer-programs-for-the-kitchen-funny.jpg" height="200" width="156" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pic from <a href="http://www.ai2.com/site/computer-programs-for-the-kitchen-a-software-book-from-1984/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rule 1 - The computer was kept and should only be used in the kitchen, where I could look over at the screen sometimes and check what was on it. There were times when Piglet did get to take her laptop upstairs, to watch a film, etc, but it lived in the kitchen so it always came back here. (Piglet had her own laptop from an early age for reasons I'll explain in another blogpost.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I operated censorship around what websites Piglet could belong to, asking other mums what their kids were on. Facebook and adult sites of that kind were just banned. Sites featuring incredibly skinny girls wearing revolting outfits were permitted but I expressed scorn about them and refused to pay for extra access on them. I think the one site I agreed to pay for was Moshi Monsters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/files/2010/09/moshi_monster_logo-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/files/2010/09/moshi_monster_logo-2.png" height="113" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.moshimonsters.com/welcome" target="_blank">Moshi Monsters</a> is educational, it's designed by teachers to foster social skills and it's well monitored. It was a very useful introduction for Piglet to the Wonderful World of Web-based bullying. All kinds of kids were immediately asking to befriend her when she joined, but I said that she must only be friends with ones she knew in the flesh from school. Helpfully a charming young lady from the Piglet Seminary for Totally Ordinary Piglets left her a message one day saying something sophisticated like: 'You are poo hahaha'. I was able to talk Piglet through de-friending this child online, and discuss whether to tell its mum. "You see," I added, "because we know Poo-child and I know her mum, we can sort the problem out, but if this was one of those children whom you don't know in real life, we wouldn't have been able to do anything." </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pad3.whstatic.com/images/thumb/3/3d/Live-in-a-Village-in-Minecraft-Step-1Bullet3.jpg/670px-Live-in-a-Village-in-Minecraft-Step-1Bullet3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://pad3.whstatic.com/images/thumb/3/3d/Live-in-a-Village-in-Minecraft-Step-1Bullet3.jpg/670px-Live-in-a-Village-in-Minecraft-Step-1Bullet3.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minecraft village on <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-a-Village-in-Minecraft" target="_blank">Wikihow</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now Piglet is older, she goes online to play via the X Box which is in the living room. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can't keep as close an eye on her as I used to, but I will still stop and watch what's happening sometimes. When Piglet protests and says she is entitled to privacy, I say: "No you're not. You are 10 and my child, you are entitled to be safe because I know what's going on." </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://canadianonlinegamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/EasterDecoration_02-600x337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://canadianonlinegamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/EasterDecoration_02-600x337.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Happy Wars depicted on </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://canadianonlinegamers.com/2014/04/castle-crashers-collaborative-event-in-happy-wars/" target="_blank">Canadian Online Gamers</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If anyone she doesn't know is a child joins in the game, she leaves immediately without bothering to explain why. Helpfully gaming etiquette is minimal, since it's mainly boys who play the games Piglet plays on X Box and they are not very good at saying: "Sorry, I have to go now. It's nothing personal. I would love to stay and play but my mum says I must not stay online if I don't know everybody here face to face from school. I'm sure you are lovely really but that's what mum said." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are a couple of children online whom Piglet doesn't know face to face; she knows they are child friends of her friend who moved to a different part of the country. She's intelligent enough to tell when something isn't quite right now, and I rely on her to get out of the game immediately if she doesn't feel comfortable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I often talk to Piglet about online safety. I tone it down, but I make plain that not everyone on the internet is a good person and that Piglet should be careful whom she befriends. Bit like life, really. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-29537305784267853862014-04-29T22:34:00.001-07:002014-04-29T22:34:56.609-07:00Wild Garlic Pestou<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-QoJY0A0hWZ6k_SdbsAwD91nc6gn0U7cLuD8dH0C7plc3HXiJrYqTl0NIo8a3HX05nQZuqb1ECvzeuUMapDSI1DYfOe2KBvbe0U7HBdZ2bS1AHq7ZxnbS497_RI8T4hVDVz_w8ZNuuU/s1600/DSC_1884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-QoJY0A0hWZ6k_SdbsAwD91nc6gn0U7cLuD8dH0C7plc3HXiJrYqTl0NIo8a3HX05nQZuqb1ECvzeuUMapDSI1DYfOe2KBvbe0U7HBdZ2bS1AHq7ZxnbS497_RI8T4hVDVz_w8ZNuuU/s1600/DSC_1884.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>I tootled off on my bike today to get some wild garlic to make pestou. I have long suspected that there is a short cut from the school down to the Taff Trail and today I found it! so now I can frequently wave goodbye to Piglet, assuring her that she is having the best time of her life, then leg it hurriedly off to have the best time of my life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Gosh, sometimes I still wake up and say to myself: "Thank God I don't have to go to school any more.") </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmjSgbyl_Lm-52JHbhea5T65sfFjTl1UVDUoTW1MPTk55wWnSZgJ_YYAmxI0Fg6n6Koh05nirmZxntTPwZY6i3z89oKhAKWdl5bTfYVLJFKf8adwEwokg1oGYPovOpBYWwtmXAhxLbk4/s1600/DSC_1872+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmjSgbyl_Lm-52JHbhea5T65sfFjTl1UVDUoTW1MPTk55wWnSZgJ_YYAmxI0Fg6n6Koh05nirmZxntTPwZY6i3z89oKhAKWdl5bTfYVLJFKf8adwEwokg1oGYPovOpBYWwtmXAhxLbk4/s1600/DSC_1872+%25282%2529.jpg" height="200" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bluebells galore</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMV5Lrd85iL02xg5SdeOMRuI5MccfWhHf9NIyLJekNlkhMN8G7DRoTlmPKl0pmxRbUYFuwBm6YsnbaKxxYgH9lvFtuKverEpWpYzp2JR8QmLFsQn6FOFtRdJMZ_njiCYVt8eTA79J3uHk/s1600/DSC_1879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMV5Lrd85iL02xg5SdeOMRuI5MccfWhHf9NIyLJekNlkhMN8G7DRoTlmPKl0pmxRbUYFuwBm6YsnbaKxxYgH9lvFtuKverEpWpYzp2JR8QmLFsQn6FOFtRdJMZ_njiCYVt8eTA79J3uHk/s1600/DSC_1879.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>Sadly I had to undertake my quest alone. Alas! Swiss
Army wife! my companion of yore. No longer shall we drop our kids at school and run off laughing to
the beach with some M&S macaroons. (OK,
maybe I have been reading/watching too much LoTR and need to get out a
bit more.) Anyway, an evil full time employer has realised Swiss Army
wife's enormous potential and lured her off into a proper job, gah, so I
went to pick the wild garlic by myself. I also wanted to see the
