8 January 2020

My New Years' resolution is to cut down the alcohol and lose weight. I've lost half a stone in the last couple of months. No alcohol Monday to Thursday. I've embraced alcohol-free beer which has become much improved lately. I can recommend these two.

7 January 2020

A massive improvement this year with one of the best Xmas presents ever! Some really nice warm slippers. I've always suffered from cold feet and these are great! Small things can make a big difference!

6 January 2020

Working on my book and it's almost finished! I say that but the writing is almost finished it's going to take me quite a while to edit it. Still, I'm feeling good about it 😀. It's based on my blog called Capitalism Creates Poverty and you can find it here.

5 January 2020

Bit of a mixed day. Cool rather than cold. Sunny spells but cloudy. We decided to go to Dunham Massey but on arrival realised we'd messed up. We should have guessed -  it's the final Sunday before people have to go back to work and the place was rammed. We didn't hang around.

Plan B involved a trip to Knutsford on the way home. A walk around town and a trip to the Moor to see the ducks and Geese.

Knutsford Church

4 January 2020

A fairly quiet day. We stocked up on logs which hopefully will see us through to the Spring. 

Working on my blogs and my book - more of that later.

3 January 2020

Today the news is that Trump ordered a drone strike that killed the Iranian General Soleimani. This reckless act of murder is typical of Trump and could lead us into a war that might become WWIII if Iran's allies Russia and China get involved. What a great start to the year! 

Given that it was still dry and sunny we went for another local walk down to Vale Royal Locks.

By Vale Royal locks

This impressive hunk of stone lies by Vale Royal locks. Not sure about the coat of arms but Vale Royal Abbey is nearby. It was founded by Edward I and destroyed by Henry VIII. I'd imagine it's the arms of the Cholmondeley family who moved in early in the 1600s and later became Lords Delamere.

2 January 2020

Only four days into 2020 and I'm behind with this blog already. Anyway, my key theme at the start of this year is books - books everyone ought to be reading. Books that can help transform the world we live into a more equal and sustainable place with more economic power for workers. I started with The Making of a Democratic Economy and now I'm reading The Case for the Green New Deal by Anne Pettifor. 

As I write this in Australia huge bush fires are raging. An estimated 500 million animals have been killed along with 23 people so far. Huge damage has been done and its not over yet by any means. Unless we adopt something like a GND the outlook for our species looks bleak and its something which everyone should get behind if they care about the planet and their children's future.

Apart from reading what did I do? Fixed a flimsy bedhead to a bed and went for an excellent walk by the Weaver on a lovely sunny Winters day.

New Year 2020

So here we are. It's 2020. A new decade. Let's hope its much better than the last one though the election result on 12th December 2019 was about as bad as it could be. Another 5 years of Tory government which will probably mean a hard Brexit and privatisation of the NHS. There will be no relief for the poor or the homeless. My work at the food bank will continue despite the fact that I was hoping a Labour government would make me redundant!

This is going to be a time when we are going to have to stick together and show solidarity with each other and work hard to build our own economy which is why I've chosen this photograph as the first for this year.

This is a superb book which I bought and read recently and its the only way we can find any sort of independence from the domination of the 0.1% over our lives. I strongly recommend the book and the website of The Democracy Collaborative.

3 January 2019

We went for a walk in the Forest, driving to a place called Blackwater where there is a car park and forest walks. We did the Arboretum and the Tall Trees walks - both recommended.

Carol, Susie and Dylan

2 January 2019

Today we're off to the New Forest to see my Stepmother Carol. She is eighty five and gets plenty of exercise taking her dog Dylan for walks in the Forest. Today the four-hour drive was relatively benign and we arrived on time, and got a parking space!

Albert - my Father's cat. A splendid cat he is too!

1 January 2019

It's 2019! This blog is nearly completed. Only a couple of posts to finish it off. We didn't arise very early but were treated to a good breakfast before we departed.

Some of the inhabitants of the smallholding. Yes, that is a Llama in the background.

31 December 2018

New Years Eve. Celebrating NYE is always a bigger thing for me than Xmas. Alas, not all my friends see it that way. We went to see in the New Year with Anthea and Pete at their smallholding in Smallwood and popped in the pub for a swift drink. A good time was had by all.

30 December 2018

More shopping! Went to Currys to look for a new oven. Exciting day! The picture at the bottom is actually of a line of birds on the roof of Wetherspoons.

29 December 2018

The lull between Xmas and New Year - after a fraught Xmas. Another quiet day. Treated myself to my occasional copy of the Morning Star. I'm not a huge fan but I like to support alternative UK media.

28 December 2018

Quiet day. Dull but dry. Went for a much-needed walk by the Weaver.