365 Project Week 39.
29 Nov 2009 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
curiouswombatIt's been quite a busy week - and the weather has had its moments...
Monday, as always, I spent much of my time at the hospital - in the morning at a talk by the Minister for Health on the effect on our services of the UK government's unilateral decision to 'renegotiate' the common purse agreement on tax (for which read 'The Westminster government is in dire need and so we will no longer stick to our agreement of two years ago sharing the VAT your islanders pay to UK firms for goods in the same way, but are going to keep more of it...')
Our government cannot borrow to make up any shortfall (and this decision by the UK treasury is not an 'in the future' thing - it is a 'this year' thing). Our government cannot borrow because under Manx law the budget MUST balance; it is illegal for them to borrow. So we have to decide what we can do without, where we can be more careful, and so on. Pity a few other governments didn't work the same way!
Anyway, after the meeting with the minister I had a clinic to do - and as usual these days, by the time I got out it was dark. So I tried to take a picture of something I see every week, and love - the etched glass screen between the hospital reception desk and and the office behind it. Not the best of pictures but, hopefully, you will be able to make out that it is etched with swooping sea birds, waves and spray.
The wind was coming up on Monday evening when I left the hospital - by Tuesday we were in a severe gale, force 9, again. So bad that the boat didn't sail and, as you'll tell from the pictures I posted yesterday, that has to be bad!
It was actually too wet and windy to easily take any pictures. So I took this one when I went shopping on the way home - I just love the way that they are irrepressibly cheerful looking even on such a dark gloomy day that they made me smile -
By Wednesday the wind had eased enough for me to get out of the car up at Port Jack to take a picture of the bay whilst I was at the post office there. Pity about the wire fencing, but they are repairing storm damage to the footpath down...
I was at the post office posting a couple of boxes off to the USA - one had had to be repacked - if it weighs more than 2kg the cost of postage goes up to about $90!! £56.50. That is just ridiculous! So, anyway - that one had been to the post office on Monday, but I'd gone "meep!" and taken it home and redone it so that it weighed LESS than 2kg! Two parcels which together weighed 3-5kg still cost a lot less than one parcel of 2kg - go figure!
Thursday was a calmer day. I stopped for a few minutes up on the road from the Cooil to Foxdale and, instead of taking a picture of the view, I focused instead on the gate post to one of the fields, just because I liked the picture it made, and because it is actually fairly typical -
It is a slab of stone used as a gatepost; complete with a few strands of barbed wire attached to it. And it is not at all dissimilar in shape to a lot of those carved rune stones and crosses... I didn't notice any carving on the back, but you can see why those historic stones often have some damage, or a note attached saying 'found in a gateway on such and such a farm...'
Friday was bright and sunny as I made my way to Ramsey. I stopped where I took the picture of Glen Elfin a couple of weeks ago, but looked down towards the town instead - it is surprising how much green there still is, even in late November after a fortnight of stormy weather.
Yesterday I wrote, put off knitting, didn't finish two small Christmas cakes for a cake stall next week, cleaned the kitchen (a bit), went shopping, did some on-line shopping, went out the back to rip ivy off the wall and went into Church to set up the Advent Ring - using the aforementioned ivy. Some members of the household were even less productive...
He actually does move sometimes - honestly!
That Advent Ring - or crown, or wreath, whatever you call it where you live - well I went into Church this morning to take a picture before the service started, so that all the candles would match. In the end I decided to just use the real ivy and the fake silver stuff, no red stuff, or holly or anything - and got a number of compliments on how nice it looked. I am rather pleased with it.
And I have been out to lunch - with about half the rest of the congregation, to celebrate St Andrew's Day. I had thought of going to do some of my Christmas shopping, but it is dark, damp and windy...again. And I am very full of nice dinner (Paté; roast ham, roasties, veg; cheesecake; coffee... yum!) - so I am sitting reading, posting, and not doing my knitting again...
