Zooming Along

Although meeting on Zoom isn’t the best way for to communicate, there are both advantages and disadvantages to this mode of interaction.

Advantages:

• During Lockdown I have attended several AGMs on Zoom and find them to be much more efficient and would be quite happy for them to continue online.
• I have managed to keep in touch with the various groups with which I am involved and, even when two groups are meeting on the same evening, it has been easy to fit both in without having to travel and park.
• Although I am not one to stay in PJs, it is quite acceptable to wear tracky bottoms and slippers on Zoom as long as hair is brushed and lippy applied.
• Zoom has made it possible to see family and friends in their own environments.   No need for a quick tidy up when there is a knock on the door or a car draws up.  A backdrop of your choice or one from a room from a stately home is a bonus.
• I have attended some interesting and entertaining talks from worldwide sources.  These are often recorded and uploaded to YouTube to view at your convenience.

Disadvantages:

• No communal eating.  I am a firm believer in those who eat together stay together.
• No hugs or kisses
• No opportunity to dress up in your glad rags, although I have worn a variety of hats to suit the occasion.
• I know that there are many successful online choirs, but I’ve never managed a good, coordinated rendition of Happy Birthday
• Less moving around has resulted in additional weight gain

Leeds LitFest 2021

The latest online events I have attended were from Leeds LitFest  which took place   2nd – 7th March.

I selected the following events and enjoyed each one enormously.

A Literary Quiz with quizmaster Gary Wigglesworth author of The Book Lover's Quiz Book (which would make a nice gift for a book loving friend). Questions were on first lines, characters etc  Most enjoyable but not my finest hour.

I had just read a couple of novels by Peter James  a UK No.1 best-selling crime and thriller author. He told us how he got into writing and how he shadowed police on their callouts for research purposes.  The TV series Grace, adapted from his novels about Roy Grace, is due to air on ITV on Sunday 14th March at 8 pm. 

Salon with Clare Fisher gave us poetry writers/authors from and near Leeds including  Rachel Bower, Cherie Baptiste-Taylor, Sarah Perry Poet, (novelist and short story writer), Kayo Chingonyi, Kimberly Campanello and  Sarah Dawson who is studying failure in contemporary experimental poetry performance at the University of Leeds.  The poems she read out were written in universal phonetics.   

These performances may well be found on YouTube.

 How do you feel about Zoom-type encounters?

Six on Saturday: Signs of Spring

 

We've made it to the end of February and there seems to be a different feel in the air.  A couple of degrees higher on the thermometer, a bit of sunshine and signs of new growth in the garden goes a long way to improve our mood.  

Here are my six:

For me, after snowdrops and crocuses the flowering blackcurrant heralds the Spring

Garlic making good growth, although the pesky squirrels have had a good root around

I am determined not to lose my lupins this year, hence the collars from plastic lemonade bottles

The Bellis in containers have sprung back to life after the frosts and snow.  They usually carry on flowering for months.

Black Grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens) is spreading well

This is a picture of the frogs and frogspawn in the pond.  I counted more than seven large frogs all being very active

The Propagator generously hosts Six on Saturday.  Click on the link to his blog to see what he and his followers are growing and doing in their gardens this week.  Perhaps you feel you could add your own six too.

Stay well and focus on that chink of light at the end of the tunnel

Gardeners' Question Time

It was really exciting to be part of the virtual audience in the Zoom room for BBC Radio 4’s GQT with chair Cathy Clugston and the panel.  Two programmes were recorded with the panel; Matthew Wilson who had guitars on his wall, Chris Beardshaw and Bunny Guiness whose cat was luxuriating under a radiator.  The programme (episode 43) airs on 12th February and, unless edited out, mine was the first question.

My question was:

In normal times, members of our gardening club are challenged to sow a pot of seeds each Spring to see who can grow the tallest Sunflower or the first Cosmos to bloom etc 

Can the panel suggest which seeds they would recommend for this year’s competition, preferably to flower later on this year.  All entries will be shown at our Zoom meetings and posted on our Blog.

Linda Casper

Friday Forum Gardeners Club, Paxton Hall, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Interesting answers were given by all three panel members.  Tune in to find out what they were!

If you fancy being in the audience, click on the link below.

