1st in Advent

Well - we've had Thanksgiving, Black Friday Sales , Small Business Saturday (where everyone patronises their small shops)   and tomorrow is Cyber Monday when everyone shops online.  And Napoleon  called US a 'Nation of Shopkeepers'.    Of course that was some time ago.

The weather here has been so wet lately - I am sure the local reservoirs must be full by now - so the only shopping I have done was to venture to the Dollar Store after church to pick up one or two Christmas things.   And I picked up this book in the Dollar Store which I photographed for the benefit of my cat loving friend who persuaded me to take Bubbles in.   I will pass it on to you.

 

While looking for this photo I found another I took a couple of days ago....

 



This is a big news story here at the moment.  The incident happened a year ago, but the video has only just surfaced and is causing national outrage.  A black youth was running down the road waving a knife, and ignored the police call to stop, so the officer shot him sixteen times.    In Britain we would all be asking "WHY", and the officer would be sent for medical or psychiatric evaluation. But here he has been charged with murder in the first degree, so heaven help him if it is a death penalty state.  I'm more bewildered than anything - I think there has to be something else in this incident that we are missing.   What was it that possessed the officer to shoot him 16 times???  

 

In this country every single shot a police officer fires has to be accounted for, so shooting at someone sixteen times is a very big deal indeed and the officer would know that.   But we haven't been told anything about his mental state, or any of the whys or wherefores.    

 

The photo on the left is part of the protest, the police officer is the guy in the middle, and the victim the black guy in the graduation robes.

 

 

 This is a picture from a couple of days ago.  A little ceremony they have at the White House, a turkey is selected for the Thanksgiving dinner, and the other one there (but not in the picture) is pardoned.   But with White House staff as well, they must need more than one turkey I would have thought.  

 

And I thought Obama's daughters suddenly looked very grown up, we don't often see them.

 

And all the Cyber Monday bargains and deals are beginning to cascade into my inbox.

 

 



 

Thanksgiving/Black Friday

As I previously mentioned, my friend Donna invited me to join her and her family for Thanksgiving yesterday, we had roast turkey and lots of side dishes, and it was all very pleasant.   I would have liked to have stayed longer than I did, but had to get home before dark because my failing eyesight isn't up to unlit country roads.   

 

Everyone here always takes a contribution to a meal and I made our traditional (traditional in my family, that is) smoked salmon appetisers.  I also knocked up some cheese sausages, but didn't think they were up to scratch so ate them myself.

 

Black Friday.........

 

The biggest shopping day of the year.   President Lincoln designated the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day, then in 1939 during the Great Depression Thanksgiving happened to fall during the 5th week of November, and retailers protested that the holiday shopping season was too short.    (I wondered why folks didn't start their Christmas shopping in August, like we do) so in 1941 Congress passed a law making it the fourth Thursday.

 

In the 1950s, people began calling in sick the day after Thanksgiving, essentially giving themselves a four-day weekend. Since stores were open, as were most businesses, those playing hooky could also get a head start on their holiday shopping and rather than try to determine whose pay should be cut, and who was legitimately sick, many businesses started adding that day as another paid holiday.

 

I certainly haven't been out shopping.   Even had I wanted to the weather is now bitterly cold, and very, very wet.   Not that I'd dare complain, mind you, of rain in this drought stricken state.

 

The geriatric cat seems to have been a bit lethargic lately, she has slowed down somewhat lately, but today has spent the whole day on the computer room sofa.  She did venture on to my chair in front of the computer and I tossed her off - I'm feeling very bad about that now. 

 

I've been watching television, normal programming was suspended for most of the day because there was a serious hostage situation at a Planned Parenthood Clinic - a women's' health and abortion clinic.   It has been in the news lately because an undercover investigator found they were selling foetal tissue body parts, but I don't know if that had anything to do with today's situation.

 

After several hours the gunman was taken into custody, but sadly a police officer and two civilians were killed, and quite a few casualties have been hospitalised.   To date we haven't been told the motive of the gunman.

 

 

Wednesday 25th November

Kevin rang to see if I was going anywhere for Thanksgiving dinner, which was kind of him, but I am going to my friend, Donna on the other side of Tecumseh.    I was looking at smoked salmon in Walmart to make some little pre lunch appetisers to take, and they were selling "imitation" crab and "imitation" lobster - the smoked salmon looked genuine though.   I reflected on the fact that for someone brought up on an island in the North Sea the lack of decent fish here is a bit hard to take sometimes.   The beef is good though.

