Joining in with Amy at Love Made My Home. A few recent photos, and five random thoughts bearing very little relation to the random photos.
I've cut right down on news consumption lately. I usually listen to a combination of The World At One, PM and the 6 o'clock news, and sometimes I watch a bit of the 10 o'clock news, but lately it's been getting me down. Huge unsolvable problems, lives of abject misery, the human race making a mess of the planet and everything else. It doesn't help anyone that I listen, so I've stepped out a little. I like to know what's going on in the world, but I need a bit of a break. Watching helplessly is frustrating.
Blessed rain. As a gardener I can say that can't I? The grass has turned brown and the watering can has been up and down the rows of vegetables. So I'm happy when it's done automatically. But I need it to stop for the weekend, den building and cricket are planned and I've a feeling they'll be cancelled (by others) if it tips down. Umbrellas crossed.
Superglue dries quickly these days doesn't it? The littlest boy has a small fossil that survived for millions of years until he got hold of it. He dropped it and the end broke off. He was particularly sad about it, so I promised to stick it back together for him. Of course I got a bit of glue on my fingers and it set in about two and a half seconds. I just about managed to detach myself in time.
LinkedIn is a scary thing. I was looking at some profiles the other day and I didn't even understand what it was the people do. Incomprehensible things, strung together quite aggressively. Does anyone understand it? I hope it's not just me. I like plain speaking, I like to know what's going on. It made me feel utterly inadequate and useless and a bit cross.
I was watching something recently and the question was asked, "Who would you take to a desert island?" I thought I should have the answer to this pre-prepared just in case I'm ever asked and in a panic I go for someone ridiculous. I've settled on Barbara Kingsolver for story telling and vegetable growing and Bear Grylls for den building, morale boosting and protection from any wild beasts that may want to eat us. You?
At first I thought the question was WHAT would you take to a desert island, and was bowled over by your extreme cleverness in choosing people over things.... :) But what a very difficult question. I couldn't begin to decide. (And are there such things as desert islands? How can a place surrounded by water be a desert?)
ReplyDeleteI don't understand LinkedIn either. We're supposed to have accounts at work but we just ignore the whole thing, being too busy doing our jobs....
Yes, blessed rain indeed. We'll take it whenever we can get it. The world must be fed, after all, and somehow the plants grow so much better when God waters them than when I do.
I don't listen to the news much either. It's rather nice to be out of touch with all the dreadfulness going on. No one is going to test us on how much bad news we can remember.
Lovely photos, especially the cherry closeup! :)
My garden has enjoyed some rain this week too - but it's dried out so quickly. It was rock solid again last night, when I was out again with the watering can!
ReplyDeleteNo idea about LinkedIn either - but felt compelled to join. Actually, I get really angry about anyone talking about their job making everything sounds so important and just full of jargon! Puts me right off.
Have a great, rain free weekend. x
I have to confess that I have never heard of Linkedln, maybe its better that I don't. Hope the weather holds up for the weekend I am off visiting again. I have pondered the desert island thing before and come up with different solutions each time, but my priority would be seeds and cuttings to plant a fruit/veg plot.
ReplyDeleteI find that reading the news online helps rather than hearing it every five minutes on the radio, at least you can find out what's going on when you are ready and also get more depth on issues you are particularly interested in. Lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteThose cherries look delicious and I love the photo of the rain on the window - we could do with a good heavy downpour around here. I'd probably take Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent to the island - that way, when I've made my dug out canoe they can take it in turns rowing when I make my escape! Here's to a dry weekend for you. xx
ReplyDeleteI've stayed firmly away from LinkedIn thanks very much, I'm staying where I am & have no need to talk myself up. You made me giggle about the fossil & your little boy-super glue should be renamed super quick glue. The rain has been a relief, I don't water the front garden but it had started to look parched. Fingers crossed it stays away for your weekend. P.s I have no intention of going to a desert island, if I did end up on one I wouldn't want anyone with me as I would be very cross! x
ReplyDeleteI have long since stopped listening and watching the news. I usually hear the headlines and then go and make the supper or something on the principle that if there is nothing I can do about any of it I don't really need to know the details it's all too depressing these days and I don't want it brought into my living room in full technicolour so I let Mr M watch it and shut the door on him! Love the photos - we have had rain here but the pots still need watering in their sheltered spot! Who to take to a desert island? the's a difficult one isn't it? Maybe like you Barbara Kingsolver for the same reasons and I might like to have Fiona J Houston author of The Gardenb Cottage diaries as she'd know how to make do with what she found growing there, or Peter Owen Jones for some thoughtful conversations and he also knows how to live with very little.... I am sure that whoever I chose there'd be someone else I might rather have taken so what a good job I don't have to make the choice!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, blessed rain indeed! I've been grateful for the help in watering the few veggies I have growing and I swear I could hear the garden breathe a sigh of relief as the rain came down. I love cherries and those in your photos look delicious, what variety are they? Bear Grylls and/or Ray Mears - first they can make me a set of crochet hooks and turn plants into yarn, then they can go off and do practical stuff and I can crochet on the beach :o) Have a great weekend CJ.