Join BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time for another virtual recording

…. and if you are interested in gardening, check out our group’s blog at

Gardeners Friday Forum at Paxton

 

 

 

Holocaust Memorial Day 2021

 

I attended a very moving online Holocaust Memorial service broadcast from Leeds Town Hall.  The theme for commemorating this year’s Holocaust Memoria Day is “be the light in the darkness”.

Speakers included Holocaust survivors, many of whom settled in Leeds, who related their experiences and remembering family members who perished. 

“Never again” is the slogan used when we talk about the Holocaust, yet we heard from survivors of genocides which have taken place since then; Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.  We heard about the plight of the Uyghur Muslims in China and the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar which are still happening today.

We must learn from the past to create a better future.  In the words of the author and camp survivor Elie Wiesel who experienced the unimaginable events of the Holocaust, “Whomever listens to a witness becomes one themself”. For me, this means we must not stand by and allow such oppression in our lifetime.

 

How was it for you?

 

Highlights of 2020

Normally at this time of year I would review the year.  However, given the year we’ve all just had, I’ll gloss over 2020 with a few highlights before moving onwards and upwards to things I hope to accomplish in 2021.

 

As 2020 draws to a close, just a few things to ponder

1. 2019 Stay away from negative people. 2020 Stay away from people

2. The world has turned upside down. Old people are sneaking out of the house and their kids are yelling at them to stay indoors.

3. This morning I saw a neighbour talking to her dog. It was obvious she thought her dog understood her.

I came to my house and told the cat ....we had a good laugh

4. Every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit. Pyjamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.

5. Does anyone know if we can take showers yet or should we just keep washing our hands?

6. I never thought the comment “I wouldn’t touch them with a 6-foot barge pole” would become a national policy but here we are!

7. I really need to practice social distancing...... from the fridge

8. I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to the garden.

I am tired of the living room

9. Never in a million years could I have imagined I would go up to a bank clerk with a mask on and ask for money.

On to 2021

Although I participated in many Zoom meetings with family for celebrations and festivals and with the various groups and societies in which I am involved, it doesn’t replace face-to-face contact and hugs and kisses.  I am so looking forward to meeting and greeting people in person,

Last year taught me how kind and creative the human race can be.  I hope this continues post pandemic.

I will continue to appreciate my garden and living in beautiful Yorkshire

Some other things I missed out on and hope to experience this year:

Celebrating with friends and family

Visiting the Himalayan Gardens near Ripon, in Yorkshire

Lunching with the ladies

I’m ending this post on a positive note with a well know song (Lyrics by John Mercer)

You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

So, how was it/will it be for you?

 

 

 

 

Scary Stories

 

This story is in response to the regular call for shared storytelling  on the blog https://isawlightningfall.blogspot.com/in 100 words for advent from Loren Eaton.

The blog is described “as a place for people who like stories in general and genre fiction in particular. It's a place for folks who prefer to read and write fantasy and horror, science fiction and crime fiction”.

So here is my 100 word story:

The Poison Garden

Visiting the Poison Garden was her idea.   

Hundreds of species of poisonous plants from rhubarb to hemlock were attractively arranged, interspersed with culinary and medicinal herbs.

Hurrying my wife past warnings on the information board, I actively encouraged rubbing leaves to release the aroma of various plants lining our route.  Surely she would encounter a poisonous one.

“Help! Quick. Look at this rash!”

Pretending not to hear and willing myself not to look back, I waited until she fell silent before shouting for assistance. 

The Coroner reported her death wasn’t from the irritant, Ruta graveolens, but from a heart attack.

 - 0 -

To read more scary stories, check out I Saw Lightning Fall

 

Six on Saturday mid-December

So here we are in mid-December and almost at the point in the year when the days become longer.  Can’t wait!  I check for signs of new growth every day.

Here are my six:

Some roses are still hanging on

The evergreen fern, Polystichum polyblepharum, looks good

Garlic planted late November developing nicely

The cheerful colour of the Winter Jasmine is a welcome sight at the front door

I like to plant up a pot of Bellis which will flower through until late Spring

This basket, which currently contains Cyclamen, will be substituted for pots of other plants according to the season

The Propagator generously hosts Six on Saturday.  Click on the link to his blog to see what he and his followers are growing and doing in their gardens this week.  Perhaps you feel you could add your own six too.

Stay well everyone.