Month: January 2021

I hazard a guess that after the successful democratic outcome of the US elections everyone has been wondering “what will Trump do next”. Well now we know and it was possibly worse than most of us could have imagined. Apart from a few White Supremacists (a few in comparison to the rest of America and the free world) shock and horror has been the reaction to the POTUS’ hopefully final act of inciting his followers to storm the Capitol in Washington DC. A headline says that even Prince Albert of Monaco thinks that President Trump should be held accountable.

Today a police officer has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob. Under pressure Trump condemned “the heinous attack” but it’s too little too late. He also held a Capitol Riot Watch Party, presumably in the White House bunker where he, his family and friends had holed up. They look very pleased with themselves and the outcome. The video is doing the rounds on social media and YouTube. The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asking for the President to be immediately removed from office. Others would like him to be charged with inciting violence. Once again we will have to wait and see.

It’s been a busy week in Washington. Apart from the riot the Trump tweeted “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the inauguration on January 2oth”.  The response was to be expected. One suggestion was that “he will be in international waters where he can’t be served with subpoenas or arrested”. Another, “he won’t be able to afford the bail” and many more but for me the best was stolen from Melania’s famous jacket “I really don’t care, do u?”  That garment is going to haunt her for a long time.

The beast from the east is on its way again. I can only hope it doesn’t reach Dorset. I’ve no doubt Kent will see snow so we might see Peter Blandford snow boarding down his driveway again with a camera attached to his beanie. Or maybe he’ll even use his drone to film his epic ride.

Today was my grandson Alex’s birthday but sadly it went unnoticed (almost, I did post a few photos). He along with his parents is at home with Covid and they are not feeling too well. 19 year old Jack is there and ok but somehow I can’t imagine him taking over the cooking and as for housework, I doubt he even knows where the hoover is.

You might remember that last year I was suffering from toothache caused by an exposed root. The dentist did what he could a few days before Xmas and I have been using special sensitive toothpaste which is supposed to treat the area. I am now the proud owner of the largest collection of sensitive toothpastes in Dorset. And that’s about it for today, except to say in the immortal words of the Hill Street Blues desk sergeant “Hey, let’s be careful out there”.😴💤💤😴

What a brilliant day it’s turned our to be, although not all brilliantly good. 6th January is celebrated in Spain as Kings Day or Día de los Reyes and is when the children receive gifts supposedly from the Reyes Magos or Wise Men. It is also the date when my Spanish mother in law was born and therefore given the name of Baltasara after one of the kings. That’s some name to bestow on a tiny baby girl. Always known as Balta she was a great woman of her time. Born in a hamlet in Guadalajara, she could both read and write, she lived through the civil war which was followed by WW2, she married and moved into Madrid and had four children. A passionate mother and grandmother Balta was also an amazing cook who could produce delicious meals with very few ingredients. There’s no doubt her legacy was a brilliant one.

In the US the Trump’s Republican supporters are literally up in arms after he invited them to come to Washington DC to protest the election results. And they did just that, storming the Capitol, placing explosive devices and trying to stop Congress’ certification of the election result which Trump lost. Last year in July when protestors against racial injustice caused disruption in the capital the President said anyone who damaged buildings should serve ten years in prison. Today he eventually called for calm telling people “go home even though the election had been stolen”. He said “we love you, you’re very special people”. Definitely not brilliant.

Meanwhile in the Georgia Senate election the two Democrat candidates managed to pass the 50% of the votes needed to win the election. This result gives Democrats and Republicans 50 seats each in the senate. Raphael Warnock became the first black senator in Georgia and only the 11th in US history. In his speech he paid tribute to his 82 year old mother who gave birth to 12 children saying that those same hands that picked cotton had also picked her youngest son to be a United States senator. She could not have imagined that when she was picking cotton. Absolutely brilliant, maybe change is happening.

At home I received a couple of photos that I had requested from my older sister. They were of her wedding day in October 1961 and besides the bride and groom there were the three bridesmaids. Doreen who was tying the knot was very nearly 22, I was 19 and our younger sister Lesley was just 16. The third was a friend of the bride. I thought the photos were so much better than I remembered and for me at least, brilliant.