ReplyDeleteJane xx
Your cherries look delicious. I am on LinkedIn for work but not sure of its merits. And I get requests from people I barely know. We had an ice breaker at a work event once where we had to say who would take on a desert island - a colleague was adamant she would take Bob Marley - just couldn't see it myself. I can't really remember the weather, having been stuck in an office for 4 days - but not today, and the sun is shining! Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteCaz xx
Yours is the second post in a row I've just read with pictures of fat juicy cherries. I have failed again..
ReplyDeleteI don't understand LinkedIn at all!! I was asked to "follow" someone, or whatever it is you do, and I looked at their profile and I know them and it scared me! I am staying well away!! I don't think that I need to go there!! I agree about the news, I flick through the headlines on teletext of whatever it is nowadays on the tv and that does me! I have even stopped buying a newspaper. It is all too much isn't it. What happened to "and finally" with some good news story of a cute animal or something. I think that I will take you to a desert island as you have great ideas and can grow veggies! Plus you are a resourceful Mum so you would be very useful to have! Thank you so much as always for joining in. I hope that you have a great - and dry! - weekend! xx
ReplyDeleteThe second photo reminds me if Tuesdaty sitting in the car whilst a giant tipped huge buckets of water over it and grumbled while he did so.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the rain- you could hear the garden sighing in relief here this week as it pattered down. Also agree about some Linked in profiles. Mine is plain and simple, so it wouldn't make you cross :o) I wouldn't take Bear Grylls as he winds me up and my husband is quite good at that sort of thing and doesn't wind me up, so if husband's are allowed I'll take mine. If not, probably Damien Lewis would do at a pinch. I've no idea if he's handy in that department, but he's clever and funny so that would probably do. x
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the news. I stopped reading newspapers years ago and more recently stopped listening to the radio news. I keep up to date by following @BBCBreaking on Twitter and find that this is enough. LinkedIn is a very important tool if you are applying for jobs and the networking aspect is helpful for young people just entering the job market or people moving to new areas but I am relieved that I don't have to have a profile - another advantage of being a stay-at-home.
ReplyDeleteWe keep our fingers crossed for dry days on a weekend right the way through summer as we're a cricketing family too, in fact, these last couple of weeks Daniel's even come home from York to play for his old team with Mick. It's not like football, it's cancelled at the drop of a hat, it only takes a few spots of rain. What a shame about the fossil, superglue should fix it. I can vouch that it does its job well, it's on my dining table and on my kitchen worktop, mishaps from a few years ago and I can't get the blasted stuff off.
ReplyDeleteThe first photo of the cherries is wonderful, are they from your allotment?
ReplyDeleteI still follow the news as much as I've ever done - on radio 4 when I'm busy in the kitchen or via one of the few days old newspapers lying round the house. I find it rather depressing too. Everything seems in such a mess but we seem to be powerless in resolving it all. There is a lot of good news out there too, it's just not as dramatic as the bad news I suppose.
Love your photos...as usual! I think I'd have to take everyone I know and love on the island with me, then we'd all have to muck in and figure it out together! As long as there was campfire and coconut rum, I'd be happy! ;) xxx
ReplyDeleteI cannot watch the news. It is all so depressing and I swear they do that on purpose and just leave out all the great and happy things that are also happening. SO I actually refuse to watch the news. Through social media and my friends I hear about anything major going on anyway haha
ReplyDeleteA most enjoyable post and lovely pictures. No rain here so I watered all round the plot this morning. I've never understood Linkedin despite taking a look now and again.