bluebells</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup></span>. I had a leisurely browse along the tree-hung river banks. At one point I noticed that the trains coming out of Radyr were reflected in the river waters so I hung around for 10 minutes waiting to photograph one. I figured if anyone asked what I were doing, I could say: "waiting for a train," but in fact nobody minds what you are doing when you are out and about on a trail of considerable natural beauty. You are clearly enjoying it and that is all that matters. By 10 am I was home already with a good crop of garlic leaves and a healthy appetite. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRMBKbD7_Xf2SLkra1-QfYSaHiMdbxvnqFs6mauMd1BhR-peZVD_qP1q1NgzAkkIu2wZZmiPfaESVIsBZXwOqKt9F10H2UPe-slu5ne3AIXMiWi4WgI76CMfoCeFB8boWz91xfs-Iiw/s1600/nailsoup+005.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRMBKbD7_Xf2SLkra1-QfYSaHiMdbxvnqFs6mauMd1BhR-peZVD_qP1q1NgzAkkIu2wZZmiPfaESVIsBZXwOqKt9F10H2UPe-slu5ne3AIXMiWi4WgI76CMfoCeFB8boWz91xfs-Iiw/s1600/nailsoup+005.png" height="199" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://myvintagebookcollectioninblogform.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/in-shop_10.html" target="_blank">Vintage Book collection blog</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gosh, that made me feel a bit old! LOL</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH9BAqxSNCbIg4D4AgFMFFdxcdW9dJVUS8PUaIAgDnAy1gcoGqhx7Q-voapTulD_0x1vC3ihpGkyPLVPIbrbGVPMFkSuo1zSr1UA2tb1JM8Zo8fU4lLsm0sTuwlcELEsswZR96adwbME/s1600/DSC_1877+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH9BAqxSNCbIg4D4AgFMFFdxcdW9dJVUS8PUaIAgDnAy1gcoGqhx7Q-voapTulD_0x1vC3ihpGkyPLVPIbrbGVPMFkSuo1zSr1UA2tb1JM8Zo8fU4lLsm0sTuwlcELEsswZR96adwbME/s1600/DSC_1877+%25282%2529.jpg" height="200" width="115" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yellow Archangel</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wild garlic pestou
(or pesto) is gorgeously delish and one of those things you can forage for, but which is not acksherly free food at all at
all. The garlic grows freely in abundance in woods and along
tracks, however it costs a bundle to buy all the nuts 'n cheese etc
etc which you need to add to the wild garlic and make it proper. It
reminds me of a book I had called <i>Nail Soup</i>, in which a man
blagged himself a night in an old woman's comfy house by telling her he
could teach her to make soup out of a nail. ("I used this nail quite a
lot and it's getting thin. I suppose you do not have a pinch of flour to
add to the soup?" "Oh, if only we had a little meat and a few potatoes,
this soup would be fit for a Lord!" until the old woman has contributed
the ingredients for a grand stew, plus a bottle of wine and they are
having a fab party dancing on the tables.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyK_33j7Iw6zkWWrDH3tXw9Yd6lBtVaW1rrUg3ie2ucnR9MlNKgicFKFSx4_O41hShR8abs9hCUiYbRF0tTddzIaqSMxgQ08Srn9qxGoBibto5JxZqmbQaAy_B8MmD6SLHpguKJS-KGgM/s1600/DSC_1875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyK_33j7Iw6zkWWrDH3tXw9Yd6lBtVaW1rrUg3ie2ucnR9MlNKgicFKFSx4_O41hShR8abs9hCUiYbRF0tTddzIaqSMxgQ08Srn9qxGoBibto5JxZqmbQaAy_B8MmD6SLHpguKJS-KGgM/s1600/DSC_1875.jpg" height="123" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Violet growing on the banks by the path.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I looked at a number of recipes to get an idea of how to make the thing. They are a bit variable. Some say wilt the leaves first, others (<a href="http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/community/wild-garlic-pesto-recipe" target="_blank">Food Urchin</a>) will fling themselves on the leaves in the natural state, crying: "Aslan is back! Aslan is back!" (I enjoyed reading his blogpost recipe the most!) Many say add some shallots, or even domestic garlic but that seems a bit strange to me. This is how I made my pestou, and it was so tasty that I was hardly able to tear my tongue from the mixing spoon when I gave it a lick. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvrNvCAalkAvpBiT-YEA5PDf4JWDRQiriyo6eMGrOn6m6MmaRJC3L1O8_JNsh-yd93ibnAD-VxZfrf_Q4ZUDZT39ZVkmPPWlwH-_2Roe-4YFy8Sz3dG2GrJF6hK61AScX64i-opgNl2I/s1600/DSC_1881+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvrNvCAalkAvpBiT-YEA5PDf4JWDRQiriyo6eMGrOn6m6MmaRJC3L1O8_JNsh-yd93ibnAD-VxZfrf_Q4ZUDZT39ZVkmPPWlwH-_2Roe-4YFy8Sz3dG2GrJF6hK61AScX64i-opgNl2I/s1600/DSC_1881+%25282%2529.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The iced buns have nothing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> to do with the recipe, they </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">just looked too yummy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> to leave in the shop.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2 handfuls of wild garlic leaves (about 100g)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">50 g walnuts (you can use pine nuts)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">50 g Parmesan cheese (you can use other hard cheeses)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">150 ml olive oil </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(If you want to gild the garlic flower, you can also add one - or I suppose all - of the following, to wit: lemon juice, shallots or spring onions, a couple of cloves of garlic, parsley.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whiz it with the blender. (To wit, to woo! Tee hee hee.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sterilise some jamjars you have been providently keeping about ten or so years for this very moment. (You can do this by pouring boiling water into them.) Put in the pesto, add a little olive oil on top to keep it fresh. Stick it in the fridge. Apparently it lasts a few weeks like that. If you can prevent yourself from snarfing the whole lot in two days. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvugm0epYqNH4T7k4YXj98sGoJzC3OjI_S6un0uovvCDA7jsi6P_O9QlrNCj4IqJjQyAQkxnKb9Tthb2KJgg34lD8grdTdtsfsd1Mnvnd8KbQLZyfMfXNYKm0oKFaekcFwccYRKJ1Ey0/s1600/DSC_1878+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvugm0epYqNH4T7k4YXj98sGoJzC3OjI_S6un0uovvCDA7jsi6P_O9QlrNCj4IqJjQyAQkxnKb9Tthb2KJgg34lD8grdTdtsfsd1Mnvnd8KbQLZyfMfXNYKm0oKFaekcFwccYRKJ1Ey0/s1600/DSC_1878+%25282%2529.jpg" height="200" width="161" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Still not sure what this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">pretty flower is called. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I ate mine with some potato gnocchi. It was so gorgeous that I couldn't stop eating long enough to take a photo! </span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Footnotes</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup></span></span> James - this footnote is just for you, LOL. Big *HUG*. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-13146594509318587522014-04-21T23:25:00.000-07:002014-04-21T23:25:20.571-07:00An iron will<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbK5ZnuWQ3KFAgiFg1vniciXo9gKuYT5ULOUz1Hph9kjHmVNCOKsgVX37bE2l5yCWjXo-ENYOn8cfnHWGSNMTuR26IGJ7y78qIGoRajigHryvjEsr5vMBhik7DRqRJzgKGa4X854Fols/s1600/DSC_1846+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbK5ZnuWQ3KFAgiFg1vniciXo9gKuYT5ULOUz1Hph9kjHmVNCOKsgVX37bE2l5yCWjXo-ENYOn8cfnHWGSNMTuR26IGJ7y78qIGoRajigHryvjEsr5vMBhik7DRqRJzgKGa4X854Fols/s1600/DSC_1846+%25282%2529.jpg" height="136" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Right. Now the cupboard is tidy (ish), it's time for the ironing .... Urrrrghh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piglet gets assistance from Eowyn the kitten with the sock sorting. (Sorting socks has been Piglet's job for some years. In this way a very young piglet can contribute to the housework. I also think matching the patterns and colours must be good for their mental development.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There. (Three days later.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piglet expressed interest in joining in so I let her do some tea towels and pillow cases. She did so well that if she is very good (wink), I have promised to allow her to do some t-shirts next time.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://media.bosch-home.com/Files/Bosch/Gb/en/ProductFiles/ProductImages/EpsImages/MCSA00546727_D6381_TDA2655GB_172201_def.eps?AntiCropWidth=550&AntiCropHeight=420" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://media.bosch-home.com/Files/Bosch/Gb/en/ProductFiles/ProductImages/EpsImages/MCSA00546727_D6381_TDA2655GB_172201_def.eps?AntiCropWidth=550&AntiCropHeight=420" height="152" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bosch-home.co.uk/our-products/ironing/steam-irons/TDA2655GB.html" target="_blank">Bosch</a> show the iron in Night Blue</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I use a Bosch Sensixx B1 iron (Ice Blue). Last time I had to buy a new iron, I looked up on the Which comparison website very carefully and identified one I wanted. But when I went to the shop, they did not stock that one. The assistant outlined the benefits of many irons and we came down to a choice between two. Then I had a brilliant thought. I asked him what iron he uses. He hesitantly admitted to using a much cheaper one and when pressed acknowledged that it 'did the job'. I bought that one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's a great iron. It was pretty cheap for a good quality iron and it works fine. It has been steaming along now for about three years, I think. What I like about it is, that it will produce steam on the 2 dot function as well as the 3 dot one. It has a squirty button and a steam button. I shall not curse and swear when it stops working effectively (which they always do after a few years) as it will be cheap and easy to replace. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-17752896714045148322014-04-21T14:55:00.001-07:002014-04-21T14:55:14.719-07:00Waterfall Country<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg00WDn-h09kehys4p0hqirtvyB7j5FUP1eWUoO60zRmK2xNis3M-ciyFkY7kiMxramPdcgGVnDY5lihxtUaWJtLJsZTfGbW4ZSmzCHKtxE1ZlS6xqaWP5eInMvoF5UaOwLldQpG39NTag/s1600/DSC_1839+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg00WDn-h09kehys4p0hqirtvyB7j5FUP1eWUoO60zRmK2xNis3M-ciyFkY7kiMxramPdcgGVnDY5lihxtUaWJtLJsZTfGbW4ZSmzCHKtxE1ZlS6xqaWP5eInMvoF5UaOwLldQpG39NTag/s1600/DSC_1839+(2).jpg" height="320" width="111" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I find it often takes three goes to do something properly, or three days. (Or four if you stop for chocolate.) Going on an excursion involves:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) Thinking about it and even setting off to try and get there while en route to somewhere-else but realising you don't know the way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) Looking it up on the map and setting off, but you are not quite sure how interesting it will be/how long the journey will take, so you don't get the full experience on that occasion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3) OK, now we know enough about it to go and allow the proper time to do the whole number. We know what clothes we will need, how long to expect to be away from the kitty-cats and, most important, what provisions to take and what refreshments are likely to be available on the spot. We are motivated to check out all the information available from various websites, and we know enough from our personal experience to tell what the information means and which bits of it are useful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Luckily my friend had done Stage 1 of the trip to Waterfall Country, having tried to set off and go there on an exciting birthday excursion. I had long wanted to see this local attraction so when she mentioned her disappointment at not managing to get there, I googled it and found a confusing looking map. (The relevant page in our Road Atlas has of course long dropped out and got lost among the crisp packets in the car.) We packed up a picnic and our piglets and set off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We took the A470 to Merthyr Tydfil and turned off onto the A465, eventually leaving the road for the small side road on which the Waterfall Information Centre is situated. (There is a large brown Tourist Information sign at the turn-off.) The journey is about 45 minutes, and this route goes along the wide dual carriageways which are such an enjoyable feature of driving through the Valleys (outside of rush hour, I mean). Views are spectacular, especially as you get up to the Heads of the Valleys. On the way back, we followed the signs to Cardiff (or Caerdydd in Welsh). This is a shorter and quicker route, although the roads are smaller and prone to frequent roundabouts so the driving is more tiring and the views are mostly of supermarkets in the villages along the way. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A few years ago I saw a sign for Canalog </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Loegre - which means the middle of England </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in Welsh, ie the Midlands. Clearly someone </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">with a sense of humour in the traffic signage </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">department had come up with this gem. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nowadays you can quite often seen this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">place name improperly translated </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">on the Valleys roads. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Incidentally, Waterfall Country is split into various factions (of course), so trying to find out about it properly means looking at several websites. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_Country_%28Wales%29" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> is good background stuff, and I think there are basically two other areas: the <a href="http://www.fforestfawrgeopark.org.uk/" target="_blank">Fforest Fawr Geopark</a> and the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/aberdulais-tinworks-and-waterfall/" target="_blank">Aberdulais Tin Works and Waterfall</a>. There is a <a href="http://www.breconbeacons.org/waterfalls-centre-pontneddfechan" target="_blank">Waterfall Information Centre </a>(postcode SA11 5NR) in Pontneddfechen, which is pronounced and sometimes spelt Pontneathvaughan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Getting to the Waterfall Information Centre involves looping back on yourself alongside the A465. Come off the A road where signposted (onto the B4242). Take a right turn at the traffic lights in front of the boarded up pub and keep going straight for a while. The Centre is right there on your right and there are two or three pubs on your left. There aren't any waterfalls, that's the start of paths to several of the larger waterfalls. However after parking (with a little difficulty, it was quite busy), we popped in and bought some educational material for the piglets (which they of course ignored). The man in the centre advised us of an excellent short trip to make, where we could park and have our picnic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We carried on down the road for a short distance. There is a point where the road curves up to the left, but if you take the junction to go straight on, you pass some houses and a pretty chapel, then come to a small lane, go over a narrow stone bridge (I think it was very untrusting of my friend to suck in her breath as I swung the car cheerily across it) and there is a car park immediately on your left with three or four picnic tables. You can hear the water rushing along and birds singing, it's very jolly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From here there is a well gravelled path which takes you on a 10 minute walk, accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs, to an attractive small waterfall. There was lots to see along the route, as the Spring flowers are coming out. None of us were too tired out, and there was no need for specialist footwear. (Unless you are a) rock-climbing or b) gorge-walking in which case you of course require a) special climbing shoes and stuff, b) wetsuits and a properly trained guide). If you take younger children, you will have to keep a sharp eye on them as there is ample opportunity for them to scamper off the path, scrambling down to the little river, and fall in it on their heads. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I would really love to go to the bigger waterfall which you can walk behind (like the dwarves in Hobbit 1 just before they get caught up in the Stone Giants' battle). However now I know that to go there will be quite a tromp and involve wearing proper boots, or perhaps wellies? And there will have to be a substantial meal involved at some point, so I will plan accordingly (and make sure I pack our pocket handkerchiefs). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The path starts off, running past a small blackthorn tree in flower. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-68WMbknRbpO5GcjAJb7bH-8j_OmtJWl7FA0QkHR3HQw1ubZSkQXW6z3tPT40Nb3lYZN3SLi4GxxrVe5aaDemeQk9JBtUke3WuejtxGXJF5Yf1dGIzYlNJxEQgyzkuj0GcwzSx_RNMPY/s1600/DSC_1830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-68WMbknRbpO5GcjAJb7bH-8j_OmtJWl7FA0QkHR3HQw1ubZSkQXW6z3tPT40Nb3lYZN3SLi4GxxrVe5aaDemeQk9JBtUke3WuejtxGXJF5Yf1dGIzYlNJxEQgyzkuj0GcwzSx_RNMPY/s1600/DSC_1830.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Thick moss growing up alongside the path. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqlCpiT4B7ho5mEshDZyVqeExeh6bxB4tALKX97vdKfifvnhjUH0s4a-qY_0um0ew99Qe0Srwh_elk7dJvY4qOYH6tM7nsCcehwP_BBSJWKw2lfuyW_zj8eZg3rZL0o8UjvN1uE-rabY/s1600/DSC_1832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqlCpiT4B7ho5mEshDZyVqeExeh6bxB4tALKX97vdKfifvnhjUH0s4a-qY_0um0ew99Qe0Srwh_elk7dJvY4qOYH6tM7nsCcehwP_BBSJWKw2lfuyW_zj8eZg3rZL0o8UjvN1uE-rabY/s1600/DSC_1832.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5a0AlCE3SGRUohWVHqQIdbM_59JIpiHLbl0T9kITogsciXXJr9VlT15uz8kKTaTzTfiSGbMp92W-kpFbYLH0EacO21FGLl4bHhs7X6pSEr1K320-iZY8uv9zd69QOts1Szg_0N0sV4KQ/s1600/DSC_1833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5a0AlCE3SGRUohWVHqQIdbM_59JIpiHLbl0T9kITogsciXXJr9VlT15uz8kKTaTzTfiSGbMp92W-kpFbYLH0EacO21FGLl4bHhs7X6pSEr1K320-iZY8uv9zd69QOts1Szg_0N0sV4KQ/s1600/DSC_1833.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> One tree has something like an ear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBAhE6ZVPD56klH_Z9NO-o7KiWUjK0Wl5qTjm2Bw5r9TzufekEyzZ0z7FXDLThGhyFoQiIqQyy9KQ2lXJvs31rPvq9jm2Z45kSqcPN_7xj92yo6H5uXjc6Ge754zlKli43spHqHxRv5MI/s1600/DSC_1836+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBAhE6ZVPD56klH_Z9NO-o7KiWUjK0Wl5qTjm2Bw5r9TzufekEyzZ0z7FXDLThGhyFoQiIqQyy9KQ2lXJvs31rPvq9jm2Z45kSqcPN_7xj92yo6H5uXjc6Ge754zlKli43spHqHxRv5MI/s1600/DSC_1836+(2).jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKH2fcv4Lwuuj63QxuSDmHWVxGd48EyaDqKgMrtsASSI7gHhGwxBEhkA_oPIVgTM90M4Jd4oeIqi7w36Hz0H_Pio3x8BSDE47htPHgq5cXlcADlMT9Q89DobBh0xZNQvVFco-v_8CoH0A/s1600/DSC_1835+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKH2fcv4Lwuuj63QxuSDmHWVxGd48EyaDqKgMrtsASSI7gHhGwxBEhkA_oPIVgTM90M4Jd4oeIqi7w36Hz0H_Pio3x8BSDE47htPHgq5cXlcADlMT9Q89DobBh0xZNQvVFco-v_8CoH0A/s1600/DSC_1835+(2).jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdc4IOAW17ySwrXKeQZcKBs0kwVlEWQzrwO9vKAgNMl6prPxPVwMEv8DOkmrDxVV3nYOUc8KZHOe1bPB388rCDa-Epe5IYYNOoawJ06yO1TWAuwo1cybsyH2Gy4qWKC3Nzzb2Rem3Ezo/s1600/DSC_1840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdc4IOAW17ySwrXKeQZcKBs0kwVlEWQzrwO9vKAgNMl6prPxPVwMEv8DOkmrDxVV3nYOUc8KZHOe1bPB388rCDa-Epe5IYYNOoawJ06yO1TWAuwo1cybsyH2Gy4qWKC3Nzzb2Rem3Ezo/s1600/DSC_1840.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Violets, growing by mossy tree-trunks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVArq-ZnWev09A1rSeEyuTupqXa6_KSQRKqDn9M16B91GckwV0NDwVLm_LLbJlQywHZCMr2elkIHaCLcuXXaUvjO9CnpuBCZfFO0XPEzBCUKcXf8GtzLXuXPrDWCfFllC0ds97FfBzUwk/s1600/DSC_1844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVArq-ZnWev09A1rSeEyuTupqXa6_KSQRKqDn9M16B91GckwV0NDwVLm_LLbJlQywHZCMr2elkIHaCLcuXXaUvjO9CnpuBCZfFO0XPEzBCUKcXf8GtzLXuXPrDWCfFllC0ds97FfBzUwk/s1600/DSC_1844.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Lords and ladies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdDiuqi9_EKQ4anGz6oMeqLtSKIq_mzyYKrssf40bvVf2nsE4kypU2hVJzrM3aw7bb3nM-p47LYu-egJ7j03RcQ-hYMmbNK9O79hdTouygtCQ308uuHaQVtytrtFLWkqtKYAgfHzy0WI/s1600/DSC_1845+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdDiuqi9_EKQ4anGz6oMeqLtSKIq_mzyYKrssf40bvVf2nsE4kypU2hVJzrM3aw7bb3nM-p47LYu-egJ7j03RcQ-hYMmbNK9O79hdTouygtCQ308uuHaQVtytrtFLWkqtKYAgfHzy0WI/s1600/DSC_1845+(2).jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Primroses. </span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-40632211268279985542014-04-20T13:32:00.004-07:002014-04-20T13:32:38.315-07:00Easter Bunnies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMYs7cgv12lq0n6ORaqQGgvR2ER2yUx6i0WhG7eXS49zjoG8012zHnNgNlyU9qq31OlPH6vyB6yPEnnIHL4ExYM1upfOqOQNMa7W66rSpkBD3oKXkT87xIpZM_Isi0LxZAliSG-DCqfQ/s1600/DSC_1853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMYs7cgv12lq0n6ORaqQGgvR2ER2yUx6i0WhG7eXS49zjoG8012zHnNgNlyU9qq31OlPH6vyB6yPEnnIHL4ExYM1upfOqOQNMa7W66rSpkBD3oKXkT87xIpZM_Isi0LxZAliSG-DCqfQ/s1600/DSC_1853.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-91019765584098470842014-04-19T10:57:00.001-07:002014-04-19T10:57:29.487-07:00Egg and chips<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7_LuyGpzgBm6UWZogdrfA77Ujf2KI_UYfrmdoONVcXRRRMntO9M-dRG7GKHW8niu0MIAbQaPCp0-rJGhmH-x7ihgjVEjzIzRurwpCAHILbD380gdRvHudCd-IuKgRong3hyphenhyphenAy1iCAc8/s1600/DSC_1783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7_LuyGpzgBm6UWZogdrfA77Ujf2KI_UYfrmdoONVcXRRRMntO9M-dRG7GKHW8niu0MIAbQaPCp0-rJGhmH-x7ihgjVEjzIzRurwpCAHILbD380gdRvHudCd-IuKgRong3hyphenhyphenAy1iCAc8/s1600/DSC_1783.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(See Mrs. Beeton for oeuf en cocotte recipe and go <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/when-chips-are-down-ethnography-of.html" target="_blank">here</a> for how to cook chips.) </span><br />
Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-14764721294925434752014-04-19T10:53:00.000-07:002014-04-19T10:53:12.727-07:00Cupboard Love<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibITBVeLNmG0zX_UHci_Nu8DuewirnQb0yndo0U3S-5OoNLQJXSJgLVNrTw6DA2S40dzrdDCWOl-6jklzgCsAyq6zpL5TAnFNL3hrZDjQBIJ-c3eugySb1bK37lqrgfbT7AEY-mt1xBQQ/s1600/DSC_1806+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibITBVeLNmG0zX_UHci_Nu8DuewirnQb0yndo0U3S-5OoNLQJXSJgLVNrTw6DA2S40dzrdDCWOl-6jklzgCsAyq6zpL5TAnFNL3hrZDjQBIJ-c3eugySb1bK37lqrgfbT7AEY-mt1xBQQ/s1600/DSC_1806+(2).jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stage 1</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gah, can't believe how long it has taken to clear out one cupboard! I had this foolish dream that I would have the whole thing sorted in a couple of hours and be able to spend a pleasurable afternoon on my blog or something. Yah, yah, I should've just thrown everything in the bin, not tried to sort out things which are still useful and can go to charity. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7AfmdMdF1krMWL8E362DIgnvtEsfapbIZp9N-0M2mwl3RHYOCWIkyzVIhyphenhyphenxXnmhekwyle5VViWy0nCWJuOMhg29wTa4BzfnJmaM3703EY91KRez6-afDkySIciED34OjPlt0Ek3uNQQ/s1600/DSC_1810+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7AfmdMdF1krMWL8E362DIgnvtEsfapbIZp9N-0M2mwl3RHYOCWIkyzVIhyphenhyphenxXnmhekwyle5VViWy0nCWJuOMhg29wTa4BzfnJmaM3703EY91KRez6-afDkySIciED34OjPlt0Ek3uNQQ/s1600/DSC_1810+%25282%2529.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stage 2 - some stuff actually </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">tidily put back in the cupboard</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why did I want to clear the cupboard, and bring this horror on myself. We reached a stage in family life when people are capable of getting themselves breakfast. The cereals need to be moved from the cupboard they are currently in - which is easy for Mums to get at while simultaneously making coffee on the cooker, frying some sausages and blogging on a netbook - and into a cupboard which is easy for people to access with their eyes half-closed when they have shambled down of a morning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAmUQGdZAzsqIKt6TBgn7Fyka6Rkvl0Hp05LL_CqqVAcjQxXbkxcV0k1eB28JIzGwhOJunKtoM0z-rSY586RDPEDrfubgG_XrFty69HYaMIE08rt29cg7LxrHZBsEA2SwUlENUAMB9tg/s1600/DSC_1815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAmUQGdZAzsqIKt6TBgn7Fyka6Rkvl0Hp05LL_CqqVAcjQxXbkxcV0k1eB28JIzGwhOJunKtoM0z-rSY586RDPEDrfubgG_XrFty69HYaMIE08rt29cg7LxrHZBsEA2SwUlENUAMB9tg/s1600/DSC_1815.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>OK, maybe I am not going to get round to gluing these things back together after all. Pop them in the recycling. Yes, and the sippy cups, aww, the ones with the little dogs on were so sweet! but I don't think the charity shops will have much luck with sippy cups which have obvious teeth marks gnawed into them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey, put that box of chocolates back down! it's still in date, isn't it? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nymrceOi5dIgS78H6mQYXuPNLgFFF2M5kTRzH_w7EkvZICERyn6yU-2YyPc5O2fSwRJonZBKSwoAz436TPVUuhtqhT8N1XFkFubDFbnAJU3PS8YB0jki3eOtsoVDRmJwETcsjBy1skg/s1600/DSC_1814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nymrceOi5dIgS78H6mQYXuPNLgFFF2M5kTRzH_w7EkvZICERyn6yU-2YyPc5O2fSwRJonZBKSwoAz436TPVUuhtqhT8N1XFkFubDFbnAJU3PS8YB0jki3eOtsoVDRmJwETcsjBy1skg/s1600/DSC_1814.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a> Surely someone could make use of the Disney Princess sand picture shaker maker? OK, I know we have used up all the sticky pictures and the coloured sand has got mixed up together, but if they bought new pictures and sand? OK, yes, you have to write off to some special place and they probably don't make them any more, yes, yes, just put it in the recycling. Don't let me see you do it! that's all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We really had fun with all this stuff. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stage 3</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hooray, we're done. Mmm? That mess on the top of the dresser? What do you mean 'mess'?!!! Those are incredibly precious Mother's Day and Happy Easter cards and some lego pieces which need to be taken upstairs and some shampoo which has a little bit in the bottom, I'm sure we can use that up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That mess on the table? Gosh! give me a minute, can't you. Just put the kettle on for a cup of tea, then I'll get onto that lot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(In the end this proved to be a four day task! Day 1 - get Piglet to go through stuff and agree to get rid of some of it. Day 2 - sort it and put it tidily back in the cupboard. Day 3 - day of rest. Day 4 - do all the washing up and clearing the kitchen up, sweeping floor etc. after the mess from the cupboard has been sorted. That would be why I could only do it in the holidays, not during a regular school week. In a regular school week, I could've just done it all myself in one day. And Piglet would've learned that things like that magically happen as if the Clearing Up Fairies swoop in and do it while you are sleeping. 'Course, she doesn't really believe in fairies any more after the <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/red-in-tooth-and-shame.html" target="_blank">Tooth Fairy Fiasco</a>, LOL.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-72786428110130002362014-04-19T10:51:00.001-07:002014-04-19T10:58:37.238-07:00Easter Holidays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQLswbF4Sz4llojyUeB49sUAE-mpPZbThnXn0PzgDop5MvB9-I8b6tWwH8jZVahr73Om3Bh7ABRBGWTSrmF6E3JKUxaXyOH1Igd2r1OKnubesRWu4zmMtSPno1ck2AV2EPoQDxqnaw4g/s1600/DSC_1811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQLswbF4Sz4llojyUeB49sUAE-mpPZbThnXn0PzgDop5MvB9-I8b6tWwH8jZVahr73Om3Bh7ABRBGWTSrmF6E3JKUxaXyOH1Igd2r1OKnubesRWu4zmMtSPno1ck2AV2EPoQDxqnaw4g/s1600/DSC_1811.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">OMG, sometimes it is so hard being a mum. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's Easter Holidays so I am spending a lot of time finding ways to amuse the Piglet, and running around farming her out or borrowing other piglets. Cuz one Piglet says 'I'm bored' every ten minutes, but two tend to tootle off together and leave you to do your knitting in peace (wink).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CFSrn_SZh2M_HHEg6pRW8xTwOTDeImhSU6S2d2SeuB7TYhwQDr5j9BpagH7ZXX9ityv2XhB5hZkASviXdfeNi8l_pRXuBD6CZnFv6wWlQFC1dBrT37FHNmOkHK-KPbD0Pw6HwZYenq4/s1600/DSC_1810.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CFSrn_SZh2M_HHEg6pRW8xTwOTDeImhSU6S2d2SeuB7TYhwQDr5j9BpagH7ZXX9ityv2XhB5hZkASviXdfeNi8l_pRXuBD6CZnFv6wWlQFC1dBrT37FHNmOkHK-KPbD0Pw6HwZYenq4/s1600/DSC_1810.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Um, yah, that is me dipping my tootsies in a limpid rock pool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaJz8gJQucSfdpdKMjqkDKnNzhjxrsV6P5-Bwq8RdYInioJRes23Q_3I92Kt-txgs7N-Qx7JQ4v15hNobxX16S9LWs_2Hj_DvRcaOTY9XYBaytRD1nWAqCfOAA-vTFRVTBW39t_d5AYU/s1600/DSC_1818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaJz8gJQucSfdpdKMjqkDKnNzhjxrsV6P5-Bwq8RdYInioJRes23Q_3I92Kt-txgs7N-Qx7JQ4v15hNobxX16S9LWs_2Hj_DvRcaOTY9XYBaytRD1nWAqCfOAA-vTFRVTBW39t_d5AYU/s1600/DSC_1818.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And here are some hermit crabs I saw while I strolled along the sands. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnyGzdpNmg7vuDBB0FUhyphenhyphenuVGXyZ02dMUrYmywxmwDLRFLqcpbhRaoONqWBbBbzKrSWYljsaYh2IhrS1HWdC7jG9a8MoDhfotqXu5xfvJZ9DMQWR9w7L4RJgv5uNvuql0zzKAZeCY8S-U/s1600/DSC_1819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnyGzdpNmg7vuDBB0FUhyphenhyphenuVGXyZ02dMUrYmywxmwDLRFLqcpbhRaoONqWBbBbzKrSWYljsaYh2IhrS1HWdC7jG9a8MoDhfotqXu5xfvJZ9DMQWR9w7L4RJgv5uNvuql0zzKAZeCY8S-U/s1600/DSC_1819.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The hermit crabs have got themselves a sort of shell-with-a-view. That is Porthcawl in the distance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqWTpdy6qTe8SzvZDj8o2vktWk1RH5nJo_R9iurT3OOd_tO3mSQlvFss6lM008_JNOV9n_kXU3EuEE0-HZ-9uRcVaCSZlSdKpplBnG4lN9UohY4QBZz5xnMlCSs1B_5OK_PbQHJ1KqoU/s1600/DSC_1817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqWTpdy6qTe8SzvZDj8o2vktWk1RH5nJo_R9iurT3OOd_tO3mSQlvFss6lM008_JNOV9n_kXU3EuEE0-HZ-9uRcVaCSZlSdKpplBnG4lN9UohY4QBZz5xnMlCSs1B_5OK_PbQHJ1KqoU/s1600/DSC_1817.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, of course we went to Southerndown! The sun was shining and low tide was at the perfect time of 1.15 pm. We packed up a substantial picnic and rushed on down. I bought a season ticket for the parking (£30 - it costs £3 per pop and we are certain to go more than 10 times). As you can see, the sand has thankfully survived the recent storms. This pic is of the beach not quite at low tide yet - there will be a bit more sand uncovered in half an hour or so.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50IiVHRjrjvXYaYDeUe1dRIXrYqoqqACeqkM3XKEhDRxU_SbYOaS6oLiZIm8KUDUBF-WqO8Ofo6oyFrxKuJmULMxo2Kqgvy38ZJSQ98qIhsi7n41ok6dyPdwLGYVOtsKutgNCfKUGJv4/s1600/DSC_1806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50IiVHRjrjvXYaYDeUe1dRIXrYqoqqACeqkM3XKEhDRxU_SbYOaS6oLiZIm8KUDUBF-WqO8Ofo6oyFrxKuJmULMxo2Kqgvy38ZJSQ98qIhsi7n41ok6dyPdwLGYVOtsKutgNCfKUGJv4/s1600/DSC_1806.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Before you start muttering that I grumble too much about the hard work of being a mum, this is what I have to come home to, cuz it is Spring and time to clear out the cupboards. Bribing the little piglets and poking them along with sticks, I managed to get them to sort out the huge collection of Disney Princess crayons, felt tip pens, notebooks and the boxes and boxes of scientific paraphernalia, make-your-own bracelet sets etc etc etc. Phew, all I need to do now is cook them chips and go back through the stuff myself, schlep down the charity shop with things which can be passed along and tidily store the things Piglet thinks are worth keeping so we can go through them again in another couple of years and chuck them out then.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TDPg0AQvRPcj6u0YYSxgBXyggpitn-sjs0b_lvVHg2WieYiQymHjXMhmRufG-OC6L7Klzba98_I9DprYglnp0yizu8vy949qoMPUiT-jLbq2EJ_NwYdVzt6lgXorKeTvvgtCeRNxD1A/s1600/DSC_1807.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TDPg0AQvRPcj6u0YYSxgBXyggpitn-sjs0b_lvVHg2WieYiQymHjXMhmRufG-OC6L7Klzba98_I9DprYglnp0yizu8vy949qoMPUiT-jLbq2EJ_NwYdVzt6lgXorKeTvvgtCeRNxD1A/s1600/DSC_1807.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yah that is some Sidoli's Turkish Delight ice cream. I think I have earned it. If you want trouble, come between me and it, sweet pea. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJB9w8dtNvS8sB2TgLo-wYktM3peqnQy-387dV7C0SHi36AmVs9y_pzsoWMMk7bgBEtgdXikuTMZIjdpdHFxMPEO42E1Dp-gd8zddJ9xp3JlTiRGTNIpNeKOReHMSHO-kYvh7ATFkQzqo/s1600/DSC_1809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJB9w8dtNvS8sB2TgLo-wYktM3peqnQy-387dV7C0SHi36AmVs9y_pzsoWMMk7bgBEtgdXikuTMZIjdpdHFxMPEO42E1Dp-gd8zddJ9xp3JlTiRGTNIpNeKOReHMSHO-kYvh7ATFkQzqo/s1600/DSC_1809.jpg" height="200" width="197" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Awww, the Piglet was so happy when I got her that snappy Brave pencil case with all the little drawers and the two secret keys to open the secret compartments. There were none left in the Disney store when we went to buy it! but crafty mum asked if we could have the one in the window display. LOL, nowadays it's all Cool Britannia and sporty Olympics blahdiblah. We have managed to avoid things with One Direction (1D) emblazoned all over them so far, but I fear it will not be long. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-33532990171822220112014-04-19T00:53:00.001-07:002014-04-20T23:28:08.603-07:00The Golden Bowl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiom-ZQT_q5x4ouW6GoAxHNTTKJ8aQejirtDtEHefRd9X9G0G6h80VTdHQlmL_HshcIjEgX2x0SNzbVtTy08lRGSQ2NP0EggVnzdWIvFZobxoNguTHelb4kqYuto0LE7XY-mgMjFeVXNc4/s1600/DSC_1791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiom-ZQT_q5x4ouW6GoAxHNTTKJ8aQejirtDtEHefRd9X9G0G6h80VTdHQlmL_HshcIjEgX2x0SNzbVtTy08lRGSQ2NP0EggVnzdWIvFZobxoNguTHelb4kqYuto0LE7XY-mgMjFeVXNc4/s1600/DSC_1791.jpg" height="273" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<b><u><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is Just to Say</span></i></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/119" target="_blank">William Carlos Williams</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have eaten <br />