I really must get on with making my Christmas cards this evening - although there is always the knitting...
Monday, as always, I spent much of my time at the hospital - in the morning at a talk by the Minister for Health on the effect on our services of the UK government's unilateral decision to 'renegotiate' the common purse agreement on tax (for which read 'The Westminster government is in dire need and so we will no longer stick to our agreement of two years ago sharing the VAT your islanders pay to UK firms for goods in the same way, but are going to keep more of it...')
Our government cannot borrow to make up any shortfall (and this decision by the UK treasury is not an 'in the future' thing - it is a 'this year' thing). Our government cannot borrow because under Manx law the budget MUST balance; it is illegal for them to borrow. So we have to decide what we can do without, where we can be more careful, and so on. Pity a few other governments didn't work the same way!
Anyway, after the meeting with the minister I had a clinic to do - and as usual these days, by the time I got out it was dark. So I tried to take a picture of something I see every week, and love - the etched glass screen between the hospital reception desk and and the office behind it. Not the best of pictures but, hopefully, you will be able to make out that it is etched with swooping sea birds, waves and spray.
The wind was coming up on Monday evening when I left the hospital - by Tuesday we were in a severe gale, force 9, again. So bad that the boat didn't sail and, as you'll tell from the pictures I posted yesterday, that has to be bad!
It was actually too wet and windy to easily take any pictures. So I took this one when I went shopping on the way home - I just love the way that they are irrepressibly cheerful looking even on such a dark gloomy day that they made me smile -
By Wednesday the wind had eased enough for me to get out of the car up at Port Jack to take a picture of the bay whilst I was at the post office there. Pity about the wire fencing, but they are repairing storm damage to the footpath down...
I was at the post office posting a couple of boxes off to the USA - one had had to be repacked - if it weighs more than 2kg the cost of postage goes up to about $90!! £56.50. That is just ridiculous! So, anyway - that one had been to the post office on Monday, but I'd gone "meep!" and taken it home and redone it so that it weighed LESS than 2kg! Two parcels which together weighed 3-5kg still cost a lot less than one parcel of 2kg - go figure!
Thursday was a calmer day. I stopped for a few minutes up on the road from the Cooil to Foxdale and, instead of taking a picture of the view, I focused instead on the gate post to one of the fields, just because I liked the picture it made, and because it is actually fairly typical -
It is a slab of stone used as a gatepost; complete with a few strands of barbed wire attached to it. And it is not at all dissimilar in shape to a lot of those carved rune stones and crosses... I didn't notice any carving on the back, but you can see why those historic stones often have some damage, or a note attached saying 'found in a gateway on such and such a farm...'
Friday was bright and sunny as I made my way to Ramsey. I stopped where I took the picture of Glen Elfin a couple of weeks ago, but looked down towards the town instead - it is surprising how much green there still is, even in late November after a fortnight of stormy weather.
Yesterday I wrote, put off knitting, didn't finish two small Christmas cakes for a cake stall next week, cleaned the kitchen (a bit), went shopping, did some on-line shopping, went out the back to rip ivy off the wall and went into Church to set up the Advent Ring - using the aforementioned ivy. Some members of the household were even less productive...
He actually does move sometimes - honestly!
That Advent Ring - or crown, or wreath, whatever you call it where you live - well I went into Church this morning to take a picture before the service started, so that all the candles would match. In the end I decided to just use the real ivy and the fake silver stuff, no red stuff, or holly or anything - and got a number of compliments on how nice it looked. I am rather pleased with it.
And I have been out to lunch - with about half the rest of the congregation, to celebrate St Andrew's Day. I had thought of going to do some of my Christmas shopping, but it is dark, damp and windy...again. And I am very full of nice dinner (Paté; roast ham, roasties, veg; cheesecake; coffee... yum!) - so I am sitting reading, posting, and not doing my knitting again...
I really must get on with making my Christmas cards this evening - although there is always the knitting...