ReplyDeleteI'd take a dictionary to a desert island with me and read it from the first to the last word. Enjoy the weekend. Flighty xx
I'm visiting from Amy's Five on Friday link up.
ReplyDeleteLinkedIn is something I've resisted, but my husband is a member and he gets so tired of all the emails and junk. How lovely to have rain. Here on the west coast of Canada we are dry, dry, dry. Rain would be most welcome. Lovely cherries. We are enjoying the big fat red ones here - so delicious and sweet.
I'd definitely take my husband on a desert island - he's handy with building and tools and organizing people and things.
Happy Weekend.
Speaking of rain, please send us some here in drought stricken California. Our lawns are beginning to turn brown due to water restrictions. I agree with you about LinkedIn. Very confusing stuff to me, too. Enjoy your weekend and my best to you, Pat xx
ReplyDeleteI only listen to the local news to get the weather, have no idea what Linkedin is supposed to be, rain here is never gentle, so we just bear with it and hope for the best. If you take Barbara Kingsolver i want to hear her stories too.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the news. I like to know the headlines but sometimes the media seems to turn everything into a soap opera. Not much rain here. By the time the clouds get to this side of the country there's no rain left, which usually is good but not when the veggies need watering!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great five! Of course you are allowed, as a gardener mind you, to say rain is good! :D Great choices for the island isolation. I hate to admit that I haven't read or watched news for years! It is just too depressing with issue after issue that has no obvious solution or of going away anytime soon. I figure if something really important and necessary for me to know happens I will hear about it. Mind you, I'm not an ostrich but a girl can only take but so much depressing news... but that's just me. Either way, good for you for taking a news break!
ReplyDeleteHugs for now,
Beth P
That's a great five CJ! I often avoid the news too, it can really affect you negatively and if there's nothing you can do about it anyway, sometimes it's easier to take a break. Desert Island....hmm...Yep Bear Gryls would have to be present as apart from being an expert survivor he's easy on the eye. After that it's a toss up between Mary Berry and Michael McIntrye, just because I love them both...Mary might be able to rustle up a meal or two and if I did die, with Michael there I'd die laughing...hopefully....x
ReplyDeleteI also avoid the news! I think I might compete with you for Bear Grylls on the island, he would be perfect. He does know which grubs are edible and which ones are poisonous. No doubt he could help building a fab five star den and also remove ticks from my limbs (I am not easily yucked but removing ticks is in the top ten of yucky things for me). A story teller is a good idea. I think I might settle for Margaret Atwood. Linkedin is weird. I am on it but I do not feel like selling myself and just wrote what I actually do for a living although most of it is a bit old news now. Have a lovely weekend. xx
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! Yes, the news can be overwhelming, and it's getting more so...we do have good reason to stay informed, but I need a break sometimes too, and understand! As for the desert island, I agree that a survival expert would be a good choice....not sure I'd choose Bear, though. He drives me crazy plowing ahead without caution and care, jumping off cliffs, going down into clefts in rocks, and doing a few unspeakable things I don't care to share, involving food and hydration. I'd rather have someone a little more calm with me, I think. :-)
ReplyDeleteI seem to be obsessed with the Greek financial crisis but limit my input on that to reading news. I watch the local news mainly for local issues/event, okay ... fine, weather and traffic, even though I don't drive much, it gives me peace in a weird way -- look at the ants go. I often like to read the sensationalized bits on purpose to remind me how silly the news is trying to take advantage of my emotions. There are very real issues and real problems, I think a lot of it is being aware. Maybe some things there might be a way to insert ourselves positivity but for the most part awareness is good enough. Good for you to know when it's too much. I have to do that sometimes too.
ReplyDeleteFavorite photo: Number 1!! Yay cherries!