I am about to wade into the muddy waters of political incorrectness here, so all who may be offended - You Have Been Warned.

In the news, a young pregnant mother was murdered in a home invasion by two black youths while her husband was out at the gym.    Also in the news - and not connected to this story - there seems to be a lot of racial unrest here at the moment, and there have been mass demonstrations on the streets,  black people (or 'people of colour' as they prefer to be called)  chanting "Black Lives Matter".    Oh Yes.   How about SOMEONE, ANYONE, telling the black youth of America that White Lives Matter, because it seems to me - the bystander here - that nearly all the crime and violence here is perpetrated by black youth.

I will no doubt be told - and if I am not told it will be thought - that this is all a lie, put out by the evil Fox News, and in actual fact all the crime and violence is actually perpetrated by white people.

And believe it not, I never used to have a racist bone in my body.   This is what living here does to you.

Sunday

I went to Emmanuel in the morning.   I was reading and people were kind enough to tell me afterwards that they love it when I read - I think it's the novelty of my English accent.

 

In the early afternoon I went to the movies and saw 'The 33' about the mine in Chile which collapsed, trapping 33 miners, and  I think most of us remember following it in real time when it happened.   I was surprised though that even knowing it all ended happily didn't prepare me for the emotional impact of it.   At the end, when the first miner emerged, I was dashing away the tears.   By the time  the final credits rolled up,  I was weeping.   It took a little getting into, but it was a tremendously exciting film.

 

In real time I remembered the President of Chile being there to welcome them when they came up, but they didn't show that (or even an actor playing him).  And I also remembered in real time being very moved that the President of Bolivia was also there to welcome the one Bolivian miner when he came up, but they didn't show that either.  Anyway, it was a very, very good film, and via a take out at the Golden Corral I was back home in the real world of  evil jihadists, facing down Armageddon.  Which got me to wondering "what IS the real world, the goodness of the story of the miners, or the evil of radical Islam".    But let us not go there, it is too philosophical for a Monday morning.

Friday/Saturday.

Yesterday, Friday, I was at the hospital.   At first I didn't see Bill, I circled around a bit then we caught up and had lunch together which was very nice.   It was also very festive.    When the universities of Oklahoma  play Oklahoma State, it is also celebrated at the hospital (although I think the game is actually next week).   All those who would normally pay for their lunch have it free, and there are extra buffet dishes and an air of festivity pervades the cafeteria. 

 

Another touch - but I don't know that it is connected - is that employees and volunteers are given a little loaf of bread in honour of the founders of the hospital, the Little Sisters of the Poor.  Legend has it that a man came to the convent asking for food but there was only one loaf of bread in the house. The sister in charge of the kitchen asked the Mother what she should do, and was told to give the man the loaf, saying "the Lord will provide for us".   Some hours later a child was sent by her mother to deliver a pan of freshly baked bread, and when the child arrived she was greeted with "The Lord has come.  You are the Lord today little one". 

Yesterday evening Bruce and Rosalyn kindly invited me to the Shawnee Little Theatre to see 'Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike' by Christopher Durang.......and courtesy of Wikipedia........

"Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a comedy play and revolves around the relationships of three middle-aged single siblings, two of whom live together, and takes place during a visit by the third, Masha, who supports them. They discuss their lives and loves, argue, and Masha threatens to sell the house. Some of the show's elements were derived from works of Anton Chekov, including several character names, the play's setting in a cherry orchard, and the theme of the possible loss of an ancestral home".

I enjoyed it very much and so appreciated them inviting me.    It really is a lovely little theatre, run entirely by volunteers.   We must have known at least half the people in the auditorium, and that is when one really appreciates that this is small town America, in the most positive way.

Today, Saturday, I have not done a lot apart from watching the evil Fox News and crocheting.   It has been very bright and sunny but bitterly cold, I think it was 40 degrees when I went out briefly.  I reminded myself that this was what I wanted when the temperature was 103.    