the plums <br />
that were in <br />
the icebox</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and which <br />
you were probably <br />
saving <br />
for breakfast</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Forgive me <br />
they were delicious <br />
so sweet <br />
and so cold</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15535#sthash.5mT2C0TD.dpuf</span></div>
<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15535#sthash.5mT2C0TD.dpuf</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15535#sthash.g3Hv2M9e.dpuf</span></div>
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15535#sthash.g3Hv2M9e.dpuf</span></div>
Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-53999574572497936062014-04-18T23:18:00.002-07:002014-04-18T23:18:39.582-07:00A Striking Day Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwbCq2p88_Z2QanmTeBojdDHCxBkJGoxRQDPwwDL7NCmJMo7AQlAeP45v5cIy7wU73FzZmggTxtIQe56aucWN5oT86HO-oN7E1bVC4rRsOr1YuSdlZGidohvy0AR2B-oLPSoe9Q6TvVw/s1600/DSC_1789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwbCq2p88_Z2QanmTeBojdDHCxBkJGoxRQDPwwDL7NCmJMo7AQlAeP45v5cIy7wU73FzZmggTxtIQe56aucWN5oT86HO-oN7E1bVC4rRsOr1YuSdlZGidohvy0AR2B-oLPSoe9Q6TvVw/s1600/DSC_1789.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No no, this is not me and my knitting in an exotic location. This is Ynys Barry - OK, Barry Island, LOL - which some of you will know from the hit tv series Gavin and Stacey.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/resources/images/2105892.jpg?type=articleLandscape" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/resources/images/2105892.jpg?type=articleLandscape" height="112" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/news/9850714.Barry_buzzing_over_possible_return_of_Gavin___Stacey/?ref=rss" target="_blank">Barry and District News</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The teachers were out on strike, so I collected the piglets of a couple of other working parents for the day. (I had hobbits as well as piglets; they eat so well that they just follow the smell of second breakfast to my house - yah, of course it is sausages. I must say, I have big respect for creatures who will risk bringing down the </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nazgû</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">l on themselves in order to make sure of a good fry-up.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There were too many small beings to fit in the car. I fell back on public transport and we got the train down to Barry Island (£2.45 child fare, £4.90 adult, lots less of course if you providently bought a <a href="http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/" target="_blank">Family&Friends railcard</a>). Where we live, you can get a train direct to the beach taking slightly over half an hour; the train journey adds a lot to the fun of the day. I went once with Piglet in the summer: the carriage was jammed with people in jolly mood, one family were even taking their grandmother as well as deckchairs and cooler bag full of picnic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBH-sKqhBrfR0HsP8SVJ_xahQamNcLANaLANgC-50gP9Y2evTN83jz5YKs-Y6m7Ssc73QbF9gCBMuftyVE5tEH3SArEpqhoSJISTzFLUpnMnpqadkIl6sYWslnRMbTv8GTF39Ok8sdhGc/s1600/DSC_1802+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBH-sKqhBrfR0HsP8SVJ_xahQamNcLANaLANgC-50gP9Y2evTN83jz5YKs-Y6m7Ssc73QbF9gCBMuftyVE5tEH3SArEpqhoSJISTzFLUpnMnpqadkIl6sYWslnRMbTv8GTF39Ok8sdhGc/s1600/DSC_1802+%25282%2529.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As it is only just Spring - luckily it was a fine day - neither the train nor the beach were packed out. Barry Island is a kiss-me-quick sort of beach, great fun but I did once see a young man sunning himself on the beach, sporting a skinny blonde in one arm and his electronic tag on the other ankle. Sometimes as the day goes on, people start ambling around the beach having consumed more beer than is good for them, and although this could form an important life lesson for the piglets, I tend to avoid it in high summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I shoveled the piglets off the train and down to the crazy golf course. This is surrounded by a high metal barrier; I could send them round @ £2.50 per piglet, and sit down myself enjoying that nice cafe latte in the sun. Occasionally of course the piglets and hobbits came back whimpering that someone had been mean but the course has been cunningly designed as a long winding way over bridges and past duck ponds and pirates, so mostly they just got on with it. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Barry_Island_Marco%27s_Cafe.jpg/220px-Barry_Island_Marco%27s_Cafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Barry_Island_Marco's_Cafe.jpg/220px-Barry_Island_Marco's_Cafe.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Image from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Island" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We got ice creams at this cafe made famous by Gavin and Stacey (@ £1.80 per ice cream - including 99 flake and flavours like Popping Candy and my favourite: Turkish Delight). Then we tootled down to the beach. Piglet had been competing to out-sulk one of the hobbits. (To my great surprise she managed this spectacular feat, he is a highly accomplished sulker as a rule but he seems to be growing out of it - although I suspect he will always retain an enviable ability to get his own way because people would rather not p. him off). In Piglet's anxiety to imitate the action of the sulker, she had even refused an ice cream! I am a little indulgent with her just now as the Gods have been unkind recently, so I went back to get her one when she relented. Aww, the little lambkin came trotting up and said: "Sorry I was so grumpy with you, mom - Hey! where is the flake!!!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Beach - totally free and gratis for collection of shells, building of sand fortifications and speed boat and running up and down, in and out the low surf (in wellies) screaming. (Spare socks were of course part of the package deal.) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikx6-s2x8MiFcvX1TqstEcVgk6bhjtMecbfb_aQIlVZOE8hd_1tucuu1oiWK3_ioLaa2SdLYHzK_QneulyX2Cni3E_QGFNGjLBIq1Vint1DVuJsv-mwGL52eGLX_6eNSxRTxBxNeejE-8/s1600/DSC_1809+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikx6-s2x8MiFcvX1TqstEcVgk6bhjtMecbfb_aQIlVZOE8hd_1tucuu1oiWK3_ioLaa2SdLYHzK_QneulyX2Cni3E_QGFNGjLBIq1Vint1DVuJsv-mwGL52eGLX_6eNSxRTxBxNeejE-8/s1600/DSC_1809+%25282%2529.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Picnic on the train home, minimal cost and pleasurable way to pass the half hour journey (including cold sausages from breakfast; I assure you, they were in that blue box, you must be quicker next time - they do get snaffled up). "Excuse me, I don't like sushi," one small piglet said politely. "Just try it," the older ones admonished him. "I love it!" he cried two seconds later. "Biscuit?" I asked the ticket collector when he came by, as I scrabbled for return halves in my pocket. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There was just time for the boy piglets to try to stuff one of their number down between the seat backs before we arrived home. I successfully extracted him and we all went back to argue about who would get to play on the X box. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1932494980586592453.post-1922314303124342112014-04-16T13:02:00.000-07:002014-04-16T13:02:06.186-07:00Unco-operative Capitalism<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruzdeV7YD9nkAwRvXjhcP4tvFxA-jZWzKEv8UodQpRvdYIKqf6CpO1eJgjMK5QoUMgjv92kWvG6N3qiKFkBe4t1Y8HYp8ABntktRpYo_t7b0yCbxymP0a6xNdz0yuJWYEJ6HGu6FU-2w/s1600/Bourdieu+Doxa.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujWrTfqh25kaj6dFVFQvgMhzQjyas6t2CDdzgJQAKa9Q0f4mP5Brm1t5Z8uIm22jeoPEjuERuDGa8WTrwuGmFOGmyutzfqc2WvVkcf4uYOMvsqkZxN4CF45KdgaQeDIrmBfi8AGL5ORM/s1600/co-op.