Wednesday 22nd July 2009

Have neglected writing for some days now. Had a busy weekend because I went to a barbecue in Knebworth with Nick and met up with the ladies we go in holiday with each September and most of Nick's immediate family. I enjoyed that. I made a 360 degree sweep of Noreen’s garden with a programme called Photsynth and it’s great. Can’t wait to do some more of the garden and any interesting places I go to. Kind of a four hour drive each way though so leaving Saturday morning and coming home Sunday afternoon doesn’t leave that much time in-between. But at leat the weather was dry and at times sunny. Which is more than I can say for here at the minute? It is infernally wet and damp currently and there does not seem any respite form it in the next week or so. Rain for breakfast, dinner and tea! As ever all the plants that like the sun are not doing so well and all the weeds are reaching to the sky.

I sold my stuff on eBay but still waiting to offload the turntable. Funny how someone pays you £500 and then doesn’t seem in any rush to collect (or have the good sent.) I wrote to him a couple of time and he’s like “whenever.” Strange! Anyway despite having the money I cant touch it as Paypal have frozen my account on ‘money laundering’ legislation and couple that with the import tax wheeze the other week and it is no wonder I get annoyed. What’s the next wheeze to be dreamed up to screw money out of us? I mean already 33% of what I earn has disappeared from my pay packet each month before I even get my hands on any money. Its tax on tax on tax and some more tax. Oh and don’t get me started on the billions the government have borrowed trying to dig their way out of the hole they’ve thrown us all in. We live in a crazy country and it is getting dangerously crazier by the week.

I’m off to the NHS dentist again this week so more pain and money to shell out. Every time they ask, “do you pay for your treatment?” and it does annoy me, because if I lied I wouldn’t have to. It’s not like they check up or anything. In fact we have to pay the NHS charges in advance because so many people have done a runner after treatment. Of course if you’re on benefits you don’t have these worries but why do people on welfare benefit get everything for free? It doesn’t make any sense to me. They should pay something and it doesn’t have to be a big amount but the notion of ‘nothing comes for free’ doesn’t seem to apply to the people on benefits. I would go so far as to say that the people who contribute nothing to society (and by that I mean the able-bodied under the age of 60) seem to get the best service within the NHS because nothing has a notion of cost to them. They have free housing, free money, free medical treatment, free travel and leisure. But in the final analysis it has all got to be paid for and as half the country doesn’t work it appears the other half have to support them but how long can that last? Seriously sometimes I wonder whether it is actually worth working. No wonder the asylum and immigrant queues to get into Britain are enormous. It must seem a paradise of generosity once you get used to the rain. But not for us here trying to run a small business or earn a modest living. Ask Nick…who now has to open the shop on Saturdays to try and make enough to pay the bills.

Anyway enough moaning for now. It’s Thursday and the weather forecast says that we are to have one dry and sunny day on Saturday this weekend. So will charge up the chainsaw and I shall have a tidy up come the weekend. Hopefully the sodden geraniums will cheer up and the tomatoes will blush a little redder than they are at the minute. By the way the potatoes are ready, snow white and delicious with butter and black pepper. See something has gone well.