 

I did go to the monthly AARP meeting this morning and caught up with Phyllis.   She gave me THREE boxes of Twinings Prince of Wales tea which I like, which was very generous of her.   She is going to need a little surgery soon on her ankle.  Last time she was home she took a trip to Port Isaac and Clovelly, and tripped on the cobblestones, and had to have a screw in her ankle, which is now loose.

. 

Tuesday - posted early Thurs.

I have forgiven the French - I forgive them for everything, from Agincourt to keeping us out of the EU for as long as they did.  

 

I looked at President Hollande the other day standing up to the jihadist terrorists after their ghastly attack on innocent French civilians in Paris - young people enjoying an evening out - and  announcing his Declaration of War;  and with all my heart I wished him and the French nation all the best.  

 

Obama won't even call the terrorists what they are - "extremists" are the worst epithet he can come up with.  He came into Office bound and determined to be the President who ended all conflicts in the Middle East, and is sick as a parrot that is not going to happen.

Thursday early am.

Goodness, I must have been tired.  Yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, I made some cup cakes for the meal, took them to the church (thank goodness) then closed my eyes for a little nap.   When I woke up it was the middle of the night, all the lights were on, and I'd left the cat outside - how bad do you think I feel about that!   She is now curled up, fast asleep, on the computer room sofa, and I am now wide awake sipping tea and crocheting.   

 

 

 

 

 

16th November

How heartbreaking are the scenes from Paris.   I find it so difficult to comprehend sometimes the level of evil that there is in the world.

 

I understand that Obama is going to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the US because "slamming doors in the faces of refugees is a betrayal of our values".    And yes, I know it is none of my business if he does.....but for the sake of argument let us pretend for a moment that it is.....  He has assured the American public that all these refugees will be "subject to rigorous screening and security checks".   Pause for hollow laughter.  

 

When I came here, a 70 something grandma from northern Europe, I underwent THE most rigorous screening you can imagine, starting with my application for an entry visa,  and I also had to give the address of my local police station so that it could be determined that I didn't have a criminal record. 

 

Then... when I arrived at Dallas I was passed from one official to another and extensively interviewed.   But did the interviews stop there?   Did they heck as like.   I  had to undergo three more trips to Homeland Security in Oklahoma City before finally, finally, I was given a residence permit (I forget now when it expires, but I think I will be long gone).    And Obama is proposing to subject 10,000 refugees waiting in line at their ports of entry, to this "rigorous screening and security checks".   

 

Well, good luck with that.  At least 16 Governors have so far said "not in my state".

 

 

 

Prince Charles' birthday

Republicans are spitting feathers because Obama has said he is going to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the US.   Now - I am not even American, or perhaps I've been here too long and I have somehow become one without noticing.    But Saudi Arabia is a big, huge, practically empty country, they could take in thousands of Syrian refugees and not even notice them, but they don't want to because they are afraid that there might be militant jihadists among them.  

 

What am I missing here?

 

Can someone explain to me - this foreign bystander - why they are coming to the US instead of going to an Islamic state, where they can fit in a great deal better than they would be able to here?   In modern parlance "I can't get my head around it".

 

And that's my little op ed for the day.

 

Changing the subject -  I found something while surfing the internet which rather intrigues me.  Montana is the only state in the Union which allows a couple to be married without either of them being in attendance.   I just wonder how that works, if anyone knows anyone in Montana perhaps you would ask for me.   And more importantly, why would anyone want to?   Isn't the new dress, all the attention, the excitement, the champagne  - the main reason for getting married?   I can't think of any other reason.

Friday 13th

I am sure by now you have all seen the news, are we are on the brink of WW111, Armageddon?

 

I was knitting and watching tv this afternoon when the news from Paris first broke.    I watched for a while then went to Walmart for my shopping, and when I got back to the television,  two or three hours later, the same news anchor was still covering it.   And there wasn't a commercial break until 10.15.

 

It has been said that it was unusual for such an attack to be launched without any prior intelligence warnings.  Have the CIA, FBI, MI5 all been asleep on the job?

 

There's a lot of anxiety that all the radical jihadists have already infiltrated most of Europe, and I understand that every single state in the Union is now going to take a long, hard look at possible 'suspects' in their state.  And we've all seen migrants fleeing from the Middle East into Europe - has anyone noticed that 95% of them are young men between 18 and 35?

