28/03/2008 by admin.

Of course at a political level we seem to admit, mutually, that we have not been the best of friends in the past. But if, like me, you have always enjoyed French culture, the French language, French food and , above all, the French countryside, the political differences don’t always make sense. Of course the enmity, such as it is, stems from the less than stalwart defence some French people put up against the German invasion in the Second World War, the establishement of Vichy France and all that. Perhaps we should be a bit more frank with the French about this but in a spirit of historical enquiry rather than recrimination. We shouldn’t repress it but we shouldn’t let it influence present relationships.

I love French gardens and their different attitude to grass cultivation. Here is the garden of one house we stayed in and enjoyed. But we are spending quite a lot of money on getting our grass at home to look more like a lawn!

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27/03/2008 by admin.

I thought I would join Facebook just to see how many Network members were also Facebook members. The answer is quite a few; also some younger MRS members who are probably now on the ‘wrong’ side of 50 so represent potential members. If this is the case and they interact with their Facebook site frequently - this I am investigating - it could be that we have underestimated Facebook as a potential source of Network interaction. So maybe we ought to think again? My own Facebook site is already an odd mishmash of personal ’Friends’ (some of them being my grandchildren, other relations, children or grandchildren of friends ) and Friends from the world of research. maybe it’s not right to mix up the two! If you want to see you will have to join yourself - www.facebook.com - it’s free!

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25/03/2008 by admin.

I wonder if many Network members are using Facebook? My grandchildren are avid members posting on this site many photographs of themselves and friends, sometimes in fairly unbecoming  situations; likewise my great nephews and nieces. I only know because I have been shown them. But 60- 80 year olds? Something explains why this site and the parent website does not have more traffic. I suspect it is because a lot of members use the web very infrequently, many just checking their email  If you are reading this and I am wrong please tell me.

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23/03/2008 by admin.

An extraordinary day. As we left the house at roughly 08:10 hrs there was a slight flurry of snow which soon developed into larger flakes. We were quite glad to get back home although the roads were empty. Now the sun is shining and, although it is bitterly cold, it might be more like Easter weather. Here are some Easter flowers for you. Preparing for a great feast tonight with our extended family filling the dining room.

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20/03/2008 by admin.

Maundy money was today being distributed in Belfast. A sign, we hope, of lasting peace and improved security in that city. Here it was , this afternoon at least, wet and windy. I walked through the park this morning; a lovely and well-kept park though frequently attacked by graffiti ‘artists’; not Banksy, not yet. Then it was sunny but the weather deteriorated sharply this afternoon. See illustration for a picture of the park. Click on the thumbnail.

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19/03/2008 by admin.

A cold Easter and a wet one tomorrow as we approach the Triduum. If tomorrow night is cold and wet we shall not feel like Mass although we will attend Good Friday and Easter Day of course. I suppose if one were really virtuous the weather would make no difference but old bones feel the cold!

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17/03/2008 by admin.

Well what a fickle thing finance is. Everyone waiting for a landslip but luckily people seem to have held on to the precipice. That famous quote about it being easy to make lots of money selling stocks and shares has not quite been turned on its head. But you needed to be really clever today.

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16/03/2008 by admin.

After we have seen the crime and the compilcated family relationships exhibited in recent cases, does anyone doubt the continued existence of an underclass ? It sounds like a perjorative rather than a descriptive word and in some ways it is, Who is to blame? The absence of hope, the long family chains of jobless individuals, many living on disability benefit though their only disability may be depression (not always clinically diagnosed), the way in which they ruin and clutter their own environment, all these may be observed on any large council or housing asssociation estate. How do we solve this huge economic and social waste? It has defeated politicians for generations.

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15/03/2008 by admin.

What affects our perception of the climate? Easter will be here next week and we all feel it should be getting a bit warmer but the contrary is true. The explanation is partly the normal weather cycle but also, of course, that Easter is very early causing several schools to observe Good Friday and Easter Monday but begin their holidays a week later. I cannot remember this before. The last time Easter was so early was, apparently, the year I was born so it is not surprising.

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11/03/2008 by admin.

Most people of my age who like music of any kind may still, like me, have a mixture of media types ranging from shellac 78s, vinyl LPs and EPs  and tapes (not many of  any of these now since many have been superseded by CDs) to CDs. Mini-Disks, Mp3 players and so on.

What is the ideal solution to combining music in a reasonably acceptable form? The best solution I have seen is to record everything on one of the digital ‘ juke boxes, such as those made by Sony or Phillips. Does anyone have experience of any of these and their relative merits, and demerits?  They certainly solve storage problems!

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