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujWrTfqh25kaj6dFVFQvgMhzQjyas6t2CDdzgJQAKa9Q0f4mP5Brm1t5Z8uIm22jeoPEjuERuDGa8WTrwuGmFOGmyutzfqc2WvVkcf4uYOMvsqkZxN4CF45KdgaQeDIrmBfi8AGL5ORM/s1600/co-op.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I see that my local council has moved its account from the Co-operative Bank. I suppose that's one of the many small signs of the beginning of the end. I am truly sorry to see this happening to an institution with whom I have enjoyed banking for about twenty years.Here I'm going to reflect on this in a more philosophical way, while in <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/co-operative-bank-worries.html" target="_blank">a companion blogpost</a> I'll look at some practical matters related to banking with the Co-op.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I first joined the Co-op as a postgraduate student. They were one of the banks providing loans for ongoing career training schemes, and I got them to lend me money to do part of my PhD on British black gay and lesbian communities. I'm sure other more commercial banks would have leapt at this golden investment opportunity (wink). Anyway, my confidence that the Co-op would be able to look fairly at supporting this rather outside-left-field project was fully justified. (As was their confidence in me, because building on the support they provided, I managed to get a government grant to continue my research and I paid the Co-op back and I have banked with them ever since.) <br /><br />What is the Co-op? <br /><br />The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_cooperative_movement">Co-operative Movement</a> has a long and important history, and there is also a <a href="http://party.coop/">Co-operative Party</a> who commission reports and fund (usually Labour) MPs in order to get politics to work better for ordinary people. There is a Co-operative group of businesses, including the bank, and that's what all the recent fuss is about. <br /><br />In this <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26970903">BBC article</a> you can read all about it, and finish up quite confused. Basically the Co-op is a group of businesses which are not run on strictly commercial lines. They don't have a Board of Directors and shareholders in the same way as other business groups - they are owned by the people who use them. We get to vote in people who manage the important matters to do with the Co-op and supposedly this democratic method means it runs itself with both competence and responding to the needs of most of the people who use it, as opposed to people who have enough money to buy stocks and shares. <br /><br />Ummm, of course in reality it doesn't quite work out like that. In reality a few people put in a lot of time to climbing the power tree and many people can't be bothered to make their small vote so things get run in the way a few people up the hierarchy think they should be run. The system is very cumbersome and this lends itself to being twisted about by those who might be more interested in their own ideas than in democratic consultation. <br /><br />Here, btw, are the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/13/co-op-group-review-co-operative-paul-myners">comments</a> of the guy who wrote a review of the Co-op, attempting to recommend ways to bring it better in line with how things are run today. Good luck, mate! <br /><br />This is where I think the problem is with the Co-operative business group. This relates especially to the bank, because it's all about capitalism. No, I am not being a boring left-y Marxist mom, LOL. Of course it's about capitalism! we're talking banking here. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruzdeV7YD9nkAwRvXjhcP4tvFxA-jZWzKEv8UodQpRvdYIKqf6CpO1eJgjMK5QoUMgjv92kWvG6N3qiKFkBe4t1Y8HYp8ABntktRpYo_t7b0yCbxymP0a6xNdz0yuJWYEJ6HGu6FU-2w/s1600/Bourdieu+Doxa.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruzdeV7YD9nkAwRvXjhcP4tvFxA-jZWzKEv8UodQpRvdYIKqf6CpO1eJgjMK5QoUMgjv92kWvG6N3qiKFkBe4t1Y8HYp8ABntktRpYo_t7b0yCbxymP0a6xNdz0yuJWYEJ6HGu6FU-2w/s1600/Bourdieu+Doxa.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Bourdieu 1977 p.168.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the purposes of my discussion, I shall be using Bourdieu's concept of discourse. He calls it doxa, but don't worry your pretty little head about that. You can call it 'stuff' if that helps. Sorry the diagramme is a bit slant-y. If you want to come round and spend the morning scanning things better for me, you are very welcome and I will make a cup of tea and put out biscuits. (Yah, there will be chocolate ones too, <i>of course</i>! I have a packet of Balsen which are on special offer right now - in the Co-operative Supermarket, but you better hurry if you want any of those as they go very quickly mmmm nom nom.) </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMhcIdgxuXUMtyxdKrt6vWfK_jgVmEzyeO5N1KZamq7m2lp1WVu9TJhC7DZWIaIPklMAMP6be82S8Qe6yBgy5abZAxLggA8E0dY5U9UPpRGXAB7tPbA_jyR9h3dHUIKZ6Bh9qGUjyaL-0/s1600/DSC_1803.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMhcIdgxuXUMtyxdKrt6vWfK_jgVmEzyeO5N1KZamq7m2lp1WVu9TJhC7DZWIaIPklMAMP6be82S8Qe6yBgy5abZAxLggA8E0dY5U9UPpRGXAB7tPbA_jyR9h3dHUIKZ6Bh9qGUjyaL-0/s1600/DSC_1803.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh sorry, the Balsen <i>have</i> all </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">gone. But there is bound to be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">some other chocolate around </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">at this time of year.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bourdieu argues that we operate within confined limits as to how we can manage society. There is a lot of stuff out there, but the way discourse is set up, we can only talk about certain areas of it. So let's imagine there are all kinds of ways of managing socio-economic affairs: communism, co-operation, socialism, liberal socialism, eco-socialism (let's not talk about national socialism - agreed?). However I am suggesting that in our society the only way of discussing managing the economy is capitalism. All other ways of sorting out how people's lives get financed and funded and enabled to get the resources to tootle along, singing a song, are treated as nonsense and not worth taking seriously. Opinion is focused solely on capitalism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are little bits of discussion about how to do capitalism just a little bit differently. A good example of this is what is often called Business in the Community: the way many businesses see it as good business to do charity work. They realise that their image is improved and their sales increase if they look as if they are contributing to society rather than just raking in a profit for their shareholders. So we could redraw Bourdieu like this: </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgIzpClGYW_nfap9axcKczMhg7drOTXuSE1dtXYhoiI06pve7tRVwuj0tdeJhUGNyzs81uL0AycHos4TokVSsMHXpiRL1FNkg5atd-ZWm-9FXgkCTfATKIUhBgZUN7vno_qf7iP3HxOQ/s1600/Bourdieu+Doxa+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgIzpClGYW_nfap9axcKczMhg7drOTXuSE1dtXYhoiI06pve7tRVwuj0tdeJhUGNyzs81uL0AycHos4TokVSsMHXpiRL1FNkg5atd-ZWm-9FXgkCTfATKIUhBgZUN7vno_qf7iP3HxOQ/s1600/Bourdieu+Doxa+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Based on Bourdieu's figure of doxa (in Bourdieu 1997 p. 168)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As you can see from this, although there are many ways of managing the economy, we only talk about the capitalist ways of doing so. We have discussions, so it looks like we are constantly debating what are the best ways to manage the world financially (and socially - but we focus on finance). Those are actually little fake debates about how to tinker with capitalism, not debates about whether there is something which would work better for 99% of the world's population who don't own stocks and shares, that's if they even have a pair of shoes. <br /><br />Well now, what about the Co-operative Bank? That is not run along capitalist lines. No, my dears. There is where the problem lies, if you ask me. They are right outside the 'universe of discourse (or argument)'. They can't actually operate properly at all because all around them, everything else is being run along capitalist lines. Their advertising makes them look like nice capitalists, not something completely different, and they were unable to cash in on the