Thursday 12th November

This has been a somewhat stressful day - my C-Nook - my e-book - has been coming apart for a while now, and this morning the tip of the cable - which goes into the base to charge it - finally disintegrated.  Apart from the way this one was made, I think they are one of the best inventions on the planet, they slip into a handbag, take up hardly any space, but mine had 145 books on it, and I never went anywhere without it, so it had to be replaced.   

 

They are sold by the bookseller Barnes & Noble, and I always went to their branch in Norman, and  it used to be such a pleasant trip - I'd take the scenic route, bowling along Highway 9, a very straight forward journey and easy to find when I got to Norman - from Hwy 9 I  took a right, then a left turn, and I was there, but that has so drastically changed, it is almost unbelievable.    A combination of massive road works and development made it very difficult to find, and I was going round and round in circles, and believe it or not, I had a GPS which was supposed to be telling me the way, but took me all round the houses before it finally got me there.

 

Anyway, I've got a new C-Nook which doesn't have the potential to come apart, so they obviously realised there was a serious design fault there, and it is charging up as I type.   And it was a lot easier coming back because I got straight on to the interstate, but it wasn't the pleasant, scenic journey of Highway 9.

 

I can't possibly go there again so I've been looking up their store in Tulsa, but that's quite a long way (although not 24 hours).   Actually though I doubt that I'll need to go, now I've got the new C-Nook all the books can be downloaded online.   And the 145 were all downloaded to the new one.

 

So that has been my day, I set off in the morning when I was ready, and got home at 4.30, and have been recovering ever since.

Armistice Day

But they call it 'Veterans Day' here.   I think it was a Public Holiday, but I haven't tried to go to a bank or post office, so I am not sure.   

My activity for the day has centred on making biscuits, or what they call 'cookies' for the Wednesday meal this evening.   I was surprised when I got there and found that practically every member of the church seemed to be there, so there wouldn't have been enough biscuits to go round, although I thought I'd made quite a few, the recipe said it did 5 dozen.  Everyone attending the 8 o'clock and the 10 o'clock services had been exhorted to attend, there was a lot of work to be done in the parish hall, sorting things out - but I reckon when one is pushing 80 one gets a pass, and I sloped off after the meal.

Normally, I have about 4 or 5 followers reading this.   I don't know what has happened lately, my readership in the last few days seems to have shot up - there were 18 yesterday!!!   I can't even think of 18 people who would want to read it.   And I am sure it hasn't been my insightful reporting of the political scene, ha ha.

112 years ago yesterday, a woman was granted a patent on windscreen wipers.  And nobody thought they would catch on!

  

Tuesday 10th November

There was another Presidential Debate tonight, so great anticipation and excitement about that among the news anchors and journalists.   As it happened I was out this evening, but I couldn't have seen it anyway, it was on a channel my basic tv package doesn't give me.  

 

When I got back though I caught up with all the inquests on it, and it seems generally agreed to have been very successful, and a far cry from the debacle of the last one.   And from what I have heard it seems that Rubio and Cruz gave the best performances, and they have been in the lead with Trump and Dr Carson for a while now.   I think the forerunners are appearing and it won't be long now, I wouldn't have thought, for the no-hopers to drop out.

 

This evening Phyllis invited me to join her and her husband to a Volunteers Dinner they were going to, and kindly picked me up as well.  VIP stands for Volunteers Impacting People, and it is something run out of the Senior Centre that Phyllis is involved in.

 

Phyllis received an award, I think it was a silver one.   The Humanitarian Award went to a 96 year old, who looks younger than me, and does a tremendous amount raising money and sending care packages to the military.   Old people here do seem a lot more active than at home, perhaps they've got more to keep them busy.

 

I've probably mentioned before that  all 'dinners' here are called 'banquets', but you will see it was at 5.30, which to my English mind is more 'high tea', than dinner, but Phyllis has lived here for more than 50 years and I don't think she thought so.     Anyway, I enjoyed the evening, it was very nice to go out, and I appreciated her asking me.  

 

And we all got a little pressie....

I like these thermal mugs, I've got quite a few of them now, and all given to me.