I hope that Kings Day brought you everything you wanted or even better, just what you needed. Sadly my daughter Sam tested positive for Covid but she doesn’t have any symptoms. I managed to do some U3A work from home. I spoke to several people on the phone, I had a nice walk and enjoyed reading messages on FaceBook. I feel ok. Absolutely brilliant. Stay well and sleep well. Nighty night.😴💤😴

Yesterday BoJo addressed the nation and informed us that we are once again in lockdown and this time it includes all schools even though the previous day he had encouraged parents to send the kids back after their Xmas break. Very depressing news even if we did expect it, especially as it seems that it might continue until March or even longer. I’m not sure if there are any Tiers left in England but there are certainly a few tears. The oldest identical twins who are 96 years old have contracted Covid although they say they have been isolating and sticking to all the rules.

I went grocery shopping today, first proper shop for two weeks I think. I really was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Plenty of food in the freezer but I really had to get some fresh fruit and veg. I believe I would have been on route to getting scurvy if I’d left it much longer.

Brexit has happened although we are told that there are still many points that need to be fine tuned and finalised. Meanwhile, Brits have been stopped from boarding flights to Madrid and told that even though they’re Spanish residents their travel papers needed updating. Travellers with EU residences have also been unable to enter Holland, Sweden and Germany. It seems that it has something to do with a certificate saying they are Covid free which should have been issued in the country where they reside and not where they might have caught or not caught the virus.

Rumour has it that the Trump could be planning a golf trip to Scotland to avoid attending Joe Biden’s inauguration. Prestwick airport has been told to expect a US Military Boeing 737 to land on January 19 and that is the type of plane used by the president. There has been a lot of military activity around the area but nothing is yet official. What is official is that the Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said that the outgoing President would be subject to the same Covid travel restrictions as anyone else. This limits arrivals on the basis of essential travel only and a game of golf is not essential. I don’t often say this but “good old Nicola”.

A thief has been jailed for eight months for stealing items from Buckingham Palace belonging to the Queen. If she wants my advice it’s “off with ‘is ‘ead, ma’am’. The North Yorkshire servant with the very unYorkshire name of Adamo Canto stole several items including signed photos, medals and a complete photo album of the POTUS’ & FLOTUS’ visit. He was a bit short of money at the time and so proceeded to sell them on Ebay. I would have loved to have seen that listing. Would he have said “Her Majesty would like to sell a few photos of her grandchildren, please place your bid here”. There was also a personalised phone belonging to Prince Andrew. I would have placed a bid for that. Too late now, Good Night isolators everywhere.😴💤😴

During lockdown in Italy, archaeologists have been quietly chipping away in old Pompeii. They have discovered an almost intact, well preserved thermopolium, or ancient snack bar which in its day would have served the local population with drinks and hot foods. Apparently there were plenty of these snack bars dotted around the Roman world with eighty of them in Pompeii alone. Sounds a bit like Bournemouth, every time a shop closes another snack or coffee bar opens. The next one could be called Thermopolia. Anyway although several had already been uncovered this is the only one found in its entirety. There are still life scenes painted on the walls, urns, food residues, animal bones and even victims of the eruption. I visited there once it was very hot and dusty and also very sad to think of how quickly disaster had struck.

Meanwhile, in Ireland and while we are talking about old urns, a 20″ Chinese, urn shaped vase was put up for auction. It had been purchased in 1938 by an ancestor of the mystery seller. It was valued at around £450 as there was no proof of provenance but had a stamp on the base suggesting it had belonged to an emperor during the Qing Dynasty. Bidding was brisk and it finally sold for 1.1 million pounds plus fees. I’m going to check out that little Chinese cup I’m keeping my make-up brushes in.

One million people have already been given the Covid jab in the UK but there is obviously still a long way to go. On Monday the Oxford vaccine will become available and as long as there are enough people qualified to administer it the government say that the number of people receiving it will be 2 million per week by February. I wonder how many there are in front of me?

Did you know that Britain’s richest man who also happened to be a Brexit supporter has decided that his company will move to France to build its new Grenadier car. Sir Jim Ratcliffe had previously promised to build them in a new factory in Wales but changed his mind having found a ready to move into plant in Eastern France. The new 4×4 vehicle which is based on the Land Rover design is not even going to be electric. Take away the man’s title I say, he’s letting Britain down.

Spain and Britain have come to an agreement over Gibraltar which means that there will be free travel between The Rock and Spain. It will remain a UK territory but its borders will be managed by EU officials. This means that workers will be free to continue working there.

And another popular change following Brexit is that the 5% tampon tax on female sanitary products was abolished on 1st January. The EU had considered the items as “non-essential” and therefore subject to VAT. I wonder how they worked that one out? I could come up with a few suggestions but not here. Nighty night everyone, hope your year started well.  😴💤💤😴