recent crisis when the selfish behaviour of other banks led to the other banks seeking short-term profits for themselves at the expense of the rest of us. Their system of management is constantly under threat of being undermined by people weasling in to exploit it for quite other purposes than the proper co-operative management of a financial institution, because there is no framework of thinking and behaviour to support them being run in the way that suits them best. Everything else is being operated to suit individualistic and profit-making practices. <br /><br /> One of the things Lord Myners asks for, is for a wider group of people to be more involved in the Co-operative business group so it can be responsive to ordinary people's concerns. Well, I would love to, dahlink! but I have got my students to teach, my piglet to feed (with food bought from our local Co-op) and the laundry to carry in off the line. When you rely on voluntary effort to make things work, you have to make do with the people who have time on their hands to contribute, and those are not usually ordinary people. In fact, I know you will be shocked to hear this, but they are often not motivated by a wish to make things work for their fellow members of society in a truly co-operative fashion. They often have some private and quite other agenda on the go. <br /><br />I have in hand the annual financial report of another institution with whom the Fella and I have some dealings. They are not co-operative, although they are democratic - you are allowed to vote on things like re-electing the Board. The Board up for re-election includes one person who is a Lord and has a name which has been famous for generations in the banking world. I'm sure it's a coincidence that there is someone-else on the Board who has that same rather unusual surname. Probably the fact that their families have been in banking for the last four or five generations, and that they have oodles and oodles of money, does give them expertise in how to manage our money. I am a bit vague about these matters but I suspect that they get more than a chocolate biscuit for sitting on that Board. Anyway, that's how things are run in the rest of the financial world. <br /><br /> </span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/cartoon_203973d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/cartoon_203973d.jpg" height="129" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2008/09/17/banks-need-to-grow-up-and-stop-playing-chicken" target="_blank">David McWilliams' blog</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Well, it looks like it may be curtains for the Co-operative Bank. This is a worrying thing for society in general, since it leaves us with a lot of other free market capitalist banks, many of which have had to be propped up by the government. I don't know why that doesn't prove capitalism is rubbish and a disaster for us all, but clearly Those With Bigger Brains understand and we should leave it all to them (wink). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here I shall consider what to do if you have a little money in a Co-op Bank account. </span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have banked with the Co-op for a lo-ong time, and I would be very sorry to see them go. They were always polite and pleasant when I phoned up in a tizzy about my finances. They made me feel like a thing like whatever I had managed to do could happen to anyone, and they would waive the fees and tell me exactly how to sort it out if I had gone accidentally past my overdraft limit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am a lot better with money now, cuz <a href="http://anthropologicalmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/money-money-money.html" target="_blank">I have read Alvin Hall</a>. Anyway, I'm not worried about the money in my bank account, because: </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/48/ac/35/48ac35a6-73a0-9f23-2534-491afdfdbad9/Fats_Waller_-_I_Can_t_Give_You_Anything_But_Love_Baby.170x170-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/48/ac/35/48ac35a6-73a0-9f23-2534-491afdfdbad9/Fats_Waller_-_I_Can_t_Give_You_Anything_But_Love_Baby.170x170-75.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-cant-give-you-anything-but/id550889414" target="_blank">i-tunes</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>A)</b> I haven't got any. It's true that they might come and reclaim the money I owe them, but this is not much. The reason it's not much is that a short while ago, they made me repay most of my overdraft. I was a bit <i>meh </i>about having to find the money to do so, except that they were so polite. At the time there was a lot of banking trouble going on elsewhere, with people being lured into massive credit they couldn't afford. And I said to myself I was lucky reelly, to be with a bank which would make sure I kept within responsible limits for credit. They explained clearly to me that they had identified me as likely to run into difficulties, because although I always had a little money flowing through the account, it had not been in credit for a long time. I just would pay off a bit of the overdraft, then run it up again. "Get into credit sometimes," they said firmly. "Then we will be happy to let you keep the smaller overdraft you've now got and even get a bigger one again." I thought that was sensible, so I get into credit but now I just keep the small overdraft instead of asking for any more credit and I am paying my small overdraft off too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>B)</b> I know that the government have <a href="http://www.fscs.org.uk/protected/" target="_blank">guaranteed all savings accounts up to £85,000</a> if anything happens to a bank. I wish I had that much for them to pay me back! So, my £0.55 savings account is safe. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47907000/jpg/_47907344_ctf_hmrc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47907000/jpg/_47907344_ctf_hmrc.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From BBC article on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10146734" target="_blank">scrapping of the scheme</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One thing I was wondering about was Piglet's <a href="https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/overview" target="_blank">child trust fund</a>. If your piglet was born between 2002 and 2011, you'll have received a £250 voucher to invest for it, then a later top-up payment to add to their fund. Piglet actually has a bigger investment fund elsewhere and I decided to put her baby bond into an ethical fund. There was only one - being run by the Co-operative. It was a great education. One year it went down in value and I wished I had put the money into a safe but low return savings account. Now it's actually worth quite a bit more than it originally was, it does as well if not better than the gun-running investment accounts. The other day I sat down with Piglet and explained it to her, telling her about the difference between an investment fund, a savings account and why I had chosen this particular fund. Mostly she was interested in the fact that she had amounts of money tucked away which could buy seriously large bars of Dairy Milk chocolate. However I hope some of the issues about where you invest and how that impacts on the rest of society will come back to her one day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Finance Expert Mum has explained to me over coffee at music college that Piglet's savings are separately protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Should the Co-op fail, Piglet's money will probably have to be moved into another fund, which would be annoying as there are no others which guarantee that her money is not being invested in the arms industry and whatever. However, since the investment funding bit of the bank are doing reasonably well, they are likely to be picked up by someone-else who will continue to run them, let's hope along the same lines. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There we are. I am not agitated about Never In My Back-pocket of used fivers. However I am really sad about the implications for society if the only alternative high street bank disappears. </span>Anthropological Mumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17431472288684196048noreply@blogger.com0