 

 

 

Sunday/Monday

I went to the cinema in the afternoon - yet again - and saw 'Burnt'.   I looked at the performance times for the rest of the week and they were all after dark, and although I think it will probably be on for a couple more weeks, I didn't want to miss it.   It was quite good, but I think I expected more.  The synopsis was straightforward, even for me......a 2 Michelin star chef screws up his life, becomes a drug addict, then turns life around because he wants a third Michelin star.

When I got to the cinema, the car park was absolutely full.  I had to park at the front and walk through the Mall, and there were crowds jostling in the foyer, so I was somewhat surprised when the cashier told me I'd have the auditorium all to myself.   I commented on the crowd and she said they were all seeing 'Peanuts'.

I must say it did seem a bit strange to have an entire cinema to myself.

I took some pictures with my little back-up camera.

 

I had left the spare room door ajar and Bubbles thought she'd make it her bedroom.  I disabused her of that notion though, but she was allowed to stay until she got up, then I closed the door.

 

 



Isn't this amazing, this car park just broke up.   When this happens it is usually called a sink hole, but this is bigger and has another name.   Some time ago a man was fast asleep - I think in California - and a sink hole just swallowed him up; and they couldn't recover his body.

'Sexting'  that's a word that wasn't around in my day, but with the advent of smartphones kids are taking nude pictures of each other and they are all flying around on each other's phones.   Whatever next.

Saturday......

Not a lot to update you about, except that I saw the movie 'The Martian' with Donna this afternoon, and it was TERRIFIC, AMAZING.  We both came out saying "WOW"  or words to that effect.  It is amazing,  the stunts, the effects, the cinematography.    I recommend it to anyone with the opportunity to see it.

Tomorrow, or sometime in the near future, we want to see "Burnt" about a chef.

Apart from this I haven't really done anything.   Just crocheting and watching tv.   And it was wonderful this morning to talk to my grand daughters on Skype.  That really made my weekend.

Remember, Remember the 5th November......

Hope the weather stayed dry tonight for your bonfires and fireworks.

The weather here has been funny.   It was very overcast this morning, I went to Communion, then we decided on lunch at a nearby Asian diner, but in the car park one of the group had a call from her husband warning of a severe weather alert and possible tornado, so we all hurried home.    A little while later we had very heavy rain, but then it cleared up and the sun came out.

 

Two big items of  news, firstly the crashed aircraft in Sinai......was it, wasn't it, ISIS  brought it down?  According to reports I heard, David Cameron seems to think so, but politicians over here were a bit reluctant - I don't know why - to say so.   I think by this evening though the general consensus of opinion is that it was.

 

The second news items is the Presidential Debate next Tuesday, the candidates have been announced.  To qualify for the 'top table' as it were, they have to have polled at least 2.5% in the four opinion polls chosen.  So the front runners are Trump (sigh) Dr Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.  I think one of those will eventually be President. Notice I am not giving the lying, untrustworthy Hilary Clinton any credence, my critics would say I've been brainwashed by the evil Fox News, but although there might have been a time when I thought she was alright, you can "go off" someone.

 

The other four making the top table are Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich the Ohio governor, and Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky.

 

Those on what I call the 'kiddies' table - who I would imagine would be dropping out soon - are

New Jersey governor the brash Chris Christie; former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee;  Rick Santorum and  Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal.  I like Bobby Jindal but I don't think he has much chance of making it.

 

Trump keeps attacking his closest rival, the gentle, softly spoken  Ben Carson,  accusing him of being "low energy" (like that's an insult).    Someone should tell Trump that anyone performing an intricate brain operation for 15 hours, with all the concentration that entails, is hardly "low energy".  I think Trump is jealous of his brilliance and popularity.  

 

So that is my two cents worth on the next debate.

4th November

Weather was a complete contrast to yesterday's warmth and sunshine.  It has been cold, grey and chilly.

 

I just went out this evening to the meal at Emmanuel.   For dessert they had the cakes I bought at the Kiwani bake sale yesterday, and I also knocked up some nutty crunch.

 

I took my camera there and showed it to my friend Stephanie, who officially pronounced it dead.   I told her I'd had it about 8 years since just before I came here and she said that is about its life span.   I think it is called - isn't it - built in obsolescence?   So I have been looking online at Walmart and Staples for a little inexpensive replacement.   But I will keep the old one, which was a present from Tim, on display.  It has served me well.  May it R.I.P.

