Rain Rain

There is an old nursery rhyme (come to think of it are there any new nursery rhymes?) which goes:

Rain rain go away,

Come again another day.

Little Johnny wants to play;

Rain, rain, go to Spain,

Never show your face again!

My Mum used to say:

Rain rain go away

Come again on washing day.

I thought of that this morning because I have things to do outside and with the car and it's pouring - yet again. Then I thought how irrelevant both the above are in this day and age.  Little Johnny (in the UK at least) is far more likely to want to play on his computer or watch TV than go and play outside.  Washing day?  This is a concept swept away with modern washing machines, women going out to work, tumble driers and an ethos of wear-it-once which was a luxury few could afford or indeed think of in my childhood.  Now if something is worn for half a day into the wash it goes.  Let Mum (or Dad) deal with it.

Just a thought.

The Ah Factor

Pat remarked the other day that the birds used my birdbath (which Pat and Dave gave me and which the birds use for drinking rather than bathing) and that they didn't use her's.  She thought it was because her's was too near the house but mine is less than 2 metres from the Study window.  I see the sparrows feeding their young a lot but this one even provides the young with water.  How lazy can a young bird get?

I've Fallen in Love - Again

This time it's with something much safer than falling in love with a fellow human being!  I received one of my usual emails from the John Lewis Partnership (For those outside the UK this is one of the few remaining Department Stores in the UK.  It is prestigous.  It is owned by it's employees).  On display was A Farmers Cottage Rotating Sphere.  It comes as a Seater, a Lounger or a Summer House.  What a fabulous idea.  Rotate the entrance away from the wind and remain able to see the views.  If I had that in my front garden overlooking the Minch, the Scottish Mainland and the valley to Upper Bayble I would be in seventh heaven.

 

Where Does Charity Begin

I have often heard people say that charity should begin at home and that whilst there are many in need in our own country then we should give to those in our own country before we give elsewhere.  This is an argument that could occupy a book never mind a few inconsequential paragraphs on this blog.  It's not an argument to which I wholly subscribe, by the way.  I don't, in any case, tend to give to charities dealing with needs of poverty per se.  I prefer those dealing with problems (like Age Concern or The Macmillan Nurses) or medical advancement or the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.  These are personal choices and we all have our own and often varying views.

It struck me this morning, however, that I actually spend a disproportionate amount of money on wildlife that would, in all probability, survive almost as well without my help.  I was looking at the two sacks of birdseed, the tub of fat balls and the tub of peanuts which are in my garden shed for the Sparrows and Greenfinches and Starlings and so on which inhabit my garden.  Lots of other birds come but, on the whole, they are insectivorous or eat worms and the like. 

From my observation the Sparrows who live under my eaves can have three broods a year and I think that is probably because of the plentiful and close food supply.  So it helps keep the numbers up here even if they are declining rapidly elsewhere.

When, however, I weigh up what all this costs per year it does make me wonder whether that money would be better given to one of the other charities.

Just a thought.