Lots of food for thought here CJ. I listen to radio 4 all day but rarely buy a newspaper; perhaps at the weekend. News can be overwhelming sometimes but I still listen. The kitchen radio is often turned to radio 1 by my children and I will leave it there for some music (but I find the djs v irritating). I find Bear G far too up himself. Ray Mears might be better but I'm not convinced. Someone like Jane Garvey who presents 'women's hour' - she sounds like someone I could laugh with and she'd have loads of interesting tales to tell. Steve Redgrave is also a good idea. Hmmm. Lovely photos. Here's to a good weekend of cricket and dens. Sam x
ReplyDeleteYes I agree the news can fill you up if your not careful. It doesn't leave much room for letting other more positive things reach you. I am a bit obsessed with checking the weather! I once met a very pushy women who wanted me to go and check out her linked in profile, she had listed herself as an entrepreneur! I never could work out what exactly she did do....X
ReplyDeleteI was a total news addict for years and still listen a lot to the radio news when I am driving. I read something a while ago about people with mild to moderate depression being advised not to watch television news and I can totally see that the overwhelming amount of evidence that the world is close to broken is hard to cope with. These days I try to limit myself to PM on the radio where I think the absence of images and the presence of Eddie Mair makes the whole thing more palatable. I don't think I could cope with no news at all and even my reduced diet is made tricky by being married to another newsaholic.
ReplyDeleteRay Mears for the desert island I think. He is less annoying than Bear Grylls. And maybe Angela Hartnett to cook for me!
my husband glued his fingers together with superglue recently. there was some bad language..........
ReplyDeleteI don't understand linkedn, it seems very aggressive, I kept getting emails to follow people I didn't know, so I send all the messages to spam now....... if only we could do that with the depressing news..........
as for the desert island, would it be wrong to take Daniel Craig..............
I totally agree with you about the news and I actually think it gives a skewed perspective as I'm sure that there must be a multitude of happy events and good kind people in the world. We only hear about the bad stuff though. I'm with you on Barbara Kingsolver too.
ReplyDeleteThose cherries look very juicy! The news is all too depressing, a good idea to limit intake, I think. LinkedIn seems to me to be the workplace equivalent of Facebook. I am not on either. But I did laugh when I got a LinkedIn request from my son's old rugby coach! desperate or what?? xx
ReplyDeleteHi CJ, catching up after too long and too much to do, your photos are lovely as always, I agree with what you say about the news, it is so sad. Wonderful to have you own cherries, regarding rain, for some reason the weather is being very co operative with us gardeners, nice heavy ground soaking rain at night and dry during the day so we can get on :)
ReplyDeleteI'd probably take Jilly Cooper to a desert island. No idea why, but I assume she'd have a bottle of something posh and sparkling stashed somewhere. And she could regale me with tales of horsey toffs getting up to no good in the countryside.
ReplyDeleteAs for the news consumption, I've given up on it too. I did it a long time ago, to be honest. Too depressing, too worrying. I assume the ratio of good and bad news must be around 50:50 so why do the papers and TV insist on only telling us about the horrible stuff?
I looked an LinkedIn once at work. I never bothered again.
And cherries - one of the best things about summer.
S x
I'm starting with the desert island as I have had Ewan McGregor lined up for my desert island for ages. That smile..... I would need nothing else.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are on holiday I refuse to have the news on. At home it's usually on first thing but after that I avoid it. My husband is a big Twitter fan so he usually tells me things he finds on there. It's rare that I feel at all uplifted by the news so that's a reason to avoid.
Finally, superglue.... I have glued fingers to pots and to other fingers leading to separation issues and pain. I now use cocktail sticks..... Top tip!
I've been opting out of the news a bit lately too, but P is a news addict, so he tends to fill me in on the big stuff. We've had a fair bit of rain recently which I've quite enjoyed. It's refreshing and saves us having to do too much watering. Your cherries look very appetising indeed, and so pretty :)
ReplyDeleteCathy x
I've always given LinkedIn a wide berth and I also can't understand the ridiculous job titles. Reminds me of W1a, if you watch it, with job titles like the excellent and meaningless "head of better"..err , better what?
ReplyDeleteYes, the news is depressing. Especially the way radio 4 report it. Xx
I had a necessary professional brush with LinkedIn and a similar site for academics. Never again!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd take Ray Mears in preference to Bear Grylls, and probably John Renstone, a gastro forager who would complement Mears perfectly.
(I have no idea how I got so behind with your posts but I'm catching up now :o) )