I saw two cameras online at Staples, one was $19.99 (£13)  but I think that sounds a bit too cheap.  There's another I am thinking about which is $37.99 (nearly £25)  Of course they are not the quality of the Samsung they are replacing but I think the latter will serve its purpose.  But first I'll see what Walmart has to offer.

Today, the 4th November, is officially 'Death to America Day' in Iran.  It was the day in 1979 that radical Islamic students seized the US Embassy in Tehran which led to the 444 day hostage crisis.   And the news has been showing American flags being burnt, and everyone celebrating in the streets.

And Obama has just signed a deal with them, and is giving them - among other things - $150 billion!!!    If I were a US taxpayer I think I'd be spitting feathers.  

I daresay there are British taxpayers spitting feathers at David Cameron taking in thousands of East European migrants, but better that than giving billions to Iran.

Ted Cruz is leading in the Presidential polls, because of his excellent performance at the Debate.  Mario Rubio is also doing well.    With honest, decent, candidates like those I don't think the lying Hilary Clinton has a snowball in hell's chance.  And I know, I know, critics, that I shouldn't be watching the evil Fox News.

There are those who would have me believe that everything on Fox News are lies.  But is it not an inescapable fact that Americans were held hostage in the Iran?  And is it not also an inescapable fact that Obama has just given them - among a lot of other things - $150 billion?

Time to jump off the soapbox and head for bed.  Bubbles has given up reminding me.

Tuesday 3rd November.

Weather is still lovely, blue skies and sunny.   I was at the hospital this morning, and decided this afternoon to do something about my camera.   I thought it just needed a new battery, that was all it needed this morning, but I couldn't get one in Shawnee, so I decided to be brave and risk driving to Mid West City, about 30 miles away along the interstate, where I'd established a battery shop had one.

 

The car actually is okay, it drives along fine, the problem is the fact that it is long overdue for a new timer belt - whatever that is - and if that goes while I am out driving then I will have a much bigger problem, hence the anxiety and the caution.   The timer belt is actually quite an insignificant part, the $600 it costs to put in a new one is all down to the labour charge of having to take the engine apart to fit it.

 

So I puttered along at just under 40 miles an hour and it seemed to take forever to get there, and when I did I was surprised  to find a HUGE shopping area with some nice shops and department stores.   At another time it would have been nice to have browsed around there.

 

Anyway, I got the battery, the guy in the shop put it in for me and to my extreme dismay, I found I couldn't see anything at all through the viewfinder.  It is just totally black.   The assistant seemed as perplexed as I was; it wasn't a camera shop, they just sold batteries and light bulbs.  But I took the new battery - the existing one had been in the camera for years - so I obviously needed it but now I have a worse problem to deal with, because I don't  know who to go to now ..... as I have no idea why it is malfunctioning.

 

Shawnee is a sizeable town, I just don't know why they haven't got a proper camera shop.   Hailsham - which is nothing like the size of Shawnee had/has, one.

 

The manager in the battery shop volunteered the information that they have a branch in Norman, and opposite the branch there is a camera shop.   IF ONLY  I had known that in the first place.  But I think I will have to go, a camera repair shop is the only answer.  They gave me their card with the address on it.

 

Driving back, I am carefully following the GPS instructions, but there are a lot of road works going on, and I think that was the problem.   I found myself at a road with a sentry in a box, obviously wanting to know where I was going.  I gaze around and realise I am on the biggest military base in the world, people who live here will know where I was.  Military man at the box wants my driving licence, and I can't find it.  While I am rummaging around in confusion and panic he spots my passport, and asks for that.  Honestly, I take a wrong turning, and I need a passport!!   But I don't argue, obviously.  I go all confused and humble.  So clutching the passport in one hand, he tells me he wants me to do a U turn, indicates where I am to go and says he will see me round the other side of the  box, where he hands me back my passport.   Phew!   From there I was on to the interstate and it was downhill all the way.   I needed a little rest this afternoon to recover.

 

Actually, I had made some moist fruit cakes for the Kiwani bake sale yesterday and I was out early taking those to the Senior Centre.  They're very popular, they didn't even stay on display on the table, and I thought I'd pass on the recipe - grand daughters, my own or others, might like to try them.

 

You will need - (and just multiply if you are making a few like I did)....  A large saucepan.

 

12oz dried fruit.  4oz butter.  4oz sugar (brown or caster)  13oz tin crushed pineapple.  Simmer a few minutes, then cool.

Stir in 8oz flour.  tspn (or so) of spice.  1 tspn baking soda.   2 eggs.   And cook in a low oven, like 350,  for however long you think it takes, depending on the size of the tins.  I actually use little disposable aluminum loaf tins.

 

I've had this recipe a long time. Years and years.  A colleague in the radiology department at the Nuffield, Woodingdean made it, and it was so popular everyone had a copy of it.

 

 

Monday

The weather starts off chilly in the morning, then becomes warm and spring like by the afternoon.   I am conscious now that with the clocks going back at the weekend I need to be sure I go out, and do what I need to do, before it gets dark.   Going to Emmanuel doesn't count, it is a very short distance and along a main road.

The inquests into the Presidential Debate are still going on, it seems universally agreed that it was a debacle, and the candidates all had a cosy get together on Sunday and they have decided how it is going to be run in future, which I gather will be a lot more professionally.

One would think, looking at the supermarket tabloids, that Hilary Clinton is in trouble.........

 

 

But I doubt it.   A Democrat Senate, and especially a Democrat President , who would have to okay it, is not going to - I think the expression used here is -  "throw her under the bus".

 

And there isn't even anyone else standing in the wings ready to be a Presidential candidate.  There is of course, Bernie Sanders, but he is a socialist, and socialism doesn't have any traction in this country.  Maybe by the next election.

 

It has just been revealed that she warned the  Libyan President of the Benghazi attack.   But not - as we know - her ambassador.

 

The White House also told her not to blame the Benghazi attack on the offensive video about the Prophet because nobody in Libya, in the general public, would have seen the video.  They just don't have these things over there.  

 

There is a drip, drip, leakage of her e-mails, coming from someone in the FBI who are holding and investigating them.   If this carries on much longer I can foresee FBI resignations on the horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween

Well, I got the candy in but I didn't have any takers, any trick or treaters.   I did go to the movies just before 7.30, but I don't think I missed them, I think they would have come earlier, before dark, if they were going to.    They probably go round the better neighbourhoods.   So - oh dear - I will have to eat the candy myself.

 

I don't like Halloween, I never have, so I am glad it is over, but they make a big thing of it over here, dressing up, decorating the front gardens and the stores do a roaring trade in HUGE bagfulls of candy, and costumes.

 

The movie I went to see downtown was 'The Visit'.  It was on in one of the main cinema complexes for quite a while and I'd kept debating whether to see it or not because it was billed as a mystery and suspense.

 

 It was alright - better than 'Steve Jobs' but it was very weird and I don't think I would recommend it to anyone, but it did keep me engaged trying to figure it out.    And as anyone married to me would testify, if a film isn't straightforward I need  constant explanations on what is happening, and who is who.    Fortunately, when I got home I found a very good website which gave a  detailed, day by day account of all that happened.   So now I know what it was all about.

 

I doubt if anyone reading this plans to see it, so I will tell you it is about two children sent to visit their grandparents they have never met because their mother was estranged from them.   The grandparents are WEIRD - but it transpires near the end that they are not really their grandparents, but two patients from a mental hospital who have murdered the real grandparents and put their bodies in the basement.  The children get hold of their mother on Skype, who sees the pseudo grandparents and rushes to the scene with  cop cars, and lights flashing, and all ends well.   But one would think, in reality, the children would go home extremely traumatised and need years of counselling to get over it all. 

 

The dust has been settling following the Presidential Debate, and Rubio seems to have done very well.  It was announced this evening that a billionaire has come forward donating millions to his campaign.  

 

Jeb Bush is not doing at all well.   He criticised Rubio at one point in the Debate for his attendance record at the Florida Senate where he had missed votes because he was campaigning, and asked Rubio if he was adopting the French working week of three days.  Unfortunately the French ambassador was watching the Debate, he was very irate and complained to the Republican party.  So that hasn't helped Jeb.

 

Sadly, I won't be able to see the next Debate, it is on a channel I don't get with my basic tv package, but I guess I'll get to hear the main points.